Chamber Music Concert 3

Michael Falk is a songwriter, record producer, artistic director and concert producer. He joins the Banff Centre after 3+ years in senior leadership at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, producing their concerts, managing the orchestra, and programming their Pops and Movies series.

Throughout his multifaceted career, Michael has focused on collaboration across disciplines, bringing together diverse artists to create inspired new work. Through building partnerships with architects, Indigenous presenters, dancers, wrestlers, comedians, restauranteurs, and more, he has created countless projects that blur artistic lines and engage audiences in unique, inspired
experiences.

As a musician he releases music under the name Touching, was the leader of indie rock band Les Jupes, and has performed and recorded with numerous other groups. His Record Of The Week Club project brought musicians who had never met to his studio to create new works that were released the next day. His songs have been placed in films and tv shows, and charted across North
America and Europe.

Before the WSO, Michael served as Artistic Director of Jazz Winnipeg, where he led the festival through its most ambitious and internationally-focused programming.

Michael has also ran a recording studio, a record label and produced the SpaceLand and Hatch interdisciplinary block parties. With one eye towards trying things that haven’t been done before, and another to seeking artistic excellence through collaborations that build each other up, Michael continues to chase new ideas, creative flow, and a pathway to giving
audiences transformative experiences.

Photo by Samantha Katz.

Described by the New York Times as having “especially eloquent playing,” violinist Ken Hamao is a dynamic musician renowned for his sensitive interpretation, and has concertized extensively throughout the world in notable venues such as Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Melbourne Recital Centre, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, and Lincoln Center. 

As a member of the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet, Ken is Professor of the Practice at Harvard University’s Department of Music. He has also held guest faculty positions at the New England Conservatory and Dartmouth College. Prior to joining the Parker Quartet, he was a member of the Ensō String Quartet from 2014 to 2018, with whom highlights include worldwide tours of Australia, Brazil, Colombia, and New Zealand. As a soloist, he has performed concertos by Giya Kancheli, Kurt Rohde, and Tan Dun, the latter of which with the composer at the podium. He also appears frequently with Argento Chamber Ensemble, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and Talea Ensemble.

In addition to music, Ken’s passions include attempting to make a bowl of ramen entirely from scratch, cheering on his beloved Tottenham Hotspur while attending various live football matches around the world, and amateur woodworking.
 

Over the past few years, French clarinettist Nicolas Baldeyrou has naturally established himself as one of the most remarkable soloists of his generation. Carving a unique path in today's musical landscape, this "concert artist armed for any challenge" (Diapason) demonstrates a mastery and versatility that transcends eras and styles, navigating with ease through all repertoires, on both historical and modern instruments.

Winning prestigious competitions like the Munich ARD Competition in Munich (Germany), the Dos Hermanas Competition in Sevilla (Spain), and finally, the ICA Young Artist Competition (United States) opened to Nicolas the doors of the most prestigious concert halls all over the world - Carnegie Hall in New York, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Philharmonie de Paris, Salzburg Mozarteum, Wiener Konzerthaus, Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

As a soloist he is regularly invited to perform with renown orchestras: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Czech Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia and Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Starting his career at a very young age he had the chance to work with the legendary conductors – Carlo-Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur. Nowadays, Nicolas performs with Myung-Whun Chung, Alain Altinoglu, Pablo Heras Casado, Mikko Franck, Fabien Gabel.

Today Nicolas is one of the most demanded partners for chamber music – he shared the stage with such musicians as the pianists Bertrand Chamayou, Nikolai Lugansky; violinists Renaud Capuçon, Svetlin Roussev; violist Antoine Tamestit; Modigliani, Ébène, and Chiaroscuro quartets.

Cian Bryson was generously supported by the Lucy and Stephen Maxym Endowment

Cian Bryson is a bassoonist from Toronto, Ontario, currently completing his Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto studying under Eric Hall. He spent the third year of his Bachelor’s in Finland, studying at the Sibelius Academy under Jaakko Luoma, and while there, performed with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, and as guest principal with the Tampere Philharmonic, among others. He has attended festivals including Music Academy of the West, Round Top Festival Institute, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, and Lucerne Festival Academy, where he performed in a revitalization of Pierre Boulez’s Poesie Pour Pourvoir and in the world premiere of Dai Fujikura’s Ritual. Cian was the first prize winner of the International Double Reed Society’s Norma Hooks Competition for bassoon in 2025, the Council of Canadian Bassoonists’s Frank Marcus award in 2024, and has performed as soloist with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, and will be performing André Jolivet’s Bassoon Concerto with the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2026.

