Guest & Featured Artists
The Windsor Symphony Orchestra is pleased to feature the following Guest & Featured Artists for the 2011/2012 Season.
*WSO Musician
Joe Coughlin - Vocalist
Legendary jazz guitarist and vocalist George Benson may have said it best when he dropped by to introduce himself to Joe Coughlin and his quartet at the 2010 Victoria Jazzfest International. “You guys kind of remind me of the old days,” said Benson, complimenting Coughlin and the group on their show. While Benson didn’t elaborate, it was clear he was thinking of the heyday of the great jazz vocalists like Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, and the still-going-strong Tony Bennett.
Anyone who has heard Coughlin deliver classics like Kahn and Donaldson’s My Baby Just Cares or Frank Loesser’s Luck be a Lady from the Great American Songbook knows that such a comparison is apt. Pit him against any of the best – past or present – in a blindfold listening test, and you’ll realize that like other well-kept Canadian secrets, Joe Coughlin not only belongs but excels in higher company.
Through three decades, seven albums, one Jazz Report Award, and two National Jazz Awards, he’s performed with a flock of great Canadian artists with international credentials – players like Ed Bickert, Terry Clarke, Bernie Senesky, and Don Thompson (on his stellar self-titled debut album); Mark Eisenman, Steve Wallace, Lorne Lofsky, Rick Wilkins and John Sumner (on subsequent Toronto-produced projects); and, since his 1995 move to Victoria, west coast giants like Pat Coleman, Miles Black, Tony Genge, Ken Lister, Jodi Proznick, Buff Allen, Dave Robbins, Ross Taggart, and Mike Herriott, with whom he’s produced (in various personnel combinations) three superb albums.
With over thirty years of performing under his belt, Coughlin has proven himself in everything from heavy metal (yes, he fronted Whiteheet, a successful Ontario metal band in the late 70s) to adult contemporary (he scored a couple of Canadian top ten singles in the early 90s), but since winning CBC’s Search for the Stars in 1979 and landing his first recording contract, he’s been most at home with the music of singers like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and Johnny Hartman, vocalists rooted in jazz who can appeal to a wider audience.
A small jazz ensemble is a perfect setting for Coughlin’s warm, sweet, and supple baritone, but it should come as no surprise that, like the great singers who have come before him, he soars with a full orchestra. Add well-arranged horns, strings, and a little tinkling sweetener to his core quartet and you’ve got the ingredients for magic. In fact, if we could wave a wand and plunk Coughlin in front of Nelson Riddle’s orchestra circa 1955, it’s not overstating the case to say he might even give Ol’ Blue Eyes a run for his money.
Honouring the legacy of his mentors and acknowledging the affinity of his voice for lush, painterly orchestral arrangements, Coughlin has recently created Salute to the Saloon Singers, a larger-than-life pops symphony tribute featuring stunning 62-piece arrangements written specifically for him by National-Jazz-Award-Arranger-of-the-Year John McLeod and Juno Award winner Phil Dwyer.
Titles include Come Fly with Me, Witchcraft, One for My Baby and The Way You Look Tonight, tunes familiar to the lovers of songs written in an era when popular songwriting was an art form and when the music of writers like Johnny Mandel, Jimmy Van Heusen, Frank Loesser, Harold Arlen, and Jerome Kern graced the stages and screens of the world.
Joe Coughlin has an ear for the past, but it would be a mistake to call him yesterday’s singer. Listen to him dig into the contemporary, socially aware standards penned by Pat Coleman and Colin Lazzerini for the recent National-Jazz-Award-winning Things Turn Out That Way, and you’ll understand that he’s a voice for the present too.
But then, given his extensive media and communications career outside of music, where he’s done everything from hosting TV shows on CBC and CTV to launching major employment initiatives for people with disabilities, he’s always been a man of the times.
There are a number of singers these days who can give a decent nod to the artists of the past, but Joe Coughlin, with his wise, easy delivery and ability to plumb the emotional and musical depths of a great and timeless tune, is the real deal.
Ian Parker - Piano
Magnetic, easy-going and delightfully articulate, Canadian pianist Ian Parkercaptivates audiences wherever he goes. He has appeared with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic, Cincinnati , CBC Vancouver, Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom, Edmonton Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Mobile Symphony, National Symphony, Quebec Symphony, and the symphonies of Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg, among others.
An enthusiastic recitalist, Ian Parker has performed across the United States, Western Europe, Israel, and throughout Canada on tours with Debut Atlantic and Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. He made his Lincoln Center recital debut at the Walter Reade Theater in 2004 and moderates a new recital series in Vancouver for the introduction of young artists.
Mr. Parker was invited to collaborate with the internationally renowned Vogler Quartet during its twentieth anniversary tour in 2005-06 throughout the U.S. and Canada. Following the tour’s tremendous success, he was invited to join them again for several concerts in the spring of 2006, as well as an extensive North American tour in the 2006-07 season.
Recent seasons have seen a great deal of recording activity: in the fall of 2010, three concerti (Ravel Concerto in G, Stravinsky Capriccio, and Gershwin Concerto in F),recorded with the London Symphony under Michael Francis, were released by ATMA Classique; an all-fantasy solo CD on Azica Records, including the fantasies of Chopin, Schumann, and Beethoven (Op. 27, nos. 1 and 2 “Quasi una Fantasia”), was released in the summer of 2010.
First Prize winner at the 2001 CBC National Radio Competition, Ian Parkerhas also won the Grand Prize at the Canadian National Music Festival, the Corpus Christie International Competition and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition. At The Juilliard School, he received the 2002 William Petschek Piano Debut Award and, on two occasions, was the winner of the Gina Bachauer Piano Scholarship Competition. Heard regularly on CBC Radio, Mr. Parker has also performed live on WQXR (hosted by Robert Sherman) in New York.
