Sophia Daunt is a 22-year-old soprano from Ajax, Ontario. She recently completed her undergraduate degree in Voice Performance at Western University studying with

Gloria Gassi. Having mastered multiple styles and genres of music, Sophia has been described as a well-rounded and charming performer with maturity beyond her age.

Sophia performs and competes frequently as a soloist in and around the London

and Greater Toronto Area. Most recently, she competed in the 2023 London Kiwanis Festival where she won first place at the Rosebowl Competition. Sophia also competed in the Ontario Music Festival Association’s 2022 Provincial Competition and won first place in the Diploma Voice category.

Sophia’s passion lies in Opera performance, and she has completed partial and full role studies with UWO Opera. She has completed partial role studies of Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen. She also performed the role of Sandman in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel in UWO Opera’s 2022-23 season. Bringing life into

each character she portrays; Sophia is passionate about pursuing opera performance as a career.

When not singing, you can find Sophia reading her current favorite novel or listening to

showtunes.

Ben Bolt-Martin is pleased and excited to join London Youth Symphony this evening as a guest conductor. Ben is past conductor of the Waterloo Chamber Players, Mississauga Youth Orchestra, Stratford Perth Youth Orchestra and Georgian Bay Symphony Youth Orchestra.

As a cellist, Ben Bolt-Martin has performed 20 seasons with the Stratford Festival of Canada, performing live and recording incidental music. He is a founding member of INNERchamber, an inventive and intimate chamber music series in Stratford. Ben has also featured as a soloist across Canada with a special interest in new music reflecting humanity's search for meaning. Ben was the featured performer on the Juno nominated recording Notes Towards.

As an arranger, Ben's projects have twice been nominated for Canadian Folk Music Awards and are regularly performed in orchestras across Canada.

Ben teaches chamber music at University of Waterloo.