
Tara Semple, Artistic Director
Traverso, recorder, baroque flute
Tara is thrilled to be playing her favourite music with fabulous musicians who share her passion for baroque music.In the beginning, we only had a few instruments and a passion to learn more about how to play the music we love. We quickly gathered instruments and went off to study at the Tafelmusik summer institute. We started off with just four people and very big ideas….Now we boast a roster of 16 musicians to draw from. Per Sonatori performed our first concert Debut in February of 2007. Our first concert series was launched in Nov of 2008. We are now in our 6th full season.Tara has studied at the Tafelmusik summer institute in 2007 and with the Per Sonatori ensemble in 2008. She most recently studied in Boston in a French Baroque program at the Longy institute. Tara has studied with Claire Guimond (Arion -Montreal), Jed Wentz (Amsterdam).This summer Tara is taking a baroque dance/flute workshop at the Cornish institute in Seattle. She will be studying baroque dance with Anna Mansbridge and baroque flute with Janet See.Tara is the piccolo/assistant flute player in the Regina Symphony Orchestra. She is the founder of the Quarter Tones flute ensemble. She conducts the flute choirs at Campbell Collegiate, as well as teaching a full complement of students in her studio.Tara is currently the Artistic Director and she is thankful for the amazing people she gets to work with. She is grateful for the time and energy each member gives to the ensemble.

Jonathan Achtzehner
Baroque viola
Jonathan Achtzehner shares his fascination with music as an educator, conductor and performer. At the age of six, Jon began playing violin in the Suzuki program. As he grew up he participated in music at church, in school and in the community by singing, playing the violin or the viola, and occasionally picking up other instruments such guitar. In 1998 he entered the University of Regina Music program and graduated in 2004.Currently Jon is involved in a wide variety of musical groups. He is the musical director for the Luther College Bach Choir at the University of Regina, as well as the choir at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church. He also works as a violin/viola teacher at the conservatory for performing arts, working with students of all ages but especially with the Child-Parent string program.Jonathan has also had the opportunity to perform with a wide range of ensembles. He regularly performs with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and with Regina’s baroque music ensembles Per Sonatori and Per Voci. His performances with Per Sonatori include playing not only the viola but also the uncommon baroque instrument Viola d’amoure. He has been featured as a baritone, tenor and counter-tenor soloist in performances by Per Voci and the Luther Bach Choir. Jon also performs, as required, playing violin or viola in string quartets, mandolin in a blue grass ensemble, or guitar for a rock band.Jonathan’s wide range of experience and musical interests make him a responsive listener in ensembles and an insightful and creative teacher. He has a passion for music of all kinds and shares his passion through performance and education.

Tanya Bergen
Pipe organ
Tanya’s fascination with the music of J.S. Bach led to a love for all things baroque and she is thrilled to be a part of Per Sonatori’s roster of musicians. Tanya is an active freelance pianist, organist, singer and music teacher in Regina. Tanya teaches piano, theory and harmony out of her home studio and is the organ instructor for the University of Regina. She also holds the position of Director of Music and Organist at Holy Rosary Cathedral of Regina. Tanya performs as a utility keyboardist with the Regina Symphony Orchestra, and as an organist and singer with Per Sonatori and Halcyon Chamber Choir, and is the rehearsal accompanist for the Regina Philharmonic Chorus. In fall 2017, Tanya performed as a keyboardist for the Globe Theatre production of Bittergirl: The Musical. Tanya holds ARCT diplomas in both piano pedagogy and voice with the Royal Conservatory of Music. She also received an ARCCO designation from the Royal Canadian College of Organists and was awarded the 2016 Charles Peaker Prize.

Marie-Noelle Berthelet
Baroque flute, recorder
Marie-Noelle Berthelet has been an active member of Per Sonatori since its early beginning in 2007. She moved from her native province of Quebec in 2004 after she was appointed principal flutist with the Regina Symphony Orchestra. Still holding this position, she has since expanded her interest to period performance: she now performs on the baroque flute and the recorder with the ensemble. She also works at creating and developing concerts for the group. Previously the student of Jacques Zoon and Jeanne Baxtresser at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, she was awarded the Governor General’s Medal for her studies in flute interpretation. As a soloist, she has performed several concertos with different ensembles through Canada.Her studio at the University of Regina and at the Conservatory of Performing Arts includes 17 young dedicated flautists. She teaches various field of studies: classical performance, chamber music and music education. Her teaching focuses on expanding learning skills, developing creativity, stage performance as well as creating projects and concerts.An active musician in the orchestra and on the chamber music scene, her playing is characterized with great fluidity and sensitivity:“As far as Berthelet’s performance, it only lends further credence to the credibility of the organization, that one of their own is able to so easily capture the ears and hearts of their audience in a manner that one would expect from their most decorated guest artists.” – Leader Post, February 13, 2012.

Amelia Borton
Baroque cello
Borton began began playing cello at the age of 4, won numerous awards from the Regina Conservatory and Music Festival, and has been part of many different ensembles, including the Regina Symphony Orchestra. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Manitoba in 2004, and then studied at the University of Ottawa on full scholarship, earning her Masters in Music in 2006, both under the tutelage of Paul Marleyn. She is currently back in her home city of Regina, busy with teaching and performing. She is a founding member of the Baroque ensemble Per Sonatori, is part of the piano trio Trio Sophia, and is Assistant Principal Cello with the Regina Symphony Orchestra.

