BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE
Stephane Martin Demers
President
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DIRECTORS
Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, Anika Venkatesh is a soprano in their third year of a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance at the University of Toronto. Along with being the current president of FoMARA, they are a founding member of the Anti-Racism Initiative in the Arts (ARIA), a non-profit aimed at empowering BIPOC-led art projects in the community.
In the summer of 2021, Anika was a research & marketing offices assistant at the faculty of music, where they co-authored the first draft of the Anti-Racism Anti-Oppression Committee Summer Work Study’s Wiki-style page, titled Belonging in Music Studies. This page is an ongoing anti-racism resource for those in music education and performance spaces to inform equitable treament of all musicians and appropriate responses to inequitable behaviour.
As a primarily classical singer, Anika is extremely passionate about the future of opera, and seeks to engage with new music that is relevant to the lives of people today. Through their recent years studying voice, they have developed a passion for seeking out diverse vocal works and familiarizing themselves with BIPOC composers writing vocal music outside of the historical Western classical canon, as well as music that speaks to LGBTQ+ experiences.
Anika can be reached at vpevents.fomara@gmail.com
Pronouns: they/them
Nikitha is in her third year of a double major in comprehensive classical piano and Indigenous Studies at the University of Toronto. She is a founding member of the FoMARA and was the VP of External Affairs in its inaugural year as well. Nikitha is also a founding member of ARIA, a non-profit committed to community building and anti-racism projects in the arts.
In the spring and summer of 2021, Nikitha was a Jackman Scholar-in-Residence, working on the Deskaheh project, a project involving transcriptions, citations, and research on Deskaheh Levi General’s life, journey to the League of Nations, and other affairs related to the story of the great Haudenosaunee patriot.
Nikitha also has an album of classical music out, Piano in Pajamas! You can check it out on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/2TBHO8Tvu9Li53MBaUv7IW?si=mA49YXpGRde-RwDAMdVrvQ&dl_branch=1
Nikitha can be reached at vpexternal.fomara@gmail.com
Pronouns: she/her
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Priscilla is a third-year undergraduate student in the Classical Voice Music Education program at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about equity in music education, specifically in vocal and choral music. She hopes to further explore issues of access, representation, and intersectionality in the music scene.
Outside of FoMARA, Priscilla is part of the non-profit organization ARIA, which seeks to carry out equity initiatives in the music community. She also teaches privately, volunteers with a children's choir, and does research work for Video Essayers. She has been involved in various mentorship projects with the Faculty of Music Undergraduate Association, and served as their Equity and Accessibility Officer in the 2020/21 year.
Priscilla can be reached at vpevents.fomara@gmail.com
Pronouns: she/her
Coming from Kelowna, BC, Sarah is a second-year undergraduate student studying trumpet in the Jazz Performance program at the University of Toronto. As Director of Publicity at FoMARA, Sarah hopes to share her passion for connecting creative music and social justice with others.
Aside from the Faculty of Music, Sarah is also involved with making Greek life on campus more accessible and inclusive, and she is on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee for the Beta Tau Chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi.
She aims to further her knowledge of intersectionality within music and enact positive change within the Faculty of Music.
Sarah can be reached at publicity.fomara@gmail.com
Pronouns: she/her
Claire Latosinsky is a fourth-year classical voice performance student with a second major in English. She is a founding member of FoMARA, and is excited to return to the club this year as its Director of Fundraising. Claire was a 2021 undergraduate fellow at the Jackman Humanities Institute, where she researched the role of Jean Sibelius’s music in Finnish nationalism. She remains interested in the role of classical music in legitimizing the nation-state, and the potential for music to subvert or nuance nationalist paradigms. When she is not singing or fretting about nationalism, Claire enjoys running, reading, playing piano, cooking, and spending quality time with her dog, Buster, and her cat, Toby.
Claire can be reached at fundraising.fomara@gmail.com
Pronouns: she/her
Julia is a second-year undergraduate student in the Jazz Voice Performance program. Alongside her involvement with the FoMARA, Julia is the Jazz Director on the FMUA, and sings for the Toronto All-Star Big Band. Julia hopes to become an active participant in the Toronto jazz scene, and help to make the jazz community more inclusive and welcoming to others.
Julia can be reached at secretary.fomara@gmail.com
Pronouns: she/her
Mia is in her fourth year of her music education program majoring in piano. Besides her main instrument, she also plays the clarinet. This year at FoMARA, Mia will be fulfilling the role of Director of Student Outreach, with the hopes of cultivating a safe space for students to share their stories and experiences about anti-racism, racism, and anything between the black and white.
In the virtual pandemic year, Mia established an online teaching studio where she
taught young students piano and music theory. When she’s not at school, you can find Mia spending time with her cat Neeko, cooking, or gaming with her friends.
Mia can be reached at studentoutreach.fomara@gmail.com
Pronouns: she/her
My name is Hillary and I am a fourth-year student studying piano in the Music Education program at the faculty. During my time here, I discovered a great joy in planning and organizing music-related events as they were created to support and celebrate all the hard work and effort spent by young musicians in and beyond the faculty. In addition, by taking part in events such as speaking engagements, workshops, public performances, etc., I have had the pleasure of collaborating with musicians and individuals that I never would have imagined crossing paths with. I joined FoMARA because of its mission statement and advocacy in establishing an antiracist and anti-oppressive music industry through education and conversation. I hope to help start opportunities that open the door to new collaborations and that creatively inform/share messages surrounding issues of BIPOC equity and racism while still being fun and engaging to everybody in the community. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, binge-watching videos, swimming, and score-studying!
Pronouns:she/her
For any inquiries, please do not hesitate to send us a message!
