Robert Bernhardt served as Music Director and Conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera for 19 seasons. He was the second Music Director in the combined company’s history, and is now the first with the title Emeritus. A lover of all genres of music, he is equally at home in symphonic, operatic, pops, and educational performances.  He also nears another milestone in his career with the Louisville Orchestra, with this year representing his 30th consecutive season with the LO, and his 15th as Principal Pops Conductor. This season, he will make his conducting debuts with the Dallas and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, return to the Cincinnati Pops and Detroit Symphony, and will conduct six Boston Pops concerts. His vast symphonic repertoire covers most of the standard canon and his commitment to the music of our time is significant. He has been a frequent guest conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Boston Pops. He has also been a guest with the Houston, Seattle, Phoenix, Nashville, Colorado, Iceland, and Pacific Symphony Orchestras, among others. He has recorded for Vanguard, First Edition, Carlton Classics, and RPO record labels. He has also conducted the Louisville Ballet, the North Carolina Ballet, the Jacksonville Ballet, and the Lonestar Ballet.

Hailed as “a most promising talent” (Le Devoir), mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel is fast becoming one of Canada's most sought after young performers. She recently performed with the Houston, San Antonio, and Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestras, Les Violons du Roy, Edmonton Opera, and Pacific Opera Victoria, and has received acclaim for opera roles including Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Concepcion in L'Heure espagnole, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Ottone in Agrippina, and the title role in L'Enfant et les sortilèges. She also added the title role in Carmen which she performed in her début with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Her orchestral repertoire ranges from Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with Jacques Lacombe, Haydn's Stabat mater with Bernard Labadie, and Handel's Messiah with Jean-Marie Zeitouni.

Founded in 1980 by Robert de Frece, Greenwood Singers is dedicated to the performance of all types of choral music from Renaissance to Broadway. The choir’s eclectic programming has made its concerts popular with Edmonton audiences since its debut in 1981. In the beginning, Greenwood Singers specialized in the performance of a cappella music from different stylistic periods. Its programming has now expanded to include works with soloists, instrumental ensembles and chamber orchestra. A versatile ensemble, the choir has performed frequently with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in a wide variety of programs which have included Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Holst’s The Planets, family Christmas concerts, the concert version of Jerome Kern’s Show Boat, Orff’s Carmina Burana (with the Alberta Ballet) and the ESO’s 1992 reunion with the British rock group, Procol Harum.

Founded in 1988 by Robert de Frece, the University of Alberta Faculty of Education Handbell Ringers play a set of 75 finely tuned English handbells manufactured by Schulmerich Carillons of Sellersville, Pennsylvania, “Bell Capital of the World,” and a set of 37 Suzuki hand chimes. The ringers collaborate every December with Greenwood Singers and perform and tour annually with the University of Alberta Mixed Chorus. They have frequently appeared with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and are featured on the Greenwood Singers CDs, WinterGreen: Songs of Christmas and Joy to the World: Music for Advent & Christmas.