Choral Art: Meet the Participants
Pro Coro Canada is into its final week as the resident ensemble of the Choral Art Program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The sights are now set on the program’s third and final performance where our five composers will be premiering new choral works written during their residency conducted by the five program conductors. Each conductor/composer participant is carefully paired to work closely together and with the ensemble bringing new music into the world. The end result is everything Pro Coro Canada stands for in the choral community: The creation of new musical art, a journey of mentorship for the next generation of choral artists, and the development of a stronger connection between all elements of the choral world.
Before journeying to Banff to experience this musical triumph, allow yourself time to get to know each of our incredible participants. This cohort of Canadian and international artists has wowed and inspired us as they have worked endlessly to create and discover together. We look forward to continuing to work with each of these artists in the future and to seeing how their careers continue to break barriers and pioneer our field.
The Composers
Henrik Dahlgren
(Sweden) Mathieu Lefevre Memorial Award
HENRIK DAHLGREN (b. 1991) is a Swedish composer who studied at the Malmö Academy of Music and London’s Royal College of Music. Henrik began his musical career as a drummer, and moved between various styles and genres ever since, both as a musician and as a composer/arranger. His focus is choral music and he has worked with Svanholm Singers, Vocal Art Ensemble of Sweden, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, John Bauer Brass, US. Airforce Academy Band & USC Thornton Chamber Singers, to name a few. During 2019/2020, Henrik will study composition in Scotland with former Pro Coro Canada Composer-in-Residence Paul Mealor
Choral Art World Premiere: Without Knowing
Dominik Dieterle
(Germany) Vladimir & Yachiyo Wolodarsky Endowment Fund for Literary Arts & Music
Dominik Johannes Dieterle graduated in audio engineering as well as music education and is currently enrolled in the music theory master's-program, studying with Michael Polth at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Mannheim (GER). He attended instrumentation classes with Andreas Tarkmann and composition classes with Sidney Corbett, as well as additional classes with Simon Steen-Andersen and Niels Rønsholdt during a term abroad at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus (DK). Besides that, he attended master classes with John Høybye, Nikolaus Brass and Alexander Müllenbach. He is working as a freelance composer and arranger for both choir and instrumental music.
Choral Art World Premiere: The Midnight Giant
Hope Littwin
(USA)
Banff Centre Artists’ Award
I am an intellectual nomad and an energetic creative who operates best in large scale collaborative works with choreographers, directors, film makers and visual artists in creating lyric neo-mythologies for the contemporary stage and screen. My work is expansive and visceral, inspired by the harmonies of renaissance vocal works, songwriters of the 60s, improvisation in jazz and the futuristic world of music tech. BM in Vocal Performance and Music Composition from Chicago College of Music 2014 and MFA in Music Composition for The Screen from Columbia College Chicago 2018. Most recently sang with Andrea Bocelli at his Madison Square Garden Christmas Concert before touring the west coast as a singer-songwriter.
Choral Art World Premiere: Soft Metals
Marie-Claire Saindon
(Canada)
Banff Centre Artists’ Award
Marie-Claire Saindon is a Franco-Ontarian choral composer with a penchant for vivid imagery and a great affinity for setting text. Her experience while studying music at McGill University and Université de Montréal ranges from scoring short films and full-length documentaries to fiddling in a team of folk musicians on a historical steam train.
Based in Montreal, where she is composer-in-residence for Choeur Adleisia, she also runs creative choral/vocal composition workshops for youth and adults, and enjoys teaching Irish fiddle. Recipient of multiple composition prizes, her choral works are published with Boosey & Hawkes, Cypress Choral Music, Earthsongs Choral Music, and Alliance Music Publications.
Choral Art World Premiere: When a Thought of War
Netta Shahar
(Israel)
Sir Jack Lyons Scholarship for the Arts
Netta graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance with a Master's degree in composition, where she studied under Mr. Rafi Kadishson and Prof. Amnon Wolman. She participated in various international composition programs at Atlantic Music Festival, Festival Mixtur, Banff Centre, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and more.
