Canada's Rising Stars

Jarome Harlea is a Filipino-Canadian pianist based in Calgary. He is a graduate of the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary, where he studied under Marilyn Engle. During his education he was awarded the Carr Prize and Yvonne Johnston Award.

Furthering his artistic development, Jarome sought postgraduate studies in the Advanced Performance Program at the Taylor Centre for Performing Arts, where he received mentorship from internationally acclaimed artists such as James Anagnoson, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Nicolas Namoradze, Roman Rabinovich, and Roberto Plano, among others.

As an active collaborative pianist, he works extensively with students at the University of Calgary, the Academy Program for Young Artists at Mount Royal University Conservatory, the Amici String Program, and Vancouver Island Music Academy. His passion for ensemble performance has led him to collaborate with musicians across all orchestral string and wind instruments, as well as in various chamber music settings, including piano duo, piano trio, horn trio, clarinet trio, and piano quartet.

Isaac Willocks was the first prize winner of the 2022 Calgary Youth Orchestra, Frank Simpson Concerto Competition, and was the 2023 Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Marley Rynd Scholarship winner. This past year, Isaac has been invited to play on a regular basis as an extra musician in the first violin section of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Isaac is in his fourth year in the BMus Performance program at the University of Calgary, School of Creative and Performing Arts, where he studies violin with Edmond Agopian. Previous violin teachers include Laurel Tym, Cristian Neacsu, and Jeremy Van Dieman. He has been Concertmaster of both the Calgary Youth Orchestra and the University of Calgary Orchestra.

He is a member of the Calgary String Quartet, with faculty members Beth Root Sandvoss, Dean O'Brien, and Edmond Agopian. Isaac has also been a student at Mount Royal University Conservatory in the Advanced Performance Program, and in the Calgary ProMusica Dick Matthews Young Artists Development Program.

Takumi Rodgers is a Japanese-Canadian cellist finishing a Bachelor of Music in cello performance at the University of Calgary. In his studies with Beth Root-Sandvoss, Takumi functioned as the principal cellist of the University of Calgary Orchestra, and contributed to multiple chamber ensembles. While at U of C, Takumi was awarded the Hertz Trio prize and the Don Wright scholarship as well as Honours in the Frank Simpson concerto competition.

Formerly, Takumi was the principal cellist of the CYO, and University of Lethbridge Symphonia orchestra, a member of Queensland Youth Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia, a member of the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra and has performed as a solo cellist in the pit orchestra for Theatre Calgary. In March 2025, he made his orchestral soloist debut with the Calgary Philharmonic as a winner of the 2024 RBC Foundation Concerto Competition.

Quoted by the Chronicle Herald as “a superb musician”, Swedish-born Susanne Ruberg-Gordon is a highly regarded and sought after chamber-musician and collaborative pianist. She is recognized for her artistry, nuance and interpretation, and has performed in Canada, the US, China and UAE.

As a passionate educator, Susanne is a faculty member at the Mount Royal University Conservatory Academy and APP Programs. She is also on faculty at the Valhalla Summer School of Music in New Denver, BC. Since 2001, she has been a Collaborative Artist for the prestigious and acclaimed Morningside Music Bridge program.

“Her pianism is everything the composer could wish for” - Calgary Herald