Richard Hornsby is an active performer, educator, arts administrator and arts advocate. His varied activities have had a positive effect on the development of the arts in New Brunswick and throughout Canada. His professional life and his volunteer work have enriched the lives of the people of New Brunswick and he continues to work for the betterment of the arts and the artist.
Professionally, he has performed with the Toronto Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and New Music Concerts of Canada as well as frequently recording for C.B.C. Radio of Canada. He continues performing as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. He is a member of New Brunswick’s new music ensemble, Motion which has recently toured throughout much of Canada and performed in New York City.
He has also served on the faculties of the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), the University of Toronto, and St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada. Currently he is Director of Music at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.
Since coming to New Brunswick he has been the founder and Director of the UNB Music Camp, founder and President of Musical Ventures Inc, and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival. He also started the UNB Music Conservatory, a community music program at UNB.
Richard is currently president of the Cultural Human Resources Council of Canada and was a founding member of the Fredericton Arts Alliance. Recently he was voted onto the board of MusicNB, the New Brunswick music industry association.
He is passionate about the role of the arts in our society, and works on issues of arts education, status of the artist, access to the arts and training for cultural workers through a variety of organizations.
Email: rhornsby@unb.ca
Nadia Francavilla is one of Canada's leading performers and advocates of new contemporary music. The Montreal-born violinist is an accomplished recitalist and outstanding chamber musician who has performed internationally in North America, Europe, and Japan.
Nadia's driving interest in new music has led her to commission and premiere new works from Canadian and international composers. She particularly enjoys working with young composers, nurturing their innovative spark. Meanwhile, explorations of improvised works and frequent collaborations with visual and multimedia artists have shaped her study of music as performance art.
Since 2009, Nadia is UNB's Musician-in-Residence where she curates leading-edge concert series that challenge audiences to explore new sounds and musical experiences. The NB Contemporary Music Festival, curated by Mrs. Francavilla each year since its inception in 2019, exclusively features music from emerging and established women composers.
Her production company, On The Edge Productions Inc, promotes new, ground-breaking experimental music, stretching the convention of musical traditions and fostering collaboration among emerging and established musicians and multidisciplinary artists.
An experienced educator and facilitator, Nadia takes an interactive and exploratory approach to knowledge sharing in lectures, masterclasses, and workshops. She teaches violin at Mount Allison University, leads courses on women in music and music in film at the University of New Brunswick, and is the author of the violin syllabus for L’école préparatoire de musique at Université de Moncton. She is often asked to adjudicate at music festivals around the country.
In 2022, Nadia was awarded a Documentation Grant by the New Brunswick Arts Board for Noisemakers, a series of short documentaries chronicling and contextualizing important contributions from New Brunswick composers to contemporary music in Canada.
Mrs. Francavilla's projects have received financial support from Canada Council for the Arts, the New Brunswick Arts Board, the Province of New Brunswick, the SOCAN Foundation, and MusicUNB.
She can be reached online at www.nadiafrancavilla.com.
Hugh Kennedy attended The University of Western Ontario (Bach. of Music Education 1979 and Bach. of Education 1983) and the University of Northern Colorado (Mast. in Trumpet Performance 1981) before beginning to teach music at Fredericton High School in 1984. During the summers of 1989-1991, Hugh attended a comprehensive Wind Band Conducting programme at the University of Calgary. It was here he was influenced by some of North America's best conducting teachers including Eugene Corporon, Craig Kirchoff and Fred Fennell. In 1999, he left classroom teaching and entered educational administration. Hugh continued to be involved in Wind Band music by adjudicating music festivals and presenting band workshops as well as working with groups such as NB Winds and the Fredericton Concert and Marching Band. He retired from public education in 2013.
Hugh has a large number of fond memories from his time spent with school and community bands. In addition to the numerous interpersonal relationships developed with wonderful people, some of the memorable highlights are the commissioning of "Whispers from Handel" by Jerome Summers (1991) and "Riverscape" by Phil Nimmons (1994), the release of the recording of unpublished Canadian Wind Band music entitled "To Canada: Love Fredericton High School" (1994) and the concerts performed by NB Winds 2003-2006.
Mezzo-soprano Kathrin Welte holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Mount Allison University, a Masters of Music in Solo Vocal Performance from McGill University and additional performance training at the prestigious Mozarteum Conservatory's Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria and the St. Andrews Opera Workshop. Her active performance career spans art song to choral, opera to musical theatre, her performances having been praised for singing "...effortlessly and with style..." in Opera Canada (Ossama El-Naggar, Spring 2016). Ms. Welte has sung principal roles with musical organizations such as the Compagnie Baroque Mont Royal (Il Serpente di Bronzo), Opera da Camera (Le Nozze di Figaro, Cendrillon, Serse, Cosi fan tutte, Hänsel und Gretel) and the Montreal West Operatic Society (Orpheus in the Underworld, The Mikado). She has frequently been heard as the invited alto soloist in Bach cantatas with Serenata at St. John's, in numerous recitals with Opera da Camera (Cabaret: de Berlin à New York, Le tour du monde en une nuit, Voyage d'amour, Bouquet Printanier) and in solo recital in Québec and New Brunswick.
An accomplished choral singer, Ms Welte has appeared with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Chorus (Beethoven 9th Symphony, Mahler 8th Symphony, Mozart, Brahms and Fauré Requiems), the Choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul (CBC Christmas Sing In, Lux Christmas CD-ATMA Label), Voces Boréales (Tim Brady 8th Symphony) and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (Mozart Requiem, Falling Angels).
Parallel to her performance career, Ms. Welte teaches private voice and violin lessons and is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience with her students. Her student-centered teaching approach draws on many techniques, teaching methods and a vast practical background in order to promote development in her students all while keeping the joy of music making forefront to their experience. Kathrin actively researches new teaching methods, building on the foundation of the university courses she took in vocal pedagogy, choral conducting, diction and elementary pedagogy. She takes a specific interest in: vocal technique in choral singing, the specialized approach of teaching prepubescent singers; preparing adolescents and young adults for higher education in the music field; as well as guiding avocational adults in expanding their musical skills and appreciation. Ms. Welte is a member of the New Brunswick Registered Music Teacher Association.
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Phone: 506 453-4697
Email: musicart@unb.ca
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