PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES

Jocelyn Ahlf
Jocelyn is an Edmonton based actor, singer and playwright. She is a graduate of Grant MacEwan University’s Theatre Arts Program and of the Opera Nuova summer intensive. She was seen most recently in “Pervert” for Northern Light Theatre and “When Girls Collide” for Teatro La Quindacina. She has also appeared at the Citadel, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, Free Will players and the Mayfield Dinner Theatre. She is an artistic associate with Teatro La Quindacina and wrote the book for and starred in their two musicals “The Infinite Shiver” and “Everybody Goes to Mitzi’s”. Last play,“The Liars” was produced by Shadow Theatre last spring and next up she is collaborating with Stewart Lemoine for Teatro’s season closer “The Hoof and Mouth Advantage” with She is a Co-producer of the monthly euro-chic variety show “Oh Susannah!” and a contributor to CBC’s The Irrelevant Show.

Bianca Baciu
Dr. Bianca Baciu has led an active career as soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. She has performed throughout Europe and North America and has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Serban Lupu, Vagram Saradjian and Tanya Prochazka. After establishing her early career in Europe, at age 24, Dr. Baciu moved to Canada, where she has received numerous awards including the Marusia Yaworska Scholarship for the most talented musician in Canada, and the prestigious Izaak Walton Killam PhD Scholarship for research at the University of Alberta. Her performances have been generously supported by organizations such as the Auslandgesselschaft Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Winspear Fund in Edmonton and the Mannes School of Music in New York.

Bianca Baciu received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance (2000) and a Diploma in Advanced Pedagogy (1999) from Transylvania University in Romania. She earned her Master's in Piano Performance from the University of Western Ontario (2002), and her Doctorate in Piano Performance from the University of Alberta (2006) in Canada, and has worked under the guidance of pianists such as Radu Lupu, Angela Cheng, Nelita True, Jane Coop, Evgeni Moguilevsky, Jacques Despres and Victor Rosenbaum.

Dr. Baciu's live performances have been broadcast on CBC Radio 2 (Canada), WDR (Koln, Germany), and Radio Romania Tineret (Romania). In 1998, she recorded her first CD featuring works by Beethoven, Brahms and Ravel, released under the patronage of the Auslandgesselschaft Nordrhein-Westfalen and The Romanian Embassy in Bonn, Germany. After moving to Canada in 2000, she completed a series of recording projects featuring solo and chamber music works by Canadian composers, and in 2006, she participated in a music residency program at the Banff Centre for the Arts, where she recorded a world premiere CD featuring piano solo works by Canadian composer Jack Behrens. Her CD presenting Behrens's Homages for piano solo was released by Centaur Records in 2008. Dr. Baciu's book "Death of the Author - A Tribute," discussing postmodernism in Jack Behrens's piano music was also released in 2008 by VDM Publishing in Germany.

Dr. Baciu has served on the ARMTA Edmonton Executive as the Artistic Director of the Northern Alberta Concerto Competition and currently, as the Young Artist liaison. She has offered numerous traveling workshops for ARMTA and APTA. In addition to her administrative and performance engagements, Dr. Baciu is a dedicated teacher and a sought-after clinician and adjudicator. She has taught at "Transylvania" University in Romania, the University of Western Ontario in London and the University of Alberta in Edmonton. She currently teaches piano and piano literature at Alberta College, Grant MacEwan University, and also maintains a full private teaching studio in Edmonton. Her students have received numerous awards and scholarships from the University of Western Ontario, Victoria School for the Arts in Edmonton, Conservatory Canada, ARMTA, APTA, Alberta College, the Kiwanis Festival and the Fall Festival in Edmonton.

Anna Beaumont
Anna Beaumont has been an accomplished singer, songwriter and voice teacher for over 20 years and is the creator and facilitator of her “Express Yourself” and “The Voice Connection” workshops. Anna holds these workshops throughout the year in Edmonton, and frequently in other cities in Alberta and B.C. She has four CD's to her credit and three national theme songs. Anna is dedicated to freeing the voice in herself and others.

Throughout her performances and travels, Anna has always been a teacher of singing and self-discovery. The worlds of vibration, resonance and spirituality always drew her to learn and to know more. Throughout her 20 years of study and teaching, she has looked at the voice from multiple angles; however, she knows there are many more to discover.

Anna graduated from Salisbury Composite high school in Sherwood Park and went immediately into the Grant MacEwan vocal performance program in Edmonton. After a number of years of performing and traveling, Anna began to teach voice. Along the way she studied with Sheri Sommerville, Laurier Fagnan, Heidi Klassen and Elsie Hepburn. Anna was also highly influenced by Chloe Goodchild from England, who is the creator of “The Naked Voice”.

In 1995, she was invited to head the Vocal Diploma Program at Red Deer College, a position she held for three years. In 2000 Anna began a study in Integrative Body Psychotherapy (IBP), which would color her teaching and her life for years to come. IBP is a study of mind-body psychotherapy, which enables people to connect to their core self and to their energetic and emotional body.

