MARC FUNKENHAUSER - SAXOPHONE

Rising young soloist, educator, and passionate artist are a few words that can be used to describe saxophonist and Windsor native, Marc Funkenhauser. From the most intimate of chamber music venues to the big band stage, he is at home in various musical settings and styles. Winner of such notable competitions such as the 2009 University of Windsor Concerto Showcase, the 2010 Ron W. Ianni Memorial Scholarship Competition, and the 2011 University of Toronto Concerto Competition, Marc captivates audiences with his energy and passion. Marc competed as a finalist in the 2012 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation awards, a Canada wide competition that is devoted to supporting talented young Canadians embarking on a professional career in music performance. In addition to his frequent solo career, Marc is also an avid orchestral and chamber musician, having played with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, Royal Conservatory Orchestra of the Glenn Gould School, University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Wind Orchestra, Contact Contemporary Music, Scott Good Ensemble, and Toronto New Music Projects. Recently, Marc gave several performances of the Glazunov saxophone concerto with the renowned Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Marc is a graduate of the University of Windsor where he completed his undergraduate degree in music education. He has also received instruction at the Université Européenne de Saxophone in Gap, France, working with world-renowned saxophonists, Vincent David, Claude Delangle, Daniel Gauthier, Masataka Hirano, Lars Mlekusch, Vincent Lê Quang, Damien Royannais, Arno Bornkamp, and Christian Wirth. Marc completed his Master of Music Performance degree at the University of Toronto, studying with Dr. Wallace Halladay.

In addition to his frequent solo career, Marc is also an avid orchestral and chamber musician, having played with the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, Royal Conservatory Orchestra of the Glenn Gould School, University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Wind Orchestra, Contact Contemporary Music, Scott Good Ensemble, and Toronto New Music Projects. Recently, Marc gave several performances of the Glazunov saxophone concerto with the renowned Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Marc is a graduate of the University of Windsor where he completed his undergraduate degree in music education. He has also received instruction at the Université Européenne de Saxophone in Gap, France, working with world-renowned saxophonists, Vincent David, Claude Delangle, Daniel Gauthier, Masataka Hirano, Lars Mlekusch, Vincent Lê Quang, Damien Royannais, Arno Bornkamp, and Christian Wirth. Marc completed his Master of Music Performance degree at the University of Toronto, studying with Dr. Wallace Halladay.

NICO DANN - DRUMS

Described as being “…fiendishly precise…” (pitchfork.com), Toronto based Canadian Nico Dann has been playing drums for over 15 years. Besides composing/arranging for and leading his own jazz ensembles in Toronto and New York. Nico has played and recorded with chart-topping indie luminary tUnE-yArDs (4AD Records), Montreal-based ex-indie band Sister Suvi and many other bands and ensembles. Nico has performed at various festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Montreal’s Off Jazz Festival and POP Montreal, Austin’s South by Southwest, England’s Glastonbury Festival, New York’s CMJ Festival and the Distillery Jazz Festival in Toronto. Nico has also played at many world-renowned venues including New York’s the Bowery Ballroom, Rockwood Music Hall, Rockshop and Sidewalk Café, Toronto’s The Rex, Montreal’s The Upstairs, Edinburgh’s The Jazz Bar and The Living Arts Center in Philadelphia. Although Nico’s primary output has been in the jazz and indie-rock idioms, he has had the opportunity to play with ensembles in many musical contexts. Nico made his Contemporary-Classical Music debut playing the music of Peter Lieberson with violist-father Steven Dann and bassist Joel Quarrington at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre in 2008. In 2010 Nico performed the Musical-Theatre compositions of Bram Gielen in Toronto’s Summerworks “Indie Theatre and Arts Festival”. Lately Nico has been one third of Contemporary Blue-Grass Band The Alex Mallett Band. After beginning his drum studies with Jim Blackley, Nico earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz from McGill University in Montreal under Chris McCann, Michel Lambert and Rémi Bolduc. He attended Canada’s Banff International Workshop on Jazz and Creative Music studying with New York Jazz greats Dave Douglas, Clarence Penn, Gerald Cleaver and Scott Colley among many other notable players. In 2011 Nico completed his MA at CUNY Queen’s College in New York City, studying with famed jazz drummer Nasheet Waits, alto-saxophonist Antonio Hart, trumpeter/arranger Michael Mossman and pianist David Berkman among others. Currently Nico lives in Toronto with his wife Classical soprano Ilana Zarankin.