Leadership

David Ambrose, Artistic Director

David Ambrose has served as Artistic Director for Mississauga Festival Choir since 2006. An award-winning conductor, singer and director, he is equally accomplished in choral music, musical theatre and opera. David is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, where he specialized in Voice and Conducting, studying under such distinguished teachers as Sir David Willcocks, Raffi Armenian and MFC Founding Conductor Lori-Anne Dolloff, and was the inaugural winner of the Elmer Iseler National Fellowship in Choral Conducting. Raised in Mississauga, David is currently a high school music teacher at Etobicoke School of the Arts, teaching Vocal Music and and conducting several choral ensembles including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Pops choir and the award-winning WoCo women's choir, David also works as the Director of Music at Runnymede United Church, and is active as a choral music clinician.

Ryan Moilliet, Bass Section Lead

Ryan Moilliet has fostered a love of music since the age of six, singing under the direction of Jean Ashworth Bartle in the Toronto Children’s Chorus. Recently, Ryan has been a Sidgwick Scholar for three seasons under the direction of Dr. Robert Cooper in the Orpheus Choir of Toronto. In addition, he has appeared with Chorus Niagara as a featured soloist in The Farthest Shore by Paul Mealor (2017) and A Christmas Cantata by Nils Lindberg (2017). Ryan made his opera debut in the Glenn Gould School’s production of Offenbach’s La belle Hélène (2015). He has also performed with Voicebox: Opera in Concert, and in Toronto Operetta Theatre's production of Sigmund Romberg's The Student Prince (2015). Ryan is currently completing his ARCT from The Royal Conservatory in Vocal Performance, studying with Dr. Robert Loewen. This is Ryan's MFC debut and he is thankful for David Ambrose for the opportunity. Fun fact, David Ambrose actually directed Ryan's first ever musical Godspell at Humber Valley United Church.

Glynis Ratcliffe,
Soprano Section Lead

Glynis Ratcliffe earned both her Bachelor and Master of Music in Voice Performance at the University of Toronto. Her focus on concert and recital repertoire has allowed her to work with Graham Johnson, Rudolph Jansen, Martin Katz and Elisabeth Söderström. She is currently a full time freelance writer and working on her first novel.

Carl Steinhauser, Accompanist

Carl Steinhauser received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario, where he studied piano with Gwen Beamish, and composition with Peter Paul Koprowski and Paul Frehner. He also holds an ARCT in piano performance. Carl is accompanist for Etobicoke Centennial Choir, organist at Runnymede United Church, and does frequent collaborative work with the Toronto District School Board and Etobicoke School of the Arts.

Bob Anderson, Conductor, Resonance and Raising Voices

Bob Anderson holds Bachelor of Music and Education Degrees from the University of Western Ontario, where he studied choral conducting with Deral Johnson, and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati. He performed with the Elmer Iseler Singers for four seasons, and his choral arrangements and compositions are published with several Canadian publishers. He taught in the Peel District School Board for 25 years, joining the staff of Cawthra Park Secondary School in 1999, retiring in 2016.

At Cawthra Park SS, Bob taught vocal and instrumental music in the Regional Arts Program and conducted the Cawthra Park Chamber Choir, which has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Cirque du Soleil, the Elmer Iseler Singers, Mississauga Festival Choir, U. of T.’s MacMillan Singers, at Festival 500, and at the Toronto Vocal Arts Festival. In 2013 the choir performed at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto with The Rolling Stones. He also conducted Cawthra’s 350-voice concert choir, “The Ritz”.

In 2015, Bob was invited by Choirs Ontario to conduct the Ontario Youth Choir, a one-week program of intensive choral training for high school and university students from across Ontario.

Yvonne Choi, Accompanist, Resonance

Building on her Bachelor of Music under the guidance of Leslie De'Ath from Wilfrid Laurier University, Yvonne Choi has completed her Masters in Collaborative Piano Performance under Lydia Wong from University of Toronto. She has been the recipient of multiple scholarships for outstanding music performance, including the Richard Kehn Scholarship, the Ken Murray Scholarship, and the Penderecki String Quartet Prize.

Yvonne has performed with Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Chinese Orchestra, and Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, as well as performing in Masterclasses for world class musicians such as Barbara Hannigan, Lawerence Lesser, Michael McMahon, the Penderecki String Quartet, and the Chiara String Quartet. She maintains an active teaching studio and is a sought-after private studio accompanist for all instruments.

Andrea Grant, Accompanist

Andrea Grant is a full-time member of the music staff of University of Toronto’s Opera Division,
the Head of Music Staff for Wexford Festival Opera, a member of the music staff of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and a faculty member of Highlands Opera Studio 'Opera as Theatre’ program. Andrea received her BMus (Hons) in Piano Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from University of Western Ontario, and a Diploma in Operatic Performance from U of T.

Sabrina Santelli-Perez,
Alto Section Lead

Sabrina Santelli-Perez has spent the last ten years performing onstage in musicals from Toronto (Suds, Into the Woods, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown) to Japan (Encore, Christmas in New York). Sabrina graduated from the University of Toronto’s Vocal Performance program, and is also a graduate of the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. She is happy to finally be back in Canada, and is looking forward to continuing her career in her hometown.