The Calgary connection

The impact of The Banff Centre reaches into every corner of Calgary’s cultural community. The artistic visionaries at the helm of Calgary’s major performing arts institutions – including Calgary Opera, Alberta Theatre Projects, Theatre Calgary, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, and Alberta Ballet – are Banff Centre alumni.

Calgary is part of the lifeblood of The Banff Centre. Calgary residents represent the Centre’s most loyal donors and supporters – contributing generously to Centre scholarships and filling Banff Centre theatres, performance after performance.

At the heart of Calgary theatre

Banff Centre alumni and faculty include:

• Theatre Calgary artistic director Dennis Garnhum, as well as former artistic directors Ian Prinsloo and Sharon Pollock, and former writer-in-residence Stephen Massicotte.
• Calgary Opera general director and CEO Bob McPhee and composer-in-residence John Estacio.
• Alberta Theatre Projects artistic director Bob White, former writer-in-residence Eugene Stickland.
• Theatre Junction founding artistic director Mark Lawes.
• Vertigo Theatre artistic director Mark Bellamy.
• One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre artistic director David van Belle, co-founders and co-artistic directors Blake Brooker and Michael Green, and artistic associate Denise Clarke.
• Director Johanne Deleeuw, former artistic director Lunchbox Theatre.
• Michelle Thrush, artistic director of Crazy Horse Theatre.
• Director Nikki Loach (Theatre Calgary’s The Miracle Worker).
• 2005 Betty Mitchell award winners: Kira Bradley, Brian Pincott, Evan Rothery, Marissa Kochanski, Denise Clarke, Onalea Gilbertson, François Archambault, Bobby Theodore, Ron Jenkins, Karen Johnson-Diamond, Ian Wilson, and Elaine Higgin Case.

Filumena: Made in Alberta

Filumena, co-commissioned and co-produced by The Banff Centre and Calgary Opera, premiered to rave reviews in Calgary in February 2003. Based upon a true Alberta story, the libretto for Filumena was written by John Murrell, OC, AOE, artistic director of Theatre Arts at The Banff Centre, with music composed by John Estacio. Filumena opened the Alberta Scene, the National Arts Centre’s 2005 celebration of Alberta culture. Murrell and Estacio are working on a new opera, Frobisher, to premiere in 2007, again co-commissioned and co-produced by The Banff Centre and Calgary Opera.

Some of our distinguished Calgary alumni and faculty include:

In dance

• Over 75 per cent of Alberta Ballet are Banff Centre alumni, including artistic director Jean Grand-Maitre, music director Peter Dala, ballet master Edmund Stripe, and ballet mistress Mercedes Bernardez.
• Every member of the artistic team and every dancer at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD), including DJD co-founder and artistic director Vicki Adams Willis, co-founders Michele Moss and Hannah Stillwell, and artistic associate and resident choreographer/dancer Kimberly Cooper are Centre alumni. The Banff Centre has acted as an incubator for new DJD dance pieces for a number of years, most recently including ¡Bulla! and Pulse.

In music

• Over half of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, including resident conductor Pierre Simard, conductor laureate Mario Bernardi, concertmaster and first violin Cenek Vrba, and chorusmaster Rosemary Thomson are Banff Centre alumni. Additional orchestra alumni, including nine players in leadership positions, include principal violist John Thompson, principal bassist Charles Garrett, acting principal flutist/piccolo Gwen Klassen, principal oboe Jean Landa, principal English horn David Sussman, principal bassoon Stephen Franse, principal French horn Robert McCosh, principal timpani Tom Miller, and principal trumpet Howard Engstrom.
• Pianist Katherine Chi, 2000 first-place laureate, Esther Honens Competition.
• Pianist, composer, and Calgary native, Heather Schmidt.
• Jazz musicians John De Waal, Brent Van Dusen, Ralf Buschmeyer, John Reid, and Sheldon Zandboer.
• Pianist Lana Henchell, winner of a 2004 Eckhardt-Gramatté award.

In literary arts

• Fred Stenson, author of The Trade and Lightning.
• Calgary teacher and poet Robert Hilles, Governor General’s Award for Cantos in a Small Room (1993).
• Calgary based author, Paul Anderson (Hunger’s Bride).

Fostering business leadership

Every year, hundreds of Calgary business and community leaders attend Leadership Development programs at The Banff Centre – acquiring the skills and confidence needed to thrive in today’s fast-paced economy. In the past year, over 400 Calgarians have attended leadership programs at the Centre.

Published: Summer 2007.