Alumna fiddles while career burns bright

By Paul Mayne, Western News

From creating and running her own website, social media and booking gigs, to acting as agent, promoter, musical director and performing, Celina Di Cecca is a hands-on CEO of her ‘mini corporation.’

“It is hard work some days. But I love it and wouldn’t want to do anything else,” said the Don Wright Faculty of Music alumna. “Music is my religion. It moves me; it’s very cathartic; it’s therapeutic to get you through good times and bad times. You always have music with you.”

And that’s true for Di Cecca who, at age 4 growing up in Hamilton, Ont., picked up her first violin.

“I was the youngest of three kids, so I was kind of the showoff of the siblings,” she said, adding her brother, mom and grandfather are musicians themselves. “It’s a big part of my family and just felt normal to me. I guess it’s in the blood. Every Christmas, or at family gatherings, we’d have our musical instruments out. And we still do to this day.”

After attending her first fiddle camp at age 12, and being exposed to the toe-tapping rhythms of fiddle music, she fell in love with Canadian Celtic music. Having wowed audiences now for more than 20 years performing both classical and fiddle music throughout Canada – including creating the Great Canadian Fiddle Show, the Greyhound Riders and her solo work – it wasn’t until Di Cecca came to Western that she knew music was her going to be her life.

“The music program at Western is well known and respected in Ontario and Canada and I had known some folks who had gone through the program,” said Di Cecca who, while in first year, put together a string quartet with some fellow students to play weddings and corporate gigs to help pay for her schooling.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I’m actually making a pretty good wage compared to your regular student job,’” said the 32-year-old. “I started to gig more, was building my confidence, putting groups together and playing at Scots Corner (in London). Although I always wanted to be a musician, I never knew being a musician was really a job.”

Along with teaching private lessons (fiddle, violin, viola, mandolin and piano), Di Cecca’s talents and stage performance makes her a highly sought after live and studio musician in Toronto. She has performed with such notable musicians as Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies), Heather Rankin (The Rankin Family), Shane Cook, Mark Sullivan and Jake Charron (East Pointers).

Her most recent creation is producing, directing and performing in The Great Canadian Fiddle Show, which has played Canada’s Wonderland, the Canadian National Exhibition, the Grey Cup and countless tours over the last five years.

Di Cecca is also in a variety of bands including the Toronto based folk-roots duo Greyhound Riders, with her husband Tony Nesbitt-Larking, The Amores and has recently joined Toronto rock band Sirens of Shant. She’s also a founding member of Steel City Rovers and has performed with the Tartan Terrors.

It was during her time at Western where she first started to dabble in songwriting, having written dozens of songs over the years. With plans to record all of the music she wrote, Di Cecca recently released her debut single, Waiting.

While the life of a musician can be one filled with many lows and few highs, Di Cecca said she is “all in” when it comes to her music.

“I jumped in, set goals and, like my mom always taught me, I never took ‘no’ for an answer and dug my heels into the ground,” she said. “If you want something hard enough, you need to work for it. I’ve always done that. Being at Western, while the music program is challenging, at the same time, it builds your skills. Western really built my confidence as both a player and teacher. It has played a key role in my music career.”

Di Cecca will be bringing her Great Canadian Fiddle Show to London’s Aeolian Hall next March for a pair of shows and looks forward to sharing what she calls “a musical journey from coast to coast” of traditional Canadian fiddling.

“We show them (audience) fiddling is alive across the country; it’s not just an East Coast thing,” she said. “There are different dialects and accents across Canada, so too are there different styles when it comes to fiddling. It’s our traditional music and we want to keep it alive.

“It’s fulfilling putting smiles on so many faces, from little kids mesmerized by seeing the fiddle for the first time, to the seniors who know all about its history. It’s wonderful to share music with everyone.”

Reprinted with permission from Western News

Birth of (tuba) cool

In the waning hours of Tuesday, December 1, Jarrett McCourt sent out a Tweet that, perhaps, no Canadian tubist has ever written:

When you play a world premiere for a party of VIPs including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ... #miamibeachparties.

But don’t let the guy playing for VIPs downplay his own ‘very important’ status among up-and-coming tuba players.

