Mysterium Duo & Vaughan String Quartet

One of the world’s foremost authorities on the classical accordion, Antonio Peruch is a distinguished international classical accordion artist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, lecturer, researcher, composer, and arranger. He studied composition with Violet Archer and Malcolm Forsyth.

He was nominated for both a Juno Award and a Western Canadian Music Award for his Logos Futura CD of Canadian concertos for classical accordion and orchestra that he commissioned. He won Italy’s Orpheus recording award for his Homage to Tango: The Music of Daniel Binelli CD, which he recorded in Cuba with the prestigious Camerata Romeu string orchestra.

One of the world’s most innovative, knowledgeable, and captivating concert accordionists, he pursues his vision of the accordion as an exciting, highly expressive classical concert instrument—in the recording studio, the teaching studio, and in the concert hall. He has performed before enthusiastic audiences in Canada, the USA, Italy, Mexico, and Cuba.

Peruch was knighted by the Republic of Italy for his contributions to Italian music and culture, and received the prestigious University of Alberta Alumni Association Award of Excellence. His musical projects have been supported by the Edmonton Arts Council, the City of Edmonton, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Instituto Cubano de la Musica.

His award-winning book translation, Astor Piazzolla: The Father of the New Tango, originally written in Italian by Dr. Paolo Picchio, was published in 2023 by Edizioni Curci publishers of Milan, Italy.

He currently teaches classical accordion at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels in the Music Division, School of Creative and Performing Arts, University of Calgary.

Penny Sanborn is a Calgary-based accordion performer, educator, and researcher. She performs as a soloist and chamber musician, and teaches accordion. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Transdisciplinary Research in music and learning at the University of Calgary, exploring the conditions that enable high-performance creativity in music. Her work has been supported by grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her performance experience includes appearances with Luciano Pavarotti, Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, with performances taking her across Canada, Dubai, and Italy.

Brazilian-Canadian violinist Dr. Vladimir Rufino has built an international performing career spanning North and South America and Europe, with appearances in Brazil, Argentina, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy. He has performed in renowned venues including Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Symphony Space (New York), Rolston Recital Hall at the Banff Centre, and Meridian Hall (Toronto). As first violinist of the Vaughan String Quartet, he was Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre and participated in the CBC recording of R. Murray Schafer’s Apocalypsis, released by Analekta.

Rufino holds a Doctor of Music from the University of Alberta, a Master of Music and Artist Certificate from Azusa Pacific University, and a Bachelor of Music from the Universidade Federal da Paraíba. He has served as concertmaster of several orchestras and performs regularly as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral violinist with ensembles including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, and the Marigold Ensemble.

An active recording artist with Azul Music Label, Rufino’s discography includes From Brazilian Northeast, Mosaico and Homelands with the Vaughan String Quartet, Debut and Duoessence with the Amorim-Rufino Duo, and Dialogues for 2 violins and viola. He is also a dedicated educator, adjudicator, and chamber musician, currently teaching at the Mount Royal University Conservatory and the Winspear Centre Conservatory of Music.

Mattia Berrini is an Italian Canadian violinist and pedagogue whose curiosity and love for chamber music has brought him to perform across the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

A member of the Vaughan String Quartet since its foundation, Mattia has performed with the group for institutions such as the Toronto Luminato Festival, Edmonton Opera, Amici di Paganini in Genoa (Italy), Spotlight Series Vancouver and the Rolston Recital Hall Series at the Banff Centre, and has been broadcasted by CBC Radio Canada, City TV and France 3.

Mattia has also served as guest musician with many orchestras in Italy and in Canada, such as the United Europe Chamber Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Orchestra Milano Classica, Orchestra Barocca di Cremona and Orchestre Symphonique de Laval.

In 2025 he has performed at the Vatican University in Rome for the El Salvador Embassy to the Holy See.

As a chamber musician, he has also been featured in several recording projects by contemporary composers such as Erik Lankin, Ilhara McIndoe and Davide Runcini.

Mattia holds a Doctor of Music degree from Université de Montréal, as well as a Master in Biology from the University of Alberta. His interdisciplinary profile has led him to participating in several research works at the intersection between science and music, and he has been featured as a performer in the ACTOR Project, an international research panel on music timbre and orchestration. A curious mind, Mattia works as instructor and pedagogue for different institutions, often merging music and science.

Dr. Fabiola Amorim is a Brazilian-Canadian violist recognized for her artistry as a chamber musician, orchestral performer, and educator. A founding member of the Vaughan String Quartet, she has performed across Canada, the United States, Brazil, France, and Italy, appearing at renowned venues including Walt Disney Concert Hall, Symphony Space in New York, Rolston Recital Hall at the Banff Centre, and Meridian Hall in Toronto. She was also an Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre and participated in the recording of R. Murray Schafer’s Apocalypsis, released by Analekta.

She holds a Doctor of Music from the University of Alberta, a Master of Music and Artist Certificate from Azusa Pacific University, and a Bachelor of Music from the Universidade Federal da Paraíba. Her doctoral dissertation, Echoes of the Brazilian Nationalism Movement in Four Works for Viola and Piano (1950–82), is widely recognized as a valuable contribution to Brazilian viola scholarship.

