Zürich 1916 - 1998 Opera Production
 

The Orchestra SUSAN BALL, piano, harpsichord, harmonium NICHOLAS COULTER, percussion MAYA DE FOREST, violin XAVIER FAURE, French horn MARC FELDMAN, bassoon/contra bassoon JOHN GZOWSKI, guitar, banjo, mandolin, steel guitar MERRIE KLAZEK, trumpet ESTELLE LEMIRE, ondes Martenot ISABELLE LENOIR, flute/piccolo PETER LUTEK, alto saxophone PETER PAVLOVSKY, double bass; RICHARD SACKS, percussion PETER STOLL, clarinet/base clarinet DARRYL STRAIN, violin ANTOINE TAMESTIT, viola RALITZA TCHOLAKOVA, violin DAVID ZAMBON, tuba

SUSAN BALL, piano, harpsichord, harmonium

Susan Ball is a first-time participant at the Banff Centre for the Arts. She is a recent graduate of the Operatic Repetiteur program of the University of Toronto where she studied with Stephen Ralls. Susan is currently active as a vocal, instrumental, and dance accompanist.

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NICHOLAS COULTER, percussion

Nicholas Coulter has performed with the Vancouver Symphony, Vancouver New Music, Chor Leoni, the Vancouver Chamber Singers and Karen Jamieson Dance. He also works regularly with Vancouver's growing contemporary music community, appearing with numerous organizations. His collaborations with fellow percussionist Graham Hargrove have taken him as far as Seoul, Korea in 1997, and their CD of marimba music entitled Reinventions receives regular airplay on CBC Radio. Nicholas has completed residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts and holds degrees from the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia.

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MAYA DE FOREST, violin

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Maya graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Music in Performance, studying with Mauricio Fuks. Since then she has spent time working in Japan with the Kyoto Symphony and Kanazawa Ensemble. Upon her return to Canada Maya worked with the Winnipeg Symphony and Symphony Nova Scotia and is presently in Toronto playing with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and Esprit Orchestra as well as studying art part-time at the Ontario College of Art & Design.

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XAVIER FAURE, French horn

Xavier Faure started music as a violinist at the age of five and received 'premier prix de Paris' for french horn when he was 13. From 1988 to 1996 he taught horn at the conservatory of St.Thibault, France. Xavier regularly works with the Orchestre Symphonique de France, Orchestre de Colonnes, Orchestre Lamoureux and the Opera de Paris.

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MARC FELDMAN, bassoon/contra bassoon

Marc has performed as bassoonist with the Orchestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, l'Orchestre de Paris, Orchestra de l'Opera de Marseille and solo bassoon for the Orchestre Nationale de Lyon. Marc has performed with contemporary ensembles such as Ars Nova and Alternance in France and Divertimento Ensemble of Milano. He has participated in the Festival d'Avignon, Festival d'Aix en Provence, Musica of Strasbourg, the Huddersfield Festival in England and the Theatre de Vidy in Lausanne. In 1990 he recorded Bruno Maderna's Satyricon with Divertimento. In 1998 Marc Feldman created the Grand Ecart. The Grand Ecart production of L'Histoire d'un Soldat, in co-production with Ars Nova and Opera de la Bastille in Paris. In 1997 Marc was bassoonist for Banff's production of Jackie O.

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JOHN GZOWSKI, guitar, banjo, mandolin, steel guitar

As a guitar player, John Gzowski has worked with Eliot Sharp, John Zorn, Bobby Wiseman, N.O.M.A., Hemisphere's and New Music Concerts. John plays many traditional and custom made stringed instruments in a variety of styles and can be heard on numerous CD's. As a composer he has written for Critical Band, Hemisphere's and Mecca as well as for TV, dance, theatre and film. In 1998 he has produced work for the Evergreen Gamelan Club, Critical Band and music for four plays, two of which won him Dora Mavor Moore Awards.

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MERRIE KLAZEK, trumpet

Merrie Klazek holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Calgary and a Masters of Music degree from Northwestern University. She has performed with Calgary Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Pacific Opera, Vancouver Opera as well as various chamber ensembles. Merrie has toured Canada and Japan while playing principal trumpet with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and has spent two summers performing for Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. In 1997 she participated in the Banff Arts Festival world premiere opera, Jackie O and is presently principal trumpet with Orchestra London Canada.

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ESTELLE LEMIRE, ondes Martenot

Estelle Lemire is a composer and one of few Ondes Martenot performers. In 1988, she received a first prize in Ondes Martenot interpretation in the class of Jean Laurendeau and in 1991 a first prize in composition in Gilles Tremblay's class. From 1988 to 1994 she was a member of L'Ensemble d'Ondes de Montrèal. As a soloist she favours the repertoire of new music and works towards giving more exposure to her instrument. She has received several grants and commissions and she has recorded for radio and television broadcasts. She has recorded CDs for SNE label, her latest as a soloist in 1997.

