Brazilian tenor Thiago Soares holds a Master's degree in Voice Performance at Georgia State University, and a B.M. in Voice Performance, at Universidade de São Paulo.

First place prize winner in the first Bauru-Atlanta Competition, Mr. Soares made his debut as Paolino in Il Matrimonio Segreto at São Pedro Theater, and his engagements have included among others, Don Jose in Carmen (São Paulo), Nemorino in L’elisir d’Amore (São Paulo), Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Atlanta and Belo Horizonte), Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (Novafeltria and Bellaria / Italy), Candide in Candide (Henderson, USA), Nadir in Pêcheurs de Perles (Sao Paulo), Romeo in Romeo et Juliette (São Paulo), and O Garatuja, in the world-wide premiere of Ernst Mahle’s O Garatuja. In 2008 sang the role of the Revolutionary Priest in America’s premiere of Roger Water’s Ça Ira, at the Amazonas Opera Festival.

As a concertist he also appeared in works such as Bach’s St. Mathews Passion, Mozart's Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Saint- Saën's Oratorio de Nöel. In 2010 sang a recital of Brazilian art songs by Villa-Lobos at the Steinway Hall in New York and Boston.

Among his last performances include the title role in Albert Herring, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, and Fenton in Falstaff.

Drawing inspiration from Bach to Coltrane and beyond, American guitarist Leonard Ranallo blurs the boundaries between performer, composer, and improviser. Praised for his “sensational” performances (WXVU), Ranallo is equally at home on classical and electric guitar, bringing his unique voice to concert stages across North America and Europe. Recent highlights include appearances at the University of St. Andrews (UK), the Peabody Conservatory (US), the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (CA), and BBC Radio Scotland.

An avid chamber musician, Ranallo performs with Quartet Malamatina, pianist Yolanda Tapia, and The Happenstancers, hailed as “Toronto’s Chamber Music Innovators” (LudwigVan Toronto). At just 17, he made his orchestral debut as a concerto soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. A passionate advocate for new music, he collaborates with composers from the US, Canada, and the UK to expand the repertoire for both classical and electric guitar.

Ranallo is also a dedicated educator, having taught at Peabody Preparatory and Swarthmore College. In 2024, he launched the Suzuki guitar program at the MNjcc Suzuki School and established the Ranallo Guitar Studio in Toronto.

Yolanda Tapia is recognized internationally for her artistry as a soloist, collaborator, and educator. Her performances have taken her across Switzerland, Italy, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Argentina. She has received awards in piano, concerto, and chamber music competitions, as well as academic recognition as a Fulbright Scholar. She has held collaborative pianist positions at the Instituto Superior de Música de Veracruz, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Toronto, where she is currently on contract.

A dedicated pedagogue, Yolanda is frequently invited to teach and adjudicate. Recent engagements include the High River Gift of Music, the Debut Atlantic Award for Musical Excellence, and the Fort McMurray Registered Music Teachers’ Association. She has taught with El Sistema Toronto and the Community Music Schools of Toronto, and has given masterclasses at Mount Allison University, the University of Veracruz, FIM Loja in Ecuador, and Cambrian College. She has also presented lecture-recitals at CollabFest and with the Latin American Chamber Players.

Passionate about cultural storytelling, Yolanda co-founded Obsidiana Duo to champion the rich and often-overlooked repertoire of Ibero-American and Canadian art song. With the duo, she has toured nationally with Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic, premiered original works (Monarca for voice and piano, and Nómada Nocturna for solo piano), and earned First Prize at the Puerto Rico Collaborative Piano Virtual Competition (2022). Obsidiana Duo has also received a Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation Grant and an Ontario Arts Council Recording Project Grant.

Based in Toronto, Yolanda is also a member of Solidaridad Tango and performs regularly with guitarist Lenny Ranallo as the Ranallo-Tapia Duo.

She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Western Ontario, where she studied with John Hess and Mariana Chibotar, a Master of Music from Colorado State University, and a Bachelor of Music from Universidad Veracruzana. Her additional training includes being an Art of Song Fellow at Toronto Summer Music and a Collaborative Piano Fellow at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. She has also participated in programs such as Evolution: Classical at the Banff Centre, Orvieto Musica, Académie Musicale de Morges, the Aguascalientes Chamber Music Festival, and the San Miguel de Allende Chamber Music Festival.