Performers - Season 10/11
To view works and performers from our past seasons, please click here.
Julie Baumgartel – Violin
Julie Baumgartel has performed with Tafelmusik, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Orchestre des Champs Elysees across Europe, North America and Asia. Since moving to the Waterloo Region in 2000 she has focused her activities as close to home as possible where she often plays with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony and KW's new period instrument orchestra, Nota Bene. She also plays chamber music regularly at the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, the Elora Festival, the Perimeter Institute (Waterloo) and has been a guest of the Gallery Players Of Niagara, NUMUS and Blue Rider Ensemble. In 2001 she co-founded the Grand River Baroque Festival near Ayr, Ontario with her husband oboist James Mason. In 2003 she was appointed conductor of the KWS Youth Sinfonia, and in 2005 joined the string faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University as a part time instructor.
David Braun - Violin
David began his studies on the violin at the age of seven. His family having relocated numerous times allowed David to experience instruction from a number of teachers in various methods. David’s introduction to orchestral playing was with the Niagara Youth Orchestra in St. Catharines.
After high school David earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Northwestern College in Roseville Minnesota. During his time in Minneapolis David was able to tour internationally as Concert master of the Continental Singers and Orchestra and of the Communique Singers and Orchestra. While in Minneapolis David studied with Roger Frisch, Associate Concert Master of the Minnesota Orchestra. Upon returning to St. Catharines David studied with Deryck Aird of the Bradley Institute of Music and at that time, Concert Master of the Niagara Symphony.
David has been a member of the Niagara Symphony Association since 1989 and has also worked for the District School Board of Niagara as a secondary school music educator since 1989. He currently teaches music at Centennial High in Welland.
David and his wife Deborah met while preparing a faculty recital for the Laura Secord Music Department where David began teaching. Since then they have formed the chamber ensemble now known as Glissandi; together with their friend and colleague Douglas Miller, principal flute with the Niagara Symphony. The past twelve years have been very full as the demand for their particular style of chamber music has increased. Performances and audiences have varied greatly providing many rich experiences. One of those was a concert tour of Southern England in the spring of 1997. Upon returning from that tour Glissandi set out to record their first CD entitled Serenity.
David enjoys both teaching and performing and is looking forward to much more of the same. David and his wife Deborah have three children: Matthew, Nicholas, and Jessica.
Deborah Braun - Harp
Deborah Braun (harpist)...is a native of St. Catharines and began her harp studies locally with Doris Scharing. She subsequently studied with Eilene Malone of the Eastman School of Music, Suzanne Thomas of the Buffalo Philharmonic, and Elaine Pamphilon of Cambridge, England. In additional to extensive solo and ensemble playing, she is harpist with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra and Glissandi.
Elizabeth Chitty is an interdisciplinary artist born in St. Catharines, ON. Since 1975, she has created performance, video and installation works. Her performance work has had 4 phases: works influenced by conceptual art and the multidisciplinary climate of the 70s in Canadian artist-run centres (1975-82); epic spectacles with multiple slide projections (1983-90); landscape-based, in which the audiences followed walks and trails (1992-97), and the current phase of voice, movement and digital visuals. Her single-channel video works were exhibited widely in the late 70s and 80s including at the 11e Biennale de Paris (1980) and the opening of the National Gallery of Canada (1988) and in 2006/7 were included in the National Gallery of Canada’s, Art Metropole: Top 100. Her video installations were exhibited at the Niagara Artist Company in the 1990s. She has work in the collections of Canada Council Art Bank, National Gallery of Canada, Hamilton Art Gallery and Musée d’art contemporain.
She taught Creative Process at The School of the Toronto Dance Theatre from 1991-2007. Her most recent published texts are in Caught in the Act: an anthology of performance art by Canadian women, YYZ Editions, Toronto, 2004. As a community art practitioner she was worked with a homeless youth shelter and she is Creative Director of the St. Catharines and Area Arts Council.
Her most recent works include the solo she performs, Song For a Blue Moon (premiere at Tangente danse contemporain in Montréal in 2004), the constructed photograph, Guardian of Niagara: The Great Lakes (2007) exhibited at St. Catharines City Hall, the dance and video work, April 23 & here, commissioned for the Toronto Dance Theatres’ 12 Solos (2007) and also in 2007 she led a soundwalk at the Walker Botanical Gardens in St. Catharines as part of the Brock University conference, Greenscapes: Sense and Meaning. Currently, she is preparing for two video and audio installations to be exhibited at Grimsby Public Art Gallery in 2008/09. See www.elizabethchitty.ca.
