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Bassoon

Nadina Mackie Jackson

Nadina is a solo bassoonist and artist based in Toronto. Her career has taken her around the world as a soloist and orchestral musician. She gives frequent recitals, both solo and with the pianist David Swan and has released three critically acclaimed solo CDs on her own label, Odd Bird Studios (Notes from Abroad, Ever After and Twelve Fantasias by G. P. Telemann).

An avid chamber musician, Nadina has founded several chamber music groups during her career, notably the Caliban Quartet of Bassoonists which has released three CDs ("Bassoonatics," Musica Viva; "Feast," Bis Northern Lights; "Caliban Does Christmas," Atma). Nadina has performed at many festivals, including the Montreal Baroque Festival, Ottawa Chamber Festival, Domaine Forget, Festival of the Sound, Scotia Festival and the Edinburgh Festival.

As an historical bassoonist, Nadina plays and records with the Aradia Ensemble with several recordings appearing on the Naxos label. Nadina has also performed with Ensemble Caprice, Tafelmusik, the Handel & Haydn Society of Boston and Apollo’s Fire. As a modern orchestral bassoonist, Nadina is a frequent guest with Violons du Roy, and played for many years with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, participating in over 47 recordings, and as principal bassoonist with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra.

Nadina enjoys bringing her performances to unusual settings, particularly natural settings, gardens, small historical churches and one room schools. Nadina believes that the future of classical music lies solely in the hands of the musicians who love it the most, and who live to perform the masterworks of all periods.

Link to Nadina's Website

Oboe

Kathy Halvorson

Originally from Wisconsin, Kathy studied at the University of Wisconsin, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Netherlands. In Boston she was an active performer in contemporary classical, jazz, ethnic and third stream ensembles as well as classical orchestras and chamber music.

In 1995, Kathy moved to the Netherlands, where she studied with Dutch oboist Bart Schneemann and she performed with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Bach Soloists, Calefax Reed Quintet, the Netherlands Opera, Ballet, Symphony and Radio Orchestras, Het Nieuw Ensemble and the Stravinsky Ensemble. Now residing in New York City, Kathy has performed with the Sedna Winds, Opera Orchestra of New York, Brooklyn Philharmonic, SEM Ensemble, The Bronx Opera, and with pianist Francine Kay. She is Principal Oboe in the Cork Opera in Ireland, and has recorded for the Naxos label as Principal Oboe with the Toronto Camerata. She is also a member of the Network Winds in Toronto.

Link to Kathy's Website...

About Network Winds:

Network Winds is a woodwind quintet for the new century. Its five members combine their superb musical abilities and experiences to form the centre of a web that will connect with music from all over the globe and music for winds in a variety of combinations; most importantly, it will connect musicians who love to play together. The hub at the centre of the Network Winds is made up of Leslie Newman (flute) Kathy Halvorson (oboe) Micah Heilbrunn (clarinet) Wendy Limbertie (horn) and Nadina Mackie Jackson (bassoon), all renowned as exceptional musicians on their own but forming a magical and sonorous whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. Concerts by the Network Winds will present a variety of chamber music: sometimes trios, sometimes solos, sometimes connecting with distinguished guest artists to perform larger works or works with strings or piano, and sometimes even performing woodwind quintets.

Formed in the fall of 2005, Network Winds was built on friendships developed in Holland, the USA and Canada. Its members are or have been members of such internationally acclaimed ensembles as the Aradia Ensemble, Musica Franca, the Canadian Opera Company, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Winnipeg Symphony, the Amsterdam Opera Company, the City of Birmingham Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, and the Montreal Symphony. Between the five of them, they are soloists on over 40 recordings, running the gamut of styles from classical, baroque, jazz, and contemporary classical to celtic and even rock and roll.

The Network Winds present themselves as a new type of wind ensemble -- a quintet as a base reaching out to an endless horizon of aural possibilities.

The Musicians:

Flute

Leslie Newman

Leslie Newman made her professional debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at the age of 18, performing Carl Nielsen's Flute Concerto under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis. Since then, she has performed with orchestras throughout Canada and in the U.S. and U.K. She has appeared in recital in New York, Montreal, Chicago, Washington D.C., Taipei, and London's prestigious Wigmore Hall, where her two performances were broadcast live by the BBC's Radio 3. She has performed as guest Principal Flautist with the Hallé Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. Festival appearances include Banff, Bogotá, Salzburg, Sorrento, the Stratford International Flute Festival and the Oregon Bach Festival. Leslie currently makes her home in Toronto, where she performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician, and teaches at the Glenn Gould Professional School. More on Leslie...

Clarinet

Micah Heilbrunn

Micah Heilbrunn is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Michigan. Micah has served as principal clarinet with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Symphony Nova Scotia.

Other experience includes work with the Toronto Symphony, The Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada. Micah has taught clarinet at the University of Windsor and has been heard in performance on both the CBC and National Public Radio. As a chamber musician he has been a featured artist at the Scotia Festival of Music, The Winnipeg New Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival.

Currently Micah lives in Winnipeg where he is an active as the new principal Clarinet of the Winnipeg Symphony.

Horn

Wendy Limbertie

Wendy Limbertie is a graduate of the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Her private teachers have included Adriaan van Woudenberg, Principal Horn of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Eugene Rittich, Principal Horn of the Toronto Symphony. Wendy has worked as a professional horn player for over 20 years, having served as principal horn with the Opera Comique Amsterdam for 18 years as well as other orchestral experiences includes working with The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Residentie Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Dutch National Ballet Orchestra, New Sinfonietta Amsterdam and The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Now presently in Canada she is Principal Horn of the Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra as well occasionally performs with the Toronto Symphony, The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and The Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. As a chamber musician she was the founder and member of the Dutch based Icarus Woodwind Quintet, the Stravinsky Ensemble the Amsterdam Brass Quintet as well as Network Winds. Now residing once again in her birthplace of Toronto she is very active and sought after Horn player with several musical incentives in both playing and Arts Administration. In the summer of 2006 Wendy was recording on the NAXOS label with the Aradia Ensemble.