Silver Thread presents a short fundraising concert before we head over to Victoria, and all proceeds will go towards our PODIUM adventure. At this concert, you’ll be able to hear some new music, learn more about the work we will share in BC, and pick up your very own Silver Thread Tote Bag and/or sticker! […]
Anika Venkatesh is a genre-defying vocalist hailing from Coast Salish Territories, and currently based in Tkarón:to. Anika bridges art forms as a solo vocalist, choral professional, theatre performer, and opera singer. Select performances include Alice in Wonderland on tour (Bad Hats Theatre); alto soloist in The Atonement (The Orpheus Choir of Toronto); Sky in a Small Cage (Mahogany Opera, Barbican Centre, Copenhagen Opera Festival); Universal Child Care (Quote Unquote Collective, Canadian Stage).
Anika is also an R&B musician, amongst other contemporary genres. They are a founding member of Couch Jams, a Vancouver-based community music collective dedicated to amplifying the voices of underrepresented BIPOC artists and musicians. Anika continues to discover their artistic niche with an instrument radically fluid and hybrid. Through musical storytelling, they hope to garner curiosity, reflection, play, connection, tenderness, intimacy, and strength.
Emily Parker is a Toronto-based soprano, conductor, and music educator. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto, where she majored in voice and studied conducting. Emily sings professionally with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and has previously sung with St. Clements Church, the Toronto Festival Singers, and Kingsway-Lambton United Church. Her extensive choral background includes participation in the World Youth Choir of 2024 (Germany) and of 2025 (Spain), and the National Youth Choir of Canada.
Emily is an assistant conductor with Young Voices Toronto. She was a conducting intern with the 2023 Ontario Youth Choir, and has previously conducted with choirs such as Modern Sound Collective, Durham Region’s RESOUND choir, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Etobicoke Centennial Choir, and Kingsway-Lambton United Church’s Junior Choir. Emily has taught private voice lessons for several years and is currently completing her Master of Teaching at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education (University of Toronto).
Ineza Mugisha is a multi-genre musician/actor from Toronto, Ontario. She received her BMus of Classical Music from the University of Toronto in 2022. Since graduating she has made several debuts across Canada, and in the US, including Of the Sea with Tapestry Opera, Treemonisha with Volcano Theatre, and a recent remount of Treemonisha in Chicago with the Harris Theatre. She made her acting debut with Start the Riot theatre in their premier of Tendencies, and Fringe Debut in this year’s musical Iris Says Goodbye. She has been a soprano soloist for various orchestral oratorios including Messiah with Guelph Chamber Choir, Fauré’s Requiem with Grand Philharmonic, and Nelson Mass with St. James Choir. She is also a part of the 2025 Soulpepper Academy, continuing to hone her craft as a performer. Along with her theatre projects, she likes to study and create in other genres like R&B and neo-soul. She is looking forward to future solo and collaborative projects ahead.
Joshua Sutherland (he/him) is a passionate choral musician hailing from Whitby, Ontario. For Joshua, group singing embodies community and the collaborative spirit, and he enjoys working in various choral leadership positions across the Greater Toronto Area.
Currently, Joshua sings professionally as a tenor lead at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, and with The Elora Singers. In recent years, he has made appearances with various other ensembles, including the Elmer Iseler Singers, Concreamus, and as a Sidgwick Scholar with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto. In 2025, Joshua was a featured soloist in Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shephard, presented by The Elora Singers and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a conductor, Joshua has been an Assistant Conductor with the Bach Children’s Chorus’ Choir III and Lower Voice Ensemble, and he has held Intern Conductor positions with the 2025 Ontario Youth Choir and with Modern Sound Collective.
A graduate of the Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance program at Western University, Joshua attributes his love of group singing to his mentors at Western, and to his beloved high school music teacher, Erin Collins.
Kai Leung is a passionate choral conductor, singer, voice teacher, and composer. He is the Artistic Director and Executive Director of the Modern Sound Collective, an organization that provides young choral musicians with accessible opportunities for growth and collaboration.
He is also the Artistic Director of Oakville Choral, a dynamic non-audition community choir, promoting choral singing and music appreciation to the communities of Halton and beyond. Additionally, he sings baritone with the TMSingers and the Schola Cantorum of St. Basil’s Catholic Church. Kai has sung with the Ontario Youth Choir, the National Youth Choir of Canada, and the World Youth Choir.