Over the years of studying psychology, spirituality, the body and the voice, Anna began to integrate these modalities for singers who struggled with stress and emotional disconnection. As a result, Anna created and began facilitating her workshop “Express Yourself, Finding Freedom and Release Through Singing.” With these workshops now in their tenth successful year, Anna has expanded these classes into “The Voice Connection, Where Sound and Light Connect.” These classes integrate meditation, breath and sound with the intention of developing a stronger connection to the body and, consequently, to the singing voice.

To sing well is to know one’s self. To be in touch with one’s body, mind, psyche and spirit is no small feat, but the singing voice has its demands on a singer and to be truly free in the art one must be aware of what these demands are.

The essence of the voice and its intricate workings is a mystery that continues to unfold and inform Anna in her singing and in her life. Rumi, a 13th century mystical poet, says “Mysteries are not meant to be solved, the eye goes blind when we only want to see why.”

Dr. Joy Berg
Presently on sabbatical, Dr. Joy Berg, associate professor at Concordia University College of Alberta (Edmonton), is a choral and orchestral conductor at the University, as well as chapel Cantor for the daily chapel services, and teaches church music classes. As a professional chorister, Dr. Berg sings in the alto section of Pro Coro Canada; she has also been given the 2008 Con Spirito award from the Alberta Choral Federation. She has much practical experience in church music and degrees in piano performance and elementary education as well as choral conducting, and she is often involved in adjudicating and providing workshops in the areas of the vocal and choral technique, conducting, church music, and handbell technique. She is a past board member of the Alberta Choral Federation, and currently is the president for region 4 of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. Her present research focuses on Canadian Hymnody, as well as the church choir.

Cara Brown
Cara Brown is a lyric soprano who is open and vibrant, both on and off stage.  She has performed the roles of Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro in Rome, Italy, Micaëla in Carmen with Vancouver Island Opera, Nedda in Pagliacci, the Dew Fairy and Sandman in Hänsel and Gretel, and Despina in a concert version of Cosi Fan Tutte.  An Opera Canada magazine review described her voice as having “enviable clarity of tone.”  Ms. Brown ha performed a wide range of repertoire in concerts and recitals, including opera, art song, musical theatre and cross-over music.

In addition to performing, Cara Brown has been teaching voice for eight years, since graduating from the University of Western Ontario.  Ms. Brown teaches private voice lessons to students of all ages, as well as Musical Theatre.  She is energetic and focused with her students, and encourages them to sing with their whole heart and to strive to reach their full potential. 

Cara is also becoming a sought-after adjudicator and clinician.  In 2010, she conducted three workshops for choristers in the Elk Island Choirs, wherein Leesila Dawkins, the Junior Honour Choir Director stated, “Cara is energetic and organized. She has a warm, powerful lyric voice, as well as a beautiful interpretive dramatic and musical sense.  I feel she is a singer and workshop leader of wonderful potential.”  Cara Brown has also been the director for numerous musical projects, as well as a vocal coach for Keyano College Theatre.

Ms. Brown is also the current Chair for Alberta Music Education Foundation, a registered charity that provides funding and innovative ideas for music education throughout Alberta.  Cara was taken with the idea of the Alberta Heritage Music Project as soon as she became a Board member, and with the support and enthusiasm of Nathene Arthur, who was the creator of the project, and also of the AMEF Board, she produced the project in Fort McMurray in 2009 (with much assistance from colleagues, Rotary House Seniors Lodge, the students and their families).  This was one of the most rewarding musical experiences that Cara has ever been involved with, and she wants to encourage other communities throughout Alberta to put on their own Alberta Heritage Music Project, and witness incredible transformation in students, volunteers, and the seniors who share their stories to be recreated.

Jennifer Buchanan
Author, Professional Speaker, Music Therapist

Jennifer Buchanan’s music centered keynotes and training workshops inspire and refresh – blending thought-provoking stories with meaningful moments. Presenting to health care agencies, professional groups, family caregivers and educators, Jennifer is a recognized expert on the wellness benefits of music for children, adults and seniors.  Her 20 years of stories and songs from the front lines of health care and education will capture the attention of your audience and help them feel more relaxed, in a better mood, and re-charged for work and life.  Jennifer has witnessed the power of music first hand, developing hundreds of music therapy programs in Alberta, Canada through her well-established company JB Music Therapy Inc.  As an author Jennifer has contributed to the textbooks Creating Connections in Nursing Care Through the Arts and the Autism Handbook 101. Jennifer is a Resident Expert for Autism Today is often interviewed for radio, television and magazines such as CBC, Chatelaine and Canadian Living.

Rita Burns
Rita Burns received her Bachelor of Education degree majoring in music from the University of Alberta.  Recently retired from thirty-seven years of conducting church choirs and award-winning junior high school bands in Edmonton, Rita currently conducts the Wednesday Band of Cosmopolitan Music Society in Edmonton.  She is also a frequent guest conductor, band clinician, adjudicator, and conference speaker in the area of middle school and junior high school band.

