RAYNA CRANDLEMIRE, soprano

Rayna Crandlemire is an Ottawa-born soprano currently based in Toronto. Originally trained in violin, piano, and clarinet, she discovered her passion for vocal performance early in her musical journey. A distinguished graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, she was the sole recipient of the prestigious Robert William Bygrave Entrance Scholarship in Voice and completed her studies with honours in 2022.

Since graduating, Rayna has established herself as a versatile and sought-after freelance artist, collaborating with a wide range of Toronto-based ensembles and organizations. Her performance credits include work with the Trinity Bach Project, the Amadeus Choir, Concreamus, the Toronto Festival Singers, TOLive, and others.

Rayna currently serves as the soprano lead at Leaside United Church and with MSC's Datsuzoku. She is also a member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir's professional core, the TMSingers, and is delighted to return for a second season as a Sidgwick Scholar with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto.

LUCAS KALECHSTEIN, baritone

Lucas Kalechstein is an accomplished vocalist and performer from Toronto in his third year of Vocal Performance at U of T, where he is a member of the Peter Barnes studio and the Opera undergrad program. Lucas has performed professionally in several theatrical productions on Canadian stages including the National Arts Center in Ottawa, The Segal Centre in Montreal, and the Lower Ossington Theatre in Toronto. Lucas was an invited soloist for the 2024 U of T Songs of The Season, was a member of the Ontario Youth Choir (23/24) and placed first as a soloist in the National Final of the Canadian Music Competition in 2022. Additionally, Lucas has performed the National Anthems for the Toronto Blue Jays and has been a member of Pax Christie Chorale, Concreamus and the MacMillan Singers, performing various solos. He is currently a choral scholar at Leaside United Church. Lucas is honoured to be singing his second season as a Sidgwick Scholar with Orpheus Choir and looks forward to an exciting season.

ALICE MACGREGOR, Soprano

Following mentorship from Tracy Dahl, Canada’s premier coloratura soprano, Alice Macgregor graduated in May 2023 with a B.Mus. with distinction in Voice Performance from the University of Manitoba. Recent recognitions include the Reg Hugo Memorial Trophy, two-time winner of the Dorris (Mills) Lewis Memorial Trophy (Winnipeg Music Festival), Madeleine Gauvin Scholarship (Women’s Musical Club), Opera Idol winner (Flipside Opera), and Advanced division winner (MRMTA Voice Scholarship, 2024). Alice first soloed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in January 2023, and again in April 2024, performing the “Flower Duet,” from Délibes’ Lakmé. With Manitoba Underground Opera in May 2023, she debuted as “Meg” in The Mansplaining Division, played “Dorabella,” in their August 2023 children’s opera tour of The Bremen Town Musicians, and sang her debut role of “Olympia” in Offenbach’s, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, in October 2024. Alice was most recently a chorus member and dance captain in A. Copland’s, The Tender Land (Toronto City Opera).

SARAH MOLE, mezzo-soprano

Praised for her “angelic voice” (Ludwig Van Toronto), Sarah Mole is a multifaceted performer & artist hailing from St. John’s. Sarah was the Alto Soloist for Haydn’s Creation (Amadeus Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra), and Mary, Wife of Cleophas in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s The Atonement (Orpheus Choir of Toronto). She sang the soprano and mezzo solos for Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca’s Missa Afro-Brasiliera as part of the Luminato Festival in Koerner Hall and the HarbourVoices Festival in Newfoundland. She premiered David A. Rahbee’s orchestral arrangement of Four Songs by Clara Schumann with UofT’s Campus Philharmonic Orchestra. Sarah is also an avid member of the GTA’s vibrant choral scene, currently holding a Sidgwick Scholar position with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, under the tutelage of Wendy Nielsen and Mary Morrison.
Sarah is also an arts administrator in Toronto, currently serving as the Communications & Public Relations Manager for Toronto Summer Music. Her digital artwork can be seen on JUNO Award-winning pianist Philip Chiu’s recent album, Voyages.

HENRY PATERSON, baritone

Henry Paterson is a baritone singing in Toronto.  He focuses on both early choral music (The Toronto Consort and Theatre of Early Music) and contemporary choral music (Concreamus and The Element Choir). Henry is a soloist with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto and St. James Cathedral. Also working in theatre, Henry is the Music Director of Dead Name Theatre, a queer-led theatre company. He holds an Undergraduate Degree in Tuba Performance from the University of Toronto, however, he's returned to the same school to study singing, specializing in early music with Daniel Taylor and Jean MacPhail as his teachers. This is Henry’s first year in Orpheus, and he is excited to be a Sidgwick Scholar.

WILLIAM SALINAS-CROSBY, tenor

JOSHUA SUTHERLAND, tenor

Joshua Sutherland (he/him) is a passionate choral musician hailing from Whitby, Ontario. For Joshua, group singing embodies community and the collaborative spirit, and he enjoys working in various choral leadership positions across the GTA. As a singer, Joshua is currently a tenor section lead at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, and has made appearances with various ensembles across Southern Ontario, including The Elora Singers, Elmer Iseler Singers, Concreamus Chamber Choir, and RESOUND Choir. As a conductor, Joshua is the Assistant Conductor with the Bach Children’s Chorus’ Choir III and Lower Voice Ensemble, and has recently held positions as an Intern Conductor with the 2025 Ontario Youth Choir and with Modern Sound Collective. As a graduate of the Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance program at Western University, Joshua made his operatic role debut as Bardolfo in Verdi’s ‘Falstaff’. Joshua is grateful and excited to return to the Orpheus Choir of Toronto as a Sidgwick Scholar this season!

ANIKA VENKATESH, mezzo-soprano

Anika Venkatesh is a genre-defying vocalist hailing from Coast Salish Territories, and currently based in Tkarón:to. Anika bridges art forms as a solo vocalist, choral professional, theatre performer, and opera singer. Select performances include Alice in Wonderland on tour (Bad Hats Theatre); alto soloist in The Atonement (The Orpheus Choir of Toronto); Sky in a Small Cage (Mahogany Opera, Barbican Centre, Copenhagen Opera Festival); Universal Child Care (Quote Unquote Collective, Canadian Stage). Anika is also an R&B musician, amongst other contemporary genres. They are a founding member of Couch Jams, a Vancouver-based community music collective dedicated to amplifying the voices of underrepresented BIPOC artists and musicians. Anika continues to discover their artistic niche with an instrument radically fluid and hybrid. Through musical storytelling, they hope to garner curiosity, reflection, play, connection, tenderness, intimacy, and strength.