Daniel Bartholemew-Poyser
Daniel earned his Bachelors in Music Performance and Education from the University of Calgary, and received his Master of Philosophy in Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. He’s been awarded the Canada Council for the Arts Jean-Marie Beaudet Prize for Orchestral Conducting and has served as Assistant Conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Associate Conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Daniel has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Hamilton Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Eastern Sierra Symphony. The 2019/2020 season was an exciting one for Daniel; he debuted with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and served with the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Centre as Cover Conductor.
Daniel holds two coveted positions; the Artist in Residence and Community Ambassador at Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Principal Education Conductor and Community Ambassador of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He is the also the subject of the Documentary film Disruptor Conductor which aired on CBC television. https://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/episodes/disruptor-conductor
Daniel serves on the Board of Orchestras Canada and is the chair of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility committee.
https://www.danielbartholomewpoyser.com
Jaelem Bhate
]Jaelem Bhate is a conductor and composer from Vancouver, BC whose musical diversity has come to define his career. A leader in both the classical and jazz genres, Jaelem is a proponent of reinvention and accessibility, and works to reimagine the role and prominence of instrumental music in the 21st century.
As a conductor, Jaelem serves as Artistic Director of Symphony 21, Vancouver’s newest professional ensemble. Jaelem was also named music director of the Vancouver Brass Collective in 2019. Guest engagements include the Vancouver and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras, along with invitations to Italy, Romania, Portugal and Bulgaria. As a composer, his works have been performed by the Vancouver and Victoria Symphonies, as well as countless ensembles and soloists across the country. In the jazz world, he has released two albums with the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra; on the edge, and Carmen, a reimagining of Bizet’s operatic masterpiece for jazz ensemble. on the edge won the 2020 Julian Award for emerging Canadian jazz excellence.
Jaelem graduated from the University of British Columbia with his MMus in orchestral conducting in 2019 under Dr. Jonathan Girard, and his BMus in percussion performance in 2017 when he graduated first in his class. He has furthered his studies as a two-time assistant conductor to Boris Brott at the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and at festivals with Paul Nadler of the MET, Gerard Schwarz formerly of the Seattle Symphony, Neil Varon of the Eastman School, and acclaimed Canadian composer Fred Stride.
Michael Hall
Maestro Hall is the newly appointed Music Director of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra in British Columbia, Canada. He is also Music Director of the Kennett Symphony in Pennsylvania, a post he has held since 2014.
Highly acclaimed for his intensity and spontaneity, Hall has appeared with many of today’s leading ensembles, including the Houston Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Symphoria, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Winnipeg Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, the Windsor Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Great Falls Symphony, the Bozeman Symphony, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Groundswell New Music Ensemble, and the Havant Symphony in the UK, as well as a return to the Tucson Symphony, with whom he has a special relationship and has been a frequent guest conductor in multiple concert series over the past nine seasons. Hall also works regularly with the Space Coast Symphony in Florida, where he is the newly appointed Principal Guest Conductor.
A passionate advocate for music education, both in the concert hall and in the classroom, Maestro Hall has conducted many noteworthy college and youth orchestras including the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University. Hall has also acted as Visiting Guest Artist, Conductor in Residence at Ithaca College’s School of Music, as well as Ball State University’s School of Music in Indiana.
Hall holds a Master’s degree in conducting from the University of Michigan, having studied with renowned conducting pedagogue Gustav Meier, and a DipRAM from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he worked with Sir Colin Davis. While studying in England, Hall also held the position of Assistant conductor of the Havant Symphony Orchestra in the UK.
Recognized for his talent among his peers, Maestro Hall was a finalist in the International Conducting Competition in Besançon France and was awarded Third Prize in the Cadaques Orchestra International Conducting Competition in Spain.
Adam Johnson
Award-winning Canadian conductor Adam Johnson has been praised as “an exciting talent” and for his “charismatic, commanding presence” on the podium. In 2016 he became Assistant Conductor of the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, and was appointed Resident Conductor for the 2018-2019 season. He collaborated closely with Music Director Kent Nagano on award-winning recordings for Decca and Analekta, and contributed to performances in Carnegie Hall, the Salzburg Festival, and a major European tour. He has conducted more than 65 concerts with the OSM and worked with renowned soloists such as Jean-Philipe Collard (Messiaen), Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Saint-Saens), Charles Richard-Hamelin (Mozart and Gershwin), and Patricia Kopatchinskaja (Schoenberg), among others.
