Axios Mens Ensemble, Pro Coro Canada & Michael Zaugg
Biography Axios Mens Ensemble, Pro Coro Canada & Michael Zaugg
Axios Men’s Ensemble
is an all-male chorus founded in 2003 under the direction of Boris Derow, dedicated to performing Eastern sacred music in both liturgical and concert settings for modern audiences. Axios has performed across Canada and the United States and recently commissioned Grammy-nominated composer Benedict Sheehan to compose Ukrainian War Requiem, a memorial honoringeir projects include recordings of The Resurrectional Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom by Fr. John Sembrat (2015) and Christ is Born: Hymns and Carols of the Nativity (2019), produced alongside conductor Michael Zaugg. Axios has performed across Canada and the United States and recently commissioned Grammy-nominated composer Benedict Sheehan to compose Ukrainian War Requiem, a memorial honoring the countless victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pro Coro Canada
Founded in 1981 by Canadian Michel Marc Gervais, Pro Coro Canada has performed at the Toronto International Choral Festival (1994 and 2002), the 1988 Olympic Arts Festival, and Canadian Voices (2003 landmark series of concerts celebrating 50 years of professional choral singing in Canada and R. Murray Schafer’s 70th year). The choir has commissioned dozens of new works, the majority by Canadian composers. Pro Coro Canada produced the second Edmonton International Choral Festival from May 30th to June 2nd, 2019.
The twenty-four voices of Pro Coro Canada have been shaped by some of the finest choral conductors in the world, including Gervais, Anders Eby (Sweden), Søren Hansen (Denmark), Agnes Grossmann (Austria), and Richard Sparks (USA). Guest conductors have included Frieder Bernius, Eric Ericson, Gary Graden, Maria Guinand, Bo Holten, Elmer Iseler, Tönu Kaljuste, Diane Loomer, Leonard Ratzlaff, Ward Swingle, Ivars Taurins, Jon Washburn, and Erik Westberg. In 2012 Michael Zaugg was announced as Pro Coro’s Artistic Director and Principal Conductor.
Under the direction of Swiss-born Michael Zaugg, the choir is widely recognized as one of this country’s finest. The choir is particularly proud of its composer-in-residence program with internationally renowned composer Alberto Grau; its appointment as Faculty in the Choral Art program at the Banff Centre; and critically acclaimed tours of four provinces. Pro Coro Canada believes strongly in community partnerships and over the past few years has collaborated with many community choirs as well as mentoring young choral artists through their Emerging Artist Program.
John Tessier
On the international stages of opera, concert, and recital, Canadian John Tessier garners praise and attention for the beauty and honesty of his voice, a refined style and creative versatility, and his handsome presence in the lyric tenor repertoire.
During the 2024-25 season, John Tessier returns to Edmonton Opera to sing Alfred in a new production of Die Fledermaus directed by Artistic Director Joel Ivany and conducted by Music Director Simon Rivard and he joins Calgary Opera as Ernesto in Don Pasquale directed by Stefania Panighini led by Jacques Lacombe. He also appears with the Calgary Philharmonic and Music Director Rune Bergmann in a presentation of the Mozart Coronation Mass in C Major, K. 317. John will also perform solo recitals in Edmonton and Lethbridge, vocal masterclasses in Calgary and Lethbridge as well as adjudicate music festivals throughout Alberta.
Last season John Tessier bowed at his home company, Edmonton Opera, as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s classic Don Giovanni as directed and with a new English libretto by Joel Ivany. Concert appearances included the world premiere of Benedict Sheehan’s Ukrainian War Requiem with Pro Coro Canada/Axios Men’s Enseblem as well as the world premiere of the Jonathan Leshnoff oratorio, Sacrifice of Isaac with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and programs of Bach and Mozart with the Richard Eaton Singers.
Highlights of past opera seasons include productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La fille du Régiment, and I Puritani at the Wiener Staatsoper, a debut at Teatro alla Scala in a new production directed by Sir David McVicar of Cavalli’s La Calisto led by Christophe Rousset, a role debut as Steve Wozniak in Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at Calgary Opera, Die Fledermaus in a fully-staged production at the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy with Diego Matheuz leading the Saito Kinen Orchestra, and Cherubini’s Médée at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées conducted by Christophe Rousset in a new production by Krzysztof Warlikowski.
Additional appearances on leading international opera stages include Les pêcheurs de perles and Maria Stuarda led by Carlo Montanaro at Seattle Opera, a new Jonathan Miller production of The Elixir of Love at English National Opera and the New York City Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia with New Zealand Opera, and both a role debut as Massenet’s Werther and his acclaimed portrayal of Prince Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola for Manitoba Opera.
His vibrant concert schedule included performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Elijah with the Richard Eaton Singers, and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with the Taiwan Philharmonic.
John Tessier gave the world première of Robin de Raaff’s Waiting for Miss Monroe at the Netherlands Opera and has sung Der Fliegende Holländer under the baton of Jeffrey Tate at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Don Giovanni for a South American debut at the Teatro Colón conducted by John Neschling. He also has bowed in The Merry Widow at Vancouver Opera and in Rossini’s comic masterpiece Le comte Ory with Edmonton Opera.
On the concert stage, the tenor has been heard in performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Iván Fischer and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust with the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, Mozart’s Requiem with Hervé Niquet leading the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah both with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Charlotte Symphony, and Carmina Burana with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony. Other concert appearances feature Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Haydn’s “Mass in the Time of War” with Bernard Labadie and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and Berlioz’s Te Deum under the direction of Charles Dutoit at the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has sung Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d'Astrée on tour in Vienna, Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Milan.
John Tessier’s extensive recording catalogue includes Mozart’s Requiem both with Sir Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy, John Corigliano’s A Dylan Thomas Trilogy with Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony, Stephen Paulus’ To Be Certain of the Dawn with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Haydn’s The Creation with Dame Jane Glover leading Music of the Baroque.
Yuliia Zasimova
is a Ukrainian opera singer. She is a graduate of the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. In 2016, she was an assistant trainee in the class of Maria Stefiuk. in addition, she was a participant in Marcello Lippi’s master class and the semifinalists in ‘Le Grand Prix de l’Opera’ Vocal Competition in Bucharest (Romania).
Yuliia Zasimova has become a participant in the International Opera Studio at the Zürich Opera (Switzerland) for the 2018/2019 theatrical season. Her repertoire includes the role of Amur (in Ch.W.Gluck’s “Orpheus and Eurydice”), the role of Marfa (in N.Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Tsar’s Bride”), and the role of Pamina (in W.A.Mozart’s “Magic Flute”).
