Lineup
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Penny Sanborn is a classical accordion performer and educator from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She performs solo and in chamber music ensembles, and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Music Performance at the University of Calgary under Sir N. Antonio Peruch. She has been awarded grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
Born into a family of musicians, pianist Nikolai Nesterov is in the third year of his Bachelor of Music degree in performance at the University of Calgary, studying with Dr. Jani Parsons. An alumnus of the Academy of Music for the Gifted Youth at the Mount Royal Conservatory, Nikolai has won many awards and scholarships through the Calgary Performing Arts Festival, the Canadian Music Competition, and the C3 Rotary Concerto Competition. This year he became the inaugural recipient of the Gordon Bell Scholarship in Music and Student Experience, and participated in the Young Artists Development Program of Calgary’s Pro Musica from 2020-2022. Most recently, Nikolai has appeared at the ProArts Society and Stingray Classical Live at the King Eddy concert series and made his European debut in Vienna’s Bank of Austria Baroque Hall and the Erhbar Saal.
Takumi Rodgers is a Japanese-Canadian cellist currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in cello performance at the University of Calgary. In his studies with Beth Root-Sandvoss, Takumi functions as the principal cellist of the University of Calgary Orchestra, and contributes to multiple chamber ensembles. In his time at U of C, Takumi has been awarded the Hertz Trio prize and the Don Wright scholarship as well as Honours in the Frank Simpson concerto competition. Formerly, Takumi was the principal cellist of the CYO, and University of Lethbridge Symphonia orchestra, a member of Queensland Youth Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia, and a member of the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra.
Gloria Mui Man Sze is a composer and violinist. She is currently studying in the Master of Music program (MMus) at the University of Calgary, enrolled in a composition concentration under Dr. Allan Gordon Bell. As a composer, she enjoys the compositional process because it allows her to discover new means of expression and present her inner world through music creation, especially acoustic music for different ensembles and solo instruments.
Native to the city of Calgary, Linus Hynes is a freelance violist and alumni of the University of Calgary. Through his musical career, Linus has been a scholarship recipient from various music schools across Canada as well as the Calgary Performing Arts Festival. He had the opportunity to perform internationally as part of the first Canadian group to be invited to participate in the Chicago Midwest Clinic. When not performing, Linus enjoys playing guitar, and being outdoors either rock climbing, mountain biking, skateboarding, or hiking the mountains.
Isaac Willocks is in his fourth year of studies in the Bachelor of Music in Performance degree at the University of Calgary where he studies violin with Edmond Agopian. He is also studying at the Mount Royal University Conservatory in the Advanced Performance Program, under the direction of William Van Der Sloot. A sought-after collaborator, Isaac is currently the rotating concertmaster of the University of Calgary Orchestra, as well as being awarded the second violin spot in the SCPA faculty quartet. Isaac has also worked with non-profits like A Better World Canada to help raise money for more musical and educational opportunities for more underprivileged students and communities so that anyone who wants the opportunity to pursue music is given the chance.
Ernest Flancia is a percussionist who shares his passion for music to inspire others around him. He has won the “Kaede Cultural Society of Calgary Award” and the “Calgary Pro Musica Chamber Music Award” and is the current Principal Percussionist of the University of Calgary’s Wind Ensemble. Ernest teaches clinics for schools around Calgary and has performed with the Calgary Wind Symphony, Calgary Youth Wind Ensemble, Rocky Mountain Concert Band, Calgary Musicscapes Band and Alberta Winds. Ernest is is a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance student at the University of Calgary, under the instruction of Dr. Rod Squance, Dr. Chris Sies, and Tyler Hornby.
Henry Wu is a percussionist and educator born in China, and based in Calgary, Canada. As a percussionist, Henry has performed concerts with many orchestras and wind ensembles for audiences in Canada and China, including the Calgary Wind Symphony, Orchestra Academia China, and the Beijing Wind Orchestra. Henry was the first prize winner of the 2013 and 2015 Beijing Children’s Palace Music Festival Open Class Solo Snare Drum Competition, and a semi-finalist in the 2022 Marimbafest Open Class solo marimba competition. Currently, Henry is a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance student at the University of Calgary, under the instruction of Dr. Rod Squance, Dr. Chris Sies, and Tyler Hornby.