Yorkton Music Festival 2016

Choir — April 7
Anne Portnuff Theatre — Yorkton Regional High School

Vocal/Musical Theater — April 7-9
Heritage Baptist Church — 345 Darlington St. E.

Band — April 18-20
Anne Portnuff Theatre — Yorkton Regional High School
Yorkton Regional High School — Band and Choir Rooms

Piano — April 11-14
St. Andrew’s Church — 29 Smith Street E.

Claudette Caron

Claudette Caron was born and raised in Winnipeg. Advanced studies were with Alma Brock-Smith at the University of Manitoba, both as solo pianist and with duo-piano partner Paulette Price. Under Professor Brock-Smith’s tutelage the duo gained national recognition as a team, winning the Western Canadian Young Artist Competition, and Canadian Music Competition Finals overall 1st place winners for Ensemble in Montreal.

In Brandon since 1982, Ms. Caron continued solo piano studies with pianist Robin Harrison at the University of Saskatchewan, earning her Licentiate Diploma from the Trinity College of Music under his guidance. She continued her interest in Chamber Music in the Ford/Caron flute and piano duo with flautist Robert Ford from 1989 to 2010. These years included the release of a CD dedicated to the works of composer Karg-Elert in 2000, and the Premiere of a commissioned Trio by Dr. Kenneth Nichols in 2003. In the summer of 2011 she and her sister Yvonne Ingram premiered Piano Island, a piano duet written by Dr. Kenneth Nichols inspired by his experiences in China. The work is dedicated to them. Ms. Caron has also premiered several piano works for solo piano by David F. Dahlgren.

Ms. Caron is devoted to teaching a large and varied class of piano students with a special emphasis on ensemble playing. She is active as an adjudicator and clinician and is a Senior Examiner with the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Richard Gillis

Richard Gillis received his DMA in Trumpet Performance from the University of Michigan in 1990. He is active as a performer in both jazz and classical, and has performed hundreds of concerts in venues from small prairie town halls to the Rose Bowl and Dizzy’s Club in New York. Richard is the Artistic Director of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra and is a full professor and brass chair at the Marcel A. Desaultels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba. He is constantly busy with performing, arranging, composing, teaching, and adjudicating. Among other recordings Dr. Gillis has released two CDs with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra and seven CDs with Icelandic guitarist Björn Thoroddsen, including the newly released “Morgana’s Revenge”.

Joy McFarlane-Burton

Joy McFarlane-Burton of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan has studied voice with respected Saskatchewan teachers Georgina Terry, Marilyn Whitehead, and Lisa Hornung. Joy holds a Royal Conservatory of Music Associate Diploma in Singing Performance, and studied Vocal Pedagogy at the University of Saskatchewan with the late Professor Dorothy Howard. She is a Full Member of National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), a Registered Music Teacher (SRMTA-CFMTA), as well as being a member of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators Association.

Joy has been an instructor at the Summer School for the Solo Voice for over fifteen years. She has adjudicated extensively and is active as a teacher, clinician, coach, and enjoys presenting workshops and masterclasses. Joy has enjoyed attending vocal masterclasses at the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals (FCMF) National Music Festival since 2007, learning from some of the finest vocal pedagogues in Canada. In 2013 she took part in a NATS Workshop in Spokane Washington, dealing with the changing adolescent voice, and children’s voices.

Ms. Burton is an active and enthusiastic teacher enjoying her work with developing singers from across West Central Saskatchewan. She has worked with singers of all levels, and in many genres including Musical Theatre, choral, and standard vocal repertoire. Her students have been regular recipients of Royal Conservatory of Music Medals, achieving the highest marks in the province in Singing exams, as well as receiving awards and scholarships in festivals and competitions.

Joy has been involved with the Saskatchewan Music Festival system for decades, as a competitor, teacher, and committee member. She is a Past-President of the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association. Joy is currently serving as Vice-President of the FCMF. Joy was recognized as the 2013 National Volunteer of the Year for Saskatchewan by the FCMF.

Aaron Wilson

Originally from the United States, Dr. Aaron Wilson joined the faculty at Brandon University’s School of Music as the Assistant Professor of Low Brass in 2014. Prior to his appointment at BU, Wilson performed with the Bay Street Brassworks, a brass and percussion ensemble based out of Indianapolis. His involvement with the group enabled him to perform educational and community concerts throughout the eastern United States. In addition, Wilson has performed with several professional ensembles including the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Brandon Chamber Players, the Market Street Brass, the Durham Symphony, and was featured on the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra’s 2014 CD, Suite Messiah. In addition, he is an active scholar in the area of brass pedagogy, presenting clinics at the Carolina Band Festival, the North Carolina Trombone Festival, Avenues: Exploring Band and Jazz Methods Workshop, and the National Canadian Music Educators Association Conference in Winnipeg. Wilson received his Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he studied from Dr. Randy Kohlenberg.