Born in Vancouver to a family of pianists, Ian Parker began his piano studies at age three with his father, Edward Parker. He holds both the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky. While at Juilliard, the Canada Council for the Arts awarded him the Sylva Gelber Career Grant, which is given annually to the “most talented Canadian artist.”
Robert deMaine - Cello
Praised by The New York Times as "an artist who makes one hang on every note," Robert deMaine has distinguished himself as one of the finest and most versatile cellists of his generation, having performed to critical acclaim as soloist, recitalist, orchestral principal, recording artist, and chamber musician throughout the world, from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. A first-prize winner in many national and international competitions from the time he was 12 years old, deMaine became, in 1990, the first cellist ever to win San Francisco's prestigious Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings.
A fourth-generation string player, Robert deMaine was born in Oklahoma City to a military and musical family of French (Franco-Belgian) and Polish extraction. He was introduced to the cello at the age of four by his mother and sister, both accomplished cellists, and by the time he was ten years old was performing such demanding works as Tchaikovsky's "Rococo Variations." He also studied harmony, solfège, counterpoint, composition, voice, guitar, conducting, and piano with the music director of his parish, Rose Rahal. By the age of 12, he had come to the attention of famed cellists Pierre Fournier, Christine Walevska, and Leonard Rose, who all encouraged him to continue his studies in New York and abroad. A Catholic priest, Father Ernest Flusché, provided sponsorship which enabled him to pursue his studies as a teenager with Leonard Rose at Juilliard Pre-College, after which he attended the Meadowmount School, the Eastman School of Music, the Marlboro School and Festival, and Yale University on full-tuition fellowships (graduating with high distinction from Eastman and with the school's highest honor, the Performer's Certificate). DeMaine also studied at the University of Southern California and the Kronberg Academy in Germany.
In addition to his family's musical influences, public school string program, and parochial musical education, deMaine's many cello teachers have included Jane Smith, Kari Padgett Caldwell, Leonard Rose, Stephen Kates, Luis Garcia-Renart, Richard Kapuscinski, Steven Doane, Paul Katz, Ronald Leonard, and Aldo Parisot; he participated in master classes with Bernard Greenhouse, Christine Walevska, Lynn Harrell, Ronald Leonard, János Starker, Boris Pergamenschikow, and studied chamber music with Felix Galimir, Jerome Lowenthal, and Alexander Schneider.
The recipient of a career grant from the Helen M. Saunders Foundation, deMaine's many distinctions have included First Prizes from the Naftzger String Competition, the Corpus Christi International String Competition, the American String Teachers Association New York Solo Competition, the Piatigorsky Seminar, the Saint Louis Symphony Young Artists Competition, the Julius Bloch Awards, the Keith Awards, and the Premio Sipario di Milano for Excellence in Classical Performance where he was the first cellist to be selected for this Italian arts-and-entertainment honor. He was also a top prize-winnner in the 1990 Chicago Cello Competition. DeMaine was honored in both 2003 and 2004 by the Alliance Française and was the recipient of the Detroit/Motor City Music Award for Best Classical Instrumentalist in both 2004 and 2008.
Robert deMaine has collaborated with many distinguished musicians, including violinists Gil Shaham, Pamela Frank, Ani and Ida Kavafian, Joseph Silverstein, and Felix Galimir, pianists Emanuel Ax, Andre Watts, Claude Frank, Jeffrey Kahane, Anton Kuerti, Anne-Marie McDermott, Marc-André Hamelin, Jeremy Denk, Orion Weiss, and Yefim Bronfman, and conductors Neeme Järvi, Leonard Slatkin, Arild Remmereit, Dennis Russell Davies, Ludovic Morlot, Peter Oundjian, Victor Yampolsky, David Stahl, Thomas Wilkins, Walter Hendl, Mark Wigglesworth, Nicholas McGegan, Jun Märkl, Alexander Schneider, and Yoav Talmi. As a chamber musician, he is a frequent guest artist at music festivals throughout the world, including Aspen, Chautauqua, Mainly Mozart (San Diego), Norfolk, Seattle, Steamboat Springs, Utah, Heidelberg (Germany), Festival Asturias (Guatemala), San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, also performing with Music from Marlboro in New York and Washington, D.C. He has collaborated with the Beaux Arts Trio, Kronos Quartet, Cleveland, Juilliard, Emerson, Parisii, Chiara, and American String Quartets, and now performs regularly with violinist James Ehnes and pianist Andrew Armstrong. DeMaine is also the cellist of 4 newly formed chamber ensembles: the Ehnes Quartet (with violinists James Ehnes, Amy Schwartz Moretti, and violist Richard O'Neill), Icarus with flutist Richard Sherman and pianist James Wilhelmsen, Trio21 with violinist Judy Kang and pianist Jeffrey Biegel, and the Chroma Piano Trio with violinist Nurit Pacht and pianist Priya Mayadas.
A much sought after music teacher and coach, deMaine has led master classes worldwide, and has taught cello, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire at the University of Connecticut, Hartford Conservatory of Music, American Festival for the Arts in Houston, Conservatories of Music in Corrientes and Buenos Aires, Argentina, Eastman School of Music, National Orchestral Institute, New World Symphony, Interlochen Arts Academy, the University of Michigan, and is an Adjunct Professor at the Wayne State University Music Department (Detroit's music conservatory). Additionally, he maintains a very select studio of private students. Mr. deMaine's former pupils have been laureates of major solo and chamber music competitions in the U.S. and abroad, and can also be found in professional chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras throughout the world. He is also a frequent panelist/adjudicator for string competitions throughout the United States. Robert deMaine has recorded for CBC, Elysium, Capstone, and CRI records, and his performances can be heard on NPR's "Performance Today," the CBC, and seen on PBS and RAI, among other media outlets.
Mr. deMaine is also a composer, having written much music for his own instrument which he often performs, including a set of Twelve Études-Caprices from 1999. He has collaborated with many of today's young composers and has premiered works written for him, most recently Summer Verses for Violin and Cello by Christopher Theofanidis, which received its first performance in July, 2009 at the Seattle Chamber Music Society's Summer Festival to great critical acclaim.
