2023 ADJUDICATION PANEL

Chelsea Wilson

Chelsea Wilson is a voice teacher and coach specializing in musical theatre performance. She’s a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Musical Theatre BFA program and uses her expertise to support her students all over the world, from Broadway stars to amateurs singers. In 2017 she began working as the associate vocal coach on the Broadway production of SCHOOL OF ROCK and later THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. In 2021 she co-founded Broadway Vocal Coach, an online training platform for professional and aspiring musical theatre performers who want to take the next step in their careers. Chelsea is certified Ambassador instructor through the Institute for Vocal Advancement, where she now has the pleasure of training other voice teachers. She’s a wife, a new mom, and she currently lives in Washington State, USA. Find her on TikTok @singwithchelsea or on Instagram @bwayvocalcoach

Jessica Watson

Jessica Watson is a classically trained actor, dialect coach and theatre educator based out of Toronto, ON. Originally from Acton, ON, she attended the University of Alberta before pursuing her master’s in acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Since returning to Canada in 2020, Jessica has been working on screen as an actor and writer (under a stage name): between gigs, she assists Canadian playwrights and screenwriters as a developmental editor. When she’s not immersed in the world of performance, Jessica teaches speech and performance to youths through the UK-based performance training program Stagecoach and is the resident teen acting and dialect coach at Toronto’s RAW Actor Studio. She’s a passionate advocate for arts accessibility and education, and has first-hand experience in the transformative, confidence boosting power of the performing arts.

Dr. Erik Ross

Erik Ross is a composer and pianist who writes for all musical media, including productions that include electronics, theatre, film and dance. He has received numerous awards, fellowships and scholarships, including top prizes at SOCAN, and has received commissions from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council and the Laidlaw Foundation. He holds a Doctor of Music degree from the University of Toronto where he was a two-time recipient of the John Weinzweig Scholarship.

His Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra was premiered by Joseph Salvalaggio and the Memphis Symphony and it was performed again at the International Double Reed Society Conference by Diana Doherty. He wrote the double concerto Burn for saxophonist Wallace Halladay and percussionist Ryan Scott for the 30th anniversary season of the Esprit Orchestra. He has written song cycles for the Aldeburgh Connection, the Canadian Art Song Project, and singers such as Phillip Addis, Scott Belluz, Ambur Braid, Carla Huhtanen and Lawrence Wiliford. His large choral work Icarus in the Sea, with text by Lorna Crozier, was toured four times by the Canadian Chamber Choir, and he wrote the chamber opera Northern Lights, Eastern Fire, with librettist Phoebe Tsang, for which he was the pianist and music director. He also wrote a chamber opera for Tapestry New Opera Works’ production at the Opera America Conference.

He is an avid educator, and has taught private and conservatory piano, theory, improvisation and composition lessons to individuals of all ages and ability levels for 20 years. He has taught classes at the University of Toronto and has been an instructor for numerous music programs including: education director for Soundstreams Canada’s Cool Drummings Festival; the Gryphon Trio’s outreach program; the Classical Music Conservatory; the Canadian Children’s Opera Company’s OPERAtion KIDS program.

He takes great enjoyment in performing contemporary classical/jazz/rock repertoire, particularly that of his peers, and he is an improvising pianist and keyboardist, including performing for the New Creations Festival with the Toronto Symphony. He is also the pianist and co-founder of the cross-genre ensemble Arkose with guitarist Rob MacDonald. He has had live performances of his works in Australia, Canada, England, France, Japan, Latvia, Thailand, and the United States.

Aimi Howden

Based in Victoria BC, Aimi Howden is a concert pianist, collaborator and teacher with students across Canada as well as in the United States.

Aimi obtained a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Toronto, where she studied with Dr. Midori Koga and developed a keen interest for unconventional practice methods, researching what she called “co-operative practicing” for children. She also graduated with distinction from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Music under the tutelage of renowned pedagogue Professor May Ling Kwok.

Aimi is a passionate educator with many years of experience, teaching piano, theory, and history to students of all levels and ages. While living in Toronto, she studied various teaching methods and taught for music schools including the Classical Music Conservatory in Roncesvalles, and the University of Toronto Piano Pedagogy Program, where she meticulously developed private and group lesson plans and adjudicated for the UTPPP’s annual festival. Aimi is an active performer of solo, chamber, and orchestral works, recently performing with the Victoria Symphony.

