3rd Wednesday at Makers Stage – Hazel McCallion Central Library – 301 Burnhamthorpe Rd W, Mississauga
Wednesday, November 18, 2026 – 12 pm – 1 pm – Free
Join Mary-Katherine Finch on cello and Stephanie Chua on piano for a captivating noon recital for cello and piano, exploring music filled with lyricism, colour, and imagination. The program opens with Fauré’s exquisite Sicilienne and Nadia Boulanger’s evocative Trois Pièces, followed by a vibrant Spanish set featuring works by Granados and de Falla. Schumann’s expressive Fantasy Pieces lead into the final work, Debussy’s richly atmospheric Cello Sonata.
A journey through French refinement, Spanish warmth, and Romantic passion — all in the intimate voice of cello and piano.
Presented by the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, 3rd Wednesdays at Maker’s Stage brings outstanding musicians to the Hazel McCallion Central Library for free lunchtime concerts on the third Wednesday of each month.
This performance is made possible with funding from the Music Performance Trust Fund, in partnership with the Mississauga Library and the City of Mississauga.
The tv show Fame inspired MK to hang up her ballet shoes and switch her focus to learning the cello. It’s been a fun and fascinating career of a multitude of musical styles and adventures. This past year has included performances with the National Ballet of Canada and the Canadian Opera Company, Hamilton Philharmonic, Esprit Orchestra and Mississauga Symphony. Musical theatre performances are always fun and recent appearances have included &Juliet (Mirvish), Funny Girl (Shaw), Guys and Dolls (Stratford). MK always looks forward to collaborating with Stephanie Chua, where the rehearsals are as delightful as the performances!
Stephanie Chua is an expressive and versatile Canadian pianist devoted to presenting and performing contemporary works through musical insight, innovative programming, and dynamic collaborations. She has been broadcast across Canada on CBC Radio 2 and in Europe on Rondo Classic FM and has performed in solo and chamber recitals across Canada, Europe and Asia. Recent highlights include being a featured performer in Soundstreams’ ‘Keyed Up’ Festival (Toronto), solo recitals at SOUL Live Music Project in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) in partnership with Saigon Classical, New Music Edmonton, and Music Toronto’s Discovery Series; along with performances at Shanghai New Music Festival, Whitehorse Concerts (Yukon), and Sound Symposium (St.John’s, NFLD).
In 2009, Stephanie co-founded junctQín keyboard collective with Elaine Lau and Joseph Ferretti. junctQín is a trio of pianists committed to performances of contemporary music and commissioning new works for their unique instrumentation. Since its inception, the group has commissioned and premiered over 40 new works from emerging to internationally established living composers. Stephanie performs regularly as a duo with violinist, Véronique Mathieu. The duo recently released their second recording ‘Invocation’ featuring all female-identifying composers spanning over 200 years on Navona Records.
Stephanie completed her Master of Music from the University of Toronto and her Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. She was also Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of Victoria. Her main teachers were Robin Wood and Marietta Orlov. Stephanie has also pursued private studies with pianist/musicologist Ian Pace in London, England.
Stephanie was most recently awarded the Chalmers Arts Fellowship from the Ontario Arts Council to explore the intersections of tonality in Chinese dialects, sonic and music syntax in improvisation, and inter-generational emotional inheritance.