Discussion Panel

28-year-old cellist Tanya Ell has proven her impressive musical range and abilities, as soloist and chamber musician, on stages around the globe. Currently the youngest cellist in the Cleveland Orchestra, Ms. Ell has already performed with such notable musicians as Edgar Meyer (in Schubert's "Trout" Quintet at the Banff Centre), the Juilliard and Miró String Quartets, and Anthony Marwood of the Florestan Trio. She has appeared as soloist in the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto with the Aspen Festival Orchestra, conducted by Lynn Harrell; last season she performed the C.P.E. Bach Double Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony, where she was Assistant Acting Principal Cellist from 2003 to 2006. Ms. Ell's concerts have taken her to Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, Barbados, and many parts of the United States and Canada.

A child of two musicians, Ms. Ell began the cello at age four, studying with Louis Potter Jr. in her native Michigan. Among the eminent musicians she worked with as a student are Yo-Yo Ma, Janos Starker, Lynn Harrell, Richard Goode, and Robert Mann. (*see below) Ms. Ell subsequently went on to the Juilliard School in New York as a scholarship student of Aldo Parisot, receiving her Bachelor's Degree in 2000. While in New York, she performed in such prestigious venues as Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Merkin Recital Hall. In addition, she was a member of the Vaux Quartet, often representing the Juilliard School in concerts around the country. The Quartet was also chosen to perform at the school's commencement ceremony, an honor given to only one student group each year. Outside of her soloistic pursuits, Ms. Ell also gave dozens of concerts in hospitals, nursing homes and inner city schools in New York as part of her commitment to community outreach.

Ms. Ell completed her education with Shauna Rolston in Toronto, and with Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received her Master's Degree in 2003. She currently resides in Cleveland with her two cats, and plays on a cello made for her in 1992 by David Burgess.

Robert Levine has been the Principal Violist of the Milwaukee Symphony since September 1987. Before coming to Milwaukee Mr. Levine had been a member of the Orford String Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Toronto, with whom he toured extensively throughout Canada, the United States, and South America. Prior to joining the Orford Quartet, Mr. Levine had served as Principal Violist of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for six years. He has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the London Symphony of Canada, and the Oklahoma City Symphony, as well as serving as guest principal with the orchestras of Indianapolis and Hong Kong.

He has performed as soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Symphony, the London Symphony of Canada, the Midsummer Mozart Festival (San Francisco), and numerous community orchestras in Northern California and Minnesota. He has also been featured on American Public Radio's nationally broadcast show "St. Paul Sunday Morning" on several occasions.

Mr. Levine has been an active chamber musician, having performed at the Festival Rolandseck in Germany, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Palm Beach Festival, the "Strings in the Mountains" Festival in Colorado, and numerous concerts in the Twin Cities and Milwaukee. He has also been active in the field of new music, having commissioned and premiered works for viola and orchestra from Minnesota composers Janika Vandervelde and Libby Larsen.

Mr. Levine was chairman of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians from 1996 to 2002 and currently serves as President of the Milwaukee Musicians Association, Local 8 of the American Federation of Musicians, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the League of American Orchestras. He has written extensively about issues concerning orchestra musicians for publications of ICSOM, the AFM, the Symphony Orchestra Institute, and the League of American Orchestras.

Mr. Levine attended Stanford University and the Institute for Advanced Musical Studies in Switzerland. His primary teachers were Aaron Sten and Pamela Goldsmith. He also studied with Paul Doctor, Walter Trampler, Bruno Giuranna, and David Abel.

He lives with his wife Emily and his son Sam in Glendale.

Robert McCosh was born in Melfort, Saskatchewan. After completing his Bachelor of Music with a gold medal at Brandon University, he studied with Erich Penzel in Cologne, Germany for 2 years, courtesy of a German Academic Exchange Scholarship. He then spent a year at the Banff Centre taking master classes with Philip Farkas and Froydis Ree Wekre, among others.

