Allegra SQ

The Quartet

Janna Sailor, viola

Hailed by critcs as "charismatic, crisp, precise, and elegant”, Janna Sailor has firmly established herself as a conductor, violinist, violist, and groundbreaking visionary on the Canadian music scene. In addiNon to guest conducNng the major orchestras in Canada, Janna pursues a diverse career as a violinist, delving into contemporary, world and early music, jazz and improvisaNon, chamber music, and interdisciplinary projects with dancers, visual arNsts, and electronics. Recently listed on the Women in Music Canada’s “Honour Roll - 10 Female ArNsts to Watch” in March of 2023, Janna combines diverse experiences on the internaNonal stage with a deep sense of community, equality, and social jusNce, Janna’s creaNve output is firmly rooted in the convicNon that classical music should be inclusive and accessible to all. This convicNon has led Janna to work on a number of arts based social iniNaNves, including instructing disadvantaged youth on Vancouver’s downtown Eastside, fundraising and outreach acNviNes for immigrants, establishing music therapy programs, and the founding of the Allegra Chamber Orchestra, an all female professional ensemble with a social acNon mandate to champion the works of female minority arNsts and to enact change through music. The orchestra and its unique output and mandate has been featured on CBC Radio, Radio ICI, The Walrus, The Strad magazine, The Violin Channel, The Hub, public radio staNons across Germany and France, amongst other internaNonal media. The orchestra regularly commissions, mentors, and premiers works by Canadian, female and minority composers, and assisted in the founding of a music therapy program for women living on the street on Vancouver's downtown Eastside. 

Kathleen de Caen, cello 

Growing up in Edmonton, Kathleen de Caen started playing the cello at age 5. Her primary teachers were Grazyna Sobieraj, Julie Amundsen, and Tanya Prochazka; with whom she completed a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Alberta. She later went on to complete a Master’s degree in cello performance with MaL Haimovitz at McGill University. As a soloist, she has been invited to perform with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on mulNple occasions for their educaNon series. Kathleen was also the featured young arNst of the ESO’s 2012 Symphony Under the Sky series. As a chamber musician, Kathleen has performed across North America with musicians such as Yehonatan Berick, Jean Efflam-Bavouzet and Paul ColeV. She has parNcipated numerous Nmes with MaL Haimovitz’s ensemble, Uccello, who performed at Carnegie Hall in 2013. In 2016, Kathleen co-founded Trio De Moda, an Alberta based string trio that has performed across Alberta and the MariNme provinces. Kathleen was acNng principal cello of Symphony Nova ScoNa, in Halifax, for the 2017/2018 series but is very excited to be back in Alberta and a secNon cellist in the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Alicia Venables, violin

Born in Victoria, BC, Alicia Venables was raised in the Okanagan Valley where she began piano lessons at the age of four and violin at age nine. She is currently on a one-year contract with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and was previously a member of the first violin secNon in the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. She spent her summers at Music Academy of the West, the Young ArNst Program at the NaNonal Arts Centre, the Banff Masterclass Program and Morningside Music Bridge. She also had the opportunity to parNcipate in the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Masterclass Al Andalus in Spain and the Fjord Cadenza FesNval in Norway. She received her Master of Music Degree from Carnegie Mellon University where she studied with Andrés Cárdenes. During her studies there, she was a member of the CMU Honors String Quartet where they travelled to Doha, Qatar as cultural ambassadors. She received her Bachelor of Music Degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying with Ian Swensen and a Diploma in Music Performance from Mount Royal University where she studied with William Van der Sloot. She is currently on faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music. 

Erin James, violin

 Originally from Vancouver, BC, violinist, Erin James holds a Master of Performance Degree from the Royal College of Music in London and a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of BriNsh Columbia. Many of her performances have been aired on CBC Radio and have taken her to Canada’s most important concert halls and across Asia, Europe and North America. As well as performing internaNonally, Erin has undertaken addiNonal training in Sweden, France, Italy, England, the US and Canada. Erin’s esteemed professors include Robert Uchida, Yossi Zivoni, Jasper Wood, and Andrew Dawes to name only a few of the musicians who have inspired and challenged her arNstry. Previously based in Vancouver, Erin was an avid chamber musician, violinist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and maintained studios of violin students at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the Saint James Music Academy. Erin is currently based in Edmonton where she performs with the Edmonton Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, the Alberta Symphony Orchestra, Early Music Alberta and the Alberta Baroque Ensemble. Erin has begun her Doctorate in Violin Performance at the University of Alberta and is a recent recipient of Queen Elizabeth II and Doctoral Recruitment Scholarships.