Laurier Guest Artist Series: March 15, 2026 Biographies

March 9, 2026

Pentaèdre Woodwind Quintet

A unique ensemble in Quebec's musical landscape, Pentaèdre explores and introduces the public to a varied and original chamber music repertoire from the great tradition of music for winds, currently made up of five talented performers whose technique and precision are unanimously acclaimed.

Over the years, the ensemble has collaborated with renowned performers including tenors Christoph Prégardien and Rufus Müller, baritones Russell Braun and Phillip Addis, soprano Karina Gauvin, pianists Naida Cole, David Jalbert, Iwan Llewelyn-Jones and Charles Richard-Hamelin. Pentaèdre has also teamed up with renowned chamber music ensembles such as the Penderecki String Quartet, Quatuor Arthur-LeBlanc, Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, Quintette à vent de Marseille, Azahar Ensemble and Slowind, and has performed widely in Canada, Europe, the US and Middle East.

Pentaèdre’s fifteen recordings to date include an album around Bach’s music and heritage (2021), some transcriptions of Mozart’s string quartets dedicated to Haydn (2019), a chamber version of Schubert’s Winterreise by Normand Forget, awarded the Opus Prize in 2008, and an arrangement of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, nominated at the ADISQ gala in 2014. To these accolades are added excellent reviews of the ensemble’s original performances L’amour est un opéra muet and A Chair in Love, as well as an Opus Prize in 2002 in the category “Concert of the Year: New, Contemporary and Electroacoustic Music.” In 2017, pursuing its commitment to developing and disseminating repertoire for wind quintet, Pentaèdre instituted the Fonds Normand Forget, whose mission is to support the creation of new works, both locally and internationally.

Penderecki String Quartet

Celebrating their 37th anniversary, the Penderecki String Quartet is based in Waterloo, Ontario where they have been Quartet-in-Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University since 1991. Originating from Poland, Canada, and USA, they bring their varied yet collective experience to create performances that demonstrate their “remarkable range of technical excellence and emotional sweep” (Toronto, Globe and Mail). The PSQ's international performing schedule has included appearances in New York (Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Hong Kong (Academy for the Arts), Los Angeles (REDCAT Hall at Disney Center), St. Petersburg (Sheremetev Palace), the Adam Festival in New Zealand, and throughout Europe in Rome, Madrid, Paris, Belgrade, Prague, Krakow, Vilnius, and Zagreb. The PSQ has also toured extensively in Mexico, Australia, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and from coast to coast in Canada. The PSQ’s large discography includes over three dozen recordings including the chamber music repertoire of Beethoven and Brahms as well as the first Canadian release of the six Béla Bartók quartets. Their disc of Marjan Mozetich’s “Lament in the Trampled Garden” won the 2010 JUNO Award for Best Composition, and most recently they were nominated for a 2023 JUNO for their jazz album “Blue” with Diana Panton and Don Thompson. In October 2013, the PSQ worked with Maestro Krzysztof Penderecki on his Third Quartet (2008) and performed it at Symphony Space in New York City on the occasion of his 80th birthday. This followed with the recording of Penderecki’s Third Quartet along with quartets of Norbert Palej on the Marquis label. In 2022, the PSQ was featured in Howard Shore’s soundtrack to David Cronenberg’s film Crimes of the Future. Dedicated educators, the PSQ have been recent guests at Bloomington Indiana University’s String Academy, the Beijing Conservatory, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), and with their partner universities in Osnabrück, Germany and Lyon, France.

Leslie Fagan, soprano

Leslie Fagan is a world-renowned soprano, a dedicated educator and mentor, and a proud Canadian artist.

Hailed by critics as “nothing short of astonishing” and “in a class of her own,” she has for decades performed under the baton of noted conductors at many of the world’s most famous music venues.
Leslie is a recipient of the Order of Ontario in recognition of her sustained artistic excellence, her commitment to educating the next generation of vocal performers, and her championing of the great Canadian songbook though the Canadian Art Song Series.

As an educator, Leslie has taught at Institutions around the world, including the Juilliard School, NYC., Manhattan School of Music, NYC., and the American University of Sharjah, UAE.

Anya Alexeyev, piano

Born in Moscow into a family of musicians, Anya Alexeyev started studying at the Gnessin Music School at the age of five, and in 1989 entered Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory to become a student of the renowned professor Dmitri Bashkirov. The following year she was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied with Irina Zaritskaya. During her student years, Anya Alexeyev won numerous prizes including the John Hopkinson Gold Medal (Royal College of Music), Elizabeth, The Queen Mother’s Award for ” the most outstanding contribution to the Royal College of Music”, the First prize at the Newport International Piano Competition, Young Concert Artists Trust, and The Capital Radio/Anna Instone Memorial Prize.

Alexeyev has performed extensively in many countries across Europe (Britain, France, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Ireland, Greece, Germany, and Macedonia), as well as in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Malaysia, and South Africa.

