Darrin Bast
Co-Chair & Founder

Darrin grew up in rural Ontario but later moved to Toronto where he became widely known, widely admired and widely accepted as a leader in his field of scientific research.

Leaving behind his impressive credentials of a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from the University of Guelph, a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Toronto and a formidable array of publications, Darrin entered into the realm of real estate. He is now an accomplished sales representative with the prestigious Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd. and is a member in good standing with the Toronto Real Estate Board, the Ontario Real Estate Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association.

With HEART & MUSIC, Darrin is fulfilling a dream, a mission if you like, to pay back to the community that has helped his Mom through some difficult times. Darrin would like to thank all of the people involved, the volunteers, the sponsors, the donators and you, the audience in making this event come to fruition. He would likewise encourage others to give back in a similar fashion whether it be a much smaller or a much grander manner.

Susan Antonacci
Co-Chair

Susan Antonacci is the Editor-In-Chief of Canadian Living and has worked in publishing for over 25 years.

Susan is married with two children; both husband and children work in the arts. She is actively involved in volunteering, is a founding member of the Breakfast for Learning Foundation where she continues to volunteer, and works with Free the Children. She currently sits on the board of SOS, a foundation that promotes the importance of learning assistance in school curriculum's for all students from grade school to university level. Susan also works to promote the importance of the arts in Ontario's school curriculum.

Susan has lost close friends to ovarian cancer and if not for early detection and treatment, she too could have been a victim. She is honoured to be involved with HEART & MUSIC and believes that if we all make one small step, we can make a difference in the lives of others. Believe and it can happen.

Lee Poulin

Lee most recently spent the summer in PEI as the Stage Manager of the Young Company and as an apprentice Stage Manager on Hairspray at the Charlottetown Festival. In the past, he stage managed the 2009 Fringe hit Hipcheck the Musical, the Creative Places + Spaces conference, the Voices Within Walls fundraiser and he was the Production Manager for the upcoming film, Above the Knee. Lee has been an Assistant Director, an Acting coach, and Teacher's Assistant for various classes at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, from where he is a graduate. His directing debut of Michel Tremblay's For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, received a 4 star review from Eye Weekly and sold out its final week of shows.

As a Dancer and Choreographer, Lee has worked with singers Jacynthe and Emjay on numerous music videos, for live performances in Haiti, across Canada, with Disney MGM Studios, as the opening act on the Backstreet Boys tour, and for appearances on Much Music and Musique Plus. Other performing credits include Conrad Birdie in Bye, Bye Birdie, Napthali /The Butler in Joseph and the…Dreamcoat, Macduff in Macbeth, Sonny in Grease, Guy in Homeward Bound, and John Proctor in The Crucible.

Lee is thrilled that HEART & MUSIC is in its second year and growing strong. He would like to send out tremendous thanks and gratitude to everyone that continues to believe in this vision by sharing their talent, heart, and music. To those we've known and lost, and to those battling this disease.

Mark Cassius

Mark Cassius is a versatile, world class entertainer, whose talents have been featured across North America, in Europe and Asia.

He has been featured in Ragtime and Shenandoah (On Broadway), Cats, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber In Concert, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (with Donny Osmond), Miss Saigon, Showboat and Dreamgirls. He has appeared at The Shaw Festival and was critically acclaimed for his performance as "Mr. Magix" in My One and Only at The Stratford Festival. He spent eight years with the world renowned acapella group and recording artists, The Nylons. Since leaving the group in 2005, he has been working with many aspiring professionals, instructing them in the disciplines of Music and Theatre.

His work as a Music Producer, Director, Writer and Teacher, continues to inspire those in pursuit of creative excellence.

David Clemmer

David Clemmer has been helping bring dreams to life for over thirty years – including his own.

At four years old after his television premiere on Romper Room, David decided that show biz was for him. He starred in many musical and theatrical productions while attending school and did a stint in musical theatre. Even when David shifted his focus over to the "biz" end of showbiz, David has never lost his passion for song and dance.