Margaret Gay - 'cello
After completing a Bachelor of Music degree at Boston University School for the Arts, Margaret Gay accepted an invitation to the Banff Centre for Fine Arts, where she completed the winter programme. From there she moved to Toronto, where she earned a Master’s degree at the University of Toronto and began a remarkably active freelance career performing on both modern and period ‘cello. Margaret performs regularly with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, Opera Atelier, Mississauga Sinfonia, Baroque Music Beside The Grange, the Eybler Quartet, and Ensemble Polaris, a group exploring the traditional music of various Nordic countries. She is Artistic Director of The Gallery Players of Niagara, an organization based in the Niagara Region that presents chamber music. She was for many years a member of Modern Quartet, a string quartet dedicated to the performance of new works, the Burdocks, a foursome specializing in works of the 20th century, and Critical Band. In the summers she has performed at the Carmel Bach Festival, Stratford, Elora, Parry Sound, Grand River Baroque, and Lameque Baroque Music festivals, as well as teaching ‘cello and coaching chamber music at the Toronto Board of Education Music Camp, and the University of New Brunswick Summer Music Camp. Margaret can be heard on numerous CD’s, including a recent release from Analekta of Joseph Leopold Eybler's string quartets Op. 1, Ensemble Polaris, Not Much Is Worse Than A Troll, a Hungaroton disc of 17th century English theatre music, Ah! How Sweet It Is To Love, O Bali, from New Music Concerts, and, A Curious Collection for the Common Flute.
Christie Goodwin
As principal oboist of the Niagara Symphony, principal oboist and
section leader of the Korean Canadian Symphony Orchestra in North
York, and former principal of the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber
Orchestra, Christie has been featured as both an oboe and English
Horn soloist in addition to appearing as an orchestral player. She
is active as a freelance musician in Southern Ontario, and has
played with the Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra, the Kitchener
Symphony, Opera Ontario, the Windsor Symphony, and the National
Academy Orchestra in Hamilton. Originally from small-town Alberta,
Ms. Goodwin completed her Bachelor of Music performance at the
University of British Columbia with teacher Beth Orson of the
Vancouver Symphony, and the Artist's Diploma program at the Glenn
Gould School of the Royal Conservatory with former Toronto Symphony
Orchestra principal, Richard Dorsey. She currently resides and
teaches music in Peterborough, Ontario.
Lucas Harris bases his busy schedule as a freelance lutenist in Toronto since 2004. A regular with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, he works with dozens of early music groups across North America, and also teaches at Oberlin Conservatory's Baroque Performance Institute, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, and the International Baroque Institute at Longy. At home he directs the Toronto Continuo Collective, a ‘pluck band’ dedicated to learning the art of seventeenth-century accompaniment (www.continuo.ca). Some recent projects have included a new summer chamber music series with violinist Geneviève Gilardeau (www.beachesbaroque.ca), a debut solo CD, as well as duo recitals and a recording with Wen Zhao, a virtuosa of the pipa (traditional Chinese lute). Lucas has been a guest director for the opera program at Ohio State University as well as the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vancouver.
Michele Jacot received her Bachelor of Music degree in Performance at the University of Toronto and her Master of Music degree at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. She has performed in a variety of solo and chamber music recitals, and has played with several Canadian orchestras.
In addition to her active orchestral and chamber music involvement, a portion of her freelance career includes work on film soundtracks, television and in musical theatre. Ms. Jacot has also been a faculty member at several music festivals across Canada. As well as teaching in her private studio, she is active as a workshop and masterclass instructor.
Zoltan Kalman - Clarinet
Zoltan Kalman was born in Hungary. He received his training at the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy of Music. After graduation, he spent a year as principal clarinettist with the Hungarian State Orchestra, where he played under the baton of such luminaries as Sir George Solti, Giuseppe Patane and Leonard Bernstein.