Kai holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto, where he studied voice and composition. His choral works have been performed by the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto, the Vancouver Youth Choir, the Orpheus Choir of Toronto, and many other choral groups around Canada, the United States, and Europe. Kai is the winner of the 2023 Debbie Fleming prize for choral composition, presented by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Kai’s works are available for perusal and purchase on his website and through MSC presents.
Kai is the recipient of the prestigious William and Phyllis Waters Graduating Award from the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. This award is presented each year to one graduating student from any stream who is deemed to have the greatest potential to make an important contribution to the field of Music. Kai has also been awarded the Arthur Plettner Scholarship, the Richard I Thorman Award, and the Lloyd Bradshaw Prize. In 2023 and 2025, Kai was a nominee of the Leslie Bell Prize, an award that supports choral conductors in furthering their professional careers and enhancing their choral conducting abilities.
Martin Gomes (he/they) is a writer born & based in downtown Toronto. As a city mouse, he’s hard to pin down. If he’s not at his local Second Cup, you can catch him performing with various different groups around the world. These groups include Diapente, Silver Thread, Opus 8, Irmao, Frizz & Fro, or in his variety show titled Between the Boots. His poetry has been featured twice on the TTC thanks to Poems in Passage and VIBEarts. With his poetics, he’s facilitated arts programming with organizations such as JAYU, Unity Charity, The Jamii Hub, Thrive Youth, and Lakeshore Arts. His goal in life is never to be the star, but to give space for the stars to exist.
Nathan Gritter (he/him) is a singer and conductor based in Toronto. He is a doctoral student studying Historical Performance at the University of Toronto. He completed a Master of Music degree, also at the University of Toronto, studying choral conducting with Dr. Jamie Hillman.
Nathan played a large role in the organization and artistic leadership of the University’s performance of “Considering Matthew Shepard” in 2023, co-conducting the work. He is the Director of Music at Kingsway-Lambton United Church, conducting its Chancel Choir and spearheading new exciting musical projects for the congregation and community.
Nathan is an experienced professional choral singer, singing with groups such as The Elora Singers, Toronto Mendelssohn Singers, Choir 21, Trinity Bach Project, and the Theatre of Early Music. Recent projects include soloist features in Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb with The Elora Singers and Bach’s Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir BWV 131 and Himmelskönig, sei wilkommen BWV 182 with the Trinity Bach Project. In the fall of 2025, he participated in a project in Western France, working with Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants
Praised for her “angelic voice” (Ludwig Van Toronto), Sarah Mole is a multifaceted performer & artist hailing from St. John’s. Sarah was the Alto Soloist for Haydn’s Creation (Amadeus Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra), and Mary, Wife of Cleophas in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s The Atonement (Orpheus Choir of Toronto). She sang the soprano and mezzo solos for Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca’s Missa Afro-Brasiliera as part of the Luminato Festival in Koerner Hall and the HarbourVoices Festival in Newfoundland. She premiered David A. Rahbee’s orchestral arrangement of Four Songs by Clara Schumann with UofT’s Campus Philharmonic Orchestra.
Sarah is also an avid member of the GTA’s vibrant choral scene, currently holding a Sidgwick Scholar position with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, under the tutelage of Wendy Nielsen and Mary Morrison.
Sarah is an arts administrator in Toronto, currently serving as the Communications & Public Relations Manager for Toronto Summer Music. Her digital artwork can be seen on JUNO Award-winning pianist Philip Chiu’s recent album, Voyages.
Rayna Crandlemire is an Ottawa-born soprano currently based in Toronto. Originally trained in violin, piano, and clarinet, she discovered her passion for vocal performance early in her musical journey. A distinguished graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, she was the sole recipient of the prestigious Robert William Bygrave Entrance Scholarship in Voice and completed her studies with honours in 2022.
Since graduating, Rayna has established herself as a versatile and sought-after freelance artist, collaborating with a wide range of Toronto-based ensembles and organizations. Her performance credits include work with the Trinity Bach Project, the Amadeus Choir, Concreamus, the Toronto Festival Singers, TOLive, and others.
Rayna currently serves as the soprano lead at Leaside United Church and with MSC’s Datsuzoku. She is also a member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s professional core, the TMSingers, and is delighted to return for a second season as a Sidgwick Scholar with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto.
