Meet the Adjudicators.

Voice/Choral Adjudicator

Breanne Rourke is a professional voice teacher located in St. Catharines, ON. She is an accomplished singer/songwriter, and has a passion for cross-training in diverse musical genres. She obtained her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Western University and continued her education with the Evidence Based Voice Training with Maddie Tarbox Vocal Studios, which transformed her commercial/pop pedagogy.

Breanne is an RCM certified teacher, and is also a member of SECO (The SpeakEasy Cooperative for Independent Voice Teachers), as well as the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Breanne’s students have gone on to University and College music programs, received high honours in exams and competitions, and have been featured on TV shows such as ‘The ‘Next Star’,’ and ‘Canada’s Got Talent.’

In 2021, Breanne re-branded and founded a multi-teacher studio called The Honest Voice Co., a studio dedicated to helping singers from young performers to professionals.

An avid performer, Breanne loves gigging and has been performing for 20 years. She has been a featured performer at the Bitter End, a popular music venue located in Greenwich Village in NYC, as well as venues throughout Southern Ontario.

In addition to her love for teaching and performing, Breanne has a passion for conducting and is currently the Worship + Music Director at St. Andrews United Church in Niagara Falls.

Breanne resides with her husband Kelvin and 2 young children. When she’s not teaching or singing her face off, you can find Breanne reading a fast-paced psychological thriller while drinking a fancy coffee, or engaging in some cardio or strength training – not necessarily in that order.

String Adjudicator

A native of Toronto, violinist Jeremy Bell earned a B. Mus degree from the University of Toronto, and from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he received his Masters and Doctor of Music.

Dr. Bell is a recipient of numerous grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts and is a prize winner of the Eckhardt Grammatté National competition and the Conseil Québécois’ Prix Opus. He has studied with David Zafer, George Neikrug, Joyce Robbins, Metro Kozak and with members of the Orford, Juilliard, Tokyo, and Orion string quartets. Joining the Penderecki String Quartet in 1999, Dr. Bell is Artist in Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University where he teaches violin, chamber music, and lectures on the string quartets of Bartok and Beethoven.

Described by the Toronto Star as a violinist who “agitates in the most intelligent and persuasive manner”, Bell has performed recently with the Penderecki Quartet at Arsenale Festival in Poland, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Is Arti Festival in Lithuania, MBZ Zagreb, State Museum of Music in St. Petersburg, REDCAT/Disney Centre in Los Angeles, Roxy/NOD in Prague, Fundacion Juan March in Madrid, Jane Mallet Theatre in Toronto, Paris University 8, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Indiana University in Bloomington, Casalmaggiore Festival in Italy, Tovar Festival Venezuela, Virtuosi Festival Brazil, Adam Festival New Zealand, the Hong Kong Academy, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, the Banff Centre in Alberta, and the Chan Centre in Vancouver.

With the Penderecki String Quartet, Bell has recorded over 25 discs including the premiere Canadian recording of the Béla Bartók string quartet cycle, Marjan Mozetich’s ‘Lament in the Trampled Garden’ (winner of the 2010 JUNO Award for composition), and the complete Grieg sonatas for violin and piano with pianist Shoshan Telner. From 2000-2007, Bell was the artistic director of NUMUS Concerts where he created several multi-media events at the Perimeter Institute and with Dancetheatre David Earle. He has performed a wide range of music, performing baroque with Consortium Aurora Borealis and Les Violons du Roy, Cuban jazz with Hilario Duran, as well as collaborating with pipa virtuoso Ching Wong, NYC’s DJ Spooky, and rap star Jay-Z. In addition, Bell has performed as soloist with many orchestras in Canada, USA and Mexico, including the Toronto Symphony, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra performing concertos of Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Dvorak, Hatzis, Locatelli, Lutoslawski, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Päart, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Schoenberg, and Vivaldi. As guest concertmaster he has appeared with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the New Zealand National Symphony, and the Canadian Opera Company. Dr. Bell plays a violin made in Canada by Mark Schnurr (2020). Currently he is the artistic director of QuartetFest and the Leith Summer Festival, and has been on faculty at the Festival del Lago International Academy of Music since 2018.

Piano Adjudicator

Dr. Jeff Kleinsorge has served as the Director of the Preparatory and Community Music Program at Concordia University Chicago (CUC), where he also taught university courses in Piano Pedagogy and Keyboard Skills. A distinguished educator, adjudicator and clinician, Dr. Kleinsorge integrates his diverse academic expertise in performance, pedagogy, and composition to inspire his students.

“I believe strongly in well-rounded musicianship. The highest level of performance and achievement should always be matched with informed, intelligent, and artistic musicality, and a deep love of music as a form of personal expression.”

An active member of the Chicago Music Teachers Association (CAMTA), and the Illinois Music Teachers Association (ISMTA), Dr. Kleinsorge served on the Board for both organizations. He currently serves as treasurer for the Music Teachers National Association.

Previously, he was a faculty member at the The New School for Music Study, where he studied under esteemed mentors Louise Goss and Marvin Blickenstaff.

Dr. Kleinsorge holds a master’s degree in performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a PhD in composition from Michigan State University.

He recently retired from his CUC professorship, and moved to Traverse City, where he teaches  at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.