Winds / Percussion

Julie Begg • Clarinet

Julie began her musical training at Napier College in Edinburgh, Scotland and continued her studies at Trinity College of Music in London, England. There, she studied clarinet performance with John Stenhouse (London Symphony Orchestra) and saxophone performance with Chris Gradwell (London Saxophone Quartet). After graduating, Julie free-lanced in and around London as an orchestral clarinettist, with scratch and pit orchestras. She was the bass clarinetist with The Forest Philharmonic Orchestra and Chelsea Symphony Orchestra and as a chamber musician played clarinet with the Amabile Wind Quintet and Thayer Octet. She toured Germany with the Thames Wind Ensemble as their solo artist performing the Artie Shaw Clarinet Concerto. She was also the soprano saxophonist with the Jazz-A-Belles saxophone quartet, a cabaret-style group which was featured on national TV and radio. Her most memorable performance to date was for HRH Elizabeth II to whom she was formally introduced. Julie immigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1993 and established herself as a peripatetic tutor working in secondary schools and at private music studios. She is a passionate educator and currently tutors clarinet and sax at Collingwood School and Seycove Secondary School, at the Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver and at The Royal Oak Conservatory of Music in Burnaby. She maintains a busy studio of approximately 57 students per academic year. Julie is an active clinician working privately and for the Long and McQuade and Tom Lee education departments, directing workshops and taking clarinet and saxophone sectionals for numerous schools and band retreats. She manages a music production company (Quantum Music Works) which sells original music compositions to media companies for use in film, TV and radio broadcast. Julie continues to perform as a soloist, in stage productions and with chamber music groups in and around Vancouver and guests as lead tenor saxophonist with the Sea to Sky Big Band.

 Lauris Davis • Oboe/English Horn

Since completing a Music degree at the University of British Columbia and the
Artist Diploma program at the Vancouver Academy, Lauris Daivs has been freelancing in  Vancouver and throughout British Columbia. Lauris has performed with the Modern Baroque Opera Company, the Canada West Chamber
Orchestra, the Vancouver Island Symphony,the Vancouver Chamber Players, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra ,the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, the Ventos Woodwind Quintet and is currently in her second season as Principal oboe of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. She has been a soloist with the West Coast Symphony, the Vancouver Philharmonic,the Okanagan Symphony, the Music and Munch concert series on Salt Spring Island, the Music and Muffin series in West Vancouver and for the Society For A Celebration Of Women Composers.

Julia Nolan • Saxophone
 
Julia Nolan recently completed her Ph.D. at UBC in Curriculum Studies (Music
Education). She is interested in music performance research, primarily in the area of private music instruction and curriculum. She was awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Doctoral Fellowship from the Canadian government for 2007-2008. Ms. Nolan teaches saxophone at UBC, is Vice-President of the College Music Society Northwest Region, is the newly elected Director for the North American Saxophone Alliance Region 9, and an artist-clinician for Yamaha Canada, Ltd. Julia recently presented academic papers at conferences in North America and Europe and remains active giving master classes, public lectures, and performances. She performed as soloist with the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra (March, 2006) and premiered two works at the World Saxophone Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia (July, 2006). She premiered Ian
McDougall’s Concerto, commissioned for her and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra (March, 2005). Ms. Nolan performed as soloist with the festival orchestra at the World Saxophone Conference in Minnesota (July, 2003), was a soloist for the CBC Vancouver Orchestra CD Globetrotting, and recorded Concerto by Fred Stride commissioned by CBC. Also, she is featured on the CD Intrada with the Alan Matheson Big Band and performs with the Saxophilia Saxophone Quartet. Her career achievements were profiled in The Saxophone Journal (Sept/Oct, 2001).

 

Jeff Pelletier • Flute


Vancouver, BC flutist Jeff Pelletier has appeared in concerts and as a soloist
throughout the US and Canada. In addition to being the founder and
artistic director of Ventos, Jeff is the flutist with the Vancouver Chamber Players, is 2nd flute/piccolo with the Kamloops Symphony and performs regularly with the Vancouver Island Symphony. Another exciting group in which Jeff performs is the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra – the only concert orchestra currently in existence that brings together musicians trained in a wide variety of cultural disciplines, to perform new inter-cultural works on a grand scale. In the fall of 2010 Jeff was chosen to tour with the acclaimed group Winter Harp and enjoyed traveling throughout BC and as far as Winnipeg, MB with this amazing group. Originally from the USA, Jeff Pelletier’s musical background started in Maine. He went on to study with Carl Bergner, and, most notably, Julius Baker. Jeff has performed in master classes with Geoffrey Gilbert, Sam Baron, Jim Walker, Frances Blaisdell, Robert Willoughby, Robert Stallman, Leone Buyse, Christopher Millard and Carol Wincenc. In 2010 Mr. Pelletier completed an Artist Diploma at the University of British Columbia studying with acclaimed flutist Lorna McGhee. Jeff is a Pearl Flutes Performing Artist and performs on a 14k Handmade Pearl Maesta. In his spare time, Jeff enjoys gardening, cooking and baking, but most importantly his passion for nature/adventure photography. Click HERE to see his photography.