Prior to being appointed Music Director of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra in June 2011, Marc David spent 19 seasons as the NSO’s Principal Conductor. He has now stepped down from the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil where he was Artistic Director for 25 years and was Music Director and Conductor of the Sherbrooke Symphony Orchestra from 1988 to 1995. As guest conductor, Marc David has worked with orchestras across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Switzerland and Asia.
His engagements include concerts with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Canada), the Masan Philharmonic (Korea), the Orquesta Sinfonica de Yucatan (Mexico), the Orquesta Sinfonica de la Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico), the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra (Canada), the Kichener-Waterloo Symphony (Canada), the Windsor Symphony, the Orquestra da Camara de Bellas Artes (Mexico), the Bangor Symphony (USA), the Fribourg Youth Orchestra (Switzerland).
In October 2007, Marc David received the Tribute to a Builder of the Arts award at the first Cultural Gala of the City of Longueuil. Also, recipient of grants in conducting from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and l’Université de Montréal, he received the Heinz Unger Conducting Award in 1984. David obtained his Bachelor of Music at McGill University in 1983 and has since continued his studies in orchestral conducting at Hartford University (Connecticut) and at l’Université de Montréal where he completed a doctoral degree (new music conducting). He also studied at the Aspen Music Festival and several years at the Pierre Monteux School (Hancock, Maine), where he was Maestro Charles Bruck’s assistant.
In 2002, Marc David was appointed Adjunct Professor at the School of Music of Memorial University (Newfoundland). Other activities have involved jury work for various competitions and festivals such as the Canadian Music Competition, Prix d’Europe and Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition, as well as sitting on the Artistic Committee of Les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada (2002 to date), the Boards of Directors of Orchestras Canada (1997-2003), and chairing the Quebec regional council of the Canadian Music Centre (2002-03).
From St. John’s, Heather Kao is the concertmaster of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and first violinist of the Atlantic String Quartet since 2015. She studied at Memorial University with Dr. Nancy Dahn. She has played in masterclasses for Martin Beaver, Lorand Fenyves, Mark Fewer and Pinchas Zukerman to name a few.
She is a past member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Quintessential Vocal Ensemble, and Lady Cove Women’s Choir. Heather has been a guest performer on countless recordings, as well as on TV and radio. She has enjoyed performing in many genres, from pop music with Rod Stewart and Hey Rosetta! to traditional music with Ennis and the Once.
She has played in pit orchestras for many local productions, including White Christmas, Our Divas Do Broadway, West Side Story, Evita, and Annie. In addition to the NSO, Heather teaches with the MUN Chamber Program for Youth, Suzuki Talent Education Program, and in her private studio.
01/01/1972
My parents. Very supportive. My teacher at age 12
James Ehnes or Michael Legrand
None
Dalida or Michael Legrand
Musical composition, gardening, construction, antiques
The Atlantic String Quartet, including Heather Kao, concertmaster; Nancy Case-Oates, principal second violin; and Kate Read, principal viola is the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra’s resident quartet, performing their own recital series each season.
The award winning Atlantic String Quartet is comprised of the principal string players of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. The current members of the quartet are Heather Kao and Nancy Case-Oates – violins, Kate Read – viola, and Theo Weber – cello. Hailing from Newfoundland, the UK and the US, they bring rich and diverse experience.
The ASQ is an integral part of the creative life of the St. John’s community and is known for its versatility and ability to work with music and musicians from all styles and genres.
Going from strength to strength they released their first CD in 2020, of the Ravel and Bliss String Quartets, produced by Mark Fewer, for which they won the MusicNL Classical Artist of the Year, 2021.
In addition to leading their sections in the ever blossoming NSO, the quartet presents their own Recital Series. The ASQ programmes a rich and diverse selection of standard and lesser known repertoire, and they are dedicated to performing Canadian works, by composers such as award winning Dinuk Wijeratne, Andrew Staniland and Kellie Marie Murphy. In their 2019-2020 season they presented a programme of music by entirely by female composers (dating from the Middle Ages to the present), and in their 2020-2021 season are continuing to programme music by BIPOC and female composers.
They have shared the stage with such international classical musicians as Charles Richard-Hamelin, Angela Chang, Ofra Harnoy, Shauna Rolston and Mark Fewer, and artists such as Duane Andrews, The Once, Mary Barry and renowned songwriter Ron Hynes.
Equally comfortable with with classical and other genres they have performed Chick Corea’s “Lyric Suite” for sextet with the fabulous jazz musicians Bill Brennan and Florian Hoefner. The ASQ has collaborated with Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Lady Cove Choir and played in various guises at Sound Symposium in St John’s, where in 2018 they performed Raven Chacon’s “The Journey of the Horizontal People”. They are not afraid to improvise. The ASQ is also regularly in demand as session musicians.
