Timothy Vernon Music Director

Orchestra London’s Music Director and Principal Conductor Maestro Timothy Vernon is a familiar figure on the podiums of Canada’s most important orchestras and opera companies. As Artistic Director of Pacific Opera Victoria Maestro Vernon has led over forty of its fifty productions including the first staged Canadian presentations of L’Amore Dei Tre Re and Weber’s Der Freischutz. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Madama Butterfly, Il Trovatore and the world premiere of Erewhon by Moore and Applebaum are just a few of the many accomplishments by Maestro Vernon.  For a complete biography on Maestro Vernon, click here.

Brian Jackson Principal Pops Conductor

Brian Jackson holds a Master of Arts in Music Theory, History and Composition from Oxford University. He began his conducting career after immigrating to Canada in 1968, becoming the country�s youngest Music Director when he led the Peterborough Symphony.  Maestro Jackson has since been Music Director of the International Symphony, the Kingston Symphony and Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor to Orchestra London Canada. 

Jackson is currently the Principal Pops Conductor for Orchestra London Canada, the Victoria Symphony and the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony.  An expert in choral music, he has been Music Director of the Victoria and Kingston Choral Societies. London Pro Musica won the CBC Choir of the Year Award under his leadership. Jackson also conducts opera, ballet, educational and young peoples� concerts. He has taught at Lakefield College School and lectured at Trent, Western, Concordia, McGill and Queen�s Universities. He is the only Canadian conductor who plays and directs concertos from the keyboard. 

This season celebrates Maestro Jackson�s 28th year with Orchestra London Canada. 

St�phane Potvin  Conductor in Residence and Chorus Master

St�phane Potvin, a native of Qu�bec, began his conducting journey in the early 1980's. After a few years of private studies, he moved to Montr�al where he continued his conducting studies and directed a number of ensembles, most notably the McGill Chamber Singers as assistant conductor. He and his groups were invited on several occasions to perform on television for CBC.

Since his arrival in Hamilton in 1995, Potvin�s conducting career has taken him across Canada, the United States and Europe. His work with his groups garnered him considerable attention from the press. He has made a memorable impression on the local and international music community and has established himself as an accomplished conductor. Striving to perfect his art, he has studied choral and orchestral conducting with teachers such as Frieder Bernius, Gustav Meyer, Otto-Werner Muller, Jorma Panula, Fred Stoltzfus and Timothy Vernon.

Mr. Potvin is currently Music Director of the Brampton Festival Singers and of the Oakville Chamber Orchestra, as well, Artistic Director of the Hamilton Camerata Chamber Orchestra, percussionist and guest conductor for Symphony Hamilton.

Mario Bernardi

Mario Bernardi, Principal Conductor of the CBC Vancouver Symphony since 1983 and Conductor Laureate of the Calgary Philharmonic, was born in Canada of Italian heritage. He received his early musical training in Italy at the Venice Conservatory, returned to his native Canada to complete studies at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, and went on to establish a considerable reputation as a pianist.
Bernardi made his operatic conducting debut in 1957 with the Canadian Opera Company�s production of Humperdinck�s Hansel and Gretel. Subsequent appearances in Canada led to an invitation in 1963 to conduct the Sadlers Wells Opera, where he was appointed Music Director in 1966. During this time, he made numerous guest appearances including debuts with the London Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic.
In 1969, Maestro Bernardi became the Music Director of the new National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, a position he held for thirteen seasons. In addition he was the Artistic Director of the National Arts Centre�s highly successful Summer Opera Festival which produced over twenty operas from 1971 to 1982.
In 1984, Maestro Bernardi became the Music Director of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held until 1992. During his tenure, the Calgary Philharmonic recorded a number of critically-acclaimed compact discs and rose to become one of the top orchestras in Canada. Maestro�s Bernardi�s guest conducting appearances take him throughout the world, and he continues to record with all major Canadian orchestras.
 

Jeff Christmas

Jeff Christmas is a London-based composer, arranger, conductor, drummer, percussionist and trumpeter. He studied at York University, the University of Western Ontario and Berklee College of Music, Boston, where he majored in Film Scoring and Composition.              

Jeff has an extensive background in many aspects of the music profession, including performance, direction and instruction. He has performed with several symphony orchestras across Canada and the United States, and has appeared artists such as Denny Doherty, The Rankin Sisters, Ashley McIsaac, J.P. Cormier, Michael Burgess, and Lenny Graf.  He recently conducted a Southwestern Ontario tour with Roger Hodgson (Supertramp).

In November 2004 he was musical director/arranger for the Opening of the MTS Center in Winnipeg where he conducted the WSO and guest artists Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Tom Cochrane and Chantal Kreviazuk. 

His musical theatre experience includes productions throughout Ontario at the Grand Theatre in London, Huron Country Playhouse, and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He has also spent numerous hours in the studio as a session player, producer, and conductor in Boston and throughout Ontario.         

