2025 Adjudicators
Melanie Baux – Choral & Vocal
Melanie Baux has always loved being surrounded by music. Melanie has a Diploma in Music Performance from Mount Royal University and a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Manitoba. She has completed the Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop at the Boston Conservatory and completed all levels of Somatic Voice WorkTM The LoVetri Method. Melanie has performed with orchestras across Canada as a soloist in both Oratorio and Secular Works. She can frequently be found on the theatre stage, performing in musicals and concert works.
Melanie is passionate about developing and mentoring young performers. She has been a vocal coach and rehearsal lead for the Calgary Boys’ Choir and was the Artistic Director of the Cochrane Young Singers for five seasons. Melanie has been the Artistic Director of Swamp Donkey Musical Theatre Society since 2018. Melanie has been musical director, director, and choreographer for numerous musicals and continues to produce several shows each season. She is a sought-after voice teacher and vocal coach. Melanie frequently adjudicates Musical Theatre, Classical and CCM voice. She is dedicated to enriching communities through music.
Susanne Ruberg- Gordon
Quoted by the Chronicle Herald as “A superb musician”, Swedish-born pianist Susanne Ruberg-Gordon is a highly regarded and sought after chamber-musician and collaborative pianist. She is recognized for her artistry, nuance and interpretation, and has performed in Canada, the US, China and UAE with artists such as Dame Evelyn Glennie, Andras Diaz, Ron Leonard, Ian Swensen, James Campbell, Timothy Chooi, Nikki Chooi, Desmond Hoebig, John Kimura Parker, Josh Jones and Sydney Lee.
Susanne is the pianist and core member of the Juno nominated Land’s End Ensemble in Calgary, a piano-trio that is dedicated to excellence in performance and recording of Canadian and International new music, and to enriching collaborations with eminent composers and artists.
The ensemble has premiered over 125 new chamber works and is featured on 8 commercial recordings. www.landsendensemble.ca
As a passionate educator, Susanne is a faculty member at the Mount Royal University Conservatory Academy and APP Programs where she teaches Piano, Chamber Music and is the Artistic Facilitator of Collaborative Pianists.
She also teaches at the Valhalla Summer School of Music.
Since 2001, she has been a Collaborative Artist for the prestigious and acclaimed Morningside Music Bridge program in Canada, US, China and Poland.
“This was only one work of many in which Ms. Ruberg-Gordon achieved the finest balance acting as both the core sound and the glue of Land’s End Ensemble, absolutely ideal playing all night” – Calgary Herald
“Everything the composer could wish for” – Calgary Herald
Trevor Sanders – Guitar
Masters of Music – University of Alberta
Bachelor of Music – University of Alberta
Bachelor of Arts (Music) – Augustana University College
Since 2000, Trevor Sanders has been an active teacher, adjudicator and performer in the Edmonton area and throughout Alberta. He began teaching, and is currently on faculty at MacEwan University’s Alberta College Conservatory of Music since 2001, the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta since 2008, and at Concordia University of Edmonton since 2023. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta (MMus) and Augustana University College (BA specialized in Music). As an active performer, his appearances as a chamber musician and as a soloist have been heard in numerous concert series and on radio. Trevor has been involved with a number of guitar ensembles, and is a founding member of the University of Alberta guitar quartet and the Edmonton Guitar Trio. He has also performed as a soloist with the Alberta Baroque Orchestra. Trevor currently teaches music theory and guitar for MacEwan Conservatory; music theory, jazz guitar, and classical guitar for the University of Alberta at its Augustana Campus; classical guitar for Concordia University of Edmonton; and guitar (classical, jazz, contemporary) for the Purple Door Music Academy.
Ross McIntyre – Band, Woodwinds and Brass
Ross McIntyre has been a conductor/educator within the Westwinds Music Society adult band organization in Calgary since 1992. He retired from The Calgary Board of Education in 2019 after thirty years of teaching both junior and senior high school music and is currently teaching for Mount Royal University, (Custom Music Workshops) as teacher mentor, guest conductor and trumpet clinician. Ross continues to be active throughout western Canada adjudicating music festivals.
In 1993, Ross received the “Excellence in Teaching Award” from the Alberta government and in 2001 received the “Tommy Banks Award” for his contribution to Jazz education. Ross was honoured in 2006 as one of the University of Calgary’s “Top Forty Alumni”. In 2013, Ross was awarded by the Canadian Government with the Prime Minister’s Award for teaching excellence.
Along with friend and co-producer, Samantha Whelan Kotkas, Ross received funding from the Canadian Space Agency to create and produce “From Blue To Red” – a hard cover children’s book and interactive online e-book. The book was written and illustrated by Lord Beaverbrook High School students whom were inspired by several professional mentors from across Canada. “From Blue To Red” features the narration of Jazz legend, Diana Krall and three Canadian astronauts: Dr. Robert Thirsk, Julie Payette and David Saint- Jacques. The e-book continues to live online in both English and French at: www.frombluetored.net or www.dubleuaurouge.net. “From Blue to Red” was chosen as the recipient of the 2013 Award for “Best Children’s and Young Adult Book of the Year” among Alberta Publishers.
Rhonda Sylvester – Musical Theatre
Rhonda Sylvester has been a proud part of the arts community since an early age and over the years, her love and passion for music, theatre and performance have continued to grow and blossom. Growing up in Stettler, AB, she was offered the wonderful opportunity to study voice with Elaine Pitt and her national winning award choir Pitt’s Pets. It was through Mrs. Pitt that Ms.Sylvester first found that special spark of magic only music can give to your soul. With great nurturing and development, this gift of music became not only a passion for her, but also became her life career choice.
She has obtained degrees in both Teachers and Vocal Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (Distinction) and Conservatory Canada, a music Performance degree (Honours) from Red Deer College, and a Bachelor of Music Vocal Performance (Honours) from U of A Augustana Campus. After obtaining her degrees, Ms.Sylvester lived in Kassel Germany for 2 years where she had the privilege of teaching English, Choral and Orchestra in the German school system for grades five to thirteen.
She has been the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards of her own, but she is most proud of the awards that her own students have earned in world wide competitions, including the Heritage Festival series in New York, where her Gracenotes Choir placed at a Gold level and were also the recipients of the esteemed Spirit of New York Award. Ms.Sylvester has had several students also hold successful auditions to be a part of the Honour Choir at Carnegie Hall series in the past several years and well as having numerous choirs, solo vocal students and musical theatre students go on to win top marks and placements at our own Alberta Provincial Choral and Music Festival as well as Canada West.
In addition to teaching, conducting and being a busy EA at an elementary school, Ms.Sylvester loves to perform any opportunity she gets. Some of her performance and musical directing credits include shows such as “Ready Steady Go”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Oliver”, “Little Women”, “Bring Them Home”, “Pets”, “Fiddler On the Roof”, “The Music Man”, “My Fair Lady”, “Matilda”, “Moana Jr.”, “The Big One-Oh!”, and her two most favourite roles as Sister Mary Amnesia and the Narrator in “Nunsense” and “Nunsense: the Second Coming” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.
Ms.Sylvester is a sought-after clinician and adjudicator in the disciplines of solo voice, choral, musical theatre. She is thrilled to be with us at our festival and hopes all performers will “Go forth, and shine!”