Faculty
Maestro Gregory Parra's career as a clarinetist and saxophonist have led him across Europe and the Americas as a soloist and orchestral performer. Originally from Venezuala, Gregory was a member of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, principal clarinet in the National Typical Orchestra, the Caracas Clarinet Quartet, the Camerata Criolla Gurrufío Ensemble, and the Onkora Group. He has also participated in many recordings including the Grammy Award winning album by Ilan Chester, Tesoros De La Musica Venezolana – Caracas (2009).
Gregory maintains a teaching career in music and is regularly invited to give lectures and play concerts inside and outside Venezuela. In 2016 Gregory was one of 200 clarinetists from around the world selected to audition for the principal position in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. The following year Gregory won a national audition for Assistant Principal Clarinet with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and remained with them for two seasons while commuting from Moncton to Saskatchewan every month. During this time, he received praises from colleagues, conductors, and the school boards in Regina for his participation as a coach for Link Up, an integrated children’s music program maintained by the RSO.
Gregory currently resides in Moncton and participates in cultural activities around the province as a performer. He is a member of Tutta Musica Orchestra and a teacher/conductor for Sistema NB Moncton Centre.
www.gregoryparra.com
Since situating himself in the city and musical community of Saint John, New Brunswick, Jon Fisher has built a rich and fulfilling musical life. Jon is active across the province as a horn player, teacher, and band conductor. His diverse interests in music, both old and new, have landed him in a variety of performance settings. He is equally at home performing from the middle of a lake or in an old parking garage as he is on stage at a concert hall.
Jon is an experienced orchestral musician, having performed in many orchestral settings over the course of his career. He can currently be found performing with Symphony New Brunswick where he is Acting Second Horn, a position he has held since 2013.
Most notably, though, Jon is the newest member of the Ventus Machina Woodwind Quintet, one the province’s foremost chamber ensembles. His playing can be heard on their upcoming album, entitled Folklore.
In addition to his work on the horn, Jon dabbles in wind band conducting. He is the music director of Saint Mary’s Band, one of Canada’s oldest and longest running concert bands, and is thrilled to see the accomplishments of the band under his baton.
Jon is committed to the field of music education. He is on faculty at Sistema New Brunswick in Saint John, where he teaches horn, and also manages the Saint John Youth Orchestra. His students mean the world to him, and he is very proud of their many accomplishments.
Jon grew up in Deep Cove, North Vancouver, BC. He worked his way eastward across Canada as he pursued degrees in horn performance at the University of Calgary, The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music, and the University of Toronto.
When Jon is not performing on or teaching the horn, he enjoys… practicing the horn.
Lucía Rodríguez was born and raised in Monterrey, N.L. México where she began her musical studies in the Orquestas, Coros y Bandas Juveniles de Nuevo León program. In 2002 she continued her violin studies at the Escuela Superior De Música y Danza de Monterrey conservatory of music under the tutelage of Mercedes Cisneros. In 2009, she co-founded and performed as soloist with an orchestral project called “Proyecto Sinfónico con Brio”. She continued her studies in Canada in 2009 and completed her bachelor’s degree in music performance in 2012 at the University of Western Ontario under the tutelage of Annette-Barbara Vogel and Jamie Weisenblum. An avid orchestral player, she has spent several summers performing with renowned youth orchestras in Canada and South America, including l’Orchestre de la Francophonie (2011-2014) and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (2012), and had the opportunity to work with conductors Carlos Miguel Prieto, Benjamin Zanders and Jean Phillipe Tremblay. In 2014 she graduated with a master’s degree in violin performance from the University of Montreal where she had the opportunity to study with Vladimir Landsman. She is currently a member of the NBYO / Sistema New Brunswick faculty, and working as a Teaching Artist in the Moncton Center.
