Meet the Ad Mare Wind Quintet

AD MARE WIND QUINTET

Renowned across Canada as one of the premier chamber music groups, the Ad Mare Wind quintet was founded in Vancouver in 2001 by clarinetist AK Coope and bassoonist Sophie Dansereau. Since its beginning, Ad Mare continues to perform a variety of musical genres. The group premiered more than a dozen works: among others, all the wind quintets written by Christopher Kovarik, and Cameron Wilson’s Huapango, which was commissioned by Ad Mare. The group members (Marea Chernoff, oboe; AK Coope, clarinet; Sophie Dansereau, bassoon; Andrew Mee, horn; Rosanne Wieringa, flute) are all players of many major ensembles in Vancouver and BC, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Kamloops Symphony, Turning Point Ensemble and Standing Wave.

Ad Mare has often been heard in recitals and special presentations. Their sought-after recitals offer a great spectrum of repertoire, in genre and epoch. Alongside the standard wind quintet works (Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles, Carl Nielsen’s Quintet op.43, Ludwig Thuile’s Sextet, Paul Hindemith’s Kammermusik op.24 no.2, Francis Poulenc’s Sextet op.100, Paul Taffanel’s Quintette, Jean Francaix’ Sextet and Quintet no.1, as well as countless Reicha wind quintets), they have performed numerous new compositions and also promoted Canadian composers (Cameron Wilson, Christopher Kovarik, Leila Lustig, Colin MacDonald, Jordan Nobles, James Maxwell, Ana Sokolovic and Jacques Hétu). In addition to their recital programs, the group is a regular guest of popular concert series around the Lower Mainland and British Columbia. The quintet regularly presents new compositions in the Vancouver Pro Musica annual festival Sonic Boom. Ad Mare had the honour to be the only group invited to simultaneously perform live on CBC’s West Coast Performance and Radio-Canada’s Les musiciens du dimanche programs. Involved educators as well, Ad Mare presents live chamber music recitals throughout the schools of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland as participants of the Chamber Music in the Schools organization.

Rosanne Wieringa, Flute

Rosanne Wieringa has held the position of Second Flute with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2004. Prior to moving to Vancouver, Rosanne lived in Saskatchewan where she was the Principal Flute with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and taught at the Conservatory of Performing Arts and the University of Regina. She has appeared as a soloist with the Regina Symphony, the Georgian Bay Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and frequently performs at the Sweetwater Music Festival in Owen Sound, Ontario, and the Gros Morne Summer Music Festival in Newfoundland. Rosanne has been a member of the Ad Mare Wind Quintet since 2007.

Marea Chernoff, Oboe

Marea Chernoff is an active freelance musician based out of Vancouver. She is currently principal oboe with the Kamloops Symphony and Lions Gate Sinfonia while also playing frequently with various groups in British Columbia. Marea has played with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Broadway Across Canada, Ballet B.C., CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra. Marea is an avid chamber musician, involved in several chamber groups:  Vancouver based Ad Mare Wind Quintet, Ad Mare Reed Trio, Trincomali Trio, Cascadia Reed Quintet and regularly performs in recitals and school shows in the lower mainland and around the province. Marea holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British Columbia, an Artist Diploma from the Vancouver Academy of Music, and completed her formal education with a Master of Music degree in Performance from Boston University. Recently Marea began playing the Baroque oboe out of a love of historical performance and to fill a need for performers on the instrument in her community.

AK Coope, Clarinet

AK Coope performs with an eclectic array of ensembles, including the Vancouver Symphony, Turning Point Ensemble, Vancouver New Music and Victoria’s Aventa Ensemble, among many others. An active freelance performer, she is a founding member of the Ad Mare Wind Quintet and is also a long-time member of the new music chamber ensemble Standing Wave. She can also be heard on countless CD recordings and film sound tracks, from Dan Mangan to Disney. AK is a faculty member at both the Vancouver Academy of Music and at the VSO School of Music.

Sophie Dansereau, Bassoon

Contrabassoonist and Assistant Principal Bassoonist of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Sophie Dansereau obtained the “Prix avec Grande Distinction à l’unanimité” in bassoon and chamber music from the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec as well as a Masters of Music from Yale University. Sophie has performed with the Auckland Philharmonic in New Zealand, the New World Symphony, the National Arts Center and l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec, as well as several major music festivals around the world. Sophie has been awarded numerous prizes in major national and international competitions and was featured as a soloist on several occasions with the APO and the VSO. A sought-after bassoonist in chamber music, she is a proud member of the Ad Mare wind quintet, the Trincomali trio and the Trinanina trio. Sophie serves on faculty of the Vancouver Academy of music, VSO School of music and Douglas College.

Andrew Mee, French Horn

Andrew Mee joined the horn section of the Vancouver Symphony in 2012. In addition to his role in the orchestra, he regularly performs with the Vancouver Symphony Chamber Players and is a member of the Ad Mare Wind Quintet. Andrew has participated in concerts or recording sessions with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Victoria Symphony. He holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and Yale University and studied with Harcus Hennigar, James Sommerville and William Purvis. Outside of the orchestra, Andrew loves the outdoors of British Columbia, and enjoys as much time as possible on his road bike or snowboard.

For selected programmes, Ad Mare is joined by
Julia Nolan, Saxophone

An active freelance performer, saxophonist Julia Nolan has commissioned numerous works by Canadian composers. She has been the featured soloist in several new concertos, including Stefan Hintersteininger’s Saxophone Concerto, performed with Sinfonia and conductor Clyde Mitchell, and on tour of the Balkan countries with the West Coast Orchestra; Jeffrey Ryan’s Brazen with the Vancouver Symphony, Kamloops Symphony, Victoria Symphony, and Lubbock (Texas) Symphony; and John Oliver’s Cool Cut with Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble. Julia is featured in many recordings including an all-Canadian programme with the Saxophilia Saxophone Quartet, new works for organ and saxophone by Denis Bedard, and with the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy performing Robert Buckley’s Prestidigitation.

Julia has performed and recorded with the Alan Matheson’s jazz groups and played with the Dal Richards jazz orchestra. She has served as a clinician and international judge in Belgium, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States and is currently the Director of Scholarly Publications for the North American Saxophone Alliance. Dr. Nolan teaches saxophone at the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Symphony School of Music.