Opera Laurier: Biographies

Feb. 18, 2026

Creative Team

Mabel Wonnacott, director

Mabel Wonnacott is a Tkaronto based opera director, arts educator and puppeteer whose work has been described as “powerful” and “ingenious”(Opera Canada, LudwigVan Toronto). Directing highlights include Ramla and the Dessert with Tarragon Theatre’s Greenhouse festival (2026), Tapestry Opera’s Briefs (2025), The Tender Land with Toronto City Opera (2025), Le nozze di Figaro with Laurier Opera (2025) as well as L’enfant et les Sortileges and L’enfant Prodigues with The Glenn Gould School (2024). In 2024, Mabel directed the world premier of Lysistrata Reimagined, a new opera by Michael Albano and the U of T New Composer’s Collective. She was the associate director for the Banff Centre’s production of Don Giovanni (original direction by Joel Ivany) and was the assistant director for Ivany’s 2023 production of Don Giovanni with the NAC Orchestra.

Mabel regularly designs, builds and choreographs puppets, and is currently the Head of Puppetry for the Canadian Children’s Chorus’s productions of Alice in Wonderland. Mabel holds a diploma in Operatic Stage Directing from the University of Toronto as well as a Masters in Voice from Western University. An avid believer in opera as a vehicle for human connection and social change, Mabel holds the position of Ontario Provincial coordinator for Opera InReach.

Kate Carver, conductor

Kate is so happy to have returned to continue her work with Opera Laurier for another year and to be working alongside such a talented group of singers and orchestral musicians in this season’s production of The Llandovery Castle. It is a privilege and joy to be able to discover this wonderful work by Laurier Almuna Stephanie Martin. Kate maintains a private studio in Toronto as a Vocal Coach and accompanist and has been a member of staff at the University of Toronto’s Opera Division for over twenty years. She has recently conducted and music directed productions for Toronto Operetta Theatre, Opera in Concert, and Summer Opera Lyric Theatre.

Other positions have included Music Staff with the Canadian Opera Company, the voice program at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York, and the University of Montreal; Music Director for Essential Opera, Maritime Concert Opera, and Opera by Request. Kate received her Bachelor and Masters degrees in Music from McGill University, and studied in England at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Britten-Pears School, and The National Opera Studio.

Stephanie Martin, composer

A widely-performed composer, Stephanie Martin created the opera Llandovery Castle with librettist Paul Ciufo to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Canadian hospital ship, and to pay tribute to the doctors and nurses who lost their lives. A York University Professor Emerita and proud Laurier music alumna (class of 1984), Stephanie will be spending the Fall of 2026 as a visiting Fellow at Trinity College Dublin.

See also stephaniemartinmusic.com.

Paul Ciufo, librettist

Paul Ciufo is a Canadian playwright and librettist.

Ciufo’s play “Reverend Jonah” was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards. “Reverend Jonah” premiered and was a hit at Blyth Festival.

His historical drama “Narcisse” garnered a Governor General’s History Award. The playwright’s thriller “A Killing Snow” premiered at Blyth Festival. “Reverend Jonah” and “A Killing Snow” are published by Scirocco Drama.

CBC Radio produced and broadcast Ciufo’s full-length radio drama “On Convoy”.

As a librettist Ciufo collaborated with composer Stephanie Martin on the opera “The Llandovery Castle” which received a critically acclaimed workshop production in Toronto. He and Martin also co-created the oratorios “The Sun, the Wind, and the Man with the Cloak” and “Water: an Environmental Oratorio” which premiered in Toronto and Waterloo respectively.

Currently Ciufo is writing “Cordelia’s Daughter”, a stage play inspired by “King Lear”, and a musical with the working title “Streetlight Cadence is Destined for Greatness”.

See also paulciufo.ca.

Nate Hendley, author of Atrocity on the Atlantic

Nate Hendley is a Toronto-based journalist and award-winning author of several non-fiction books. He was born in Connecticut but raised in Waterloo, Ontario.

His book, Atrocity on the Atlantic, recounts the torpedoing of Canadian hospital ship Llandovery Castle by a German submarine in World War One.

Nate will be giving a short pre-show talk about the attack on the Llandovery Castle. He will also have books available for sale and signing.

Nate’s website offers more details about his books and background.

Orchestra

Kaitlynn Cook, violin

Kaitlynn is a violinist and music teacher from Kitchener-Waterloo. She graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with her Bachelors of Music Performance in 2024 and Diploma in Chamber Music in 2025. One of her favourite Laurier memories was when her studio gifted Jeremy Bell a disco ball that may or may not still hang in his kitchen to this day.

Elspeth Thomson, viola

TBA

Veda Hingert-McDonald, violin

Veda Hingert-McDonald (she/her) is a mixed-race Canadian violinist based in Toronto. Drawn to story just as much as sound, Veda aims to balance personal connection with tradition in her performances of both new and standard repertoire. She has been involved in over 100 premieres, including Jessie Marino’s “To The Gates of Hell (Off Course of Course)” in Switzerland, and Che Buford’s “i said…” through the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Her professional recordings include Mable Bailey’s “Elegy” with pianist Indigo Farmer, Derek Charke’s “Tree Rings” with percussionist Gavin Kitchen, and Weathering Steel with Plein Air Sound Collective. Veda holds the positions of Principal Second Violin in Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, and Concertmaster of Whispering River Orchestra. She also performs regularly with Kingston Symphony, Esprit Orchestra, and Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra.

