ChoralFest Adjudicators 2009

Choirs

Brenda Harvey

Early Years (Elementary) School Choirs

Middle Years School Choirs

Brenda Harvey received her earliest music education in the province of Newfoundland, where she studied voice, violin and piano and sang in school choirs. After graduating with music and education degrees from Mount Allison University, Brenda spent a year as an itinerant music teacher in New Brunswick, travelling to six schools a week. She then moved to Manitoba, where, for over thirty years, she enjoyed working as a music specialist in the Fort Garry (now Pembina Trails) School Division and where she had the pleasure of directing Minnesingers East and PTV Boys Choirs. Brenda has been honoured to receive the Morna-June Morrow Award for excellence in Music Education and in 2007, the first Michael J. Proudfoot Award,for Passion for Excellence in Choral Music. Recently retired, she lives in Victoria, B.C., where she sings with the Victoria Choral Society and serves as vice-president of its board. She also plays violin and recorder in a trio, sings in a church choir and is a volunteer with the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival. This year, Brenda enjoyed working with the choir program, Zing! and conductor Lisa Reimer, in Vancouver, B.C., where she presented a weekend Orff/Choral Workshop. She is delighted to be returning to Manitoba, one of Canada’s singing provinces.

Janet Brenneman

Senior Years (Secondary) School Choirs

and Community and Church Choirs

Janet Brenneman is Assistant Professor of Music at Canadian Mennonite University where she teaches music education, music theory and conducts the CMU Singers and the CMU Women’s Chorus. A native of Ontario, Janet holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Music Education from Michigan State University. Inspired by her mentors and conducting teachers, Doreen Rao, Elmer Iseler, and Charles Smith, Janet has conducted choirs at all levels in Ontario, Michigan, and in Manitoba. Janet received the distinguished Sir Ernest MacMillan Award in Music Education for her graduate work and scholarship in music education, and was awarded the Artist-Teacher Diploma from the Choral Music Experience Institute.

Janet currently serves on the Foundation for Choral Music in Manitoba, and the Association for Music Administrators in Manitoba. Frequently in demand as a choral clinician and guest conductor, Janet is also a conductor for Pembina Trails Voices, and at Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg. She has taught at the CME Institute with Doreen Rao and also serves as Coordinator for the Conducting Master Class at the Toronto Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling. Janet enjoys a busy family life with her husband John Balsillie and their two children, Lydia and Naomi.

Catherine Glaser-Climie

Senior Years (Secondary) School Choirs

and Community and Church Choirs

Catherine Glaser-Climie has nurtured singers through her acclaimed work with choirs for more than twenty years. Choirs under her direction have won awards at the local, provincial and national level and have regularly performed with Calgary Opera, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and are frequently heard on radio and television. In addition, her choirs have been invited to perform at many prestigious events and have toured extensively throughout Canada, the united States and Europe.

Having earned a Bachelor of Music [Voice] and a Diploma FA [Kodály] from the University of Calgary, Ms. Glaser-Climie utilises extensive experience in choral conducting and Kodály pedagogy. She has pursued advanced studies in voice, piano, organ, choral conducting and Kodály pedagogy. She is able to combine her own musical experience with a remarkable ability to train and motivate others, based on a genuine affection and respect for each singer.

Currently she is Founder / Artistic Director of the Cantaré Childrenʼs Choir Programme in Calgary and is founder Kodaly Music Explorers which offers unique programs for preschool children who wish to explore the magic of music through a singing approach. She also serves as Minister of Music at Lutheran Church of the Cross.

In great demand to share her expertise with all levels and ages, and known for her captivating warmth and enthusiasm, invitations to appear as adjudicator, lecturer and clinician have taken Ms. Glaser- Climie across the country.

Gerard Yun

Senior Years (Secondary) School Choirs

and Community and Church Choirs

Dr. Gerard Yun is a conductor, composer, and a global music scholar and performer. Originally from the United States, he served as Director of Choral Studies and Professor of Music at Georgetown University in Washington, DC and Professor of Choir and Voice at Southern Utah University before joining his family in Canada. Since landing in Canada, he has served on the faculties of Wilfrid Laurier University, McMaster University and the University of Waterloo teaching courses in music education, conducting, choral and global musics.

