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Scott Gabriel, Conductor & Artistic Director: Born in Montreal, Scott Gabriel grew up in Teheran, Iran, and Calgary, Alberta. He began studying piano at age 6 and joined the Calgary Boys’ Choir under Douglas Parnham at 11. Educated at the Universities of Calgary and Toronto, Scott took his early inspiration from Thomas Rolston and Vondis Miller. As a student, he was the sole applicant accepted to the Advanced Conducting Workshop of the University of Toronto, in 1991. A highly skilled musician experienced in a wide range of repertoire, Scott has premiered the works of several young composers, directed the Gregorian Chant Choir of Calgary, and founded The Friends of Gravity, an experimental theatre and music ensemble in Toronto. In addition to teaching trumpet and music theory privately, he has worked with innumerable student and professional ensembles. He has played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Scott has lived and worked in Montreal since 2000 and is fluently bilingual. He is Assistant Music Director of the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, Choir Director at St-Laurent Church, and Artistic Director of the Westmount Youth Orchestra.
 Jean MacRae: Born in Victoria, British Columbia, and studied violin, piano and voice at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Winner of many awards for excellence, in 1976 she received a grant from the Canada Council to study violin with the renowned teacher Frederick Grinke, in London, England. Upon returning to Canada, Jean continued her studies with Sydney Humphreys, Gwen Thompson, and Rivka Golani. Much in demand as a chamber musician, Jean performed in the ‘Faculty Chamber Music Series’ of the Victoria Conservatory of Music, then in Toronto for CBC Arts National broadcasts, where she was also soloist for several world premiers of works for viola by young Canadian composers. Jean MacRae has been a member of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, l'Orchestre symphonique de Québec, l’Orchestre Métropolitain, La Pietà with Angèle Dubeau, and was principal viola of the Montreal Chamber Players. She has played with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec, l’Orchestre Baroque de Montréal, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, as well as in the Allegra Chamber Music Series. Jean has taught violin, viola and chamber music at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Ecole Secondaire Pierre Laporte in Montréal, and at CEGEP Vincent D’Indy. She shares her passion and enthusiasms for music with young musicians of all levels, and among her students are found winners of national and international competitions. In January 2000, with Margaret Lysy and James Darling, Jean founded the Westmount String Ensemble for beginning musicians, and then in September 2003, she founded Ensemble Dolce Musica, a string orchestra for musicians at the intermediate level. In 2006, Jean was director of the Youth Programme at the International Viola Congress.
Anne-Marie Leblanc, string coach: A native of Sherbrooke, Anne-Marie Leblanc began her cello studies with Carole Sirois. Graduate of McGill University in 2003, she was a student of the well-known cellists, Antonio Lysy and Brian Manker. Anne-Marie Leblanc participated in the National Youth Orchestra, the Festival du Domaine Forget, The Pierre Monteux School, The Tuckamore Festival and the Orford Arts Centre where she studied with Walter Joachim, Laurence Lesser, Alan Stepansky and Jean-Guyen Querras. Anne-Marie Leblanc freelances with different ensembles and orchestras in the Montreal area, as well as teaching cello and chamber music at the CEGEP de Sherbrooke and at Bishops University.
Peter Purich, string coach: Equally at home in the in the styles of classical music as well as the down home feel of folk, violinist Peter Purich has made it a life long passion to explore the diverse elements of as many kinds of music that he can. This search for the essence of all art has led him to play and record with everybody, from symphony orchestras to jazz ensembles, from baroque concertos to Klezmer fiddle. As well as playing the violin, Purich is also a luthier working in the traditional style as well as designing new instruments. |
