Meet our Adjudicators!

See last year's panel

Dennis Beck

Dennis Beck earned two undergraduate degrees from Western University, and completed a graduate program in conducting from the University of Calgary. In addition to teaching experience at the junior and senior high school levels, he has been a sessional lecturer for the Faculty of Education of the University of Toronto, conducted at Alberta College Conservatory in Edmonton for several years, and played clarinet with the Edmonton Wind Sinfonia and the CBC's Edmonton Wind Ensemble. He founded the Ontario chapter of Phi Beta Mu, the international band director’s fraternal organization, and is a member of the College Band Directors National Association. He served as a vice-president of the Alberta Band Association, was a founding director of the Ontario Band Association and is a past-president of the OBA. For several years he was a facilitator for student leaders at the Ontario Educational Leadership Centre. His articles on music education have appeared in several professional journals, and since 2000 he has written analyses of band compositions for different volumes of the highly regarded series of music texts, Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, published by GIA in Chicago.

Recognized as an advocate for excellence in conducting, he co-founded the Unionville Wind Conductors’ Symposium 1994. In the fall of 2008, he was one of ten alumni of the Don Wright Faculty of Music, at Western University named as the inaugural recipients of the university’s Wall of Fame honour. In 2011, the OBA recognized him with an Honourary Lifetime Membership, and also that year he was named to the Advisory Board of the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Canadian Band Association’s National Band Award, joining a list of 23 other Canadian musicians who had been so honoured since 1976. For twenty years he taught music, coached soloists and chamber ensembles, and conducted bands at Unionville High School’s Arts York program, in Markham. Most recently, he has been an adjunct faculty member at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University in London, Ontario, where he was conductor of the Symphonic Band and taught music education and conducting.

Isabelle Brassard-Porter

Isabelle Brassard-Porter has had a long musical career as a performer, conductor and educator. As a professional flutist and piccoloist, she had the chance to perform orchestral masterworks from the post romantic era for thirty-two seasons with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Brassard-Porter was the head of the instrumental music program at the Béatrice-Desloges High School Specialized Arts Program where she conducted numerous ensembles including the Béatrice-Desloges Senior Wind Orchestra which has won the highest honors at numerous festivals in Canada, the United States and Europe. In 2012, MusicFest Canada recognized Ms. Brassard-Porter with the Keith Mann Outstanding Director Award of Excellence. Over the course of her career, Isabelle has inspired countless young people to discover the joy and benefits of making music and is happy to continue this mission at MusicFest Canada .

Interprète, chef d'orchestre et éducatrice sont quelques-uns des rôles assumés par Isabelle Brassard-Porter au cours d'une longue carrière musicale. Flûtiste et piccoliste professionnelle, elle a eu la chance de jouer de grandes oeuvres post-romantiques avec l’Orchestre symphonique d’Ottawa pendant trente-deux saisons. Comme enseignante, Madame Brassard-Porter a été à la tête du programme de musique instrumentale au sein du Programme Spécialisé en Arts de l’École secondaire Béatrice-Desloges. À titre de chef d’orchestre, Isabelle a dirigé de nombreux ensembles dont l’Orchestre à vent senior Béatrice-Desloges qui a remporté les plus hauts honneurs à de nombreux festivals au Canada, aux États-Unis et en Europe. En 2012, MusicFest Canada a reconnu madame Brassard-Porter en lui décernant le prix d’excellence Keith Mann Outstanding Director Award. Au cours de sa carrière, Isabelle a inspiré d’innombrables jeunes à découvrir la joie et les bienfaits de faire de la musique et est heureuse de continuer cette mission à MusicFest Canada.

Petr Cancura

Born in Eastern Europe, brought up in the wilderness of the Great White North, and later thrusting into the urban Jungle of New York City, it is no surprise that Petr Cancura’s musical pallet is as wide as it is. A saxophonist with a vast knowledge of Jazz, Balkan, African and American folk traditions, Petr performs on banjo and mandolin as well as on the medium format black & white camera... all of which influences each other into a Roots Song & Improvising music machine with a visual sensibility.

