January 2009 marked the beginning of a creative renaissance for Yamaha Artist Michael Wood,  as he wrapped up a 33-year stint with Canada’s premiere theatre, The Stratford Festival.

Pursuing his love of jazz music through education and performance venues, Michael spent February and March in British Columbia participating at music festivalss in Kelowna, Vancouver and  Nanaimo, as well as Collingwood, Ontario. Michael will be returning to B.C. this fall to present workshops for the 2009 BC Music Educators Conference, and Chilliwack’s 2010 music festival.

Yamaha Canada Music recently awarded Brian Rapanos with the 2009 Kando Award at MusicFest Canada on May 16 in Markham, ON.  Rapanos, a saxophone player from North Vancouver, BC, was chosen from among the many young musicians in attendance at the festival, the largest of its kind in North America.

“Winning the Yamaha Kando Award is a great honour for me,” says Rapanos.  “Looking at the past winners, I feel privileged to be included in this select group of fantastic musicians.”

Brian Rapanos was born and raised in North Vancouver, British Columbia. He attended Handsworth Secondary School, graduating in June 2009.  Brian participated in the school band program for 5 years, winning numerous awards.   Notable among them was the Dal Richards Scholarship and the BCMEA Scholarship.   Brian has performed at the Jazz Cellar in Vancouver and at the 2008 and 2009 Vancouver Jazz Festivals.  He recently played with the Yamaha All-Star Band in Toronto and has been selected as one of the top young musicians in Canada to play at the Port Hope Jazz Festival this September.  

The 41st annual International Horn Symposium was held at Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL on June 2-7, 2009.  Horn players from all over the world converged on the site to study various aspects of horn playing, visit exhibits from instrument makers, as well as attend clinics, masterclasses, and performances by international guest artists.

Yamaha horn artist Jeff Nelsen was among the list of distinguished guests at IHS, and he performed a recital which garnered rave reviews from audience members and colleagues.  Jeff was proud that one of his many Yamaha-playing students, 19-year-old Everett Burns, won the Young Artist solo competition.  As part of Everett’s prize, he attended a special masterclass with Yamaha international artist Hiroshi Matsuzaki, principal horn in the NHK Symphony Orchestra. 

Five of Canada’s top young musical talents have been accepted into the 2009 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (Hamamatsu
Japan), one of the most grueling and prestigious competitions in the world.

I have found that Yamaha Canada has some of the best salesmen in terms of marketing with accessories in mind. And our partnership in Japan has modeled great organizational skills for BG. My experience with Yamaha has taught me to give others time to react. I often change things too quickly because I have so many ideas. Yamaha is a huge company that is used to planning long in advance, so I have to anticipate more carefully when partnering with them. I have a lot of respect for Yamaha...

 Read more at mmrmagazine.com

The Kingston Grenadiers celebrated a milestone birthday over the weekend. The group plays on Yamaha instruments. 

Read the full story here.

Visit the Kingston Grenadiers' website  to learn more