Music Camp Faculty

Adrean Farrugia – Camp Director, Piano

 Adrean Farrugia has extensive experience in the creation and administering of programs designed to engage and educate young musicians. Aside from his work as an Assistant Professor in the Music Department at St. FX, he is a current faculty member of both the National Music Camp and Interprovincial Music Camps in Ontario. He also founded The Meadowlark Summer Music Masterclass Series which ran from 2014 to 2021 with an enrollment of more than 100 students, many of whom are now practicing professional musicians and educators.

Adrean has served on the faculties of The University of Toronto, York University, Humber College, and Mohawk College, as well as giving masterclasses at The Sydney Conservatorium in Australia, the Polish National Jazz Camp in Warsaw Poland, The University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Western Ontario, Sir Wilfred Laurier University, Brock University, Grant McEwan University, and Acadia University. As a performing artist he has appeared on more than 50 recordings and is a 9-time JUNO AWARD nominee and 2-time winner, as well as a winner of the distinguished ARTIST OF THE YEAR award at the 2021 Production Music of America’s MARK AWARDS, held in Hollywood, CA, and has also toured extensively across Canada, The United States, France, Germany, Poland, Australia, Israel, Taiwan, and Japan.

Dr. Paul Rushka – Camp Director, Bass

Award-winning bassist & educator Dr. Paul Rushka has been a dedicated instructor of adolescent and young adult musicians for over 25 years. He is currently on faculty at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and is an online instructor at the VSO (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra) School of Music, the premiere community music school in BC. He has substantial experience working with many high schools throughout the lower mainland of BC, where he has led small jazz ensembles, which focused on the development of practical jazz improvisation skills, taught private bass lessons, music theory classes, led clinics for small and large ensembles, and contributed to music department functions. Paul has served as adjudicator at regional and national music festivals, and prior to moving to Nova Scotia, was on the faculty at Vancouver Community College.

As a performer, Paul has performed on over 20 albums and several CBC broadcast recordings, toured throughout Canada, China, parts of the United States and Europe. He has performed at most major Canadian Jazz Festivals, and has performed and/or recorded with an extensive list of jazz luminaries. 

Paul holds a Doctor of Music degree from McGill University, where he was the recipient of a prestigious 3-year Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship from SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada), which funded his research on the compositional language of Canadian jazz legend Kenny Wheeler.

Anthony Michelli – Drums, Percussion

Anthony Michelli, the Canadian born and internationally respected professional has fostered a creative and successful career in the music industry as an accomplished drum set performer, post-secondary educator and sound recording engineer and producer.

Appreciative to be a member of various diverse projects featuring an extensive list of celebrated, distinguished composers and performers, Anthony is able to actualize his unique approach performing in several varied styles of music equally with respect and dedication to the art of creating Music. Through personal motivation, curiosity and dedication alongside his ever-persistent quest for knowledge, Anthony has been able to remain relevant, current and active for over two decades as an esteemed professional.

In addition, Anthony has recorded and collaborated with innumerable artists in the contemporary jazz, original composition, world, popular and creative music genres spanning from 1995 to the present day with well over one hundred recordings listed in his discography.

As the proprietor of Salem House Studio he is involved in producing, tracking, mixing, editing and mastering full recording projects in addition to drum and percussion tacking for other artists.  Over the years he periodically leads his own group performing his own compositions.

Anthony accredits any accolades under his name to the groundwork established by his mentors and elders that forged and opened the pathways.  Inspired to keep a continuum, Anthony has made it a personal goal to remain true and creative in efforts to forge paths for young and aspiring musicians finding their place in the industry.

Jake Hanlon – Guitar

 Guitarist Jake Hanlon has imprinted himself on the east coast Canadian jazz scene as a composer, performer, and educator. Born into a family that prides itself on its musical talent and the ties that bind people together through art and creative expression, Hanlon has studied and performed in Canada and the United States. Hanlon has earned two ECMA nominations for Jazz Recording of the Year for the albums Follow in 2012 and Autumn Song in 2015. 
 
Hanlon was the Jazz Guitar Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas in 2007-2008.  Since completing his master’s degree, he has been a faculty member at St. Francis Xavier University.  He has also been an active clinician and adjudicator in the Maritime region, working with music camps and festivals. He frequently performs with top regional talent and prominent national and international jazz artists. Hanlon is an alumnus of the University of North Texas (Masters of Music, Jazz Studies) and St. Francis Xavier University (Bachelor of Music). He also is an alumnus of the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead composition residency in Washington, DC (2007).

Jessica Lalonde – Vocals

Recently listed by Jazz FM91 as one of 8 Canadian Women in Jazz You Need to Know; Jessica Lalonde has made a name for herself as a compelling and eclectic Canadian artist. Her unique and powerful vocal sound blends a wide range of musical influences, transcending genres, and moving easily between jazz, folk, opera and swing. Since her early days as a young singer, she's enjoyed lending her voice to a diverse array of projects ranging from Operatic roles in Vancouver and Italy, to Indie-Rock backing vocals, to New Music, to every major jazz festival in Southern Ontario, Canada. 
 

Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy – 2024 Artists In Residence

Since marrying in 2002, step dancer and fiddler Natalie MacMaster and fiddler Donnell Leahy, Canada’s reigning couple of Celtic music, have been captivating audiences with their exceptional musical skills and their obvious joy in playing together. Hailing from Cape Breton Island, Natalie received her first fiddle at the age of 9 and her first recording was released when she was only 16.

Her career of more than 30 years has resulted in a plethora of awards, including a Grammy and a JUNO, in both the U.S. and Canada. Honing his remarkable talent since the age of 3, Donnell has spent his entire life with a fiddle in his hand. As the musical leader and frontman of the family band Leahy for over 15 years, he garnered numerous awards as well, including six JUNO nominations and three wins.

The couple’s talented six young children, all of whom were likely fiddling and step dancing in the womb, join them on the road and on the stage, further delighting audiences.