An enthusiastic advocate of musical "buried treasures," Robert deMaine has a vast, wide-ranging repertoire of over 100 concertos from the ubiquitous to the obscure. A devoted audiophile, he proudly owns the entire discography of the great French cellist, Pierre Fournier (1906-86), including some rare autographed albums. Also an avid instrument and bow collector, he possesses at least a dozen cellos, antique and contemporary, including examples by Italian masters Joseph Gagliano of Naples, and Antonio Gragnani of Livorno, both circa 1780, and bows by the French makers F.N. Voirin, Nicolas Maire, Louis Bazin, Alfred Lamy, François Lupot II, and Dominique Peccatte, all dating from the early- to mid-19th-century. Since 2006, Robert deMaine has performed on a cello made in 1841 by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, a gift to him from the Cecilia Benner Trust.
From 2002-2010, Robert deMaine has been the Principal Cellist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, occupying the James C. Gordon endowed chair. Mr. deMaine has served in the same capacity with the New York String Orchestra, Neeme Järvi's All-Star Mahler Orchestra at the Riverside Church in New York, Hartford Symphony Orchestra and Connecticut Opera, and was Visiting Principal of the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra in Boston and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Robert deMaine makes his home in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan with his wife, Elizabeth, and two children, Paul and Annette.
Andrew McIntosh - Cello
Andrew McIntosh has been Principal Cellist for the Windsor Symphony Orchestra since 1997. During that time he has also been active as a freelance cellist in Ontario and southern Michigan, playing regularly with the Canadian Opera Company and Esprit Orchestra in Toronto as well as with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Michigan Opera Theatre. Mr. McIntosh, a two-time recipient of the Pauline Higgins Award given by the Windsor Symphony Orchestra Guild, won a position with the National Ballet Orchestra in 2004.
Mr McIntosh received a bachelor of music degree from McGill University, studying with Michael Kilburn, and completed a master of music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the direction of Allan Harris. Other teachers include Janos Starker and Walter Joachim.
During the summer Mr. McIntosh performs at the Lancaster Festival Orchestra in Ohio and works on his 100-year old house. He lives in Windsor
Virginia Hatfield - Soprano
In Rossini's La Donna del Lago –
"In her Opera in Concert debut, Virginia Hatfield sang Elena, the title role, with an appealing balance of power and subtlety, her arias given glowing texture and showing her wide range of dynamics and tonal colour at their best."
Geoff Chapman, Opera Canada
Soprano Virginia Hatfield is becoming known across Canada for her 'beguiling' performances (The Globe and Mail) and 'gobs of charisma' (Toronto Star).
Recent opera roles for this versatile artist include Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Marzelline(Fidelio), both with the Canadian Opera Company, as well as debuts with Pacific Opera Victoria - Italian Singer (Capriccio), Opera Hamilton - Musetta (La Bohème), and Toronto’s Opera in Concert, singing the title role of Elena in Rossini's La Donna del Lago.
Highlights of the 2010/2011 season include premieres of Canadian and Mexican works with Soundstreams Canada and renowned Mexican percussion ensemble Tambuco for the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, Mexico and at Koerner Hall in Toronto; performances of Messiah with the symphony orchestras of Thunder Bay and Windsor; Bach’s Ich habe genug with Kevin Mallon and the Aradia Ensemble at Glenn Gould Studio, and her debut with Saskatoon Opera as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro.
As a member of the prestigious Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio from 2005-07, Virginia performed the roles of Pamina (The Magic Flute), Miss Wordsworth(Albert Herring), Frasquita (Carmen), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), the Fifth Maid(Elektra), and Laura (Luisa Miller). With the COC Ensemble, Virginia created the role of Leah in James Rolfe’s Swoon. In June, 2007, Virginia performed arias and ensembles with the COC Orchestra and the late Richard Bradshaw in “Opera under the Stars” for the National Capital Commission, which was recorded for DVD.
A gifted recitalist, Virginia has appeared several times with the Aldeburgh Connection both in Toronto and at the Bayfield Festival of Song, where in 2010 she joined mezzo soprano Lauren Segal for a duo recital. She is a frequent guest of Westben: Concerts at the Barn, in her hometown of Campbellford, Ontario - in 2009 performing Lieder with pianist Brian Finley, and returning in 2010 for "Lovin' dat Hammerstein" with Brian Jackson, pianist/host.
Other recent concert performances include Messiah with Mississauga Choral Society and Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Bach's Mass in B Minor with Toronto's Pax Christi Chorale, Mozart's Mass in C Minor and Poulenc's Gloria with Barrie's King Edward Choir, and Mozart's Requiem with Kingston Chamber Choir.
Future engagements include return appearances with the Windsor Symphony and the Aradia Ensemble, and debuts with the Kingston Symphony, the Guelph Chamber Choir, and Symphony Nova Scotia.
Virginia received the Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Toronto Opera School and was also a recipient of the Canadian Opera Company Ruby Mercer Award.
Maria Soulis - Mezzo-Soprano
Maria Soulis has been living and performing in Europe since 1999. Initially, as a resident singer with the Regensburg Opera in Germany, her roles includedCharlotte (Werther), Prince Orlofsky (Fledermaus), Dorabella (Cosi fan' Tutte), Hansel (Hänsel und Gretel), Maddelena (Rigoletto) and Bradamante(Handel's Alcina).
In addition, Ms Soulis has performed the roles of Rosina (Il Barbiere de
Siviglia), Nicklauss (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Gluck's Orfeo, Dido, La
Périchole, Musette (Leoncavallo's La Bohème), Pierotto (Donizetti's Linda
di Chamounix), Mrs. Grose (Britten's The Turn of the Screw), Néris(Cherubini'sMédée), Dinah (Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti) and Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos) at theatres including Monte Carlo, Metz, Nantes, the Barbican Centre, Wexford and the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad.
