Episode 1. Emily Steers

Emily Steers (she/her) is a soprano from Guelph Ontario. She completed her MA in Community Music at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2020, studying community and identity formation in LGBTQ choirs. She is an ardent fan and performer of new music, premiering a solo chamber opera by Alexander Wright in 2019, and participating in the Musique 3 Femmes new opera workshop. She is equally passionate about early music, co-founding the Rubrum Aurum early music trio in 2018 and touring the Maritime provinces.

She has a diverse set of operatic performances under her belt, ranging from Britten to Monteverdi to Janáček. Recently, Emily has been honing her skills as a conductor, working with Curtain Call Productions, the Laurier Singers, Vera Causa Opera, and Guelph Chamber Choir. She runs a thriving teaching studio, working in musical theatre, folk, pop, and classical.

Emily is committed to making her work accessible and meaningful to anyone who loves music!

About our Host, Christina Acton:

Christina Acton (they/them) is a Masters of Choral Conducting student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where they are studying under Dr. Jakub Martinec. Christina completed their Bmus in Voice Performance at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, where they studied voice under Monette Gould, and choral conducting under Dr. Kiera Galway and Dr. Gayle h. Martin.

Christina is passionate about accessible and inclusive music education; in 2022 they were the ArtsNB Arts Matters Undergraduate Conference winner for Best Research Presentation, for their research on transgender inclusive vocal pedagogy, research which they updated and presented again at the 2023 Newfound Music Festival Symposium. Want to hear more Christina? Well you’re in luck because they also co-host a radio show, Blind Date with Christina and Hannah, on CHMA 106.9FM.