About

Mount Allison University students studying early music present “The Early Music Show”, an engaging and historically informed program of vocal repertoire from the Baroque period. This special performance is aimed at family audiences and those who are new to experiencing this rich and dramatic repertoire. Hear dazzling works by Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastien Bach, Georg Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell, Catarina Assandra, Jean-Baptist Lully, and many more!

Students from the Baroque Performance class and the Elliott Chorale ensemble have created an exciting performance, inviting audiences into the mesmerizing world of early music from the European art music realm. For this unique concert experience, students will collaborate with professional mentors, Ryan Gallagher (gamba and Baroque cello), Jonathan Stutchbery (lutes and guitars), Jimin Shin Dobson (Baroque violin), and Dr. Kiera Galway (conductor).

In partnership with Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada).

About the Artists

About Ryan Gallagher

Ryan Gallagher is a musician and luthier based in Montreal. After studying education and cello performance at SUNY Fredonia, Ryan went on to receive his masters and doctorate degrees at McGill University under a Graduate Excellence Fellowship, honing his skills on baroque cello and viola da gamba under the academic guidance of Lena Weman, Hank Knox, and Susie Napper. Ryan’s research about historically informed violin making led him to collaborate with Nate Tabor in Spain, creating a 17th century style bass violin now housed in the early music department at McGill. He is now an active maker in the community known for his baroque setup work and designing new instruments for notable period instrument performers including Jimin Dobson, Arnie Tanimoto, etc.

As a player, Ryan strives to focus on less understood aspects of his respective instruments. Somewhat paradoxically, he enjoys deepening his understanding of the intimate nature of the cello, yet prefers the viola da gamba in chamber settings, aiming to solidify its viability in comparison to modern instruments. His previous musical collaborations with esteemed violinist Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, interactions with traditional musicians, as well as lessons with Susie Napper and Italian gambist Vittorio Ghielmi have also been fundamental in shaping his characteristic sound and career.

About Jonathan Stuchbery

Jonathan Stuchbery is a specialist in instruments of the guitar and lute family, based in Toronto, ON. A sought after performer, he is praised for his “energizing precision” (The Whole Note) and “wistful lute performance” (La Scena Musicale), while showcasing creative and engaging programming.

He has shared the stage across Canada and abroad with ensembles and soloists including Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Theatre of Early Music, Early Music Alberta, Capella Intima, and Dame Emma Kirkby. With soprano Sinéad White, Jonathan forms Duo Oriana, who’s 2023 album ‘How Like a Golden Dream’ was released under the Leaf Music label. Touring has taken them throughout Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, including features with the English Lute Society (London), at Windsor Castle, and with Early Music America. As both a tenor and lutenist, he is also a member of Toronto based renaissance vocal quintet Diapente.

Jonathan studied early music performance in the master’s program at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya with Xavier Díaz-Latorre. Prior to this he graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Guitar and Lute from McGill’s Schulich School of Music in the studios of Jérôme Ducharme and Sylvain Bergeron.

About Jimin Shin Dobson

Since discovering the Baroque violin as a freshman at the Cleveland Institute of Music with the esteemed Early Music faculty at the Case Western Reserve University headed by Baroque dancer and violinist Dr Julie Andrijeski, Jimin has pursued her passion for performing on gut strings through various festivals such as the International Baroque Institute at Longy, the American Bach Soloists Academy, Berwick Academy of the Oregon Bach Festival, and Early Music Vancouver, as well as appearing on many professional stages in the States, including with Cleveland’s Apollo’s Fire and with the San Francisco Bach Choir Orchestra as guest Concertmaster.

Newly based in Sackville, New Brunswick, Jimin remains an active performer across the country, especially in the Early Music scenes of Montréal, with numerous ensembles including the Juno Award winning l’Harmonie des Saisons, Arion Orchestre Baroque, Orchestre Galileo, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Clavecin en Concert, les Boréades de Montréal, Ensemble Telemann, Ottawa Baroque Consort, Ottawa Baroque Choir, Trinity Bach Project, and Theatre of Early Music.

An avid chamber musician, Jimin’s recent performances as the violist of the period string quartet, Ximenez Quartet has brought her to Crowsnest Pass, Alberta as guest artist of The Pass Early Music Fest, as well as Tucson, Arizona for Arizona Early Music. In the Canadian Maritimes, Jimin has appeared in two seasons of the Nova Scotia tours of Handel’s Messiah as Concertmaster of Musique Royale’s Ensemble Ménestrel, leading and coaching the chamber-sized orchestra comprising professionals and students new to performing on gut.

Passionate about continuing to build the historically informed performance scene in the Maritimes, Jimin’s exciting new roles in Sackville include co-artistic directorship of the Sackville Festival of Early Music, as well as professor of the new Baroque Performance Practice course at Mount Allison University.

About Dr. Kiera Galway

Musician, educator, and choral leader Kiera Galway is currently Assistant Professor of Music Education and Choral Conducting at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, where she enjoys music-making, teaching, and collaborating with colleagues in university, community and K-12 contexts.

Kiera was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where a supportive family encouraged broad musical participation. She holds B.Mus. degrees in Bassoon Performance/Music History/Literature and Music Education; an M.Mus. in Choral Conducting (MUN); an M.A. in Musicology; and a PhD in Music Education (U of T), where her doctoral dissertation explored cultural and musical geographies in Canada.

Kiera’s creative work is diverse and wide-ranging, contributing to the fields of music education, scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) and performance studies. She recently presented on intersections of sustainability, music, and literacies at the International Symposium for Music Education in Helsinki, Finland, and shared her research on integrating Universal Design for Learning in ensemble music-making at Podium 2024 in Montreal, Canada. Highlights of Kiera’s upcoming activities include several upcoming publications, premiering a newly commissioned choral work, touring NB and NS with Mount Allison students (funded by CeWIL), and launching a set of collaboratively developed curriculum materials for NB high schools.