In the 2005 - 2006 season, due to her interest in modern music, Ms Soulis created the roles of Teura and Third Narrator in the new opera Bonjour, M. Gauguin by the young composer Fabrizio Carlone, premiered at the Teatro Fondamenta Nuove di Venezia.
Also in 2006, Ms Soulis made her debut as Carmen at the Longborough Opera Festival in England, to great acclaim.
As a concert singer in Europe, Ms Soulis has performed many of Gustav Mahler's great orchestral song cycles: Rückert Lieder, Das Lied von der Erde and Symphony Nr. 8 with the Philharmonisches Orchester Regensburg and Kindertoten-Lieder with the Mährische Philharmonie. Other European credits include the Alto Solo in Beethoven's Symphony Nr. 9and Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C Minor. In Canada, Maria Soulis has appeared in repertoire ranging from Bach'sWeihnachts-Oratorium and Handel's Messiah to Dvorak's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah and A Rodgers and Hammerstein Evening. Ms Soulis is an avid recitalist and chamber music singer and enjoys presenting traditional as well as lesser known works.
Born in Canada of Greek parentage, Maria Soulis attended the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Composition and a Performance Degree (ARCT) in Piano, respectively. She was awarded grants from both the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council to further her studies in London and New York.
Her voice has been praised as having "ein rubinrotes Timbre" (a ruby red timbre) and "üppige Vokalfarben" (luxurious vocal colours; Münsterische Zeitung), "chaude et puissante" (warm and powerful; L'Atelier du Chanteur) and as being "gorgeous, dusky toned" (The Record, Kitchener, ON), "full of warmth and drama" (Birmingham Post) and "warmly expressive" (Financial Times, London).
Recent engagements include the Alto Soloist in Theodoraki's ballet Zorba in Toulon and Nice, and Olga(Eugene Onegin) with the Orquestra Gulbenkian, conducted by Lawrence Foster in Lisbon, the Alto Soloist in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in Switzerland and Canada, as well as reprising the role of Carmen for the Longborough Festival. Upcoming engagements include Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte) in Montpellier and at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris and the Alto Soloist in Zorba in Metz.
Joseph Schnurr - Tenor
"Schnurr had an engaging sense of animation, as well as supple vocal technique and expressive spice, making him most interesting to listen to."
Messiah – Grand Philharmonic Choir
Stephen Preece, Kitchener Waterloo Record
"Joseph Schnurr was an excellent Tamino. His tenor vocal was controlled and effortless. His acting was very good and he was an excellent foil for a very funny Papageno."
Magic Flute – Orchestra London
Brian Hay, norules-nolights.com
Joseph Schnurr is one of Canada’s most exciting young lyric tenors, establishing an impressive career on concert and operatic stages both here and in Europe. Joseph sings the lead role in La Clemenza di Tito with Berliner Symphoniker in November 2010.
A Graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, Joseph’s opera credits as a student at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin include Tom Rakewell (The Rake’s Progress) and the title role in Handel’s Xerxes. In 2007, he sang Aeneas in Purcell’sDido and Aeneas at Berlin’s Tempodrom. Berlin audiences also saw his portrayal ofTamino in Die Zauberflöte in der U-Bahn ,and in 2008, Joseph sang Sándor Barinkayin J. Strauss’ Der Zigeunerbaron in Bodensee.
In 2009, Joseph joined the Pacific Opera Victoria’s Resident Artist program, singingFirst Priest/Armed Guard in Victoria, and Tamino in a co-production of Die Zauberflöte with Orchestra London.
Recent European performances for this versatile singer include Evangelist in St. John Passion at Canterbury Cathedral, England, Orpheus in the Berliner Symphoniker production of Haydn’s Orpheus und Eurydike, and Tamino in a co-production of Die Zauberflöte with Stuttgart Opera in Vladivostok, Russia.
In Canada, Mr. Schnurr has sung Haydn’s Creation with Chorus Niagara, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass / Schubert Mass in G with London’s Karen Schuessler Singers, and Messiahwith Grand Philharmonic Choir, the Bach Elgar Choir of Hamilton, Guelph Chamber Choir and Grand River Chorus. December 2010 marks Joseph’s debut with Ottawa’s Thirteen Strings in Charpentier’s Te Deum and Jacobi’s Christmas Cantata, and with Aradia Ensemble for Messiah in Toronto.
Giles Tomkins - Bass-baritone
Bass-baritone Giles Tomkins is in demand as one of Canada’s leading young singers, widely recognized for his vocal virtuosity and lyricism in an impressive range of repertoire. His voice has been described as “sweet but manly” complete with “lovely phrasing and beautiful placement” by Paula Citron, Opera Canada. This 2005 Distinguished Graduate from the University of Toronto’s Opera Division is a frequent guest artist with the Aldeburgh Connection, and has appeared with Tapestry New Opera Works, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Canadian Brass, Opera in Concert and the Canadian Opera Company. Mr. Tomkins’ performances in the United Kingdom include King Arthur (Purcell) at the Aldeburgh Festival, Colline in a touring production of Puccini’s La Boheme with Scottish Opera, and in 2006, the European premiere of Queen of Puddings Music Theatre’s production of The Midnight Court at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Recent operatic roles for Giles include Don Alfonso in Cosi fan Tutte at Tanglewood, (conducted by James Levine), Don Basilio in Il Barbiere de Siviglia (Scottish Opera) directed by Sir Thomas Allen and Superintendent Budd in Britten’s Albert Herring(Aldeburgh Festival). In 2008, Giles returned to Scottish Opera as Pistola in Verdi’sFalstaff and made his debut in the title role in Ottawa’s Opera Lyra production of Le Nozze di Figaro. Giles starred as Pedro in James Rolfe’s new opera Ines with Queen of Puddings Music Theatre and joined the cast of La Boheme as Colline with Saskatoon Opera.