Dr. Joel Brennan enjoys a diverse career as a performer and teacher. He has performed with orchestras around the globe, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Australia), Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Korea), Rotterdam Philharmonic (Netherlands), Winnipeg Symphony (Canada), Malaysian Philharmonic, and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra (Turkey), and has served as principal trumpet of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra (Japan) and Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra (Netherlands).

A proponent of contemporary music and chamber music, Joel has commissioned and premiered dozens of new works, with a particular emphasis on working with emerging composers and those from underrepresented demographics. He is a member of Ensemble Three, a unique trio of trumpet, trombone, and guitar which has been praised as “an inspiring example of forward-thinking classical music culture” and won the 2017 Melbourne Recital Centre Contemporary Masters Award. He is also a member of Lyrebird Brass, a collective of players dedicated to performing the finest brass chamber music.

Joel received his bachelor's degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music before pursuing graduate studies at the Yale School of Music from which he is a recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Awarded a Fulbright Grant 2007, Joel spent a year performing, teaching, and studying in the Netherlands.

Deeply devoted to education, Joel is Associate Professor of Music Performance at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (University of Melbourne, Australia). He has also served on the faculty of Brandon University (Canada) and the Juilliard School's campus in Tianjin (China) where he worked with students in the pre-college program and graduate school in addition to performing with the Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble. He has been a guest teaching artist at the Australasian Trumpet Academy, Danish/German Brass Academy, and Oberlin Trumpet Workshop. He is the creator of "Poper's Game," a unique practice app for trumpet players.

Joel is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Jonathan Yeoh is a homegrown born and raised double bassist from Calgary, and is also the Assistant Principal Double Bass of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. He has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Canadian Opera Company, while also being a previous fellow at the Music Academy of the West, winning the London Symphony Keston MAX Award in 2019.

He holds a Master’s of Music in Double Bass Performance from Boston University with Edwin Barker, and holds a Bachelor’s of Music with distinction in Performance from the University of Calgary with Charles Garrett, previous Principal Bass of the Calgary Phil. Yeoh has also worked closely with David Allen Moore, Paul Ellison, François Rabbath, and Ali Yazdanfar. When not playing the double bass, Yeoh is a voracious eater, and can often be found exercising and powerlifting to justify that habit.

Trombonist Lee Allen has performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Diego Symphony. As acting principal trombone of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, he has performed with the Santa Monica Symphony, Riverside Symphony, San Bernardino Symphony, Long Beach Opera, Burbank Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Jewish Symphony . Allen toured as a member of award-winning smooth jazz artist Brian Culbertson’s band in 2008 and also performed with Adele at the Academy Awards in 2013. Allen has worked on numerous recording projects including a project at The Bridge Recording in L.A. with Jay Friedman. He is a founding member of the critically acclaimed MOMUS trombone quartet, and a member of the Pacific Trombone Project, which comprises some of the leading players in Thailand, South Korea, China, and Australia.

A dedicated and sought-after teacher, Allen currently serves as trombone faculty and chair of brass and percussion at The Tianjin Juilliard School. There he is also a member of the Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble, an all-faculty ensemble performing chamber concerts throughout Asia. Allen is a member of the summer faculty at RondoFest in Penang, Malaysia. He has taught at the Oberlin Conservatory, University of Southern California, and Colburn School for the Performing Arts. During his tenure as assistant professor of trombone at the Oberlin Conservatory from 2013 - 2019, Allen was soloist with many large ensembles. He performed the US premiere of Christopher Starks’ Nanokonzert for solo trombone and contemporary ensemble in 2015. He also led the Oberlin Brass Quintet on a month-long tour of China and took students to Uganda, Africa as part of a collaboration with Brass for Africa. Allen has presented master classes throughout the United States, South Korea, and China.

Allen earned a DMA and MM in trombone performance from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, and a bachelor’s of music education from the

University of Kentucky. His primary mentors have included Terry Cravens, Dale Warren, Bill Watrous, and Per Brevig.

Lee Allen is a Shires Performing Artist.