OUR CONDUCTORS

Conductor | Fiddlinists

Daniel has been playing the violin since the age of five. He plays a variety of fiddle styles and classical violin. Daniel completed a Master of Music degree in classical violin at the University of Alberta studying with Dr. Guillaume Tardif. During his studies, Daniel was awarded a prestigious research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
He is also a 2x Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Champion.

Daniel teaches and performs regularly in Edmonton and abroad.

Visit www.danielgervais.ca for more information.

Conductor | Orchestra & Ensembles

Miriam Ferguson began studying the viola at the age of eleven when she joined the Edmonton Public Schools Strings Program.

In 1997, she graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Music Degree in performance on the viola. She decided four years later to return to the University of Alberta and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Education Degree. Her viola teachers have included Miyo Inouye, Norman Nelson, Jonathan Craig, Tom Johnson, and Rivka Golani.

Miriam Ferguson has been the principal violist of the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, the University of Alberta’s Academy Strings and the University Symphony Orchestra. She taught and conducted at the Edmonton Public Schools Music Enrichment Strings Program from 1998 to 2008 and is currently busy as a private violin and viola instructor and freelance musician. She frequently plays in the viola section of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Miriam Ferguson also performs with Quartetto con Brio, the Ursus String Quartet, and with the Cifra Hungarian Folk Music Ensemble. The Cifra Ensemble has performed with the Edmonton Symphony and has been broadcast on CBC Radio One. Miriam has twice visited Hungary and Rumania with the Cifra Ensemble to study and perform authentic village folk music.

Conductor | Orchestra & Ensembles

Patricia Estabrooks began studying strings in Grade 7 through Edmonton Public Schools. She played in several orchestras throughout high school and university, including the Edmonton Youth Orchestra and the St. Cecilia Chamber Orchestra.

Patricia graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance followed by a Bachelor of Education Degree. She taught for Edmonton Public Schools for a number of years in a variety of positions (band, strings, choral) and as an elementary general music specialist (Orff, Kodaly).

Patricia volunteered for a year as a string teacher at the École de Musique Sainte Trinité in Port-Au-Prince Haiti. While there, she played in the Orchestre Philharmonique Sainte Trinité. She also had the opportunity to study with several visiting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the sponsor of the music program at Holy Trinity.

Further music studies and positions followed in Dallas and Chicago while Patricia pursued a M. Div. degree.

Patricia has had a lifelong passion for teaching, both privately and as a class/group teacher. She was one of the original teachers in the early Music Enrichment Program, studying with Dr. George Bornoff and associates.

She has worked as an adjudicator, clinician, accompanist and administrator of the Music Enrichment Program and currently conducts the Music Enrichment’s Program advanced level student orchestra.