Over her career, Rita Burns has received several awards: the David Peterkin Award for dedication to the pursuit of excellence in band music from the band fraternity, Phi Beta Mu; the Elkhorn Award for band director of the year from the Alberta Band Association; a provincial Excellence in Teaching Award; and a Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence; and most recently the Alberta Band Association’s Vondis Miller Legacy Award for lifetime achievement in music education.

Rita Burns has served various provincial arts service organizations. She has been secretary-treasurer of the Alberta Choral Directors' Association and is a past-president of the Alberta Band Association and Music Alberta. She is currently president of the Alberta Summer Workshop Association and Sing for Life Society of Alberta, chair of the board of Pro Coro Canada, Alberta’s professional choir, and she serves on the board of Alberta Choral Federation. She is committed to helping bring the arts and arts education to people in all walks of life.

Donald Christianson
Donald Christianson serves in the Calgary area as conductor for the U of C Chamber Choir, the Calgary Youth Singers “Act 3”, and the Canmore Valley Winds Community Choir. He received his DMA in choral conducting from Arizona State University before serving as Director of Choral Activities in Jamestown, ND for eight years where the Concert Choir performed about 25 concerts each year. Among others, he has studied with Weston Noble, Chanticleer, and Malcolm Edwards. He has a particular interest in what makes for joyful and artistic singing and how this can be enhanced by allowing the singers to bring their creativity.

Trish Clair
Trish Clair-Peck maintains a large teaching studio on Vancouver Island, BC.  In addition to teaching private and group Suzuki lessons, she is the founding director of a 50-member fiddle program in Nanaimo, BC and is an active clinician at fiddle workshops and camps across Western and Northern Canada.  She is also the co-author (with pianist and fiddler Geoff Horrocks) of Cross Canada Fiddle Tunes, a multi-volume collection of graded fiddle tunes and exercises.  Trish studied violin with Gwen Thompson, Robert Skelton, and Paul Kling and viola with Jaroslav Karlovsky.  She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario and has completed Suzuki teacher training under Ann Montzka-Smelser, Carol Smith, and Elayne Ras.

Joanne Collier
Joanne Collier is recognized for her work in developing young voices both in studio and choral settings. She holds the Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from the University of Manitoba and Master of Music Degree from the University of British Columbia. As a voice instructor at Medicine Hat College Conservatory of Music and Dance for 19 years she worked with young singers, many who won provincial awards and went on to study music as a career. She is also widely acknowledged as a choral conductor having conducted ensembles of all ages and levels of ability. She is the former conductor of the Medicine Hat College Girls’ Choir, an award-winning ensemble of the International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales, Alberta Provincial Music Festival. With this choir she also led successful international tours to England, Scotland, Germany and most recently China in 2007. For the past three years she has taught voice at the University of Lethbridge, founded the University of Lethbridge Women’s Chorus and is Artistic Director of the Southern Alberta Vocal Experience (S.A.V.E.) Teen Program. In addition to her regular schedule, she has worked throughout Alberta and B.C. as an adjudicator and clinician, served as the vocal coach for the Alberta Honour Choir, conducted at Singspiration at Concordia University College in Edmonton, AB, MusiCamrose and MusiCamp Alberta and most recently was Guest Conductor of the Treble Choir at the International Peace Garden Music Camp. Currently she is a full time student in the Faculty of Education at U of L, continues to teach voice and is mom to her young son, Jeremy.

Paula Crider
Paula Crider is Past President of the National Band Association. She has been a member of NBA since 1969. Following a distinguished thirty-three year teaching career, Professor Crider continues to work with young musicians, and has served as guest conductor, lecturer and adjudicator in twenty-nine states, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia.  Prior to her seventeen years of service on the faculty of the University of Texas, Ms. Crider enjoyed 16 years of public school teaching. She has taught at all levels, and holds the distinction of having been the first female in the State of Texas to serve as Director of Bands at a class 5-A high school.  Her Crockett High School Bands in Austin, Texas earned numerous awards and honours, performed for national conventions, and were twice named Texas State Class 5A Marching Band Champions. Her band's performance at the Second Biennial NBA Convention in Knoxville, Tennessee remains a most memorable event in her musical career.  Professor Crider retired from The University of Texas in 1999 where she served as director of the renown University of Texas Longhorn Band. While at the university she taught conducting, brass techniques, and marching band methods; supervised student teachers; and conducted the Symphony Band.   Honors and awards include the "Eyes of Texas" awards for teaching excellence, the Tau Beta Sigma/Kappa Kappa Psi "Outstanding Service to Music" award, the Sudler " Legion of Merit," and the Texas Bandmaster's "Meritorious Achievement" Award. She is a member of the prestigious American Bandmaster's Association, and is the third woman to have been so honored.

Paul Crider is sponsored by The Bandstand Ltd., Conn-Selmer, GIA Publications and the Hal Leonard Corporation.

