Chloé Dominguez is thrilled to be part of the 2011 Ritornello Chamber Music Festival. For many years she has dreamt of coming to Saskatoon because of all the amazing people she has met who come from this intriguing city. Because of the festival, not only will she be playing great music with wonderful musicians, but also she will finally come to this alma mater.
Chloé Dominguez recently completed her Doctorate in Music performance at McGill University, where she won the largest privately funded music scholarship in Canada, the Schulich School of Music's Golden Violin award. Before that, she earned an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music in performance, also at McGill, as well as a diploma from the Conservatoire de Montréal. Her doctoral research focused on the evolution of cello music in Quebec and received a FQRSC grant for excellence in research. She has worked extensively with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology, where her research team received the Director's Interdisciplinary Excellence Prize.
Ms. Dominguez is the solo cellist of l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal +, directed by Véronique Lacroix, and has participated frequently with the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) Under the direction of Walter Boudreau.
She has premiered several works, notably three pieces for cello and electronics by composer Sean Ferguson: Ex Asperis (2008), Duo pour un violoncelle et un danseur (2008) as well as Miroirs (2007). In addition, she is regularly invited as a soloist by the best contemporary music ensembles in Montréal, and she never hesitates to go off the beaten path in her artistic exploration. Very active as a chamber musician, Ms. Dominguez is a member of the Morpheus ensemble, the ensemble Spirit’20, the Trio Lajoie, and the cello ensemble formed by Matt Haimovitz, Uccello, who will be appearing at the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival this summer.
Her qualities as a pedagogue are well recognized, as shown by her assistant professor positions, past and present, at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Bishop’s University, the University of Sherbrooke and the Sherbrooke Cegep. In 2007, she won first prize at the Festival de musique du Royaume, as well as Radio-Canada's Prix Jeunes Artistes. Ms. Dominguez plays on the 1824 Nicholas Gagliano McConnell cello, on loan to her from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Katherine Dowling, Piano
In the past year, pianist Katherine Dowling has performed in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.A.: as a soloist, in collaborations with Henk Guittart (Schoenberg Quartet), Joel Sachs (Continuum), and the Jupiter String Quartet, and in ensembles (Calgary Philharmonic and Britten-Pears Festival orchestras). Recent projects include study and performance at the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, and the Aldeburgh Festival.
Katherine received her education at The Banff Centre (Music Resident 2009-10, 2006-7), the University of Toronto (M.Mus. 2009), and the University of British Columbia (B.Mus 2006); she also holds an International Baccalaureate Diploma with a Certificate in Music. Additional studies included the Orford, TSMAF, and Banff summer festivals, where her teachers included Marc Durand, Anton Kuerti, Menahem Pressler, and André Laplante.
Presently, Katherine is in her first year of the DMA program at Stony Brook University, where she studies with Gil Kalish; this summer, she has accepted a fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Center.
Katherine returns home to perform in Saskatchewan as much as possible; she is frequently featured in the ‘Music in the Village’ concert series at Westminster United Church in Regina, both as a soloist and in duo performances with violinist Catherine Cosbey, and she has served as accompanist for the Regina Summer Strings program.
Kerry DuWors, Violin
Praised for “always finding the music behind the notes” and her “fearless competence” (Winnipeg Free Press), violinist Kerry DuWors has performed as soloist and chamber musician across North America and Europe. At home in many musical settings, she has collaborated with internationally-acclaimed soloists, ensembles and composers, including James Ehnes, Marc-André Hamelin, the St. Lawrence String Quartet and Krzysztof Penderecki. She has recently given performances in Jordan Hall (Boston), Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Caramoor Festival (NY), Philharmonic Society of Orange County (California), Beethovenfest (Bonn), RadialSystem V – New Space for the Arts (Berlin), Semperoper (Dresden), Baryshnikov Arts Center (NY), Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Vancouver Recital Society, Northern Lights Music Festival (Mexico), and the National Arts Centre. She has been a featured soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony, the Red Deer Symphony, the Montreal Chamber Orchestra, and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. She recently joined The Knights, an ensemble based in New York City devoted to expanding the orchestral concert experience with diverse and innovative programming and the intimacy of chamber music, for performances in New York with Yo-Yo Ma, a tour of Germany, recording projects and commissions. In May 2010, Ms. DuWors will be a featured artist at Prairie Scene at the National Arts Centre, a festival devoted to combining rural and urban, traditional and contemporary, shaking stereotypes and celebrating new voices.