Amorim’s recordings include Amoroso, featuring works by Brazilian composers for viola, as well as Mosaico and Homelands with the Vaughan String Quartet, Debut and Duoessence with the Amorim-Rufino Duo, and Dialogues for 2 violins and viola. An artist with Azul Music Label, she performs regularly with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Marigold Ensemble, and the Vaughan String Quartet, while maintaining an active teaching studio at the Winspear Centre Conservatory of Music and Mount Royal University Conservatory.

A recipient of the Royal Conservatory Teacher of Distinction Award, Silvia Buttiglioni is a sought-after performer and pedagogue. A founding member of the Vaughan String Quartet, and twice artist in residence at the Banff Centre, she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in several prestigious venues, including the Sony Centre in Toronto and Symphony Space in New York. She has extensively toured Europe as a member of various symphonic and chamber orchestras and has performed in important venues such as Tonhalle in Zurich and Philarmonie Berlin.

Silvia explores a wide range of musical genres, from classical and early music to contemporary compositions, with a particular focus on folk music. Passionate about interdisciplinary art, she is dedicated to creating music and theatre programs and to early childhood music education. She has recorded numerous works for solo cello, duo, trio, and quartet and regularly collaborates with emerging composers to promote new music.

Thanks to her deep passion for teaching, Silvia’s students have won RCM Gold Medals and have been accepted into renowned academic institutions such as the University of Alberta and the Schulich School of Music at McGill. In addition to her musical career, Silvia also worked for several years as a lawyer in Italy.

Canadian composer Kristin Flores is captivated by the beauty of sound. She loves the way that different intervals affect the listener—the frustration of dissonance and the calm of consonance—and seeks melodies that take root in the listener’s mind long after the piece has ended. She uses musical materials to explore the beauty of nature, art, and poetry, as well as her own thoughts and emotions.

Flores holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Calgary, where she studied under the supervision of renowned Canadian composer Allan Gordon Bell. Flores’ pieces have been performed by ensembles such as the Orchestre de l'Université Paris Cité, Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra, Kensington Sinfonia, Land’s End Ensemble, Astralis Quartet, Mill Creek Colliery Brass Band, Ensemble Resonance, Lily String Quartet, Laurel Duet, WindRose Trio, as well as by outstanding performers such as Tanya Prochazka, Kathleen Corcoran, Beth Root Sandvoss, Tatiana Warszynski, Debra Fast, Yehonatan Berick, Rachel Mercer, Genevieve Micheletti and Jeremy Brown, among others. Her orchestral arrangements of Jay-Z were performed by the Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra at the Scotiabank Saddledome centre court for the Calgary Surge pro-basketball season opener for an audience of over twelve thousand. Her compositions have received performances at the Festa del Paese di Massarosa, Garda Musik Week Festival, University of Calgary’s New Music Festival, Edmonton’s Nextfest and Tonus Vivus Festivals, and the Canadian Contemporary Showcase Festival. Her music has been presented by the National Arts Centre Orchestra ‘Lunch Break’ Series, Hamilton Ontario’s ‘5 at the First’, the Canadian Music Centre’s ‘New Music in New Places’, and New Works Calgary. Her pieces have been performed across Canada, the United States and in Europe. Flores is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Association of Canadian Women Composers. Flores’ music has been broadcast on Canadian radio and released on streaming platforms and commercial recordings. Her music creation is supported by SOCAN, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Canada Council for the Arts.

Born in Italy on 28 March 1951, Canadian artist Antonio Caruso studied at the Brera Fine Arts Academy of Milan and at the Carrara Fine Arts Academy of Bergamo.

From 1976 to 1987, he collaborated with Ghitta Hussar, director of the international arts magazine Valigia Diplomatica, in which many of his works have been published, and which allowed him to participate in international exhibitions of historic importance—exhibitions that proved to be a real testing ground for artists such as Pietro Annigoni, Giorgio De Chirico, Salvador Dali, Salvatore Fiume, Mignieco, Purificato, among others. In 1979, he achieved a remarkable success at the Palazzo Lazzarini in Pesaro, presenting his innovative technique called frescografia. From this point onwards, Caruso’s artistic activity has established itself on solid ground.

Antonio Caruso has been active in Canada since 1982. His artistic specialties are fresco, frescografia, and wood sculpture. He first exhibited his frescoes and frescografias at the Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, obtaining a resounding success both with the public and critics. Moreover, he received high honours and recognition from the City of Thunder Bay. He is privileged to be the first artist to have brought to Canada the technique of fresco and frescografia. His works of art are now part of private collections, as well as collections in museums, cathedrals, and churches both in North America and in Europe.

This lover of beauty and superb master of the art of sculpture in wood has also produced notable sculptures in bronze and marble. He is one of the few contemporary artists who excels at expressing himself through a variety of painting, sculpting, and mosaic techniques. He incorporates Canadian subject matter, including nature, into his work, and has found Canada to be fertile ground for his artistic development and contributions.