As a professional conductor he has held posts with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Hamilton Childrens Choir, and the Colorado Lyric Theatre Festival. He guest conducts internationally and is currently in demand as a conductor and clinician across North America. In Canada he appeared as the keynote for the Ontario Vocal Festival’s 9^th Annual Choral Conductor’s Symposium, guest conductor of the Waterloo Choral Festival, and as clinician for the Ontario Vocal Festival and Soundstreams Canada.

He is a student of Helmuth Rilling (Bach Academy Stuttgart), Canadian-born conductor Dr. Donald Kendrick (California State University), Dr. Lynn Whitten (University of Colorado), and Yoshio Kurahashi of Kyoto, Japan.

Dr Yun appears internationally as a composer and performer on the Shakuhachi (Zen Buddhist Bamboo flute). He has been commissioned to write music for choirs, theatre and dance, art installations, and collaborative music with the spoken word (particularly live poetry). He was recently commissioned to write “And My Heart Soars” (adapted from a First Nations text) by the Utah Music Educators Association for the 2010 Utah Women’s Honor Choir. His song cycle based on poems by children rescued from human trafficking, /In My Dreams/ for Mezzo-Soprano and piano, premieres December 2009 at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Yun appears as a performer on television, radio, with symphony orchestras, at new music festivals (including the Open Ears Festival in Kitchener-Waterloo), and in solo recitals and choral concerts from coast to coast. He is currently completing a new book, /Ethics in the Performance and Adaptation of Global Musics/. He resides in Waterloo, Ontario with his wife (Dr. Andrea Brown, Political Science – co-author of four research papers on African Choirs and Politics) and two daughters – Iris Mei (5) and Isabel Lu (3). He considers caring for these small ones to be “his real full time job.”

Vocal Jazz

Jodie Borle

Vocal Jazz

Although a classically trained vocalist, Jodie Borle fell in love with jazz at the age of 14, and started her professional music career while still a student at the University of Manitoba's School of Music. As a popular vocalist on the Winnipeg jazz scene for the last 14 years, she has released two albums, and then I did and Snow.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Jodie has performed with a number of different choirs in the province, including the Manitoba Provincial Honour Choir, Manitoba Youth Choir, University Singers (under the direction of Henry Engbrecht), Renaissance Voices, Camerata Nova, and Apogee Vocal Jazz Ensemble. While a member of Apogee, they released their self-titled album, and received much acclaim for their work as a professional vocal jazz ensemble in Manitoba.

In addition to performing on a regular basis, Jodie also works as a clinician, conductor and occasional educator. She was the Jazz Voice teacher at the Manitoba Conservatory of Music & Arts from 2003-2006. She was the conductor of the inaugural Provincial Honour Choir Vocal Jazz Ensemble and is currently the assistant conductor of the University of Winnipeg Vocal Jazz Ensemble. As a clinician and adjudicator, Jodie works with various junior high and high school vocal jazz ensembles within the province.

Jeremy S. Fox

Vocal Jazz

After graduating from The School for Music Vocations in 1996, Jeremy Fox earned a B.M. degree in Piano/Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University. He later received a M.M. in Studio Jazz Writing from the University of Miami. He is now a full-time instructor at The School For Music Vocations in Creston, Iowa.

Jeremy has written for big bands, orchestras, choirs and vocal groups. His charts have been recorded by college & professional groups such as: Gold Company, GCII, Lake Effect, Soundsation, Emerge, Syncopation, and Miami JV1. Jeremy’s charts are published by UNC Jazz Press, Sound Music Publications, and by his own company, Foxtrot Music.

From 1999-2002, Jeremy received 8 awards from Downbeat magazine, including ones for: Jazz Song, Jazz Arrangement, Studio Engineering, and for his Small Vocal Jazz Groups.