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ISABELLE LENOIR, flute/piccolo

Isabelle Lenoir received a unanimous first prize for her playing from the city of Paris. She has studied with P. Gallois, P. Lukas-Graf (Salzburg) and M. Debost after which she entered the Conservatoire Supèrieur de Musique de Geneve and studied with M. Larieu where she received a prize for her virtuosity. She was later a finalist in two international chamber music competitions in Europe. A native of Paris, she spends time playing in an orchestra, performing with chamber groups and teaching.

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PETER LUTEK, alto saxophone

Peter Lutek is a bassoonist and self-taught composer, improvisator and saxophonist. Throughout his musical training, he formed and led jazz, improvisatory and avant-garde ensembles. Peter currently freelances in Toronto and performs with 40 Fingers Saxophone Quartet and Hemispheres music projects.

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PETER PAVLOVSKY, double bass

Peter Pavlovsky graduated in 1991 from the University of Regina with Great Distinction. He then continued his studies in Prague at the Akademia Muzickych Umeni until 1994. Upon his return to Canada he studied with Joel Quarrington through the Royal Conservatory Professional School in Toronto. Peter currently plays principal double bass for Kingston Symphony and Oshawa Symphony. As an active freelancer in Toronto he has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet of Canada and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. He has also played in the orchestra pits of Phantom of the Opera and Jane Eyre. This is Peter's third summer with the 20th Century Opera and Song program.

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RICHARD SACKS, percussion

Performer, composer, sound-designer and educator Rick Sacks holds a Masters Degree in percussion from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has toured extensively through Europe and Asia with Arraymusic, The Glass Orchestra and The Evergreen Gamelan Club and is a regular performer with New Music Concerts, Esprit, the Canadian Opera Company and Tapestry Music. Rick is also actively involved in internet theatre production and is the proprietor of Rik's Café Canadian at http://www.vex.net/rikscafe on the world wide web.

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PETER STOLL, clarinet/base clarinet

Peter Stoll received his master's degree in performance from Indiana University with James Campbell. He has been solo clarinetist of the World Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales in Berlin and Vienna, and prizewinner in the International Clarinet Society Competition in the USA. As well as performing, he teaches at the University of Toronto and privately.

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DARRYL STRAIN, violin

Darryl Strain received his Bachelor of Music degree in performance from McGill University where he studied with Yehonatan Berick. He performed as a soloist with CBC Vancouver and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras after winning the White Rock Festival of Strings competition. Darryl has held positions of concertmaster and associate concertmaster of the McGill Symphony Orchestra and has been a member of the National Youth Orchestra. He plays violin and viola in his string quartet, which has worked with members of the Emerson, Cleveland, and Orford Quartets, and been aired on CBC Stereo. Darryl will continue his musical training at the Peabody Conservatory of Music under full scholarship this September.

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ANTOINE TAMESTIT, viola

Antoine began the violin at the age of 6 and started studying the viola with Michel Michalakakos at the age of 10. Accepted into the Conservatoire National Superior de Musique de Paris he now studies with Jean Sulem. In 1997 he was awarded an international scholarship by the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina where he won the Concerto Competition and soloed the first movement of the Hoffmeister Concerto. He has recorded Tristan Murail's C'est un Jardin Secret for viola solo and has worked as an intern violist for the Orchestra National du Capitole de Toulouse during the 1997-1998 season. Pierre Bouler and the Ensemble Intercontemporian recently asked him to perform and tour with the ensemble for September and October 1998.

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RALITZA TCHOLAKOVA, violin

Born in Sofia,Bulgaria Ralitza Tcholakova has studied with A. Stankov at the State Academy of Music and Caren Turpie, Bern Conservatory (Switzerland). In 1993 Ralitza won the international violin scholarship from the Kiwanis Foundation to attend the Sarasota Music Festival. Between 1994 and 1996 she participated in the Internationaler Orchester Institute unter die Patronanz, Wiener Philarmoniker and the International Summer Academies in Vienna, Prague, and Budapest. Her orchestral experience includes North York Symphony, Bonn Klassische Philharmony, United Philharmony and Kammer Orchester Wein. She has performed solo recitals in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Austria, Canada and has participated in various concerts with emphasis on 20th century music.

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DAVID ZAMBON, tuba

David Zambon started with piano at the age of 4 at the Nice Conservatory before beginning tuba in the class of Bruno Zambon. In 1994 he received his first prize for tuba and musical theory. He was admitted by an unanimous vote to the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris where in 1997 he was awarded a first prize. He recently finished studying improvisation and pedagogy with Alain Savovret and Rainer Boesh. He has performed as a soloist with the orchestra of Cannes, the Paris Brass Orchestra and the Symphonic Orchestra of the Garde Republicaine. David has been asked by Radio France to play for the Musicora Organization. He plays regularly with the Paris Opera, the Nice Opera and the symphonic orchestras of Cannes, Metz and Monaco.

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