Kimberley Denis
Kimberley Denis, M.Mus. Choral Conducting and Vocal Performance(University of Alberta, 2007), B.Mus. (Mount Allison University, 2003), B. Comm. (Mount Allison University, 2003) is known for her energy and enthusiasm both on stage and off, and is sought after as a soloist, choral clinician, and adjudicator for voice and choir.Upon completion of both her commerce and music undergraduate degrees at Mount Allison University, she returned to Alberta where she completed a double masters degree in choral conducting and vocal performance at the University of Alberta. She also holds an associate diploma in Education (1996) and a music diploma in contemporary vocal performance from Red Deer College (1997). Conducting credits include a wide variety of ensembles across the province; she has previously worked with the Mount Royal Youth Choir, the Red Deer College Chamber Choir, the Nota Bene Youth Choir, the Edmonton All-City Junior Children's Choir and the Red Deer Children's Choir. Most recently, she directs Shumayela, the Kokopelli Apprentice Choir in Edmonton, as well as the Edmonton All-City Youth Choir. She was also the choir director for the past three years at MusiCamp Alberta and will be directing the Kamloops/Thompson Honour Choir in November 2011. In addition to her work as a singer and conductor, Kimberley arranges pieces for choirs and is published by Cypress Music and Augsburg Fortress. She is also the Program Coordinator for the Alberta Choral Federation.

Lori-Anne Dolloff
Lori-Anne Dolloff is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Toronto. She has been directing choirs for 35 years in church, community and university settings.  Dolloff was the Artistic Director  of the Mississauga Festival Choir for twenty-one years.  A professor at the Faculty of Music since 1994, Dr. Dolloff is currently in her second season with the University of Toronto Women’s Chorus.  She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral conducting, elementary music education, cultural perspectives and reflective practice through narrative study. A frequent clinician and festival conductor Lori Dolloff has conducted choirs of all ages across Canada, in the United States, Ireland and Great Britain.  Her compositions and arrangements have been performed by choirs worldwide, including being featured at the International Children’s Choir Festival held at Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Hall, London, England. Dr. Dolloff has recently spent time teaching and conducting in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and has just returned from a third season of conducting choral festivals with children in the schools and adult community choruses. Recent publications include articles on the role of teacher identity in developing teacher education programmes, feminist theory in music education, and the application of philosophical principles to elementary music education.  Her current research focuses narrative methodologies.

Jerrold Dubyk
Winner of the Western Canadian Music Awards 2009 “Jazz Recording of the Year” for his sophomore CD “The Maverick”, Jerrold Dubyk is adding to the creative atmosphere of the already vibrant Canadian jazz scene. Having had the privilege of performing and studying in New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and major jazz festivals across the country, Jerrold is establishing his jazz style with a vibrancy coloured by the influences. He is also fortunate to be part of the Victoria School of the Arts faculty where he direct students from grades 7 – 12.

Tom Dust
Dr. Tom Dust is Professor of Secondary Music Education at the University of Alberta where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music curriculum and instruction, and directs Jazz Band II and the University of Alberta Convocation Band.  In addition to his duties as music education professor, Dr. Dust has served as the Associate Chair and Acting Chair of the Department of Secondary Education at the University of Alberta.  Dr. Dust has a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies and a Doctorate in Music Education from Indiana University School of Music where his principal teachers were David Baker, Dominic Spera, Allan Dean, Charles Schmitt, Eugenia Sinor, and Mary Goetze.  In 2007, Dr. Dust received the Faculty of Education Undergraduate Teaching Award, "in recognition of distinguished teaching.”  Dr. Dust has published numerous articles on music education and jazz education in national and international journals, as well as a new book co-authored with Laura Jane Dust, Band Aids:  For the New Band Teacher, published by Universal-Publishers.  He is active as a trumpeter, bandleader, festival adjudicator, guest conductor, and clinician.

Malcolm Edwards
Malcolm Edwards was born in Halifax, England and emigrated to Canada in 1967. He is a graduate of  Sheffield College of Education (UK), Trinity College of Music, London, the University of Lethbridge, the University of Montana and has done further graduate work at the University of Northern Colorado. He taught music in junior and senior high school for twelve years in southern Alberta before joining the University of Calgary as a Professor of Music Education in 1980.  He retired from the university in 2011. In the community he was affiliated with the Youth Singers of Calgary for 21 years directing the Act Three and Encore divisions. He has held leadership positions within the Alberta Choral Federation, the Association of Canadian Choral Communities, served on the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and is active as a choral adjudicator and workshop leader in schools and churches. He is the recipient of two awards from the Provincial Federation – one in recognition of advocacy in arts education and the second in recognition of exemplary service to choral music within the Province of Alberta. In 2004 he received recognition from the national body (ACCC) for twenty-five years of service to the Canadian choral community. His choral compositions are published by Hinshaw Music, Alliance Publications and Cypress Publications.

