Performers - Season 08/09

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.

 

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.

Patrick Jordan - Viola
Patrick Jordan, a native of West Texas, studied with Susan Schoenfeld before moving to Boston in 1981 to study with Walter Trampler. Mr. Jordan holds a Bachelor's degree from the New England Conservatory and an Artist's Diploma in Chamber Music from the Longy School, where he began several years' study with Eugene Lehner. Now a resident of Toronto, Mr. Jordan is a member of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with which he tours throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico, Asia and Europe. He is also the Artistic Administrator and violist with the Gallery Players of Niagara. He has been a member of the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra since 1997 and has appeared with the New York Collegium as well as the American Classical Soloists. While living in Boston, he performed regularly with D.C. Hall's Band (a recreation of a 19th-century dance and concert band), the van Swieten Quartet, a period instrument string quartet, and the Handel & Haydn Society Orchestra. He was a member of the Boston Quartet, a modern instrument string quartet, and the Really Eclectic String Quartet (RESQ), a group that explored popular dance and lyrical music from many cultures. From 1988 to 1993 he was Lecturer in Violin and Viola at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA; he is currently on the faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He has recorded for Sony, Sony Classical, Dorian, Newport Classic, NorthStar, Analekta and Northeastern.

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 London with his wife and three sons.

David Louie - Piano
Hailed as "a pianistic sensation" (Rhein-Zeitung, Germany), David Louie ranks among the foremost Canadian musicians of his generation. Born in British Columbia, he has performed throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia. A major prizewinner at prestigious competitions — the CBC Radio Competition, Santander International Piano Competition (Paloma O'Shea) in Spain and the Sydney International Piano Competition — David Louie made his New York debut under the auspices of the city's venerable Peoples' Symphony Concerts. Recital appearances include the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, the Mosel Festwochen (Germany), and the National Auditorium of Madrid. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Vancouver Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, Gulbenkian Chamber Orchestra of Lisbon, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London. An accomplished chamber musician, David Louie is a member of Toronto-based ARC and the Gallery Players of Niagara. He has collaborated with the Takacs String Quartet and members of the Toronto Symphony and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Equally at home on the harpsichord, he is one of the few keyboard artists to master both instruments and transcend traditional boundaries between period and modern performance. As harpsichord recitalist he has presented Bach's Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier at Canada's Grand River Baroque Festival. A Canada Council Arts Grant recipient, David Louie studied with John Perry and Boris Zarankin and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California. He resides in Toronto and is on faculty at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Max Mandel - viola
Max Mandel Canadian violist Max Mandel is one of the most acclaimed and active chamber musicians of his generation. Comfortable in many styles and genres, Mr. Mandel's current group affiliations include the FLUX Quartet, The Caramoor Virtuosi, The Silk Road Ensemble, The Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert, The Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, The Kirby String Quartet, The Smithsonian Chamber Players, Class Notes, The Knights, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble.

Early formative experiences included founding the Metro String Quartet, which helped forge his dedication to chamber music through collaboration with his colleagues and teachers such as Lorand Fenyves at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and especially the Banff Center for the Arts. Private studies at the University of Toronto and the Juilliard School were with Steven Dann and Samuel Rhodes.

Mr. Mandel is a fan of all kinds of music from Mozart to Feldman to Ghostface and considers himself very fortunate to have collaborated with great artists in many genres from Vera Beths to Ornette Coleman to Kirk Hammett of Metallica. Mr. Mandel plays on a 1973 Giovanni Battista Morassi generously loaned to him by Lesley Robertson of the St. Lawrence Quartet. He resides in Brooklyn, NY.

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.

 

Aisslinn Nosky - Violin
Violinist Aisslinn Nosky, a native of Nanaimo B.C., is a performer in great demand in both the classical and early music worlds. From 1993-99, she was a member of the Metro String Quartet and with the quartet performed recitals across Canada and in Europe. Aisslinn is currently a member of I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble, the Aradia Ensemble, the Bach Consort, and the Kirby String Quartet. Since 2002 Aisslinn has served as Assistant Principal second violin of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and, in the Autumn of 2005 she will be joining Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.

 

 

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.

Julie Wedman - Violin
Violinist Julia Wedman brings an "infectious vitality" to music (Victoria Times Colonist). She is often praised for the freshness of her interpretation and her strong emotional connection to music. With a life long passion for chamber music, she formed her first serious string quartet at age 15. Studies at the University of Western Ontario, the University of Toronto and Indiana University at Bloomington nourished her musically and academically and in her search for musical understanding, led her to a passion for historically informed, period performance. One critic offered that she "likes to play all music as if were written yesterday". Julia is a member and programming co-ordinator of the innovative young Baroque group I Furiosi, deemed "hip and madly entertaining" by the National Post. She is also a member of the newly formed Kirby String Quartet, playing everything from Haydn to John Zorn.. Most recently she joined the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, one of the world's premiere baroque orchestras. Over the past few years, Julia has performed in Toronto with the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet Company, the Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Consort and Aradia Baroque Ensemble, with whom she has recorded over 15 CDs for the Naxos Label. In the summers she performs at Grand River Baroque Festival, Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Domaine Forget Music Festival in Quebec and the Klang und Raum festival in Irsee, Germany.

To view works and performers from our past seasons, please click here.