David is the CEO and co-founder of Judy Inc., an artist management company representing fashion stylists, hair and makeup artists and set designers in addition to other talent. Judy artists work in the area of fashion, celebrity imaging, television, advertising and movie promotion. Recent clients include Robert Pattison, Lady Gaga, Jude Law, Celine Dion, Justin Beiber, Drake, Shania Twain and Adam Lambert, among many others.

Through all of this, David has never lost sight of his dream.

David can be seen Internationally on the hit TV show Style by Jury as well as other numerous TV appearances including Host of Diamond in the Buff, Entertainment Tonight, Canada AM, Star TV, Styleography and Kidz For It. David has also contributed to top national and international magazines and publications including ELLE Magazine, Globe and Mail, City Magazine, Where Magazine, Lou Lou Magazine and JudyINK.com. David's red carpet commentary can be seen for such awards shows as The Academy Awards, People's Choice Awards, and The Golden Globes just to name a few.

Susan Thornburrow

Susan is an active volunteer with Ovarian Cancer Canada having lost her sister in law, Laura White, to the disease a couple of years ago. Last year Susan attended HEART & MUSIC and was so impressed, this year she is on board as a volunteer.

Susan has worked in the advertising sales side of the magazine business for over 30 years, with publications such as Reader's Digest, Chatelaine, Canadian Living, Homemaker's, Today's Parent and LOULOU. Currently she is with Roger's Publishing at HELLO! Canada magazine which launched in the fall of 2006.

Susan lives in Leaside with her husband Michael, son Will and daughter Nicole, who are both attending Queen's University in Kingston, and her miniature schnauzer, Archie. Since the age of six, Susan has been an avid dancer. Although she took several breaks during the busy years of raising a family, she is back taking tap, jazz and salsa. Who knows, maybe one year you will see her on the stage of HEART & MUSIC!'

Stephanie De Grandis

Stephanie is the founder and CEO of BioLaunch Inc., a company that provides business development expertise and strategic planning to small biotechnology companies, government agencies and venture capitalist companies in Canada.

Stephanie has worked in various senior management positions in the biotech sector and now enjoys consulting for many of her Toronto clients residing in the new MaRS Convergence Center. Stephanie obtained her MBA at the University of Toronto and a PhD at the University of Guelph.

Stephanie believes that HEART & MUSIC is a wonderful event and she was delighted to be invited to serve on the organizing committee by Darrin (her former biotech co-op student!). Ovarian cancer is a deadly killer of women and ovarian cancer research is very under funded. As a scientist herself, she finds it really rewarding to raise research dollars in such a unique way for a cause she so strongly support.

Ron Puccini

Ron has spent his personal career working in the Financial Service industry for one of Canada's top 5 Banks with over 20 years of experience. Ron has held a variety of positions in both Customer facing and Corporate Roles including Branch Manager and Project and Strategy Management.

Ron is currently Co-chair of A Taste for Life in support of Fife House. Taste for life is a highly visible restaurant based fundraiser that takes place every spring across Toronto. Ron has been associated with Fife House for the last 5 years and brings a wealth of business and charitable fundraising experience to HEART & MUSIC.

Colin McMurray

Originally from Riverview, New Brunswick, Colin arrived in Toronto after a seven year lay over in London, Ontario. He studied Fine Art with a major in Print Making and Photography, but later got hitched up in the entertainment industry.

After working for a couple larger talent agencies, four years ago he branched out on his own and now runs Colin McMurray and Associates Inc.

Since a young lad, he has always had an awareness for the environment and all it's livelihood within it. As a humanitarian, not only does he reuse, reduce and recycle, but makes donations to Parkinson's Disease, Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, Princess Margarent, Make a Wish Foudation and The Gatehouse. Being apart of charity events is another way of making a difference and becoming part of HEART & MUSIC and watching it grow has been exciting.

