Organizers of the Parkland Music Festival have announced the names of the festival’s three assigned adjudicators and their musical biographies.
The festival is scheduled to be hosted in Preeceville and Sturgis from March 26 to April 2," said a release by Anna Russell, chairperson.
"Sharon Gerspacher will be with us the beginning of the week for piano, Mark Preece will join us mid-week for adjudicating the band and instrumental portion of festival and Allison Arends will adjudicate at the end of the week for vocal and speech arts,” the release said.
“We are looking forward to having such talented and well-rounded musicians providing critique and encouragement to our entrants," Russell said.
Allison Arends
Soprano Allison Cecilia Arends is a graduate of Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Program, and received her master of music degree at the University of Toronto Opera School and her bachelor of music degree in voice performance at the University of Victoria. Her various teachers and mentors have included W. Stephen Smith, Mary Morrison, Timothy Noble, Wendy Nielsen, Selena James, Alexandra Browning, Diana Woolrich and Norma Bertsch.
Arends has taught private voice and theory for over 10 years and takes a great deal of joy in imparting her musical knowledge to students from various musical backgrounds of all age groups, the release said. Her students have been accepted into many prestigious programs, including York University, Randolph Academy, Acting Upstage, and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, and have sung with the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus and Vocal Chorus, the Toronto Classical Singers, and the Second City.
She recently taught a public master class to bachelors and masters-level students for the music department at the University of Mississippi, and recently joined the roster of teachers at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church’s Choir School.
Active as a performer, she has been engaged by Tapestry New Opera, Soundstreams, the Aldeburgh Connection, Toronto Summer Music, Winnipeg’s Women’s Musical Club, Saskatoon Opera, the Arts and Letters Club, Chorus Niagara, Pax Christi Chorale, Toronto Concert Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, Toronto Classical Singers, Calgary Civic Symphony, Regina Symphony Orchestra, Tallis Choir, and Regina Philharmonic Chorus, among others, for solo opera and concert appearances.
Internationally, Arends has sung with the Bachakademie (Germany), the Aldeburgh Festival (England), the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, the International Vocal Arts Institute (Israel), and the Franz Schubert-Institut (Austria).
Sharon Gerspacher
Sharon (Guina) Gerspacher began studying piano with Rosalie Calver in Yorkton and then took her associate of the Royal Conservatory in piano performance in 1987 under the direction of Jean Laube from Springside. She went on to study with Robin Harrison in Saskatoon at the University of Saskatchewan and received her licentiate diploma under his direction.
She won many scholarships and awards at the Yorkton Music Festival and won the Haydn/Mozart Scholarship at the provincial competition in 1988. The focus of her career has been as a piano teacher and she has taught in Yorkton, Battleford, Regina and Humboldt over the years. Many of her students have competed at provincials and even won at the national composition competition. Several have gone on to pursue careers in music.
Gerspacher has also been a very active accompanist in Humboldt and area for many community events, and has played piano for many concerts in the Marysburg concert series. In addition to playing for the choirs and also doing some solo piano work, she has played for Sharon Carter and Maxine Moore (voice), Terry Sturge (cello), and has been the co-director/accompanist for children’s choir camps. She is also an active voice teacher, and has been a member of St. Peter’s choir for many years.
Mark Preece
Mark Preece is principal tuba and librarian of the Regina Symphony Orchestra. He has a master of music in performancedegreeand a bachelor of music in tuba performance and has studied with renowned tubists Roger Bobo, Patrick Sheridan, Sam Pilafian and John Griffiths.
Preece began playing the tuba with the Salvation Army when he was 12 years old, the release said. As an orchestral musician, he has performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Alberta Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metamorphosis Symphony. His career has led him to performances in the United States, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Japan.
Preece is an adjudicator for wind instruments and bands with the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association. He works as a clinician throughout Saskatchewan and has taught brass to students ranging from beginners to university students and adult. He is the tuba and euphonium instructor at Regina's Conservatory for the Performing Arts and is also a member/author for the International Tuba & Euphonium Association.
Preece is also an active music arranger. He has written many arrangements for brass band, orchestral brass, a variety of brass chamber ensembles as well as pieces for solo tuba and tuba quartet. His music has been performed and recorded worldwide.
