Adjudicators 2024

Dawn Bruch-Wiens completed her Bachelor of Music in voice at McGill University. The singer returned to Winnipeg and graduated with her Post-Baccalaureate and Master of Music degree at The University of Manitoba where she studied with Tracy Dahl. As a “mesmerizing” singer with “effervescent vocal agility” (Opera Canada), Dawn has appeared with Manitoba Opera, The Little Opera Company, Manitoba Underground Opera, Groundswell, The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera Studio Weimar and Opera on the Avalon. Dawn has taught private voice lessons for over 16 years and in the fall of 2018, she began teaching at the post-secondary level at Canadian Mennonite University. As a member of NATS, she believes that studying and instructing voice are lifelong learning opportunities for both student and teacher. Dawn is passionate about the festival movement and the learning opportunities it provides as she has been involved at all levels as a performer, teacher or adjudicator for over twenty-five years.

Jewel Casselman is a retired music educator with 35 years’ experience teaching children aged 3 to adults. Her school program was Orff based, using barred instruments, recorder, singing, speech, and movement as well as ukuleles and handbells. She also teaches recorder for the Orff Level certification course at the University of Manitoba and plays in a handbell quartet. Jewel is the 2023 recipient of the prestigious MusiCounts Teacher of the Year award.

Wes Elias is an active Winnipeg musician who works as a private music teacher, performer, RCM examiner and church musician. He has taught piano, organ and theory at various locations in Winnipeg and Ontario for over 40 years. Wes has served as organist at St. Andrew’s River Heights United Church, Winnipeg, since 2009. Prior to this he was Music Director at Broadway First Baptist church for 17 years and at several churches in Toronto and Port Hope, Ontario. He received a degree in Organ Performance at the University of Toronto studying with Douglas Bodle. Other organ teachers include Lawrence Ritchey, Winnifred Sim and Peter Letkeman. Recent performing experiences include numerous accompanying roles with the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir, the Winnipeg Singers, and later this month with Winnipeg’s Little Opera Company.

Lynn Ewing has taught piano, music theory, and singing for many years in Saskatoon. Of note has been her work with special needs students, including visually handicapped students and students with autism spectrum disorder. Her students have distinguished themselves locally, provincially and nationally as recipients of diplomas, scholarships and competition prizes. In addition to teaching, Lynn enjoys performing both as singer and as pianist, and she works as a music adjudicator in western Canada. A Fellow of Trinity College of London, UK, Lynn holds diplomas in piano and voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, and Trinity College of London. She has an M.A. from the University of Saskatchewan and a B. Ed. from the University of British Columbia. Singing with the Saskatoon Symphony Chorus has been a particularly joyful activity over the last few years.

Donna Fletcher is an accomplished actor, singer, and concert performer with a wide range of national experience. Proud of her prairie roots, Donna received her early training in Winnipeg and earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Manitoba, a diploma in Music Theatre from The Banff Centre for the Arts, and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from The University of Toronto. As an actor, Donna has been acclaimed in principle roles from east to west. As a director Donna has helmed Rainbow Stage/WSO concert presentations; for Opera on the Avalon; for NUOVA; for Dry Cold Productions; as well as for the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Donna serves as First Vice President & Manitoba/Nunavut Councillor for Canadian Actor’s Equity and was inducted into the Rainbow Stage Wall of Fame in 2012. Always seeking new challenges, she co-created Winnipeg Musical Theatre Company Dry Cold Productions. Donna is a nationally respected clinician, Voice, Diction and Musical Theatre Instructor at the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music as well as the University of Winnipeg Department of Theatre. Most importantly, she is mum to Amalia.

Described as an "innovative, expressive, and dynamic" conductor, Dr. Elroy Friesen holds the position of Director of Choral Studies at the University of Manitoba. In this role, he conducts multiple choirs and teaches graduate choral conducting. Notably, Friesen has taken the helm as the newly appointed Artistic Director of Winnipeg’s esteemed professional Baroque choir, Canzona. Under his direction, these award-winning ensembles have garnered national and international acclaim through their captivating performances. They thrive on collaborative ventures with an array of exceptional local and national arts organizations. Noteworthy partnerships include engagements with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Canadian College of Organists, WSO New Music Festival, Groundswell, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and musica intima. A sought-after figure, Friesen's expertise as a clinician, adjudicator, and conductor has been in high demand throughout Canada and Northern Europe. He remains dedicated to his ongoing exploration and performance of new Nordic repertoire, with a particular emphasis on championing contemporary Canadian works.