During studies at the University of Victoria, University of Toronto, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and the Eastman School of Music, Ms. DuWors received many prestigious awards including the grand prize at the 26th Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, the Eaton Graduate Scholarship, the Yo-Yo Ma Fellowship for Strings, the Felix Galimir Award for Chamber Music Excellence and a Canada Council Career Development Grant. Assistant Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at Brandon University, Ms. DuWors is currently on sabbatical pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY). She plays on the 1820 Joannes Franciscus Pressenda violin generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts and an anonymous donor.
Amy Hillis, Violin
Amy is delighted to be a part of the Ritornello Festival for her first time this summer. She is excited to have the opportunity to return home and perform for her fellow Saskatchewanians alongside other great musicians.
Amy Hillis recently finished her third year at McGill University, pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance. Born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, Amy studied with the concertmaster of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, Eduard Minevich. She moved to Montreal in 2008 where she now studies with former concertmaster of the Orchestre Métropolitain, Denise Lupien.
Amy has worked with renowned chamber music coaches including Douglas McNabney, André Roy, Yegor Dyachkov, Roger Chase, Janet Ying, Andre Emelianoff, and Rudy Sternadel. She is currently a member of the Minsky Quartet at McGill University. Amy is the recipient of numerous scholarships from McGill including a Lloyd Carr-Harris scholarship, the Women Associates Scholarship in Music, and the J. W. McConnell Scholarship. A passionate orchestral musician, she was a first violinist in the Regina Symphony Orchestra during her last two years of high school. In addition, she was concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2008 under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis and Maestro Jacques Lacombe. Recognized for her leadership, Amy has won awards including the prestigious Stephen Sitarski Leadership Award from the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2008, and the Conductor’s Award for Leadership from the South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra in 2007. Amy has attended distinguished summer music festivals such as the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Casalmaggiore International Festival, and the Scotia Festival of Music. She is also dedicated to performing in outreach concerts around Montreal and organizes a weekly concert series for the public as the General Manager of Chamber Music Without Borders.
Carissa Klopoushak, Violin
Violinist Carissa Klopoushak has earned accolades for her sensitive and powerful musicianship and her charismatic and engaging stage presence. Winner of the 32nd annual Eckhardt-Grammatté National Music Competition for the Performance of Canadian Music, Carissa completed a Canada-wide début recital tour with pianist Philip Chiu in the fall of 2009.
Originally from Saskatoon, SK, Carissa earned her B.Mus at the University of Saskatchewan studying with Philip Kashap. In her fourth year, Carissa won the position of Principal Second Violin with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, a position she held for three years. She has been featured soloist with both the SSO and the Prairie Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.
Now based in Montreal, Carissa is a member of many chamber music ensembles, including the ensemble Mooncrest – Crête de lune, the Trio Borromée, Portmantô, and she performs frequently with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. She was recently featured in recital at the New Music Marathon of the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival.
A versatile musician, Carissa is the lead singer and violinist in the Ukrainian band Tyt i Tam. Established in 2003, the band has recorded 3 albums, performed across the prairie provinces at all major Ukrainian festivals, and is set to tour to eastern Canada this fall. Carissa also performs with Canadian singer-songwriter David Martel as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.
Carissa is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Violin Performance at McGill University's Schulich School of Music, a student of Jonathan Crow.
Jacqueline Nutting, Violin (Artistic Director)
Jacqueline Nutting is originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Violin Performance from McGill University in Montreal and her Master’s in Music from the University of Michigan. Her former teachers include Yehonaton Berick, Mark Gothony and Ellen Jewett. She recently completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Violin Performance with Andrew Jennings at the University of Michigan. She studied there from 2007-2010 thanks to a full fellowship and teaching assistantship. Her dissertation topic was “Canada Inside Out; An Exploration of Canadian Repertoire for the Violin”.
