THURSDAY • JULY 4 • 12 NOON

Peter Jancewicz took up composing in 1995 when an injury prevented him from performing. His first works were pedagogical pieces for piano, published by Alfred Publishers in 1998 and Alberta Keys, now Palliser Music Publishing. In 2003, he collaborated with Alberta poet Elly van Mourik, composing and performing on a CD of music and poetry entitled “Oh Evergreens”. He then began to compose solo piano music for his own concert performances. In 2010, he contributed music to a film titled The Godchild, as well as for a video celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Epcor Centre. In 2013, he produced a CD recording entitled “Music for Piano” with the help of a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, performing his own compositions. This led to a series of commissions including works for Duo Polaris (Sonata for Cello and Piano 2014), violinist Frank Ho (Suite for Violin and Piano 2015; Sonata for Violin and Piano 2017), The Mount Royal Choral Association for Artio, J.L. Bleau, director (from the lightless night, 2018) and Alberta Pianofest (An Old Fashioned Fairy Tale” for piano and narrator, 2019).

Peter Jancewicz holds a DMus in piano performance from the University of Alberta and an MMus in piano performance from McGill. He presently teaches piano at the Conservatory at Mount Royal University, a position he has held since 1994. In addition, he has served as Coordinator of Piano and Coordinator of Academy Piano.

Cameron Robert Watson brings to the piano a broad view of music. In addition to teaching, examining, adjudication and performance throughout Canada, he has recorded numerous solo programs for CBC; written music for theatre, film and dance; and performed both as pianist and narrator in interdisciplinary projects combining dance, visual art and poetry. He was recently featured in the FAVA Gala in Edmonton performing live, accompanying a film inspired by the works of Claude Debussy. After studying filmmaking at New York University, Simon Frazer and UCLA he translated his lifelong love of dance and music into a documentary entitled Dancessence produced by ACCESS Television. He has also written and produced an award nominated dramatic short, various commercials and has recently composed the score for Wes Miron’s experimental film, Undertow.

In addition to these activities, Watson is a legal scholar, possessing an LLB from the University of Alberta, and was the winner of the 2000 Gordon F. Henderson/SOCAN Copyright Award for
his work on music copyright. He is also a regular contributor to International Piano, the premier worldwide publication on piano and pianists.

Watson’s key piano mentors include: Boris Roubakine, Leonard Isaacs, William Aide, Jane Coop and the eminent Gyorgy Sebök as well as composers Luigi Zanninnelli and Dr. Gerhardt Wuensch. Watson holds a Bachelor of Music with distinction in piano performance from the University of Calgary and a Master of Music in performance and composition from the University of Western Ontario. He has also studied at the University of British Columbia, The Banff School of Fine Arts, and in Europe under the Canada Council.

Robert Klakowich is a musicologist and music theory specialist who has been teaching in the Conservatory of Music at MacEwan University since 2000. His Ph. D. was earned in 1985 from the University of Buffalo, and he has also held academic positions at the University of Alberta, the University if Lethbridge, Durham University in the UK, and University of Auckland in New Zealand. With a research specialty in the English 17th century, he has published editions of early keyboard music in Musica Britannica and A-R Editions and has written numerous articles for scholarly journals, as well as papers delivered at national and international music conferences. His interests extend into the world of theatre, where he has been active as a director, sound designer and actor/narrator.