Mary Fearon
Mary Fearon was born in Edmonton and holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta. While living in Toronto, she performed with many groups including the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony, the Toronto Pops Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the York Brass.

Since returning to Edmonton, she has been a regular performer with the Edmonton Symphony, the Citadel Theatre, Alberta Baroque Ensemble, and numerous chamber ensembles. As a soloist she has been heard in recital at Alberta College, All Saints' Anglican Church, Canadian University College, Festival Place, King’s College, and the McDougall at Noon concert series. She has been heard on Our Music, CBC1, and had performed in the Wednesday at Winspear series.

Ms. Fearon has been the horn instructor at Alberta College since 1994, and is also in demand as a clinician and adjudicator. In the fall of 2006, she founded Horns A Plenty, a horn choir with over 20 members. She is married with three daughters (two who also play the horn), and an energetic Brittany Spaniel named Beau.

Nicole Hounjet
Nicole has been a music director at Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks for the past 7 years where she has  been responsible for the choral, instrumental, musical theatre, and jazz programs.  During her time at FCHS her ensembles have taken part in Musicfest, Choralfest and Choralfest Jazz, the High River Music Festival, Jazzworks.  Her choir was invited to perform at the Olympic Torch Ceremony and this year they will perform at Unisong in Ottawa for Canada Day.

Lorraine Kneier
A life long interest in music has led Lorraine Kneier to a varied career as music teacher, administrator of music and fine arts education programs, curriculum writer, choir director, adjudicator, and workshop leader. The present book grew out of a series of workshops she designed to help teachers experience and appreciate the music of the masters. The book received an enthusiastic review by well-known music educator Lois Choksy (Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary) and has been well received by teachers, school boards, and libraries.

For more information visit: www.musicawindowtothesoul.ca

Darwin Krips
Darwin Krips has been a junior and senior high school band, jazz band, jazz studies, guitar and choral teacher over the past 19 years for 3 school boards. He has created high quality programs by working with administration and parents in a proactive and positive manner.  Darwin has been a finalist for the Alberta Excellence in Teaching Award in 1998 and 2004.  He holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Saskatchewan.  Darwin plays first euphonium for the New Edmonton Wind Sinfonia, subs for the Mill Creek Colliery Brass Band and has sung with the Da Camera Singers and Pro Coro Edmonton.    He works for the Sturgeon School Division and teaches at Sturgeon Composite High School where he currently has 150 students in his music program.  His groups have toured internationally and have won numerous local awards.  Darwin has made convention presentations on a range of topics at the Edmonton New Teachers Conference, the North Central Teacher’s Convention and the Alberta Music Conference for both the band and choral sides of the event.  He is published in Cadenza magazine with an article on creating valuable music programs.  Darwin currently lives in St. Albert with his wife Crystal and their two daughters Alicia and Lauren.

Beth Levia
Beth Levia freelances with several Edmonton based ensembles including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra: Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Pro Coro Canada, Edmonton Opera, Alberta Ballet, Richard Eaton Singers.  She has also played with the Red Deer Symphony, Lethbridge Symphony, New Brunswick Symphony, National Ballet of Canada, Citadel Theatre Orchestra, and Kamloops Symphony. 

A founding member of Wind Rose Trio, now in its 7th season, Ms. Levia can be heard on their debut recording “Path of Contact”, the 2009 winner of the Western Canadian Music Award for best classical recording.  She has been a featured soloist performing Albinoni Double Concerto Op.9 with ESO Principal Oboist Lidia Khaner and the Alberta Baroque Ensemble; Bach Double concerto with the Wye String Ensemble and ESO Principal flutist Elizabeth Koch, and Vaughn-Williams Concerto for Oboe with the Concordia Orchestra.

Beth will be performing a solo recital as part of the Tonus Vivus 2011-2012 season featuring new music from Canada and beyond including Makoto Shinohara’s “Obsession”, Berio’s “Sequenza VII,” and a new commission by composer Paul Steenhuisen.

She is a teaching artist at the Alberta College Conservatory of Music, maintains a private studio and is in demand as a Clinician and Adjudicator. For more than a decade Beth has spent part of her summer teaching at MusiCamp Alberta.

Ms. Levia holds a Masters degree in Oboe Performance from McGill University and a Bachelors degree in Oboe Performance (with honour) from Michigan State University.  Her principal teachers have been Suzanne Lemieux, Daniel Stolper and Normand Forget and she has attended Master classes with oboists John Mack and Richard Kilmer. 

Martha Livingstone
Martha grew up in a family of musicians. Her mother Frances, with a M. Mus in voice and piano, ensured that the entire family of eight children was trained in music from an early age. Music was an integral part of every aspect of her life.

Immediately upon graduation from high school, Martha received a scholarship to study classical voice at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Upon completion of the Young Artists program, she returned to Edmonton to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alberta. She was also accepted into the competitive jazz guitar program at Grant MacEwan, where she earned a music composition diploma.