From 1983-1989, he served as principal with the Budapest Opera Orchestra. He was a founding member of one of Hungary’s foremost wind quintets, Aquincum. His achievements in the musical field include second prize at the Praque International Clarinet Competition, and several awards with the Aquincum Wind Quintet. These include first prize in the 1986 International Chamber Winds Competition in Ancona, Italy, as well as the jury’s special award in the 1987 competition in Colmar, France. The French National television produced a documentary program featuring the quintet. In 1988 he received a Cultural Ministry’s award “Musician of the year”. He had several solo and orchestra performances throughout Europe, including Austria, Belgium, France, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Since arriving in Canada in 1989, he has appeared as guest soloist with numerous orchestras and ensembles in the area, including the Georgian Bay Symphony, Symphony Hamilton, Niagara Symphony, Boris Brott Summer Music Festival Players, and the Gallery Players. He joined Trio Canada for a performance of the Weber Clarinet Quintet which was broadcast by Toronto’s CJRT in May of 19994.
In collaboration with the Niagara Symphony and the St. Catharines based Carousel Players, he performed with the Theater Company in the “Theater for Young People” in Winnipeg in 2005, in the National Art Centre in Ottawa, as well as Vancouver in 2006.
Mr. Kalman is principal clarinettist with both the Niagara Symphony, Symphony Hamilton, and appears regularly with Brantford Symphony, Mississauga Opera Company, and Scarborough Symphony.
In addition to his career as a musician, he also teaches clarinet, saxophone, Woodwind Techniques Course, conducts the Wind Ensemble at Brock University in St. Catharines, and teaches clarinet at McMaster University in Hamilton. He is currently an itinerant instructor in the Niagara Instrumental Music Program where he conducts concert bands with various age groups as well as the Niagara Youth Orchestra’s junior and senior woodwind ensembles.
Timothy Lockwood - Horn
Hornist Timothy Lockwood was born in Margate, England in 1967. After
his family moved to London, Canada, he started his musical career as a boy
soprano in the award winning St. Paul’s Cathedral choir. This was followed
by a year in the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus in New York City.
Returning to Canada, Timothy studied Horn, in London with Janet
Summers. Other teachers include, Jean Gaudreault (Montreal Symphony
Orchestra), Derek Conrod (Tafelmusik), Ronald George (Orchestra London,
Canada), and Ifor James at the Musikhochschule, in Freiburg, Germany.
Further studies included an Artist Diploma program at the Royal
Conservatory Glenn Gould Professional School studying with Fred Rizner,
former principal horn of the Toronto Symphony.
Currently he finds himself travelling all over Ontario playing his horn with,
Orchestra London, Canada; Windsor Symphony; Hamilton Philharmonic;
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony; Canadian Chamber Ensemble; and the
Stratford Festival. Timothy also holds the principal horn position with the
Niagara Symphony and the International Symphony based in Sarnia, both of which he has appeared as soloist on many occasions. As a chamber musician
Timothy is a member of the Niagara Brass Ensemble and has appeared at the
Niagara International and Kincardine Chamber Music Festivals. Timothy
lives in.
Long recognized as one of Canada’s bright lights on historical flutes, Toronto-born ALISON MELVILLE began playing the recorder in a school classroom in London (UK). Her career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician with many ensembles has taken her across North America and to New Zealand, Iceland, Japan and Europe. Besides her frequent appearances with Tafelmusik, Alison is a member of the Toronto Consort, the Arctic fusion band Ensemble Polaris, and is artistic director of the mixed-media Bird Project. Some favourite career moments include playing for CBC-TV’s The Tudors and The Friendly Giant, Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter, a series solo shows in inner-city London (UK) schools, and, oh yes, a summer of concerts in Ontario prisons.
Alison has been heard on CBC/Radio-Canada, BBC, RNZ, NPR and Iceland State Broadcast Service, and on over 50 CDs, including five critically acclaimed solo recordings. She was on faculty at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (USA) from 1999 to 2010. www.alisonmelville.com
Douglas Miller – Flute
Doug Miller is an established freelance musician in the Toronto area. He has performed with the Toronto Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Kitchener Waterloo Orchestra, and is current principal flute of the Niagara Symphony. Mr. Miller holds a BMus and A Licentiate Diploma from McGill and a Master of Music from U of Toronto. As theatre musician he has played many Toronto productions such as Phantom, Les Miz, Crazy for You, and the Lion King, in which he played many ethnic flutes, several which he built. He has been a member of the Shaw Festival Orchestra for five seasons, and has recently returned from the North American tour of EVITA.
