What's Your Forte?

On our last episode of 2023, Sandy and Ryan talk about the lessons they learned in 2023 and preview the exciting things to come at Bandology in 2024!

On our penultimate episode of What’s Your Forte? for 2023, Sandy and Ryan, our Community Programs Manager, sit down and review Bandology’s best year yet and answer questions from our Executive Director Lisa Michaels. Part Two comes out on Saturday, December 30, 2024. (Pictured, L-R: Ryan MacKinnon, Sandy Wright and Sara Thoeny, our Programming Team.)

Our guest this week is Amanda Kind, the Artistic Director of KW Glee, as well as a singer, songwriter, and commercial and musical theatre voice teacher based in Waterloo! She joins Sandy on What’s Your Forte? to talk about her unique career path and the importance of lifelong learning. Watch now on YouTube or listen on your preferred podcast platform!

Amanda has released a wide variety of music including country singles “Slow Dance” (#1 on SiriusXM Top of the Country), “The Good Fight” and many others. She is a member of the Songwriter’s Association of Canada, SOCAN, and the Canadian Country Music Association. She spent her teenage years obsessed with everything from Ella Fitzgerald to Shania Twain to Broadway, so it’s no wonder that she has sung everything from opera, jazz and musical theatre to pop, rock and country.

As an evidence-based commercial voice specialist, Amanda works with a broad range of clients including professional singers, label and indie artists and aspiring performers in many genres. She teaches commercial music at Wilfrid Laurier University and has been a guest lecturer, adjudicator and workshop facilitator for many other music education programs. Amanda is on the board for the National Association of Teachers of Singing in Ontario.

Her education includes a Musical Theatre Diploma from Canadian College of Performing Arts, a music certificate from Kwantlen College, a Bachelor's degree from the University of Waterloo, and professional development in vocal pedagogy at the Boston Conservatory, Shenandoah University (Levels, I, II, II at the CCM Institute) and Evidence-Based Pedagogy certification from MTVS. For more about Amanda, visit www.amandakind.com.

This week we welcome Dr. Rebekah Jordan-Miller to our What’s Your Forte? podcast! Rebekah is the Director of the Laurier Academy of Music and Arts (LAMA) and an instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Music (WLU). She joins our Education Manager Sandy Wright to talk about her journey in music, the importance of music education and our collaboration on March Break Music Camp!

Our season finale of What’s Your Forte, with special guest Cynthia Johnston Turner, is out now! She and Sandy talk about her journey from small-town Ontario to conducting bands with jets flying overhead, ways you can differentiate yourself as an artist and the best parts of being the Dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Music.

The first in her  family to attend university, Cynthia received her B.Mus. and B.Ed. from  Queen’s University, a M.Ed. at the University of Victoria and a D.M.A.  (Conducting) from the Eastman School of Music. She has received numerous  teaching, research, and leadership awards in Canada and the United  States.

This week, Kathryn talks to oudist and quantum computing student Manar Naeem about her earliest experiences in music, favourite career moments and the importance of music education. Listen now or watch on YouTube or Facebook!

Manar Naeem is a self-taught, Syrian-born oudist. She graduated with a physics degree with math and computer science minors from Wilfrid Laurier University, and is now pursuing her Master's degree in Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo.  Manar performs with the Canadian Arabic Orchestra, and works as an oud  teacher for children and adults at the Canadian Arabic Conservatory of  Music. In 2020, she was the first oudist to be featured in CBC's 30 Hot  Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 list. Manar has performed across  Canada and experienced first-hand how music is a global language of love  that can bring different cultures and communities together.

Conductor Colin Clarke joins us this week on What’s Your Forte, out now on YouTube, Facebook and wherever you get your podcasts!

A sought-after clinician and adjudicator, Colin is best known for his work with the multi-award winning Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra. Having started the ensemble as a high school student, today TWYO enjoys a reputation nationwide as one of the leading performance ensembles of its kind in Canada. Under Colin’s baton, it has performed internationally, including at Carnegie Hall. This summer, they performed a concert with the National Youth Band of Canada.

Colin is the newly-appointed Artistic Director of the Oscar Peterson Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music. As the Music Director of the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra, his ensemble uses the same facility as our Band Camps!

Photo by Stuart Lowe/Royal Conservatory of Music.

This special episode of What's Your Forte? is a group interview on the many ways  to work in the music industry! Our guests today are at different stages of their music careers, and talk about their winding paths towards what they do, a typical day at work and the most exciting (and most challenging) aspects of their work.

Meet our panelists:

Michael Yates (he/him) is a dedicated educator who has worked for the  Halton District School for the past nine years. He designed and  implemented an instrumental music program built around high standards,  engagement and student excellence. Michael's musical journey began at  Mohawk College where he completed a three-year diploma in jazz  performance. In 2011, he obtained his Honours Bachelors of Music from  McMaster University and completed his B.Ed. at Nipissing University in  2013. Michael is currently teaching Grade 6/7/8 instrumental music at  Pilgrim Wood Public School, and is also a steady gigging musician in the  GTHA.   

Shana Bates (she/her) and her husband own KAOS Music Lesson Studios, a  community-centric music school located in southeast Oakville. Shana  started her working career with IBM but quickly moved into the world of  recording studios where she and a previous partner created, developed  and ran one of the city's most successful independent recording studios.  Shana went on to work in the event production business. Shana now  spends her days and nights as a full time mom and business owner. She is  a community go-getter and can often be found volunteering at schools  and working at various events in the community.   

Ryan MacKinnon (he/him) is the Camp and Workshop Coordinator with  Bandology, an Oakville-based music non-profit, and teaches privately and  with the Burlington Teen Tour Band. Ryan started playing guitar at  eight years old and switched over to drum kit when he was 10. Upon  entering high school he found a new love in playing classical percussion  instruments and completed a Bachelor of Music in Self-Directed  Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University. He has played with the Guelph  Symphony Orchestra, Stratford Symphony Orchestra and Grand Philharmonic  Choir. Ryan loves to share all the things that he has learned on his  journey to help young musicians excel.

Julia Jung, high school music teacher at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary  School, is our guest on What’s Your Forte this Week! She and former  student Kirsten chat about her winding path into teaching, career  highlights and their mutual favourite film score.

Our newest interview is out! This week, Lucas talks to Dr. Draw about his busking origins, the music that moves him and what some of his favourite performances are. Watch now or listen to What’s Your Forte on your favourite podcasting platform!

Dr. Draw is the stage name of Moscow-born and Israel-raised electric violinist Eugene Draw. After moving to Canada with his family in 1992, Dr. Draw learned his craft busking on the streets of Toronto. For more than two decades, he has regularly performed internationally, including at the World Trade Center 9/11 memorial, the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Sovereign Art Foundation’s Art Fund in Hong Kong. Dr. Draw has also opened for many artists including John Legend, Mariah Carey and Drake.

Dr. Draw recently composed a song for Canada’s National Ballet School’s country-wide initiative Sharing Dance. He has assisted in the scoring of several independent films and for projects including the BBC documentary ‘Death on the I-95’ about the U.S. opioid crisis.

In 2022 Dr. Draw is releasing two more albums including a debut album for his project Nemesis, with Canadian beatboxing champion Scott Jackson, featuring sound ranging from Middle Eastern-influenced folk music to old school hip hop to Mongolian chant. They performed at Parliament Hill for the Canada 150 celebrations, at the Montreal Grand Prix and for the half-time show at the Toronto Raptors’ infamous Game 7 buzzer-beater in 2019.

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