Martha’s early music career focused on performing, with highlights including full time touring throughout Canada with a band, being vocalist for the house band at Fairmont Hotel Chateau Lake Louise, singing the Anthem for the Edmonton Oilers, and performing at the Mayfield Inn Dinner Theatre.

In 1993, Martha decided to broadly share her passion and love for music, so she joined forces with her husband Stan and started the Visionary College school of music and Innovations Music, a full line music retail store.

Collaborating with her mother Frances Schuchard, and a team of graphic designers and music arrangers, she has created an entire early childhood music program with programs for ages 18 months to 6 years, complete with workbooks, lesson plans, and CDs. These programs have been used effectively to teach music to thousands of young children over the past 18 years. Martha is on a team at Visionary College that is currently completing group vocal, guitar, and piano programs.

Martha’s varied dance, performance, vocal, composition, and instrumental background has enabled her to create inspiring programs that foster creativity, cognitive development, and love of music.

Over the past 18 years, she has consulted with and trained public school teachers both with and without music backgrounds on how to teach elementary music. She has designed several hundred shows, has arranged music in all styles for vocal ensembles, and is currently the director of Voice and Early Childhood programs at Visionary College.

Brendan Lord
Brendan Lord holds a Bachelor of Arts (Music) degree from Augustana University College, a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Alberta, and is currently studying for the Doctor of Music degree in choral conducting at the U of A. His conducting teachers have included Dr. Marc Hafso, Dr. Robert de Frece, Dr. Debra Cairns, and Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff. Mr. Lord has recently completed two major recitals which included J.S. Bach’s rarely performed Easter Oratorio, the Canadian premieres of James MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados and James Bassi’s Harpsonnets. Recent awards include the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada fellowship, and the University of Alberta President`s Award. Mr. Lord is a sessional professor of music at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta where he currently directs Sangkor: Augustana’s Women’s Choir, and teaches keyboard musicianship. In addition, he is a member of Pro Coro Canada, the Executive Director of the Alberta Choral Federation, and a frequent adjudicator and clinician with choirs of all ages and abilities. Mr. Lord is also an active composer and arranger of choral music and is published through Pavane Publishing.

Rev. Lorne Manweiler
Rev. Lorne Manweiler is instructor of organ at Concordia University College of Alberta, Edmonton, and pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wetaskiwin, Alberta. A winner of organ performance and improvisation competitions, he has performed in concert with Canadian orchestras and choral ensembles and as a solo performer in major churches and concert halls in North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Rev. Manweiler has served as resident organist and music director in congregations of Lutheran Church—Canada as well as director of music at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta. He has been a featured organist in the Royal Canadian College of Organists Sundays at Three recital series and was a featured artist at the 2007 RCCO National Organ Festival. As well, Rev. Manweiler is a sought-after clinician, lecturer, and church music workshop leader.

Emmy Okazawa-Bortolin (ARCT, B.A., B.Ed., MBA)
Born in Osaka, Japan, Emmy immigrated to Canada at an early age and grew up in Ontario. She holds an ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory in Toronto and was a private studio teacher for over 25 years. She played clarinet in the Orchestre d’Harmonie during her undergraduate studies at Université Laval, received her B.Ed. specializing in French Immersion/Music and taught French, Music and Japanese for several years in Edmonton.

It was love at first sight when Emmy was introduced to handbells in Edmonton, Alberta in 1984. A life-long musician, the concept of an instrument that required more than one pair of hands to play it seemed both fascinating and challenging. She quickly developed her own
style of solo ringing and performed with Four-by-Four (quartet) and Robertson-Wesley Ringers for several years.

One of the founding directors of the Alberta Guild of English Handbell Ringers (ALGEHR) from its early days, she has served as its newsletter editor, Secretary, President and Past- President. As well, she has served on the national handbell association, Handbell Guilds of Canada, as Treasurer and currently, as Chair. Emmy has presented workshops at local, provincial and national handbell events and has also represented Canada at international events in Japan and Australia. She has also adjudicated at several Youth Handbell Festival across Alberta and promoted the art of massed ringing among elementary school bell choirs.

As well, she coordinated Canada's national handbell festival, The Ringing Link in July 2011 in Calgary, Alberta. Emmy is the founding director of C3 (Calgary Community Choir), a community bell choir and Artistic Director of Quarter Notes Handbell Ensemble, a high-performance quartet. She also directs a Calgary teachers’ choir , Accents Handbell Ensemble, consisting of elementary school music teachers who all have choirs of their own. As a soloist, she has performed in Alberta, the USA and most recently in Japan.

As a former teacher, Emmy especially enjoys the interaction with youth of all ages and challenging young ringers to reach beyond their usual expectations with their musicality. She is a regular consultant for both school boards in Calgary and is a frequent clinician requested
for a variety of music teacher workshops and in-services as well as one-on-one rehearsals and clinics with youth choirs.

