TSFF 2012

WILLIAM O’MEARA-Toronto
Bill is well known in Toronto as the co-artistic director for the annual Organix Concert Festival, and as cathedral organist at St. Michael’s Cathedral. He has worked on hundreds of films here in Toronto, on behalf of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Cinematheque Ontario, Nuit Blanche, and the Toronto Film Society (TFS), and is a sought-after performer at the National Gallery, Pacific Cinematheque, and at the world’s largest silent film festival, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, in Pordenone, Italy. Bill’s busy freelance career as a soloist and choral and silent film accompanist has taken him to festivals and concert series throughout North and South America, Great Britain, and Europe, for over 20 years.

CLARK WILSON-East Liverpool, Ohio
Clark is internationally recognized as a recording artist for silent films, accompanying them on theatre organs across North America. He has performed in this fashion at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, at Disney Hall and UCLA in Los Angeles, and in New York City. Clark’s skills as a toner and finisher of theatre and classical organs are in high demand, as is his creativity and virtuosity as a performer.

Clark is one of a small number of touring accompanists skilled on the theatre organ and as such, has become a regular favourite at Toronto Theatre Organ Society (TTOS) silent screenings. Clark’s knowledge base extends beyond accompaniment, as his pre-screening talks on silent film are both informative and entertaining.

LAURA SILBERBERG-Toronto
Laura has composed music in a variety of genres, including classical instrumental, chamber, choral and top 40/popular music. Her compositions and piano improvisation skills have been featured live on CBC Radio's Here and Now program three times, as well as Metro Morning.

A nine-time winner of the International Amadeus Songwriting Competition, Laura has performed her compositions across Canada, the United States and in Japan. She has performed at silent screenings at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox and Revue Cinema and played inspired improvised scores for the Toronto Silent Film Festival in 2010 and 2011.

Laura has completed her Masters degree in Music Composition at the University of Toronto and is now working on her doctorate.

ANDREI STRELIAEV-Oakville, Ontario
Andrei Streliaev holds a masters degree in Organ Performance, but became interested in silent film music after taking a course at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. He regularly accompanies silent films in Toronto and the surrounding area, and in his birthplace of Latvia. Andrei has performed at Cinematheque Ontario screenings, the Nuit Blanche festival, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the Toronto Silent Film Festival, and the Music Inspiration Landscape and Attractive Organ 220 festivals in Riga, Latvia. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, researching Latvian organ music. Andrei is also rehearsal pianist for the National Ballet of Canada, and accompanist for Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and the Department of Orchestral Studies at U of T’s Faculty of Music.

BILL LASOVICH-Toronto
Bill Lasovich is a pianist, songwriter, and composer with a keen interest in recording and sound production. In addition to playing piano as a soloist and in various groups, Bill’s extensive performing experience includes work as a church organist, touring theatre musician (Peter and the Wolf, Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia), ballet school accompanist, and audition pianist for the Disney film Pocahontas. In 1999, Bill was the musical director and pianist for the Toronto Fringe production of The Drowsy Chaperone, which went on to win five Tony awards.

Bill makes recordings in his home studio with a collection of instruments and devices—acoustic, electric, analog, digital, “vintage” and, undoubtedly, “destined to be vintage”—to the end that someone might enjoy hearing them some day. He made his Toronto Silent Film Festival debut in 2011, composing scores for a dozen early shorts and five award-winning modern silent short films.