Festival Artists 2024
We are thrilled to announce Katerina Gimon and Dr. Larry Nickel as our Festival Artists for the Kantorei Choral Festival 2024.
katerina gimon
Composer, improviser, and vocalist Katerina Gimon's uniquely dynamic, poignant, and eclectic compositional style has earned her a reputation as a distinct voice in contemporary Canadian composition and beyond.
Her music has been described as “sheer radiance” (Campbell River Mirror), “imbued…with human emotion” (San Diego Story), and capable of taking listeners on a “fascinating journey of textural discovery” (Ludwig Van), earning her several honours including multiple SOCAN Awards (2022, 2021, 2016), nomination for Western Canadian Composer of the Year (2023, 2021), and a Barbara Pentland Award for Outstanding Composition (2022).
In her music, Katerina draws influence from a myriad of places — from the Ukrainian folk music of her heritage to indie rock, as well as from her roots as a songwriter. Her compositions are performed widely across Canada, the United States, and internationally, with notable performances at Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Recent commissions include new music for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Choir of Toronto, National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and re:Naissance Opera. Katerina is the composer-in-residence for MyriadEnsemble and is based in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
In addition to her composing work, Katerina is also a founding member (vocalist, electronics, co-composer) of dynamic new music and AR/VR collective Chroma Mixed Media alongside multi-media artists David Storen and Brian Topp. Excited by the ever-evolving landscape of technology in today’s society, Chroma endeavours to explore new avenues and intersections for artistic expression by combining various art forms and new technologies to explore new possibilities and challenge audience expectations.
Katerina holds a Master of Music in Composition from the University of British Columbia ('17) and an Honours Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Improvisation from Wilfrid Laurier University ('15). When she isn’t making music, Katerina enjoys playing board games, puzzling, adventuring outdoors, and relaxing with her partner and their two cats.
Dr. Larry Nickel
Dr. Larry Nickel is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and an active choral clinician/adjudicator/teacher. He currently sings with the Vancouver Cantata Singers and owns Cypress Choral Music Publishing, which promotes the music of over 270 Canadian composers.
Larry was a high school performing arts teacher for 25 years. He directed over 50 stage productions, including Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In 1993 he won the International Association of Jazz Educators award for “outstanding service to jazz education.” His senior choir was selected two years in a row, 2001 and 2002, by Varsity Vocals' international search for the Best of High School Choirs.
In 2003 Larry took a leave from teaching to complete a DMA in composition. Requiem for Peace, his doctoral thesis, is an extensive work for chorus and symphony orchestra in 13 languages – premiered by 330 musicians in 2005. Since then it has had 28 presentations: Germany, Sweden, Ukraine, Greece, Canada, USA (including at Carnegie Hall)
Larry and Tony Funk founded the West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir in 1990. This choir recorded 13 CDs which featured luminaries like Edith Wiens and Ben Heppner and included 120 of Larry’s compositions. The CD sales raised nearly a million dollars for Communitas - a non-profit.
Larry and his wife, Edna, live in Yaletown (Vancouver) - close to their 3 children and 7 grandchildren.
Festival Artists 2023
Jake Runestad
Jake is an award-winning and frequently-performed composer of “highly imaginative” (Baltimore Sun) and “stirring and uplifting” (Miami Herald) musical works. He has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles and organizations such as Washington National Opera, VOCES8, the Swedish Radio Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, and more. “The Hope of Loving,” the first album of Jake’s music, recorded by Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare, received a 2020 GRAMMY award nomination. Jake’s visceral music and charismatic personality have fostered a busy schedule of commissions, residencies, workshops, and speaking engagements, enabling him to be one of the youngest full-time composers in the world. Considered “one of the best of the younger American composers” (Chicago Tribune), Jake Runestad holds a Master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts, in addition to formative mentoring from acclaimed composer Libby Larsen.