Alumni and faculty news and awards

Dear alumni - we love to hear from you, please send us your newsto musicandsound@banffcentre.ca

2006 Juno Award Nominees

  • David Jalbert (2000, 2001) and Denise Djokic for Folklore, nominated for Classical Album Of The Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble.
  • The Canadian Brass (past members Martin Hackleman 1996, 1998; Jens Lindemann 1985, 1992-1994, 2001-2004; Graeme Page 1981, 1996, 1997) for Magic Horn, nominated for Classical Album Of The Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble.
  • St. Lawrence String Quartet (1972, 1977, 1979-1981, 1983-1989, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004) for Awakening (Christos Hatzis), nominated for Classical Composition of the Year, and Classical Album of the Year. The album was recorded at The Banff Centre in Rolston Recital Hall: Theresa Leonard (the Centre’s director of Audio), producer; Mark Willsher (1996, 1997, 1999-2004), recording engineer; Jonathon Stevens (2002-2005) assistant engineer.
  • Dave Young (1974, 2005) for the Dave Young Quintet’s Mainly Mingus, nominated for Traditional Jazz Album Of The Year.
  • Sarah Neufeld (2005) and Richard Parry (2005), members of Arcade Fire for Funeral, nominated for Songwriter Of The Year.
  • Don Thompson (1982-89) for the Don Thompson Quartet’s Ask Me Later, nominated for Traditional Jazz Album Of The Year.
  • Steve Bellamy, the Centre’s audio fellow was the recording engineer for two albums nominated:
    • Classical Album Of The Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble
      J.S. Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Vol. 1
      James Ehnes and Luc Beauséjour
    • Classical Album Of The Year: Vocal or Choral Performance
      Viardot-Garcia: Lieder Chansons Canzoni Mazurkan
      Isabel Bayrakdarian - Serouj Kradji

