The adjudicators have been named for the 2019 Weyburn Rotary Music Festival, which gets underway on March 4 with the piano competition.
The festival will include the piano competition from March 4-7 at the T.C. Douglas Centre, the vocal competition on March 11-13 at the T.C. Douglas Centre and the Cugnet Centre, and the instrumental competition on March 14-15 at both of those locations.
The top performers from the festival will be featured, with scholarships and awards handed out, at the Stars of the Festival on Thursday, March 21, at 7 p.m. at the Cugnet Centre.
Dr. Katherine Dowling is the adjudicator for the piano classes, James McCarthy will adjudicate the instrumental-band classes, and Melissa Morgan is the vocal adjudicator.
Award-winning Canadian pianist Dr. Dowling performs across North America and Europe. Equally compelling as a solo, collaborative, and ensemble player, she holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University.
Dr. Dowling is a multi-year fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, a New Fromm Fellow, a Britten-Pears Young Artist, an International Musicians’ Seminar at Prussia Cove artist, and through extensive involvement and numerous positions at The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Orlando Festival, and the Avaloch Farm Music Institute.
In addition to her performing activities, Dr. Dowling teaches piano and chamber music at the University of Regina. She was invited to the jury for the National Finals of the 59th Canadian Music Competition, has enjoyed adjudicating at both the regional and provincial levels throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and teaches master classes and workshops throughout Canada every season.
Jim McCarthy is an established freelance musician with accolades in a wide range of skills performing, composition, arranging, studio production, music education and instrument design and building. He graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1996 with a Masters degree in Music Performance in percussion. Jim currently maintains annual tours in Australia performing with Musica Viva In Schools as well as running various master classes
and clinics. He also arranges music for school bands and produces sequences and recordings for The Fun Music Company.
As an educator, McCarthy has held positions working with both individuals and ensembles in 13 schools and universities since 1988. He also has a strong interest in developing beginner musicians, and in 2001, he completed a textbook and video tutorial series for first time drummers - Begin Drumming.
Jim’s current focus in education is in the production of resources and learning materials for keyboard percussionists.
Melissa Morgan was raised in Regina, and holds a Master of Music Performance in Choral Conducting from the University of Western Ontario, a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Regina. She is also an Associate of the Toronto Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT) in piano, voice, and flute.
In the fall of 2012, Melissa took a two-year sabbatical from her position at Luther College High School to begin doctoral studies in Choral Conducting at the University of Toronto. During her time in Toronto, Melissa was Assistant Conductor of the MacMillan Singers (2012-2013) and the Conductor of the University of Toronto Women’s Chorus (2013-2014). Melissa is the recipient of the Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowship in choral conducting from 2012 to the present.
Melissa combines performance and scholarship with her teaching. She has published in the American Choral Directors Association, Choral Journal and presented a poster session and lecture recital at the Choral Canada Podium Conference. Melissa is the Pfeifer Memorial Chair of Music at Luther College High School, where she is responsible for the Luther College Senior Choir, the auditioned choir AVE and the IB music program.
Her choirs have performed at the Association of Canadian Choral Communities Podium Conference, and as showcase choirs at the Rocky Mountain Music Festival in Banff.