Robert started his professional career with the woodwind quintet York Winds in 1986, fleshing out his work in the Toronto area by freelancing with all the major orchestras and musicals, such as Cats, Wizard of Oz and Les Miserables. As well, he performed with the Hannaford Street Silver Band and various new music groups, such as the Esprit Orchestra.

In 1990, Robert won the Principal Horn position with Symphony Nova Scotia. While in Halifax, he performed as soloist with the orchestra on several occasions, including playing the Canadian premiere of Peter Lieberson’s Horn Concerto. He was a guest artist at various music festivals, including the Scotia Festival and the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival.

Robert joined the Calgary Philharmonic as Associate Principal Horn in 2000 and was acting Principal in 2002-2003. He was a guest artist at the IHS Banff Horn Summit, Call of the Wild Horn Festival, Banff Summer Arts Festival and has been active as a private teacher, coach of the Calgary Youth Orchestra and chamber musician. In 2003 he was appointed to Principal Horn of the CPO.

Katherine Carleton has been executive director of Orchestras Canada/Orchestres Canada since July 2005. She has also worked as a clarinetist, teacher, granting officer, orchestra administrator and consultant in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Kingston (ON) and Halifax (NS). Katherine holds a Bachelor of Music degree in performance (clarinet, 1984) from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree in Management (2002) from Montreal’s McGill University. Her master’s thesis explored orchestral happiness, a subject that continues to fascinate. In addition to her work at OC, Katherine is studying French at Toronto’s Alliance Française and training for her third marathon.

John Rapson is Principal Clarinet with Symphony Nova Scotia and teacher of clarinet at Dalhousie University Music Department, positions he has held since 1979. He is well-known in Canada as recitalist, soloist and chamber musician, having performed and recorded for over thirty-five years. Many broadcasts for CBC and BBC are to his credit, including the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto with the CBC Vancouver Orchestra and the highly acclaimed CBC SM5000 recording of Patrick Cardy’s [i]Virelai [/i]with CBC Vancouver Orchestra and Mario Bernardi. He has also performed with the Vancouver Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, BBC Welsh Orchestra, and the National Ballet of Canada. His solo performances with orchestra have included concertos by Mozart, Nielsen, Weber and Spohr, all of which have been broadcast by CBC. He has given workshops and taught privately at University of British Columbia, Scotia Festival of Music, and Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto).

John Rapson has studied with some of the world’s finest teachers, including Avrahm Galper (Toronto Symphony Orchestra), Daniel Bonade, Stanley Hasty (Eastman School of Music), Robert Marcellus (Cleveland Orchestra) and Yona Ettlinger (Israel Philharmonic).

John has guest conducted orchestras in Europe and Canada and has attended advanced conducting workshops in the Czech Republic and Canada. His arrangements for orchestra and small ensembles have been lauded with high praise. On the lighter side, he has enjoyed “salon” or “light” music with the ensemble RHAPSODY QUINTET, which has four CDs to its credit, two nominations for the East Coast Music Awards and the Best Classical CD for 2005 Award with the Music Industry of Nova Scotia (MIANS).

In addition to his performing career, John has directed several organizations. He was Director of the Maritime Conservatory of Music from 1989-1994, Music Director of Chebucto Orchestra
(local amateur orchestra) for three seasons, founder/director of Halifax Chamber Musicians in the mid-1980s, and Music Director of Kalina Singers.

Robert McCosh was born in Melfort, Saskatchewan. After completing his Bachelor of Music with a gold medal at Brandon University, he studied with Erich Penzel in Cologne, Germany for 2 years, courtesy of a German Academic Exchange Scholarship. He then spent a year at the Banff Centre taking master classes with Philip Farkas and Froydis Ree Wekre, among others.

Robert started his professional career with the woodwind quintet York Winds in 1986, fleshing out his work in the Toronto area by freelancing with all the major orchestras and musicals, such as Cats, Wizard of Oz and Les Miserables. As well, he performed with the Hannaford Street Silver Band and various new music groups, such as the Esprit Orchestra.