Petr Cancura has performed with Grammy-nominated Danilo Perez, Grammy-nominated Julian Lage, Bob Moses, Joe Morris, Jacek Kochan, Kathleen Edwards, Kenny Wollesen, Joe Maneri, Cecil McBee and the Juno award-winning Mighty Popo. He is currently performing as part of the Ghost Train Orchestra, The Richie Barshay RB3, The Forro Brass Band amongst others. Petr’s source of expression is most focused on his blend of Americana roots music and jazz in his groups Big Sky and Down Home.

His latest release Another Way Home is a unique portrait of instrumental music: songs written as though for a singer/songwriter but the saxophone is the voice and the band takes a jazz approach. Recorded with a world class band including Kenny Wollesen (Tom Waits, John Zorn, Glen Hansard), Tony Scherr (Norah Jones, Snarky Puppy) and Rob Jost, this is arguably Petr's finest work to date.

The adventure continues with Petr Cancura’s position as the Programming Director of the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, crafting together a world class festival with hundreds of shows annually. You may also find Cancura in the classroom giving workshops all across the US and Canada.

Lisa Concessi MacLean

Lisa is an accomplished teacher, conductor, clinician and clarinetist with over 30 years of leadership experience within Ottawa schools and the community. Raised in southern Ontario, she moved to Ottawa in 1988 following her Music Education and Teaching degrees from Western University. She joined the Gloucester Community Concert Band as clarinetist in 1988 and has treasured her position as their conductor since 1992.

Lisa spent most of her teaching career at St Peter High School in Orleans. She led the senior and jazz bands while also leading an adult orchestra to support the school’s yearly musical theatre productions. Shows such as West Side Story, Les Misérables, Into the Woods and many others were performed under her baton. She has also been involved in select community theatre organizations (Orpheus, RAPA, Kanata Theatre and Suzart) both as music director and reed player. Her career as a conductor has led her to collaborate with Canadian composer André Jutras, Jazz artist Petr Cancura, NACO musicians Karen Donnelly and the late Don Renshaw.

Since retirement in 2018, Lisa has been a sought after clinician for several high school bands within five area school boards in and around Ottawa. She has assisted with auditions for incoming students at Canterbury High School, she has guided a reading session for teachers offered by Long and McQuade and has been a guest conductor for community groups such as the Beacon Band, the Nepean Concert Band and the Concert Band of Kanata.

Sam Cousineau

Originally from Ottawa, Samuel Cousineau first started playing the saxophone at the age of eight and fell in love with music and the saxophone immediately. Samuel Cousineau holds a Bachelor of Music in jazz performance from McGill University and a Master’s in jazz performance from the University of North Texas. While at the University of North Texas, Cousineau was part of the seven-time Grammy nominated One O’Clock Lab Band. Cousineau can be heard on the One O’Clock Lab Band’s recording “Lab 2018.” Cousineau has had the opportunity to study with some of the top artists in the world including Eric Alexander, Dave Liebman, Jerry Bergonzi, Donny McCaslin, Remi Bolduc, Andre White, Donny Kennedy and many more. On top of performing, touring and recording, Cousineau is an active teacher and educator. He teaches saxophone and woodwind techniques, theory, composition, ear training,

and improvisation. He is currently completing a DMA in jazz performance at the University of Toronto. Cousineau aims to be an active performer, touring artist, as well as a music educator.

Ron Di Lauro

Ron Di Lauro has been one of Quebec's most sought-after musicians for over 45 years. From jazz to classical, popular repertoire to world music, this trumpeter is always active.

Over the course of his career, he has accompanied many internationally renowned artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Randy Brecker, Zoot Sims, John Scofield, Maria Schneider, Dave Holland, Ron Carter, Paquito Di Rivera, Oliver Jones, Vic Vogel, Pepper Adams, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra Jr, Michel Legrand, John Pizzarelli, Jamie Cullum, Aretha Franklin, Ginette Reno, Carol Welsman, Ranee Lee, Céline Dion, Gregory Charles, Claude Dubois, Daniel Lavoie, Gino Vannelli, Diane Dufresne, Petula Clark, Shirley Bassey, Deep Purple, to name but a few.