Alexi Diaz is a Venezuelan violist, conductor, and teacher born in 1963, with a degree in Integral Education from Santa Rosa University in Caracas. He started studying viola in 1978 in his hometown in Venezuela and continued his studies in viola, chamber music and musical theory at the Conservatorio de Música de Caracas. He then pursued his musical studies in France at the Municipal Conservatory of Choisy-le-Roi, the National School of Music of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the National Regional Conservatory of Aubervilliers-la-Courneuve with professors Alain Tresallet, Michel Michalakakos and Fabienne Stadelmann. Alexi has also completed numerous advanced training courses in chamber music and quartet at Meadowmount School of Music founded by Ivan Galamian in the class of Margaret Pardee in New York, as well as with The Portland String Quartet in Maine and with Le Trio à Strings de Paris. He was a tutti violist and assistant soloist of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar in Caracas, of the Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, the Camerata Barroca de Caracas, guest violist of the National Orchestra of Toulouse, the Limoges Symphony, the Lamoureux Orchestra, the Padeloup Orchestra, the Column Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Carlos Chávez of Mexico, the Chamber Orchestra of Freiburg, Baroque Ensemble of Limoges, Cuarteto Cervantino, Ensemble of violas de Caracas, The Panamerican string quartet and the Madawaska-d’Edmundston String Quartet. Alexi Diaz has been a viola and strings teacher at the Edmunston Sistema centre since 2018. He works as solo viola with the Orchester Philharmonique du Haut-Saint-Jean where he was a soloist in November 2019, a tutti violist of the Tutta Musica ensemble, a violin teacher in the school Les Petits Violons of Mr. Daigle, and a resident violist of the Lac-Baker NB Chamber Music Festival since 2021.
Sébastien Sirois is a double bassist from New Brunswick now established in his native region, Madawaska county. He has been involved with Sistema NB since 2011 as a double bass teacher and was also a member of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra for several years, which was of great importance to him.
He has been back in Edmundston since 2018 and, in 2019, became the director of the Sistema NB center in Edmundston, where he oversees the development and outreach of the program.
His interest in music led him to obtain his bachelor's degree in classical music from the Université de Moncton and then to continue his studies in jazz music at Capilano University in North Vancouver.
Having performed with the New Brunswick and PEI Symphony, the Tutta Musica Orchestra, l’Orchestre Philharmonique du Haut-Saint-Jean, the Triade group and the Melawndo Trio, Sébastien enjoys playing in an orchestra as well as in a small jazz ensemble in order to share his passion for music and the double bass in his community.
Sébastien and his girlfriend are parents of a young boy, Noah, and live in Saint-Jacques.
Louis Garson grew up in Saskatchewan and earned his BMus in Double Bass Performance from the University of Toronto. His principal teachers have included Thomas Monohan, principal bass Toronto Symphony; Stuart Knussen, principal bass London Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Stehn, Professor at Guildhall School of Music in London, England. Louis joined the Windsor Symphony upon completion of his formal studies, and later went on to work for the Hamilton Philharmonic and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestras as well as the “Phantom of the Opera” orchestra in Toronto. Never far from teaching, Louis also taught double bass at Glenview Secondary School and Oakwood Colligates in Toronto.
In 1991 Garson moved to the UK, where he performed full time for twenty years and worked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and The London Philharmonic. During this time, Garson was also invited to work with The Philharmonia Orchestra, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, The English National Ballet Orchestra, and many others. He has performed with renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Yuri Termirkanov, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Guiseppe Sinopoli, Andre Previn, Neemi Jarvi, Simon Rattle, Yehudi Menuhin and Danielle Gatti and Charles Dutoit, and has toured extensively throughout Europe, as well as South Korea and the United States.
Since returning to Canada, Louis has worked for Sistema New Brunswick and The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra. He currently resides on Prince Edward Island and retains an online coaching and teaching presence. He performs with Symphony Nova Scotia, New Brunswick Symphony and is a founding member of the Atlantic String Machine.
Claire Leslie-Turnbull is a classically trained flutist born in Grimsby, Ontario, and currently based in Moncton, NB. She performs regularly as a soloist, chamber musician, in the orchestra, and with live bands throughout Canada. Claire is the flute teaching artist at the Moncton Sistema centre. This year she has also taken over the Orchestra Manager position with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.
In addition to flute playing and teaching, Claire released her debut EP ‘Falter’ in 2021 with a focus on turning stories into folk songs about people, places, and things. Since then she has had the chance to perform at notable folk festivals such as Flourish Festival, Farm Fest | Terre Ferme, and Lunenburg Folk Festival. Claire received her Master's degree in Music Education at the Longy School of Music in 2022. She was also a member of the 2021 Global Leaders Program Cohort and won the Sector Innovation Prize as a Hildegard Behrens Global Humanitarian Laureate. She received Graduate Diploma in Orchestral Repertoire from the University of Montreal in 2020 and obtained her Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Performance from McGill University in 2019.
