What's Your Forte?

Dan Austin has taught instrumental and vocal music for 21 years and is currently the Instrumental Music Teacher and Band Director at Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI). He is one of the only high school music directors in Canada to conduct an ensemble to a gold medal in every division of Musicfest Canada - Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Choir and Strings/Orchestra. A graduate of York Univers...

Steve Butterworth joins for episode 6 of Season 3 of What’s Your Forte! Steve is a music industry professional with an extensive background in music education, performance and business leadership in marketing. His education includes Jazz Studies at Humber College and a B.A in Music from McMaster University where he studied conducting and music education. Steve served with the Naval Reserve Band at...

Our fifth episode of What’s Your Forte Season 3 is out! Our guest is  Evan Teti, a drummer and Band Camp alumnus. Evan has been playing drums for 12 years and is in grade 12 at Oakville Trafalgar High School, where he is a member of the school jazz band. He’s also a member of the audition-only High Rendition Jazz Band . He loves producing music using programs like Logic Pro and learning to pl...

Join us for an Interview Series premiere featuring Bill and Shana Bates, co-owners of KAOS Music Centre! KAOS Music is both a music store and school with locations in Etobicoke and Oakville, Ontario. Bill started the business in 1989 and it has evolved into a first-class music equipment store and one of the west end’s most successful music schools. Along the way, he met his wife Shana, who has hel...

The Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra (OSYO), a youth award winning orchestral ensemble, joins us for an Interview Series premiere! Executive director Alan Montgomery and current members Dania and Jens talk about the ensemble and the musical opportunities it provides. More about Bandology - bandology.ca   Instagram: instagram.com/BandologyC A   Facebook: facebook.com/BandologyCA  

The Burlington Teen Tour Band, a youth award winning marching band, joins us for an Interview Series premiere! Managing director Rob Bennett and past/current members Luke and Grace talk about the ensemble and the musical opportunities it provides. More about Bandology - bandology.ca   Instagram: instagram.com/BandologyC A   Facebook: facebook.com/BandologyCA  

Tricia Howe joins us for an Interview Series premiere!   Tricia Howe has worked with music educators and organizations across North America for over 20 years and is the Regional Manager of Educational Services for the Prairies with Long & McQuade Musical Instruments. She has presented at conferences and universities across Canada on building musical communities and repertoire selecti...

Winnipeg-based British composer Peter Meechan's music has been extensively performed throughout the world. His music has been commissioned, recorded, broadcast and performed by some of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, wind orchestras, brass bands, conductors and soloists, including the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.   Meechan’s music is featured on over 130...

Rajaei Qubrosi is a cybersecurity analyst and musician based in Kitchener-Waterloo. With a background in health science, he recently moved into the financial sector, all while making music in his free time. He is the lead singer of the band Adult Recreation Centre, has sung in community choirs and studied violin for many years. Bandology is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to more music for more ki...

Emily Wood is a musician and PhD student at McMaster's Institute for Music and the Mind. Emily shares info about the lab, its research and the value of music in all of our lives. Bandology is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to more music for more kids via education, collaboration and community. You can find out more about this series and our organization at bandology.ca which features info about r...

Neil Yorke-Slader is the Associate Director and Chair of the Instrumental Jazz Division of MusicFest Canada. He taught music at the elementary and secondary levels for 17 years and has been the director of the nationally acclaimed Nepean All-City Jazz Band for 34 years. He is active as a jazz adjudicator and clinician throughout North America, and has published over 50 compositions for jazz ensemb...

Rubix is a Filipino-Canadian hip hop artist known for his poetically cultured approach to the craft. He is a well versed rapper, song writer, producer, host and b-boy. When he’s not shaking a live crowd with his head-bopping rhymes, he is educating youth on how the passion for hip hop can give them confidence to express themselves and become impactful leaders and individuals. A role model to many,...

Brian Vincent is an educator at the International Community School in Addis Ababa and the former director of bands at T. A. Blakelock High School. Learn more about Brian's music journey and experiences that brought him to where he is today.  Bandology is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to more music for more kids via education, collaboration and community. You can find out more about this ser...

Guy Few is a Canadian multi-instrumentist who has performed with many Canadian and United States symphonies as a trumpet, piano, corno and vocal soloist. Learn about his music journey and experiences that brought him to where he is today.  Bandology is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to more music for more kids via education, collaboration and community. You can find out more about this serie...

Dr. Jessica Kun is the conductor and artistic director of the Richmond Hill Philharmonic Orchestra and an associate professor of music at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she teaches courses in conducting, orchestration and conducts the Wilfrid Laurier University Wind Orchestra. Learn more about Dr. Kun's music journey and experiences that brought her to where she is today. Bandology is a Canadia...

Francis Smith is the fifth ever Musical Director of the Burlington Teen Tour Band, Canada's oldest and largest youth marching band. Learn more about Francis' music journey and experiences that brought him to where he is today, including the Stevie Wonder concert that led him to his first teaching position. Bandology is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to more music for more kids via education, coll...

Cait Nishimura is a Canadian composer, songwriter and music educator based in Toronto. She has quickly established herself as a prominent voice in the concert band community. Learn  about Cait's musical journey and experiences within the Canadian music education and composing world.    Bandology is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to more music for more kids via education, collaborat...

David Lum is a Canadian music educator and conductor.  Learn more about the ins and outs of a music teacher's career and David's own experiences with Agincourt Collegiate, Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra, the Ontario Band Association Awards and Scholarships Committee and more! Bandology is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to more music for more kids via education, collaboration and community. You...

Ryan Meeboer is a music educator and composer. He has written and arranged many pieces for concert band, jazz band and small ensembles. His young band pieces, including 'Last Voyage of the Queen Anne's Revenge' and 'Through the Eye of the Storm', have been well received by performers, educators and audiences. Some of his pieces have been found on festival syllabuses. Learn more about Ryan's experi...

Leslie Ashworth is a Canadian violinist, violist, pianist and composer. She has performed for audiences in Canada, the United States, France and Italy. Leslie is also the founder and director of the Suite Melody Care program, which involves talented, young musicians giving back to their community by sharing themed, interactive performances in local hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes in...

Ramera Abraham is a London-based vocal producer, sound engineer, songwriter, drummer and vocalist. Listen as Ramera discusses the world of music production and sound engineering.   Bandology is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to more music for more kids via education, collaboration and community. You can find out more about this series and our organization at bandology.ca which features info...

Dr. Kathryn Ladano, an award-winning Canadian bass clarinet player from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. She has recorded three albums and has performed across Canada and internationally. She teaches improvisation at Wilfrid Laurier University and is the Artistic Director of NUMUS which is one of Canada’s foremost new music organizations based out of Kitchener-Waterloo. Listen to this episode to hear...

Dylan Rook Maddix is host of The Band Room Podcast and a professor of music at Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario, where he conducts the wind ensemble, teaches music theory and serves as the Head of Winds and Brass. He also teaches conducting at Laurentian University and maintains an active career as a sought-after adjudicator, clinician, conductor and performer across Canada.   Bandology i...