Mariette Stephenson is a Canadian classical guitarist who has performed in numerous recitals as a soloist and chamber musician. She has premiered works by Canadian composers William Beauvais and Patrick Power, and Brazilian composer Jonatas Batista-Neto. Chamber music collaborations include performances with soprano Brooke Dufton, Stephanie Pesant (flute), Bonchiku Hoshi (shakuhachi), Tom Fitches (organ), Katalin Puscas (soprano), and with flutist Kelly Williamson as Duo Calixa (they recorded the independent CD, Caminos). Mariette studied with Dr. Jeffrey McFadden, having received her B.Mus from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario and her ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She also earned a Masters of Music (performance) from the University of Toronto. She is Music Director for the Kitchener-Waterloo Guitar Orchestra and has guitar arrangements available exclusively at Strings By Mail.
Andrew Laughton is an emerging young musician from Waterloo, Ontario. He has received high acclaim as a soloist, chamber musician, and ensemble player. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he was awarded Finalist in the 2018 WLU Concerto Competition and Semi-Finalist in the 2018 Ken Murray Concerto Competition as the first ever guitar player to compete in both competitions. He has subsequently been invited to play with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. In August of 2019, Andrew joined the Ekleipsis Guitar Trio, taking over the position once held by renowned guitarist Terry McKenna, his studio professor at WLU. He has also been playing in bands since the age of 11. He is a founding member of Kitchener-Waterloo indie-folk band Safe As Houses, CBC Searchlight Provincial Finalists and recipients of a FACTOR Juried Sound Recording Grant for their third full-length album Lucky Lucky. Andrew is also a trained composer and has studied under Glenn Buhr, Linda Catlin Smith, and Cam McKittrick.
Lukas Bouda was born and raised in Waterloo, but has spent his adult life playing, teaching and composing all over the world. After studying composition and guitar performance Wilfrid Laurier University, he graduated with a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto. Although his formal education focused on classical repertoire and performance, Lukas draws inspiration from various other musical genres and traditions, including: ‘Top 40’, Flamenco, Hindustani/Karnatic music, Fado, Klezmer, South American, and Japanese music. In addition to performing in various Jazz ensembles, his professional career has seen him playing for the Stratford Festival Theatre (Canada), as musical director and arranger for CS Productions Theatrical Events (England), band leader for Holland America/Seabourn cruise lines (Worldwide), and composer for Little Cat Theatre Company (England). He is currently serving as Artistic Director for the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival.
