AjaKaja introduces a new showcase of Alberta's contemporary Estonians
Music
Julia Saar
In 2000 mezzosoprano Julia Saar won the Silver Medal for Grade 7 Voice exams, achieving the highest mark with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Alberta that year. She achieved a number of first place standings in various solo voice categories at the Calgary Kiwanis Festival over the years. In 2008 she was awarded first place standing in the Solo Opera Aria category in competition. As of 2008, Julia continues to study voice at the Mount Royal Conservatory of Music while in her third year of Chemical Engineering at the University of Calgary.
Julia's grandparents were born in Estonia but had to escape from their homeland when it came under attack for the third time at the end of WWII. The grandparents first met each other in Australia and later immigrated to Canada where they participated in the Toronto area Estonian community until moving to Calgary near the beginning of the 21st Century. Julia attended Calgary's Estonian supplementary school where her father volunteered as a guest teacher occasionally. Although Julia does not speak Estonian, she has learned to sing in that language. Guests at the 1999 Stettler Centennial were treated to a duet, sung in Estonian by Julia and a friend.
Jeffrey White
Jeffrey White became a permanent member of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) in the bass section in 2006. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University. He chose Estonian as an optional course while studying music there. In addition he studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Jeff was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada 2000-2003 and played on a temporary basis with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003 after which he spent a year as head of the bass section a the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra before returning to the CPO.
Jeff's mother is of Estonian extraction and ensured that both Jeff and his younger brother Josh attended Calgary's Estonian Supplementary School. Jeff was invited to play several solos at a musical interdenominational church service as part of the 1997 West Coast Estonian Days festival in Vancouver. He also played to very appreciative audiences at several functions of the Calgary Estonian Society both during and after the years he attended the supplementary school.
Jan Urke
Jan Urke started his musical studies on the piano with respected Toronto Estonian piano teacher, Talvi Jaldre. He also spent five years studying the violin in the Toronto school system. Upon starting high school at North Toronto Collegiate, he decided to take up the double bass. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance.
Further studies were taken at the Banff Centre for the Arts with Stuart Knussen. Jan's career started by freelancing with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Ballet Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He moved to Edmonton in 1980, where he has been Principal Double Bass of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra to the present day. He has appeared as a soloist with the Edmonton Symphony and Pro Coro Canada and freelanced extensively in Edmonton.
Jan is visiting Assistant Professor of Double Bass at the Music Department of the University of Alberta. He has also served as resource artist with the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Sandra Erdman
Sandra Erdman was born in Lethbridge, Alberta on February 3, 1947. She attended school in Barons, but for grades 11 and 12 she attended Mount Royal College in Calgary. Mount Royal College gave Sandra an opportunity to develop her musical talents with the guidance of Mrs. Egbert, the school's piano teacher.
In Grade 11, Sandra was awarded the 1963 Kiwanis Grand Award for her exceptional piano skills. The following year she graduated as the valedictorian of her high school class. During her time spent as a student in Barons, Sandra was an active member of Christian Girl in Training and often played the organ for the local church
Aside from winning numerous awards in piano she received a scholarship fiom the Banff School of Fine Arts. In 1970 she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto. Two years later Sandra obtained a Master of Music degree from the University of Alberta. In 1972 she studied the harpsichord in Siena, Italy and then travelled to Antwerp, Belgium to pursue her music studies further.
Upon her return to Canada, Sandra taught music in Edmonton for two years before she accepted a job at the Lethbridge Public Library in the Audio-visual Department. She currently lives in Lethbridge.
Learning through the arts
Apprendre par les arts
www.ltta.ca www.apla.cc
Artist Biography 2008
Helve Sastok is a creative and innovative published and performed composer, educator and pianist who can perform and teach at an advanced and specialized level. She is highly adaptable and able to share and instill a passion and love for music of all styles in others.
Sastok also works as a clinician, adjudicator, the composer and graphic artist of a series of children's piano books, and is the sole proprietor of Music Everywhere! She currently lives and works in Calgary.
Sastok has a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree (with distinction) in composition as well as two piano performance diplomas. She is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Center, a member of the Canadian League of Composers, and the Association of Canadian Women Composers. Since 1994, Sastok has been involved as a composer and educator with The Artist in Schools Residency Program throughout Alberta. She has worked as an Artist for the Learning Through The Arts program since 2007. Workshops given in various centers on composition, improvisation, piano pedagogy, Canadian music and twentieth century music have been well received.
Sastok's compositions have been performed across Canada and in Europe. Two of her pieces have been released on CD: 'Duologue' on Brief Confessions (1997), and 'Elegy' on Glossa (1999). Her electro-acoustic composition 'Sailing the High 'C" is being released on CD in 2008. Her piano trio, 'Misty Mountain Morning' was performed in a New Works Calgary concert in March, 2008.
Rein Sastok wins Scholarship!
On March 15, 2008, one day before his 18th birthday, Rein Sastok attended the Outstanding Speech Performers Showcase in Calgary. At the Showcase, he received the Dorothy W. Gregory Speech Arts Scholarship and its accompanying plaque. Rein is also a back-up contestant for the Speech Arts provincial Festival.
In his thank you letter to the Calgary Kiwanis Musical Festival, Rein indicated that he plans on using the $1,000 Gregory Scholarship to further his university education. He will be attending the University of Calgary, where he'll study Linguistics, whilst pursuing both Performance and Teachers Speech Arts with his Speech teacher, Susan Duska. Ultimately, Rein plans to teach Speech Arts or to become a Speech Pathologist.
Well done, Rein, and continued success in the future!
Music
Mellisa Hollingsworth visits Ghana
Fifth-generation descendant of Estonian pioneers Mellisa Hollingsworth was a member of a Canadian Right to Play Athlete Ambassadors group visiting Ghana in April, 2008. Other memebers of the delegation, all outstanding winter athletes, included Clara Hughes (long track speed skating), Emily Brydon (alpine skiing) and Steve Omischl (freestyle skiing-aerials). Reader's will recall that Mellisa won a Bronze Medal in Skeleton at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Right To Play is an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace for children and communities in the most disadvantaged areas of the world. The purpose of the trip was to address a number of key educational challenges in Ghana, including school retention, quality of learning resources, and effective HIV and AIDS preventive education.
Following her return from Ghana Mellisa made the following observation: "Right To Play provides an extremely powerful mechanism that gives people the learning tools to make a difference in their lives and their community. This was an extremely emotional and inspiring experience, and I am looking forward to join my fellow Olympians at Silvertip Resort (Canmore) so we can continue to make a significant difference for children in the areas of the world where Right To Play operates."
Matthew Smith
A recent article in the Estonian newspaper Eesti Päevaleht featured a story about Matthew Smith, a descendant of Estonian grandparents Hans (deceased) and Livia Kivisild of Calgary.
Matthew was born in Montreal and now lives in California. He has met the B-level qualification for the 2008 Olympics and, having acquired Estonian citizenship, may represent Estonia in Beijing. His specialty is the 100-metre breaststroke event, with a qualifying time of 1 .O3.29 minutes. Estonia's representative will be decided by mid-July.
Matthew has visited Estonia with his parents and grandparents but his Estonian vocabulary is quite limited. According to the article, he feels that his grandmother Livia would be very proud should he qualify for the Olympics. It would also be an opportunity to remember his recently-deceased grandfather Hans.
