What's Your Forte‪?‬ Bandology

On our last episode of 2023, Sandy and Ryan talk about the lessons they learned in 2023 and preview the exciting things to come at Bandology in 2024!

On our penultimate episode of What’s Your Forte? for 2023, Sandy and Ryan, our Community Programs Manager, sit down and review Bandology’s best year yet and answer questions from our Executive Director Lisa Michaels. Part Two comes out on Saturday, December 30, 2024. (Pictured, L-R: Ryan MacKinnon, Sandy Wright and Sara Thoeny, our Programming Team.)

Our guest this week is Amanda Kind, the Artistic Director of KW Glee, as well as a singer, songwriter, and commercial and musical theatre voice teacher based in Waterloo! She joins Sandy on What’s Your Forte? to talk about her unique career path and the importance of lifelong learning. Watch now on YouTube or listen on your preferred podcast platform!

Amanda has released a wide variety of music including country singles “Slow Dance” (#1 on SiriusXM Top of the Country), “The Good Fight” and many others. She is a member of the Songwriter’s Association of Canada, SOCAN, and the Canadian Country Music Association. She spent her teenage years obsessed with everything from Ella Fitzgerald to Shania Twain to Broadway, so it’s no wonder that she has sung everything from opera, jazz and musical theatre to pop, rock and country.

As an evidence-based commercial voice specialist, Amanda works with a broad range of clients including professional singers, label and indie artists and aspiring performers in many genres. She teaches commercial music at Wilfrid Laurier University and has been a guest lecturer, adjudicator and workshop facilitator for many other music education programs. Amanda is on the board for the National Association of Teachers of Singing in Ontario.

Her education includes a Musical Theatre Diploma from Canadian College of Performing Arts, a music certificate from Kwantlen College, a Bachelor's degree from the University of Waterloo, and professional development in vocal pedagogy at the Boston Conservatory, Shenandoah University (Levels, I, II, II at the CCM Institute) and Evidence-Based Pedagogy certification from MTVS. For more about Amanda, visit www.amandakind.com.

This week we welcome Dr. Rebekah Jordan-Miller to our What’s Your Forte? podcast! Rebekah is the Director of the Laurier Academy of Music and Arts (LAMA) and an instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Music (WLU). She joins our Education Manager Sandy Wright to talk about her journey in music, the importance of music education and our collaboration on March Break Music Camp!

Rebekah is a seasoned piano pedagogue, accredited music therapist and pianist who has performed widely, both as a soloist and collaborative artist throughout Canada, the United States, Austria, Australia and Norway. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance and piano pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma, a Masters degree in Music Therapy from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music.

In addition to her role as Director, Rebekah is a music therapist and piano instructor at LAMA, as well as a contract faculty member of music therapy courses at WLU. Her current music therapy practice at LAMA consists of a diverse client population with everything from adapted music lessons for children with cognitive and/or physiological challenges to Neurological Music Therapy sessions for adults with traumatic brain injuries. Rebekah is an active adjudicator, RCM examiner and clinician. She previously held academic positions at Oklahoma City University, Shorter University in Rome, Georgia and Western University in London, Ontario.

Our season finale of What’s Your Forte, with special guest Cynthia Johnston Turner, is out now! She and Sandy talk about her journey from small-town Ontario to conducting bands with jets flying overhead, ways you can differentiate yourself as an artist and the best parts of being the Dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Music.

The first in her  family to attend university, Cynthia received her B.Mus. and B.Ed. from  Queen’s University, a M.Ed. at the University of Victoria and a D.M.A.  (Conducting) from the Eastman School of Music. She has received numerous  teaching, research, and leadership awards in Canada and the United  States.
Cynthia was appointed Dean—Faculty of Music at Wilfrid  Laurier University on July 1, 2021.  She also oversees the Laurier  Academy of Music and the Arts, a community-based school serving hundreds  of children and their families in the region.

Cynthia has guest  conducted bands, music ensembles and orchestras at several universities  and conservatories as well as state honor bands in the United States  and abroad. She continues to actively promote commissions by today’s  leading and emerging composers around the world with a focus on  underrepresented voices. She is published in several notable journals  and has recorded CDs with the Innova and Albany labels. Cynthia has  served as a board member with the World Association of Symphonic Bands  and Ensembles (WASBE) and currently serves on the board of the Western  International Band Clinic (WIBC).

This week, Kathryn talks to oudist and quantum computing student Manar Naeem about her earliest experiences in music, favourite career moments and the importance of music education. Listen now or watch on YouTube or Facebook!

Manar Naeem is a self-taught, Syrian-born oudist. She graduated with a physics degree with math and computer science minors from Wilfrid Laurier University, and is now pursuing her Master's degree in Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo.  Manar performs with the Canadian Arabic Orchestra, and works as an oud  teacher for children and adults at the Canadian Arabic Conservatory of  Music. In 2020, she was the first oudist to be featured in CBC's 30 Hot  Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 list. Manar has performed across  Canada and experienced first-hand how music is a global language of love  that can bring different cultures and communities together.