Stella ter Hart is a Canadian composer, educator, and choral director born in Estevan, Saskatchewan. A first-generation Canadian, she is poignantly inspired by her rich European background, including French Huguenot ancestors fleeing to the Netherlands in the 15th century to avoid persecution and the loss of her grandmother’s entire Jewish family (over 600 relatives) in WW2 concentration camps, among them her 79-year-old great-grandfather, and a little seven-year-old cousin, also named Stella.

Ms. ter Hart was the Head of Music at Rothesay Netherwood School in New Brunswick for six years, after which she moved to Ontario and joined the Toronto Conservatory College of Examiners in the Theory/History Department.

Stella has adjudicated countless Music Festivals across Central, Northern, and Eastern Canada. She now focuses on composition, particularly choral and instrumental works. Her style has been described as contemporary yet refreshing, and highly accessible with flashes of the avant-garde. Stella has been commissioned by CBC Radio 2, Symphony New Brunswick, the Indian River Festival, and various professional soloists and ensembles. Her award-winning compositions have been performed throughout North America and as far from home as Australia, Hong Kong, China, Spain, Brazil, Peru, Greece, Austria, and the United Kingdom.

Stella is directly descended from the Italian composer Tomaso Vitali (a fun fact) and, to date, is the only individual in Canada to be awarded all four available ARCT diplomas from the Toronto Conservatory of Music: pedagogy, performance, composition, and theory.