Laura Pudwell - Vocalist
Laura Pudwell's reputation as a superb vocalist has been well-established as a result of her performances in London, Paris, Salzburg, Houston, Vienna and Boston. Her vast repertoire ranges from early music to contemporary works. Ms. Pudwell is equally at home on the opera, oratorio or recital stage, and has received international acclaim for her recordings.
A frequent guest of many national and international presenters, Laura has had the privilege of working with many outstanding conductors, including Hans Graf, Hervé Niquet, Andrew Parott, Ivars Taurens, David Fallis, Brian Jackson, John Sinclair, Bernard Labadie, Lydia Adams, Howard Dyck and Robert Cooper.
On the opera stage, Ms Pudwell has performed across Canada with such companies as Opera Atelier, the Calgary Opera, Vancouver Early Music and Festival Vancouver, as well as with the Houston Grand Opera and the Cleveland Opera. Her many roles include Cornelia (Giulio Cesare), Marcelina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Nerone and Arnalta (L'Incoronazione di Poppea), Mrs. Quickly (Falstaff), and Dido/Sorceress (Dido & Aeneas), which also was an award-winning recording performed by Ms. Pudwell in Paris.
Laura Pudwell is a regular participant in many festivals, including Festival Vancouver, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Summer Festival, the Elora Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Grand River Baroque Festival, and the WinterPark Bach Festival in Orlando.
Laura appears regularly with the Toronto Consort, and is a frequent guest soloist with Tafelmusik, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toronto Chamber Choir, Symphony Nova Scotia, the St. Lawrence Choir, Le Concert Spirituel, Chorus Niagara and the Menno Singers.
Ms. Pudwell lives in Kitchener-Waterloo with her husband and two children. She is a Professor of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University
Christian Sharpe - Bassoon, Contra-bassoon, and Saxophone
Christian Sharpe is a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and a sought after performer of chamber music on the bassoon, contra-bassoon, and saxophone. He has performed regularly at the Festival of the Sound and Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, and has been heard in recent seasons with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal , the Toronto Symphony, and the Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre, working with conductors Zubin Mehta and Valery Gergiev among others. Recorded highlights include the movie soundtrack to Being Julia, the Toronto production of Showboat cast recording, and a critically acclaimed CBC CD (Mozart?) of Mozart’s spurious works for winds with the Festival Winds. In summer of 2008 Christian was a member of the Shaw Festival orchestra in the productions of Wonderful Town by Bernstein and Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, performing on both the saxophone and bassoon.
Composers
Toronto based composer Rose Bolton’s works range from orchestral, chamber and vocal music to electro-acoustic and ambient electronic. She has received numerous commissions and prizes, including the 2006 Norman Burgess Fund award, and the Toronto Emerging Composer award.
Her works have been performed by major ensembles across Canada, including the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Esprit Orchestra, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Tapestry New Opera, and L’ensemble contemporain de Montréal. She has also composed full scores for two CBC television documentaries produced by Red Apple Entertainment: The Disappearing Male, winner of the 2008 Gemini Award for Best Science and Technology Documentary; and Surviving The Future which will air on CBC's Doc Zone in the fall of 2010.
Her many upcoming projects include a Canada Council funded ambient sound installation for a large space, and the premiere of a chamber work for the Montreal based Lotus Trio.
Canadian composer Marc Sabat has been based in Berlin since 1999. His work with acoustic instruments and electronics draws inspiration from investigations of the sounding and perception of Just Intonation, American folk and experimental musics, and the relations between musical and visual forms. His pieces have been presented internationally in radio broadcasts and at festivals of new music including the Donaueschinger Musiktage, MaerzMusik, Darmstadt and Carnegie Hall. Recordings and scores are available from Plainsound Music Edition, and upcoming CDs of his music are planned for release from World Edition (Köln) and mode records (New York).
Sabat studied at the University of Toronto, at the Juilliard School in New York, as well as working privately with Malcolm Goldstein, James Tenney and Walter Zimmermann. He teaches at the Universität der Künste Berlin, and has been a guest artist at the California Institute of the Arts, at the Escola Superior in Barcelona and the Paris Conservatoire. In 2010, he will be an artist-in-residence of the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles.
To view works and performers from our past seasons, please click here.
