Artists - Longshadow 2022

Robert Uchida - Violin and Artisic Director

Canadian violinist Robert Uchida, Concertmaster of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, enjoys a varied career as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician, and educator. His debut recording of Andrew Violette’s Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin won international acclaim, with Strings Magazine praising his “ravishing sound, eloquence and hypnotic intensity.”

Before joining the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Robert was Concertmaster of Symphony Nova Scotia in Halifax, where he performed on a Juno-nominated recording with Sarah Slean, and recorded Requiem 21.5: Violin Concerto by Tim Brady, which won Classical Recording of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards. As a guest concertmaster, he has worked with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Robert has been a soloist with orchestras across Canada. He has taught and performed at festivals and venues including the Arizona MusicFest, Bargemusic (New York), Banff Centre, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Glenn Gould Studio (Toronto), Lincoln Center (New York), Music by the Sea (B.C.), National Academy Orchestra, National Arts Centre, Scotia Festival, Sewanee Music Festival (Tennessee), Queen Elizabeth Hall (Antwerp), and was Artistic Director of the Acadia Summer Strings Festival from 2010-2013. 

A passionate teacher, Robert serves on the faculty at the University of Alberta and has held teaching positions at Acadia University, the National Arts Centre Young Artists Program, and the Manhattan School of Music Precollege.

Robert loves volunteering and is honoured to have been inducted into the Ronald McDonald House’s Character Club in Edmonton. He performs on the “de Long Tearse” Guadagnini with Vision Solo Titanium strings by Thomastik-Infeld Vienna.

Daniel Gervias - violin/fiddle

Daniel Gervais has been playing the violin since the age of five. He completed a Master of Music degree in classical performance at the University of Alberta with Dr. Guillaume Tardif in 2014. In 2011 and 2016, Daniel won the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship, the first Albertan to win this title. He has had the opportunity to perform at many prestigious events including a fiddle solo performance with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra for Canada’s 150th, the 2012 London Olympics and the 100th Anniversary Grey Cup in Toronto, as well as tours in Canada, the United States, and Europe. He has nine albums to his name. His gypsy jazz group, Hot Club Edmonton, won Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2010 Western Canadian Music Awards. He lives in Edmonton with his wife and four young children. Visit www.danielgervais.ca for more information.

Rafael Hoekman - cello

Rafael Hoekman has been called “a rock star of the cello,” “a powerful and passionate soloist,” and has been praised for his “spirited and fiery performances.” His varied career as a soloist, teacher, chamber and orchestral cellist has taken him on a journey across Canada. Originally from Newfoundland, Rafael is Principal Cellist of the Edmonton Symphony and on faculty at the University of Alberta. He has been a featured soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic, I Musici de Montreal and Edmonton, Quebec, Newfoundland, Red Deer and Sudbury Symphonies. As a member of the Tokai Quartet, Rafael was a prize winner at the Banff International String Quartet Competition. His principal teachers were Yuli Turovsky and Shauna Rolston. 

Keith Hamm - viola

Keith Hamm is a native of Rosebud, Alberta. He received his training at the Glenn Gould School of Music under the instruction of Steven Dann, and at the Mount Royal Conservatory with Nicholas Pulos. Other influences include Pinchas Zukerman, Mark Fewer, Richard Lester, the London Haydn Quartet, and especially formative summers at the Chamber Music Program at Le Domaine Forget. While still a student, Keith was named Principal Violist of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and performed there for eight seasons. In the fall of 2019, Keith took up that same position with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.  

Keith is an alumnus of the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove; the Sarasota Music Festival and programs at the Banff Centre. Keith has been featured on CBC Radio, Toronto’s Classical 96.3, Minnesota Public Radio and has been named one of Canada’s Hottest 30 Classical Musicians Under 30 by CBC. A dedicated chamber musician, Keith has shared the stage with Anssi Kartunnen, Ernst Kovacic, Richard Lester, David Geringas and members of the Smithsonian Chamber Players. Keith has been invited to perform at the Ravinia Festival as guest violist with the Royal Conservatory’s Grammy-nominated ARC Ensemble, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, Stratford Summer Music, Sweetwater Music Festival, and Music By The Sea in Bamfield, BC. Keith has been a guest with the Juno-winning Amici Ensemble and frequently performs with Continuum Contemporary Music, Skylight Series in Toronto’s Distillery District, Echo Chamber Toronto, and Stereo Live as performer and producer.

Keith is Founder and Artistic Director of the Rosebud Chamber Music Festival in Rosebud, Alberta and co-founder and violist of the Rosebud String Quartet.

Keith plays on a viola made by Joseph Curtin in 2001.

Longshadow Emerging Artist

Wesley Hardisty

Wesley Hardisty is a vibrant emerging fiddler, composer and collaborator from the Northwest Territories. From Fort Simpson, Wesley is a member of the Dene First Nation. He has performed nationally and internationally from Seattle to Iqaluit. He has played on folk festivals, fiddle festivals, Indigenous-focused performances, including multiple tours of the NWT as a feature performer and supporting artist, Canada Scene and Northern Scene in Ottawa, 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He has two original albums and multiple commissions.

Wesley has been part of fiddling training programs as a student and now a teacher. He attended the Gulf Island School of Performing Arts and is currently in the NACC Mentorship program being mentored by acclaimed violinist/producer/ composer Jesse Zubot. Wesley is sought-after as a collaborator with fiddlers, singer-songwriters, and classical ensembles.
Welsey values community connections and has made it a priority to perform for elders and be a leader in youth mentorship from the training programs that he went through as a student. Notably he is an Artistic Ambassador for the Downie- Wenjack Fund.

Guest artist Andrea Bettger

Andrea Bettger has experience playing classical, jazz and bluegrass styles, and experiments in the electric world of sounds on her instrument. She has become heavily involved in the Northern-fiddling scene. The fusion of these approaches results in an exciting blend of toe-tapping material, complemented with meditative and heart-warming melodies.

She has performed and recorded with countless artists including The Rheostatics and the Jerry Cans, and has opened the stage for Jimmy Rankin and Buffy St. Marie.

Her musical efforts won her the honour of “Citizen of the Year” in 2007, and she represented the North as a fiddler at “NorthernScene” at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2013. Andrea was an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2016 and 2019 and toured as the fiddler for the Jerry Cans in the summer of 2017. She performed at Yellowknife’s Folk on the Rocks in the summer of 2018, and the release of her first all-original album got her a nomination for Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Awards in November of 2018. Her band performed at the CFMA Awards Ceremony.  She has recently released her second album.