Leading up to our show at Celebration of Nations on September 7 we will be featuring each of our artists! Today’s second Artist Spotlight is our Project Knowledge Carrier/Project Grandmother Jean Becker.
Jean Becker is Inuk and a member of the Nunatsiavut Territory of
Labrador. Jean has lived in Ontario for forty years and has been involved in grassroots
urban Indigenous community building throughout that time in Wellington and
Waterloo regions. As the Senior Advisor Indigenous Initiatives at Wilfrid
Laurier University, Jean is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction
of the university related to Indigenous activities. She continues to be involved
in Indigenous ceremonies and advocacy work for Indigenous people outside of the
academy and is actively engaged with local Indigenous communities.
Leading up to our show at Celebration of Nations on September 7 we will be featuring each of our artists! Today’s first Artist Spotlight is guitarist and Assistant Music Director Benjamin Stein.
Benjamin Stein is a singer, lutenist, pianist, guitarist composer,
music director and writer. He has played or sung for ensembles as such
Tafelmusik Baroque Chamber Choir, Opera Atelier, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir,
Elora Festival Singers, Toronto Masque Theatre and Soundstreams Canada. He has
an MA in Musicology/Theory from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Music
in voice and classical guitar from McGill University, and is currently pursuing
a PhD at York University, focusing on the re-emerging art of Western classical
music improvisation. He is the proud founder of Musicians on the Edge, an
initiative devoted to creating opportunities for classical musicians to
reintegrate improvisation practice into music education and concert
performance. He works an associate music director at Metropolitan United
Church of Toronto, and has written articles on music and culture for the
Toronto Star and Wholenote Magazine. More information on his
activities can be found at benjaminstein.ca.
