Music Director
Founder, Music Director, Trombonist
Dr. James Bicigo
James Bicigo has had a long and varied career in music education, conducting, composing,and low brass performance. James performs with a number of groups throughout Alberta including the Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra, Trio Brio, and the Red Deer Chamber Players. He has also performed with the Red Deer Symphony, the Calgary Jazz Orchestra, and the Foothills Brass. Bicigo earned the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Trombone Performance from MichiganState University. He now teaches music at Burman University and Lindsey Thurber Highschool and is active as a composer and arranger.
Strings
Concertmaster
Heather Ensley
A doctoral candidate at the University of Oklahoma, Heather is a chamber musician, recitalist, and violin teacher. She has also directed the Red Deer Youth and Community Orchestra since 2016. Heather was the recipient of the Gold Medal for Academic Achievement upon earning her MMus in Performance and Literature from Brandon University. She also holds a BA in Music from Burman University. Some of her favorite hours are spent reading Japanese manga, watching anime, or running Alberta's back roads.
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Viola
Eduardo Sola
Eduardo Solá (Chagas Lima) is Assistant Professor of Music at Burman University. He holds a PhD from Andrews University, an M.A. from the University of Toronto, and B.Mus. degrees from the prestigious Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag (The Netherlands) and Paraná State University (Brazil). He has worked as a concert violinist and violist throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Dr. Sola has several scholarly publications and appears internationally as a speaker at research conferences. www.eduardosola.com www.burmanu.ca/directory/eduardo-sola
Viola
Susanna Duhamel
Susanna Duhamel graduated from the University of Ottawa Bachelor of Music program in 2020. In 2017, she received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to perform chamber music at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy. In 2018 and 2019 she took part in the NAC Orchestra’s Institute for Orchestral Studies in Ottawa. When Susanna is not performing or teaching music, she is busy taking care of her two young toddlers and hiking in the mountains near her home.
Cello
Josh Flynn
A carpenter by day and a cellist by night, Josh Flynn holds both a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Burman University and a Journeyman Red Seal Carpentry Certificate from Red Deer College. He is a lead hand carpenter at Clark Builders. Josh also enjoys lending his musical expertise to local groups when he can, including the Red Deer Youth and Community Orchestra. But what he enjoys most is computer gaming and playing Dungeons and Dragons!
Yasugo Kawano - Violin
Greicy Perez - Viola
Analissa Kobassa - Bass
Woodwind
Flute/Piccolo
Val Sherman
Val Sherman has been playing the flute for over 60 years. She graduated in 1973 from the University ofSouthern California with a degree in music education and has been teaching young instrumentalists since. Val has worked as a flute clinician and adjudicator throughout Alberta and actively writes and arranges solos and ensembles, as well as music for young bands. Val currently enjoys performing with Trio Brio and the Central Alberta Chamber Orchestra, and directing the Tuesday Night Community Band. She and her husband Steve reside in Red Deer, and have been happily making a career in music together for over 50 years.
Flute
Calista Lonsdale-Pangle
Calista has been teaching middle school band and elementary music at GH Dawe in Red Deer since 2016. She graduated from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance followed by a Bachelor of Education with Distinction. She is also a proud alumna of the Red Deer College Music Diploma program. Calista has been working with the Royals in various positions since 2016, including Woodwind Instructor, Full Ensemble Instructor, and currently as Director. She is a product of “Once a Royal, Always a Royal”, having been a member for seven years before attending post-secondary. Her previous experiences include serving as the Music Program Educator with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, instructing children grades 3-5 in the Music Plus Explorers after school program. She has also worked as a clinician and private instructor through the University of Lethbridge Conservatory of Music, and performed for several seasons as a member of the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra. Calista and her husband Paul enjoy spending time outdoors with their greyhound Samson, and traveling together to places near and far.
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Clarinet
Joyce Howdle
Joyce Howdle completed her ARCT (Toronto) and then her Licentiate Degree from Trinity College, London, England in clarinet performance before attending the University of Calgary. After completing her music degree, Joyce taught school music and then moved to Red Deer where she was the Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator with the School of Continuing Education at Red Deer College. Recently retired, Joyce coordinates the Alberta Band Association Provincial Festival of Bands as well as the Alberta Honour Bands. She is a member of Trio Brio and maintains an active clinic, workshop, and adjudication schedule.
Oboe
Melody McKnight
Melody McKnight holds a Master of Music degree in Music Performance on Oboe from the University of Calgary and a BMus in oboe performance from Brandon University. She has performed as co-principal oboe with the Red Deer Symphony since 1997 and as an extra with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. She is currently a board member of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and is an active teacher, clinician, and performer.
