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Banff Centre for the Arts Bids Farewell to Theatre Arts Artistic Director Keith Turnbull

"During his time at the Centre, Keith's dedication to artists and contemporary art practice has been unbending," comments Carol Phillips, vice-president, The Banff Centre / director, Centre for the Arts. "For years he has made the professional development of others a personal priority. We wish him well as he returns to a creative practice as an artist and an extraordinary director. The performing arts community will benefit greatly. Although Keith is no longer artistic director of Theatre Arts, he will still be involved with the Contemporary Opera and Song Training Program as well as with the playRites Colony. We are very pleased to be able to keep a portion of Keith's time and talent at the Centre to provide some continuity into the future."

Under his leadership, the Theatre Arts Department at The Banff Centre for the Arts has developed an outstanding Contemporary Opera and Song program. Through professional development programs as well as through a vigorous schedule of new productions, co-productions, tours, Canadian and world premieres (see list below), the Centre has become known as a world leader in this genre.

During Turnbull's tenure, the Banff Playwrights Colony regained its position as the premier new play development colony in Canada. A partnership between The Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta Theatre Projects and The Canada Council for the Arts, recreated the Banff playRites Colony. With its position and reputation secured, the Colony is now forging into the future with growing national and international attention.

Banff has always been well-known for dance. While at the helm, Turnbull added dance residencies for new work creation to the already well-established Festival Dance and Dance Training programs. The residencies have had a major impact on the Canadian dance scene. Last year, five of the 17 presentations at the Canada Dance Festival were co-productions with The Banff Centre for the Arts.

A search is currently being conducted for Turnbull's successor.

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KEITH TURNBULL - Stage Director/Producer

Keith Turnbull's career as a director and producer is highlighted by a commitment to contemporary and new work in both theatre and opera. In his role as artistic director/executive producer of Banff Theatre Arts, he has also become a significant producer of contemporary dance. In addition, Mr. Turnbull has a particular interest in the pedagogy, performance practice and interpretation of the works of Shakespeare and of other language based texts.

Turnbull began his association with the theatre as a producer, designer and director at the University of Western Ontario and London Little Theatre. As artistic director of the Manitoba Theatre Centre he opened their new theatre in 1971. He became the artistic director of Second Stage, Neptune Theatre in 1973, and was resident artistic director for their summer season in 1974.

After directing James Reaney's acclaimed Donnelly Trilogy at Tarragon Theatre, Keith founded the NDWT Co. and from 1975 to 1981 directed, adapted, wrote, produced and designed a variety of productions, many of which toured nationally. With NDWT he started a First Nations theatre company from which emerged many of Canada's most noted native performers. He was the founding co-artistic director of the Toronto Theatre Festival, is a past president of the Toronto Theatre Alliance, and is a past board member of Canadian Actors' Equity. He has taught at the University of Manitoba, National Theatre School, the University of Calgary, and The Banff Centre for the Arts.

Keith has directed over seventy plays at such theatres as Alberta Theatre Projects, The Banff Centre for the Arts, Green Thumb Theatre for Young People, Manitoba Theatre Centre, National Arts Centre, Neptune Theatre, One Yellow Rabbit, Sunshine Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Toronto Arts Productions, and Young People's Theatre. During his tenure at Banff he specialized in contemporary opera and song and has directed operas at Music Theatre Wales, Peteá Chamber Opera (Sweden), Vancouver Opera and The Banff Centre for the Arts. Directorial opera highlights include Boiler Room Suite by Doolittle/Deverell, which premiered at The Banff Centre for the Arts and in Cardiff, Wales, before moving on to the Royal Festival Hall, London; and Serinette by Somers/Reaney in Toronto. He was dramaturge of Tornrak by Metcalf/Wilcox, which premiered in Banff and at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff, Wales, before going on to a nine city British tour.

For Banff, he directed a number of opera and drama productions including Kagel's Oral Treason; Davies' Eight Songs for a Mad King and Miss Donnithorne's Maggot, which toured the Edmonton Fringe and Stratford Festivals; the world premiere of Toovey's Ubu, which toured throughout Great Britain; the Canadian premiere of White Rose by Zimmermann;The Rake's Progress by Stravinski; the world premieres of Metcalf/Morris's Kafka's Chimp and Butterfield/Mays's Zürich 1916; and Reaney's The Donnellys Part II. He most recently directed the Swedish production of Kafka's Chimp.

