Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Maritime Brass Quintet
The Maritime Brass Quintet brings the highest calibre chamber music to concert halls, churches, festivals and schools across the Maritimes. The group is comprised of five of Canada’s finest brass players: Richard Simoneau and Emily Bellman (trumpet), Gina Patterson (horn), Dale Sorensen (trombone) and Bob Nicholson (tuba & bass trombone).
Maritime Brass Quintet members have studied throughout North America and performed or held positions with many of Canada’s leading ensembles including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. They also have experience playing in numerous smaller groups and ensembles including Foothills Brass, Northumberland Brass, the Jive Kings and the Canadian Brass.
Since forming in the spring of 2011, the Maritime Brass Quintet have maintained a busy concert schedule and have been featured guests at many of the regions’ well-
Recent performances include concerts with the Musique Royale Concert Series, Music at Three Churches, Mahone Bay, collaborations with King’s Chapel Choir and Capella Regalis, and tours with Debut Atlantic. MBQ can be heard every spring performing at all of the Convocation ceremonies at Dalhousie University and the University of King’s College. All MBQ members are dedicated educators as well as players, and are committed to working with brass players of all ages.
Gina Patterson, horn
Gina returned to Nova Scotia after seven years with Canada’s renowned Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. During her tenure there she performed with the orchestra in its award-
An experienced chamber musician, Gina has rehearsed with the Canadian Brass and performed on the live national broadcast of the Schubertian Celebration at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. She has played with I Musici de Montreal, performed at the New Brunswick and Indian River Chamber Music Festivals, and was a finalist at the CIBC National Music Festival.
Gina has performed with orchestras across Canada, including Symphony Nova Scotia, Kitchener-
Emily Bellman, special guest trumpeter
Stationed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Emily became a full-
Emily is currently the trumpet instructor with the Fountain School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University.
Richard Simoneau, trumpet
Richard was born in 1970 in Quebec City, and began playing trumpet at age thirteen in high school. He pursued his studies at the Quebec and then Montreal Conservatories, graduating in May 1994. That summer, he auditioned with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and won a one-
Since moving to Halifax, Richard has been heard on many occasions as soloist with Symphony Nova Scotia. Many of those performances have been recorded and broadcast nationally by the CBC. His other musical activities include performing brass concerts with the Maritime Brass Quintet. Richard has been on faculties of such Universities as Acadia University in Wolfville and Université de Moncton. He also acts as artist in residence at the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax.
When Richard is not performing on the trumpet, he enjoys spending time outdoors, mostly hiking and camping.
Dale Sorensen, trombone
Dale Sorensen is a versatile trombonist with extensive experience in classical, popular, and musical theatre genres. An enthusiastic promoter of Canadian music, Dale has premiered more than 25 solo trombone pieces and dozens of chamber works, and recorded an allCanadian CD of music for trombone. In addition to his frequent solo recitals, Dale has performed as soloist with the PEI Symphony Orchestra, Windsor Symphony, Nova Sinfonia, and the Acadia University, UPEI, and University of Toronto Wind Ensembles. He is a proud Yamaha Artist and plays Yamaha instruments exclusively.
As an orchestral musician, Dale performs regularly with the Charlottetown Festival Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia and the PEI Symphony, has held positions with the Windsor Symphony (ON) and Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and has freelanced with groups such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Kitchener-
A dedicated educator, Dale is currently Assistant Professor of Brass and Chair of the Department of Music at UPEI. He regularly serves as an adjudicator, clinician and conductor at music festivals and workshops throughout the Maritimes and Ontario. For more information, please visit islandtrombone.com.
Bob Nicholson, tuba and bass trombone
Winner of 2 East Coast Music Awards with the Jive Kings, Bob plays tuba with Maritime Brass Quintet and the PEI Symphony as well as bass trombone with Symphony Nova Scotia, The Back Alley Big Band and Halifax Trombone Summit. Bob performed for five years with The Phantom of the Opera in Toronto, three years as tubaist with Calgary based Foothills Brass Quintet, and for 14 summers in the pit orchestra of Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival. Other theatre work “in the pit” includes Toronto productions of Beauty and the Beast, Showboat, Crazy for You, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, A Year with Frog and Toad at Neptune Theatre and numerous productions at the Charlottetown Festival. As an orchestral musician Bob has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Hamilton Philharmonic, Quebec Symphony, CBC Toronto Jazz Orchestra and the National Ballet Orchestra among others.
Bob studied at the University of Prince Edward Island, the Orchestral Training Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the University of Toronto, the Banff Centre of the Arts and two beautiful summers at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. He is also an avid runner who has qualified for and run the Boston Marathon twice and the PEI Marathon three times. Besides performing, Bob is a Brass Specialist for the Halifax Regional Centre of Education and previously taught at Acadia University, University of PEI, and Nova Scotia Community College.