Neal Banerjee is a native of London, Ontario where he completed a music degree from the University of Western Ontario, and also studied with Darryl Edwards, Brian McIntosh, Lynn Blazer and Joel Katz. From 1995-2001, Neal lived in Vienna, Austria, singing masses, operas, and operettas which have taken him to venues through Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Luxembourg, and the Ukraine. In 2001 was engaged at the Bielefeld Theatre and has sung various operatic roles: Rossillon (The Merry Widow), Ferrando in (Così fan tutte), Arturo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Doktor Blind (Die Fledermaus), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Goro (Madame Butterfly). Outside Bielfeld he has performed Eurimaco in (Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria) in Linz, Fenton (Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor) in Mainz, Lyonel (Martha) in Detmold, and reprised Goro (Madame Butterfly) in Hannover. He also made his musical theatre debut singing the lead role Tony in West Side Story. After many performances as a soloist and chorister with Arcady, Neal sang the role of Tamino in the ensemble's production of The Magic Flute, and enjoys performances with Arcady when he is in Canada.

Robert Cairns is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario where he was president of The Faculty of Music Singers and a voice student of Mary Ellen Gustafson. He is also a graduate of Ryerson's diploma programme in Technical Theatre and later served as Recording Technician at Western. He has gained experience as conductor, composer and arranger. Mr. Cairns teaches with the Pearson School of the Arts in London, Ontario and has performed as chorister and soloist with Arcady, Strathroy Chorale, Gerald Fagan Singers, London Pro Musica and Con Voci Festive. Mr. Cairns, like many other members of Arcady, is also an experienced composer and arranger.

Christopher Edwards After finishing studies in music at the University of Toronto in 1972, Christopher Edwards went on to study voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music with Megan Rutledge and then Helen Simmie, later coaching with soprano Lois MacDonnell. Mr. Edwards' first professional engagement, as tenor soloist at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, lasted for 17 years until his relocation to the USA in 1994. Several appearances with the Canadian Opera Company chorus in 1983 led to his oratorio debut in 1984 singing the role of Obidiah in Mendelssohn's Elijah, followed by Bach's Mass in B minor and Handel's Messiah the following year. Subsequent appearances on the concert stage in Toronto include Bach’s Magnificat, numerous cantatas and the St. John and St. Matthew Passions (solos and Evangelists), Mozart's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2 (Lobgesang), and Elgar's Dream of Gerontius.

Christopher Fischer, a performance graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, has appeared as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah nearly sixty times, the vast majority of them with Arcady and Artistic Director Ronald Beckett. (His happy association with this distinguished ensemble dates back to 1992.) With Arcady, Chris has participated in two studio recordings, as well as concert performances of Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute (as Tamino), Carrissimi’s rarely heard oratorio, Jephte (in the title role), and Beckett’s musical drama, Ruth (as the Narrator). Chris has served as a section leader with the Guelph Chamber Choir since 2002, performing as tenor soloist in several major choral works with this ensemble: Mozart’s Requiem, the Coronation and C Minor Masses; Bruckner’s Te Deum; the role of the Swan in Orff’s Carmina Burana; and, most recently, Beethoven’s Mass in C Major. Other highlights have included a 2006 tour of Austria and the Czech Republic, and singing in the finals of the most recent CBC Competition for Amateur Choirs. Elsewhere, he has appeared on the concert stage in Mozart’s Coronation Mass (with the Karen Schuessler Singers and the London Singers), Bruckner’s Te Deum (with the Boris Brott National Academy Orchestra), the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio and The Company of Heaven by Benjamin Britten (both with the University of Guelph Symphonic Choir). In 2008, Messiah figures prominently again, with the Milton Choristers, the Grand River Chorus of Brantford, Arcady and the Boris Brott Academy Orchestra. In 2009, Chris joins the Menno Singers of Kitchener-Waterloo for a performance of Mozart’s Requiem, and reprises the Narrator in Beckett’s Ruth, once more with Arcady. Chris holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Music Education from Arizona State University and diplomas from Conservatory Canada and the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and has worked in the fields of church music, choral conducting and accompanying for many years throughout both southwestern Ontario and central Arizona. He has sung with the Elora Festival Singers and the Phoenix Bach Choir, conducted the Brampton Festival Singers, accompanied the Milton Choristers and the Guelph Youth Singers, and served as organist and director of music for congregations in five different denominations, on both sides of the border. Presently, Chris is the Director of Music Ministries at Knox Presbyterian Church in Guelph and maintains a home-based private music studio.

