Born in Winchester, England, in 1993 Phoebe Powell first heard the harp at age six, while living in Holland. She began taking Celtic harp lessons at the age of ten after emigrating to Canada, continuing on to Classical harp with Maureen O’Sullivan and Gianetta Baril in Calgary.
Phoebe has studied repertoire from mediaeval through to contemporary, including jazz and broadway. She is inspired by the expressive versatility of her instrument to master challenging and inventive pieces that exploit the harp’s magnificent sonorous and percussive powers. Phoebe has won two Royal Conservatory Silver Medals (for voice – which she studies with Winston Noren at Mount Royal Conservatory – and harp), achieving 97% for her Grade 8 harp exam. Phoebe enjoys the camaraderie of chamber music, arranging harp parts for her family trio of harp, horn and violin – including Bartok’s Roumanian Folk Dances (adaptations of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Petrushka ballet suites are in the pipeline).
A Calgary Kiwanis Festival scholarship winner of harp and voice awards from 2008 to 2011 Phoebe not only enjoys solo and chamber performance, but also appreciates the challenge of orchestral playing with the Calgary Youth Orchestra under conductor Edmond Agopian, especially appreciating the orchestra’s annual intensive training weekend at the Banff Centre for Performing Arts.
Phoebe gave a solo harp performance at Calgary’s Jack Singer Auditorium as part of the annual Mount Royal College choral and orchestral concert Christmas in Song, and has performed at Calgary’s Rosza Centre and at the Banff Centre with the Calgary Youth Orchestra and with the University of Calgary Orchestra. Phoebe has travelled hundreds of miles to play for weddings and corporate events in Alberta and British Columbia since 2008, including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts’ annual symposium in Calgary in May 2009. She is thrilled to have been accepted to play in the Benjamin Britten Ceremony of Carols Master Class at the World Harp Congress in July 2011 in Vancouver, with London Symphony Orchestra principal harpist Karen Vaughan.
Vocalist Christine Tuturea
Christine Tuturea was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. She began singing at a young age and spent nearly 10 years singing with the Mount Royal Choral Program. In her youth and teen years Christine competed regularly in the Kiwanis Festival and N.A.T.S. (National Association of Teacher’s of Singing). She was awarded many first place honors, including First Place Vocal Performance in 2000 at the Kiwanis Provincial Music Festival. In 2001 Christine was awarded a full tuition scholarship for 4 years to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Music (Vocal Performance). While there, Christine had the honor of performing as the Dragon and Teacup in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges and as Sister Mathilde in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. As well, Christine was cast as a chorus member in Mozart’s Magic Flute and in the premier of Randall Shin’s Sara McKinnon. While attending the University of Colorado, Christine also had the honor of being awarded the Joan Conlin Chorale Scholarship two years in a row. Since moving back to Calgary, Christine has had the opportunity to perform as a soloist with the Bach Festival Society in the Bach Birthday Concert and Easter Concert. This year Christine competed in the Calgary Kiwanis Festival and received first place honors in Opera Solo, Schuuman Class and Provincial National Class and was awarded the Eileen Higgins Memorial Scholarship. Christine recently competed in the Kiwanis Provincial Music Festival in Edmonton and was awarded first place. She will be heading to Nationals in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in August.
