The California connection

The Banff Centre impacts California’s cultural art scene on a multitude of levels.

Notable California alumni and faculty include:

In music

• California-based, international trumpet virtuoso Jens Lindemann. Lindemann is former lead trumpet of the world-renowned Canadian Brass and current professor of trumpet at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
• The internationally acclaimed and award-winning St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ). The SLSQ is the ensemble-in-residence at Stanford University; they perform regularly on campus and direct the department’s chamber music and string program. Co-founder of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Barry Shiffman is currently The Banff Centre’s director of music programs.
• Composer/cellist Chris Chafe, long-term denizen of the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University.
• Composer Melissa Hui, composition faculty at Stanford University from 1994 to 2004. Hui’s works have been performed throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
• Pianist Bernadene Blaha, highly-regarded chamber musician, member of the keyboard faculty at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California.
• Pianist John Perry, respected chamber musician and teacher, professor of music at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California.
• Cellist Bonnie Hampton, chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. Hampton has taught at Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, and at the San Francisco Conservatory for thirty years.
• Violinist Ian Swensen, faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory since 1985, currently chair of the string department.
• Drummer Joe La Barbera, jazz drummer, accompanist, sideman. La Barbera is on faculty at the California Institute of the Arts teaching jazz drums.
• Composer and solo bassist Mark Dresser, professor of music at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

In theatre

• Kim Cattrall of “Sex in the City” fame, attended musical theatre at The Banff Centre in 1971.
• Eric McCormack of NBC’s “Will & Grace”, recipient of six Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

In visual and new media arts

• Los Angeles-based contemporary visual artist Margaret A. Morgan. Morgan teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and exhibits at the Susanne Vielmetter LA Projects gallery.
• Visual artist, photographer, environmentalist, Anne Devine, founding executive director GreenScene Media (1993), currently immersed in the Masters of Fine Arts, Visual Art, Social Practice program at California College of the Arts.

In Aboriginal arts

• Internationally recognized artist and curator Joanna O. Bigfeather (Western Cherokee/Mescalero Apache), director of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

In mountain culture

• Yvon Chouinard, author of Let My People Go Surfing, The Education of a Reluctant Businessman. Chouinard is a mountaineer, environmentalist, and founder of Patagonia, Inc.
• Edwin Bernbaum, author of Sacred Mountains of the World and The Way to Shambhala. Bernbaum is a research associate at the University of California at Berkeley.
• Royal Robbins, author of Royal Robbins - Spirit of the Age. Robbins is an internationally acclaimed climber and kayaker, founder of Royal Robbins Inc.

In audio

• San Francisco-based, producer and engineer, Mark Willsher, recipient of both a Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Music Education Award, and a General Motors Award for Excellence in a Creative Media Field. Willsher was associate music producer for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King which won Golden Globe and Academy awards in 2004 for best original film score and best original song.

Published: Summer 2007.