Banff Centre: Communications » Alumni

Cincinnati State names Nick Nissley dean of business technologies

Jim — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 01:59:57 +0000

Cincinnati.Com: “Cincinnati State Technical and Community College has named Nick Nissley the new dean of its Business Technologies Division. Nissley, a Pennsylvania native, previously worked as executive director of leadership development programs for the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada.”

Banff Centre people involved with Bramwell Tovey opera The Inventor

Jim — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:50:16 +0000

The Globe and Mail: Calgary Opera presents the world premier of Bramwell Tovey’s opera The Inventor at the end of January. The libretto was written by John Murrell, former artistic director of theatre arts at the Banff Centre, and the production is directed by Kelly Robinson, current director of theatre arts.

Jill Barber discovers new sound — in Banff

Jim — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:05:03 +0000

Calgary Herald: “If you are going to radically reinvent yourself as a Canadian artist, the picturesque mountains of Banff seems as good a backdrop as any to help kick-start the metamorphosis.

“Singer-songwriter Jill Barber spent a few head-clearing, revitalizing winter weeks there as part of the Banff Centre’s Leighton Artist Colony nearly three years ago, writing many of the songs that would appear on her 2008 album Chances.

“In fact, her time in Banff — where she penned tunes with songwriter Ron Sexsmith and guitarist-producer Les Cooper, among others — proved so essential to the process that she did it again last March to prepare for her newest collection of songs….”

The Banff Centre Loves You

Jim — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:41:16 +0000

Black Heart Magazine: Heather Clitheroe, on her ninth session at The Banff Centre in a self-directed writing residency, reflects on her stay. “The first rule of the Banff Centre is that it’s okay to call yourself an artist.”

B.C. artist Brian Jungen wins Iskowitz Prize

Jim — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:40:30 +0000

CBC News: Jungen will be at The Banff Centre this summer to create an outdoor sculpture for the Kinnear Centre for Creativity and Innovation.

Sara Diamond — Ontario art college leader comes full circle

Jim — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:21:50 +0000

The Globe and Mail: “A stint on a federal government cultural task force brought her to the Banff Centre, where she was later asked to become director of the television and video program. In 1995, she founded the Banff New Media Institute which has grown to become internationally renowned. When she was invited to take the top spot at OCAD, she saw it as an opportunity to come full circle.… She stays in close touch with OCAD students through frequent dinners at her house called Dining With Diamond, organized by the student union.”

Obituary: Arnold Spohr

Jim — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:26:58 +0000

Toronto Star: “Arnold Spohr, Royal Winnipeg Ballet artistic director emeritus and one of the best-loved figures in Canadian dance, died of chronic kidney disease in a Winnipeg long-term care centre early Monday morning. He was 86…. He headed the Banff Centre’s respected summer dance program between 1967 and 1981″

Estacio and Murrell preview new work for the Vancouver Opera

Jim — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:47:00 +0000

The Globe and Mail: “Lillian Alling, the first full-length piece Vancouver Opera has ever commissioned for its main stage, will have its world premiere next fall, but about 50 VO donors, staff and colleagues got a preview earlier this month…. The opera, written by Estacio and Murrell, is based on the real-life story of Lillian Alling, a Russian immigrant who arrived in New York in the 1920s and proceeded to walk across the continent to British Columbia.”

John Estacio among composers winning National Arts Centre awards

Jim — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:25:43 +0000

CBC News: “John Estacio of Edmonton, Peter Paul Koprowski of Ottawa, and Ana Sokolovic of Montreal are the winners of the National Arts Centre Awards, which encompass musical commissions and residencies valued at $75,000 each.”

Estacio has been a faculty member at The Banff Centre and was composer of The Banff Centre opera commissions Filumena and Frobisher.

Artist Rebecca Belmore and curator Anthony Kiendl receive Hnatyshyn Awards

Jim — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:39:57 +0000

Marketwire: The $25,000 Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Awards for outstanding achievement by a Canadian artist is awarded to Rebecca Belmore, while the winner of the $15,000 award for curatorial excellence in contemporary art is Anthony Kiendl, Director/Curator, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art.

Belmore was a resident artist at The Banff Centre in the 1990s. (Belmore has also been selected by CBC as one of the 10 most significant visual artists of the 2000s [photo gallery number 3].)

Kiendl was the Director of Visual Arts, Walter Phillips Gallery, and the Banff International Curatorial Institute at The Banff Centre from 2002 until 2006.