BRASS & SONG

Stevan Paranosic is the Principal Trumpet of the Vancouver Island Symphony. Previously he performed as Acting 2nd Trumpet with the Victoria Symphony for 7 seasons and has appeared with trumpet sections of the Vancouver, Kamloops, Prince George, and Okanagan Symphony orchestras. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Windsor and a Masters degree from the University of British Columbia. A big fan of brass chamber music performance, Stevan is active as a member, arranger and organizer of many brass groups. He is a core member of the Festive Brass quartet, which performs at The Butchart Gardens every Christmas season. The Festive Brass was featured with the Vancouver Island Symphony on their very popular Brassy Christmas seasonal show in 2014 & 2017. Stevan has been a private trumpet instructor for over 15 years and loves teaching all ages of students from beginners to more advanced. Inspired to ‘pay it forward’ to the next generation, Stevan returned to university to complete a Bachelors of Education and recently started work as a BC certified teacher. He is a dedicated music educator, devoted father and he admits he is an amusingly eccentric maestro of Christmas music madness.

Mark D'Angelo a native of North Vancouver, holds a Master of Music Degree from the University of McGill in Montreal. Mark is currently Principal Trumpet with the Kamloops Symphony, and Second Trumpet with the Vancouver Island Symphony. He has also performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver New Music, Victoria Symphony, CBC Radio Orchestra, Thunder Bay Symphony, and the American Brass Quintet as an Aspen Music Festival Fellowship recipient. Mark has performed with Ben Hepner, Grammy winner Lila Downs, Lara St. John, and Tony Award winner Idena Menzel. In 2017 Mark performed the British Columbia premiere of John Estacios Concerto for Trumpet with the Kamloops Symphony. Mark currently holds the position of trumpet instructor at Capilano University, Trinity Western University, and is a Stomvi Performing Artist.

Karen Hough was born in Nanaimo as were 3 previous generations of her family, and raised in Victoria. She earned her Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Victoria. She went on to study at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto in the Orchestral Training Programme. She received her Master of Music from Yale University and was the first horn player ever to receive Yale’s prestigious Artist Diploma. She spent a year as Artist in Residence at The Banff Centre. Summer Music Festivals she attended include Courtney Youth Music Camp, the Blossom Festival at Kent State University, Aspen and the LA Philharmonic Institute with guest conductors Simon Rattle and John Williams. After a career as an orchestral and chamber musician in Toronto, Karen returned to the west coast. She served in the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy, as well as joining the Vancouver Island Symphony. She is also an avid chamber musician, playing in such groups as the West Coast Chamber Players, Windsong Woodwind quintet, and Ensemble Pacifica. She cnn be found in the pit of many musical theatre productions.

Scott MacInnes received his MMus from the University of Victoria (11) and his BMus at the University of Toronto (05). Scott moved to Victoria after winning a one-year bass trombone position with the Victoria Symphony for the 2005/6 season. The following year Scott secured the position of Principal Bass Trombone with the Vancouver Island Symphony. Scott is an extremely active chamber musician both as a member of the Pinnacle Brass Quintet and iTromboni. Demonstrating his great versatility Scott can also been seen playing jazz, pop and rock around Victoria, as well as in most of the musical theater pits. As an instructor Scott teaches privately as well as at the University of Victoria where he teaches chamber music, a pep band and private instruction. Scott also holds the position of Artistic Director for both the Meridiem Wind Orchestra and the BC Brass Collective.