ARTS INTEGRA FACULTY
CASSANDRA BOURNE – Executive Director
Cassandra Bourne is a dedicated and passionate Performing Artist with a firm commitment to academic and professional excellence. She has held the position of Executive Director of Arts Integra Centre for Music and the Arts since its inception in 2000. In addition to her duties at Arts Integra, Cassandra is also an assistant examiner for the International Baccalaureate Organization, and a member of the Markham Arts Council as well as the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association. She completed a Master's Degree of Music and two years in the Music Licentiate of Vocal Performance programs at McGill University in Montréal, and earned a Music Bachelor's of Education degree from the University of Toronto.
Cassandra has taught and lectured extensively as a Music and Performing Arts specialist in both classroom and private situations ranging from Elementary through University levels. She was assistant conductor of the University of Toronto's Women's Chorus, has continued to conduct both choirs and orchestras, and has seen her private students consistently excel in both competitions and exams at the highest levels of achievement. She is continuously engaged in presenting Seminars, Workshops and Master Classes, preparing students, teachers, choirs, bands and orchestras for public Concerts, Opera and Musical Theatre, Television and Film engagements, Festivals and Competitions, University Entrance Exams, and Professional Careers in the Performing Arts.
Cassandra is very active as an adjudicator at Festivals and Competitions across the country. Past engagements include the Central Newfoundland Kiwanis Music Festival, the Markham Music Festival, the Brandon Festival of the Arts, the Lakehead Festival of Music and the Arts, the Queen's County Music Festival in affiliation with the Prince Edward Island Music Festival Association and the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals as well as the New Brunswick Federation of Music Festivals 33rd Provincial Finals for the Canadian Music Competition and the Pickering Greater Toronto Area Music Festival. Cassandra has been invited to adjudicate the Brampton-Caledon Music Festival in April of this year.
Cassandra is committed to the cultural development of Canada, realized through the creation of Gallery Exhibitions, Opera and Concert Recitals. The desire to promote a higher interest and awareness in phenomenal young Canadian performers of Operatic and Vocal Music led her to found the Arts Integra Opera Studio as the York Region Opera in 2003, where she has held the position of Artistic Director since its nascence.
Her performing expertise and immediate research interests lie with the complete Operatic and Classical Vocal repertoire for the Lirico-Spinto and Dramatic Soprano with a concentration in Verdi, Strauss and Wagnerian roles. She is fluent in the English, French, German, and Italian repertoires and is equally at home with all Vocal genres from Art Song and Opera, to R & B and Jazz. She has studied and coached with Metropolitan Opera Sopranos Sharon Sweet, Renata Scotto, Evelyn Lear, and Lorna MacDonald, as well as with William and Dixie Ross Neill, Michael Evans, Michael McMahon and order of Canada recipient Stuart Hamilton.
Cassandra has been a recipient of many honours and awards both in Canada and abroad and has performed in numerous Operatic and Oratorio productions throughout the country. She has sung under the batons of Daniel Lipton, Charles Dutoit, Iwan Edwards and Timothy Vernon among others, and has worked with great directors including Christopher Newton, Jean Francois Racine and Michael Albano.
Cassandra’s expertise covers a wide area of responsibilities which has prepared her for the challenges that arise in educating and inspiring students of all ages and at all levels of ability and achievement. She is committed to enhancing the student experience while imparting a deeper understanding of the arts in the study and performance of challenging repertoire.
PRECIOUS LONDON
Precious London is a vibrant and devoted Composer, Performer, Producer and Educator who has dedicated her life to Music and the Performing Arts. She has worked in an array of specialized areas and holds two Honors Bachelor of Arts Degrees from the University of Toronto.
Precious is the primary Songwriter for the young urban R&B trio t.o.y., creating the intricate vocal arrangements the group is renown for. Performing in over 250 live shows spanning a decade has given her many wonderful opportunities to showcase her talents not only as a unique Composer, but also as a dynamic Performer.
Various independent musical projects around Toronto feature Miss London. They include Gruvoria, a Funkdafied CD written and produced by Blair Purdy and available in HMV, and Thanksgiving, a worship album from the gospel choir Spirit of Joy. She can also be heard on four other albums that she has co-produced, promoting independent projects for Mark M.I.N.D.
Her background experience has led Precious to her current position as the Director of Dramatic Arts and Music Educator at Arts Integra and Executive assistant to the Artistic Director of the former York Region Opera.
Precious currently holds the position of Worship Director for the Intercultural Worship Centre in Ajax, and is also a member of the Toronto Mass Choir. Ongoing plans include continued teaching, an upcoming solo gospel album with a new sound of soul, and continued growth with Arts Integra.
ANDREA JEFFREY
Nova Scotian Andrea Jeffrey is a graduate of the University of Toronto where she completed her Master of Music in Performance. She received a Bachelor of Music with distinction at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Andrea was the recipient of the Richard March Fellowship and Lois Quilico Fellowship in 2004 and was awarded both the Medland Green Scholarship and the Ruby Graduate Fellowship in 2003.
Since childhood she has found music a wonderful form of expression; studying piano, voice, guitar and violin from an early age. Andrea has extensive experience as a teacher and has taught privately for a number of years. In addition to her duties at Arts Integra, Andrea is currently employed as vocal coach for the Toronto Bach Children’s Chorus.
Andrea has performed the title role in Suor Angelica, as well as the roles of Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi and Mother Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites. She has also been a soloist in a number of oratorio performances including Faure's Requiem, the Vivaldi Gloria, St. Matthew’s Passion and Israel in Egypt. Andrea was Pamina in Toronto’s 2005 Summer Opera Lyric Theatre production of Die Zauberflöte and studied African drumming, East Indian and contemporary singing and Acting at the Queen of Pudding's 2004 Contemporary Vocal Workshop. Upcoming engagements include concerts with Maritime Concert Opera and Toronto's Opera in Concert.
The study of music has been shown to be a significant factor in the positive development of young people providing personal challenges, discipline and an artistic outlet as part of a valuable learning experience. While some find a career in music, countless others keep music in their lives and involve themselves in school and church choirs, school and community bands and supporters of the arts as adults. In this way they enrich their communities and their own families with the gift of music. Andrea feels that her role as teacher, is to contribute to the development of her students’ potential, to promote healthy techniques and to help each student find joy in music.
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