He has appeared as guest soloist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Laval, Longueuil, Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Joe Sullivan and Lorraine Desmarais Big Bands, Orchestre de Jazz de Nice (France), Caja Negra Big Band de Paris (France).

He has been a member of Vic Vogel's Jazz Big Band since 1980. Ron Di Lauro has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, musicals, film soundtracks and commercials, and over 350 recordings as soloist, brass section member, producer and conductor.

Numerous music festivals and cultural organizations regularly call on him as a jury member.

Professor Emeritus at the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Music, he has directed the Big Band and the Orchestre de chambre jazz, as well as teaching jazz trumpet and assuming responsibility for the jazz sector at the Université de Montréal.

He also taught at McGill University's Schulich School of Music and UQAM as a lecturer for several years. Ron Di Lauro leads and participates in a number of musical projects ranging from small groups to large jazz and popular music ensembles, including the Ron Di Lauro Sextet, “Kind of Blue”: A Tribute to Miles Davis, The Ron Di Lauro Trio,” Soul Stream Project, Jocelyn Menard (Guadeloupe) et Pierre Bertrand-Ron Di Lauro Sextet: (France-Quebec)

In May 2014, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal awarded him the Oscar Peterson Prize in recognition of “the quality of his art and his exceptional contribution to the Canadian jazz scene”.

In March 2019, Ron Di Lauro was awarded the Prix Hommage by the JazzFest des jeunes du Québec “for an exceptional musical contribution to the cultural scene and for 20 years of involvement and dedication”.

In August 2021, the FestiJazz de Mont-Tremblant awarded him the “Prix Hommage for his remarkable contribution to the development of jazz in Canada”.

In May 2024, conferred the title of Professor Emeritus, by the University of Montreal for his exceptional contribution to the institution.

Ron Di Lauro est l’un des musiciens les plus sollicités au Québec depuis plus de 45 ans. Du jazz au

classique, en passant par le répertoire populaire et les musiques du monde, ce trompettiste demeure toujours actif.

Au cours de sa carrière, il a d’ailleurs accompagné plusieurs artistes de renommée internationale entre autres, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Randy Brecker, Zoot Sims, John Scofield, Maria Schneider, Dave Holland, Ron Carter, Paquito Di Rivera, Oliver Jones, Vic Vogel, Pepper Adams, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra Jr., Michel Legrand, John Pizzarelli, Jamie Cullum, Aretha Franklin, Ginette Reno, Carol Welsman, Ranee Lee, Céline Dion, Gregory Charles, Claude Dubois, Daniel Lavoie, Gino Vannelli, Diane Dufresne, Petula Clark, Shirley Bassey, Deep Purple, pour n’en nommer quelques-uns.

Il s’est produit, à titre de soliste invité, auprès de l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Laval, Longueuil, l'Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal et l'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, les Big Bands de Joe Sullivan et de Lorraine Desmarais, Orchestre de Jazz de Nice (France), Caja Negra Big Band de Paris (France)

Il est membre du Big Band de Vic Vogel depuis 1980. Ron Di Lauro a participé à de nombreuses émissions de télévision et de radio, a collaboré à des comédies musicales, à plusieurs bandes sonores de films et messages publicitaires, ainsi qu’à plus de 350 enregistrements de disques, comme soliste, membre de sections de cuivres, réalisateur et chef d’orchestre. De nombreux festivals de musique et organismes culturels ont régulièrement recours à lui comme membre de jurys. Professeur Émérite de la Faculté de musique de l’Université de Montréal, il a dirigé le Big Band et l’Orchestre de chambre jazz, en plus d’enseigner la trompette jazz et d’assumer la responsabilité du secteur jazz de l’Université de Montréal.