Claire began playing the flute over 20 years ago under the tutelage of Suzuki flute teacher and trainer, David Gerry at the Great Lakes Suzuki Institute. Her primary teachers over the years were Joanna G'froerer, Timothy Hutchins, Carolyn Christie, and Denis Bluteau. Claire is thrilled at the opportunity to work with this year's NBYO flute section.
Tiago Delgado is a Sistema NB clarinet teaching artist at the Saint John Center. Born in Brazil, he is engaged with various music communities in the South and North Americas, with an interest in both contemporary and historical clarinet performance. Tiago has served as faculty at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and is also an instructor at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine through the non-profit organization “Project: Music Heal Us/Novel Voices: Distance Learning”. Tiago has appeared as a chamber musician at the 21C Music Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, Stratford Summer Music, Toronto Summer Music, Festival of the Sound-Parry Sound, Orford Winds, and Festival Musique de Chamber Lac Baker and, as a soloist, he has performed with the Kent State University Orchestra as the winner of the 2016 Leopold Sipe Award for Excellence in Music Performance and with the Minas Gerais Federal University Orchestra. Tiago is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet Performance at the University of Toronto and his education includes a Performer Diploma from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, a Master's in Music from Kent State University, and a Bachelor's in Music from Minas Gerais Federal University (Brazil). For more visit his website at: tiagodelgadoclarinetist.com
David Parker has been Principal Hornist of Symphony Nova Scotia since 2000. He has been a member of orchestras in Kitchener-Waterloo, Barcelona, Quebec City, Israel, and Mexico City. He has also performed with the Toronto Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Pops, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and Les Violons du Roy. He is a graduate of Boston University, the University of Toronto, and Acadia University. Mr. Parker has had generous support from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Mr. Parker is a founding member of the Canadian National Brass Project. He has appeared in chamber music festivals including Scotia Festival of Music, the Toronto Chamber Music Festival, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Festival of the Sound, the Garden Room, the Charlottetown Festival, and the Festival de Lago in Ajijic, Mexico.
Bermudian-Canadian trumpeter Matthew Ross is the Trumpet Teaching Artist at the Sistema New Brunswick Moncton Centre and a member of Tutta Musica and East Coast Brass.
Matthew completed his Master’s degree at the Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler. He received his B.Mus in trumpet performance at the University of Toronto and his Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School, studying with Anita McAlister and Andrew McCandless.
Matthew has also performed with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Symphony New Brunswick, Hannaford Street Silver Band, Weston Silver Band, Hogtown Brass Quintet, and Soundstreams.
Trombonist Jim Tranquilla is an active soloist, chamber and orchestral musician who travels throughout Canada and abroad with chamber music ensembles, bands, stage shows and orchestras. His affable approach to collaboration has earned requests to participate in major events including the Juno Awards, East Coast Music Awards and 2010 Winter Olympics and he has shared the stage with a wide range of stars including rock legend Sting, Weird Al Yankovic, Canadian icons Michael Bublé, Dianna Krall and Fred Penner, trumpet virtuoso Jens Lindemann and opera diva Measha Bruggergosman. As co-founder of the trombone quintet iTromboni, Jim tours extensively and performs at several of Canada’s finest concert halls and prominent festivals.
Jim is also a sought-after educator, adjudicator, clinician and arranger, having led workshops and masterclasses at schools and universities from coast to coast. He has worked as a Development Agent with Jeunesses Musicales of Canada (Montreal, QC) and as brass instructor/ensemble director at Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John’s, NL) and Mount Allison University (Sackville, NB). While living in Newfoundland, he was Director of Education & Outreach for the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director, Conductor & Orchestra Manager of the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Orchestra. Now living back in his home province of New Brunswick, Jim is the Director of Community Engagement with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra and trombonist with Tutta Musica Orchestra, Symphony New Brunswick and Vancouver Opera.
Percussionist M. Ed. B. Mus. in Performance. Percussion teacher at Université de Moncton. He is the founding member of the percussion quartet Amerythme formed in 1989. Born in Caraquet New Brunswick, has done numerous recordings and tours across Canada, France, Belgium, and Morocco. Michel is a recipient of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra’s Lieutenant Governor’s Award. He has been heard and seen frequently on television for CBC (East Coast Music Awards television show), Radio-Canada, and TV5. He has played on all the major scenes across the country like the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, the Canada Day in Ottawa, and the Festival d’été de Québec just to name a few. Michel is the leader of “ The Escola de Samba Acadia ” A group of percussionists who plays Brasilian style Street Samba available for parades, or special events.