Hart Godden
Harpsichord, Pipe Organ, Choirmaster
Hart Godden holds the position of Director of Music and Organist of Knox-Metropolitan United Church where he conducts the KMUC Senior and Junior Choirs, and the Knox-Met Brass. Hart is the founder and Artistic Director of the Halcyon Chamber Choir, a dynamic and exciting choir known for its exquisite choral sound. In addition to its unique choral concerts, Halcyon has regularly appeared with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and the Regina Philharmonic Chorus. Hart is also the Artistic Director of the Regina Philharmonic Chorus. Under his direction the RPC has developed into one of the major community choruses in Canada and numbers 120 singers. The RPC is known for its concerts of exciting and beautiful music which have included works such as Requiem by Maurice Duruflé, Handel’s Messiah, Magnificat by Bach and The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins. As a performer, he is often heard in concert with Tara Semple, flute, and Cameron Lowe, cello, as the trio High F’lutin’. He performs with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and the Per Sonatori Baroque Ensemble as organist, harpsichordist and keyboardist. Hart also works for Pipework, the Western Canadian representative for Casavant Frères Limitée as a pipe organ technician. Hart Godden grew up in Saskatoon and completed an ARCT and LTCL in piano and a B. Mus. degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He then completed a Master of Music in conducting and a B.Ed. at the University of Regina. He received an ARCCO from the Royal Canadian College of Organists.

Heng-Han Hou
Baroque violin
Hailing from Taiwan, violinist Heng-Han Hou has firmly established himself in the music scene in both Regina and Toronto with his musicality and sensitivity Heng-Han performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. His recent solo highlight includes performing Lou Harrison’s Concerto in Slendro with the University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble. He performed numerous chamber concerts at the Toronto Summer Music and the Lake George Music Festival.
Heng-Han joined the Regina Symphony Orchestra and the Regina Symphony Chamber Players as the Principal Second Violin in September 2020. Besides performing, Heng-Han is also an active pedagogue and a piano accompanist. He holds teaching assistant positions at the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Contemporary Music Ensemble, Chamber Ensemble, and also teaches Applied Lesson for Prof. Jonathan Crow. Heng-Han is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Prof. Jonathan Crow.

David Popoff
Baroque flute
David Popoff is an active freelance flute player and teacher in Regina. He is a band teacher in the Prairie Valley School division, as well as a seasonal staff member with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. He enjoys balancing a life of performing, as well as teaching. He studied with Jane Schudel (U of Regina) and Robert Cram (U of Ottawa). He has performed with the National Academy Orchestra, University of Ottawa Orchestra and currently performs as Utility Flute / Piccolo with the Regina Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of the QuarterTones Flute Ensemble, Regina’s professional flute quartet. He has also specialized in Baroque Flute, performing with Per Sonatori and also performs regularly on Irish flute, with local celtic musicians.

Rudolf Sternadel
Baroque violin
Born in Prague, Rudolf Sternadel started violin lessons at the age of five. In 1980, he moved to Canada, where he began lessons under Prof. David Zafer, completing his Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto in 1991. He then enrolled at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he studied violin with Prof. Václav Snítil and chamber music with Prof. Lubomír Kostecký of the Smetana Quartet.During his stay in Europe, Rudolf also toured Germany and Italy as a member of the RIAS Jugendorchester, Berlin, and participated in several chamber music seminars. Upon returning to Canada he enrolled at the University of Toronto, completing his Master of Music degree in September 1994 under the tutelage of Prof. Loránd Fenyves.Until October 2000, he was involved in numerous freelance and chamber music activities in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo. Currently Rudolf is the head of the Child / Parent String Program at the Regina Conservatory of Performing Arts, Assistant Music Director / Librarian of the South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra, and is a member of the Regina Symphony.

Jonathan Ward
Baroque violin
Jonathan Ward studied viola in his hometown of Sudbury, Ontario with Metro Kozak, and at the University of Western Ontario with Ralph Aldrich and Betty-Jean Hagen. He gained a great deal of orchestral experience with several Ontario symphony orchestras before relocating to Regina in 1989 to take on the role of Principal Viola.In addition to having many performance opportunities, he teaches a large number of students for the Regina Public Schools Co-curricular Violin Program. Several years ago his duties were expanded to include the continued instruction of eleven inner-city students who were involved in “Strings Across the Sky”, a program made possible through the partnership between the Regina Symphony Orchestra and Regina Public School Board. The program has grown and now includes many new students. He recently joined the faculty at the University of Regina Conservatory for the Performing Arts.As a composer, Jon has seen a considerable amount of success. He is currently an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre. His compositions have received a significant number of performances, including World Premieres by the Regina Symphony Orchestra and national broadcasts on both CBC Radio and Radio Canada. Outside of Canada, his works have been performed in the United States, Mexico and Europe, including orchestral performances in Vienna and Salzburg.