Aimi is thrilled to be a member of the keyboard faculty with the Victoria Conservatory of Music and the Classical Music Conservatory. She continues to create a positive learning environment where students can have fun making music and developing physical facility in their piano playing.

He is an avid educator, and has taught private and conservatory piano, theory, improvisation and composition lessons to individuals of all ages and ability levels for 20 years. He has taught classes at the University of Toronto and has been an instructor for numerous music programs including: education director for Soundstreams Canada’s Cool Drummings Festival; the Gryphon Trio’s outreach program; the Classical Music Conservatory; the Canadian Children’s Opera Company’s OPERAtion KIDS program.

He takes great enjoyment in performing contemporary classical/jazz/rock repertoire, particularly that of his peers, and he is an improvising pianist and keyboardist, including performing for the New Creations Festival with the Toronto Symphony. He is also the pianist and co-founder of the cross-genre ensemble Arkose with guitarist Rob MacDonald. He has had live performances of his works in Australia, Canada, England, France, Japan, Latvia, Thailand, and the United States.

Kenin McKay

Based in Victoria BC, Aimi Howden is a concert pianist, collaborator and teacher with students across Canada as well as in the United States.

Brenton Chan

Brenton Chan – Cello, Mus (U of T) cello performance, M. Mus (U of T)

Known for his ingenuity in merging classical music with pop-culture, cellist Brenton Chan has performed in numerous concert halls and alternative venues at home and abroad. He shares his skill and passion with the University of Toronto as a Cello Ensemble Coordinator, and with Concerts in Care Ontario as Music Coordinator.

As a featured artist and arranger at Music in the Morning, Brenton performed alongside Shauna Rolston, Barry Shiffman, and Joseph Elworthy at the Vancouver Academy of Music and at CBC Studio 1 in Vancouver. He has also appeared on multiple occasions at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, most notably for John McDermott’s fundraiser Music in the Key of Giving. In his continued pursuit of artistic excellence, Brenton has attended many international music festivals including the International Festival of the Duchi d’Acquaviva (Italy), where he received a scholarship to study with acclaimed German cellist Maria Kliegel, and the Orford Music Festival (Québec), where he was invited by the Gryphon Trio to participate in their pilot project.

In the realm of jazz, Brenton has collaborated with Juno Award winner Molly Johnson as well as Laila Baili. Recent tours in Québec saw him performing with folk legend, Richard Desjardins. In alternative pop/folk music, he has performed, arranged for, and recorded with Calla Kinglit. Furthermore, Brenton has released an independent trio recording of Beatles ballads with Martin Gladstone and Frank Caruso.

Brenton holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Toronto in Cello Performance. He has been a proud member of the CMC faculty since 2013 and is highly sought after as a guest coach for various music programs in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. He performs on a beautiful copy of a Brothers Amati cello made by Michèle Ashley.

When not musicking, Brenton loves going to different restaurants, epic bike rides, bonfire gatherings, and as a proud Torontonian, cheering for all the teams in The Six.

Andrew Bortz

Andrew is a sought-after conductor, singer, composer, pianist, and music educator. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in choral conducting from the University of Alberta and is the conductor of the Edmonton Youth Choir. Before moving to Edmonton to continue his conducting studies, Andrew was the founder and artistic director of Aurora Chamber Choir and the assistant conductor for Vancouver’s Phoenix Chamber Choir and Chrysalis Vocal Ensemble. As an accompanist, Andrew is known for his sensitive and intuitive music making and has collaborated with high school, collegiate, and community choirs across the United States and Canada. He has recently sung professionally with Vancouver-based musica intima, The Vancouver Chamber Choir, and Edmonton’s Pro Coro Canada. He also enjoys working as a guest conductor and adjudicator throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. Andrew received a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from the University of British Columbia. His previous studies include a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington where he studied voice, composition, and piano.

Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones is the director of the University of Calgary’s Wind Ensemble and the Symphonic Band as well as being the Instructor of Trumpet and Conducting. He is also the Director of the Alberta Winds. In 2014 he was named the conductor of the National Youth Band of Canada. He was Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra from 1992 to 2007 and continues to play with the CPO whenever his conducting schedule allows. Before that, he held the same position with the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra. He has studied conducting with the renowned pedagogues Jorma Panula, Gustav Meier, Michael Haithcock, and Michael Jinbo. He has conducted ensembles from across Western Canada as well as Mexico and the United States. Mr. Jones’s musical activities are greatly varied.

He has appeared as guest conductor and clinician with hundreds of wind ensembles and orchestras been featured on Juno nominated blues CDs, appeared on CBC radio as a soloist and chamber musician, been a guest lecturer with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, been an adjudicator at music festivals across Canada, as well as conducting honour bands across Canada and was a reviewer for the latest update of the Royal Conservatory of Music trumpet syllabus. He received the University of Calgary Teaching Excellence Award in 2018. In 1996, he placed first among North American competitors in the Ellesworth-Smith International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition, placing third worldwide. He can be heard playing chamber music, jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues with various groups around Calgary. As a conductor he founded the Calgary Honour Band and the University of Calgary Brass Choir.

He was also a founding member of the chamber ensemble “Rosa Selvatica” and has been a featured soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on several occasions. He studied conducting at the Pierre Monteux Institute and Canada’s National Arts Centre and received his Master of Music in conducting from the University of Calgary. He studied trumpet at Northwestern University with renowned pedagogue Vincent Cichowicz, where he won the prestigious concerto competition and a scholarship for performing excellence. Gareth Jones is a Yamaha Artist.

Sean Perrin

Sean Perrin is an internationally-recognized podcaster and musician. As host of the Clarineat Podcast (www.clarineat.com) he has interviewed nearly 200 acclaimed clarinetists including Martin Fröst, Stanley Drucker, Evan Zyporin, Corrado Giuffredi, Doreen Ketchens, and many others. He is also the host of the Radiohead-themed OK Podcast (www.okpodcast.com), where he has interviewed Clive Deamer (drummer for Radiohead, Portishead, Robert Plant, and others), Christopher O’Riley (pianist), Steve Hackman (arranger and conductor), Steve Hamilton (saxophone for Radiohead, Oasis, etc.) and more.

As a clarinetist and percussionist, Sean has performed and/or recorded with The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Red Deer Symphony, and Bow Valley Chorus; sports teams such as The Calgary Flames and The Calgary Stampeders; and pop acts such as Diana Krall, Keith Urban, Shania Twain, and Brett Kissel. He is a past member of the University of Calgary Wind Ensemble, Calgary Stampede Showband, Stetson Showband, and Round Up Band and released his AFA-funded solo recording project “Dreamsongs” in 2016.

As a music educator Sean has worked with The Banff Centre, the Department of National Defense, The Calgary Board of Education, The Calgary Catholic School District, the Vic Lewis Music Festival, and many other schools and private students over the years. He is currently on faculty at Mount Royal University, where he regularly teaches workshops for junior and senior high school students.

In addition to the podcasting, performing, and teaching, Sean also works full time as the Online Sales and Marketing Manger for Backun Musical Services and Laskey Mouthpieces, and is a father of two. He obtained his Bachelor of Music Degree from The University of Calgary in 2009.

Katie Gavelin

Canadian classical guitarist, Katie Gavelin has been a part of the musical world for over 20 years. Beginning as a young child, her love for the instrument quickly grew resulting in her desire to make it her profession from a young age.

Katie has been a featured artist with the Calgary Classical Guitar Society, and given numerous solo and chamber performances in the Southern Alberta area since 2008. These performances have featured works by Britten, Bogdanovic, Hoppstock, Beauvais, and Tarrega. In 2014 she had the honor of premiering The Second Oldest Question by William Beauvais, which was written for her in 2013. She also was a member of the inaugural US Guitar Orchestra in summer 2019 which premiered 3 pieces written for the group and toured with William Kanengiser in a multi-city tour beginning in Carnegie Hall (NYC) and ending in Paris, France.

Katie has had the honor of participating in masterclasses with renowned guitarists such as Roland Dyens, Kazuhito Yamashita, Michael Partington, and Manuel Barrueco.

As a teacher Katie believes in creating strong musical fundamentals with her students while exploring various styles of music. She strives to help her students achieve a strong technical understanding of how their instrument works, but also how music is constructed, blending music theory with guitar technique.