Il a également enseigné au Schulich School of Music de l’Université McGill et UQAM comme chargé de cours pendant plusieurs années. Ron Di Lauro participe et dirige plusieurs formations musicales allant des petites formations aux grands ensembles jazz et populaire, incluant le Ron Di Lauro Sextet « Kind of Blue : Hommage à Miles Davis, The Ron Di Lauro Trio, Projet « Soul Stream » de Jocelyn Menard (Guadeloupe) et Pierre Bertrand-Ron Di Lauro Sextet (France-Quebec)

En mai 2014, le Festival International de Jazz de Montréal lui décernait le Prix Oscar-Peterson afin de souligner la « qualité de son art et sa contribution exceptionnelle à la scène jazz canadienne »

En mars 2019, Ron Di Lauro s’est vu remettre « le Prix Hommage » du JazzFest des jeunes du Québec « pour un apport musical exceptionnel à la scène culturelle et pour 20 ans d’implication et de dévouement »

En aout 2021 le FestiJazz de Mont-Tremblant lui décernait le « Prix Hommage pour sa remarquable contribution au développement du jazz au Canada »

En mai, 2024 déféré le titre Professeur émérite de l’Université de Montréal pour sa contribution exceptionnelle á l’institution.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Fullerton

Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) John Fullerton is the Supervisor of Music and Music Branch Advisor for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). As the Senior Music Officer, he is responsible for the provision of personnel and technical advice to the CAF in support of over 1500 Musicians, Pipes and Drums and Music Officers. Prior to holding this appointment, LCol Fullerton was the Commanding Officer and Director of Music for the Royal Canadian Air Force Band in Winnipeg from 2010-2016 and the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces in Ottawa from 2016-2020.

With over 30 years serving in the CAF, LCol Fullerton has led many international deployments during his career. Highlights include commemorative ceremonies across Europe and Asia and performances throughout Latvia in support of the ongoing NATO presence. In his past roles as a hornist and Director of Music, he has performed, recorded and produced on many albums published in support of the CAF.

LCol Fullerton is an advocate of the valuable role musicians play as members of the CAF. Music is a unique communications capability that enhances the connection between the Canadian Armed Forces, Canadians, and international allies in support of our common values.

Jackie Hawley

Jackie Hawley is the founding Artistic Director of the Cantiamo Choirs of Ottawa. She has conducted and toured internationally with adult, youth and children’s choirs and has been a clinician for choirs and schools throughout Canada for nearly 40 years. She has presented at numerous events including Festival 500, Podium and the International Symposium of Singing and Song II.

Ms. Hawley was on the ACCC Podium committee (Ottawa), wrote the children’s choir column for Anacrusis from 2013 to 2016 and was a Choir’s Ontario Board member from 2014 to 2021. Ms. Hawley has adjudicated for the Alberta Choral Federation Choralfest South and was recently a jury member for the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs. Ms. Hawley was also the Artistic Director of the Ottawa Children’s Choir and Music Director of its Chamber Choir from 2008 to 2015.

Ms. Hawley works frequently with the Education Department of the National Arts Centre and was the Music Director of the NAC’s 500 voice annual Music Monday Choir. Ms. Hawley is the Founder of the Nipiit-Katittut- Voices United (NKVU) educational engagement project which connects choristers with youth in Iqaluit to build community and promote leadership skills, musical artistry and cultural enlightenment.

Ms. Hawley is committed to the creation, performance and promotion of Canadian choral music and has premiered over 50 works by Canadian composers. The Cantiamo Choirs of Ottawa has commissioned and continues to commission one or more Canadian compositions every year.

Ms. Hawley was also a teacher with the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and is dedicated to the mission of having all children singing in schools every day. Ms. Hawley continues to give music leadership workshops to Board staff and facilitate workshops for school choirs. Ms. Hawley graduated from University of Toronto with an honours degree in Music Education and from University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Education.

