Music of the Night

Marilyn Whitehead

Marilyn is recognized throughout Western Canada as a teacher, choral director, accompanist and adjudicator. Her students have received numerous scholarships and awards at music festivals at the local, provincial, and national level. They have also consistently been gold medal recipients for examinations through the Toronto Conservatory of Music. Marilyn’s Fireside Singers, founded in 1972, have achieved national recognition, having been awarded first place honours on five occasions at the National Festival competitions. The choir has delighted audience with spectacular Christmas Memories concerts and dynamic Broadway productions.

Marilyn received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in 2002 and the Saskatchewan Choral Federation Pro Musica Award 2012 for her contributions to the arts in Saskatoon. She is past president of the Saskatoon Registered Teachers Association and for decades has been an active member of the Saskatoon Music Festival Association. This fall, Marilyn was invested with the Saskatchewan Order of Merit as well as the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal, recognizing a legacy of contribution to the arts in Saskatchewan.

Marilyn received her early musical training from Sister Joan Miller, Douglas Voice, and her mentor Sister Dolores Schneider. She continued her studies with Francis Adaskin, Dr. Lyell Gustin, and Robin Harrison and later had the opportunity to study with Jean Marie Scott and Barbara Collier. She received her ARCT diploma from the Toronto Conservatory of Music for Performance in Voice and Piano. She is indebted to Robert Solem, Dwaine Nelson, David Kaplan, and Robert Klose for their inspiration while she obtained a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Saskatchewan, and to Sheila Shinkewski and Bonnie Nicholson for their support, inspiration and special friendship.

Marilyn is grateful for the support and love of her husband Ed, who is not only her best friend but her confidant, offering the Fireside Singers his endless energy, brilliant organizational skills and constant creative advice.

Bonnie Nicholson

Bonnie Nicholsons is a pianist, teacher and chamber musician from Saskatoon, SK. Her degrees include a Bachelor of Music (Performance, 1984), and a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Saskatchewan (1987), as well as an A.R.C.T. in Piano Performance from the R.C.M. (1984). Teachers and influences are varied and include her mentor Robin Harrison (Saskatoon), Janet Wendland (Prince Albert), Mark Westcott (Summer School, Vancouver, B.C.) and Claude Savard (Academie d’Orford).

Since 1986, Bonnie has served as a Sessional Lecturer in Piano at the Department of Music, U of S, in Saskatoon. As part of her solo and teaching career, she has received many awards, including the U of S College of Arts and Science Distinguished teacher Award for BA, BFA, and BMus Programs (2018) and the 2020 Teacher of Distinction Award from the Royal Conservatory of Music.

In June of 2012, Bonnie fulfilled a life long dream to tour and teach in China, visiting Universities in five major Chinese cities with saxophonist, Dr. Glen Gillis. In July of 2015, Bonnie accompanied Dr. Gillis at the International Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg, France and again at the 2018 Congress in Zagreb, Croatia.

Bonnie Nicholson appears on CD with pianist Dianne Gryba, bass-baritone Henri Loiselle, the Saskatoon Children’s Choir, the Saskatoon Fireside Singers, trumpeter Dean McNeill’s disc entitled “Melange”, and saxophonist Glen Gillis’ three discs entitled “SaxSpectrum” 1, 2 and 3.

Bonnie feels lucky to have two amazing sons and two fabulous daughter-in-laws. She loves to travel the world with soul-mate Stephen, and they are proud grandparents to Eli and Margo Lynn. It is a pleasure and honour to make music with the Fireside Family and to celebrate Marilyn for her 50 spectacular years!

Kelsey Stone

Trained at La Danse in Saskatoon, Kelsey has participated in many exams, competed and adjudicated at different festivals across Canada and performed in musicals around the country. She is currently the Acro and Musical Theatre instructor at La Danse and has

received many awards for her groups and solos. Choreo credits: Footloose (BNTC), Annie (BNTC, SSP), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Fireside), Aida (Fireside), Fireside Christmas Memories, Beauty and the Beast (Fireside), Oliver! (Fireside), Les Miserables (Fireside), Jesus Christ Superstar (Fireside), The Wizard of OZ (Fireside), The Hunchback of Notre Dam (Fireside), Evita (Fireside). Performance credits: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Narrator, SSP), RENT (Maureen, SSP), Cabaret (Sally, SSP),

Beauty and the Beast (Belle, BNTC), Footloose (Rusty, BNTC), Annie (Grace, BNTC).
Kelsey co-founded the award winning theatre company Ppl r Ppl Productions and credits include: The Last Five Years (Cathy), The Rocky Horror Show (Choreographer), Avenue Q (Kate Monster, Choreographer) and Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey, Choreographer), [title of show] (Heidi, Choreographer). Kelsey is determined to grow and foster the love for dance and musical theatre in Saskatchewan and especially help young people gain confidence through the arts.