Zohreh Gervais is a musician and producer. She is an accomplished soprano, violist, and inter-disciplinary artist, having curated multimedia concerts as both an independent artist and as the creative director of Polycoro and Neon Venus Productions. Recent highlights include curating and hosting the “Red Haus Live” concert series, performing a solo recital of German Lieder for the Virtuosi Millenium Library concert series in October 2023. Zohreh performs frequently both as a classical and folk singer and can be found songwriting and arranging for musicians across Canada. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in voice under the tutelage of Tracy Dahl and Mel Braun. Her interest in pedagogy led her to train as a Suzuki Violin and Early Childhood Educator, and she has been on faculty at the Winnipeg Suzuki Program, the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts, and the University of Manitoba Preparatory Studies Division. Zohreh's voice has been described as "sparkling yet rich," "gorgeous and crystal-clear," and her passion for baroque and new music have made her a sought-after soloist and collaborator.

Richard Gillis studied trumpet at The University of Saskatchewan, The Banff Centre (with the Canadian Brass), and at The University of Michigan (M.Mus.; D.M.A.), where he performed with the University of Michigan faculty brass quintet and studied with Armando Ghitalla. Dr. Gillis is currently brass chair at the University of Manitoba, and is artistic director of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, which he co-founded in 1997. Richard performs and records (8 albums) with Icelandic guitarist Björn Thoroddsen, and together have received recognitions from the Icelandic Music Awards, as well as performed at various jazz festivals and venues in Iceland and North America, including Dizzy’s Club in NYC. Richard has recorded 21 albums as a leader and sideman: six with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra. Recent releases with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra include Twisting Ways (2021) and Voices: A Musical Heritage (2022). Richard is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre. Most recent projects include Devotion, a collection of original solo and chamber pieces, and Voices: A Musical Heritage with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra.

James Hickerson (B.Mus.Perf, B.Ed) is a teacher of music for the Louis Riel School Division in Winnipeg. He has been active as a music teacher and performing musician in Winnipeg since 1977. He has taught in schools, in his own studio, as a university sessional instructor, as a Manitoba Arts Council artist-in-residence for songwriting and choral music, and at the International Music Camp in the Peace Gardens.

Madeline Hildebrand is a versatile pianist, quickly becoming a top-pick as a soloist and collaborator across Canada and the US. She has appeared recently in concert with Philip Glass (Winnipeg New Music Festival), the Kronos Quartet (Mass MoCA), with Yarn/Wire (DiMenna Center, New York), and as a soloist for Music Toronto’s COSE series. Of her recent performance of Joan Tower’s Petroushskates at the Bang on a Can LOUD Weekend, Tower states, Whether cooperating with a singer or a sine wave, Madeline’s collaborative virtuosity leads much of her work. She is a vigorous advocate for bringing classical music to rural communities and homes as evidenced by her solo tours with Home Routes, GroupMuse (NYC), and Living Room Live. Madeline Hildebrand recently completed her Doctorate in Musical Arts in Piano Performance at Stony Brook University, NY. As an adjudicator and master class clinician, she has appeared at numerous festivals throughout Canada, and enjoys her present post as interim instructor at Brandon University, and Canadian Mennonite University.

Dutch Canadian Lyric Soprano, Monica Huisman has been hailed as possessing a soprano voice that ’embodies both flawless technique and dramatic impact’ (Opera Canada). Ms. Huisman has delighted audiences from Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw to Guatemala City to Rio de Janeiro, with the reputation of her ‘silken’ voice ‘consistently crafting each note into a work of art’ (Winnipeg Free Press). In demand for both her Operatic prowess and her Concert repertoire, Ms. Huisman has performed with every major orchestra across Canada, and abroad, delighting audiences in both operas, the classics, new works, pops as well as in recital. Mozart, Handel, Bizet, Verdi, Puccini, Beethoven and Strauss are just a few of the composers whose works she has not only infused with her passionate voice, but also had broadcasted on the CBC and the VARA, in Europe.  In demand as a teacher and clinician, Ms. Huisman is on the voice Faculty at the Desautels Faculty of music at the University of Manitoba, has been a guest teacher with every major University across Canada, has adjudicated provincially and nationally, and is on the faculty for young artists training programs including the DEAP for Manitoba Opera, Nuova in Edmonton, and VOSI for Opera Kelowna.

Having been praised for his musicality and dramatic portrayals, Christopher MacRae has appeared across North America in a wide range of stage and concert repertoire. In 2015 he received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from Boston University, and holds additional degrees in music from McGill University and the University of Calgary. As a proponent of contemporary works, selected highlights of his stage credits include Sir Philip in Owen Wingrave, the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, McAlpine in Filumena (Estacio), The Governor & Vanderdenur in Candide, and created the roles of Seth as a Man in John Beckwith’s historical opera Taptoo!, and The Doctor in Lorena Orozco’s English adaptation of The Waiting Room. Dr. MacRae is a member of the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers Association, the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), where he served as President of the Arkansas Chapter. He has presented at the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences Congress in Calgary, the International Symposium on Singing and Song in St. John’s Newfoundland, the Saskatchewan Music Conference, and the NATS Southern Region Conference. Dr. MacRae has joined the faculty at the University of Regina in Fall 2021, where he teaches applied voice and voice related subjects.