Rebecca Hennessy

Rebecca Hennessy is an award-winning trumpeter, singer, composer and bandleader. In April 2023, she released her acclaimed second vocal album,“Joy Will Find Us”, which followed her 2020 celebrated debut vocal album, “All The Little Things You Do”. Both albums feature wold-renowned guitarist Kevin Breit (Sisters Euclid/Norah Jones). In 2020, Rebecca was awarded a Toronto Arts Council grant to write new music featuring the poetry of acclaimed indigenous author, Thomas King. This grant would be a continuation of a previous working relationship with King that started 2017 when she was commissioned to write music using his poetry. The music that Rebecca wrote for King’s Poem, “Dig Up The Stories”, was featured as an instrumental big band arrangement for Christine Jensen’s = Orchestra at The NAC in 2019.

Besides these recent vocal albums, Rebecca has released 9 other albums to date as co-leader or bandleader and has toured Mexico, Panama, Sri Lanka, Europe, USA and extensively in Canada. She has also performed and recorded with internationally recognized artists including Adele, Kevin Breit, Ron Sexsmith, Andy Kim, Owen Pallett, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Ab Baars and Ken Vandermark. In 2021 she joined the Yamaha Artist roster and currently plays on a YTR-8310Z. She was the bandleader and trumpeter for Massey Hall’s Women’s Blues Revue (2013-2022) and in 2018, won the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Jazz Artist Award and was nominated for Montreal Jazz Festival Grand Prix de Jazz in 2016.

Vanessa London

Vanessa London, a South American Born musician, is an accomplished vocalist with a diverse musical background. She is a graduate of Carleton University with a degree in Music and has always had a strong dedication and interest in the Ottawa music scene.

She has performed for CBC Radio, representing Ottawa in the Regional Music festivals and conducting several choirs in the city. Her love for performance has given her the opportunity to sing in several cities in Canada, the United States, the West Indies and South America.

Terry Porter

Performer, conductor and educator; Terry Porter began as a freelance clarinettist, performing with the Vancouver Symphony, Ottawa Symphony, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Mel Torme Orchestras. As a conductor, Captain Porter served for twelve years as Director of Music of the Governor General’s Foot Guards Band where he led performances supporting local events and those of all levels of government in Canada.

Mr. Porter taught Music in Ottawa high schools for thirty years; during which time, he led ensembles, both student and professional, in performances abroad including nine European tours. As an educator, he has helped generations of young people discover the joys and benefits we all share when music is part of our lives. Terry Porter is thrilled to be part of the adjudication team again at MusicFest Canada.

Interprète, chef d’orchestre et éducateur; Terry Porter a débuté comme clarinettiste indépendant, se produisant avec l’Orchestre symphonique de Vancouver, l’Orchestre symphonique d’Ottawa, le Royal Winnipeg Ballet et l’orchestre Mel Torme. Chef d’orchestre, le capitaine Porter a été pendant douze ans directeur musical du Governor General’s Foot Guards Band, où il a dirigé des spectacles soutenant des événements locaux et de tous les niveaux de gouvernement au Canada. M. Porter a enseigné la musique dans les écoles secondaires d’Ottawa pendant trente ans. Durant cette période, il a dirigé des ensembles étudiants et professionnels lors de spectacles à l’étranger, dont neuf tournées européennes. Éducateur, il a aidé des générations de jeunes à découvrir la joie et les avantages qui nous sont impartis lorsque la musique s’intègre à nos vies. Terry Porter est ravi de faire à nouveau partie de l’équipe des jurys d’évaluation de MusicFest Canada.

Sage Reynolds

This Canadian composer and musician works in a variety of musical styles and contexts (jazz, folk, indie, media composition, sound design/sampling, and others). Groups Sage has performed or recorded with include Thomas Hellman, Jordan Officer, Andrea Lindsay, Stars, Amon Tobin, Dawn Tyler Watson, and Sage Reynolds Quartet. Sage can be seen performing on national and international stages and was awarded the “Prix Étoiles Galaxie de Radio-Canada” at the 2005 FIJM.

