Bios

Timothy Corlis – Director

Corlis is a strong advocate for music that reflects the grass roots, first beginning in the community and then reaching out globally. He began his career as a director at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church (Waterloo, Ontario) where he worked with church and community choirs. Since then, he has worked as a director and as a composer with numerous choirs, always aiming to discover the unique voice that each ensemble has to offer. The most noteworthy of these community projects was the recording featuring the DaCapo Chamber Choir (director Leonard Enns) in a musical setting of the poem “Notes Towards a Poem That Can Never Be Written” — a no-holds-barred social justice commentary by Margaret Atwoord. The title track from this CD was described in WholeNote Magazine (Toronto) as “twenty-five of the most intense minutes of listening you are likely to experience” and was nominated fro a 2009 JUNO Award in the category “best classical composition of the year.” Corlis now lives in Vancouver where he is completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at UBC and works professionally as a freelance composer.

Christine Jones – Accompanist

Christine received her ARCT in Piano Performance with Honors in 2005, and earned her BMus, in Piano Performance with High Distinction, at the University of Alberta in 2008. She studied with Eugene Skovorodnikov at the University of British Columbia where she completed a Masters in Music (Piano Performance). Christine is the recipient of many scholarships, notably the Mary Stinson Prize in Accompaniment, a Beryl Barnes award, the Anne Burrows memorial award, and several leadership and academic excellence awards.

Chamber music has already been a very important aspect of Christine’s training and interest. Since moving to Vancouver, Christine has performed in small ensemble and as a soloist with Artsway Ambassadors, with Out For Lunch series at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and for Delta Art Council’s Young People’s Concert Series. In 2008, Christine attended the Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, Austria, studying lieder with the world’s foremost interpreters of the genre. Currently, Christine works with a number of singers at UBC in their lessons and in performances. In addition to her work with the Vancouver Peace Choir, Christine plays with several choirs and small instrumental ensembles.  She was the regular pianist with the All-City Children’s Choir (Edmonton) and Holy Spirit Lutheran Church choirs, and a frequent collaborator with the Grad Recital Choirs. In 2007, she toured southern Alberta with eight singers performing Handel’s Messiah as the pianist, and in 2008, toured Alberta with the All-City Children’s choir.