Giles has appeared on five international Naxos recordings with the Aradia Ensemble, (Kevin Mallon, conductor) singing major roles in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux, Handel’s Rinaldo, and Vivaldi’s Griselda, and in 2009 sang Christus in Toronto Bach Consort’s performance of St. John Passion with Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor. Further concert appearances include Beethoven’s Mass in Cwith Guelph Chamber Choir, Mozart’s Mass in C with Fanshawe Chorus London, and Messiah with Classical Music Consort and Peterborough Singers. Mr. Tomkins joined the cast for Dean Burry’s rollicking “A Mummer’s Masque” with Toronto Masque Theatre, and sang the role of Dr. Grenvil in Pacific Opera Victoria’s production of La Traviata.
Giles begins the 2010/11 season at the Cervantino Festival in Mexico, in a Soundstreams Canada concert featuring renowned Mexican percussion ensemble Tambuco, in premieres by Alvarez and Sokolovic, followed by Messiah with Elmer Iseler Singers and Hamilton’s Bach Elgar Choir. Mr. Tomkins returns to Pacific Opera Victoria, as Colline in La Boheme, and debuts with Vancouver Bach Choir in Berlioz’ Damnation of Faust. Singing Dr. Grenvil with Vancouver Opera’s La Traviata completes Giles Tomkins’ busy season.
Graham Mackenzie - Oboe
Graham Mackenzie has been principal oboist of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra since 2006. He was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for the 2009-2010 season, has performed frequently as principal oboist of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and has been engaged regularly as a freelance musician in Winnipeg, Chicago, and many cities in Southern Ontario. He has been a member of the National Repertory Orchestra, the Music Academy of the West, the National Academy Orchestra, l’Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
Graham earned a Bachelor of Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, studying with James Mason, and a Master of Music from DePaul University, studying with Eugene Izotov. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Music in Oboe Performance at Indiana University, studying with Linda Strommen. He has performed as soloist with the Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo, Music Academy of the West, and Wilfrid Laurier University Symphony Orchestras, playing the oboe concertos of Mozart and Strauss. An avid chamber musician, he has performed in many Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society concerts as well as the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and has attended the Scotia Festival of Music, Windfest, and Domaine Forget Music Academy.
When he’s not playing with the WSO, Graham enjoys running, yoga, ping-pong, word games, and making music with his wife, who is a bassoonist.
Ron Davis - Piano & Vocals
"...very well may be the most gifted pianist in Canada!" - rivetingriffs.com
Music gives pleasure and makes us think. There's no need to choose intelligence over entertainment. This is what Ron Davis is about.
Ron has coaxed music from his piano since his early youth. Now he shares this passion all over the world, including Asia, which he has toured four times. Ron is a brilliant virtuoso and engaging entertainer. His playing calls to mind Oscar Peterson and Jamie Cullum. Accolades abound.
Ron's most recent CD, his 7th, My Mother's Father's Song, is his first all-trio recording. A celebrated 1930s Polish song about Ron's maternal grandfather lends the CD its title. Bal u grabego Joska is a sensitive, emotional embrace and touching family tribute. Also among the CD's thirteen tracks: My Shining Hour (Arlen & Mercer), For Once in My Life (Stevie Wonder) and Viva la Vida (Coldplay).
Ron works with symphony orchestras to put the "fun" in funky. SymphRonica (symphronica.com) superimposes his unique brand of jazz on the traditional symphonic landscape, to create an unforgettable concert experience. Ron has also led ongoing jazz series, like Ron Davis and Friends and Gate 403 Jam Session.
More than a pianist, Ron has garnered international acclaim as a composer. Rhythmaron: The Music of Ron Davis (2008) is a deluxe compendium of 23 dazzling original tunes.
In Ron's hands and ears-on workshop, Playing Along to Surpass (playingalongtosurpass.com), he teaches how to translate jazz performance techniques into business success. It's cool. It works.
Ron's written word compositions include Pianobabbler (pianobabbler.com), his irreverent, urbane blog of musical musings. It's his privilege to pen keyboard columns in Canadian Musician magazine. He's published and edited numerous articles and books on music, linguistics and law.
After studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Ron's talent gelled as a teen. His mentor was the late Darwyn Aitken, a musical giant who passed on lessons learned at the hands of piano legends David Saperton (classical) and Oscar Peterson (jazz).
His eclectic nature embraced other disciplines. Ron was a lawyer. He taught at the Bar. He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, where he earned a PhD in French linguistics.
Ron serves on the Glenn Gould Foundation Executive Committee, and on the advisory boards for the Jazz Performance and Education Centre and Reaching Out Through Music. Peacebuilders International and Feed the Hungry are among his other causes. For eight years, he co-produced Jazz for Herbie, an annual benefit for Sick Kids Hospital Foundation, helping children around the world in medical need.
Please visit Ron's website.
Robert Aitken - Flute
World renowned Canadian flutist, composer and conductor Robert Aitken has been honoured with the Order of Canada and is a Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France). In 1964 Aitken received his M.Mus degree in composition from the University of Toronto. His thesis was an unusual Concerto for twelve soloists and orchestra which was premiered by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa, and in the opinion of John Beckwith “demonstrated an exceptional sensitivity to instrumental colors, and remains one of the important Canadian works of its period.”
From 1965-70 Aitken served as co-principal flute of the TSO but gave up this position to devote himself to solo performance and to appearances with harpsichordist Greta Kraus and with the Lyric Arts Trio (pianist Marion Ross and soprano Mary Morrison) which garnered international acclaim for the next two decades. 1970 he founded the “Music Today” series at the Shaw Festival (Ontario) and in 1971 co-founded with Norma Beecroft “New Music Concerts” serving thereafter as artistic director. Aitken taught 1972-82 at the Shawnigan Summer School of the Arts (British Columbia) and in 1981 founded “Music at Shawnigan”, a 3-week festival devoted to advanced chamber music study. From 1985-89 he was director of the Advanced Studies in Music program at the Banff School of Fine Arts (Alberta) and from 1988-2004 was Professor für Flöte at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. In 2003 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Flute Association (USA). His international career continues to flourish with performances and master classes throughout North America, Europe and the Far East.