On the Wall, Sage's first full length jazz CD as a bandleader/producer, was released in 2006 and his first CD with his indie rock group, Life in Winter, was released in 2012. The core of his training is a B.Mus. degree (McGill) and for ~15 years, Sage has taught music at a university level.

Recent projects include scoring a short film (2024), sound design for theatre, and indie folk and string quartet composition projects funded by the CCA (as well as the OAC, for the folk project).

Marg Stubington

Marg Stubington is an active choral conductor, pianist and educator. She is the music director of the Canadian Centennial Choir (appointed in fall 2009) and at First United Church, Ottawa (since 2013).

Over the last 25 years, Marg has directed a variety of choirs in Ottawa: Vox Femina (founder), Musica Viva Singers, Tone Cluster – quite a queer choir, Ottawa Gay Men’s Chorus, Glebe–St. James United Church Choir and the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir. She is a regular choral clinician at Canterbury High School in Ottawa and St. Michael’s Catholic High School in Kemptville, and has led workshops with the Ottawa Brahms Choir, Musica Ebraica and the Arnprior Community Chorus.

A graduate of McGill University (Bachelor of Music: Piano) and the University of Ottawa (Bachelor of Education: Primary-Junior), Marg brings passion and creative energy to all of her work. Among other achievements, Marg developed and directed the KidSingers children’s choir program for its first three years (2007–2010); it remains a thriving part of OrKidstra–Sistema Ottawa, an award-winning charitable social development program.

Actively involved with CAMMAC (Canadian Amateur Musicians, Musiciens amateurs du Canada) as a young musician and now as a member of the teaching faculty, Marg regularly leads the choir and orchestra for CAMMAC Ottawa–Gatineau’s annual concert, and directed the Ottawa Valley Music Festival program in Arnprior in 2019 and 2022 (in partnership with CAMMAC Ottawa–Gatineau).

In March 2018, Marg was one of six conductors selected to participate in the inaugural Amadeus Choral Workshop for Conductors presented by Lydia Adams, conductor and artistic director of the Amadeus Choir in Toronto.

Marg has encouraged the commissioning and premiering of choral works by Canadian composers: Donald Patriquin’s World Music Suite Three (2010) with Musica Viva Singers, and Nick Piper’s Nisi Pontus et Aer, Nothing But Sea and Sky (2014) and Laura Hawley’s In Song (2017) with the Canadian Centennial Choir.

David Thies-Thompson

David Thies-Thompson has been a member of the NAC Orchestra since 1990, as violist since 2007, following employment with Symphony Nova Scotia and The Victoria Symphony. His formative influences were Sydney Humphreys, Mauricio Fuks and Stuart Knussen, including studies at the the Eastman School of Music, McGill University, thé Banff Centre, NYO of Canada, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, and the Medomak Conductor’s Retreat. David is a dedicated teacher, formerly Music Director of the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra, and guest conductor of other ensembles including a long association with the Ottawa Youth Orchestra. By invitation of their viola section, David has enjoyed return engagements to the Berlin Philharmonic.

LaToya Webb

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Dr. LaToya A. Webb is a visiting assistant professor and interim director of bands. Her duties include leading the wind ensemble and symphonic band and teaching conducting and instrumental music courses. Recently, she served as assistant professor of music and director of the Wilfrid Laurier University Wind Orchestra (Waterloo, Canada). Dr. Webb has also served as an assistant professor of practice in conducting and assistant director of bands at the University of Texas at Austin, and Instructor of wind conducting at Auburn University and Grambling State University.

Dr. Webb is an internationally sought-after educator and conductor. She maintains an active performance and clinician schedule as a conductor, adjudicator and lecturer. In 2023, she led professional development sessions for conductors and musicians of the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces. Dr. Webb was also sponsored by the Save the Music Foundation as a professional development facilitator for the New York City Department of Education. She has presented research and numerous sessions appearing at state, national, and international conferences and events, such as the NAfME National Conference, the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, the Ontario Music Educators Conference, the College Music Society National Conference, the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference.

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