A graduate of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, Matt Neufeld does his best to compose, teach and play music for as many people as he can convince or coerce. Matt spends most of his days working with amazing band students at Oak Park High School in Winnipeg, where he's been teaching since 2022. In his spare time, Matt enjoys competitive board gaming, playing his wife's favourite songs on the piano in ways that do not endear him to her, and having his three children try to beat him at Mario Kart.

 Catherine Robbins is a dynamic music educator known especially for her work in vocal techniques and choral pedagogy for choirs of all ages. Dr. Robbins is currently Associate Professor of Choral Studies and Music Education at the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music. She teaches courses in conducting, choral methods, vocal pedagogy for choirs, choral literature and programming, and directs the University of Manitoba Concert Choir. Dr. Robbins primary research centres on applications of anatomical awareness and somatic approaches to conducting and singing, as well as the emerging field of fascia research. Further interests include collaborative self-study and life history methodologies as pedagogical tools in choral music education. Her creative works projects have focused on respectful, responsible, and reciprocal commissioning and publishing of choral music with Indigenous collaborators, as well as working with Indigenous languages. She has presented at provincial, national, and international symposiums and served on the editorial board for Anacrusis, the journal of Choral Canada. Catherine specializes in pedagogy for developing voices, as well as vocal and conductor health, and enjoys bringing the choral music of living composers and song writers to new audiences.

Theresa Thordarson’s boundless creative drive springs from a lifetime of musical risk-taking. A pianist, vocalist, collaborator and creator across genres, her recent engagements include concerts for Send and Receive, Virtuosi Concerts, Nuit Blanche Winnipeg, Winterruption, and Lethbridge’s Centric Festival. She also sings, plays synth, and writes songs as one half of alt-pop duo Bicycle Face. Theresa studied and served as a sessional instructor and collaborative pianist at both Brandon University and SUNY Fredonia. A dedicated educator with over a decade of private teaching experience, she has also facilitated workshops in piano, songwriting, and composition for Cadenza Summer Music and WeRock Winnipeg, among others. Theresa makes her home in Winnipeg where she hosts a lively teaching studio, many plants, and a blossoming house show series: “Closer Concerts”.

After teaching piano at the post-secondary level for over thirty years Dale Wheeler is now enjoying life as an independent musician. Living in Red Deer, Alberta he teaches part-time at Burman University and maintains a small private studio. He holds the doctorate in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where his dissertation focused on the Roman period works of Franz Liszt. He also holds degrees and diplomas from the University of Saskatchewan and Trinity College of Music, London. He is a long-standing member of The Royal Conservatory of Music College of Examiners and serves as a contract specialist for the Adjudicator Certification Program. Dr. Wheeler has appeared as a recitalist, accompanist, adjudicator, and lecturer from coast to coast in Canada and throughout the U.S. Dr. Wheeler particularly enjoys working with teachers young and old who are developing their own playing and pedagogical skills. When not making music, his interests include water and snow skiing, classic cars, touring on his Harley motorcycle, and collecting vintage piano recordings.

An internationally toured artist and proud graduate of Randolph College for the Performing Arts, Chase Winnicky is quickly making a name for himself, as one of Canada’s newest leading men and directors. Chase has worked on productions locally with Royal MTC, Rainbow Stage, MTYP, Dry Cold Productions, Winnipeg Studio Theatre and Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, and across Canada with Theatre Calgary, the Segal Centre, Mirvish Productions, the National Ballet of Canada and Diversified Theatre. As a vocalist he’s sung with the Toronto Jazz Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Juno award winning vocalist Stacey Kay and has toured overseas with Oceania Cruises. His film credits include supporting roles on 3 Hallmark Channel movies, and guest starring on SkyMed (Paramount+) and the Emmy nominated series The Porter (CBC/BET+). Having participated for many years in the Winnipeg Music Festival as a teenager, Chase couldn’t be more thrilled to be back as an adjudicator all these years later!

Cellist Leanne Zacharias performs across genres and geographies, with unique concerts in museums, art galleries, stairwells, rowboats and other unorthodox sites presented by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, LandMarks2017, the International Cello Festival, Austin’s New Music Coop, Winnipeg Design Festival, Iceland’s Nes Residency, Open Ears Festival, Agassiz Festival, the Winnipeg Symphony’s New Music Festival, Sound Symposium (NFLD), Churchill’s Northern Studies Research Centre and more. From the National Arts Centre to the Yukon to the Venice Biennale, she performs widely including with the Australian Art Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and Mexico’s ORFIX. On faculty at Brandon University, Leanne co-directs Wheat City Nuit Blanche, the Wild Studio workshop in Canadian National Parks, and has taught at the Rosamunde Academy, Cadenza Music Week, Prairie Cello Institute, Domaine Forget International Festival, Hybrid Intensive (San Francisco) and lectured at the Parsons School of Design in New York, the Banff Centre’s Research in Culture Workshop and earlier this year at Mexico City’s UNAM.  Her solo album Music for Spaces was released on Redshift Records in 2021. She holds degrees from the University of Manitoba, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and the University of Texas – Austin.