WSO WOODWINDS
FLUTE
Jean-François Rompré, Principal*
Liesel Deppe
OBOE
Graham Mackenzie, Principal*
Faith Scholfield
CLARINET
James Ormston, Principal*
Margaret Gillie
BASSOON
Eric Varner, Principal*
Julie Shier
Click here to download Jean-François' headshot
Liesel Deppe was born in South Africa, where she also completed her undergraduate studies. She then went to study at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, Germany on a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service. She completed a “Meisterklassendiplom” with Professor Klaus Schochow.
Upon the completion of her diploma in Germany, Ms. Deppe moved to the United States to obtain a masters degree. She spent one year with Alexa Still at the University of Colorado in Boulder, before moving to Canada with her husband. In 2006 she obtained her degree from the University of Western Ontario. Ms. Deppe is currently enrolled at the University of Toronto as a doctoral student where she studies with Leslie Newman.
Ms. Deppe has played with various ensembles and orchestras in South Africa, Europe, the
United States and Canada. A highlight of her career was playing and touring with the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra in Europe and Israel. She has been a member of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra since December 2003, where she particularly enjoys playing the piccolo.
During the 2006-2007 season Ms. Deppe was awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, which enabled her to study with various flutists in the United Kingdom and Europe. She found this experience tremendously inspiring and rewarding.
Liesel Deppe currently lives in Stratford, Ontario, with her husband Andrew and her cat Oscar.
Click here to download Liesel's bio & headshot
Graham Mackenzie is the principal oboist of the Windsor Symphony Orchestr. He also performs frequently as principal oboist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and in other professional engagements in southern Ontario. In addition, he was a member of the National Repertory Orchestra in 2007 and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2005 and 2006. He obtained his Bachelor of Music from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2007, studying oboe with James Mason. While studying, he was the winner of numerous competitions, including the concerto competitions of the Wilfrid Laurier Symphony Orchestra and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. An avid chamber musician, he has performed in many Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society concerts and has attended the Scotia Festival of Music, Windfest, and the Domaine Forget Music Academy. When he’s not making music, Graham enjoys running, yoga, Frisbee, expanding his culinary horizons, word games, and traveling.
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James Ormston has served as Principal Clarinet of the Windsor Symphony since 1991. Mr.
Ormston resides in Toronto, where he is an active member of the freelance community. He performs frequently with the Canadian Opera Company and the Toronto Symphony, and has appeared as guest Principal Clarinet with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and the National Ballet of Canada. As a performer with these and other ensembles, he is often heard on CBC Radio 2 broadcasts. Solo performances with orchestra include works by Busoni, Debussy, Molter, Mozart, Richard Strauss and Weber. Mr. Ormston is scheduled to perform the Clarinet Concerto by the English composer Gerald Finzi with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in
October 2008.
After completing undergraduate studies with Thomas Dowling at the University of Victoria, Mr. Ormston continued studies with Wesley Foster, Principal Clarinetist of the Vancouver Symphony and Joaquin Valdepenas, Principal Clarinetist of the Toronto Symphony. In the United States, he pursued private study with Theodore Oien, Principal Clarinet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Russell Dagon, Professor of Clarinet, Northwestern University, and Robert Marcellus, Principal Clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra. He has performed at music festivals in Banff (Banff School of Fine Arts), Aspen (Aspen Music Festival), Keystone (National Repertory Orchestra), Hamilton (National Orchestral Academy), and Edinburgh (Edinburgh International Festival).
Additionally, Mr. Ormston has enjoyed performing for several leading Canadian music theatre producers including Marlene Smith/Ernie Rubenstein (Napoleon), Live Entertainment (Music of the Night US Tour, Ragtime), Mirvish Productions (Oliver), Canadian Stage (Into the Woods, Passion, Sweeney Todd), and Troika LLC, (Sound of Music Asia Tour). Mr. Ormston has been member of the Charlottetown Festival of the Arts Orchestra, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, since 1999.
James Ormston has served as an adjudicator of Clarinet Performance for both the University of Toronto School of Music (Undergraduate and Graduate level) and the Royal Conservatory of Music Glenn Gould School. He is currently Instructor of Clarinet at the University of Windsor School of Music.
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Dr. Eric Van der Veer Varner is instructor of bassoon at Miami University, a position he previously held at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio.
Dr. Varner received his Bachelor of Music in 1996 from the University of Michigan. He received his degree in Artistic Education from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Heidelberg-Mannheim, Germany in 1998. From 1996 until 2000, he played with the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester in Mannheim, as well as the Heidelberger Kantatenorchester. He also participated in the prestigious Bayreuth Easter Festival with the International Orchestra Academy from 1998 until 2000. Dr. Varner returned to the United States in 2000 to complete his studies, and received a Master’s and a Doctoral degree in Music Arts from the University of Michigan in 2004. He was awarded the Bronze Medal at the Fischoff Chamber Music competition in 2003 with the Taliesin Trio.
He is the former principle bassoonist of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (2001-2006), and currently holds positions as principle of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Canada as well as playing second and contrabassoon with the Michigan Opera Theater in Detroit.
Dr. Varner’s principal teachers include Richard Beene, Alfred Rindespacher, Hugh Cooper and Michael Dicker. When he is not busy playing and teaching, he enjoys watching college football, literature, exercising, and playing with dogs.