Aitken’s performing and recording activities cover an astonishingly wide range of music. Some 50 works have been written for him by noted composers and in the past decade alone he has given first performances of works by Mauricio Kagel, Toshio Hosokawa, Henry Brant, Charles Wuorinen, Barbara Monk Feldman, Alex Pauk, Brian Current and André Ristic among others. He has explored the repertoire of the flute exhaustively. His Bach recordings with the late Greta Kraus, his recordings of nineteenth-century showpieces by the famous Doppler brothers and others, his concerto recordings (from Mozart, Quantz, and C. P. E. Bach through to Nielsen and Schafer), and of course his many recordings of avant-garde works is a list unmatched by any of his contemporaries on the flute, and by only a few performers in any medium. Of recent note are the critically acclaimed NAXOS recordings of music by Takemitsu, Crumb and Carter with the New Music Concerts Ensemble, French chamber music for flute with the Mirage Quintet and Flute Concertos by Johann Stamitz with the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra of Vilnius.
Aitken has also been very active as a conductor with New Music Concerts, with orchestras in Canada and Japan and in 1987 conducted the first performance of R. Murray Schafer’s “Patria I” for the Canadian Opera Company. Through New Music Concerts Aitken has brought many of the most significant international composers to Toronto to work with local musicians including Luciano Berio, John Cage, Toru Takemitsu, Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Steve Reich, Witold Lutoslawski, Heinz Holliger, George Crumb and Helmut Lachenmann.
Robert Aitken was the 2009 recipient of Canada’s largest arts award, the prestigious Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts. On that occasion the jury stated: “A masterly force in the world of contemporary Canadian music, Robert Aitken has demonstrated over half a century a tireless commitment to its development, performance and promotion in every corner of the globe. As a flutist, composer, interpreter and teacher, he is a distinguished innovator and continues to exert a strong influence on upcoming generations.”
Jean-Francois Rompre - Flute
Jean-François Rompré is Principal Flutist with the Windsor Symphony and a founding member of the Essex Winds woodwind quintette. He has recorded several CDs with the Essex Winds, including one of Canadian works most of which written for the ensemble, which was nominated for a Juno Award in 1997.
He has also performed in CBC broadcast recitals and in venues across Canada and the U.S., including the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Festival of the Sound, Roy Thomson Hall, the Glenn Gould Auditorium and the Banff School of Fine Arts as a Resident Artist. Numerous performances as soloist with the WSO include the Jacques Ibert Flute concerto and Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto, the latter of which was broadcast nationally by the CBC in 2002. From 1988 to 1999 Jean-François was a member of the faculty of Music of the University of Windsor.
Liesel Deppe - Flute
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.
Katie Kerr - Vocalist
Windsor born Katie Kerr was first seen on the Chrysler Theatre stage at the age of 8 playing Molly in the Windsor Light Music Theatre production of Annie Warbucks. Since then she has appeared in numerous musical productions including Annie (Annie), The Music Man (Amaryllis), The Secret Garden (Mary Lennox), The Sound of Music (Brigitta, Liesl), Anne of Green Gables (Anne) and Into The Woods (The Bakers Wife).
In 2008, at the age of 19, Katie was a top 10 finalist on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s nationally televised competition How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
She received the Windsor Kiwanis Music Festival Musical Theatre Trophy 6 years in a row from 2005 - 2010 and in 2010 she was named Top Vocalist.
In the summer of 2010 Katie appeared in the Charlottetown Festival production of Anne of Green Gables as Diana Barry.
Katie studied Vocal Music for 2 years at The University of Windsor and is currently enrolled in the Musical Theatre Program at Sheridan College.
She has twice before appeared with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and is thrilled to be featured in the 2011-12 season.
Lara St. John - Violin
Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has been described as "something of a phenomenon" by The Strad and a “high-powered soloist” by the New York Times.
She has performed as soloist with the orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Seattle, Brooklyn, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, the Boston Pops and many more in North America. In Europe, she has played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Symphony (Hanover), Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Bournemouth Symphony, and the Amsterdam Symphony, among others. In Asia, solo appearances have included the Hong Kong Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, China Philharmonic in Beijing, Guangzhou Symphony and the Shanghai Broadcasting Orchestra. Lara has also performed with the Queensland Orchestra in Australia and the Akbank Chamber Orchestra in Turkey.
The Los Angeles Times has written, “St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion.” Recitals in major concert halls have included New York, Boston, San Francisco, Ravinia, Washington DC, Prague, Berlin, Toronto, Montreal, and in the Forbidden City.
Her most recent recording Mozart featuring the Sinfonia Concertanteand Concerti Nos. 1 & 3 with her brother Scott St. John and The Knights won the 2011 Juno Classical Album of the Year for Soloist with Large Ensemble. Gramophone wrote that the performance was “…very daring and it never sounds contrived” while Whole Note said that it “…simply can’t imagine a more satisfying recording of this glorious work.””
Lara St. John’s recording with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and conductor Eduardo Marturet VIVALDI– The Four Seasons and Piazzolla – The Four Seasons of Buenos Airesreached No. 2 on the iTunes charts on its first day and Maestro José Antonio Abreu, the founder of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and El Sistema wrote of the recording: "This stunning recording features the extraordinary violinist Lara St. John. She and the musicians of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra give an inspired performance under the baton of Eduardo Marturet." The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, “Lara St. John is as captivating in the seductive scenes of the Piazzolla as she is crisp, caressing and colorful in Vivaldi's atmospheric paeans to nature” and Audiophile Auditionstated “Do we need another Four Seasons? With playing and sound like this, yes we do!”
