Kathaumixw Jury & Guest Conductors

Don James, C.M. - Canada

No dream can be successful without a visionary. The dream of holding an international choral music festival in Powell River belonged to Don James 23 years ago. Since then, the dream, in the form of International Choral Kathaumixw, has become a reality, and it has been embraced and propelled by the community of Powell River, British Columbia.

Mr. James settled in Powell River after graduating in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Washington in the early 1970s. Over the past 30 years he has enjoyed an enviable career as a conductor,  music educator and musical entrepreneur. He is the founder and music director of the Powell River Academy of Music, International Choral Kathaumixw and Symphony & Opera Academy of the Pacific. more...

Fred Sjöberg - Sweden

Fred Sjöberg born 1953 studied as a singer and choral conductor (M.M.) at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and Örebro. He studied with Professor Solvieg Grippe, Eric Ericson and Helmuth Rilling.

Fred works in a broad spectrum of music styles including jazz, a cappella, major classic works, pop, contemporary etc.

He works often as a conductor or tenor soloist and is well known from J S Bach St. Johns Passion to spectacular choir gala concerts at the Globe Arena in Stockholm.  more...

Arthur Arnold - The Netherlands

Arthur Arnold, Music Director and Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific, studied conducting with Anton Kersjes in the Netherlands. He undertook practical training with Marcello Viotti, Jean Fournet and Graeme Jenkins. In 1996 he was awarded by the “Prins Bernhard Foundation” to study at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena (Italy) with Myung-Whun Chung. He was given the Busenhart Morgan-Evans scholarship to participate in masterclasses with Diego Masson, Jorma Panula and Gianluigi Gelmetti. In England he conducted Rigoletto, Don Giovanni and Falstaff during the Dartington International Summer School of Music. (’96, ’97, ’98).

Arthur Arnold has been assistant conductor of Hans Vonk. He assisted the maestro with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (USA), Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Holland, Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra and The Netherlands Opera.  more...

Jacques Vanherle - France

Jacques Vanherle acquired his passion for choral music as a child while singing with a boys’ choir, and continued to study for his first career as a classics teacher (French literature, Latin and Greek). He has unceasingly promoted choral singing throughout his own country as well as internationally. Being the founder of the Centre for Polyphonic Arts in Basse-Normandie, various choirs, associations and festivals; member of the French Institute of Choral Art, the Board of the International Federation of Choral Music, he is indefatigable as a “cultural mover”, sharing his time among vocal education, musical organisation and artistic direction. He is the founder and artistic director of the Polyfollia festival, the only French festival dedicated entirely to the diffusion of excellent international choral music. Every two years he organises a worldwide “showcase and marketplace” for choral singing where the best up and coming vocal ensembles are presented to professional broadcasters (theatres, festivals and radios, etc.) and to a huge amateur audience. He is also a singer and the author of an opera libretto (The 7 Deadly Sins), numerous shows (Operafolies) and concerts of staged vocal music.

Gunnel Sjöberg - Sweden

Gunnel Sjöberg received her training as a singing teacher from the School of Music at the University of Örebro. She has also studied at the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm. Gunnel is a frequent soloist in such works as the St John Passion, the St Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio of Bach and the Requiems of Mozart and Fauré. She has also appeared in several TV shows and concerts. Ms. Sjöberg performs a wide range of repertoire; however, baroque music is closest to her heart. Gunnel has worked with such renowned conductors as Eric Ericson, Anders Öhrwall, Helmuth Rilling and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Gunnel has sung with the Örebro Chamber Choir for several years.

Sally Anne Russell - Australia

One of Australia’s most popular and versatile performers, Sally-Anne is a principal mezzo soprano with Opera Australia. She is also in demand on the concert platform and frequently appears as a recitalist and recording artist. She has sung in fifteen countries and has over forty operatic roles to her credit.

Sally-Anne can be heard on over 30 CD’s including - ‘Enchanting’- solo disc of operatic arias, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (2005 Listeners Choice ARIA Award),  Bach Arias and Duets (ARIA Nominated), Top 100 ABC Concert Gala, Opera Australia’s Golden Jubilee DVD, Swoon DVD, Opera Australia 50th Anniversary DVD (all ABC Classics), Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges (CHANDOS) and The No 1 Classical Album 2007 (DECCA).

For the 2008/09 seasons, appearances include Suzuki in Madama Butterfly for Opera Australia, Nicklausse and the Muse In Tales of Hoffmann for State Opera of South Australia, concerts for Musica Viva, Melbourne and Sydney Symphonies and a 7th season as resident mezzo soloist at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. CD releases include Don John of Austria with Sydney Symphony, Juditha Triumphans with Pinchgut Opera, Durufle Requiem and a disc of Lanier and Purcell with NY theorboist Richard Kolb. more...

Benjamin Butterfield - Canada

Mr. Butterfield’s career highlights have included tours with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert as well as with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre throughout Europe, Israel and North America. He has also toured with the Welsh National Opera (Barber of Seville), New York City Opera (Magic Flute) and Canterbury Opera in New Zealand (Eugene Onegin) and has worked with Jonathan Miller at Glimmerglass (Tamerlano). He has performed To Hope at the Montreal Jazz Festival with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Britten’s War Requiem in Thessalonika with the London Philharmonia Choir and Stravinsky’s Persephone with actress Isabella Rossellini opening the 2000 – 01 opera season at the San Carlo in Naples, Italy as well as touring with that company to the ancient amphitheater of Epidaurus in Greece.

Nanco de Vries - The Netherlands

After winning the Christina Deutekom Competition and after a cum laude master degree, the Netherlands Bass-Baritone Nanco de Vries had a flying start of his career. Soon he was discovered by the opera house of Mainingen (Germany) where he was invited for a permanent position. This was followed by an even more prestigious invitation for the Komische Oper in Berlin where he was engaged for four years. He performed roles such as Rigoletto (title role), Tosca (Scarpia) Carmen (Escamillo), The Flying Dutchman (title role), Ring cycle (Alberich), Don Giovanni (tilte role), Nozze di Figaro (title role), Cosi fan Tutte (Don Alfonso), Peter Grimes (Balstrode) and many others. Nanco also has been engaged by The Netherlands Opera, Opera Bordeaux, Schwerin Opera, Flemisch Opera, Reisopera, Opera Zuid and the Nordhausen Opera. more...