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Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Welcomes Robert L. Vanderhooft and Ken Hughes to The Banff Centre Foundation.
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BANFF, AB, AUGUST 29, 2025 – Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is pleased to announce the appointment of the Honourable Ken Hughes, ECA, ICD.D and Robert L. Vanderhooft, CFA to The Banff Centre Foundation Board of Governors.

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Residing in Canmore, Alberta and Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Ken Hughes is an entrepreneur and community leader with an accomplished career spanning public service, governance, and business leadership. He currently serves as Chair of the Board at Providence Therapeutics, Vice Chair of Beacon Data Centres, and Lead Independent Trustee of Nearctic Industrial REIT. He is also a member of the Board of the Banff Canmore Foundation, supporting philanthropic initiatives that strengthen community well-being and enhance quality of life across the Bow Valley.

Hughes has held influential roles in Canadian politics and public health. At the age of 34, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada, where he served as Chair of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister. In 2008, he became the first Chair of the Board of Alberta Health Services, leading the creation of Canada’s largest health delivery service. Elected to the Alberta Legislature in 2012, Hughes was appointed Minister of Energy and later Minister of Municipal Affairs, where he oversaw the resolution of nearly 10,000 Disaster Recovery Assistance Program claims following the southern Alberta floods in 2013, before returning to his private life in 2014.

Hughes was recognized as Honorary Chief Badger Runner of the Blackfoot Confederacy Piikani First Nation in 1991 and has received multiple civil honours, including the 125th Anniversary of Confederation of Canada Medal (1992), the Alberta Centennial Medal (2005), Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), and King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025).

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Recognized by The Globe and Mail as one of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40,” Robert L. Vanderhooft brings to The Banff Centre Foundation over three decades of leadership experience in the financial industry, with a proven track record of building and leading institutional asset management firms across the country. He is currently the President and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Forthlane Partners, an independent Canadian firm.

Prior to joining Forthlane, Vanderhooft served as Chief Investment Officer of TD Asset Management Inc. and was previously CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Greystone Managed Investments, where he oversaw more than $35 billion of assets under management, establishing Greystone as one of Canada’s leading pension asset managers.

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With these new appointments, The Banff Centre Foundation continues to strengthen its leadership in advancing Banff Centre’s mission to bring artists, leaders, and communities together to create, collaborate, share, envision, learn, and be inspired. Guided by the Golden Rule of Endowment Management, the Foundation plays a critical role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of Banff Centre by managing and stewarding its endowed funds with transparency, accountability, and fiscal prudence.

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For photos, information or interview requests, please contact: 

Carly Maga 
Director, Communications 
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity 
tel: +1.403.763.6210 
cell: +1.403.431.3423 
carly_maga@banffcentre.ca 

About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity  
Founded in 1933, Banff Centre is a post-secondary institution built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and leadership development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become a global organization leading in arts, culture, and creative decision-making across dozens of disciplines, from the fine arts to Indigenous Wise Practices. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to move everyone who attends our campus - artists, leaders, thinkers, and audiences - to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to build an innovative, inspiring future through education, performances, convenings, and public outreach. Banffcentre.ca 

Media Release
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TO Live is one of Canada’s largest multi-arts organizations, operating three iconic venues: Meridian Hall, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, and Meridian Arts Centre. In addition, TO Live presents a full range of performing arts, theatrical, and concert events at these venues in both downtown and uptown Toronto. With these two hubs of creativity and content creation, TO Live has a unique place and perspective to activate creative spaces by inspiring local and international artists, connecting audiences, stimulating new ideas, and elevating artistic potential, becoming a catalyst for creative expression that is reflective of Toronto’s diversity. www.tolive.com

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Since 1998, Pomegranate Arts has worked in close collaboration with a small group of contemporary artists and arts institutions to bring bold and ambitious artistic ideas to fruition. Creative and executive producers Linda Brumbach and Alisa E. Regas, along with their committed team at Pomegranate Arts, have produced the Olivier Award-winning revival of Einstein on the Beach; Taylor Mac’s epic A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Holiday Sauce, and now – their third collaboration  together, along with composer Matt Ray – a rock opera meditation on queerness called Bark of Millions; the touring production of Ambrose Akinmusire and Aszure Barton’s A a | a B : B E N D; Available Light by John Adams, Lucinda Childs and Frank Gehry; Robin Frohardt’s The Plastic Bag Store and Shopping Center of the Universe; electronic composer Jlin’s live performances; Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch’s Shockheaded Peter; and the Drama Desk Award-winning production of Charlie Victor Romeo. In recent years, Pomegranate has expanded into non-performative mediums, including the feature documentary film Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music (HBO Original Doc), the film short Taylor Mac: Whitman in the Woods (ALL ARTS), museum installations for Machine Dazzle, the Philip Glass Piano Etudes box set (publisher: Artisan Books). Pomegranate Arts is proud to support worldwide touring for kNoname Artist | Roderick George and North American touring for Batsheva Dance Company and Sankai Juku. www.pomegranatearts.com

Creative & Executive Producer            Linda Brumbach
Creative & Executive Producer            Alisa E. Regas
Senior Producer                                   Rachel Katwan
Operations Consultant                        Kaleb Kilkenny
Administrative Assistant                      Elena Messinger
Production Consultant                        Jeremy Lydic

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Jeff Rowell is a Brooklyn based audio engineer. Originally trained at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics with more than a decade of experience recording and mixing for film, music, and theater he is excited to dig into any interesting creative project. His home theater has been the Park Avenue Armory since 2021 but he has worked nationwide with subjects and collaborators including everyone from Liza Minelli to Jamie Hector to Michelle Obama.

