Along with performance, Gabe’s greatest passion in music is teaching.  He has held numerous teaching positions over the years including professor of violin/viola for the Calgary Multicultural Orchestra, Director of the String Academy for Medicine Hat College, and most recently as Music Director of the Tutti Corda String Orchestra.  Gabe is also a sought-after adjudicator, frequently serving in this role for various music festivals and competitions.

Noelle has been studying classical voice for eight years and has loved to sing ever since she can remember. Growing up in Calgary, she was involved with various choirs and programs around the city before moving to Lethbridge in 2021. Since starting her studies, Noelle has been an active member in the University of Lethbridge Singers, and she sat on their club executive for three years. She spent the last school year as assistant conductor of the group, which was an incredible experience. 

In her studies so far, Noelle has greatly enjoyed preparing and performing in several different recitals. In addition to solo voice in her grad studies, her research project, tentatively titled “Absolute Pitch in Singing: Learning to Navigate Interior Musical Processes” aims to explore the impact of absolute pitch (perfect pitch) on learning processes and environments during solo and choral singing.

Noelle participated in the Lethbridge District Music and Speech Arts Festival for the first time this past spring, and was the recipient of a Lethbridge B’nai Brith and Hebrew Congregation of Lethbridge Award and the Donaldson Plaque for Outstanding Performance in the Sr. Vocal class. Noelle recently placed third in the 28 and under class in the Alberta Provincial Music Festival and be competing in the Canada West Festival in late July. 

She is absolutely thrilled and honored to be the recipient of the Centric Music Scholarship this year, and she can’t wait to share some wonderful music with you!

We invite our audiences to have fun with us as we exponentially expand the sonic possibilities of the piano and negotiate the athletic and contortionist choreography necessary to share the keyboard. As dedicated performer-
educators, we aspire to bring our enthusiasm for ensemble music making to our students and our communities! 

Sonny-Ray has completed a Masters of Music in composition at the University of Lethbridge where he won the prestigious Medal of Merit. He is in great demand in the field, having accumulated a large breadth of significant creative projects as an emerging Blood (Blackfoot) artist in an impressively short time span. Recently, his music has been premiered by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Penderecki String Quartet. He also currently has a seat on the Indigenous Advisory Circle to the Library and Archives Canada and is past faculty alumni to the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

In addition to studies in Graz, Cheryl spent two summers in Baden bei Wien working with Helmut Deutsch, Roger Vignoles, Rudolph Jansen and Wolfram Rieger at the Franz Schubert-Institut. Current activities include recital and recording projects, teaching students at Lethbridge Piano Intensive and the University of Lethbridge Conservatory, collaborating with Juno nominated Luminous Voices (Calgary), and Fourtitude (Lethbridge).

Carolyn holds a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano Performance from Western University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan. Her former teachers include Martin Katz and John Hess. Drawing on her extensive experience with art song, opera, and diction of several languages, Carolyn also works as a freelance vocal coach. 

A strong commitment to teaching and innovation led to the development of the unique Collaborative Piano/Guitar course series at the UofL, which gives undergraduate pianists and guitarists the opportunity to develop skills of high-level musical partnership with singers and other instrumentalists.  Deanna’s piano students have achieved success in a variety of music endeavours, including performance and musicology studies at masters and doctoral levels, collaborative pianist positions, piano competitions, and private and public school teaching, among many other career paths.  In addition to frequent master class teaching and adjudicating, she is often invited to give career talks to aspiring young musicians.  She is an enthusiastic advocate for music in interdisciplinary contexts, with special interest in helping her students make connections between piano performance and their other passions.     

Annie Martin’s practice traverses sound installation, drawing, painting, textile, performance and writing. Her work has been exhibited widely in Canada, and also internationally. Among her recent projects are collaborations with vocalists and composers that explore the space between sound and image (adoration, 2017 and Oh Death, 2020). Since 2004, she has led listening walks based on a sound walk practice shared by Hildegard Westerkamp, creating multiple iterations that seek to connect participants to specific environments through slow listening. Martin received her MFA from Concordia University, and lives and works in Lethbridge, Alberta, in the traditional territory of the Niitsitapi. She is an Associate Professor in Art at the University of Lethbridge.