This February, Jeremy will organize the 13th Annual SWCC Vocal Jazz Fest, featuring Rajaton and M-pact.

Each summer, Jeremy heads the SMV Vocal Jazz Camps - weeklong workshops for students, directors, and enthusiasts. The camps just celebrated their fifth anniversary, with locations in Iowa, as well as Regina and Winnipeg. For more info, please visit www.VocalJazzCamp.com.

Brad Rees

Vocal Jazz

Brad Rees serves as Director of Performing Arts at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio, where he directs the University Choir and the award-winning a cappella ensemble Up in the Air, and teaches music business, commercial voice, and public relations. For more than a decade he has also served as director of the Heartland Summer Camp for Jazz & Pop Singers.  Brad also has served on the jazz faculty at Bowling Green State University, as the Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Colorado, and on the music faculty at the School for Music Vocations at Southwestern Community College in Iowa.

His choirs have appeared at the Salzburg Music Festival in Austria, at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and on tour in the Republic of China, Germany, the Czech Republic and South Africa. His own performing credits include appearances with Joe Williams, Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra, George Shearing, the New York Voices, African gospel artist Rebecca Malope, and others. He sang with the Grammy-nominated vocal jazz quintet, The Axidentals, with Phil Mattson's Voices, on television and radio commercials, and in residence at the Smithsonian Institution.

Brad holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Northern Colorado, degrees in music and public relations from George Mason University in Virginia, and is pursuing a DMA from Boston University. He has served in leadership positions for the Ohio chapters of IAJE and ACDA, and is an active adjudicator and clinician.

His compositions and arrangements are available through UNC Jazz Press. A native of Worcester, MA, Brad is an avid Red Sox fan.  He lives in Tiffin with his wife, Ali, and children Noah and Brynn.

Michelle English

Vocal Jazz

Michelle began her teaching career in 1994 at Kildonan-East Collegiate where she taught Choral music and where she continues her teaching career as Department Head. After completing her BFA (Hons.) in Vocal Jazz from York University (1991) where she won the Rose Granick Scholarship for academic achievement, she attained her Bachelor of Education in Music at the University of Manitoba (1994, Dean’s Honor List). She obtained her Masters of Music Education from University of Manitoba in 2004 which involved a thesis on Vocal Jazz pedagogy. She won the University of Manitoba Betty Nicks Scholarship during her Masters studies for academic achievement and contributions to extra-curricular activities in the school.

Michelle has served as a Vocal Jazz Clinician at Choralfest Vocal Jazz (2005, 2003), Westman Vocal Jazz Festival, the River East Transcona School Division Jazz (2001), St. John’s Music Vocal Jazz Repertoire Session (2000), and directed the St. John’s Music Vocal Jazz Workshop for teachers (2000).

Michelle also took on the position of Vocal Jazz Director at the University of Manitoba (1998-2000) during which time the group was selected to headline at the Brandon Jazz Festival and the Banff Festival of the Arts.

Cynthia Peyson Wahl

Vocal Jazz

Cynthia Peyson Wahl is so excited to be adjudicating at ChoralFest this year! Cynthia graduated from the University of Regina with a B. Mus. Ed in 2002. While at the U. of R., she performed with the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Concert Choir, Jazz Band and Vocal Jazz Choir. Whew! After finishing there, she received a diploma in Jazz Studies with a vocal emphasis from Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, where she sang in the Jazz Choir under the direction of Chandelle Rimmer. To complete her tour of the prairies, she began working for the Winnipeg School Division in 2004, and in 2005 started teaching vocal jazz and choir at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute. At DMCI, her jazz choir, DMCice, has been a featured performer at the Moose Jaw Band and Choral Festival, has opened for Cadence (at ChoralFest 2007), and in 2006 received a Gold Award for Superior Performance at MusicFest Canada. Cynthia is in demand as a clinician and private educator, and performs regularly as a vocalist and a flautist. Cynthia is a member of Reign of Sound Chamber choir, Mennonite Community Orchestra, and sings with the East Side Jazz Band.