Keith Turnbull is currently co-director of the Banff playRites Colony and director of the Contemporary Opera and Song Training Program at The Banff Centre for the Arts.

Background Information

THE BANFF CENTRE is an internationally renowned professional development institution for the arts, management, and mountain culture, as well as a word-class conference destination.

THE BANFF CENTRE FOR THE ARTS is the oldest of the four divisions of The Banff Centre. Its 66 year history of programming offers unparalleled professional development experiences across a broad spectrum of the arts.

THEATRE ARTS, a department within the Centre for the Arts, is dedicated to exploring contemporary repertoire and to developing new works in dance, drama, opera and song. New works require and generate new skills. Underpinning all activities is advanced training for working professionals -- performers, composers and librettists, stage and musical directors, choreographers, coaches, design and production personnel. Research and development is used to examine the artistic pedagogy of reaching new audiences.

CONTEMPORARY OPERA AND SONG is one of the signature programs offered by the Theatre Arts Department. For the last 20 years Banff has been recognized as 'a pathfinder in contemporary music theatre.' In the early 80's Michael Bawtree founded the Banff music theatre program. At the start of his association with Banff, Keith Turnbull set out on a journey to build on that program's success and to launch and refine Canadian contemporary music theatre practice. First was the need for training in the specialized skills of contemporary music theatre -- extended vocal techniques, theatrical movement, new forms of notation, collaboration with composers etc. -- that would give artists the creative/interpretive tools to perform repertoire and produce new works. Then began hands-on creative dialogue with the most innovative artists, teachers, and critics in the form. The training, development, and production programs that have emerged at Banff are now recognized as leaders in the western world. The third component was to produce many of the major pieces of contemporary repertoire as well as innovative new works and to forge partnerships with organizations with shared interests. These partnerships have been critical in building the bridges that connect Banff's creative research and training with the broader artistic community and the public at large.

RECENT PRESENTATIONS by Banff Contemporary Opera and Song include: The world premiere and United Kingdom tour of Boiler Room Suite (Quenten Doolittle); the world premiere of Tornrak (John Metcalf) in collaboration with the Welsh National Opera; the Canadian premiere of Punch and Judy (Sir Harrison Birtwistle); the North American premiere of La Trahison Orale (Mauricio Kagel); the Canadian tour of Eight Songs for a Mad King and Miss Donnithorne's Maggot (Sir Peter Maxwell Davies); the world premiere and British tour of Ubu (Andrew Toovey) in collaboration with Music Theatre Wales; the Canadian premiere and Alberta tour of Bow Down (Sir Harrison Birtwistle); The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat (Michael Nyman); the Canadian premiere of White Rose (Udo Zimmermann); El Cimarrón (Hans Werner Henze); Peter Brooks' Carmen (Bizet); The Rake's Progress (Stravinsky); Les Noces (Stravinsky); Ballet méchanique (Antheil); American and European Cabarets; Wozzeck (Alban Berg, re orchestration by John Rea), a co-production with Montreal's le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne; the North American premiere of De la nature de l'eau (Georges Aperghis); the world premiere of De la nature de la gravité (Georges Aperghis); Cabaret Aperghis; Times Three Cabaret; the world premiere of Kafka's Chimp (music by John Metcalf/libretto by Mark Morris); the world premiere co-production of Jackie O (music by Michael Daugherty/libretto by Wayne Koestenbaum) with Houston Grand Opera; the world premiere of The Spurt of Blood (Andrew Toovey); the world premiere of France/Canada -- three world premieres for voice and instruments featuring Le Baiser by Anne-Marie Fijal, Hieroglyphs by Linda Catlin Smith and What's Goin' On by Richard Dubelski; Paris 1916: Erik Satie~the velvet gentleman conceived and created by Graham Cozzubbo; the world premiere of Zürich 1916 (music by Christopher Butterfield, concept and libretto by John Bentley Mays) and a French tour France/Canada (What's Goin' On by Richard Dubelski).

FRANCE/CANADA In the search for the preeminent artists in the field, the activities in France were repeatedly cited as some of the most progressive and innovative in the world. From the early stages of Turnbull's research in France, to Banff's 1996's Aperghis Festival, to the present France/Canada project, the collaboration and dialogue with French artists has grown in significance and vibrancy and has influenced a generation of Canadian artists involved in contemporary music theatre, opera and song. With the active participation of a number of agencies of the French government, Banff has become a centre for the creation and dissemination of works emerging from the collaboration of artists from France, from both English and French speaking Canada and from around the world.

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