Miss Nutting is an active performer and teacher in the Ann Arbor area. Recent performances include the concert series “Beethoven Obsession” held by the University Musical Society of Ann Arbor, Concordia University Faculty Series, and the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts Faculty Series. She is founder and music director of the baroque music group Ensemble Baroken, whose concerts raise money for local children’s groups. She teaches at the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts, privately, and at the University of Michigan. In 2009 she was named director of the St. Francis of Assisi String Program which involves organizing the 50 student and 5 faculty member program along with teaching.
Bradley Powell, Clarinet
Bradley Powell is the new 2nd clarinetist with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. Prior to his time with the SSO, Bradley gained his orchestral experience as a high school student in the New World Symphony's mentoring programme, from a three year fellowship as 2nd Clarinet with the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra in Florida, as well as performing as Co-Principal Clarinet of l'Orchestre de la Francophonie from 2009-2010. Bradley has been fortunate to perform as Principal Clarinet with orchestras in all the major halls in Montréal, Carnegie Hall in New York City, Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, and under the baton of Pinchas Zukerman at Ottawa's National Arts Centre. He can be heard on l'Orchestre de la Francophonie's recordings of the Beethoven symphonies, released on Analekta.
As a chamber musician, Bradley has performed with members of the Basel and Montréal Symphony Orchestras and presented concerts in 2005 and 2007 at the Hindemith Foundation in Switzerland. Additionally, he has performed as a soloist at România's National University of Music under the special patronage of President Basescu, twice with the New World School of the Arts Symphony in Miami, and with the NWSA String Quartet for Mikhail Gorbachev.
Born in Jamaica, he relocated to Miami with his family when he was 10 and started learning the clarinet a couple years later in his middle school band. Having completed high school at Miami's New World School of the Arts, Bradley first came to Canada to pursue his undergraduate studies in Clarinet Performance at McGill University, and is now enjoying his fifth year in this country surrounded by wonderful prairie hospitality.
Emma Quackenbush, Cello
A gifted artist, Canadian cellist Emma Quackenbush holds a Masters degree in Music Performance from the University of Michigan where she studied with Anthony Elliott. She joined the Winnipeg Symphony in 2008, and is further familiar to Winnipeg audiences through her work with the contemporary ensemble Groundswell, which can be heard on CBC Radio 2, and the Virtousi concert series. Emma enjoys mentoring younger musicians including activities with the Aspen Music Festival in 2006-2007, the University of Manitoba Orchestra and a growing private studio. A rapidly emerging star on the Canadian music scene, she credits John Kadz, with whom she studied for eleven years, as a major influence in her musical life. Emma is thrilled to be participating in her first Ritornello Festival.
Micajah Sturgess, Horn
Micajah Sturgess has been the fourth horn player of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra since 2008 and thoroughly enjoys living in Saskatchewan. Micajah grew up in Calgary, Alberta, and did his Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Performance at The University of British Columbia. After studying in Vancouver, Sturgess moved to Toronto for an Artist Diploma in Orchestral Studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music's Glenn Gould School.
Mr. Sturgess has enjoyed various music festivals including The National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Domaine Forget, The National Academy Orchestra of the Boris Brott Festival, and L'Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne.
Micajah recently started playing both with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and L’Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal when not in Saskatoon, and has also started teaching at the University of Regina. Micajah was a winner of the Coleman-Saunderson prize for winds and brass at the 2006 Coleman International Chamber Music Competition in California with his UBC chamber ensemble The Cascades Brass Quintet and always enjoys pursuing other chamber music possibilities.
In addition to music, Sturgess has a great appreciation for photography, architecture, and real food.
Heather Wilson, Viola
Born in Saskatoon, Heather Wilson began her studies as a violinist in the Saskatoon Suzuki Program. She switched to the viola and studied with James Legge until her enrollment in post-secondary education. She is currently studying viola with André Roy, Philip Dukes, and Wolfram Christ at McGill University where she has been awarded a Schulich Scholarship for studies towards a MMus. She is the recipient of a Maurice Pollack Foundation Scholarship an Ethel Jamieson Ivey Award, a Dilys & Eric Burt Fund Scholarship for the Saskatoon Symphony and a Saskatchewan Premier’s Centennial Arts Scholarship while working towards her Bachelor of Music in performance at McGill University. She has performed as a tenured violist with the Saskatoon Symphony 2003-2005, with the National Youth Orchestra 2003-2005, and appeared as soloist with the Prairie Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and the Harmony Chamber Orchestra.