Currently, McCourt, BMus’13, is a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Fla. He is the first Canadian tuba player to earn a seat with the group and the only tubist on the current roster.

Earlier in the year, McCourt also became the first tuba player to win the Montreal Symphony’s Standard Life Competition, Brass Category, in the 75-year history of the program.

A lesser publication might say those are accomplishments to ‘blow your horn’ about – but not us.

We’ll just say that McCourt is racking up the accomplishments - quickly.

Over his young career, he has performed with several ensembles, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Flint Symphony Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Pacific, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Motor City Brass Quintet and University of Michigan Symphony Band.

McCourt has either won or advanced at eight competitions in the past three years, including the Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Competition and concerto competitions in Ontario, Quebec and Michigan. If McCourt keeps up at this pace, one day, we suspect, Brangelina will be tweeting about being at a party of VIPS, including Jarrett McCourt. #tubalife.

This article appeared in the Winter 2016 edition of Western University’s Alumni Gazette. Reprinted with permission

I've got my degree – now what?

By Dave Robilliard and Brennan Connolly

Fond memories of their time spent at the DWFoM were vivid in the minds of both Dave Robilliard (BMus'04) and Brennan Connolly (BMus'08) of Duo Percussion as they opened the Fridays at 12:30 concert season in September. Along with the Fridays at 12:30 concert, Duo presented a workshop for undergraduate and graduate music students on entrepreneurship, titled “I've Got My Degree…Now What?” Geared towards musicians, the seminar covered topics such as marketing, networking, touring, sponsorship and creating your own opportunities.

Both Robilliard and Connolly completed their MMus degrees in percussion at Oklahoma City University and upon returning to Canada, the pair reconnected to form a chamber percussion ensemble that has taken off over the last couple years. In fact, the group has gone from playing just a few local education con-certs to performing for national and international audiences. They have also gained sponsor-ship from Pearl/ Adams

Drums & Concert Percussion as well as Dream Cymbals & Gongs. Most recently, the duo was nominated for “Best Percussion Ensemble” in 2014 by Drum! Magazine, in which they finished second to the world-renowned Blue Man Group. 

Duo Percussion is a professional percussion pairing known for their eclectic and high-energy performances. Using traditional and non-traditional percussion instruments, they present diverse programs of classical, contemporary and Canadian music. Duo Percussion is dedicated to expanding the percussion duo repertoire and attract-ing new audiences. “We're trying to change the way that people experience a ‘classical' concert, ” said Connolly. “We're trying to approach concerts in a different way. We have a unique sound palette and niche to fill and we are trying to engage audiences of all ages on a level that makes them feel that they are just as much a part of the performance experience as we are. ”  

The pair has appeared as guest artists with the Bell' Arte Singers, the Guelph Chamber Choir and the Oriana Women's Choir. Other solo appearances include the Ontario Percussive Arts Society's Day of Percussion, Toronto's Harbourfront Centre, New Hamburg Live! Festival of the Arts, Bach Music Festival of Canada, and the University of Guelph.

Not only are they busy per-forming public concerts, Duo Percussion also has a pas-sion for fostering creativity in young people. With concerts and workshops tailored to suit various educational levels, Duo Percussion has been able to help inspire and enhance the abilities of many young audiences by exposing them to a unique genre of music and immersing them in the world of percussion. This helps students realize the limitless possibilities of percussion music and motivates them to develop their exploratory and creative skill set, which helps their musician-ship to grow. Duo Percussion was first engaged to perform at a secondary school in Clinton, ON and with an outstanding response, the demand for the group was immediate. Now frequently engaged by schools throughout the province, Duo Percussion has grown to provincial and national recognition as evidenced by their keynote performance at the Ontario Music Educators' Association Conference and their residency at MusicFest Canada ‘The Nationals' .

In addition to their ensemble performances, Robilliard and Connolly are active freelance musicians and educators in Southwestern Ontario. They perform regularly with orchestras in the region, and together comprise the percussion section for the Jeans ‘n' Classics Rock Symphony. They have performed in shows at the Stratford Festival and the Grand Theatre along with many other local theatre groups. As educators, Robilliard has been adjunct faculty at both Western and the University of Windsor, while Connolly is the percussion ensemble director at Wilfrid Laurier University. In addition, they both direct percussion ensembles at local high schools and maintain active private teaching studios in their respective cities.