Clarinet
Diana Bushell
Diana received her Bachelor of Music in clarinet performance from the University of Lethbridge and Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta. She has been teaching elementary music and middle school band in Innisfail since 2005. Musical pursuits of hers include playing with the Central Alberta Chamber Orchestra, Monday Night Community Band in Red Deer, Red Deer Polka Dots, teaching clinics for schools in Central Alberta, and performing piano with the worship team at her church. In her free time, Diana enjoys hiking, kayaking, traveling, and just spending time with her husband and three sons.
Bassoon
Shannon Machtans
Shannon Machtans holds a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance, with distinction, from Burman University. Shannon began her MA in Musicology at the University of Alberta in September 2021, where she discovered her passion for psychology and neurology research and became fascinated with how music affects the brain. She is currently in the final classes of her Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (2024). In her spare time, she can usually be found digging in the dirt tending to her gardens and greenhouse or messing around in her art studio loudly singing to Stevie Wonder, Elton John, or The Grateful Dead.
Saxophone
Ian Warwick
A native of Prince Edward Island, Ian Warwick had a restless youth and travelled across Canada studying saxophone, clarinet and voice at four different universities and two colleges, before finally graduating with a BA in music and a graduate diploma in the Kodaly concept of music education from the University of Calgary. His choral and wind ensemble performances have taken him across Canada and throughout Europe. Ian worked as concert manager and director of fund development at the University of Calgary for 18 years before settling with his family in Red Deer in 2007, where he now serves as executive director of Sunnybrook Farm Museum
Saxophone
Harold Aitken
Harold has been involved with community bands for the past 45+ years. He retired from a career with Manitoba Health Care and moved to Red Deer in 2011 where he is still active in numerous community bands. Prior to that, he had been the director of the Community concert and jazz bands in Dauphin Manitoba. He and his wife, Jean, enjoy traveling and putting miles on their motorcycle whenever they can as well as dog sitting their two grandpuppies, Molly and Reba.
Brass
Horn
Louise McMurray
Louise McMurray earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance, from the University of Western Ontario. She continued graduate studies at the Banff Centre, Royal Conservatory in Toronto, and the Guildhall School of Music in London, England. During her studies in England, Louise played horn with a brass quintet touring Israel, and an octet that performed for Queen Elizabeth II aboard the Royal Yacht. Louise has worked as a freelance horn player in Alberta, Ontario, Rochester NY, and won a position as Associate Principal Horn with the Lexington Kentucky Philharmonic. Since her return to Canada, Louise has performed with a number of professional groups in Alberta, and is a founding member and player of the Central Alberta Chamber Players and the Central Alberta Chamber Orchestra in Red Deer. Louise continues to work in Alberta as a horn clinician, freelance performer, studio teacher, and faculty horn instructor at Music Camp Alberta. In her free time she enjoys playing Alphorn, which her partner Adam Newman built, and exploring the Alberta Rocky Mountains.
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Trumpet
Karen Gustafson
Dr. Karen Gustafson, a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, currently resides in Red Deer with her husband and several furry family members, where she enjoys camping and spending time gardening. She is currently teaching at Burman University. Areas of specialty include trumpet performance and pedagogy, conducting, the study of women in music history, and music business. Dr. Gustafson holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, an MMus degree from Northwestern University, a BMus degree from the University of Victoria, and a diploma in Orchestra Performance from The Royal Conservatory-Toronto.
Trumpet
Steve Sherman
Steve Sherman began his musical career in elementary school in Grade 3 and started playing professionally in various groups as early as Junior High School. He has studied trumpet with James Stamp (principal trumpet with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra), Irving Bush (principal trumpet with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra), and Tom Scott (Studio/TV musician in Los Angeles). Steve graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Music Education and has been teaching students ever since. He was the director of the Innisfail Instrumental Music Program, and then accepted a full-time position at Red Deer College, where he remained until his retirement. Steve has been a freelance musician for over 50 years. He also played with the Red Deer Symphony, and continues to perform regularly throughout Alberta.
Trombone
Laurie Shapka
Laurie Shapka obtained a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Alberta in 1999. She followed this up with a Bachelor of Education degree in 2001. She has taught middle school band and French in Red Deer for over two decades. She enjoys taking part in different music projects in genres ranging from musical theatre to classical, folk, jazz, and rock. Laurie spends her free time traveling, geocaching, playing bridge, gardening, and volunteering with animal rescue.
