DENIS JACKSON – BAND, WOODWINDS
Denis Jackson was trained in London, England, where he played professionally. On immigrating to Calgary, he served with the LDSH Armed Forces Band, and taught woodwinds and Harmony at Mount Royal College.
After studying music at the University of Alberta and at the University of Calgary, Denis became a teacher and then a music consultant for the Calgary Board of Education. Since then, he has performed and conducted in many professional situations, including the Calgary Philharmonic, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and television.
Mr. Jackson is now semi-retired, but remains active as a clinician, conductor, teacher and performer.
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MARGARET KEANE – SPEECH ARTS
Margaret Keane is a licensed associate of Mount Royal Conservatory, Calgary.
Born and educated in Ireland, Margaret came to Canada in 1967. Having been involved in Speech Arts since the age of six, she has a wide and varied experience in teaching at all levels. A former high school drama teacher, she focuses on combining acting skills and good vocal delivery to encourage her students to strive for a high standard of performance. An experienced adjudicator, she is performer-centred and concentrates on encouraging all participants to improve and develop their own individual style.
Margaret especially enjoys the group dynamics inherent in choral speech, choric drama and dramatic scenes, believing the team work and awareness of others needed for this work to be an invaluable component in education.
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MARK KOENIG – STRINGS
Mark Koenig received his master’s degree in violin performance while studying with Gwen Thompson at the University of British Columbia. He is an active chamber and orchestral musician and is a long-standing member of the CBC Radio Orchestra and the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. Sought after as a teacher and adjudicator, Mark has been on the faculty of the Vancouver Academy of Music since 1975. He is also a member of Canada’s premier salon ensemble, Viveza. They have recently released their fifth CD, entitled Tango Tango, on the Omega Records label.
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PATRICIA McNISH – BAND, GUITAR & BRASS
Patricia Jean McNish has been directing bands and choirs for the past 25 years. Her groups have won numerous awards of distinction at music festivals and competitions. She has worked as a teacher/music director with the Calgary Board of Education, St. Michael’s University School in Victoria, the Red Deer School Board, and schools throughout central Alberta. Pat is currently Band Director at École La Prairie in Red Deer. Ms. McNish is a horn player, and received a B.Ed. and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music from the University of Calgary. She founded the Alberta Ladies Concert Band and is a member of the Alberta Band Association. She plays horn with the Symphonic Winds Red Deer College and the Monday Night Community Band. Pat continues to work as a teacher, clinician, and adjudicator, and conducts the Red Deer Adult Community Band.
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BARBARA SIEMENS – PIANO
Barbara Siemens holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia, and has received ARCT diplomas in teaching and performance as well as the Gordon Hallet Scholarship from the Royal Conservatory of Music. From 1987 to 1997 she worked with the BC Registered Music Teachers Association Vancouver branch in an executive capacity and is currently Secretary of the BCRMTA Provincial Council.
Ms. Siemens has served as guest lecturer for RMT branches and is active with festival committee work in Vancouver. She is a member of the Board of Examiners for the royal Conservatory of Music and has travelled in both Canada and the U.S. on their behalf. As a member of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association, she adjudicates regularly in British Columbia. In addition to maintaining a private teaching studio in Vancouver, she is in the final stages of a master’s degree in historical musicology.
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KERRY TURNER – BAND
Kerry Turner has been a part of the concert band movement in British Columbia all his life. His affiliation with the New Westminster & District Band Society began in his youth. His membership has continued over many years and he is currently conductor of that organization’s senior concert band. Kerry has been active on numerous committees dealing with music education in British Columbia and currently continues as a member of the Pacific Coast Music Festival Association, an organization he chaired for many years. He received an Honorary Life Membership by the BC Music Educators’ Association in 1993.
Mr. Turner taught music for 12 years in the Burnaby School district where he developed several award-winning music programs. He served as District Director of Fine Arts during 23 years with the Abbotsford School District. Since retirement, Kerry has remained actively involved in arts activities in BC, and enjoys many opportunities to work as an adjudicator and clinician at music festivals.
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LYNN WILLIAMS – CHORAL
Born and raised in western Canada, where she received her training, soprano Lynn Williams has recently returned to the Vancouver area from Europe, where she lived and worked as a professional freelance soloist. During that time she was heard in many major centres including Geneva, Frankfurt and Florence. Her performances included appearances in oratorio, recital and opera. Lynn's final appearance while resident in Europe was as Musetta in Puccini's La Boheme (Geneva). During Easter 1997 she was featured as the soprano soloist in several performances of Bach's St. John Passion in Frankfurt, Germany. Since her return to Canada, Lynn has been heard in Orff's Carmina Burana, Bruce Ruddell's Te Deum, Handel's Messiah, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Creation and the Verdi Requiem. She has been called back to Europe as guest soloist several times for works such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the Mozart Requiem. Lynn Williams is also a successful teacher of singing, with over twenty private students. She is the director of the Bowen Island studio of The Penrhyn Academy of Singing.
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RICHARD WILLIAMS – VOCAL and CHORAL
Richard Williams has been heard as a professional singer throughout the West Coast region, but it is in Europe that he has been most active as a tenor soloist. Frankfurt, Germany heard his interpretation of the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion in a concert described in the press as “...a two hour top performance by the Canadian tenor.” He has given solo recitals and performed leading roles in oratorio and opera in several major European cities including London, Paris, Geneva, Montreux, Grenoble and Milan. Recent engagements locally and internationally include the role of Evangelist in The St. Matthew Passion and The St. John Passion (Bach) in Vancouver, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Frankfurt Germany and Abbotsford BC, and Messiah with Sinfonia, conducted by Clyde Mitchell in North Vancouver.
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