Artists in Residence

Award winning lyric tenor and voice teacher (Platinum – Music Lessons, CommunityVotes Ottawa 2022), Grayson Nesbitt, holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Music degree from the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario. Laurence Ewashko (uOttawa) and Jackalyn Short (University of Western Ontario) instilled Grayson with a desire to tell expressive stories and deliver text in music, without ambiguity of diction, in a way that serves the listener’s experience rather than serve the music itself. This rings true in the continuous praise from concertgoers lauding the clarity of Grayson’s lyric diction.

Grayson is at home in many musical eras and styles. Some operatic highlights include: Frederic in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, and Peter Quint in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw.

As a recording artist, Grayson was featured in Svyatyj Bozhe (The Trisagion), a movement from Pisni z Nebesakh (Songs from Heaven) on Ukrainian-Canadian composer Joanna Estelle’s album, TRANSMUTATION, which was awarded a Silver Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Classical category of the September 2023 Global Music Awards.

Since 2018, Grayson has been a faculty member of the Bytown School of Singing in Ottawa, Canada where he finds immense joy in sharing the craft of healthy, expressive singing. He teaches a variety of ages and skill levels; from building voices from the ground up, to helping people improve their skill for community choirs, as well as preparing students for festivals and auditions. In his new position as one of two Artists in Residence at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Grayson is excited to collaborate with our Director of Music, working to enrich the music ministry and foster healthier ideas about the voice and self in community.

Dr. Mark Wilkinson brings an internationally renowned career as a musician, actor, and educator to his role as Artist-in-Residence at St. John's. He contributes to the St. John's music program and the community at large by serving as a teacher and workshop clinician for the choir, as a soloist in concert performances and occasional church services, and as a faculty member of the Bytown School of Singing.

By the age of 21, Mark had already made his professional operatic début with Ottawa Chamberfest and his CBC national broadcast début with Soundstreams Canada and Maria Guinand, leading to further débuts with the National Arts Centre Orchestra for R. Murray Schafer's reception of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards and the Ottawa Writer's Festival for the North American premiere of Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood with Ms. Atwood at his side. Further highlights included the world-premiere edition of the Early Music Festival of Alberta with Brian Asawa and Jolaine Kerley, recitals with The Aldeburgh Connection's Stephen Ralls and Bruce Ubukata, recitals on Beethoven's piano at Beethovenhaus in Vienna and throughout Austria with pianist Christina LeRose, his professional orchestra début with the Edmonton Symphony, a return to the CBC with the King's College Chapel Choir under Paul Halley, and sharing the stage with PDQ Bach (Peter Schickele) for Music and Beyond. His career continues to reflect his versatility as a singing actor and his gifts as a collaborator in chamber music, theatre, oratorio, opera, and recital. Recent highlights include the Canadian premiere of Dan Forrest's Creation at the Isabel Bader Centre, the world premiere of Christine Helferty's Past the Limit in Peterborough, his Washington, D.C. recital début with pianist Audrey Andrist for the Arts Club of Washington, and a return to Ottawa Chamberfest for an evening of Broadway hits. He is the resident Bass II in Ottawa's newest premier vocal ensemble, Senza nomine.

Dr. Mark, as his students know him, is also one of Canada's leading voice pedagogues and professors, bringing his joy as an educator to groups and individuals around the world. He has taught at the University of Alberta, the University of Ottawa, the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama, and the University of Toronto. He gives workshops, masterclasses, clinics, and voice lessons all over the world, sharing his unique insights into voice health, common voice myths, and the aging voice. His current collaborations include the Ottawa Voice and Swallowing Clinic, the Bytown School of Singing, Learning Again in Almonte, De La Salle and Canterbury High Schools, the Ottawa Valley and Ottawa-Gatineau chapters of CAMMAC, and numerous choirs around the region.

Dr. Mark holds the collaborative doctorate in music, speech & hearing science, and otolaryngology from The Ohio State University. His experience in clinical voice therapy and observing surgical laryngology informs his approaches to helping singers, actors, and everyday people recover from (or avoid) voice injuries and disorders. He is thrilled to find a home at St. John's.