As well as in and around St. John’s, the quartet regularly performs around the province, with concerts in Corner Brook, Woody Point, Bonavista’s Garrick Theatre, Cupid’s Theatre and Eastport, to name a few, and they are regulars at the Cape St Mary’s series.
Members of the quartet teach at Memorial University of Newfoundland as well as run their own teaching studios. They coach and conduct young ensembles, and are invited to adjudicate at festivals.
We are over 200 musicians strong, backed by a diverse, community-minded board of directors and office staff. Meet your favourite players and find out how to connect with us!
Paul McDonald, is a senior partner in the St. John’s office of the Atlantic Canada law firm Cox & Palmer, where he practices primarily in the area of estate planning, estates and trusts. Paul has been a supporter of the NSO for many years, and he and his wife Lucinda continue to take the same season tickets (in Row H) he first purchased in 1992! In 2002, the Canadian Bar Association (NL) conferred on Paul its Distinguished Public Service Award, for outstanding contribution to community service. Paul and his family live in St. John’s.
Tom’s family has been associated with the NSO since the 1960’s. Tom sees the NSO as the core organization for arts in Newfoundland and Labrador – this makes contributing by serving on the board even more valuable. In his day job, he is President of Wedgwood Insurance in St. John’s and Chief Operating Office of the Magnes Group in Oakville, Ontario. He resides in St. John’s with his wife Lori and Maltese, Scottie.
Heather came to the board through her involvement with the Philharmonic Choir with whom she has sung since 1996. She served as NSO Chair from 2013 to 2017. She also served as Executive Producer of the NSO Gala from 2006 to 2017. She is a strong supporter of many arts organizations and in 2012 was named NL Arts Council Patron of the Arts.
Doug lives in St. John’s with his wife Elizabeth who is a member of the PCNSO. Doug is a lawyer practising as Counsel with Cox & Palmer where he works primarily in corporate and taxation law. He is also a Bencher of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador and is currently a director of the St. John’s Board of Trade. Since 2013, Doug has also been a public representative on the Newfoundland and Labrador Council of Health Professionals.
Victoria is a native of Corner Brook and a Professional Engineer recently retired from the Federal public service. She loves to travel, visit galleries and museums, and explore architecture classical and new. In addition, Victoria cannot resist British murder mysteries and shares an interest, with her husband, in all things automotive.
Margaret Allan is an enthusiastic spectator and supporter of the arts in our community and has served on the NSO Board since 2017. Margaret also serves on the Advisory Council for the School of Music at Memorial University and the Board of Directors of Business and Arts NL. Her working life has been equally divided between public service and the oil and gas sector.
Jess is the owner of ethree Consulting, an organizational effectiveness consultancy that specializes in helping organisations handle the ‘tough people stuff’ like developing strategy and culture, leading change, increasing engagement levels, driving workforce performance, improving leadership skills and more. With a background in business, HR and neuroscience, Jess leads the ethree team helping companies engage, enable and empower their people. In 2019 Jess started a second business, ethree Online that develops and delivers custom online and virtual training for all sizes of organization.
Hailing from Great Britain, Jess has lived and worked in 4 countries. She moved to Canada in 2005 and settled in Newfoundland in 2007. She lives in Torbay with her partner, Mike, two stepchildren, Liam and Logan and dog, Molly. Jess has been a supporter of the NSO for many years and is particularly passionate about the new opportunities that digital performances and online technology create for the orchestra.
Michelle’s love of music began when she begged her parents for piano lessons at age 11. Her parents relented and she later went on to graduate from Memorial with a Bachelor of Music. She subsequently attended Dalhousie Law School is presently the Director of Regulatory Compliance with RSA Canada. Michelle is thrilled to have an opportunity to blend her musical roots and professional experience her capacity as a board member of the NSO.
Michelle lives with her husband Gary and three children in Logy Bay.
Andrea Rose enjoys an active role in the ongoing development of music and music education at local, national, and international levels as a musician, educator, researcher, and organizational leader. Andrea holds undergraduate degrees in music and music education from Memorial University, and a Masters in Music and PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Andrea was a music educator for ten years at Holy Heart High School in St. John’s, and since 1990 a professor of music education at Memorial University. Recently retired, Andrea continues much of her work at Memorial University in her role as Honorary Research Professor. She has been the recipient of several awards including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, MUN President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the designation of 3M National Teaching Fellow by the Canadian Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. She was recently awarded the Canadian Music Educators’ Professional Award as Honorary Life Member.
