DATES ANNOUNCED ..... 2026 Wendy Brook Music Festival March 9-13
2026 Festival Adjudicators
Kimberley Denis - vocal
Kimberley Denis is known for her energy and enthusiasm both on stage and off and is sought after as a soloist, conductor, adjudicator and choir clinician. Upon completion of both a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Music at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, she returned to Alberta to pursue a double Masters degree in choral conducting and vocal performance at the University of Alberta.
She has won many accolades for her work as a soloist and conductor, and was recently awarded a Con Spirito Award from Choir Alberta for her work supporting choral music in Alberta and the Alberta Band Association Award of Distinction for her contributions to supporting music education in the province.
She is a singer with Edmonton’s professional choir, Pro Coro Canada and has a flourishing voice studio at her own music school – the Purple Door Music Academy.
She is also a music and theatre instructor at The King’s University in Edmonton and presently directs Fire Choirs (a choir for singers between the ages 9 and 16 based on equity and accessibility principles) and the River City Chorus (a non-auditioned adult community ensemble). In addition to her work as a singer, teacher, conductor, and adjudicator, she arranges pieces for choirs.
Mikolaj Warszynski - Piano Performance
Mikolaj Warszynski (D.Mus) has performed in recitals across North America, Europe and Asia, and enjoys a versatile career
as a pianist, lecturer, and pedagogue. A Canadian pianist of Polish origin, Mikolaj Warszynski performs extensively as a
soloist and as a chamber musician, and is equally comfortable playing music of the baroque, classical, and contemporary
repertoire.
Invitations to many prominent music festivals and societies have led to recent performances in South Korea at
the Woobong Art Hall, in Budapest at the Liszt Museum, in Warsaw at the Royal Łazienki Park under the Chopin monument
and at the Iwaszkiewicz Muzeum, in Gdansk at the Baltic Philharmonic, in the French Alps at the Flaine Opus74 Summer
Music Festival, in Paris at the Cité Internationale des Arts, in Czech Republic at the Janacek Hukvaldy Festival, in Sicily at
the Falcone Borsellino Hall, in Vienna at the Old Town Hall, in Rotterdam at the Laurenskerk Cathedral. In Canada,
Warszynski has made recital appearances at the Place des Arts and the Chapelle historique du bon Pasteur in Montreal, at
the Gallery 345 and the ‘Nocturnes in City’ series in Toronto, the Verdun Classical Music Society, New Music Edmonton,
the Edmonton Recital Society, The Winspear Centre, Banff Centre for the Arts, and in Calgary at the Steinway Concert Hall.
During the Chopin bicentennial, Warszynski performed the Chopin F minor concerto across Canada with the Mazurka
String Quintet, and has appeared as soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra,
the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton, and in Poland at the Kielce Philharmonic. He is also a founding member of the
Warszynski Trio, dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Canadian composers, whose album Devil’s Dance was
released on Clef Records.
As part of the ZUMI piano duo, together with his wife, pianist Zuzana Simurdova, Mikolaj gave
the Canadian premiere of Disintegration by Claude Vivier, for the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec. The Duo
has gone on to perform recitals on tours in Canada, Europe, and has had two national tours of China, in 2015 and 2017.
Most recently, the ZUMI duo has been awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts for their recording of
contemporary works by Canadian and international composers.
please visit www.mikolajwarszynski.net
Marie Forestier - Strings/Instrumental
From Glasgow, Scotland, Marie Forestier studied at the Royal
Academy of Music and Drama and has been teaching for 30
years at the Conservatory of Music in Edmonton. Her students
have been prize winners at local, provincial, and international
competitions.
She has a love and gift for working with very young children, as
young as 2 years old.
Marie has enjoyed adjudicating in and around the Edmonton area
and in B.C. for many years.
In high demand as a freelance musician, Marie has performed in
various ensembles and orchestras in Edmonton, British Columbia,
and the United Kingdom.
Julie Golosky - Speech Arts
Julie is a proud Alberta Metis actor, singer, composer, writer and teacher, who has performed on stages across Canada, and as far away as Hawaii, South Africa, and at Carnegie Hall in
NYC.
She has been an active member of Canadian Actors’ Equity for over 30 years, most recently seen in the Shadow Theatre Canadian premier of “The Two Battles of Frances Pegamagabow”, by Neil Grahn. She also composes regularly for theatre, for example, the “Enchanted Antlers” viral series for young audiences across Canada.
Julie has a MMUS degree in Applied Music from the University of Alberta, and has taught singing and speech production privately over the last 25 years. During this time she has been a faculty member of the Citadel Theatre’s Foote Theatre School, and on faculty. for both the Theatre Arts and Music Departments, at MacEwan University. She has also adjudicated for One Act Festivals for High schools in the Edmonton area as well as for Music Festivals in Alberta.
As a writer, Julie has written numerous plays for youth, including “Show Me The Wey-Hey” (published) and “Bear And The Big Bad Berry Patch” (Concrete Theatre Sprouts Festival).
She has recently published a compilation of prose, poetry and lyrics titled “The Highest Point Of The Valley” in memory of her late father, Bert Golosky, and life in northern Alberta.
Ksenia Maryniak - ukrainian
Ksenia Maryniak grew up in Two Hills, Devon, and Edmonton, and has sung in choirs since she was 15 years old.
She began translating after her undergraduate studies at
Carleton and worked at the University of Toronto on the English-language Encyclopedia of Ukraine (vols. 3–5, 1993), published by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.
She lived in Ukraine in 1993–2002 and completed an MA in Cultural Studies at the University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.” Attested for UK-EN translations by the Canadian government in 1993, she was certified in 2007 and is the only such professional
in the Prairie provinces. Ksenia has been at the U of A in a variety of editing positions since 2003. Her 2008 overview of Ukraine’s transliteration systems is cited in Wikipedia.
In 2021 the Peterson Literary Fund awarded her a Translated Book Prize for a history book, as well as Translation-in-Progress grants for a sociology text and an epic novel.
John Mahon - BAND Performance
John Mahon is a professional musician, producer, teacher and arts organization executive. He holds two degrees from the University of Alberta: Bachelor of Music (1976) and MBA (1983) - plus a diploma from the Royal College of Music London UK (1972-73)
His career as a professional clarinet player began in 1971. It has included the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Royal Winnipeg Ballet touring orchestra, military bands, musicals, films, recordings and many chamber music concerts.
In 1980 he co-founded the Old Strathcona Town Band—a 25-piece concert and ceremonial band. He was principal clarinet of the ensemble for twenty years as well as producer of the band’s two very successful commercial recordings.
He has been the Executive Director of Musicamrose (1985 - 1989), the General Manager of Pro Coro Canada (1989 - 1996), and the Grants Officer and then Executive Director of the Edmonton Arts Council (1996-2013).
From 1995 to 2010 he was a partner in and producer with Arktos Recordings Limited, an Edmonton based company that released over 60 compact discs during that time. Arktos CDs had extensive national distribution and broadcasts. Several were nominated for, and winners of national awards.
From 2013 to 2020 he was with MacEwan University as a Sessional Lecturer in business practices and career management for musicians as well as project management and advocacy for students in arts and cultural management.
John Mahon has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Edmonton Community Foundation, the Edmonton Musicians Association and Arts Habitat Edmonton. He was the founding chairperson of the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations Board of Directors.
John Mahon is a recipient of the Alberta Centennial medal (2005), Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal (2012) and was inducted into the Edmonton Cultural Hall of Fame in 2013.