The Fireside Singers

This year marks 50 years of sharing powerful and engaging music performances for The Fireside Singers. They are thrilled to be collaborating with the SSO again to celebrate this milestone. The Fireside Singers performed previously with the SSO in October 2016 for their “On Broadway” concert. The Fireside Singers’ concerts and theatre productions proudly showcase the amazing choir of gifted singers, stunning vocal soloists, as well as internationally recognized instrumentalists. Their repertoire continues to delight audiences with their wide

variety of musical genres, from classical to contemporary. Previously, The Fireside Singers have been awarded First Place at the National Music Festival Competition on five occasions, recorded seven albums, and produced 12 full-scale Broadway productions including Children of Eden (2007), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2008), Aida (2009), Beauty and the Beast (2010), Oliver (2011), Fiddler on the Roof (2012), Les Misérables (Spring 2013 and Fall 2013), Jesus Christ Superstar (2014), The Wizard of Oz (2015), Pippin (2017), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2018), and Evita (2019). As with every successful production it is essential to draw from the talents and expertise of many people. The Fireside Singers production team is led by the groups Founder and Artistic Director Marilyn Whitehead, Orchestral Director and Artistic Collaborator Bonnie Nicholson, and Stage Director and Choreographer Kelsey Stone. Additional members of the production team include Kennedy Siba, Meaghan Dormuth, Kristin Siba, Sarah Chapman, and Cheryl Kiefer. Marilyn is grateful, humbled and honoured to share the stage with all of these marvelous individuals who have committed countless hours of their time and talent to maintaining the standard of excellence the group has established for 50 years and counting!

Armand Birk, conductor

Armand Birk is a Bachelor of Music graduate from the University of Alberta, where he studied voice with Elizabeth Turnbull and Shannon Hiebert. Originally from Victoria, Armand’s initial experience as a musician was as a bassist for jazz and folk bands. Originally unable to read music and following a Bachelor of Science program, it was not until he began his vocal studies with Laurier Fagnan at Campus Saint-Jean in 2014 that he found his love and passion for classical music and conducting. As a chorister Armand has performed internationally in some of North America’s great concert halls such as the National Arts Centre and Carnegie Hall.

Recently named an RBC Emerging Conductor by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Armand is currently pursuing a career in orchestral conducting and recently began his graduate studies at the University of British Columbia. His primary teachers and mentors have been Petar Dundjerski and his current teacher Jonathan Girard. He has also had the privilege of studying with Yoav Talmi, Daniel Raiskin, Michael Massey, Leonard Ratzlaff, and Angela Schroeder. Armand has had the privilege of conducting in many of Canada’s great concert halls such as the Winspear Centre for the Arts, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, The Centennial Concert Hall, and the Domaine Forget concert hall. In July 2022, Armand was a conducting fellow at the Domaine Forget de Charlesvoix where he had the honour of learning from Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Thomas Rösner in masterclasses with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec (OSQ) and the Orchestre Métropolitain. Armand was also one of the few chosen to lead the OSQ in a performance during the festival. Armand is currently the Assistant Conductor of the UBC Symphony Orchestra and UBC Opera.

Armand’s current and past work is varied including engagements with the UBC Symphony Orchestra, the UBC Opera, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the UofA Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, the UofA Opera, Contempo New Music Ensemble, and various choirs. In 2019, Armand founded a pre-professional chamber orchestra in Edmonton, the River City Chamber Orchestra, whose goal is to offer unique opportunities to budding young musicians. With an exciting and innovative approach to programming, Armand has developed inter-disciplinary performances that showcase live painting, dance, and poetry that have helped connect audiences with a wide variety of repertoire from Vivaldi to Schoenberg. Formerly the Artistic Director of the Centre d’arts visuels de l’Alberta, Armand’s passion for the arts knows no bounds and is dedicated to combining various art forms in innovative ways.

Armand believes that even a single performance has the possibility change someone’s life and has devoted his life to creating life-changing performances. This is Armand’s first time performing with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and he is excited to share this scary, spooktacular, and exciting program with you!