Joie de Vivre's Artistic Team
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Dr. Stuart Sladden (D. Mus, M. Mus, B. Mus) Music Director Dr. Stuart Sladden was born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto (2002), in vocal jazz performance, a Master of Music degree from the University of Manitoba (2012), and a Doctor of Music degree from the University of Alberta (2020), both in choral conducting. He is a freelance musician, appearing as a guest conductor, workshop leader, adjudicator, and clinician mainly throughout Canada. He has worked as a sessional instructor at both the University of Alberta and University of Manitoba teaching courses in aural skills, conducting, and choral literature, and is part of the handbell faculty at the International Music Camp. Over the past twenty-five years, Stuart has enjoyed working with a variety of traditional, jazz, and church choirs as both a singer and conductor. In Winnipeg, he conducts a number of ensembles, including the Joie de Vivre Community Choir, the Good Neighbours Choristers, the Rochester Ringers, he was recently appointed as the new Director of Music in Worship at Westminster United Church, and is a singer with one of Winnipeg’s professional choral ensembles, the Winnipeg Singers. Along with his teaching and choral work, Stuart is passionate about building relationship and community through choir. He has been the chair of ChoralFest, one of the largest stand-alone, non-competitive choral festivals in Manitoba, has served on the Manitoba Music Educators Association board, serves on the board of the Foundation for Choral Music in Manitoba, and is the current Past-President of the Manitoba Choral Association. |
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Ruth Denton (M. Mus, B. Mus) Assistant Conductor Ruth Denton leads a multifaceted musical career as performer, administrator, and community organizer. Denton was the founding artistic director of Cor Unum Ensemble, a collective created to connect like-minded vocal and instrumental young artists in the Toronto early music scene. A native of St. Andrews, Manitoba, she is a member of Sinfonia Spirituosa and was recently appointed Assistant Director of the Joie de Vivre Choir, where she will appear as oboe soloist, conductor, and choral singer this season. Recent appearances include performances with Seicento Baroque Ensemble, Sweetwater Music Festival, and Rezonance Baroque Ensemble. Denton was the founding general manager of the Toronto Bach Festival from 2016 to 2019, where she worked alongside her baroque oboe mentor, Artistic Director John Abberger. Denton is a pre-doctoral candidate in musicology at the University of Northern Colorado. She recently returned to the Manitoba prairies, Treaty One territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Lakota, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and the homeland of the Red River Métis Nation, where she resides with her husband Vijay Chalasani. For more information, visit her website: www.ruthdenton.ca |
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Charmaine Bacon (M. Mus, B. Mus) Collaborative Pianist Originally from Russell, Manitoba, Charmaine is a classically trained pianist, organist, and flutist. She obtained her BMus and MMus degrees at the University of Manitoba and University of Toronto and studied at The Glenn Gould School. Charmaine is currently pianist for Margaret's Choir, Joie de Vivre, and the Winnipeg Jewish Chorus. She is a freelance organist in the city, and has previously held posts as music director and organist in Toronto and Winnipeg. Charmaine is a regular clinician in schools across the province, and enjoys working with students of all ages in her private studio in St. James-Assiniboia. Charmaine plays 1st Flute and Piccolo in the Winnipeg Wind Ensemble, and she directs and plays in the Wind Chamber Flute Orchestra. Visit Charmaine's website to learn more about her: http://charmainebacon.com/biography/ |