阿部櫻子ジェーン・Sakurako Jayne Abe
she | her
Co-Founder, Performer
Photo: Sam Gaetz
Born and raised in Hokkaido, Japan, Sakurako Jayne Abe is a collaborative pianist who values significant cultural exchanges and human connection through music. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance with honors from the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, Jayne is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music as a Collaborative Piano major, specializing in vocal repertoire. Studying with Thomas Lausmann, she is striving to expand her artistic approach in the exhilarating city of New York. Jayne worked as a repetiteur for the Toronto Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and has been involved in the opera production of L’elisir d’amore, An American Dream and The Crucible. She was chosen as a participant of The Aspen Music Festival in 2025 as a Collaborative Piano fellow and one of the main pianists of Cosi Fan Tutte. Both her enthusiasm in collaborative piano and her own cultural heritage led to a private creative project with Chihiro Yasufuku, named Hibiki project to celebrate Japanese art and music culture. On top of her numerous recordings and performances related to the Hibiki project, she also participated in and received prizes from the Pacific International Piano Competition, the Ontario Music Festival, Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival, and more.
安福知優・Chihiro Yasufuku
she | her
Co-Founder, Performer, Administrator
Photo: Sam Gaetz
Chihiro Yasufuku・安福知優 (she/her) is an early-career portfolio artist of Japanese descent, currently based in Tkarón:to, Ontario. With a background of 20 years of study as a violinist which eventually expanded its roots to singing, Chihiro is an active vocalist, actor and performer-collaborator in opera, theatre and workshop spaces. When not on the stage or pursuing her studies as a violinist, Chihiro nurtures her passion for arts administration. In 2021, Chihiro co-founded the Hibiki Project, a collective committed to expanding the prominence of Japanese and related musical genres within and beyond the community. In previous seasons, she served as Production Assistant to Amplified Opera’s digital development workshop, Infinity Café, and was Associate Producer of the concert series, AMPLIFY 1.0. A strong advocate of Japanese recital and choral repertoire, Chihiro has also offered Japanese lyric diction coaching for clients in the Greater Toronto Area including Soundstreams Choir 21, Brampton Children’s Chorus and Exultate Chamber Singers. Chihiro is an alumna of the University of Toronto’s Opera School and Classical Voice Performance program. She currently studies with Dr. Lorna MacDonald.
ストラットフォード賢人・Kento Stratford
he | him
Composer, Performer
Born in Izumisano City, Japan, composer, pianist, organist, and educator, Kento Stratford (b. 1997) leads a diverse artistic practice throughout Canada and beyond. Drawing from his own Japanese Canadian heritage, Kento’s music inhabits a sonic world balanced between two contrasting traditions: one forward-moving, consumptive, and grandiose, the other understated, reductive, and temporally unbound. His works are inspired by a wide range of personal interests spanning everything from science fiction to ancient medicine. Kento’s works have been performed and commissioned by a diverse group of artists and ensembles, including most recently: the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto, the Choir of St. James Cathedral, Odin String Quartet, HAVEN Trio, Sirius Piano Duo, Concreamus Chamber Choir, and theremenist Thorwald Jorgensen. His music has been heard at festivals in North America and Europe including at CAMPGROUND22, Connecticut Summerfest, and the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival. Kento is also active as a performer, appearing regularly in recitals and concerts as a solo and collaborative pianist. In addition to work as a concert performer, Kento thoroughly enjoys working with sacred music and has held numerous appointments as a church musician. He currently serves as music director at Graceview Presbyterian Church in Etobicoke, ON, where he can be heard playing the organ and conducting the choir every Sunday. Kento holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and composition from the Dan School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University, as well as a Master of Music degree in composition from the University of Toronto.