Veda completed her masters of music at University of Colorado Boulder, where she studied with Takács Quartet violinists Harumi Rhodes and Ed Dusinberre. There she was generously supported by the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation, and received honorable mentions in the Bruce Ekstrand Graduate Performance Competition and the Honors Concerto Competition. She also holds a bachelor of music degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, where she made her soloist debut with Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 as a winner of the Laurier Concerto Competition. She has additional training from Lucerne Festival Academy, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Music at Port Milford, Icicle Creek Chamber Music, Forum Artium Germany, and Summer Music Vancouver.

When not on stage or in the practice room, Veda can usually be found hiking, cross-country skiing, or in the streets fighting for a better world.

Shannon Lai, cello

Shannon is a Canadian-born cellist based in Parry Sound, Ontario. She works with Whispering River Music and is inspired by the intersections of classical and community music. Through Whispering River Music, she is a teacher dedicated to providing accessible music programs that teach stringed instruments to local schools and community members facing financial barriers and living in rural or underserved areas. She is also an administrator and performer with the Whispering River Orchestra, known for its innovative programming and the creation of new concert music by Canadian composers for community performance. Shannon completed her Bachelor of Music and Chamber Music Diploma at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she studied with cellist Katie Schlaikjer and received chamber coaching from members of the Penderecki String Quartet. She is a Certified Suzuki Cello Teacher and has trained with David Evenchick, Susan Gagnon, and Laura Narenburg. In her free time, Shannon enjoys learning new pieces on the piano. She earned her RCM Grade 10 Certificate in piano before beginning her cello studies at age 15.

Ann Murdocca, clarinet

Ann is currently studying at the Glenn Gould School at Royal Conservatory of Music in the Artist Diploma Program studying with Joaquin Valdepeñas. She holds a Master of Music Performance degree from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Music in Performance and Diploma in Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University. Ann teaches at the Oscar Peterson Program of The Royal Conservatory of Music and is currently a recipient of a full scholarship at GGS. Ann has performed with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, National Academy Orchestra of Canada, Art of Time Ensemble, Royal Conservatory Orchestra as well as many chamber and contemporary music ensembles. Ann is an active performer in both her hometown King City, the GTA and KW region and has a deep passion for teaching and making music with others

Rachel Roe-Wu, flute

Canadian flautist and piccoloist Rachel Roe-Wu is a Master of Music Performance student at the University of Toronto where she studies with Camille Watts. Rachel is an active orchestral musician in the Greater Toronto Area, having performed with the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Toronto. Rachel has been a member of Orchestra Toronto since 2024 where she holds the 1st Piccolo/3rd Flute position.

She received her Honours Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, graduating in spring 2020, where she studied flute and piccolo with Dr. Amy Hamilton. During her time at Laurier, she was the winner of multiple scholarship awards, and was a multi-time recipient of the Maureen Forrester Music Scholarship. In 2019 she won the Wilfrid Laurier University Concerto Competition performing the first movement of Carl Nielsen’s Flute Concerto, and in 2018 won the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition performing Georges Hüe’s Fantaisie for Flute. In early 2019 she was also one of three finalists in the prestigious Ken Murray Concerto Competition with the first movement of the Nielsen Concerto.

Outside of music, Rachel enjoys reading, writing, playing video games, and spending time with her husband James. She and James are certified SCUBA divers, and enjoy travelling and diving together. This spring, they are excited to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary.

Jordan Sirvin, double bass

Jordan Sirvin is a double bass player currently based out of Toronto. He is from Navan Ontario, and completed his Bachelors of Music at the University of Ottawa, studying under Joel Quarrington and Travis Harrison. He is currently enrolled in his Masters in Double Bass Performance at University of Toronto.

Evan Turner, French horn

Evan Turner is an Ontario-based classically trained musician and freelancer currently pursuing a Master’s of Performance degree at the University of Toronto. He started his musical studies on piano as a child, and after discovering his passion for the horn in his teen years began forging a career as an artist.

He completed his Bachelor’s of Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University, studying under natural horn specialist Derek Conrod. He has worked with a number of community and semi-professional orchestras, including the Stratford Symphony Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, and the Wellington Wind Symphony. Through his studies he found a love of chamber music, and honed his craft
as a chamber musician by attending Madeline Island Chamber Music in 2024, where he worked with David Jolley and the Windscape Woodwind Quintet.

For the next phase of his artistic career, Evan hopes to further hone his craft and put down roots in the Toronto music scene. He has played with Toronto-based ensembles including the Hart House Orchestra and the Bloor-Annex Brass Ensemble, on top of being immersed in the high-performing atmosphere of the University of Toronto.

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.