2023 Adjudicators

BAND	Oscar-Jose Garcia
BAND, COMMUNITY	Alex Moxon
CHORAL	Kathryn Parrotta
FIDDLE / UKULELE / GUITAR	Alex Moxon
MUSICAL THEATRE	Dr. Danica Hoffart
PIANO, JUNIOR / PREPARATORY	Michèle Wheatley-Brown
PIANO, SENIOR	Dr. Leanne Regehr
STRINGS	Hilda Cowie
STRINGS	Melanie Smith-Doderai
VOCAL	Melanie Baux

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Oscar-Jose Garcia retired from formal full time band and music teaching in 2016 after 34 years as the Director of Bands at St. Mary Catholic School in Westlock Alberta. Oscar-Jose is currently a guest clinician and adjudicator. He has also been accepted as an adjudicator for The WorldStrides and Heritage International Music Festivals which operate each year across major cities in the U.S. and Canada.

He is currently the director of the True North Community Jazz Ensemble from Westlock Alberta which he formed in 2017. Oscar–Jose is also very well known as an accomplished and recognized flamenco guitarist. He performs regularly with his wife, singer and flamenco dancer Judith Garcia, along with their flamenco troupe “Flamenco En Vivo” which they founded in 1999.

Over his long tenure at St. Mary, Oscar-Jose operated Junior and Intermediate Junior High Concert Bands, a High School Wind Ensemble (Concert Band) and a High School Jazz Band. He has also coached many school combo bands (student-run rock bands) and instrumental quintets. His school bands have received countless Superior and Gold Awards at local, national and international music festivals for their high level of performances and accomplishments. Over the years, he has traveled extensively with his high school Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band, exposing them to the cultures and musical experiences worldwide and having them partake in international music festivals, enjoying such U.S. cities as New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Closer to home and here in Canada they visited such cities as Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie. He has also taken his school bands to Spain where they performed in Madrid, Segovia, Avila, Cuenca and Toledo.

Oscar-Jose was also nominated for the Alberta Excellence in Teaching Award. He has appeared as a guest conductor for the Alberta Honour Band in Calgary and the Fort McMurray Honour Band. He currently participates in band clinics throughout the year and enjoys adjudicating band and performance groups at festivals. His school band program was well-known all across Canada and was considered to be one of the top small high school band programs in Alberta.

Oscar-Jose is very passionate and has a great understanding of music and conducting student bands. He has an ease and fun way of getting kids to understand the concepts of teamwork in relationship to playing as a complete ensemble. Oscar-Jose’s teaching motto is very simple; “All kids should have the opportunity to learn to play and love a musical instrument with the chance to surround themselves in a cohesive group of musicians working together to produce beautiful music during their formative educational years. Music does make you smarter.”

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Without a doubt, Kathryn Parrotta's contribution to choral music is quickly becoming recognized all over the world. She is known for being a major influence in Calgary's choral community because of her enthusiastic and passionate approach with her choirs.

With a mission to inspire singers with quality music and vocal training, Kathryn aims to encourage self-awareness and confidence through performance opportunity, music education and literacy, and community involvement. Over the years Kathryn has trained hundreds of students who have subsequently become professional singers, performers, and educators in the areas of vocal pedagogy, musical theatre, music therapy, theory and composition, TV and film, and opera. 

Currently, Kathryn (b. 1981) is the director for a large youth show and concert choir with the Youth Singers of Calgary as well as the director of the University of Calgary Chorus and highly auditioned Chamber Choir at the School of Creative and Performing Arts in Calgary, Alberta.  

Since March of 2020, Kathryn has been the Artistic Director for the Calgary Physician Choir – a choir of women physicians who sought music to cope with the stresses of being on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

In addition to teaching private music students, she is a frequent adjudicator and clinician for several schools and music festivals in and around Alberta.  Several treble and mixed choir compositions are published by​ Cypress Music Publishing in Vancouver, B.C., Alliance Music Publications in Houston, Texas.

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Guitarist Alex Moxon is a fresh face in the Edmonton music scene. The Ottawa ex-pat cut his teeth in Canada's capital while performing with a Who's Who of local and national talent, including Juno-winning artist Kellylee Evans, HILOTRONS, Miguel De Armas, Roddy Ellias, Shawnee Kish, Iskwē, Michael Greilsammer, Kieran Overs, Petr Cancura, SOCALLED, Sivan Arbel, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He has opened for Brian Charette, Bernie Worrell, Michael Winograd, and Brian Blade. 

An up-and-comer on the world jazz stage, his debut record as a leader Alex Moxon Quartet has received international radio airplay and stellar reviews. As of 2023 he continues to refine his artistic voice while producing new material in western Canada and beyond.

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Dr. Danica Hoffart is a singer, conductor, musical director, educator, and adjudicator. She currently directs the Ross Street Singers in Red Deer, AB and is Associate Conductor and Vocalist with the newly-formed Central Alberta Chamber Orchestra. 
For over two decades, Danica taught post-secondary Music and Theatre including private voice lessons, choir, singing for the stage, music history, and ear training. 