Jeff's original compositions for a wide variety of ensembles are in demand internationally.  His music for the Opening Ceremonies of the Canada Games premiered on national television in the summer of 2001.  His most recent commissions include Bluewater Portrait for solo

David Hoyt

David Hoyt studied piano with Boris Roubakine, Karl Engel, and Alexandra Munn; French horn with Philip Farkas, Pierre del Vescovo, and Eugene Rittich; and conducting with Franco Maninno, Kurt Sanderling, and Pierre Boulez. He joined the Edmonton Symphony while a student at the University of Alberta, becoming principal horn in 1975. He also played horn with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the Chuck Mangione Band, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony as principal horn for several months, and with l�Orchestre Symphonique de Montr�al in Carnegie Hall.

David Hoyt began conducting professionally in 1982, becoming assistant conductor of the Edmonton Symphony in 1985 and of the Canadian Opera Company in 1991. He has been guest conductor with the Atlantic Symphony, Orchestra London, the Winnipeg Symphony, the Regina Symphony, the Saskatoon Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Edmonton Opera Company, Opera Nuova, the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, the Kamloops Orchestra, the Vancouver Island Orchestra (Nanaimo), and the Vancouver Symphony.

Hoyt�s long-standing association with The Banff Centre began in 1972, when he was a member of the summer festival orchestra. Since 1978, Hoyt has returned to the Centre annually as a visiting artist and faculty in the summer, fall, and winter sessions. David Hoyt spent ten years teaching horn at the University of Alberta, and has taught across the country at Festival Five Hundred (St. John�s), Scotia Festival (Halifax), Domaine Forget (Quebec), Les Concerts Bell (Montreal), International Music Camp (Toronto), Festival of the Sound, (Parry Sound), MusiCamrose (Alberta), Courtney Music (British Columbia), and others.

As the head of Education and Outreach at the Edmonton Symphony, David expanded the Symphony for Kids, Education Concerts, and Pops Series, and he founded the On the Edge Series and the very popular Symphony Under the Sky Festival. He became artistic director/executive director of Music & Sound at The Banff Centre in 2004.

Jeanne Lamon

Violinist Jeanne Lamon has devoted herself to the performance of Baroque and Classical music on period instruments since 1972, both as a soloist and, since 1981, as musical director of the Canadian-based chamber orchestra Tafelmusik. Critics in Europe and North America have recognized Lamon both for her virtuosity and her strong musical leadership, which has brought Tafelmusik international recognition as one of the best ensembles in its field. Her solo recordings of Vivaldi�s Four Seasons and Bach Violin Concertos with Tafelmusik have been widely praised.

Ms. Lamon has received numerous awards. Recent honours include the Prix Alliance from the Alliance Fran�aise, and the 1997 M. Joan Chalmers Award for Artistic Direction. In 1994 she received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from York University, and in 1999 she was awarded the prestigious Molson Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2000 Ms. Lamon was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in recognition of her exceptional achievements as Music Director of Tafelmusik.

Ms. Lamon regularly guest directs symphony orchestras across Canada. Recent engagements include the Vancouver Symphony, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and Symphony Nova Scotia. Ms. Lamon teaches at the University of Toronto and at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

In the course of his career, David Martin has been a trombonist with the Montreal Symphony and Orchestra London Canada.  Since he began conducting he has led orchestras in London, Calgary, Edmonton, Kitchener, Windsor and Thunder Bay.  In past seasons, he arranged and conducted the Orchestra London Pops show "Glenn, Tommy, and Jack" - a salute to the great trombonists and band leaders of the Swing Era.  Dave is a busy freelance trombonist who dearly loves to play jazz.  He lives in Montreal with his trombone-playing wife Vivian, and his two lively children, Erica and Travis.

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1955, Scott Macmillan is recognized as one of Canada�s leading musicians.  Equally at home on the podium, in the studio or behind a guitar, Macmillan is in great demand as a music director, performer, conductor, arranger and producer, and he has played an integral role in widening the audience for the music of Atlantic Canada both nationally and internationally.

Macmillan is well known for his work with Symphony Nova Scotia (SNS), with whom he has been Host Conductor of the Mostly Maritime Pops Series since 1995.  For SNS he has created shows with such top Atlantic Canadian artists as Natalie MacMaster, Rita MacNeil, Raylene Rankin, J. P. Cormier, and others.

His work with Atlantic artists has led to conducting and programming engagements with other major orchestras, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Winnipeg Symphony and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. His musical collaborations have contributed significantly to the exploding Atlantic pop music scene since the mid-l980's.

In 2001 Macmillan created a new work for orchestra, bagpipes and tin whistles entitled MacKinnon's Brook Suite, which captured the immigrant story of Scottish settlers to Cape Breton.  Recorded with SNS and soloist Ian McKinnon, this work won the 2002 East Coast Music Award (ECMA) for Best Classical Recording, and premiered as a television special on CBC's Opening Night in January of 2003.

