Ensemble Director
Performance Instructor: Flute

Named one of 2020’s “Rising Stars” by BBC Music Magazine, flutist Lara Deutsch is a versatile soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player known for her engaging warmth and ability to connect with audiences. Recipient of the $125,000 Prix Goyer for 2019-2020, Lara was also a first prize winner of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s 2014 Manulife Competition, at which she was awarded a total of seven prizes. Additionally, she was the Grand Prize Winner of both the National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition (2014) and the Canadian Music Competition (2010), as well as a laureate of the Concours Prix d’Europe (2016).

An avid chamber musician, Lara’s recent performance highlights include recitals for the Scotia Festival of Music, New Classical FM’s Zoomer Hall series, the National Arts Centre (NAC) & Facebook’s #CanadaPerforms initiative, Newport Classical (Rhode Island, USA), the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s Virée Classique, Chamberfest, Ottawa’s Music & Beyond Festival, and the Allegra Chamber Music series, of which she was Artist-in-Residence for the 2019-2020 season. Among her favourite collaborators are pianists Philip Chiu and Frédéric Lacroix, guitarist Adam Cicchillitti, and harpist Emily Belvedere, with whom she founded Duo Kalysta. She has recorded three chamber music albums on the Leaf Music Label: Origins (2019, Duo Kalysta), Night Light (2022, with Philip Chiu), and Wanderlust (2023, with Adam Cicchillitti).

Lara is currently based in the Ottawa-Montreal area, where she has performed extensively with the NAC Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, she has performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (of which she acted as Assistant Principal Flute & Piccolo for the 2016-17 season), the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Kingston, and the McGill Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Whenever possible, Lara enjoys performing for young audiences through educational outreach concerts, principally as a member of the NAC’s Ayorama Wind Quintet. She is similarly dedicated to sharing her transformative experiences working with Olympic mental performance coach Jean-François Ménard, having hosted workshops internationally for performers of all ages. In 2020, she joined the music faculty at Carleton University as a performance instructor and, as of 2023, now serves on the faculty of the Breno Italy International Music Academy.

Lara performs on a 14k gold Haynes flute, generously loaned by Canimex Inc. of Drummondville, Québec. She is incredibly grateful for the support of Mécénat Musica, the Canada Council for the Arts, and FACTOR in her ongoing projects, as well as for the years of invaluable guidance from her principal teachers and mentors: Denis Bluteau, Tim Hutchins, Camille Churchfield, and Cathy Baerg. She is represented by Latitude 45 Arts.

Performance Instructor: Oboe

Oboist Susan Butler has been a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra since 1979: as English Hornist from 1979 to 1984 and as Principal Oboist from 1984 to the present. Susan’s busy career as a freelance musician frequently includes performances with ensembles such as the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Thirteen Strings, l’Ensemble Prisme, and the Ottawa Choral Society. As a chamber musician, Susan plays in The Harmonious Pigs Reed Trio with fellow OSO principal musicians Shauna Barker and Ben Glossop, and from 2004 to 2019 she was oboist of the Bel Canto Wind Quintet. In addition to her work as a professional oboist, Susan is an accomplished recorder player and piano accompanist. As a soloist, she performs concertos and recitals on oboe or recorder.

Susan is a dedicated teacher, working with music students of all levels in her private studio in Deep River, Ontario. She is an experienced and well-respected instructor of student music ensembles of all levels: her work in this capacity includes the Kincardine Summer Music Festival from 1993 to 2002, the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy from 1999 to 2015, and Deep River’s Summermusic day-camp from 1993 to the present. She conducts the Deep River Youth Orchestra and isthe artistic and administrative director of Summermusic, also conducting ensembles and teaching woodwinds at the camp. Susan enjoys coaching recorder consorts of all ages and working with adult amateur musicians in community orchestras and with CAMMAC.

Susan Butler graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1980 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance. Her post-graduate studies were with the Orchestral Training Program of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Her primary oboe instructors were Rowland Floyd and Harry Sargous, with additional studies with Richard Killmer, John Mack, James Mason and Charles Hamann. When she is not busy with musical activities, Susan enjoys cryptic crossword puzzles, cooking, and outdoor pursuits such as gardening, camping, and snowshoeing.

Performance Instructor: Clarinet

Shauna Barker started playing the clarinet at the age of 11 and immediately fell in love with the instrument. As a youth, she studied with Stephen Robb, played in the Delta Youth Orchestra, the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from McGill University with Robert Crowley, and a Masters degree from DePaul University in Chicago with Larry Combs.

For over 12 years, Ms. Barker has served as Principal Clarinet in the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and as regular extra musician with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. She performs with many chamber ensembles, namely the Ayorama Quintet, the Bel Canto Quintet (both ensembles also belonging to the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s Music in the Schools program), and the Harmonious Pigs Trio.

Shauna has been on faculty at the University of Ottawa as Clarinet Professor since 2008, and more recently as Coordinator of the Winds Sector in 2017. A sought after educator, Ms. Barker is also the Senior Winds Coach and Conductor at the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy, and is very excited to join the Carleton University’s Music Program as Performance Instructor and clarinetist in the Carleton-OSO ensemble in residence. Shauna also holds a private clarinet studio.

Ms. Barker has performed with several ensembles such as the Thirteen Strings, Les Violons Du Roy, L’Ensemble Prisme, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Gatineau, and has appeared as soloist with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the Deep River Symphony Orchestra, the Pembroke Orchestra and the Parkdale Orchestra. She can be heard on recordings with NACO, Les Violons du Roy, L’Orchestre de la Francophonie and Maghan McPhee’s solo album, Portrait.

Ensemble Director
Performance Instructor: Bassoon

Ben Glossop is an active bassoonist living in Ottawa. He is the principal bassoonist of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, a regular extra with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and second bassoon of the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra. Studying with Nadina Jackson, Bruce Bower, Whitney Crocket and John Clouser, Ben received his Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Music Performance at McGill University, with a specialization in Chamber Music, in 1997. Also that year he joined the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and the Bel Canto Wind Quintet. He is the bassoonist of the Ayorama Wind Quintet, The Ottawa Symphony Wind Quintet, l’Ensemble Prisme, and the Harmonious Pigs Reed trio. He performs regularly with Thirteen Strings, The Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Music and Beyond and many other groups in the Ottawa area.

Ben co-directs the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra/Carleton Ensemble-in-Residence Program. A multi-instrumentalist, composer and active teacher, working with bassoonists as well as groups from large orchestras to children with autism, he recently released his second album of his compositions “Fever Lines” music for reeds and strings featuring the Prisme Ensemble. He is an avid outdoorsman, and enjoys camping with his family and volunteering in the community with groups like the Poets’ Pathway.

Performance Instructor: French Horn

Ever since he picked up the French horn in High School, Olivier Brisson has been extremely passionate about his instrument. He pursued classical music as a career and completed his B.Mus. from the University of Ottawa in 2015 studying under both Daniel Gress and Lawrence Vine (NACO Principal Horn). He then attended the Glenn Gould School of Music under Gabriel Radford (TSO).

Mr. Brisson is an alum of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2012-13), the NYO Canada/India exchange program (2013) and the National Arts Centre Young Artists Program (2014).

Mr. Brisson is currently a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the Bel Canto Wind Quintet and since May 2018, he is Principal Horn of the Kingston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Brisson is a frequent additional musician with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and the National Arts Centre Orchestra.