In May 2011, Emmy was invited again as a guest clinician at the provincial festival of the Ontario Guild of English Handbell Ringers (OGEHR) at McMaster University in Hamilton. In the fall of 2011, she will serve as massed conductor for the annual ALGEHR provincial festival, Handbell Discovery in Fort McMurray, Alberta. In August 2012, Emmy will represent Canada as its massed conductor at the 15th International Handbell Symposium to be held in Liverpool, UK.

Emmy is known for her expressive stage presence and her “dancing style” of solo ringing. By combining all her interests and talents, handbells have gone beyond just a simple musical instrument. Her mantra is - to transform the art of handbell ringing into a true delight for the eyes as much as the ears!

Tricia Penner
Tricia Penner has an extensive music and performing arts background. She has studied the performing arts and education in Manitoba and with various experts from Canada and the United States. She is the Performing Arts Consultant in the Winnipeg School Division, works with the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Learning Through The Arts Program and is  the Creative Director of Programming and Producer of two main stage productions of the Youth Singers of Calgary. She has had the pleasure of serving as Guest Conductor for the Central Manitoba Honour Choir, the Louis Riel School Division Honour Choir, the Provincial Honour Choir and the Eastman Region Honour Choir. In Winnipeg, she conducts the Winnipeg School Division South Honour Choir and the Junior Hi Divisional Choir with Carolyn Boyes. She is currently working together with the Winnipeg Symphony Choir on their “Music Connections” Project. When she is not working, she spends her time with her amazing children, Brett and Alexa Rae.

Dr. Ardelle Ries
An Associate Professor of Music in the University of Alberta Augustana Faculty, Ardelle directs The Augustana Choir and Manskor: Augustana’s Men’s Choir. Additional post-secondary teaching responsibilities include classes in conducting, choral literature, and musicianship. Ardelle has conducted choirs of all ages and has sung professionally as a chorister and soprano soloist. Her vibrant teaching style renders her a popular choral clinician, vocal pedagogue, and aural skills specialist. A passionate advocate for choral music education, Ardelle is the Past President of the Alberta Choral Federation, advisor for the Alberta Kodály Association, and has recently been elected to serve on the board of the International Kodály Society. Her doctoral dissertation, The Child Voice: A Social Context, was nominated in 2004 for a University of Alberta Governor General’s Award, and in 2005 for the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors’ Dissertation Award. Ardelle has been on faculty at the Kecskemét Kodály Conservatory, the International Kodály Seminar, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Calgary, and the University of Alberta Faculty of Education. In the autumn of 2010, under the auspices of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Ardelle served as a professor in residence at the Zoltán Kodály Pedagogical Institute. Current research interests include holistic approaches to choral conducting pedagogy, Kodály-based music education practices in Canada, and tertiary level aural training pedagogy. Ardelle resides in Camrose, Alberta with her husband, Dr. Roger Admiral.

John C. Reid
John C. Reid is Prairie Regional Director of the Canadian Music Centre, a professional musician, University of Calgary lecturer, and radio host — jsw.com, Tuesdays 10:00 a.m.) He holds a B. Mus. (University of Calgary) and an M.A. (Jazz History and Research — Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey).

Catherine Robbins
Dr. Catherine Robbins is instructor of undergraduate choral pedagogy at the University of Manitoba where she teaches conducting, choral techniques, vocal techniques, and choral repertoire. Her areas of expertise include vocal pedagogy, vocology, and vocal hygeology. Her mission is to enhance choral pedagogy and choral rehearsal through a greater understanding of anatomy and vocal function, and increased self-awareness from multiple perspectives.

Ms. Robbins has recently completed her doctoral studies in Music Education through the University of Toronto where her areas of research have included negotiating the solo voice in choral singing, the influence of music festival participation on music directors’ professional practice, self-study and teacher education, and the formation of the musical self of choral music educators.

Catherine is in demand as a clinician, guest conductor, and adjudicator at workshops and festivals both in the choral and vocal fields. She has taught at all levels of the public school system and was the Director of the Division of Preparatory Studies Youth Choir Program at the University of Manitoba for seven years.

Catherine loves to work with young singers and conductors alike, and is thrilled to be working with the choral community in Alberta.

David Sabine
David has been an instructor of percussion, music, and recording technology at Keyano College in Fort McMurray, Alberta since May 2009.  He has three areas of interest: Music, Technology, and Teaching.  He is interested in work that presents new learning opportunities and the possibility that he may help change the world for the better.

David earned his Masters Degree in Music Performance at Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Regina. As an artist, and educator, and a technologist, he has focused his efforts in music, media, art, software, business, innovative modes of learning and the intersection of all those things.

Jace Stearn
Jace is currently a band director at Highwood HS in High River, and has also run programs at Okotoks Jr. High, and Stelly’s Secondary, in Victoria, BC. Jace is also active as a freelance bassoonist, having performed with the symphony orchestras of Calgary, Red Deer, Nanaimo, Vancouver and Victoria.

