2023 Ajdudicators

Mezzo-soprano Mireille Rijavec has been heard on the CBC as a soloist and has appeared with Pop Goes the Opera, the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, the Richard Eaton Singers, Pro Coro Canada, the Edmonton Metropolitan Orchestra, among others. Theatre being her first love, Mireille has found a number of ways to involve song in theatre works, such as her cabaret Brie, Baguette and a Broad that she has been presenting for over 10 years, and a number of collaborative works such as A Most Beautiful Deception, a play based on the poetry by Melissa Lacroix and Lost in Montmartre, a play about a fictional wake for Érik Satie, both presented at the Edmonton Fringe.

Mireille has a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of British Columbia. She was Music Faculty at the University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean from 1999 to 2012 and was on staff at Concordia University of Edmonton from 2006 to 2016 as a voice instructor, Manager and Program Coordinator of Concordia's School of Music. Mireille was a member of Edmonton's professional choir Pro Coro Canada for many years and from 2016 to 2019, their Executive Director. In June of 2018, she was elected to the Edmonton Arts Council. Mireille continues to act as a consultant for not-for-profit organizations.

Mireille presently teaches voice privately and is a vocal pedagogue and alto vocal coach for the Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus. She works with students of all levels, from children to adults and stresses the importance of being able to read music, healthy vocal technique grounded in physiology, and ultimately the joy of communicating through song. Mireille's students are active singers in the community, and many have continued their vocal studies in classical voice and musical theatre in post-secondary institutions across Canada and the United States. As well as enjoying adjudicating, she is a member of ARMTA (Alberta Registered Music Teachers Association), NATS (National Association of Teacher of Singing) and is an Affiliate Member of the Association for Body Mapping Educators.

Diana Wiens was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Music studies, which began at the age of seven, included piano instruction with Dr. Lyell Gustin of Saskatoon. Upon completing her Associate Degree in Piano Performance with the Royal Conservatory of Music, and graduating from the University of Saskatchewan, she taught elementary and junior high for three years before pursuing further music studies in Europe. During her five years in Germany, she studied, performed widely, and for the last two years instructed piano at the Nordwestdeutsche Musik -Akademie and at the University of Bielefeld. In 1974, she returned to Canada to accept a position on Music Faculty at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Here, she and her husband initiated the first applied music courses in piano and voice, both of which continue to be offered today. Since 1975 they have lived in Edmonton.

From 1988 – 2009, Diana Wiens was Adjunct Professor in the Music Department at Taylor University College in Edmonton; for 8 of those years she co-chaired the Department. She is in demand as an adjudicator and workshop clinician across Canada; festivals include the Kiwanis Music Festival of Greater Toronto, Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival, and Provincial Music Festival final competitions in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Currently, Diana Wiens is artistic director and conductor of the Te Deum Singers, a community choir in Edmonton, Alberta. She was invited to conduct this choir in a performance of Mozart’s “Vesperae Solennes de Confessore” at Carnegie Hall, New York in April of 2020; unfortunately, Covid-19 cancelled those plans.

Mrs. Bossé-Morgan holds a B. Mus. in cello performance from the University of Alberta, as well as several teacher-training courses from the S.A.A. As a student she was principal cellist of the Edmonton Youth Symphony Orchestra, and later co-principal of the University Symphony Orchestra and of Academy Strings. She completed examinations with the Western Board of Music in both cello and piano, and upon completing her B.Mus. degree in performance served a 10 year term as a strings and piano examiner for Conservatory Canada. Since 2009, she has adjudicated festivals in strings, junior piano, and band. Mrs. Bossé-Morgan has been teaching with the Society for Talent Education since 1989, regularly teaching private cello lessons, cello group classes, and coaching chamber music; she was appointed music director for STE in 2016, and served in this role for 4 years in addition to her teaching role. She is also on the music faculty at Suzuki Charter Elementary/Junior High School where she teaches cello, double bass, piano, and mixed-instrument chamber music classes. As a teacher, she is a member of both Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ARMTA) and the Suzuki Association of the Americas and is enthusiastic about professional development. She has completed ECC (Every Child Can), SPA (Suzuki Principles in Action), Cello Teacher- Training Units 1 - 10, Double Bass Units 1 &2, and Teaching Strategies. She has had students compete successfully in the Kiwanis Edmonton festival, provincial festivals, the provincial national class, and the Northern Alberta Concerto Competition. Mrs. Bossé- Morgan has been a member of the string quartet “Quartette des Muses” since 1990, and has played in many pit orchestras for the Sherard, ELOPE, and Festival Players Musical Theatre companies, as well as the Edmonton Metropolitan Orchestra. For several years Mrs. Bossé-Morgan has also been involved with the music ministry at her home church, where she sings alto and plays both cello and piano.