Composer Kolby Zinger-Harris is from Kelowna, BC. Having recently completed a Bachelor of Music (Composition) at the University of Toronto, they have studied composition with Norbert Palej, James Rolfe, and Gary Kulesha. Kolby collaborated with six other composers to create the new opera Prima Zombie for the University of Toronto Opera Company. Another highlight includes Kolby’s song cycle Precarious, based on texts by Toronto poet Aparna Halpé, which was performed in 2018 as part of the Music Gallery’s Emergents series in collaboration with the Sounds of Silence Initiative, a commissioning project with the goal of highlighting poets who identify with marginalized communities. Kolby is now pursuing a Master of Arts in Musicology at the University of Toronto. Their research, funded by SSHRC, focuses on LGBTQ+ labour and representation in new music, with the goal of creating more opportunities for LGBTQ+ musicians and creators in contemporary opera. Kolby was delighted to work with Isaiah Bell to rescore The Book of My Shames from piano to chamber ensemble.

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Nicole Malcolm (she/her) is an interdisciplinary Métis artist whose work now takes place primarily on the Coast Salish Territories in and Lekwungen speaking people, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations in Victoria, BC.  A prairie-born horizon-enthusiast, she received a BFA in Stage Management & Technical Theatre (Lighting Design) from the University of Regina in 2007. From 2003-09, Nicole worked in stage management, festival coordination, lighting design, and technical direction with companies including Youth Ballet Company of Saskatchewan, New Dance Horizons, Nightwind Theatre’s Aboriginal Youth Playwrights Festival, Saskatchewan Playwrights Festival, Theatre Calgary, Citadel Theatre, and Banff Centre. In 2005 she co-founded Hectik Theatre, a Saskatchewan indie theatre company with a mandate to present edgy, thought-provoking and entertaining theatrical experiences that challenge both the audience and the artists involved.  When not lighting designing or creating new absurd works of storytelling, Nicole is the Director of Marketing & Communications at Pacific Opera Victoria, and a performer / instructor at Paper Street Theatre specializing in the empowering non-performers with tools from the stage.