In the spring of 2016, Duo Percussion will tour the mid-west United States with concert appearances and workshops in Oklahoma and Texas. They are also taking bookings for the education concerts and workshops. For more information, visit: www.duopercussion.ca.

Article originally appeared in the Winter 2015 edition of Ensemble, the alumni magazine of the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University.  Reprinted with permission.

Elite student kept in tune with industry

By Paul Mayne, Western News

Koen Tholhuijsen, a recent graduate of Western’s Piano Technology Program, recently started an internship at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. The Netherlands native said the program at Western taught him all he needed to know about tuning and repairing pianos.

While growing up in the Netherlands, Koen Tholhuijsen spent countless hours in his father’s workshop.

“As an electrician, he had a lot of tools hanging around. As a kid, I was extremely good at breaking stuff,” said the 25-year old. “I would always try and fix things before my parents figured it out. Playing with all those tools was when I started enjoying working with my hands.”

Today, Tholhuijsen uses this curiosity to get ‘in tune’ with his internship as a piano technician at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. And he gives credit for his ear for music to Western’s Piano Technology Program, which has been training students from around the world for 14 years.

The one-year intensive program has seen students arrive more than a dozen countries – Australia to Ireland, Germany to Cuba – to learn the fine art of piano tuning, repairs and findng that perfect pitch.

Formerly located at Toronto’s George Brown College, the program was revamped and brought to where it belongs – in a music school, said program co-ordinator Anne Fleming-Read. It remains the only piano technology program offered in North America.

“It’s like its own laboratory. This is the perfect location,” she said of the program, tucked neatly in a corner of the Don Wright Faculty of Music Building.

“This is a niche market – and a very small market. There have been several schools throughout the world that are no longer operating,” Fleming-Read said. “Apparently, word gets out you can come here and, in eight months, have what you need to go out and start making a living, and continue your learning.”

With just 14 students in the program each year, Tholhuijsen saw Western as the perfect opportunity for him, despite the fact he was already enroled in a similar program in Amsterdam.

“It was a three-year program. After I did the first half-year, I pretty quickly figured out it wasn’t the right school for me,” said Tholhuiijsen, who quickly began googling piano technology programs. “Western was one of the first ones that popped up right away. The website was good and I got a lot of great information. So, I got in touch with Anne and made my decision.”

Coming to London was delayed as he spent the next year-and-half saving up the $16,000 program tuition. But it was worth the wait, Tholhuijsen added.

“I just wanted to go to a good school and reach my goal of working in the business,” he said. “They teach you the basics of what you’re going to need to be successful. And to be sucessful, you spend on average of 60-70 hours a week in school. That’s a lot of time to put in. But if you do that, there’s a big chance you’ll learn so much.

“They push you to succeed, which is great. My personality needed that pressure.”

Fleming-Read said students appreciate the individual time they receive, with such small classes, thanks to senior technical officer Don Stephenson and resident technician Paul Poppy.

“It allows for a lot of individual and personal attention,” she said. “It’s not just them sitting at a desk. You are working right there with them. You get to see their ‘up’ days, and their ‘down’ days, and respond accordingly. Sometimes, you take risks when you push them harder, but they need to know they can do it.”

While the main program will not be growing, a summer session in Piano Technology is offered to graduates and practicing technicians. A similar one-month program will also be offered for residents of China, an area desperate to educate technicians.

“This will be for those who already have some experience and want to take it to the next level,” Fleming-Read said.

Tholhuijsen joked that despite waiting the year-and-a half to begin at Western, he still graduated before his former classmates in Amsterdam. And a few months into his internship, despite all his training, he admits the learning never stops.

“You are always developing your listening skills,” said Tholhuijsen, who, while not a pianist, dables on the piano. “Everybody has it, everyone hears it, but you really need to develop it, which is why it’s important to put those 60-70 hours in.

“Most people who listen to music will hear different things we hear, as tuners. At the beginning, you barely hear anything, but then you slowly start developing your listening skills and begin hearing more and more. It takes time and, still now, it’s improving for me.”

Posted with permission, Western News