If you are a musical theatre fan, mark your calendars! Travelling from Edmonton to this year’s Kiwanis Battlefords Music Festival, David Wilson is adjudicating speech arts and musical theatre starting on Tuesday March 31. Wilson is a singer, conductor, professional voice teacher, certified yoga instructor/teacher trainer, breath therapist, as well as the founder and principal of The Wilson Method for Voice. He is recognized across Canada as the leading authority on the use of yoga, functional vocal work, core empowerment and breath therapy to aid proper singing and speaking techniques.
David has been singing for over 35 years as a chorister and soloist, appearing most recently the University of Alberta Vocal Area Faculty presentation J.S. Bach – A Celebration, and as the Prince and the Wolf in Sondheim’s Into the Woods. He has also sung with the Edmonton Opera Chorus and for the Banff Centre for the Arts. He has served as artistic director/conductor of Vocal Alchemy, Edmonton Recorder Orchestra (six years), Edmonton Metropolitan Orchestra, Calgary Renaissance Singers (10 years), Debut Opera Society (three seasons) and SPIRITUS Chamber Choir (founder-winning a 1999 International Contemporary a cappella recording award for their CD “Crossing Bridges”).
In October 2004, David was invited to the Évora Cathedral Music School to present his Master's Thesis, “Manuel Cardoso of Portugal.” From 2003-2008 David served as director of music at Concordia High School, and from 2006-1010 served as vocal-yoga instructor for Opera Nuova’s Summer Festival Program. He has conducted numerous operas and musical productions, including Messiah, La Bohème, Carmen, La Traviata, My Fair Lady, Mikado, and most recently, RENT. Currently David teaches for Edmonton Musical Theatre, Cowtown Opera Summer Academy, the Voice Program at the University of Alberta, and he is enjoying his eighth year as a sessional instructor for the Theatre Arts program at Grant MacEwan University.
At his Edmonton teaching studio David offers professional voice lessons, functional vocal transformation, support system pedagogy for singers and actors, empowerment & confidence training for public speakers, breath therapy for trauma, performance tuning, breath therapy for better health, creative flow work, and restorative yoga for health and well-being. He has created his Wilson Method Breath Balls and User Manual to assist singers, actors and professional speakers in finding their full vocal potential. He is currently working on his DVD/book: The Wilson Method for Voice.
This year’s festival dates are March 24 - April 5. Volunteers are always welcome. If you have any interest in offering support, please do not hesitate to contact a Committee member as ways to help come in all sizes and shapes. If your time is not available but you or your business would like to support the festival monetarily, consider sponsoring an award to be presented at the final Gala event, or sponsoring a session for a music discipline of your choice, or being recognized as a patron or friend of the Festival. Don’t be shy!
“Sondheim is the Shakespeare of the musical theater world.” – Mandy Patinkin
