The New Brunswick Summer Music Festival (NBSMF) has grown into a multi-faceted and unique two-week classical music festival: we are the only classical chamber music festival in Canada that explores in-depth the music of two specific composers each season and uses this two-composer concept to determine repertoire. We believe that this concept educates while entertaining our audiences and develops deeper music appreciation through this process.
This year is NBSMF’s 20th anniversary. Therefore, instead of two composers, we bring back the greatest hits of the past 20 years. Tickets for all festival events can be purchased at the Festival office, 9 Bailey Drive, Centre for Musical Arts, Memorial Hall, UNB Fredericton, at Westminster Books, or online at www.NBSummerMusicFestival.ca.
Featured artists in 2013 include: Nikki Chooi (violin), Paul Pulford (cello), Peter Allen (piano), David Adams (violin), Sonja Adams (cello), Chris Buckley (viola), Nadia Francavilla (violin), Andrew Miller (bass). Richard Hornsby (clarinet), David Parker (French horn), Yvonne Kershaw (bassoon), and Sally Dibblee (soprano).
Nikki Chooi, violin
Canadian violinist, Nikki Chooi has been described as, “a model of taste and tonal refinement” (Boston Globe) and “vigorous and colorful” (New York Times). A recent First Prize Winner of the prestigious 2013 Michael Hill International Violin Competition, Nikki will be touring New Zealand in association with Chamber Music New Zealand, performing with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, recording under the Atoll label, and will be presented in Australia’s Musica Viva series and Chicago’s Harris Theater. He is also a winner of the 2013 Astral Artists’ Auditions, Laureate of the 2012 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition, and First Prize Winner of the 2009 Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco.
He has performed as soloist with many orchestras including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Nikki has performed in the Vancouver Recital Series, Debut Atlantic Recital Tour, Canadian National Arts Debut Series, Caramoor Rising Stars Series, Dresden Music Festival in Germany, Chamber Music Tulsa, and La Monnai “Concertini” in Belgium.
Nikki gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council of the Arts, CBC Radio, the Sylva Gelber Foundation, and the Victoria Foundation. As winner of the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank Competition, he uses the 1700 “Taft” Stradivari.
In 2012, he obtained his Bachelors of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music and was awarded the Milka Violin Artist Prize upon graduation. Nikki is currently pursuing graduate studies at the Juilliard School of Music under the tutelage of Ida Kavafian and Donald Weilerstein.
Paul Pulford, cello
Paul Pulford maintains a busy schedule as a chamber musician, a soloist, and a conductor. As a regular soloist for the NUMUS Ensemble, he recently performed John Taverner’s Svyati for Cello and Choir and conducted the Canadian premier of the chamber orchestra version of Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra and the Schoenberg arrangement of Das Lied von der Erde by Mahler. This past November he performed the Oskar Morawetz concerto, In Memoriam Martin Luther King. The Laurier Trio, with which he has played for the past six years, performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto in 2010 and presented a three concert series at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo. He is currently completing a five-year project with Blue Rider Ensemble, creating a chamber music theatre work based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, called Frankenstein’s Ghosts.
From 1989 to 2003 Paul Pulford was a member of the Penderecki String Quartet, with whom he recorded over 20 CDs and performed throughout Europe, Japan and North and South America. He was a member of the Galliard Ensemble (which toured the five Nordic States as cultural ambassadors for Canada with Governor General Edward Schreyer) and the Brunswick and Orford String Quartets. Paul maintains a passionate commitment to New Music through his involvement with Blue Rider Ensemble (he was a founding member in 1989) and the NUMUS New Music Ensemble in Waterloo. His recordings of the complete works for Cello and Fortepiano by Beethoven (ebs label) and Brahms (DoReMi label) with fortepianist Boyd McDonald were received with critical acclaim. Paul Pulford is currently Professor of Cello and Director of Orchestral Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada
David Adams, violin
David Adams, a native of Winnipeg Manitoba, completed his Bachelor of Music in Performance at the University of Toronto and went on to pursue his career as a professional violinist. With many scholarships and first prizes to his credit, Adams has gained critical acclaim as a soloist, conductor, chamber and orchestral musician.
His current activities include artist in residence at the University of New Brunswick Saint John, playing principal violin with the Saint John String Quartet and concert master for Symphony New Brunswick and Atlantic Sinfonia.
Adams is often heard on regional and national CBC radio programs as a chamber musician and has released three compact discs with the Saint John String Quartet the second of which won “Best Classical Album of the Year” at the 1996 East Coast Music Awards. The Saint John String Quartet has toured Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and China.
Along with his active performing schedule Adams teaches privately, performs in school concerts, and coaches youth orchestras. David has received the New Brunswick Merit Award and in 2003 he received the Golden Jubilee Medal for his contribution to Music in New Brunswick.
Sonja Adams, cello
After earning a performance degree from University of Toronto, cellist Sonja Adams established herself in Saint John where she has become an active member of the New Brunswick cultural community. Sonja performs with the awarding winning Saint John String Quartet and Symphony New Brunswick. She is a passionate educator, coaching and teaching young people throughout the province.
Christopher Buckley, viola
Christopher Buckley grew up in Quispamsis. He is a member of Saint John String Quartet, Symphony New Brunswick, Atlantic Sinfonia, and, as a Musician-in-Residence at UNB Saint John. He is also a coach with New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NBYO). The Saint John String Quartet has four CDs with three nominations and one ECMA win. He has travelled to Japan and China to perform and has a son, Seth.
Peter Allen, piano
Peter Allen is one of the most respected and versatile musicians in Canada. He enjoys the diversity of staying busy as a concert pianist, composer, conductor and teacher. Other than his hectic performing schedule and his position as Associate Professor at Dalhousie University, Peter finds time to fulfil one composition commission each year. This past July, he and flutist Patricia Creighton premiered his new Suite at the National Convention of the Registered Music Teacher’s Association. Peter is thrilled to be invited back again for the 20th anniversary of the NB Summer Music Festival, a week that has become one of his favourites of the year.
Sally Dibblee, soprano
Sally Dibblee, critically acclaimed as a “tour-de-force of vocal control and expressive flexibility,” enjoys success on opera stages and concert halls throughout North America. Last season’s opera engagements included the role debuts of Lady Billows in Albert Herring with Pacific Opera Victoria and the title role in The Merry Widow with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. In recital she was the soloist in A Sea Symphony by R. Vaughn Williams
with the Flint Symphony and in the Faure Requiem with Symphony New Brunswick. Upcoming engagements include a return to Vancouver Opera as Lady Billows, the title role of Madame Butterfly with Calgary Opera, and soprano soloist in Beethoven 9 with Symphony New Brunswick.
Sally is pleased to announce that beginning this September she will be teaching voice studies at Mount Allison University.