In 2012 Katie completed her Bachelor of Music under the instruction of Ralph Maier at the University of Calgary. She continued her studies in 2015 with a Masters of Music, and 2016 with a Professional Studies Diploma from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the instruction of Marc Teicholz.

John Roggensack

John Roggensack is a saxophonist and music educator residing in Calgary, Alberta. He is currently the Program Facilitator for Custom Workshops at Mount Royal University Conservatory and has been responsible for the program’s development since its inception in 2014. The program has a roster of nearly 150 clinicians/guest conductors and services approximately 220 Calgary region school music programs annually. The program also creates professional development opportunities for teachers and individualized mentorship programs.

He is a graduate of Grant MacEwan University and continued his studies at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (UK). He is an active performer, clinician, guest conductor and adjudicator in western Canada. John has previously co-directed award winning jazz ensembles at both Bishop Carroll High School and St. Mary’s High School in Calgary. He has an intimate knowledge of big band pedagogy, jazz improvisation, theory, jazz history and commercial music arranging. He has strong roots in the music community, is a director at large with Calgary Association for the Development of Music Education, has previously served on the Calgary Board of Education’s Fine Arts Council, is a delegate of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, is a member of the National Association of Music Educators and the Alberta Band Association. As a performer since returning from the UK, John has performed at the Edmonton International Jazz Festival, CJazz festival, JazzYYC Summer Festival, Medicine Hat Jazz Festival, Lethbridge Jazz Festival, Sylvan Lake Jazz Festival, Edmonton Blues Festival, Vernon Jazz and Blues Festival, Canadian Rocky Mountain Music Festival to name a few. Through the years he has also had the privilege of sharing the stage with Doc Severinson, Wycliffe Gordon, Allen Vizutti, Claudio Roditti, Ingrid Jensen, Paul Wertico, Phil Woods, Pete Christlieb, Adam Rapa, Oliver Jones, PJ Perry, Tommy Banks, Bob Stroup, Guido Basso, Colin James, Aaron Neville/Neville Brothers, Mike Herriott, Andrea Tofanelli, Brad Turner, Hugh Fraser, Jens Lindeman, Mike Murley, Hilario Duran, Roberto Occhipinti, Chris Mitchell, Jorge Luis Papiosco, Dick Oatts, Eric Marienthal, Alastair Kay, Wayne Bergeron, James Zollar, Eli Bennett, Matt Catingub, Bob Mintzer, Ignacio Berroa, Mary Wilson, Jamiroquai, Lil Anthony and the Imperials, The Drifters,The Coasters, Sean Jones, Bryan Lynch, Ted Nash, The Real Deal Band, Eric Friedenberg Orchestra, Calgary Jazz Orchestra, Calgary Creative Arts Ensemble and is a full-time member of Calgary’s Primetime Big Band. He is married to a very understanding wife, has two daughters, and spends far too much time fly-fishing.

John Phillips

In demand as an adjudicator and clinician, John Phillips shares his unique brand of music education through workshops with State and Provincial Music Educators’ Associations, the National Association for Music Education, and as a presenter at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. Throughout his career, he has contributed to numerous initiatives with Music For All including the National Concert Festival, the annual Summer Symposium, and the Bands of America Grand Nationals. He is a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician.

Phillips is an Adjunct Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University and recently served as Artistic Coordinator for the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. Prior to moving to Florida, he was on staff at the University of Western Ontario where he conducted the Symphonic Band and taught conducting and music education classes. He previously taught at the University of Toronto and York University in the departments of music and education.

Phillips has adjudicated music festivals and events in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Indonesia. He regularly guest conducts honour bands across Canada and the United States. For twenty years he conducted the Wind Ensemble at the National Music Camp of Canada, and has been a guest conductor at the International Music Camp. Phillips has served as Judge Administrator for Drum Corps International since 2000, and was inducted into the DCI Hall of Fame, Class of 2015.

Phillips is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario where he received undergraduate degrees in Music and Education. He pursued a Masters Degree in Music Education at Boston University, a PhD in Ethnomusicology at York University, and holds an Artist Diploma in trumpet performance from the Western Conservatory of Music. He received awards of distinction for conducting from the Ontario Band Association, Phi Beta Mu, the Southern Ontario Band Festival and an Honorary Life Membership from the Ontario Music Educators’ Association.