Paul Novotny

Paul Novotny is President of The Audio Producers Inc, and Vice President of Triplet Records Inc.

Novotny is a composer, (member of the "Guild of Canadian Film Composers" GCFC) music/audio producer (member of the Music Producers Guild) and electric/upright bass player. He has operated his own business since 1984 providing music and sound for advertising, tv and film. Novotny has written music for CBC The Hour (George Stroumboulopoulos), CBC The National, CBC News Now, Space for Living HGTV/Ikea, Suzuki, Mattel, Simmons, CN Tower, Scotia, Mastermind, Velamints and Humpty Dumpty and others. As well, The Audio Producers works on TV shows, Jane Lockhart's Colour Confidential and Candice Olson's Divine Design, House of Brian, Disaster DIY, Holmes on Homes, Holmes Inspection and others.

As co-owner of Triplet Records Inc., Novotny has produced fifteen CD's garnering three Juno nominations and one Juno win with Order of Canada recipient, Joe Sealy's Africville Suite.

As a jazz bass player, Novotny has performed internationally with Carol Welsman, Holly Cole, The Dave McMurdo Jazz Orchestra and with his music and business partner Joe Sealy. He has also performed in Toronto with Cedar Walton, Geoff Keezer, Joanne Brakeen, Junior Mance, Don Thompson, Tommy Banks, Brian Browne and others. Recently the duo of Sealy/Novotny have released their fifth CD titled "SONGS" which features nine original songs with guest performances by Dan Hill, Jully Black, Ranee Lee, Jackie Richardson and a 15 member chamber string ensemble from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Paul Novotny continues to work with various community organizations and charities, such as Dare Arts, Children's Peace Theatre, Lifebeat, Songbirds, The Shelter Foundation and now, HEART & MUSIC.

Brandy Gale

In her twenties, Gale pursued a body of work as a Performance Artist as Brandy Stephen. She executed her body-art oriented pieces in Canada, the US and in Europe in solo and group exhibitions, as well as with Antler River People, a Performance Art troupe of which she was a founding member.

Following completion of an HBA degree in Art Theory & Criticism at the University of Western Ontario, she started a business doing artwork for the corporate client. Eventually she streamlined the business to focus solely on original artwork and photography for themusic industry, and has since worked with successful acts in different countries, from a wide range of music genres.

Gale presently devotes her full focus to painting year round from life, on location, in the spirit of those Canadians who painted from the landscape before her. Donning snowshoes to paint mountainscapes at 7000 feet at Lake Louise, Alberta is an annual journey. The Caribbean, California, Prince Edward County, Monhegan Island, Maine and Niagara Falls are other favourite painting locations. She currently resides in Prince Edward County, Canada.

Nick Wilson

Nick is a Principal Business Analyst with salesforce.com Verticals Premier Support. He works with large financial institutions assisting them running their sales, marketing, service and support or any other business process using salesforce.com's cloud computing platform.

Nick's support of Ovarian Cancer Canada was enabled through Salesforce.com Foundation's integrated philanthropy program, which helps nonprofits further their mission through 1% volunteerism, 1% equity, and 1% CRM product donations. The HEART & MUSIC event was produced through a combination of Salesforce CRM, Force.com's cloud computing platform and CRM consulting services.

Nick is very excited to be a part of this project for such a great cause.

Marc Garand

Stay tuned.

Brian King

Business Manager and Partner, Brian King received his formal training in Culinary Arts and Administration at Hotel School in Colchester, Essex, England. He spent years honing his skills in hotels worldwide including: the Grand Hotel National, Lucerne, Switzerland; Carleton Tower Hotel, London, England; and the Berkley Hotel, London, England. Following his move to Canada in 1972, Brian was employed by both the Park Plaza Hotel and The Prince Hotel, in Toronto.

After years in the hotel business, Brian wanted to make a change, and follow his real love for catering. Brian is known for his excellence in a variety of roles within the events industry – from liaising with clients and venues to sourcing out suppliers that will make the event come to life and everything in between!