Tim Brehaut - Bass Trombone, Tuba
Percussion
Percussion
Chris Bushell
Chris is a well-accomplished percussionist, playing everything from timpani to marimba. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Lethbridge under the instruction of Dr. Linda Pimentel, as well as his Bachelor of Education. Since 2001 he has been teaching music and band for Chinook’s Edge School Division, choosing Innisfail to be settled in with his wife and children since 2005. Chris enjoys playing with the Red Deer Polka Dots, Monday Night Community Band, Central Alberta Chamber Orchestra, and any other performing opportunities that come his way. He is an avid book, movie and soundtrack fan, especially Lord of the Rings!
Percussion
Steven Wheeler
Steven Wheeler has performed music since he was a young kid. Growing up in a musical family, he was surrounded by music. This led him to studying Music Performance at Red Deer College (now Red Deer Polytechnic) as well as Music and Recording Arts in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Steven has played music coast to coast in Canada, and is currently teaching music to youth of all ages as a clinician, and also taught music to adults with disabilities. He also plays with the Monday Night Community Band and has helped other groups as a substitute percussionist. When he is not playing music, Steven likes to hang out at home with his wife and his two cats.
Piano
Piano
Annette Poirier Bradley
Annette Poirier-Bradley completed her extensive music study while residing in Calgary, Alberta. Upon completion of her Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (ARCT) and the Associate of the Mount Royal Conservatory of Calgary (AMRC), both in Piano Performance, she went on to receive her Bachelor of Education majoring in Elementary Music at the University of Calgary. Her sound musical ability, pedagogy and musical interpretation are to be attributed to her accomplished piano teachers Janice Milevic/Thoreson and Charles Foreman as well as studying flute under the direction of Dave Edgar, also of Calgary. She later completed various post-graduate studies including her Master of Education majoring on music from the University of Alberta and earned a Diploma of Fine Arts in Kodaly Methodology at the University of Calgary as well as both Level I and II of Orff-Schulwerk at the University of Alberta. Annette’s musical experience ranges from teaching private piano lessons for the past 42 years, directing award winning choirs and bands, to teaching classroom music, junior high band and high school choral music in both schools and at the university level. She has experience being a professional accompanist for solo and ensemble groups, for ballet classes and musical theatre as well as being a guest pianist and flautist on occasion. Annette’s piano students have done exceptionally well over the years and have earned various scholarships and awards for the highest marks in examinations and music festivals including students that have played at Carnegie Hall and have gone on to do music undergrad and post-graduate work. Working with kindergarten-aged beginners to students completing their Grade 10 and ARCT Diploma, she comes with vast experience working with pianists of all levels. She has just celebrated her 39th year of membership and has held various positions with the Alberta Registered Music Teacher’s Association (ARMTA). She was on the faculty at Red Deer College between 2000 and 2012 instructing in Music Department at the Red Deer College where her subjects of instruction vary from university transferable courses in elementary school music education, where she uses primarily Kodaly and Orff methodology, to courses in theory, history, aural skills, ensembles, and piano lessons. After 35 years of classroom teaching, she has recently retired from that so that she can be more flexible in her private music studio and more available to examine with the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), director the Red Deer Children’s Choir and adjudicating music festivals in her spare time. She enjoys spending time with her family, her grandchild, her pets and her husband of 34 years.
Cheryl Cooney
Audrey Graham
Voice
Voice
Sharon Braun
Sharon Braun has performed on the concert stage with a wide ranging repertory. She has been a member the Edmonton and Calgary Opera choruses and performed with Theatre Calgary and the Calgary Theatre Singers. Sharon studied and performed in Argentina where she gave extensive concert tours and performed at the prestigious Teatro Colon. She has been a frequent guest soloist with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra and has performed with Alberta’s professional song and dance troupe Kompany!. She debuted Cheryl Cooney’s “Chansons” in the world premiere performance with the RDSO and recorded the piece with the Kiev Symphony Orchestra.
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Voice
Dr. Danica Hoffart
Dr. Danica Hoffart is a singer, conductor, musical director, educator, and adjudicator. She currently directs the Ross Street Singers in Red Deer, AB. For over two decades, Danica has taught post-secondary Music and Theatre including private voice lessons, choir, singing for the stage, music history, and ear training. She has performed with Kompany! Dance and has been a soprano soloist with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra. Danica holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Arts in Music from the University of Alberta, and a PhD in Music from the University of Calgary.