Joseph Petric, accordion

Joseph Petric began his solo career with an official London debut recital acclaimed by The Independent. His American debut merited a citation in “Performances of the Year” by the Washington Post’s Joseph D. McLellan and his 360 commissioned works reflect a curatorial initiative well in tune with the artistic stewardship of the Arditti Quartet and the American Wind Symphony. Mr. Petric's concerto debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jukka Pekka Saraste began his concerto-led career that included a historic performance of three concertos in one evening with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with Pauline Oliveros, Witold Lutoslawski, John Cage, IRCAM, London Southbank, the Canadian Electronic Ensemble, PQ4, Pentaèdre, SMCQ and 'le NEM' among others, and considers Colin Tilney and Boyd McDonald his masters. His discography include 42 CD albums and 59 CBC, SRC and European Broadcast Union state radio recordings. A composer, theorist and historian published exclusively by Germany’s Augemus Press, Petric revived and reclaimed Giovanni Gagliardi’s ignored 1911 treatise Manualetto del Fisharmonicista for future generations and as well confirmed for the first time the origins of the concert accordion in the epistemology. In the 35th year of an uninterrupted concert career he was invited to a professorship at the Faculté de Musique, Université de Montréal where he leads the graduate accordion performance program. He plays a bespoke instrument modelled on the 1910 Italian Camerano built by Canadian master Leo Niemi Sudbury, Ontario, 1996.

Ian Whitman, bass

Ian Whitman began his musical training on piano at the age of four but his true passion for performing was ignited in his early teens when he picked up the electric guitar. He soon switched to the bass guitar and was introduced to the double bass at age 17. Ian studied jazz at Grant MacEwan College in his hometown of Edmonton before moving east to earn his Bachelor of Music degree from McGill University. He completed his Master of Music degree at Yale University and spent one year at the New England Conservatory in Boston before returning to Canada.

While studying, Ian was a member of the National Youth Orchestra, the Banff Festival Orchestra, and served as Principal Bass of L'orchestre de la francophonie canadienne.

In 2008, Ian began his position of principal bass with the (former) KW Symphony and has been on faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University since 2012 and Conrad Grebel (University of Waterloo) since 2020. During his years in the region, he has appeared as soloist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, performed with the Penderecki String Quartet, the Numus Ensemble, and has worked with the KW Chamber Music Society in Waterloo, the InnerChamber Series in Stratford, and the Colours of Music Festival in Barrie. He has performed with Canadian orchestras including l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Calgary Philharmonic. Recently, he has been invited to play as guest principal bass with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Niagara Symphony.

He was heavily involved with the KW Symphony Youth Orchestra program and has served as coach and occasional conductor for the program’s four ensembles. He is currently conductor of the newly-created KW Youth Orchestra program’s Youth Sinfonia group.

Brennan Connolly, percussion

Brennan Connolly currently serves as the Associate Dean of Curriculum and Planning at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada where he holds the position of Musician-in-Residence and co-ordinates the percussion program. Brennan performs regularly as a professional percussionist across numerous musical genres and styles. He has most recently appeared with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, London Symphonia, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, the Jeans ‘n’ Classics Rock Symphony, and in the pit orchestra at the Stratford Festival.

Cassandra Wolff, percussion

Cassandra Wolff is a freelance percussionist and musician from St. Catharines, Ontario. She holds a Master’s degree in Performance from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor’s degree in Performance as well as a Diploma in Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University. She studied under the tutelage of Aiyun Huang, Beverley Johnston, Charles Settle, Ryan Scott, Brennan Connolly, and Dave Campion during her post secondary education.

Jeffrey Ryan, composer

Jeffrey Ryan grew up training his ear with Petula Clark, The Partridge Family and Captain & Tennille, playing saxophone and flute in high school, singing in two choirs, and writing his own songs for voice class. Now, as a freelance composer based in Vancouver, Canada, he finds inspiration in the world around him and creates music that runs the gamut from orchestral and chamber works to opera, art song, and choral music.

Praised for his “strong personal voice” (Globe and Mail) and recipient of SOCAN’s Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award, Ryan’s music engages audiences around the world. His song cycle Everything Already Lost won the 2021 NATS Art Song Composition Award, making him the first Canadian to take first prize in this international competition.

Recordings of Ryan’s music have garnered multiple JUNO and Western Canadian Music Award recognitions. His discography includes the portrait CDs Fugitive Colours, Quantum Mechanics, My Soul Upon My Lips, and Found Frozen: Songs of Jeffrey Ryan, along with many individual works.

Jeffrey Ryan was the Vancouver Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence (2002-2007) and Composer Laureate (2008/09). He holds degrees from Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Toronto, and Cleveland Institute of Music.

Yusuf Saadi, poet

Yusuf Saadi’s first collection Pluviophile (Nightwood Editions April 2020) was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. He previously won The Malahat Review‘s 2016 Far Horizons Award for Poetry and the 2016 Vallum Chapbook Award. At other times, his writing has appeared in literary journals including The Malahat Review, Vallum, Brick, Best Canadian Poetry, Canadian Notes & Queries, Arc, CV2, Grain, The Puritan, PRISM international, Hamilton Arts and Letters, Prairie Fire, and untethered. He is also a reader for The Puritan and was an editor for Watch Your Head. Yusuf holds an MA from the University of Victoria and currently resides in Montreal. You can contact him at yusufsaadi@protonmail.com.