Lanny Fleming completed a Bachelor of Music degree at Wilfrid Laurier University in 1998, studying with Patricia Pascoe. While pursuing a Music Education specialty, he developed his choral skills, and now appears as a member of the St. John's Parish Choir (Elora) under the direction of Noel Edison and the Renaissance Singers. He also is a regular member of Arcady for whom he played the Usher in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury and most recently Monostatos in The Magic Flute. In addition to vocal performances, Lanny also plays trombone, most recently with the Guelph Concert Band directed by Colin Clarke. Lanny's theatrical experience began with numerous school presentations, most notably Theatre Ross' Live, On Stage, Uncensored. While obtaining a Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Western Ontario, he appeared as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh in Althouse Theatre's production of Anything Goes.

John Janisse of Hamilton is the former Music Director of St. Pius Church, Brantford. He is a freelance tenor soloist who has also performed with Opera Hamilton. Mr. Janisse has received critical acclaim for his numerous stage roles with Arcady, notably the demanding roles of The Narrator in Beckett’s Ruth and the Male Chorus in John. In 1999, he appeared as a tenor soloist on the CD A Baroque Messiah and sang the part of the Narrator in the premiere of Beckett’s Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking.

Paul Jeffrey has been involved in choral music for virtually his entire life. An alumnus of St Michael's Choir School in Toronto, he studied voice with Stephanie Kramer and Richard Cunningham while pursuing his B.Sc. at the University of Waterloo. In addition to Arcady, he has performed with the Renaissance Singers and the Mississauga Choral Society and he is currently singing with the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir in Toronto. Paul has performed as a chorister or a soloist with the TSO, the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, the KW Symphony, the National Academy Orchestra, Opera Atelier and the Nota Bene Orchestra and looks forward to each subsequent performance as if it were his first.

Shawn Oakes is a native of Vittoria, Ontario. . He has a plethora of classical solo, choral, theatre and directorial credits to his name. Selected performance credits include Papegeno (The Magic Flute), Indian Boy (Indian Queen), Fredrick (The Pirates of Penzance), Freddy (My Fair Lady), Joseph (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), Bishop/Fueilly ( Les Miserable), Nick Bottom (Midsummer’s Night Dream). Directorial credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat, Oliver, Trial By Jury, The Sorcerer and Pinocchio. Internationally, he has performed the role of Sonny (Greased Lightning) in Des Moines, Iowa as well as being a member of the Festival Ensemble and Orchestra of the in the European MusikFestival under the direction of Helmuth Rilling in Stuttgart, Germany. Highlights of this tour were performing at the Berlin Philharmonic, the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival as well as an open-air concert at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. In the summer of 2006, Shawn toured in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with the Robert Levin’s newly completed version of Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Requeim. He was also chosen to go to Montego Bay, Jamaica as a soloist for Canada in the bid for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Shawn has been a regular soloist with Arcady since 1998. His love of music lies in the early music repertoire. He is currently teaching instrumental and vocal music at Brantford Collegiate Institute in Brantford.

Joseph Schnurr has recently completed his degree in voice performance at Wilfrid Laurier University where he studied with Victor Martens. Joseph’s opera credits include Francis Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Le Prince Charment in the Canadian premier of Aubert’s La Foret Bleue with WLU opera. Joseph was featured as the tenor soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana at Laurier. In 2003, he was the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and gave a recital of Schumann’s Dichterliebe for the 2004 Canadian German Festival in Toronto. Joseph returned this summer to the Grand River Baroque Festival where he made his acclaimed solo debut as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion. In June, he gave a song recital at the Westben Arts Festival. In competition this season, Joseph was a top ranking prizewinner in both the Elora Festival Young Artist Competition and the Guelph Spring Festival Competition. Internationally, he has been a two-time member of the Festival Ensemble of the Bachakademie under the direction of Helmuth Rilling in Stuttgart, Germany. Joseph plans to develop his career as an opera, oratorio, and lieder singer on a full tuition scholarship beginning in 2005 at the HochSchule fur Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin.