Cadenza Summer Music Week
violin.cello.piano
Faculty and Staff
Rochelle Drudge director, teacher (violin, piano)
Rochelle Drudge has loved making music since age four when she first plucked guitar strings with a popsicle stick. After years of hoping to learn to play every instrument (especially saxophone), she became slightly more realistic and focused on two favourites: violin and piano. Rochelle’s musical involvements have included teaching, leading string groups and orchestras, choral directing, piano accompanying and playing in string ensembles. She spends most of her day either homeschooling her girls or teaching music, but other interests include gardening, making up healthy cooking/baking recipes, and experimentations with various fermentation projects (with more or less positive success).
Kayla Drudge Administrator, Student teacher (violin, piano)
Kayla Drudge grew up on Twinkles and Minuets. After 13 years of classical violin training under Rochelle Drudge, Wes Hamm, and Oleg Pohkanovski and yearly performances with the Pembina Hills Senior Strings ensemble and at the Morden Strings Festival, Kayla finally fell in love with music. This led her to quit classical lessons and begin experimenting with creating music of her own, combining her classical experience with her new love for everything folk. Some musical highlights of her life thus far include playing at the Back 40 Folk Festival with her band Urban Elephant, having a one-on-one fiddle lesson with Sara Watkins at Winnipeg Folk Camp, writing and recording violin parts for the Other Brothers' upcoming album, and covering the Civil Wars' "From This Valley" at St. Benedict's Table with Tim Plett and co. Having graduated from high school in 2013, she currently lives at home and busies herself maintaining a small private teaching studio, running the administrative side of Cadenza, working part-time at the Pembina Hills Art Gallery, and participating in planning the Back 40 Folk Festival 2014. Kayla's spare moments (and some other ones too) are spent playing her mandolin, reading Dostoevsky, and simply being with the people she loves.
Wes Hamm teacher (violin)
The wake from Wes Hamm’s canoe has left splash marks on a few rocks, a sand bar and the occasional lily pad. Which is to say, Wes has never been comfortable fitting music into neat little compartments. Violin studies shape songs; old folk songs provide inspiration for new melody. Rhythms shape the text and bleed back into the melody which sometimes finds its way back to the violin. It’s amazing what a couple of leaves of fresh basil will do to perk up the spaghetti sauce. It’s astonishing how long it took Wes Hamm to figure out that there is life after “shmount fatt”. Fortunately, it didn’t take him that long to embrace the diverse influences that have shaped his musical palette. Wes’s current musical tastes include recordings by Yo Yo Ma, Paul Simon, Jars of Clay, James Ehnes and Eva Cassidy. His musicianship has been shaped by studying violin with Rebecca Hunter at Eastern Mennonite University, by working together with many other teachers in the Suzuki tradition, by jamming with friends classical and friends folk, by listening to his students, and by sharing rehearsal and stage with many wonderful musicians. As a teacher, Wes owes a great deal to his three children, (currently) his three grandchildren, and the patience of the Child Care community in Manitoba, a wonderful place to share twelve years of his professional life. Wes and his wife Karen share 59.97 acres of bush covered hills south of Morden, MB, a significant space to walk with dogs, collect wood ticks, cut wood and nurture fruit trees. We have a house, too...and you are welcome.
Allison Warrian Teacher (Cello)
Allison Warrian earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Manitoba and a Master of Music in Literature and Performance from the University of Western Ontario. A native of Winnipeg, her teachers have included Paul Marleyn and Thomas Wiebe. She performs as a freelance cellist in Winnipeg and Southern Manitoba. Allison is a dedicated teacher and enthusiastically maintains a large private teaching studio.
Rachel Regehr teacher (violin)
Daniel Scholz TEacher (violin, viola)
Daniel Scholz enjoys a versatile career as an orchestral performer, chamber musician, teacher and conductor. Born in Saskatchewan, he holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from the University of Regina, and pursued graduate studies at McGill University and at the University of British Columbia, where he was a student of Gerald Stanick. Mr. Scholz is the Principal viola of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and is a core member of THE WINNIPEG CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY and the Rembrandt String Quartet. As a solo artist he has performed concertos with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchrestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Musicbarock, Okanagan Symphony and the Vancouver Chamber Players, and toured Europe with the Nordic Symphony as Guest Principal Viola. He was also a prize-winner at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, the most prestigious event of its kind, held on the Isle of Mann. Highly sought after as a teacher, Mr. Scholz is an instructor at the University of Manitoba and the Canadian Mennonite University, and is the conductor of the Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has performed and taught at many of Canada's major festivals and is a faculty member of the University of Manitoba Summer Chamber Music Program. Mr. Scholz has commissioned new works by Bramwell Tovey, David Scott, T. Patrick Carrabré and Jim Hiscott. He plays a viola designed by Gerald Stanick and made by Alan Balmforth of Seattle.
Dorothy Plett Teacher(Piano)
Leanne Regehr Lee teacher (piano), choir director
Leanne Regehr Lee has loved playing the piano for as long as she can remember. She earned Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees from the University of Manitoba, specializing in piano and choral music. Graduating with distinction, she taught junior high music in Winnipeg, where her choirs were consistently recommended to MusicFest Canada.Leanne's career as a music educator has also taken her to Nottingham, England where she developed a highly successful choral program, as well as teaching Performance, Composition, and Musicianship to junior and senior high students.Leanne currently maintains an active private piano teaching studio in which she strives to inspire her students with an enthusiastic and holistic approach to music education. Her students have won awards with both the Royal Conservatory of Canada and Conservatory Canada examination boards. In addition to teaching, Leanne also works as a freelance collaborative pianist, joining forces with an exciting variety of musicians, including Ecco Singers, Pembina Trails Voices, the Faith and Life Women's Chorus, and the Mennonite Festival Chorus. She is also on faculty at the Rosamunde Summer Music Academy.When she's not teaching or playing piano, Leanne enjoys cross-country skiing, gardening, and canoeing down the Assiniboine River with her husband, Garth, and their fabulous 6-year-old twins, Matthew and Nadia.
Garth Lee Luthier-in-residence
Rachel K Huebner teacher (Arts & Crafts, Piano), Registered nurse
Rachel K Huebner enjoys all kinds of visual creative arts - fibre arts, stained glass, and painting, to name a few. Her musical experience includes much piano playing and singing. She has been involved in many choirs, most notably CMYC, CMBC Ensemble, Durham Choral Society, and St. Margaret Anglican Vesper Choir. Rachel also writes worship materials for children. Some of her work includes Advent (Charleswood Mennonite Church) and VBS (MennoMedia). A registered nurse, Rachel has served as a School Health Nurse and now works at Klinic Community Health Centre in Winnipeg. Rachel's most important role in life is "Mom" to 3 exuberant children, Miriam, Jonah, and Marcus.
Simon MacDonald Guest Teacher (violin)
Simon MacDonald began playing the violin at age seven in Victoria, British Columbia. He did his musical studies in Victoria, Boston, and Montreal; receiving a Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory and Master of Music from McGill. As a student Simon spent summers performing and studying at several music festivals around Europe and North America. After playing the 1999 season with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans, Simon returned to Canada where he now calls Winnipeg home. On the prairies Simon is active as a teacher, orchestral musician, chamber musician, and soloist. Along with his regular duties in the first violin section of the WSO, he was Principal Second violin of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra (2003-12), guest Concert Master of the Regina Symphony Orchestra (2013, 14), and he is a member of the Rembrandt String Quartet. In October of 2013, his wife Jennifer gave birth to their first baby, a beautiful boy named Oliver.
