Our Collaborators
Teiya Kasahara
Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/he) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans opera, theatre, and contemporary performance for 20 years, and the creator-performer of the critically acclaimed work The Queen In Me. Heralded as “a force of nature” (Toronto Star), Teiya has sung roles such as The Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute) in Canada and Europe, Madama Butterfly (Windsor, Burlington, Toronto), and premiered new works such as When the Sun Comes Out (Vancouver), Pomegranate (Toronto) and Silence (Edmonton). As Opera Canada’s recipient of the Change Maker Ruby Award, Teiya is striving to reimagine the operatic canon while investigating the intersectionality of identity politics through works such as The Butterfly Project, Little Mis(s)gender, and Eurydice Fragments. They are a co-founder of Amplified Opera, an artistic associate of Confluence Concerts, and a member of Fractal Arts Collective. For more visit www.teiyakasahara.com or follow everywhere @teiyakasahara
Derek Kwan
Derek Kwan is an actor, singer, and theatre creator working at the intersection of theatre, music and movement in a number of forms including opera, clown, and puppetry. His performing career has taken him across Canada and the globe, from London, England, to performances in Czech Republic, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and China. Derek was nominated for 4 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for his work in theatre and received the Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role in Mr. Shi and His Lover. Derek is also passionate about therapeutic clowning, as well as clown, puppet and mask in all contexts. He is the Artistic Director of Common Boots Theatre. He also works as a director of theatre, dramaturg, and teacher/lecturer on theatre, diversity and representation, and clown.
Wesley Hui
WESLEY (JUN LAM) HUI hails from Unionville, Ontario. With U of T Opera, Wesley performed the roles of Ambulance Man, (Hin und zurück), Choufleuri, (Monsieur Choufleuri), Rosencrarntz, (Disobedience), and Jacques II, (A Tale of Two Cities), Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), and Antonio and understudied Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro). With COSA Canada & COSI Connection, he performed Sergeant of Police (The Pirates of Penzance), premiered the Magician, Interpreter of Dreams, and Fisherman (The Art of Love), Mr. Hooley (The Shop Girl), Dick Deadeye (H.M.S. Pinafore), Lazar Wolf, (Fiddler on the Roof), Cascada (The Merry Widow), Old Adam (Ruddigore), and the Foreman (Trial by Jury). Recently, he was the live sound engineer for Risk! A Climate Cabaret with the Canada Climate Law Initiative as part of the Canada Climate Week Xchange. Wesley was an audio, video, and recording engineer with Toronto Children’s Chorus and with COSA Canada for their online productions in 2021-2022. Apart from his musical engagements Wesley is on the board of directors of Confluence Concerts, an eclectic concert series pioneered by Larry Beckwith in Toronto.
Keith Lam
“A suave, fine-grained baritone” (Boston Globe), Hong Kong-born, Toronto-based singer Keith Lam (he/him) recently made his European debut with Soundstream’s staged production of Claude Vivier’s Musik für das Ende. He also appeared in the film adaption of the a cappella opera Sweat, reviving the role of the Boss, which won the Opera America Award for Digital Excellence. He has performed with companies such as the Canadian Opera Company, Tafelmusik, Tapestry Opera, Against the Grain Theatre, Opera Five, Bicycle Opera Project, Toronto Operetta Theatre, and Jeunesse Musicales. Keith was the audience prizewinner at the Classical Music Consort Handel Competition, finalist at the 2013 Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra Competition, and placed third in the 2014 NYCO Mozart Vocal Competition. He is an alumnus of the Aspen Opera Theater, Banff Centre’s Opera as Theatre program, Opera NUOVA, Highlands Opera Studio, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Institute.
Douglas Rodger
Over 50 years in the theatre Douglas Rodger has written, acted, directed and produced. ( Theatre Terra Nova, Phoenix Theatre, NDWT Company, Actor’s Lab, Theatre Passe Muraille, The Evelyn Group). His writing credits include; episodic television, (ABC, CBC, Global, TVO), CBC Radio Drama, independent tv screenplays, original and adaptations, and feature films. Theatre; Northern Delights, NDWT Co. Donut City, for Canadian Stage. How Could You, Mrs. Dick?, (Hamilton Place, Tivoli Theatre, Wintergreen Theatre, Theatre Aquarius. Numerous amateur productions.) Opera librettos with Composer Njo Kong Kie; One act. Shattered Glass (Buddies In Bad Times) and a full length three act opera, The Futures Market. Streaming on YouTube in 2025. Eliza's Journey, a one act play set during the War of 1812, premiered at Battlefield House Park in Stoney Creek, the site of the historical events occurred upon which the play is based,. In development; Hung Out To Dry, an original musical, set in the demimonde of Depression-era Toronto. Featuring Ernest Hemingway and the infamous bank robber, Norman ‘Red’ Ryan.
Njo Kong Kie
Picnic and ping pong enthusiast. Composer and performer based in Toronto, Kong Kie makes music theatre, including operas concert theatre, and vocal works that sit somewhere between the familiar and the not-quite-known.
Brandon Wells
Audio engineer Brandon Wells has spent over a decade working with a multitude of artists and organizations in Toronto and beyond. Often employed as recording engineer, live sound engineer and livestream mixing engineer, Brandon has worked for Live from Koerner Hall, Soundstreams, Esprit Orchestra, Against the Grain Theatre, Pocket Concerts, Tapestry Opera, Canadian Stage Company, Why Not Theatre and numerous others. Brandon currently holds a full-time position at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music as Digital Media Production Specialist, and is a staff recording engineer and Faculty member at the Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music. Brandon holds a Master of Music degree in Sound Recording from McGill University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Humber College. He has also served as a Senior Audio Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Centre.