Adjudicators 2023

Junior Piano	Michèle Wheatley-Brown
Senior Piano	Dr. Jamie Syer
Community and School Choir	Catherine Glaser-Climie
Musical Theatre	Bill Hamm
Strings	Naomi Delafield
Voice	Kathleen Morrison

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MICHÈLE WHEATLEY-BROWN  |  Junior Piano   | mindbodymusic.ca

Michèle Wheatley-Brown is an accomplished pianist, teacher, adjudicator, and examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music. She holds a Master of Arts (Music) degree from the University of Ottawa as well as a Graduate Certificate in Piano Pedagogy Research. She has a Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto and is a Licensed Body Mapping Educator.

Michèle runs a thriving piano studio in High River, Alberta where she is also the founding Artistic Director of a highly successful classical music concert and education program. She strongly believes in making music a vital part of community life.

As well as being a member of the RCM College of Examiners, Michèle serves on the board for the Association for Body Mapping Education, an international organization of music educators dedicated to emphasizing and teaching the principles of biomechanical technique to musicians. She was one of the first licensed Body Mapping Educators in Canada and is now a Mentor Teacher for apprentice teachers seeking certification.

Michèle takes particular pleasure in her role as an adjudicator. With a spirit of supportive collegiality, she loves to bring a fresh set of eyes and ears to students’ performances and hopes her comments benefit students, teachers, and parents alike.

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DR. JAMIE SYER  |  Senior Piano  |  jamiesyer.ca

Though he finds it hard to believe, Dr. Jamie Syer is marking more than 50 years as a professional pianist, having debuted at Calgary’s Pleiades Theatre in 1971. Dr. Syer completed his graduate degrees at the Yale University School of Music as a student of Claude Frank and Ward Davenny. Earlier, he studied piano in Calgary with Linhart Walker, and harpsichord with John Searchfield.

He has taught at universities and colleges in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and New Brunswick. Dr. Syer was Dean of the Victoria Conservatory of Music until 2012. He also served as Head of the Conservatory’s Keyboard Department, and taught at the School of Music, University of Victoria. As a lecturer for UVic’s Faculty of Continuing Education, he led two arts-related travel tours to France.

Jamie is the founder of the Victoria Conservatory’s Young Artists Collegium program, which continues to offer an enriched curriculum for talented young singers, pianists and other instrumentalists. He has performed many times in Europe: in Scotland, Ireland, Hungary, France, and England; as well as closer to home in recital venues across Canada. In 2019, he was a featured concerto soloist with the Sidney Classical Orchestra.

Dr. Syer is known for his imaginative recital programming and his artistic, energetic playing. He is a popular adjudicator and workshop clinician who enjoys working with teachers’ groups and with students of all ages. In 2020, Jamie was Musical Director for a production of Matilda. He recently composed an original musical, Camp Spartan, which premiered in February 2023.

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CATHERINE GLASER-CLIMIE | Community and School Choir | cantarechildrenschoir.org

Catherine Glaser-Climie has nurtured and inspired singers of all ages through her acclaimed work, earning national awards and performances with Calgary Opera and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Choirs under her direction perform at prestigious events and tour extensively throughout Canada, the US and Europe.       

As Founder/Artistic Director of the Cantaré Children’s Choir, she created a comprehensive curriculum of music instruction for children ages 6 to 18 and for preschool children through Kodály Music Explorers.

In demand to share her expertise and known for her captivating warmth and enthusiasm, invitations to appear as adjudicator, lecturer and clinician take Catherine across North America and Europe.

Catherine’s leadership has earned awards from Choral Canada, Choir Alberta, the Alberta Kodály Association and the City of Calgary, including Choir Alberta’s Richard Eaton Award, given for exemplary service to the choral community.

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BILL HAMM | Musical Theatre |  rosebudschoolofthearts.com

Bill Hamm has been the Music Director at Rosebud Theatre and Rosebud School of the Arts since 1989. He conducts choirs, teaches voice and speech classes, has acted in many plays and musicals, and has directed music for numerous shows including Cotton Patch Gospel, Man of La Mancha, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Godspell, and Fiddler on the Roof. 

Also, he sings with the Canadian Chamber Choir, and with Luminous Voices, a professional choir in Calgary. He also performs with a Folk/Bluegrass band. 

Bill has a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Illinois, a B.A. from University of Winnipeg, and a Bachelor of Religious Studies from Canadian Mennonite University. Bill is Music Director for the Canadian Badlands Summer School. 

Bill and his wife Renita have four children and four grandchildren. He enjoys running, mountain biking, hockey, home renos and mechanical work.

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NAOMI DELAFIELD | Strings

Born and raised in Australia, Naomi Delafield began lessons at age 3 with the Suzuki method and has been performing and teaching the violin for over 30 years. Naomi holds a Master’s degree in Violin from the University of Calgary and has held the Concertmaster position of Red Deer Symphony Orchestra since 2006.

From 1994 to 2001, Naomi had the opportunity to travel the world as Concertmaster and soloist with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. Solo highlights including the Sydney Opera House, St. Martin in the Fields, Carnegie Hall, Cape Town City Hall and the Winspear. 

After moving to Canada with her husband, Naomi founded a community string orchestra in 2002; ‘Rosedale Valley String Orchestra.’ Her concerts with RVSO have now raised $120,000 for humanitarian projects around the world, and most recently are benefiting new Ukrainian families settling in Lacombe.

Naomi is often called upon to adjudicate at festivals and teach at workshops and clinics. She has produced four CDs; one classical, one Celtic and two orchestral with RVSO.

In 2010 Naomi made a long-time dream come true and began dabbling in Baroque Violin. Since then she has enjoyed collaborating with several organizations, including Rosa Barocca and Early Music Alberta, as interest in period instruments continues to blossom in Alberta. 

On the side, Naomi runs a small string shop ‘Prairie Violins', servicing the needs of string students in Central Alberta. In the summer and fall, her husband David and three children are developing their small farm; ‘Aspen Acres’, growing several varieties of garlic and haskap berries.

 

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KATHLEEN MORRISON | Voice |  kathleenmorrison.com

Calgarian Kathleen Morrison has been described as “Riveting” by Opera Canada. Since 2012, her performance career has taken her all over the world, including Germany, Austria, China, Italy, USA, and Canada.

In 2019 she co-founded the popular opera duo Divas Opera, owns and runs the successful Voice by Kathleen studio in Calgary, is the director of the Solo Voice Studio at the prestigious Renert School, and is an in-demand clinician/adjudicator/performance coach.

She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Lethbridge and an Artist Diploma from the Vancouver Academy of Music.

She currently lives in Calgary with her Grand Champion trick Samoyed, Alfio.

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