In 1990, Robert won the Principal Horn position with Symphony Nova Scotia. While in Halifax, he performed as soloist with the orchestra on several occasions, including playing the Canadian premiere of Peter Lieberson’s Horn Concerto. He was a guest artist at various music festivals, including the Scotia Festival and the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival.

Robert joined the Calgary Philharmonic as Associate Principal Horn in 2000 and was acting Principal in 2002-2003. He was a guest artist at the IHS Banff Horn Summit, Call of the Wild Horn Festival, Banff Summer Arts Festival and has been active as a private teacher, coach of the Calgary Youth Orchestra and chamber musician. In 2003 he was appointed to Principal Horn of the CPO.

Mark Tetreault is Director of Symphonic Services for the Canadian Office of the American Federation of Musicians. Working from the Toronto Office, Mark provides service to orchestras from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Victoria, British Columbia. His duties include negotiation of collective agreements, assistance in dispute resolutions, representation at industry and union conferences and seminars, assistance to AFM Locals, and maintaining resources of information for bargaining and of best orchestral practices.

Mark was a founding delegate to the Regional Orchestra Players Association and has served as a Director and later as Secretary of the Toronto Musicians’ Association, AFM Local 149.

In addition to his AFM activities, Mark is the Principal Tubist with the [l=http://www.tso.ca]Toronto Symphony Orchestra[/l], a position he has held since 1986. Prior to then, he held the position of Principal Tuba in the Jacksonville Symphony for seven years. Mark is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

Mark is married to violinist Leslie Knowles, who is the fiddler in the Ontario-based band Hometown Bluegrass, as well as being a long-tenured member of the Toronto Symphony 1st violin section. Together they have a large family of beautiful, bright and talented children and cuddly cats.

In his free time, Mark enjoys skiing, hiking and playing with his kids.

Katherine Carleton has been executive director of Orchestras Canada/Orchestres Canada since July 2005. She has also worked as a clarinetist, teacher, granting officer, orchestra administrator and consultant in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Kingston (ON) and Halifax (NS). Katherine holds a Bachelor of Music degree in performance (clarinet, 1984) from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree in Management (2002) from Montreal’s McGill University. Her master’s thesis explored orchestral happiness, a subject that continues to fascinate. In addition to her work at OC, Katherine is studying French at Toronto’s Alliance Française and training for her third marathon.

Francine Schutzman, a native of Sea Cliff, New York, has been a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Ontario, since 1974, playing second oboe and English horn. She is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, where she received her BM degree under the tutelage of DeVere Moore, Paul Kramer and Wayne Rapier; and of the Manhattan School of Music (MM degree), where she studied with Robert Bloom and Alfred Genovese. Prior to moving to Canada, she played in the Savannah and Oklahoma City Symphonies, and she taught oboe, piano, music theory and music appreciation at Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Francine has been involved with the Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians (OCSM) since 1981, first as a delegate from her orchestra and later as a board member, holding various positions. She became President of the group in August, 2003. She served as a member of the NACO orchestra committee for approximately ten years, and she has been a board member of the Musicians’ Association of Ottawa-Gatineau (Local 180, AFM) since 1994. She has been the Local President since January, 2004. In connection with her OCSM position, she serves as an ex-officio board member of Orchestras Canada. She is a proud dual citizen of the US and Canada, but her energies have been devoted mainly to the betterment of the status of musicians in Canada.

Brian Robinson has been a member of the Montreal Symphony since 1983 and serves as their Principal Bass. He is also Chair of the Players Committee of the MSO. Before joining the MSO, he was a member of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, the Hamilton Philarmonic, and the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.

Brian studied with Thomas Monohan at the University of Toronto, with Peter Madgett at the Royal Conservatory, and with David Walter at the National Youth Orchestra. He is a recipient of the Kathleen Parlow Scholarship (University of Toronto graduation prize).

In addition to his MSO duties, Brian is an Assistant Professor, Faculty of Music, at McGill University.