She has performed with Kompany! Dance and has been a soprano soloist with the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra. Select musical directing credits include South Pacific, Footloose, Cabaret, The Sound of Music, and The Wizard of Oz. 

Danica holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Arts in Music from the University of Alberta, and a PhD in Music from the University of Calgary. Her research examines best practices in leadership and the empowerment of individuals through participation in choir.

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Michèle Wheatley-Brown is an accomplished pianist, teacher, adjudicator, and examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music. She is passionate about helping her students of all levels realize their potential for joyful music-making.

Michèle holds a Master of Arts (Music) degree from the University of Ottawa as well as a Graduate Certificate in Piano Pedagogy Research. She has Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees 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 healthy 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.

As a Body Mapping Educator, Michèle is in demand as a specialist helping musicians improve their performance and avoid pain and injury a proper understanding of anatomical structure and biomechanical principles. She regularly presents clinics, masterclasses, and workshops to music programs at universities, colleges, and conferences throughout Western Canada. She also offers private and group lessons in Body Mapping. Michèle has published articles and papers in Arts Biomechanics Journal, ARMTA Tempo, and APTA News and Views.

Michèle takes particular pleasure in her role as an adjudicator and has enjoyed participating in numerous festivals throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and the Yukon.

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Dr. Leanne Regehr is a versatile and sensitive pianist who is widely recognized for her intuitive ability to collaborate with other musicians across an extensive range of repertoire. She is the featured soloist in a live recording of Victor Davies' Mennonite Piano Concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and is currently based in Edmonton where she serves on the faculties of the University of Alberta and The King’s University.

Leanne’s reputation in opera has grown through engagements as a répétiteur with Shreveport Opera, Mercury Opera, and Edmonton Opera. Her dedication to the development of young singers has been shown through her work as a faculty member with Opera NUOVA, as a Coaching Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, and most recently with the Ukrainian Art Song Project’s Summer Institute in Toronto.

She is a keyboardist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, Pro Coro Canada, Da Camera Singers, Luminous Voices, and the Academy Concert Series in Toronto.

Leanne completed her Doctor of Music in Piano Performance at Northwestern University and explored further studies at the Banff School of Fine Arts, the Universitat Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Aspen Music Festival.

She has enjoyed playing the masterworks of the choral repertoire during her twenty seasons as accompanist with the Richard Eaton Singers, and freelances as a soloist, vocal coach, recital partner, and adjudicator.

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Double bassist Hilda Cowie has always been surrounded by music. The daughter of a bassist and a trombonist, her path to a career in music was natural. Hilda is grateful to have spent early years in the Halifax City Schools Music program, which provided strong choral, instrumental, orchestral and jazz training. As a teen she began studying the bass with her mother, a member of Symphony Nova Scotia and continued as a student of renowned bassist Joel Quarrington at the University of Toronto and the RCM Glenn Gould School. 

Hilda is an active member of the Canadian music scene and has performed coast to coast in various capacities. Before joining the ESO in 2022 as principal bass, she was a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra for over 20 seasons.  She has held positions as principal bass of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Kingston Symphony Orchestra and now the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with major Canadian orchestras including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company, Symphony Nova Scotia, and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. 

Hilda can be heard on recordings by the NAC Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Banff Centre’s Gruppo Montebello and has performed in solo recital in Ottawa, Halifax, and Toronto. She enjoys frequently performing chamber music with friends and colleagues.

Hilda and her partner and young son moved to Edmonton in 2022 and look forward to discovering all it has to offer. 

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Melanie Smith-Doderai holds a BA, B.Ed and M.Ed. Melanie is an active member of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association, holds an Advanced Specialist Certification from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada, and has published ten theory books for string instruments through Mel Bay Publications.

Melanie has been awarded the 2009 Excellence in Music Teaching Award as well as the CMFTA Award for Recognition of Professional Achievement from 2010 to present.

Melanie is proud to have the title of being Canada's first aerial silk violinist and was recently featured on Canada’s Got Talent.

 

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Melanie Baux has always loved being surrounded by music. Melanie has a Diploma in Music Performance from Mount Royal University and a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Manitoba. She has completed the Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop at the Boston Conservatory and  has completed all levels of Somatic Voice WorkTM The LoVetri Method. Melanie has performed with orchestras across Canada as a soloist in both oratorio and secular works. She can be found on the theatre stage, frequently performing in musicals and concert works.

Melanie is passionate about developing and mentoring young performers. She has been a vocal coach and rehearsal lead for the Calgary Boys’ Choir and was the Artistic Director of the Cochrane Young Singers for five seasons. Melanie has been the Artistic Director of Swamp Donkey Musical Theatre Society since 2018.

She has been musical director, director, and choreographer for numerous musicals and continues to produce several shows each season. She is a sought-after voice teacher and vocal coach. Melanie frequently adjudicates Musical Theatre, Classical and CCM voice. She is dedicated to enriching communities through music.

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