VOL. 66 NO. 10
The Paper That ’s Going Places!
MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013
Wendy Brook Music Festival in 34th year
Wendy Brook Adjudicator Gillian Brinston
Wendy Brook Adjudicator Dennis Rusinak
Wendy Brook Adjudicator Judith Richardson
Wendy Brook Adjudicator Tom Johnson
Caroline Knowles Submitted Each year brings some new and some familiar adjudicators to the Wendy Brook Music Festival. The 34th festival is no exception. This year the Strings adjudicator, Tom Johnson, the Band adjudicator, Dennis Rusinak and Judith Richardson, Speech Arts, are all firsttime visitors to the Festival. While Ksenia Maryniak comes for the second time to adjudicate the Ukrainian language entries, Gillian Brinston Kurschat, one of the clinicians in last year’s Wendy Brook Vocal Workshop, will adjudicate the Vocal Music classes. And, adjudicating Piano, is Donna Noton, who is welcomed back after several visits in the past. Tom Johnson studied violin with the renowned teachers Ivan Galamian and Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Before moving to Edmonton, he played with the Winnipeg Symphony, the Vaghy String Quartet and the Portland Symphony in Maine. He was a member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 2005 and he served as Orchestra Personnel Manager from 1980 to 1999. Tom has also performed with various chamber groups and appeared on many television and radio programs. He is a well known Edmonton violin teacher and adjudicator and is married to violinist Mary Johnson. Judith Richardson holds a B. Mus. degree from the University of Alberta, an Associate of Music from Western Board of Music and Higher Diploma in Opera / Theatre from Pretoria in South Africa. She has performed recently as a soloist with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble and the Lethbridge and Red Deer Symphonies. She has sung
in many concerts in Edmonton including Piano Plus, the Gershwin Show and Night Music: Song and Dance with Jeremy Spurgeon, John Mahon and Christina Tozer as well as recitals at Convocation Hall with Janet Hoyt and Tammy - Jo Mortensen. Judith has also done numerous concerts in the UK including St.Martin in the Fields, Farnham Castle, University of Birmingham, and the Cambridge and Dartington Festivals. Recent solo concerts include the Vivaldi Gloria, Poulenc Gloria, Pergolesi Stabat Mater and Mozart Laudate Dominum. Upcoming concerts include the St. Cecilia Mass and the Duruf le Requiem. She is a frequent adjudicator and master class clinician most recently in Whitehorse, Yukon and Fort MacMurray and has recently joined the staff of the Strathcona Conservatory of Music and teaches Voice, Piano, Speech and Music Appreciation. Judith is the Vice- President of the Edmonton Chapter for NATS and has started training in the Feldenkreis Method. Judith is also a speech coach and holds regular speech classes and workshops. She will be giving a speech workshop to Storytellers in Victoria in the spring. Dennis Rusinak is a native of Flin Flon, Manitoba where the public schools’ music programs initiated him to the world of instrumental music. His musical experiences began on the bassoon and saxophone and inspired a lifelong career. After high school graduation, he left for southern California to pursue studies at Westlake College of Music, Glendale City College and California State University at Los Angeles. With a B. Mus Education degree, Mr. Rusinak
returned to Canada and took up a posting with the Wetaskiwin (Alberta) School District where he taught instrumental and choral music from 1967 to 1997 For 10 summers, he served in various capacities including that of Assistant Director and Director with the Alberta Government’s summer music program (MUSICAMROSE), an intensive study and performing opportunity for young musicians. From 1975 to 1980, he was loaned to the Canadian Forces Overseas Education Service to teach at CFB Lahr in southern Germany. Summers were spent in further study at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and the University of Reading, England. In 1989 the University of Victoria awarded him a Master’s Degree in Music Education. Retiring from full time teaching in 1997 afforded Mr. Rusinak the opportunity to share his experiences as consultant, adjudicator, guest conductor, clinician, and performer taking him north to Yellowknife, south to San Diego, and throughout western and Atlantic Canada. He now serves as woodwind instructor with the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus. As performer, Mr. Rusinak has enjoyed guest appearances with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and
regular duties with the River City Big Band, The Trocadero Orchestra, The Riverbend Saxophone Quartet and CBC session with The Alberta Licorice Control Board clarinet choir. The Festival begins Monday March 11, and schedule booklets are available at Medicine Shoppe and Vegreville Natural Health and at festival venues. For more information call Caroline at 780 632 6510.
Spaghetti supper maps out trip to Newfoundland See page 3 for story
Last call for bingo hall See page 14 for story
Speaking in Class presented by A.L Horton School See page 22 for story