Other News and Awards

  • Tom and Isobel Rolston, who led the Centre’s music programs from 1965 to 2005, are one of three recipients of 2007 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards.
  • Amir Amiri (1996, 2000-2005) led the Tehran Project’s groundbreaking performance at Calgary’s Jack Singer Concert Hall. The project, which fuses Eastern and Western music, included a number of musicians Amiri met in Banff – Linling Hsu (2002-2005), Rebecca Wenham (1994, 1997, 2000, 2002-2005), Ziya Tabassian (2003), John Stetch (1990, 2003), and Hugh Fraser (1981, 1984, 1985, 1987-2006).
  • Piano duo Yuval Admony and Tami Kanazawa (duo 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004) won the Yehudi Menuhin gold medal at the Fifth Osaka Chamber Music Festival held in Japan in May 2005.
  • Chenoa Anderson (1993-1995, 2003, 2005, 2006) released her first solo recording in March 2006 with a special CD release party and concert at The Banff Centre. Big Flutes – Canadian Music for alto and bass flute is available through the Canadian Music Centre.
  • Kenny Aronoff (2001, 2005) performedat guitar legend Les Paul’s 90th Birthday Salute in February 2006 in L.A. Kenny was featured on two 2006 Grammy award-winning albums: Les Paul’s American Made World Played and Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway.
  • Indie pop sensation, the Bell Orchestre (2005) [Sarah Neufeld, Kaveh Nabatian, Pietro Amato, Richard Parry, Stefan Schneider], opened for Grammy award-nominated Arcade Fire in their Canadian tour. The group also headlined in Calgary at the High Performance Rodeo. In 2006, the group will be on tour in Europe and the U.S.
  • Steve Bellamy, the Centre’s audio fellow won two 2005 Opus awards in for his CD recordings:
    • CD Classical of the Year
      Brahms: Lieder - Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto
    • CD Jazz/World Music of the Year
      Liberating Vines - Karl Jannuska
  • Martin Cousin (2004, 2005) is the first prize-winner of Italy’s 2005 Ettore Pozzoli International Piano competition. Martin first heard about the competition from a poster on the bulletin boards in the Music & Sound Building during his first Banff residency.
  • Composer Christopher Donison (2003, 2004) is at work to launch “Music-by-the-Sea,' a new international music school and festival set in scenic Bamfield, B.C., and inspired in part by The Banff Centre. This February, the CBC broadcast Reading Alastair MacLeod, including footage of the opening scenes of Donison’s opera-in-progress performed at the Centre in 2005.
  • Dave Douglas, director of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music (2002-present), recently launched Keystone, his latest CD featuring DJ Olive, Gene Lake, Brad Jones, Jamie Saft, and Marcus Strickland. Srickland, DJ Olive, Lake, and Jones will be coming to the workshop this year as visiting artists.
  • Petar Dundjerski (2004) was recently named as resident conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
  • Duo Diorama (2005, 2006) [Minghuan Xu, Winston Choi] performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in February 2006.
  • A number of Audio alumni including Marie Ebbing (2000-2003), Jonathon Stevens (2002-2005), and Mark Willsher (1996, 1997, 1999-2004) worked on the soundtrack for Peter Jackson’s blockbuster King Kong. Ebbing and Willsher also worked on David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence.
  • Shawn Everett (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005) is in L.A. working as a recording engineer on Pete Yorn’s new album.
  • VEJI - jazz orchestra director Hugh Fraser’s group – had their fall performance of Canadian Dedication Suite broadcast on an episode of CBCRadio's West Coast Performance this February. Canadian Dedication Suite was commissioned by the Ottawa Jazz Festival with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts. VEJI was nominated for a National Jazz Award in the Big Band category and Hugh Fraser was nominated as Trombonist of the Year.
  • Reuben Ghose (2004, 2005, 2006) was the 2005 recipient of the CARAS (Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) award. This award acknowledges the overall excellence of a young Canadian in the field of audio recording, who “demonstrates a consistent dedication to improvement and excellence in their work.' Reuben is also a winner in two categories of DownBeat Magazine’s 29th Annual Student Music Awards – Engineered Live Recording and Engineered Studio Recording. Reuben has also recently accepted a job with CBC Alberta.
  • Winnipeg-based jazz pianist and composer Michelle Gregoire (2002, 2004) launched her debut CD Reaching for worldwide retail sale in February 2005. In 2006, she is embarking on her first Canadian tour with an all-star cast of jazzers.
  • The Gryphon Trio [Annalee Patipatanakoon 1982, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1998, 2002; Jamie Parker 1978-1987, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2002; Roman Borys 1979, 1980, 1983-1985, 1990, 1998, 2002] celebrated the launch of their latest CD W.A. Mozart: Piano Trios in March 2006 in Toronto. In June 2005, the trio’s Constantinople – which was premiered in Banff – opened the prestigious International Festival of the Arts in New Haven, Connecticut.
  • Vincent Ho (2000, 2001, 2006) is the 2006 Canadian Music Centre Prairie Region Emerging Composer Award winner for his composition Stigmata – written for solo cello.
  • David Houston (2002, 2003) is currently a producer for CBC Ottawa.
  • Hungarian saxophonist Jasna Jovicevic (2005) was awarded a grant to pursue further studies in the U.S.
  • The Jupiter String Quartet, winners of the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition, was named first-prize winners of the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions for 2005. The quartet visits 15 Canadian cities in January and March 2006 as part of the BISQC Winner’s Tour.
  • Modern Surfaces jazz trio (1982-1984), which includes Banff jazz alumni Mike Murley, Jim Vivian, and Stich Wynston has been nominated for a National Jazz Award for their new CD Transparent Horizons. Stich wrote to tell us that: "Our experience at the Banff Summer Jazz Program changed our lives and was paramount in our development as musicians and artists."
  • Tom Norris (1994) is now the co-principal secondviolinist with the London Symphony Orchestra.
  • Canadian composer James Rolfe (1989, 1993, 1994) was the 2005 Louis Applebaum Composers Award winner.
  • The Royal String Quartet, third prize-winners of the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition, has taken up the post of Wigmore Hall’s quartet-in-residence as of 2006.
  • R. Murray Schafer (1981, 1984, 1985, 1993) is the 2005 winner of the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts.
  • Scott St. John (1992, 1997, 2005, 2006) will become the newest member of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, succeeding violinist Barry Shiffman (1977, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1996, 2004 ), who has been appointed director of Music program at the Centre.
  • Sharon Wei (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005) is forming a new piano quartet pianist Angela Park (1997, 1999), cellist Kaori Yamagami (1998), and violinist Judy Kang (1998). Sharon is in discussion with Yale about a teaching post for next year.
  • Samantha Whelan’s (1996-1998) fifth installment of the Rocky Mountain Fairytales will be premiered in a presentation with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in March 2006. The presentation incorporates narration of the story, musical orchestration, as well as banner-sized illustrations by Music & Sound program coordinator Lynne Huras.
  • Devin Workman (2000-2002) is working as an audio engineer on projects with Ozzy Ozzborn, David Gilmor, the Darkness, Depeche Mode, among others.
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