2019 Adjudicators

Kimberley Denis, M.Mus. Choral Conducting and Vocal Performance (University of Alberta, 2007), B.Mus. (Mount Allison University, 2003), B. Comm. (Mount Allison University, 2003) is known for her energy and enthusiasm both on stage and off, and is sought after as a soloist, choral clinician, and adjudicator for voice and choir. Upon completion of both her commerce and music undergraduate degrees at Mount Allison University, she returned to Alberta where she completed a double masters degree in choral conducting and vocal performance at the University of Alberta. Conducting credits include a wide variety of ensembles across the province; she has previously worked with the Mount Royal Youth Choir, the Red Deer College Chamber Choir, the Nota Bene Youth Choir, the Edmonton All-City Junior Children’s Choir and High School Treble Choir, the Red Deer Children’s Choir and Kikimasu Children’s Choir with the Kokopelli Choir Association. She currently directs Shumayela (a choir for treble and changing voices for singers between the ages of 11 and 16 with the Kokopelli Choir Association which she founded in 2006) and the Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus Women’s Choir. In addition, she is the assistant conductor of Vacilando (with the Kokopelli Choir Association) and is the alto section leader with Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus. She also regularly directs at MusiCamp Alberta and has worked with the Alberta Summer Suzuki Institute, providing a singing opportunity for students attending the strings workshops. Music for theatre credits include vocal coaching for Red Deer College’s production of Rent, creating and directing a live vocal music score for Red Deer College's production of Romeo and Juliet and creating and directing a live music score for the world premier of Vern Thiessen's adaptation of Wuthering Heights. She was also the music director and vocal coach for Concordia University’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In addition to her work as a conductor, she teaches voice at MacEwan University Conservatory of Music, is the Managing Director for the Alberta Band Association, and arranges pieces for choirs.

Leanne Maitland - Strings

Elizabeth Raycroft - Voice and Musical Theatre

Elizabeth Raycroft, soprano, trained at the University of Alberta (BMus,), at the University of Houston (MMus, Opera) and at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. She has performed roles with the Edmonton Opera in their productions of Jenufa (Karolka), HMS Pinafore (Hebe) and The Marriage of Figaro. She has worked with many renowned conductors (Richard Bradshaw, Elmer Eisler, Uri Mayer), directors (Kelly Robinson, Katherine Twaddle) and coaches (Walter Berry, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Robin Phillips). A regular oratorio soloist, Ms. Raycroft has performed in Handel’s Messiah with the Red Deer Symphony, Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Augustana University Choirs and Haydn’s Mass with the Edmonton Opera Chorus. She is an avid performer of new music and has had many new works created for her, performing the World Premier of Joseph Lai‘s “Four Songs, Opus 15” at the Canada 150 Concert at Muttart Hall. For three years, Ms. Raycroft performed the role of the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with the edmonton coOPERAtive. She performed in Toy Gun Theatre’s 2014 Fringe mega-hit Propylene Glycol, Maltodextrin, Retinol Palmitate and Other Words I don't Understand Like Love, which also toured throughout Alberta in June and July 2015. She is a regular recital performer and recently performed a Faculty Recital at The King’s University. She has also worked with many local choirs and was a member of Pro Coro Canada for over 15 years.Ms. Raycroft had been on faculty at The King’s University since 2001. She teaches voice, diction and vocal pedagogy. She is also on faculty at MacEwan University’s Alberta College Conservatory of Music. Ms. Raycroft regularly shares her expertise and knowledge in masterclasses, workshops and through adjudicating festivals throughout Western Canada.

Her students consistently excel at local festivals and have participated in Provincial Festival. Many of her students have won the Northern Alberta Concerto Competition, performing with the Edmonton Youth Orchestra in the Winspear Centre. Her students perform in musical theatre and opera productions, both as chorus members and in comprimario roles. Former students have performed with Edmonton Opera, Calgary Opera, Opera Pacific and the Danish National Opera.

Ms. Raycroft is very involved in the musical community in Alberta. She has been on the boards for the Alberta Registered Music Teachers' Association (ARMTA) Provincial, ARMTA Edmonton and Opera NUOVA, and is past-president of the National Association of Teachers of Singing North Central Alberta Chapter. She is Convenor for the Provincial Vocal Competition, hosted by ARMTA Provincial.

Dr. Leanne Regehr - Piano