Prior to his tenure in Montréal, Johnson served for three seasons with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, initially as Resident Conductor (2013-2015), and subsequently as Associate Conductor (2015-2016); he maintains a frequent presence on the podium as guest conductor. He also regularly guest-conducts the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, having been invited to conduct three different programs in the 2017/18 season alone, and has appeared as guest conductor with the Québec, Trois-Rivières, Saskatoon, Guelph, and Thunder Bay symphony orchestras, as well as Symphony Nova Scotia. Internationally he has conducted the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and members of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchestre Hamburg.
In 2015, Adam Johnson received the prestigious Jean-Marie-Beaudet Award for Orchestral Conducting from the Canada Council for the Arts, and recently won an OPUS award for best youth concert of 2018. He holds a Doctorate in Piano Performance from the Université de Montréal and a Prize in Orchestral Conducting from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He also pursued additional training in conducting at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Pierre Monteux School in Maine, USA.
Geneviève Leclair
Canadian conductor Geneviève Leclair was appointed Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music in 2016 and is very active with organizations across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.. Highlights of the 2020-21 season will include a return appearances with Orchestre Classique de Montréal for a production of Laura Kaminsky’s opera As One and Symphony New Brunswick and a debut performance with the Concord Orchestra.
Equally at home in symphony, ballet and opera, she was a recurring guest conductor with The National Ballet of Canada and Northern Ballet (UK), Music Director of Parkway Concert Orchestra from 2013 to 2019, as well as Assistant Conductor and Guest Conductor of the Boston Ballet Orchestra from 2010 to 2017. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the International Conductors Guild from 2017 to 2020.
Geneviève was awarded the 2017 American Prize in orchestral conducting, college/university division and took 2nd place in the professional orchestra division.
In recent years, she has had the opportunity to guest conduct various orchestras, both in Canada and the United States, including The National Ballet of Canada, Northern Ballet, Boston Ballet, Symphony New Brunswick, Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Guelph Symphony, Symphony New Hampshire, Boston University Chamber Orchestra, Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra and New England Conservatory Chamber and Youth Philharmonic Orchestras.
Geneviève holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting from Boston University under the tutelage of Maestro David Hoose. She had previously obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in flute performance at Université de Montréal, the latter under the supervision of Mr. Denis Bluteau, former associate principal flutist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. She also studied choral conducting with Dr. Ann Howard Jones and perfected her art through public and private master classes led by Boris Brott, Kenneth Kiesler, Carl Topilow, Susan Hoeppner, Camille Churchfield, André Papillon, Lise Daoust and Jeanne Baxtresser. In November 2010, she was invited by the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa) to attend the first edition of their Canadian Conductors Workshop.
In addition to her career as a performer and teacher, Ms. Leclair is also a published author of music literature and theory exercise books, Les Devoirs du Prof. Rémi / Prof. Solfa’s Workbooks through Les Éditions École de musique Vincent-d’Indy.
William Rowson
Conductor William Rowson is proving to be one of the most able and versatile young conductors in Canada. Currently he holds the position of principal conductor with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra as well as being the assistant conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In his role with the VSO, Rowson has led over 100 performances ranging from Kids concerts to the VSO’s Annex series as well as the popular Tea and Trumpets series. Through his work with the VSO’s education department he has performed for over 70,000 elementary school students and has collaborated with artists such as Jann Arden, Chris Botti, Chris Hadfield, Fred Penner and the Hot Sardines.
An active composer as well as conductor, Rowson recently had his Fanfare for Canada’s 150th premiered by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. In August 2018, his Short Variations on Waves was given its premiere by Ensemble Made in Canada at the Festival of the Sound, and will be performed in every province in Canada this season. In June of 2018 Rowson composed and conducted the music for the upcoming feature length film Brotherhood. A strong advocate for music by Canadian composers, Rowson has conducted the premieres of over 60 new works.
William grew up in a musical family, starting the violin at age 3 in his hometown of Saskatoon. He began conducting while a student at the Curtis Institute of Music.