« back to Student Recognition Award Program

2022 Student Recognition Awards Judges

Dr. Jeremy Brown

Dr. Jeremy Brown - Winds & Percussion

Jeremy Brown is a conductor, saxophonist, woodwind artist, author, Professor of Music, and former Head of the Music Department at the University of Calgary. He has been both an artist-in-residence and lecturer at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Born in Seattle, Washington, he attended universities in New York, Ohio and Washington where he earned degrees in music education and woodwind performance.

His University of Calgary wind and jazz bands have been recognized for original programming and performing excellence; the U of C Jazz Orchestra won the Outstanding Ensemble Award at the 2013 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (Idaho) and ten outstanding soloist awards at the 2014 Elmhurst Jazz Festival (Chicago).

Dr. Brown was the conductor of the 2017 National Youth Band of Canada. He is the artistic director and conductor of the Calgary Wind Symphony, considered among Canada’s premier wind bands. Founded in 1947, the CWS has performed under his direction at European festivals and conferences in 2004, again in 2011, and most recently at the 2016 Music Conference Alberta as a featured ensemble.

Andrea Hill

Andrea Hill - Voice

Calgarian Andrea Hill completed a Bachelor's of Music in vocal performance with high distinction at McGill University, and a Master's of Music in opera performance at the University of Maryland. 

She would participate in the inaugural year of Calgary Opera's Emerging Artist Program, and would then move to Paris, France to join the Paris National Opera's Atelier Lyrique as a young artist for two years, where she would subsequently launch her career. 

Andrea's career has seen her perform at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, Paris National Opera, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Tours Opera, Dijon Opera, Opera Theatre of Metz, Calgary Opera, Manitoba Opera, Pacific Opera. Roles performed include Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Carmen, Varvara (Katia Kabanova), Der Gymnasiast (Lulu), Dorabella and Despina (Così fan tutte).

One highlight of her career was being personally chosen by Kurt Masur to sing Octavian in excerpts from Der Rosenkavalier under his baton at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Equally comfortable on the concert stage, Andrea has performed in works including Handel's Messiah and Mozart's Requiem, and will be soon singing her first Mozart C minor Mass and Ravel Shéhérazade.

Gabriel Kastelic

Gabriel Kastelic - Strings

A native of Lethbridge, Alberta, Gabriel Kastelic has been heavily involved in the Southern Alberta music community for many years.  He has extensive experience as an orchestral musician, having performed in concert with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Red Deer Symphony, Symphony of the Kootenays, and is currently the Principal Violist of the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra.  He is also a seasoned chamber musician, winning first place the Chamber Music category at the 2012 National Music Festival with his ensemble, the MRU String Trio and is presently the violist in the Musaeus String Quartet.

Along with performance, Gabriel’s greatest passion in music is teaching.  He has held numerous teaching positions over the years including professor of violin/viola for the Calgary Multicultural Orchestra, Director of the String Academy for Medicine Hat College, and most recently as Music Director of the Sinfonia Allegro String Orchestra and violin/viola instructor with the University of Lethbridge Conservatory of Music.  Gabriel is also a sought-after adjudicator, frequently serving in this role for various music festivals and competitions.

Allison Moore

Allison Moore - Community Service

As an arts champion, Allison elevates and advocates for arts organizations and through creating a collaborative community, nurtures connections and growth throughout Alberta. As an arts and culture consultant over the past 5 years and throughout the pandemic, Allison has supported and inspired over 200 arts organizations from across Alberta through Business/Arts artsvest matching incentive and mentorship training program to create over 500 sponsorships with their local business community.

As the Co-Producer of Calgary Expo’s POW! Parade of Wonders, Allison has built the event into North America’s largest cosplay parade, bringing joy and once-in-a-lifetime memories to over 23,000 cosplayers, special celebrity guests and spectating fans in Calgary.

As Mass Culture’s Network Group Conduit, Allison generates strategies to grow a healthy network, steward connections around research topics, and enhance the equitable mobilization of arts and culture research across Canada.

Dr. Dale Wheeler

Dr. Dale Wheeler - Piano

After teaching piano and a variety of courses at the post-secondary level for over thirty years, Dale Wheeler is now enjoying life as an independent musician. Living in Red Deer, Alberta he teaches part-time at Burman University and maintains a small private studio. He is also a senior examiner, clinician, and consultant for The Royal Conservatory of Music and RCM Publishing.

He holds the doctorate in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. He also holds degrees and diplomas from the University of Saskatchewan and Trinity College of Music, London.

Dr. Wheeler has appeared as a recitalist, accompanist, adjudicator, and lecturer from coast to coast in Canada and throughout the U.S. For a number of years Dale was a regular columnist for Clavier magazine and has had articles published in the CFMTA Journal, American Music Teacher, and The Journal of the American Liszt Society.

When not making music, his interests include water and snow skiing, classic cars, touring on his Harley motorcycle, and collecting vintage piano recordings.