Voices Unheard is an Ottawa-based music collective that focuses on promoting student compositions & under-performed vocal music through local emerging talent.
Co-founded in 2023, Voices Unheard aims to introduce students and audiences alike to music outside of the Western classical music canon.
We achieve this by commissioning student compositions and organizing virtual recitals featuring vocal music from marginalized communities. We are committed to accessibility, diversity, and equity.
Strung Together
Strung Together is a chamber ensemble consisting of musicians Gabriela Comeau Gort (mezzo-soprano), Phil Lukic (bass-baritone), and Kay Chen (cello).
Photo by Liam McColgan Photography.
Past Projects
Check out some of our past projects below. Follow us on Instagram @VoicesUnheardmusic and subscribe to our Youtube Channel @VoicesUnheard_music to stay updated!
Sappho at the Coffeeshop by Philip Lukic. Performed by Gabriela Comeau Gort (mezzo-soprano), Neha Natarajan (soprano), and Jenna Richards (piano).
2023 Latin American Heritage Month recital featuring local talent from the University of Ottawa.
Photo by Curtis Perry. Ottawa Chamberfest / Chamber Pride 2024.
2023 Ottawa Pride commission by Malaïka Urbani.
Strung Together chamber concert. August 2024.
Ottawa Chamberfest / Chamber Pride 2024.
Meet our Co-Founders
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Gabriela is a mezzo-soprano from Ottawa, ON who is passionate about all art song and contemporary music. She is currently pursuing her MMus in Operatic and Vocal Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music (UK).
An innovative and avid recitalist, Gabriela enjoys story-telling by merging under-performed and marginalized composers with her interpretations of standard opera and art song. So far, her singing spans North America, Spain, Italy, England, and Chile.
Gabriela is equally comfortable in opera and oratorio repertoire. Past roles include Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdinck), Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Britten), and Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart). She has been the alto soloist for Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, and Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass.
She maintains a special interest in Latin American opera and art song, more recently spending the summer in Spain studying and performing with the Barcelona Festival of Song.
Gabriela holds a BMus in Vocal Performance from the University of Ottawa, where she studied with John Avey.
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Ottawa-born bass-baritone Mena Lukic is an opera singer, composer, and multidisciplinary artist who is passionate about connecting classical arts to a modern audience.
Described as commanding, authoritative, and animated onstage, Lukic's rich voice has allowed her the opportunity to work in a variety of genres, from art song to opera and oratorio. Previous operatic roles include Angelotti / the Sacristan in (Tosca), Father (Hansel and Gretel), Bottom (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Le Baron de Pictordu (Cendrillon) and the Caterpillar (Alice in Wonderland). In oratorio, she has performed as the bass soloist in Handel's Messiah and Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols.
A recipient of the A.M. Brancker Schubert Award and the Shea and David Williams Scholarship Award, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Ottawa, where she studied voice performance with professor John Avey.
Her compositions have garnered positive attention, leading to the debut of her song cycle Sappho at the Coffeeshop at Ottawa Chamberfest in June 2024. Her compositional style has been described as having lush harmony, captivating storytelling, and shapely phrases.