Sound Engineer

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Sydney Revennaugh (she/her), originally from Marion, IN, began her dance training at Dancers Edge and Indiana Ballet Conservatory. A 2024 BFA graduate from The Juilliard School, she attended summer programs with Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballet BC, and Arts Umbrella. She was a 2020 YoungArts Finalist and silver medalist in modern/contemporary dance. At Juilliard, she performed works by renowned choreographers including Ohad Naharin, Aszure Barton, and Kyle Abraham, and was active in Student Choreographic Workshops. Revennaugh recently completed her first season with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago under Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell.
First worked with aB: 2022

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Chicago native Angelina Ramirez (she/her), who began her training with Extensions Dance Company under the direction of Lizzie MacKenzie, has attended summer programs with Hofesh Shechter, b12, Nederlands Dans Theater, Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Program, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Houston Ballet. In 2019, Ramirez was named a YoungArts Silver award winner in Contemporary Dance. At Juilliard, she performed works by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, Aszure Barton, Johannes Wieland, Yue Yin, Camille A. Brown, and others. 
First worked with aB: 2025

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Nicole Pearce is a multidisciplinary artist living in Queens, NY. Her work has been seen across the United States, Cuba, England, Germany, Japan, Korea, Italy, New Zealand, and Russia. Recent works include The Look of Love choreographed by Mark Morris with the Mark Morris Dance Group, Catch Me If You Can Directed by Molly Smith with Arena Stage (Helen Hayes Award Nomination), and Children’s Songs by Choreographed by Jessica Lang with American Ballet Theatre. Her installation of 1,000 paintings entitled Tiny Paintings for Big Hearts is open to doctors, nurses, staff, and patients of Elmhurst Hospital in Elmhurst, NY.

Originating Lighting and Stage Designer

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Taylor LaBruzzo is a freelance dancer, teacher, and dance rehearsal director/assistant based in New York City. She has performed across the country with Brian Brooks Moving Company, has recently worked with Pam Tanowitz Dance, and collaborates regularly with Aszure Barton as a dancer, assistant, and stager. She has taught at summer intensives such as Canyon Concert Ballet, Steps on Broadway, School of American Ballet, and Nevada Ballet Theatre, and she spent the past four years working at Juilliard as the dance division’s first ever Rehearsal Assistant. In 2023, LaBruzzo was part of the world premiere of A a | a B : B E N D by Barton and Ambrose Akinmusire at Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany. She has staged Barton’s work at Houston Ballet, Canada’s National Ballet School, Arts Umbrella, and has assisted Barton during creation at Hamburg Ballet and The Juilliard School. Having grown up in Las Vegas, Nevada, LaBruzzo received her BFA at Juilliard under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, where she performed works by world-renowned choreographers including Crystal Pite, José Limón, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, and Ohad Naharin. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship.
First worked with aB: 2015

Performer and Rehearsal Assistant

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After working in the Fine Arts, as an educator in the Israel Museum, and manager of Raw Art, one of Tel Aviv's leading galleries, Amit moved to the music industry, tour managing some of the leading indie artists in Israel and producing some of the most prominent festivals, such as InDnegev, the Jerusalem Jazz Festival and Mekudeshet, focusing on bringing international artists to perform in Israel. Then she moved to the dance world and worked with Batsheva Dance Company as manager of International Touring from 2016-2022, bringing the company's works to some of the biggest stages for contemporary dance. She was also in charge of the marketing of a leading boutique winery in Israel, for which she produced, curated and edited a book about art and wine. She currently resides in Northern California. 

Company Manager

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James Gregg is a distinguished international dancer, choreographer, and creative visionary. Hailing from Oklahoma and residing in Los Angeles, Gregg stands as a sought-after collaborator in contemporary dance. Having worked with respected dance companies and artists, Gregg has danced with Aszure Barton & Artists, Rubberband Dance Group, Rubberlegz, Bodytraffic, BJM Danse, Anne Plamondon Productions, and River North Dance Chicago. Performing works by renowned choreographers like Aszure Barton, Barak Marshall, Crystal Pite, and more, he's amassed significant experience. Gregg's choreography has been featured by Hubbard Street Dance Company, Whim W'him, Ballet X, Arts Umbrella, Edmonton Ballet, and Springboard Danse Montreal. His talent transcends the stage, creating works for TV, film, and music videos such as Peacemaker, Cirque Du Soleil at Sea, and Kresha Turner's "Love Again." He also collaborates closely with Aszure Barton as an assistant and stager. Recognized with the Princess Grace Works in Progress Award, Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award, and New American Talent Choreographic Contest, Gregg's expertise shines through numerous accolades. His passion for dance and drive to innovate movement and artistry continue to inspire audiences and peers alike.
First worked with aB: 2005

Performer
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