Brian Tate
An award-winning composer and popular choral clinician, Brian Tate directs Vancouver’s City Soul Choir as well as its sister choir, Parksville BC’s Island Soul Choir—each of which has over 100 singers. Brian’s compositions and arrangements reflect his love of African, world, soul, and gospel music, and many of his choral works are published and performed worldwide.

Brian also performs with the eclectic a capella vocal trio “TriVo,” and is on the faculty of Studio 58, Langara College's professional theatre school. He also works with the Next Institute, teaching leadership skills through the medium of the performing arts.

Brian lives in Vancouver’s historic Strathcona neighbourhood with his wife Patricia, Daisy the dog, and Abbey the cat.

Tom Taylor
Tom has directed school and community bands in Alberta since 1978. He is a co-founder and former conductor of the FMS Community Band program in Okotoks. A former recipient of the ABA’s Elkhorn Award, Tom is currently a band director at Highwood HS in High River and Cayley Elementary School.

Wayne Toews
Wayne Toews was born in Winnipeg, MB where he began to study the violin at the age of 4. His early musical experience included singing with the Westmount Boys Choir and serving as concertmaster of the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra. He was active on the school student council, in Scouting and in DeMolay. He studied violin and composition with Dr. Murray Adaskin at the University of Saskatchewan where he received B.A. and B.Ed. degrees. He played for nine seasons in the Saskatoon Symphony, first on violin and later on viola. Mr. Toews taught music in Saskatoon schools from 1969. He started the band program at City Park Collegiate and neighbourhood schools and in 1976 began a twenty-five year career at Aden Bowman Collegiate where he taught band, orchestra, choir, general music and jazz band. Groups unders his direction earned more than 50 first place awards. On two occasions his jazz groups won first place awards at national festivals. He has served as president and board member of several professional organizations. Since 1983 he has been director of the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra in association with George Charpentier. The orchestra has represented Saskatchewan at two conventions of the Canadian Music Educators Association. He led the orchestra in the 1988, 1990 and 1992 Canadian Festivals of Youth Orchestras, the 1996 and 1998 Banff International Festival of Youth Orchestras and the 1998 and 2000 festivals of Quebec Youth Orchestras (AOJQ). The orchestra under his direction was awarded the Christopher Gledhill national orchestra performance award by the Canadian Music Educators' Association award six successive times in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003. 

Mr. Toews began to study the Saito Conducting method in 1974 at the Courtenay Youth Music Camp with Professor Morihiro Okabe and Maestro Kazuyoshi Akiyama. He continued his studies with Prof. Okabe at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in 1983. He prepared the English edition of the Saito Conducting Method text which was completed with the assistance of Fumihiko Torigai, Morihiro Okabe and Kazuyoshi Akiyama and published in Tokyo in 1988. His articles about the method have been published in the NSOA Bulletin, the Instrumentalist and SMEA's Cadenza. He organized several international conducting workshops with Prof. Okabe at Canadian universities. He has been guest presenter at Conductors Guild convention in New York, at the 1994 Midwest International Band and Orchestra clinic, at Northwestern University, at the Canadian Festivals of Youth Orchestras in Banff, and at conventions of the Saskatchewan and Canadian Music Educators Associations.

Among his published works are an elementary music theory booklet, a clarinet resource book, a bass guitar book and several curriculum guides. He has created several computer programs including Subjective Tones and the Saito Conducting Method.

Mr. Toews has served as guest conductor of honour groups and professional orchestras and has conducted the premieres of contemporary works by Canadian composers Jack Johnson, David Kaplan, Monte Keene Pishny-Floyd, Piotr Grella-Mozejko, Linda Underdahl, Gareth Cook and David Scott.

He received the "Outstanding Achievement Award" from Saskatchewan Music Educators Association in 1987,the 1990 " Golden Wheel Award for Excellence in Arts and Education" from the Rotary Clubs of Saskatoon and the 2001 Orchestral Development award from the Saskatchewan Orchestral Association.

Mr. Toews holds a Masters of Music degree and a certificate in            Educational Technology from Northwestern University where he developed a multimedia computer program to demonstrate the Saito conducting method.

Wayne Toews is retired from teaching for the Saskatoon Public Board of Education and as director of the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra. Wayne remains active as a clinician, adjudicator, guest conductor, composer, arranger and teacher of conducting through his Conductor School.

Ed Wasiak
Dr. Ed Wasiak is an Associate Professor of music education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge.  In that capacity he teaches courses in curriculum and instruction and brass methods, supervises pre-service teachers, and oversees all aspects of the music education program. From 1999 to 2008 he was also the Director of Jazz Activities at the University of Lethbridge.

Ed regularly adjudicates and presents clinics, workshops, and scholarly papers at the local, provincial, national, and international levels. His primary area of interest is instrumental music education. Ed also performs as a member of the trumpet section in the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra, the Lethbridge Big Band, and the newly formed Contemporary Works Jazz Orchestra.

Previously, Ed taught music at the elementary, middle school, junior high, senior high, and undergraduate levels in Saskatchewan. He is immediate Past President of the Canadian Music Educators Association (CMEA).