Andrea performed as a violinist with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia for over 30 years. She has served in leadership roles with a variety of organizations including the International Society for Music Education, Canadian Music Educators’ Association, Debut Atlantic, Action Canada, and Teach for Canada. She is currently Director of Higher Learning with The Canadian Music Educators’ Association. A past Artistic Director of FESTIVAL 500 Choral Festival and founding Director of The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposia, Andrea is the Co-Founder/Director of The Singing Network (TSN), an international collective of individuals and organizations interested in singing and song. The TSN creates and hosts musical, educational, and scholarly events locally and around the world.
Andrea is delighted to be serving on the NSO Board of Directors to support and help grow this amazing and important organization in Newfoundland and Labrador… and beyond!
Conor Stack has been a member of the NSO’s Board of Directors since 2019. Conor was previously a member of St. Michael’s Printshop’s Board of Directors and has a great appreciation for Newfoundland’s arts community and its organizations. Conor graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Memorial University in 2009 and from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University with a Juris Doctor degree in 2012. Since 2019 Conor has primarily worked as Realtor with Royal LePage Property Consultants though he remains a practicing lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. Conor lives in St. John’s with his wife and two young daughters and enjoys playing hockey, hiking and spending time with his family.
Alana Walsh-Giovannini received her early education in Montreal and North Carolina and returned to her birthplace of St. John’s to attend Memorial University where she received an undergraduate degree in Psychology and further studied Guidance and Counselling under the Masters of Educational Psychology program. Alana spent 30 years working on the Burin Peninsula in various capacities of educational psychology and guidance. She is past president of School Counsellors of NL (SCAN) and previous director for NL of Canadian Guidance and Counselling Association (CGCA). She has co chaired two national conferences in St . John’s during her tenure as director for CGCA. Alana has served on the Burin Peninsula Health Care Board and, chaired the Burin Peninsula Heritage Run Tourism Board, St. Lawrence Heritage Society and chaired numerous youth leadership events and high school theatre. Currently, Alana is co-chair of Belles With Balls NL, a registered not for profit charity that has raised over $200, 000 for Ovarian Cancer Research and Education in NL, a community partnership with Memorial University.
Alana’s passions include her family, theatre, music and travel. Alana and her husband Bob have three fabulous children and are proud grandparents to 6 amazing grandchildren.
Ian lives in St. John’s with his 3 teenage children. He is the President of the independent insolvency and restructuring firm Janes & Noseworthy Ltd. and is a partner with Noseworthy Chapman, Chartered Professional Accountants.
Ian is primarily focused commercial and consumer insolvency. Over the past 25+ years, Ian has provided restructuring services to banks, government agencies, private companies and consumer debtors. He also serves a small group of accounting and tax clients and provides assistance to entrepreneurs buying and selling businesses.
He has served as a national executive member and has chaired numerous national committees for the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (“CAIRP”). Ian is also the past president of the NL Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals. CAIRP awarded Ian it’s Ketih G. Collin’s Award for service to the profession. Ian is one of only 10 trustees ever to have received this award.
Prior to joining Noseworthy Chapman/Janes & Noseworthy, Ian was a NL-based partner, the Atlantic Canadian financial advisory director of operations and the consumer insolvency national service line leader for a Big 4 accounting firm. Ian also spent 2 years as CFO of a publicly traded, seafood processing and marketing company earlier in his career.
An active volunteer in the community, Ian is a Paul Harris Fellow (Rotary), a past president of the Rotary Club of St. John’s and a past chair of the Historic Sites Association of NL, a former board member of Viasource (an incubator for entrepreneurs starting up small businesses) and has served with numerous other groups and committees.
Born and raised in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, Dr. Ian Sutherland is Dean of the School of Music at Memorial University. Internationally he has developed a dynamic career as an academic leader, educator, researcher, musician, and consultant. Prior to his Memorial University return he served as Associate Dean for Research and Director of PhD Studies at IEDC–Bled School of Management (Slovenia) and Research Fellow of the Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter (UK). Other appointments include: Adjunct Professor of Leadership at the Warsaw University of Technology Business School (Poland), Fellow of the Peter Pribilla Stiftung – Technische Universität München (Germany), Co-Convener of the Deans, Directors and Chairs Affinity Group of the International Leadership Association (USA). A leading expert in the art and business nexus, Ian was originally trained as a professional musician. Holding B.Mus. (Hons) and M. Mus. Degrees from the School of Music of Memorial University (Canada), he completed his PhD in Sociology and Philosophy at the University of Exeter (UK) under Prof. Tia DeNora. Today he brings these backgrounds together combining expertise in sociology, philosophy, creativity, music and leadership studies. A globally active speaker, facilitator and organizational development practitioner he has worked across numerous industries in more than 40 countries.
