Our Honorable Musical Consultants
Professor Martin Berinbaum
Professor Martin Berinbaum is the Head of the Brass, Wind and Percussion Division at the University of British Columbia a position he has held since 1976. He teaches trumpet, chamber music and conducts the Wind Ensemble. He is the Director of the UBC Summer Music Institute. He has performed with over 100 orchestras and bands around the world including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kiev Symphony, National Arts Center Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony. He toured and recorded extensively with the trumpet and organ duo Toccatas and Flourishes playing over 850 concerts in North America. One of Toccatas and Flourishes’ earliest concerts was at the Kennedy Center for the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter. Martin has recorded for Columbia, and RCA, the CBC, Klavier and Vanguard Records. He performed on the NBC Today show three times. He has performed in England, Europe, China, New Zealand, Australia, the United States as well as across Canada.
Dr. Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, where he conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting, and serves as Chair of the Woodwind Brass and Percussion Division. With a career in music education spanning over twenty-five years, previous appointments include the University of Puget Sound in the state of Washington and Eureka High School in northern California, where ensembles under his direction earned recognition by Downbeat Magazine, the Selmer Corporation, and Grammy Signature Schools.
Mr. Robert Aitken
World renowned Canadian flutist, composer and conductor Robert Aitken has been honoured with the Order of Canada and is a Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France). In 1970, having previously served as principal flute for both the Vancouver and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Aitken embarked on a solo career that has taken him to virtually every corner of the globe. He has more than 70 recordings to his credit and such notables as John Cage, George Crumb, Elliott Carter, Toru Takemitsu, Gilles Tremblay, John Beckwith and Bruce Mather have dedicated works to him. In 2003 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Flute Association (USA). In 2004, he retired as Professor für Flöte at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, a position he had held for 16 years. In 2009 Aitken was the recipient Canada’s largest arts award, the prestigious Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts. As a composer, he holds Bachelor and Masters degrees from the University of Toronto and all of his works are published by Universal Edition, Salabert, Ricordi and Peer Music. Robert Aitken was director of the Banff Centre Winter Program in Music, founder and artistic director of Music Today, Music at Shawnigan and co-founder, with Norma Beecroft, of New Music Concerts which he has directed since its inception in 1971.