Services
Commissioning
I’d love to write something new for you! Your piece could be as short as 2 minutes and as simple as a piccolo solo; it could be a work for chamber ensemble, something for your choir to sing, or a larger work such as a cantata, an oratorio or a whole symphony!
Guideline rates are set by the Canadian League of Composers. Funding is often available through the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, and other local and provincial granting organizations.
Contact me to discuss your particular project.
Conducting
Do you need someone to fill in on the podium for you in the short term (and at short notice if necessary)? – for a single rehearsal or for a couple of months? With years of conducting experience, from orchestra pits and church sanctuaries to concert halls and recording studios, I will be happy to help you out. Please contact me to arrange the details.
Teaching
With 40 years of experience in classroom and one-on-one teaching, including 12 years as a national Examiner for the RCM, I have a solid background in pedagogy and a history of success. Now semi-retired, this fall (2025) I may have room for one or two more students.
My approach is to train well-rounded musicians. In my studio I incorporate written music theory, aural skills and music history into the lesson plan. While using the Royal Conservatory syllabuses as a model, I like to adapt the programme to each student’s needs and musical goals.
I have taught the following subjects at all levels up to diploma (ARCT, ARCCO, FRCCO, etc.):
- Practical: classical piano, pipe organ, harpsichord, voice.
- Theoretical: rudiments, harmony, history, counterpoint, analysis, composition.
If you think I might be the right teacher for you or your child, please contact me.
El Festival Internacional de Organo de Morelia presente al canadiense Nicholas Fairbank mostrando un repertorio variado y poco habitual, que incluye sonoridades barrocas y contemporeneas, para deleite de los miles de asistentes que se congregaron en el recinto catedralicio, quienes tuvieron oportunidad de apreciar piezas innovadoras de distintos periodos y estilos. El Praeludium und Fuge e moll, de Nicolaus Bruhns, el interprete puso de manifiesto el virtuosismo caracteristico de este compositor aleman, haciendo resonar con majestuosidad el organo monumental de Morelia. Livre d’orgue de Montreal, escrita en el siglo XVII, se evoca un dialogo entre tonalidades que cautive a la audiencia. Con la Sonata No. 3 en A Mayor, de Felix Mendelssohn, el concierto vivio su parte mas emotiva, dejando observar la calidad y sensibilidad del interprete, asi como su habilidad en el manejo de un instrumento complejo que revistio a la noche de intensidad musical. La velada se completa cuando Fairbank obsequio a los asistentes un par de composiciones de su autoria, Festival Fanfare y Poem. Finalmente fueron interpretadas Suite breve, Op. 6 No. 1, de Rachel Laurin y Petite suite, de Gerald Bales…
ESCRITO POR REDACCION/ NUCLEO INFORMATIVO 2610. MORELIA, MICH.
“Suite No.2 … is neo-classical, bearing a lot of resemblance to dance and stylistic features of the baroque suite but feeling free to depart from them as well, particularly in the area of tonality. I think these pieces would appeal to an advanced student who has some knowledge of form, suite movements and key structure…. The composer uses rhythm most effectively. In the Prelude there are several insertions of a bar of 2/4 time which acts as a connecting link. The Courante features a quirky little recurring hemiola. The Sarabande has an interesting triplet pattern which is shared between two voices and the Jig, which begins simply, builds through subtly altered chromatic chords to quite a thick texture of seven-note chords, ending with a chordal hemiola before closing on slow tonic seventh chords.”
JOYCE JANZEN IN THE PROVINCIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE B.C. REGISTERED MUSIC TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION, FALL 2007.