2026 Program

• 7:00pm Cocktail Reception
• 8:00pm Dinner and Program
• 10:00pm Dancing

During the program, you'll have an opportunity to learn about the wonderful organizations that benefit from the funds raised by the Canadian Association of New York Foundation and participate in our silent auction that is so central to our fundraising efforts.

Master of Ceremonies

Ophira Eisenberg

Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Ophira Eisenberg is a stand-up comedian, writer, and host of the award-winning comedy podcast Parenting Is a Joke. She also regularly hosts and tours with the Peabody Award–winning radio show and podcast The Moth Radio Hour. Previously, she hosted NPR’s Ask Me Another, where she interviewed and played silly games with hundreds of celebrities, including Sir Patrick Stewart, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Roxane Gay, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler, and more.

She has appeared multiple times on CBS’s The Late Late Show, Sherri! with Sherri Shepherd, Comedy Central, HBO, and The New Yorker Festival, and is a regular on The Moth Radio Hour. Her stories are featured in three of The Moth’s best-selling collections. Her memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, was optioned for a TV series, and she recently recorded a new comedy special produced by Lewis Black’s company, Stark Raving Black, which will be streaming soon.

Ophira is a regular at The Comedy Cellar and other New York clubs, and her solo show Leaving A Mark: A Comedy About Scars made its Off-Broadway debut to rave reviews, winning the Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts.

Entertainment

The Tyley Ross Band

A native of Ottawa, Canada, Tyley began his career as a street busker before becoming a cartoon and voice artist, rock singer, and an actor for the small and large screen. Discovered by Pete Townshend in 1994, Tyley was cast in the title role for the Canadian premiere of The Who’s Tommy, for which he was honored with the Dora Award for Outstanding Performance in a Musical.

He spent the next ten years on musical stages across North America, starring in roles at such venues as the Stratford Festival (Tony in West Side Story), Shaw Festival (Franklin in Merrily We Roll Along), and on Broadway (Chris in Miss Saigon). During this time, Tyley also wrote and recorded two CDs of original music, and was a frequent guest soloist with a number of leading orchestras in Canada and the United States.

In 2004 Tyley co-founded the genre-defying East Village Opera Company and spent the next six years as the group’s male lead-singer. The band was signed to Decca/Universal for five years, and during that time he released three CDs: La Donna, East Village Opera Company, and Olde School - for which he was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award for Classical Crossover Album of the Year. Tyley toured worldwide with EVOC and appeared on many national and international television broadcasts including the 2008 Miss USA Pageant (NBC), and two PBS specials: EVOC live in Saint Louis, and Remember Me – a multi-disciplinary collaboration he co-created with renowned choreographer David Parsons. With AnnMarie Milazzo he also formed Aria Electronica and recorded and released Redux an album of reimagined opera classics.

Though Tyley is mostly retired from performing he has appeared on the stage in recent years in the original Broadway company of Finding Neverland (Lord Cannon, JMBarrie u/s), in the Kennedy Center’s production of Sunset Blvd (Manfred), and as Simon in the 20th anniversary reunion concert of the Wedding Banquet in Taiwan.

He has lead voice workshops in Canada, Mexico, the UK, South Korea and throughout the USA. His YouTube video “Singing in the MRI” has been viewed over half a million times and is used as a teaching aid in singing courses around the world. Tyley is a member of NYSTA, NATS, PAVA, SAG/AFTRA and AEA. He has been staff voice coach for multiple Broadway shows and maintains an active private voice studio in Times Square.