2026 Guest Artists and Faculty · Page 2
Kate Read
St. John's based violist, Kate Read, is violist of the award winning Atlantic String Quartet and Principal Viola in the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. She is also violist for Dark by Five, resident ensemble at Gros Morne Summer Music, and Principal viola with Opera on the Avalon.
Lori Gemmell
Lori Gemmell started as a street-corner busker in Montreal and wound up playing regularly with the Toronto Symphony, The National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and, until there wasn’t one, anymore, she was Principal Harpist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Lori teaches at Wilfred Laurier University and has a passion for new music.
She recently (with violinist Sheila Jaffé) premiered the Partita for Violin and Harp by Caroline Lizotte. The late composer R. Murray Schafer, honoured her with the gift of his Four Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Harp, which she also premiered. Lori has made four solo recordings as well as recording with songwriters Kevin Fox and Feist.
Bill Brennan
BILL BRENNAN’s expertise as a pianist, percussionist, composer and producer can be heard on some 130 albums to date. His newest album “Kaleidoscope – Music for Mallet Instruments” has received numerous award nominations. Tom Allen of CRC Radio’s “It’s About Time writes “Bill Brennan’s Kaleidoscope is perfectly named - a constantly shifting, twirling, entrancing and enchanting swirl of beauty and fascination.” His newest CD with Andrea Koziol was released in 2019, entitled “I’ll Be Seeing You”. It garnered the MusicNL Jazz and Blues Award. Bill’s album of 2006 “Solo Piano” received nominations for MusicNL and ECMA Instrumental Album of the Year. His album “Solo Piano 2” won the MusicNL Instrumental album of the year in 2008.
Heather Kao
From St. John’s, Heather Kao is the concertmaster of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and first violinist of the Atlantic String Quartet since 2015. She studied at Memorial University with Dr. Nancy Dahn. She has played in masterclasses for Martin Beaver, Lorand Fenyves, Mark Fewer and Pinchas Zukerman to name a few.
Jim Vivian
Jim Vivian has been at the forefront of music making in Canada for over 30 years, and has performed and/or recorded with most of the well known jazz artists working in the country today. Originally from Newfoundland, he moved from St. John’s to Toronto in 1979 to pursue classical bass studies with Thomas Monohan and Thorvald Fredin. During the early 1980’s he began to focus more on jazz and improvised music, studying with Dave Holland at the Banff centre, and later in New York with Holland and Marc Johnson.
Patrick Cashin
Pianist Patrick Cashin is becoming known as a distinctive presence on the Canadian music scene. He designs unique recitals centred around the best of the piano repertoire and speaks warmly to audiences about what makes the music great. Patrick particularly enjoys playing Mozart piano concertos, in which he improvises and composes cadenzas in the style of Mozart.
Joe Argentino
Joe Argentino is an Associate Professor of Music Theory at Memorial University of Newfoundland, specializing in post-tonal and serial music. His current research interests include the connection between form and text in Arnold Schoenberg’s religious works, the pedagogical study of improvisation at the keyboard and the late works of Franz Liszt.
Lauren Smee
Lauren Smee is a violinist, personal trainer, and Body Mapping Educator based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Lauren is passionate about sharing the joys of music and movement with her students, clients, and audiences. She is fascinated by the connections between mind and body and this infuses her work in both music and fitness. Her goal is to aid her students in developing a healthy relationship with the violin and to support her clients in developing a healthy relationship to exercise and their own bodies.
Annie Corrigan
Annie Corrigan is the host of Tuckamore’s post-concert interviews. Originally from Bowling Green, Ohio, she is the Principal Oboe of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and an Adjunct Professor of Oboe at Memorial University. Prior to moving to Newfoundland in 2016, Annie served as Principal Oboe of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra and Second Oboe in the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. Annie is currently completing her Doctorate of Music (Oboe) from Indiana University. In addition to her musical life, Annie has an extensive background in radio and audio thanks to twelve years of work at Bloomington, Indiana’s NPR affiliate WFIU.