Katya Woloshyn, Viola
Born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan (Canada) in 1985, Katya began her musical studies on the piano at the age of 2, and viola at the age of 5. Inspired by her older brother who was involved in the world of fiddle music, she also picked up the violin at age 8.
At the age of 14 Katya won a position in the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, which she gave up to pursue her post-secondary studies. Holding a Performance Diploma from the Glenn Gould School, a Bachelors of Music from the University of British Columbia and a Masters of Music from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Katya now works as a freelance violist in the Netherlands. Playing with such diverse groups as Camerata Ardesko, theatre company de Veenfabriek, HET Ensemble, the Rotterdam Ensemble, the Nederlands Kamer Orkest and the Gelders Orkest, Katya also indulges her love of modern music by working with young up and coming composers. As well, she is involved in several chamber music projects in the Amsterdam area, and is sharing her love of music with whole new generation of concert goers through the Memorable Moments project which brings music into daycares and pre-schools across Amsterdam.
Jacqueline Woods, Piano (Artistic Director)
Pianist Jacqueline Woods is an active teacher and performer, working as soloist, collaborative artist and chamber musician. She is deeply committed to showcasing Classical music in a way that is accessible to all. Recently, this has meant collaborating with artists and musicians of other genres in casual presentation of music and art. She feels that amalgamation of the arts and avant-garde production are the way forward for Classical music and has a particularly keen interest in sharing innovative programs with rural communities across Canada.
Jacqueline commands a wide range of repertoire but has a special affinity for chamber music and has focused heavily on the genre throughout her studies. From 2003-2008, she was a regular participant of the Icicle Creek Music Festival in Leavenworth, Washington. She founded a piano duo during her undergraduate that performed and competed regularly at several levels. Major projects during her graduate studies included Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire in multiple performances in Ottawa and New York and George Crumb’s Voice of the Whale in Ottawa and Boston. While involved in her doctoral studies at the State University of New York – Stony Brook, Jacqueline was an active member of Stony Brook’s Contemporary Chamber Players (CCP). In March 2010, Jacqueline toured with this ensemble, performing in Steve Reich’s Sextet and Jacob Druckman’s Come Round. Other exciting opportunities with the CCP have included Reich’s Music for 18 and the Premieres series at Merkin Hall in New York.
Jacqueline holds Artists Diplomas from the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary, the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (Associate) and the London College of Music (Licentiate). She achieved her Bachelor of Music with great distinction from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master’s in Music at the University of Ottawa, where she was the only student of renowned Canadian pianist Anton Kuerti. Other principle teachers have included Gyongyi Kevehazi, Kathleen Solose, Michael Angell and Christina Dahl. Jacqueline has performed in numerous master classes over the years, bringing opportunities to play for such artists as Malcolm Bilson, Philippe Entremont, Blanca Uribe, Jan Wijn, Jane Coop, and Gil Kalish among others. She is currently an advanced DMA candidate at the State University of New York – Stony Brook.
Allegro con fuoco from String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 77 (1875) - Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904)
Kerry DuWors and Carissa Klopoushak, violins
Lana Tomlin, viola
Leanne Zacharias, cello
Richard Carnegie, bass
MASTERCLASS
Masterclasses for young musicians!
Please join us on Saturday, May 28th from 2:30-5:00pm at Augustana Lutheran Church for a series of masterclasses for young musicians. Musicians in violin, viola, cello and piano are welcome to register with their pre-formed chamber groups or as solo instrumentalists. These masterclasses will be conducted by our three artistic directors; Carissa Klopoushak, Jacqueline Nutting and Jacqueline Woods.
Registration forms must be received no later than Friday, May 20th, 2011. After receiving your form and registration fee of $15, you will be contacted by the festival with an exact class order. Classes are free and open to the public. For any further questions, please contact us at ritornellofestival@gmail.com or call (306) 242-2753
SPONSORS
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Saskatchewan Arts Board.
CONTACT US
If you have questions, comments, or would like to be added to our mailing list, please email ritornellofestival@gmail.com