As a trumpeter, Phillips performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Brantford Symphony and the Forest City Brass Quintet. He spent two summers at the Banff School of Fine Arts under the leadership of the Canadian Brass, studying with Fred Mills and Ronald Romm.

Daniel Musacchio

Dan Musacchio is the Director of Bands at Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock, Texas, where he teaches the wind ensemble, assists with the full orchestra, and directs the award winning Cedar Ridge Raider Band and Color Guard. Under his direction, the Cedar Ridge band has been a UIL State Marching Band Finalist and a Bands of America Regional and Super Regional Finalist. In October 2022, the Cedar Ridge Raider Band was named the Bands of America West Houston Regional Champion, achieving the first regional win in the school’s history. In addition, all three of Cedar Ridge’s concert bands have earned sweepstakes at UIL Concert and Sight Reading.

From 2017 to 2021, Mr. Musacchio was an Assistant Band and Orchestra Director at Claudia Taylor Johnson High School in San Antonio, Texas. Under his assistance, the bands and orchestras consistently earned sweepstakes at UIL contests. The marching band was a regular Bands of American Regional, Super Regional, and Grand Nationals finalist, winning four regionals and one super regional. He assisted the wind ensemble with their application and performance at the 2019 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL. As an avid bassoonist, Mr. Musacchio grew the double reed program to produce multiple TMEA All State students during his tenure.

Prior to moving to Texas, Mr. Musacchio was the Director of Orchestras at his alma mater, Bridgewater Raritan High School, in Bridgewater, New Jersey. There, he developed a booster organization from the ground up to support the orchestra program, which grew from two to four orchestral ensembles under his direction. In 2016, the Symphony Orchestra applied and was accepted to the Music For All National Festival; the first national festival acceptance in the school’s history.

Mr. Musacchio attended the Eastman School of Music and the University of Maryland where, at the latter, he received two bachelor’s degrees in music education and bassoon performance. His principal bassoon teachers include Dr. Brian Kershner, Kim Laskowski, and Sue Heineman Mr. Musacchio currently lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Rosemary.

Chris MacRae

Having been praised for his musicality and dramatic portrayals, and “sonorous tenor voice,” 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.

In 2000 he made his professional debut with Calgary Opera, and has since appeared across Canada and the US. 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, Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, The Tenor in Six Characters in Search of an Author (Weisgall), Sheldon in Later the Same Evening (Musto), 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.

He has been frequently engaged as a concert soloist in works such as Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Choral Fantasy, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor, Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Theodora, MacMillian’s Celtic Mass of the Sea, Britten’s St. Nicola Cantata, Elgar’s The Kingdom, Bach’s Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio, and Rachmaninoff’s Vespers.

Dr. MacRae is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and served as the 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, and the NATS Southern Region Conference.
Dr. MacRae has joined the faculty at the University of Regina in Fall 2021 and is a member of the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teacher’s Association.

Previously he was on faculty at the University of Arkansas, where he received the ‘Outstanding Mentor Award’ three times. His students have gone on to receive full scholarships in graduate and post graduate music programs, or pursuing successful careers in music.

Sean Craig

Sean Craig is an educator and saxophonist based in Calgary, Alberta. He is a graduate of McGill University where he completed a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance. He also holds an education degree and works as a teacher for the Calgary Catholic School Board.

He is an active member of the local Calgary music scene working with various artists and ensembles and performs regularly with Prime Time Big Band and The Calgary Jazz Orchestra. As an educator, Sean is in demand as a clinician and guest conductor. He held the position of artistic director of the JazzYYC Youth Lab Band from 2016-2020 and sits on the education and community outreach committee for JazzYYC.

Sean has had the privilege to have toured and performed with many of North America’s premiere jazz artists; a few highlights are The Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra, Slide Hampton, Oliver Jones, Dave Liebman, Sean Jones, George Garzone, Ralph Bowen, Pete Christlieb, Tommy Banks, PJ Perry and Jens Lindemann. His saxophone can be heard on numerous recordings including movie soundtracks, jingles and various albums including Christine Jensen, Nikki Yanofsky, Jim Brenan, Corneille, Jacques Seguin, and his own Quintet.