Her compositions and arrangements were performed by orchestras, ensembles and choirs among them the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Camerata, Pro Coro Canada, the JAMD Chamber Choir and the Israeli Opera. Netta is a recipient of several scholarships, among them Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts Scholarship, Sir Jack Lyons Scholarship for the Arts and AICF Scholarship.
Choral Art World Premiere: Mikhtav Tisa / Flight Letter
The Conductors
Thomas Burton
(Canada) Heather Edwards Artist Award
Raised in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Thomas Burton is active as a conductor and singer throughout Canada and the United States. He currently serves as Director of Music at Munn’s United Church in Oakville and as Associate Conductor with the award-winning Oakville Choir for Children and Youth.
Thomas has had the privilege of working with such ensembles as the Pacific Chorale, the Toronto Amadeus Choir, and the Vancouver Chamber Choir.
Upcoming engagements include a tour as Apprentice Conductor with the National Youth Choir of Canada as well as a performance with Pro Coro Canada through our Emerging Artist Program.
Miro Hanauer
(Switzerland) Banff Centre Artists’ Award
Miro Hanauer is a choir director from Basel (Switzerland). He received his musical education from Prof. Raphael Immoos at the "Hochschule für Musik Basel" and through various master classes, for example with Kari Turunen, Gerhard Grün and Catherine Fehnder. He sings in the Swiss Youth Choir under the direction of Nicolas Fink.
In his work as a conductor he appreciates working with a diversity of ensembles and levels. So, he conducts children's choirs and amateur choirs as well as professional vocal ensembles. In all formations he is looking for a precise, content-oriented and lively interpretation of the musical pieces.
Katy Harmer
(Canada)
Barbara and John Poole Endowment
Katy Harmer (she/her) is a choral conductor, singer, and arts administrator based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Katy is the conductor and founder of Winnipeg Upper Voices, Assistant Director for Prairie Voices, co-founder of the Winnipeg Beer Choir, and facilitates choral workshops. She recently completed a Master of Music at the University of Manitoba, studying choral conducting with Dr. Elroy Friesen.
A lifelong choral musician originally from Toronto, Katy has also lived and made music in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Katy believes that making music together, and especially choir, is the best way to build community. She loves collaborating and making new connections.
Mona Holton
(Canada)
Alice and Betty Schultz Endowment Fund for Dance and Music
Mona Holton is a passionate educator and music-maker. Mona co-taught the provincially recognized choral program at Memorial Composite High School in Stony Plain, AB, for over a decade. She was also the founding director of Cantilon Choir’s men’s ensemble, Vox Hominis, and co-founder of Vocal Collective, a growing choral program in the Stony Plain region. Mona is truly a life-long learner and continually passes on her passion and love of learning to others. Mona’s philosophy beautifully combines a drive for musical excellence and relational nurturing. She believes in the power of music to build communities and foster meaningful connection.
Brian
Mummert
(USA)
Lockwood Family Endowment Fund for Music
Brian Mummert's artistic endeavors are informed by his abiding love of words: he sings, conducts, composes, and arranges music spanning many eras and genres, all in the service of compelling simultaneous expression of text and music. He is the artistic director of The New Consort, an American Prize-winning vocal ensemble dedicated to juxtaposing works from diverse musical genres and eras, and a co-founder of ChamberQUEER, a chamber music collective highlighting the voices of LGBTQ+ composers and performers. Brian has swung with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, sung the music of Vaughan Williams and Schubert with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, directed renowned ensembles in venues spanning six continents, and premiered new works by composers including Julian Anderson, Frances Pollock, David Lang, Hannah Lash, and Tim Holt. @bmumstagram
Upcoming Concerts in Banff
Saturday, February 29th – Open Concert: Choral Art. Rolston Recital Hall 7:30 PM
All sung by members of the program and featuring faculty from Pro Coro Canada, hear new works created by 5 resident composers in this performance from the Choral Art program. In addition to these new works, you can expect to hear some of the canonical choral masterpieces conducted by the 5 resident conductors. This will be a truly unique Choral experience heard in the intimacy of Rolston Recital Hall.
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