Meet our admin team – this small group of staff and volunteers handle the day-to-day operations of the NSO.
Hugh joined the NSO as CEO in September of 2016 and has led the organization through an expansion of programs and concerts as well as a rebranding. Prior to joining the NSO, Hugh worked in communications with the Provincial Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and in marketing with Stratos.
In his private life, Hugh is active in the arts community as a member of Newman Sound Men’s Choir and is on the board of directors of Shallaway. He is also an active volunteer at the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
Hugh and his wife Valerie live in St. John’s, and are the proud parents of Claire, Emmajane, and Anthony who are all actively involved in music.
Jennifer Brennan began her career as a music teacher in Happy Valley Goose Bay. After 34 lovely years, Jennifer retired from teaching in 2017 to join the NSO administrative team as Education and Community Outreach Coordinator.
She has sung as a soloist and chorister, and spent 10 years directing a church choir at St. Teresa’s Parish. A former Board member for the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Orchestra (now Calos), Jennifer currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival where she is Festival Volunteer Coordinator.
In her spare time, Jennifer loves to travel and take long walks with her husband, Bob. They have two sons Timothy and Mark, who are both wonderful musicians.
A native of St. John’s, NL, violinist Dominic Greene completed a Master of Music degree in violin performance at the University of Toronto, in the studio of Erika Raum. While in Toronto, Dominic performed with various ensembles, including the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, University of Toronto Baroque Ensemble and the Sneak Peek Orchestra. During his final year of study at U of T, Dominic was privileged to have been given the opportunity to play as concertmaster of the University of Toronto Symphony, Opera and Baroque Orchestras, under the direction of Uri Mayer, Sandra Horst and Ivars Taurins, respectively. His time at U of T also gave him the opportunity to perform in masterclasses with Jonathan Crow, Jeanne Lamon, David Stewart, Tim Ying and Marie Berard. In addition, Dominic has been an active freelance performer and teacher across the Greater Toronto Area.
Prior to his studies in Toronto, Dominic attended Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he completed a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance with Nancy Dahn. During his time at Memorial, Dominic played violin and viola with the Memorial University Chamber Orchestra, assuming roles of concertmaster and principal viola, and was a regular member of the first violin section of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, sitting as assistant concertmaster for the 2011-2012 season. During his studies at Memorial, Dominic was the inaugural recipient of the Dorothy and David Peters Scholarship for Music Performance at Memorial University. He has participated in summer music programs, including the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival, the Scotia Festival of Music, the Orford Festival and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute. Dominic is also a regular member of the orchestra for the Opera on the Avalon Festival in St. John’s, for which he has played as concertmaster.
Dominic is currently the assistant concertmaster and personnel manager of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, and serves as a string coach for the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Orchestra, of which he is the former assistant concertmaster. He also enjoys a dynamic teaching career, maintaining a busy private violin studio, and is an active instructor with the Suzuki Talent Education Program of St. John’s. In addition to orchestral performance and teaching, Dominic enjoys freelancing around the city of St. John’s and surrounding areas, and can be seen performing as half of the Saltwater Strings Duo, along with friend and colleague, Brett Vey. Saltwater Strings performs in a variety of styles including folk, pop, rock and jazz.
Steve Power has been involved in the St. John’s music industry for over 20 years. He has performed with a variety bands and musicians all over the province. He has been onstage with the NSO many times including singing the songs of Michael Bublé and has performed backup vocals for shows featuring Jody Richardson, Kelly-Ann Evans and Mark Murphy. Steve is also regularly featured with “BS Entertainment” performing shows all across the island with Sandy Morris and Brian Way. When Steve is not onstage, he can often be found behind the scenes in particular, as the Production Manager of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. His love of computers and technology has fueled his interest in everything from lighting and sound, to photography and video editing.
Valerie studied oboe with the legendary oboist and teacher, Ray Still, of the Chicago Symphony. She has played with many orchestras and ensembles including the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and taught many private students from beginners to advanced students at Memorial University’s School of Music. Valerie initiated the Beginning Oboe Program at the National Music Camp of Canada where she taught for 27 summers.
In 2015, Janet retired from a long career in the trust and estate world. While she has always found time to volunteer, she knew it would not be difficult to find interesting and rewarding things to do with my time in retirement! Volunteer groups she has been involved with in recent years include being a part of the Juno’s, NL Folk Festival, The Brier, Tuckamore Festival, the Anglican Cathedral, Choral NL, and the NSO.
