ADJUDICATORS BIOGRAPHIES - 2010
PETER STIGINGS - Bands
Peter Stigings, B.Ed., M.Ed., has been involved in Music Education for 45 years. He has taught at elementary, secondary and post secondary levels. He has served as an adjudicator, conductor, evaluator and workshop clinician throughout Canada, USA and Hong Kong. He has directed bands, choirs, orchestras and jazz ensembles and is known as a master teacher. His ensembles have toured extensively throughout Canada, as well as the USA, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, England, Hong Kong, Macau, Hawaii and Japan. In 1999, he was awarded the prestigious Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence. At the present time he is the Musical Director and Conductor of "A Little Night Music Orchestra", a 70-piece community orchestra and Faculty Advisor for the University of British Columbia and University of Victoria. He can be contacted by email at: stigings@interchange.ubc.ca or phone 604-261-6891
SHARON STANIS - Strings
Sharon Stanis has a multi-faceted career as a chamber musician, soloist, and educator. As a co-founder of the Lafayette String Quartet, she has toured extensively in North America and Europe. The quartet garnered prizes from the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and the Portsmouth (England) International String Quartet Competition.
Ms. Stanis has appeared as soloist with the Victoria Symphony and the Palm Court Orchestra; and has served as concertmaster of the Victoria Symphony in the Summer Festival Series. At Basses Loaded IV, Ms. Stanis performed the Bottesini Grand Duo with Gary Karr. In addition to being a member of the Galiano and Aventa Ensembles, she is a frequent guest artist on the Eine Kleine Summer Music Series.
A dedicated and enthusiastic teacher, Ms. Stanis is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Victoria, where she teaches violin and coaches chamber music. She adjudicates numerous festivals across Canada, enjoys giving master classes throughout North America, and has coached the violinists of the Victoria Youth Orchestra. She served as an associate instructor in the music history department at Indiana University.
Before coming to Victoria, Ms. Stanis was a member of the Renaissance City Chamber Players, and on faculty at Oakland University and The Institute of Music and Dance in Detroit.
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Ms. Stanis studied with Linda and David Cerone, Gary Kosloski, Henryk Kowalski, and Peter Salaff. She received her BM and MM from Indiana University, where she coached with Rostislav Dubinsky who was integral in the formation of the Lafayette String Quartet. Other coaches include members of the Cleveland, Alban Berg, and Amadeus Quartets.
In addition to the eight compact discs recorded with the Lafayette Quartet, Ms. Stanis has recorded the Murray Adaskin Second Violin Sonata, the John Mills-Cockell Concerto of Deliverance, and the soundtrack of Criminal Acts by Tobin Stokes. She is the violinist in the theme music from the television show Bob and Margaret, composed by Patrick Godfrey.
YVETTE ROWLEDGE - Junior Piano
Yvette Rowledge graduated with distinction from the University of Victoria School of Music and holds diplomas from the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto (ARCT), the Victoria Conservatory of Music (AVCM), and Camosun College (Associate of Arts Diploma in music). Her tutors have included Dr. Robin Wood, Winifred Scott Wood and Dr. Gordana Lazarevich.
Yvette has adjudicated many music Festivals throughout BC and Alberta and is a member of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association. She is a former faculty member of the Langley Community Music School, the Victoria Conservatory and the Douglas College Conservatory.
She has examined for The London College of Music and Media (England) and convened the South Fraser Music Festival through its 50th Anniversary. Yvette enjoys giving Master Classes, and has a studio in Surrey.
SYLVIA SHADICK-TAYLOR – Senior Piano
Pianist Sylvia Shadick-Taylor is a superb Canadian soloist and chamber musician whose interpretations reflect an intense examination of a composer's music and identity.
Sylvia has performed as soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Winspear Chamber Orchestra as well as in recital. As an Ambassador of the Canadian Music Centre, these recitals frequently feature contemporary Canadian music. She has toured in Japan, Thailand, Germany, USA and Canada, including a performance at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in NYC with Hungarian/Canadian violinist Nándor Szederkényi.
As a chamber musician she has performed with many ensembles including SPECTRUM, the Clarion Trio and Ivory Winds. As an accompanist she spans opera classics to demanding contemporary concert repertoire, her work often being heard on CBC Radio.
Ms. Shadick-Taylor holds a B.Mus. cum laude from the University of Alberta, Licentiate and Associate Diplomas, and has studied in Banff, Aspen, New York and Salzburg, Austria. Sylvia works as a private teacher, vocal coach, adjudicator and clinician, and has worked for the University of Alberta, Edmonton Opera, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Alberta College and Pro Coro Canada.
Sylvia has released three CDs on the Arktos label: Caprice; Intimate Impressions (winner of the 2000 Alberta Recording Industry Award for Best Classical Artist); and At Your Service, which focuses on the art of accompanying. She can also be heard on several other CDs, including Northern Arch, soundland alberta and Lucida
ERICA NORTHCOTT - VOCAL/CHORAL
Italian born, Canadian soprano Erica Northcott has earned a uniquely active performing career in choral, early music, oratorio, opera, operetta and contemporary music. On the concert stage Miss Northcott has performed in North and South America, Europe and Japan. In addition to being a favourite soloist with orchestras (Vancouver, Montreal, Victoria, CBC) and choral societies, she is a seasoned recitalist and occasional commercial jingle singer.
She has been the recipient of many awards in national and international competitions including the Montreal International Music Competition.
Miss Northcott’s silvery timbre and interpretive powers have earned high praise from audiences and critics on many continents as well as the high seas with World Explorer Cruises and as instructor and singer with the Societa Dante Alighieri in Mondavio, Italy. She has premiered many Canadian works by such composers as Imant Raminsh, Rodney Sharman, Mark Armanini and Elliot Weisgarber on whose CD Divine Immanences she is the featured soloist. Her graceful musicianship has gained her respect as an artist, most recently in the premiere of the chamber opera Elizabeth Margaret by Bruce Johnson in Kamloops and as feature soloist for Aura Chamber Choir 30th anniversary celebration in Vernon.
A graduate of UBC, Miss Northcott is faculty of the Music Department of Douglas College in New Westminster. In demand as an adjudicator she has adjudicated for the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions and extensively throughout B.C. A member of NATS and BCRMTA, she also teaches privately and leads workshops.