Carl Philippe Gionet, Pianist

“Carl Philippe Gionet is a pianist and multidisciplinary artist. Whether as a soloist, collaborative pianist, or pedagogue, Carl is in high demand, mainly in Europe and Canada.”

Carl Philippe Gionet is a pianist and multidisciplinary artist. Whether as a soloist, collaborative pianist, or pedagogue, Carl is in high demand, performing mainly in Europe and Canada. He completed his doctorate in piano performance at the Université de Montréal under the direction of Paul Stewart. He has also received specialized training in collaborative piano in Austria and England, and participated in numerous prestigious international summer programs. In 2013, he founded Musique sur mer en Acadie, an organization dedicated to education and diffusion of classical music in francophone minority communities, and since 2014 he has been collaborative piano professor and vocal coach at Breno Italy International Music Academy.  Carl is also a visual artist, primarily painting and video installations, working almost exclusively in black and white.  Inspired by the contrasts observed in nature, his work is both introspective and contemplative, allowing the work to express itself, therefore offering countless avenues of interpretation. In 2024 he has made his European debut with two solo exhibitions, in Italy during the Cantieri Culturali – Val Camonica with Méditation sur saint Sébastien, and in Iceland at the Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum in Reykjavik with Laugarneshughrif (Imprints of Laugarnes). He is represented by Galerie ART-ARTISTE. Carl is also a writer. Nominated for the Prix Antonine-Maillet – Acadie Vie with his book Icare (Icarus), published by Éditions Prise de parole in 2021, his latest book, a translation of The Incredible Adventures of Mary Jane Mosquito by cree author Tomson Highway, has been released in March 2024. His latest album, Tu me voyais, featuring his Douze chansons folkloriques acadiennes with soprano Christina Raphaëlle Haldane was released by Leaf Music in 2022. The score for his arrangements is published and distributed by Éditions Doberman-Yppan, and two of these songs have been included in the prestigious collection of the Royal Conservatory of Music in their latest edition. 



Julia Jordan, Choral Retreat Program Administrator

BIIMA alumna Julia Jordan (she/her) is an opera artist based in Halifax and has lived on the East Coast since 2020. After defending her thesis on operatic performance and pedagogy in 2022, she sang two seasons with the Halifax Summer Opera Festival and was commended for singing “with fine voice” in an “interpretation [that] was funny and commanding” (Opera Canada). She is currently co-music director at St. Andrew’s United Church, where she leads and coaches the choir in weekly performances. Administratively, she works as Director of Operations at the Atlantic Federation of Musicians, a professional association and union that serves and advocates for musicians in NS and PEI. Julia is excited to return for a second season as BIIMA’s Choral Retreat Program Administrator!