Brian is thrilled to be a part of this year's HEART & MUSIC organizing committee and hopes to make this year's fundraiser event an even bigger success!

Allen de Vera

Allen de Vera has been a friend to HEART & MUSIC's founder for several years.

His professional career involved 19 years at TD Bank in various Management roles. He is currently VP, Operations of Dr. Kevin Russelo & Associates, the largest dental practice in the Church Wellesley Village. He has served on a few Boards namely the Church Wellesley Business Improvement Area and the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.

His involvement with HEART & MUSIC arose not only as a result of his friendship with Dr. Bast but his passion to help the battle against ovarian cancer. He is proud that Dr. Kevin Russelo & Associates is a Gold Sponsor at this year's HEART & MUSIC Event. His role will be to actively participate in the concerted fundraising efforts of the organization.

Matt Petersen

Stay tuned.

Steven Wong

Stay tuned.

Tessa Visperas

Before becoming the event and staff co-ordinator of a la Carte Kitchen Tessa began her journey to special events during her high school years as a volunteer for various March of Dimes events. Upon graduation, Tessa moved to California to join the Young Americans as a teacher, committee and production coordinator for the non-profit organization who conduct international music-outreach tours teaching music, dance and performance to educational facilities.

Upon her completion with the Young Americans, Tessa moved to Toronto, secured a diploma in Business Management utilizing her supervisory skills as senior management at Roots and Starbucks. Working with one of the city's most prolific event and production coordinators, Barbara Hershenhorn (Party Barbara Co.), Tessa honed her event management skills during the multi-event, multi-location, Toronto International Film Festival. Tessa has kept to her love of music and dance, as a volunteer choreographer and staff coordinator for the Brampton and Scarborough Music Theatres.

Tessa is honoured to join this year's HEART & MUSIC organizing committee and make this year's fundraiser event another success!

Jeff Dimitriou

Jeff is a Choreographer based in Toronto, Canada.

His success has taken him worldwide with film and television projects such as SuckerPunch, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Girl Walks Into A Bar, and Human Target. Theatre favorites include Cabaret, Candide, High School Musical, and Chess.

Currently, Jeff is Associate Choreographer on the hit CW television series Hellcats. Special thanks to The QC, for becoming the artists tool and participating in such a great event.

Jeff is honored to be part of the planning committee for HEART & MUSIC. He looks forward to many more years of success with HEART & MUSIC. His work with the foundation is dedicated to his mother, Patricia Dimitriou, who passed away from cancer, August 25, 2009.

Susan Petkovsek

Sue Petkovsek is currently enrolled in the Event Management Certificate Program at Ryerson University and is doing her internship with Heart and Music. She has 25 years of experience in event planning, coordination and management, project management, marketing and communications. Sue’s experience and skills include planning and management of annual conferences, seminars and trade shows for both the public and non-profit sectors.

Sue has volunteered with various organizations and events, including the Easter Seals 2009 Conn Smythe Dinner, and has held leadership roles on various volunteer committees. She is thrilled to be a part of such an exciting and worthwhile event as Heart and Music.

Allison Omara

Allison studied at George Brown College in the two year, Special Events Planning Program. She has gained great experience and knowledge, working and volunteering with a wide variety of events. Allison has been a part of Toronto Film Festival, Run for the Cure, The Venetian Ball and Heart & Music. Her interests in events are film and fashion, performing arts, and charities.

Allison has put her greatest strengths to work by planning and executing her own event during the summer of 2010. Jemm Fundraising Event was put together to benefit the PMH in support of Childhood Cancer. This event raised over 3,000$ in the first year, and will continue to grow.

Heart and Music has been a hands on learning experience for Allison, as she has taken on more responsibility. She looks forward to watching this beautiful night come together and to share it with you all. Enjoy your night at Heart and Music, without our guests this night would not be possible. Thank you.