Lara’s sixth recording, Hindson – Corigliano – Liszt/Kennedy/St. John was released in 2008 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, featuring two world premiere works; the Matthew Hindson Violin Concerto and the Martin Kennedy/ St. John arrangement ofTotentanz by Franz Liszt, as well as The Red Violin Suite by John Corigliano. In writing of his impressions of the recording, John Corigliano commented: “I'm thrilled to be included in a new recording by the brilliant and always surprising Lara St. John. She is a real maverick, as a performer and in her choice of repertoire. An opulent and virtuosic new violin concerto and my Red Violin suite are coupled with a newly arranged version of a 19th century pianistic tour de force in her latest stunning release.”
Lara's fifth recording, Bach: The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo, described as "awe-inducing" by The Toronto Star, and “wild, idiosyncratic, and gripping” by the Los Angeles Times, was released in the autumn of 2007 where it climbed to No. 2 on the iTunes classical charts and was that year’s best selling double album on iTunes.
Her third recording, Bach: the Concerto Album appeared in the “strongly recommended” section of Gramophone, which stated, "It is difficult to argue with such a technically dazzling and unfailingly musical interpretation." In June of 2005 the recording was released on iTunes where it immediately reached No. 1 in the classical category. Lara has also recorded for Sony Classical.
Her debut CD, Bach: Works for Violin Solo, has sold over 50,000 copies and received resounding acclaim. The Chicago Tribunedescribed Ms. St. John as having “superb technique and an irresistible vitality,” while US News and World Report called the recording “an exquisite performance.” Her second album, Gypsy, was described as “a sizzling display” by Gramophone, and The Stradcalled her "an electrifying player, as deeply satisfying in Bach as she is bewitchingly seductive in Waxman's Carmen Fantasy.”
She has been featured in People, US News and World Report, on CNN's Showbiz Today, NPR's All Things Considered, Fox News, CBC and a Bravo! Special: Live At the Rehearsal Hall.
The 2010-2011 concert season included more than 45 performances in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Ireland, the United States and Canada.
Lara began playing the violin when she was two years old. She made her first appearance as soloist with orchestra at age four, and her European debut with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon when she was 10. She toured Spain, France, Portugal and Hungary at ages 12 and 13, entered the Curtis Institute at 13, and spent her first summer at Marlboro three years later. Her teachers have included Felix Galimir and Joey Corpus.
She performs on the 1779 “Salabue” Guadagnini thanks to an anonymous donor and Heinl & Co. of Toronto.
Mehdi Ghazi - Piano
Mehdi Bilal Ghazi was born on February 22nd, 1989 in Oran, Algeria in a non-musical family. His father is a professor of mathematics at the university of Oran and his mother a housewife. Mehdi got interested in music by the age of four (4) but, because of the political situation in Algeria, couldn’t start taking music lessons till the age of nine (9).
In 1998, He had his first music lesson in a private school. The course lasted two (2) years during which he was introduced to the keyboard playing and the very basic musical theory.
During the periode from 2000 to 2005, he gave many concerts at several places : The UNESCO great hall in Paris (France), the Jules Verne University and St-Leu church in Amiens, The Algerian Cultural Center in Paris, The French Cultural Center in Oran among others.
In 2005, Canadian pianist Alain Lefevre toured North Africa, and invited Mehdi to share the stage with him during a concert held in Algiers where he obtained a remarkable succes. And in 2006, He was the first algerian ever to be accepted at Orford Art Center, with full scholarship, where he worked with pianist Alain Lefevre.
At the same time, Mehdi was much interested in sciences, Philosophy, Literature and History and obtained an international Baccalaureat in Sciences by 2006.
In September 2006, he was accepted at the Montreal Conservatory
of Music in the class of Suzanne Goyette with whom he studied two (2) years. During this periode he won : The “Young professional” prize from “La Montée des Arts”, First prize at Festival de musique classique du Bas-Richelieu (Canada), First prize at the Canadian Musical Competition (Chamber music category).
Since 2008, Mehdi is student of canadian pianist Andre Laplante. He got The Chamber music Prize with Great Distinction and several scolarships (Most promising pianist, best academic achievement...) at the Music Conservatory of Montreal, performed with orchestra under Maestro Raffi Armenian, played in a tribute to Glenn Gould before The Governor General, and had the chance to work with great pianists such as : Emanuel Ax, Anton Kuerti, Michel Beroff, Menahem Pressler.
In 2011, Mehdi made his professional debut in Montreal, and was highly praised by the critics who compared him to the great Wilhem Kempff.
Mehdi is now at his last year of an artist diploma degree in piano.
Mehdi Ghazi
Piano
Intimate
Lillian Scheirich - Violin
Originally from Windsor, Ontario, Lillian Scheirich studied violin at the Detroit Community Music School, Detroit, Michigan, and was a scholarship recipient to the Eastman School of Music, in Rochester, New York, where she graduated with a degree in Violin Performance and in Music Education, studying with the late Catherine Tait.
Upon graduating from Eastman, Ms. Scheirich won the Assistant Concertmaster position with the Windsor Symphony, and two years later, was appointed Concertmaster, a position which she has held from 1991 until the present. In addition to her role as Concertmaster, Ms. Scheirich is the Violin Instructor at the University of Windsor, and maintains an accomplished private violin studio.
Ms. Scheirich has played with various orchestras in Canada and in the United States, and has performed in music festivals in Europe and North America. As a member of the La Corda Ensemble, the Ambassador Chamber Players, and the Detroit-Windsor Chamber Ensemble, she is involved in numerous concerts in the Windsor-Detroit area performing on violin and on viola. Since 1992, the Ambassador Chamber Players have been in summer residence at Schoolcraft College (Livonia, Michigan) for their summer chamber music programme. Ms. Scheirich has been recorded for CBC in various chamber music concerts in Ontario
and Quebec, and in 2001 was awarded the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Music.