Ivars Taurins

Ivars Taurins conducts symphonic and choral repertoire with equal expertise. Founder and director of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir since 1981, he was also principal violist of the Tafelmusik Orchestra for its first 23 years. Under his direction the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir has been widely praised for its clarity and brilliance, and in 1991 was awarded the Canada Council�s Healey Willan Prize.

Taurins is Principal Baroque Conductor of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also active as a guest conductor with orchestras and choirs across Canada. Recent conducting engagements include guest appearances with Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Saskatoon and Windsor Symphonies, Orchestra London, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Symphony Nova Scotia, Symphony New Brunswick, Pro Coro (Edmonton), the Elora Festival Singers, the Amabile Youth Choir, and Lyra Baroque Orchestra (Minneapolis).

Though an advocate of period performance practices, Mr. Taurins does not limit his work to period instrument ensembles, or his repertoire to earlier centuries. He succeeds in bringing new life to �familiar� works through his conviction that the vitality of a historically informed performance is the key to understanding the musical languages of different ages, whether with period or modern instruments.

A passionate lecturer and teacher, Mr. Taurins teaches conducting and vocal ensembles at the University of Toronto. He is in demand as a guest lecturer, adjudicator and clinician and has been a guest teacher at the Universit� de Sherbrooke in Quebec, the University of Western Ontario, and at the University of Alberta. Mr. Taurins is director of the vocal/choral programme at the annual Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute.

Alain Trudel

For almost 20 years, since the age of 19, Alain Trudel has been known as one of the most remarkable solo trombonists in the world. He has performed with over 100 orchestras and in festivals from Tasmania to the Arctic Circle, from Tokyo and Hong Kong to Mexico, New York, Paris and Warsaw.

Over the past few years Trudel has also established himself as a singularly exciting orchestral conductor. He is equally at home with top professional orchestras as he is with student formations and as much a master of the Classical and Romantic repertoire as of the Avant-Garde and Jazz.

Trudel has been invited, and re-invited, to conduct by many orchestras and musical training programs including the Toronto Symphony, the Orchestra Metropolitain du  Grand Montr�al,  the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, the Windsor Symphony, Orchestra London, the Banff Centre, the Scotia Festival, the Glenn Gould School,  the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Saskatoon Symphony, the Brass Band of Battlecreek, the Tokyo Metropolitan Chamber  Orchestra, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong and the Orquesta Sinf�nica Nacional de Guatemala  in an all Beethoven program at the Bravissimo festival in Guatemala City.

In 2004, Trudel was named Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, leading rehearsals, developing programming, holding auditions, and conducting the orchestra. 

His recordings as conductor include a Naxos release of classical trombone concerti with the Northern Sinfonia (with Trudel also as trombone soloist) and on Warner Classics with the Sanctuary Strings on �The Heart has its Reasons��

Mitchell Tyler, a London resident, is an Honours Bachelor of Music (Theory and Composition) graduate of the University of Western Ontario and has been a professional musician since 1987. As a freelance electric and upright bassist he has done everything from theatre and symphony work to session and club dates.

As a long-time member of the Jeans �n Classics Band, Mitchell has worked with many orchestras in Canada as well as in the United States. He has shared the stage with Lawrence Gownan (Styx), Rik Emmett (Triumph), Alan Frew (Glass Tiger), Brian Vollmer (Helix), Kenny McLean (Platinum Blonde) as well as Amy Skye, Rich Little, Joan Rivers, Mickey Rooney and Donald O�Connor. Recent theatre work includes �Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat� with Huron County Playhouse and �Little Shop of Horrors�, �My Way� and �Jazzabel� at the Grand Theatre.

Mitchell also operates a small print music publishing business and is kept busy working as an arranger and music copyist. He has conducted the Jeans �n Classics Orchestra on a number of occasions and most recently conducted the International Symphony Orchestra of Sarnia/Port Huron in an evening of �The Music of Elvis.�

Conductor and pianist Lorraine Vaillancourt has served as the artistic director of Montreal�s Nouvel Ensemble Moderne since it�s foundation in 1989.

In addition to her work with NEM, she has performed regularly with several ensembles internationally for the past thirty years. Her recent work with Les Percussions de Strasbourg was enthusiastically received by the critics. She has been responsible for many premieres both as a pianist and as a conductor.

A founding member of Les �v�nements du Neuf (1978-1989), she has been conducting the Atelier de musique contemporaine at the Faculty of Music of Universit� de Montr�al since 1974.
Ms. Vaillancourt was recently appointed to the Board of Directors at the Conseil des arts et des letters du Qu�bec. She also contributed to the founding of Circuit, revue nord-am�ricaine de musique du 20e si�cle.