Rosemary Siemens guest teacher (violin)
Leanne Zacharias Guest teacher (cello)
Herb Pauls Guest Teacher (piano)
Allison Banman student teacher (cello)
Having started her musical adventure at the age of 6, Allison Banman began by playing piano, then added the violin to her life at 8. One summer, at a concert, as the cellists were performing, the violin in her hand started to vibrate with the deep rich sounds that the cellos produced. This is what started her on the path to playing the cello. Allison started taking lessons at the age of 12, and the experience given to her by the instruments she had played previously really sped up the learning process. She has played in summer music camps, festivals and in orchestras, as well as in the band urban Elephant. Along with the piano, violin and cello, Allison has also experimented with other instruments for fun, such as the recorder, mandolin, harmonica, accordion, guitar and bass. Her longest musical desire has been to play the bagpipes, and when she finally gets a hold of them, you'll know!
Sarah-lynn Bergen student teacher (violin)
Sarah started playing violin at age eight and has never stopped playing since. In 2011, she played in the provincials, won her class and returned in 2012. She has played in music camps across Manitoba and in addition to studying classical music, she also plays lots of fiddle music, at home and in workshops. She has played in the Morden Festival and has won many scholarships there. She is playing in the Winnipeg Youth Concert Orchestra for the 2013-2014 season. Sarah is currently playing at a Grade 8 level.
Hannah Rochelle Drudge student teacher (violin, piano)
From performing as a soloist to playing in the middle of an orchestra, Hannah Rochelle Drudge is an avid musician and hopes to make music a lifelong pursuit. She studies violin and piano at a grade 8/9 level. She has enjoyed gaining experience through teaching at Cadenza and assisting in beginner string groups. Musical highlights for her this year are playing in the Winnipeg Youth Concert Orchestra and serving as the concertmaster of the Pembina Hills Senior String Ensemble. Hannah's other interests include learning and teaching ballet, reading classics, watching history lectures, and collaborating with other musicians from a variety of genres.
Elyse Loewen student teacher (violin, piano)
Elyse first started violin lessons at the tender age of five, and she had absolutely no idea what she was getting into. She completed her Grade 10 exam in 2012 with First Class Honors. Elyse studies mainly classical violin, but enjoys fiddle music and has attended several fiddle workshops and camps. She has played at the provincial level several times and has won numerous scholarships and awards for her performances, including first place in the Youth Orchestra Scholarship competition with an opportunity to play as a soloist at the Winnipeg Centennial Concert Hall. Her most recent award is the 2013 Loreena McKennit award from the Morden Festival given each year to a dedicated and promising musician. This is her third year playing first violin with the Winnipeg Youth Sympthony Orchestra and she currently plays at an ARCT level. Elyse started piano at age nine and is currently plays in Grade 9 RCM. She has been to the provincials three times for piano and has many awards for her playing at the Winkler Festival of the Arts including the Tina Fehr Scholarship for the most deserving advanced student.
Kaiti Rieder student teacher (violin, piano)
Chloe thiessen Student teacher (Arts & Crafts, Violin)
Jesse Thiessen Student teacher (viola, Violin)
A enthusiastic, free spirited young woman, Chloe Thiessen loves colour and running around. She is an artist with many skills such as painting, dancing and music. She's been playing the violin for nine years and has participated in the Pembina Hills Sting Ensemble since it's earliest years and has gone to Brandon and Winnipeg violin camps in the past. Last year was Chloe's first year participating in Cadenza as an assistant/teacher. She enjoyed teaching and learning along with the children and was bursting with pride as they expanded their musical talents.
jason Vanwynsberghe Student teacher (Violin)
Jessie Banman food coordinator
Born and raised in a family of sixteen, Jessie Banman has witnessed first-hand what is required to feed a multitude. She is actively involved in helping prepare food for annual family gatherings and serving up to 115 family members. She has spent the last 21 years providing meals for her family of 8, which has given her much opportunity to experiment in the kitchen. Jessie remembers her first independent experience preparing bread dough: as the dough took very long to rise, she decided to throw it into the garbage, thinking it was spoiled. She left the house for several hours, only to be quite surprised upon returning home to discover that the dough had risen after all, and was now overflowing the garbage can. Jessie continues to develop the essence of patience in all aspects of her life. She has her level 1 food handling certificate and is looking forward to once again feeding a crew of great musicians!!