April 2006, marked the release of her first CD (a world premier) with pianist Mary Siciliano, and the Detroit-Windsor Chamber Ensemble, featuring the chamber works of Ignatz Waghalter. The CD has been heard on CBC Radio, WRCJ-FM in Detroit, and in Germany where it was featured at “Dussmann’s”,
Berlin’s largest bookstore. In the Fall of 2006, Ms. Scheirich and colleague Mary Siciliano, recorded the Sonata for Violin and Piano by French composer Jacques de la Presle, which was released in 2008 in France under the “Polymnie” Label as part of a collection of his chamber music.
In July, 2008, Ms. Scheirich was awarded the Follow the Leader – Sun Life Financial Award for Female Established Music Artist, and in May 2009, she joined colleagues Mary Siciliano, piano, and Nadine
Roman Kosarev - Viola
Roman Kosarev, viola, started his first music lessons at the age of 4 in his native Nizhniy Novgorod (Russia). After graduating from music school, he studied violin at Vladimir Music College and then viola at the Glinka State Conservatory (Nizhniy Novgorod). Later he completed Post-Graduate Studies in Chamber Music at the State Conservatory. Since 2004 Mr. Kosarev he has been a doctorate student at Michigan State University, where he was the Teaching Assistant for Dr. Walter Verdehr in 2004-2008. Since 2008 he has been studying with Prof. Yuri Gandelsman.
Mr. Kosarev is an active solo and orchestra performer. He has performed in the United States, Canada, Russia, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, and Greece. He served as a Principal Violist at the MSU Symphony Orchestra (2004-2009), Midland Symphony (2005-2007), Greater Lansing Symphony (2006-current), and Battle Creek Symphony (2008-2009). He also plays with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra as the third chair viola (2008-current). Mr. Kosarev was the finalist at the Buffalo Symphony International Auditions for Assistant Principal Viola (2009).
Mr. Kosarev is also an active music teacher. Since 2005 he has been spending his summers at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where he has been teaching and performing with the Festival Orchestra as Principal Viola. In July, 2010, he performed Sinfonia-
Concertante by Mozart with the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra.
He had performances with Catherine Cho, Randolph Kelly, Natalia Khoma (Cello Plus Annual Chamber Series, MSU, 2006), M. Rostropovich, Y. Bashmet, V. Tretyakov, V. Spivakov, N. Gutman (2000-2004, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia). In October, 2010, he participated in Master Class with Roberto Diaz.
Currently Mr. Kosarev resides in Windsor (Ontario, Canada) with his wife and two children. He is the Principal Viola at Windsor Symphony Orchestra since 2009.
The Sultans of String
2010 JUNO Award nominees and “Canada’s ambassadors of musical diversity” Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
The band is riding a wave of success from their sold out Yalla Yalla! Canadian CD release tour, to their national features on CTV’s CanadaAM and CBC’s Canada Live, and now word of their triple nomination for the 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards, winning Instrumental Group of the Year. Their debut CD Luna soared to #1 across Canada on Top Ten national radio charts, and the Sultans of String won the award for Best Variety Act from Festivals & Events Ontario as well as the 2008 International Songwriting Competition! The buzz extends into the U.S., with acclaimed promoter David Wilkes (Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck, Jesse Cook) now representing the band.
2009 JUNO Award Nominee, six-string violinist and bandleader Chris McKhool grew up in a house bursting with music and diversity. His paternal Makhoul grandparents immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in the early 1900’s. His Egyptian-born mother is a piano and theory teacher. Growing up Chris was fed a steady diet of delicious musicality along with Middle Eastern cuisine and violin lessons.
From a very young age McKhool was taught the Canadian values of tolerance, respect for all peoples and celebration of culture. His passion for exploring the rhythms and melodies has led him to the far corners of the world, collecting instruments and styles everywhere he went. Travels to the Canadian Arctic, Indonesia, France, England, Cuba, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Indian Himalayas to perform and conduct music workshops have added to his depth of musical and spiritual understanding of our global community.
When McKhool (who has performed with Jesse Cook and Pavlo) first heard founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté’s rumba rhythm their musical mind-meld created the Sultans of String’s sound – the intimate and playful relationship between violin and the flamenco guitar. Sultans of String includes such amazing musical friends as: guitarists Kevin Laliberté (Jesse Cook, the Chieftains) & Eddie Paton (Robert Michaels), bass masters Drew Birston (Chantal Kreviazuk) & David Woodhead (Stan Rogers, Loreena McKennitt), Cuban master percussionists Chendy Leon & Alberto Suarez, and Bassam Bishara (master oud player from Palestine)
Touring as a trio to quintet, McKhool draws from this collective of master musicians to bring Sultans of String to community, festival and intermediate/high school school audiences including the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, Mariposa Folk Festival, National Arts Centre, Alberta’s Dow Centennial Centre, Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre, and Folk Alliance in Memphis, TN.
Sultans of String are also available for performances with a Cuban Trumpet Ensemble, and have an evening of music orchestrated for full symphony orchestra.
“Thrill of improvising makes Sultans a thrill to experience… gripping suspense for
both the audience and the musicians… Superb!”
- Roger Levesque, Edmonton Journal
“The playing is top notch and every track is a musical discovery!”
- Errol Nazareth, Toronto Sun
“They are players without borders… world music that transcends place and time with a heavy dose of playfulness added in.”
- The Vancouver Province
“Chris McKhool and the boys were fantastic! They can play my Bar Mitzvah.”
- Bob Ezrin, producer (Pink Floyd, Kiss)
“Simply brilliant!”
- Jeff Mifsud, 3NRG 99.3FM, Australia
“GREAT Album! The uplifting energy that comes from these songs has earned it a permanent place in my cd player.”
- Andy Dooley-Miller, KVMR, 89.5 FM, California
“Virtuoso playing…. An exuberant and infectious sound… Powerful and moving…The Sultans are simply an awesome musical group!”
- Mike Hill, Artistic Director, Mariposa Folk Festival
“The Sultans win the admiration of audiences everywhere they play because they strike the perfect balance between brainy composition and fun execution!
- Sunfest, 2008