StFX music faculty teaching at biggest educational music festival in North America

MusicFest Canada "The Nationals" is known to bring thousands of students and educators from across the country together to celebrate excellence in musical performance. It's been called the biggest educational music festival in North America and five StFX Music Department faculty are teaching sessions at this national event.

"MusicFest Canada is an organization which provides performance and educational feedback to students. The nationals is the top echelon of the whole program," says StFX music professor Paul Tynan, who coordinated StFX's involvement in the nationals, held online this year.

The event also includes National Honours Ensembles, such as wind band and the jazz orchestra, which feature some of the top young musicians throughout Canada.

Several StFX faculty members including Kevin Brunkhorst, Jake Hanlon, Kenji Omae and Paul Rushka are presenting papers and workshops at MusicFest Canada, and all four along with Prof. Tynan are providing one-on-one lessons to students involved in the national institute.

"It's a real good showing for StFX on the national stage," says Prof. Tynan, who has previously served as an adjudicator at MusicFest Canada. "StFX faculty are contributing to the national community, which is really nice."

StFX presentations at MusicFest Canada include:

Kevin Brunkhorst led a workshop on 'Music Theory and Jazz,' providing a guide to some basics that will help students sound better, whether they are a soloist, an accompanying player on a chord instrument, or even an aspiring writer.

Jack Hanlon, also a composer and guitarist, will lead a clinic, 'The Craft in Jazz Composition,' instructing on the line between art and craft through the deconstruction of jazz standards and reconstructing them into your own complete composition.

Kenji Omae will present 'Playing the Saxophone,' looking at various ways to approach saxophone playing with the goal of playing in a relaxed way, and of producing your best sound.

Paul Rushka leads a session, 'Laying the Foundation: An Introduction to the Fundamentals of Creating Bass Accompaniment,' a workshop that will explore the basics of outlining chordal harmony as well as the rhythmic nuances for common time feels.

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