Wind Band Teaching Workshop

Building a Community of Trust, Collaboration and Innovation.

The 2026 Wind Band Teaching Workshop will take place January 30-31, 2026.

A conductor raises her baton and stretches out her arms as a wind band looks on.

The Desautels Faculty of Music Wind Band Teaching Workshop is designed for band directors of all levels and offers a conducting participant stream and observer stream. Participants in both streams attend all plenary sessions, conducting sessions, and discussions. The schedule will run 9:00am – 5:00pm on Friday and Saturday.

The workshop will explore philosophical and practical issues of teaching, rehearsing, and conducting. Sessions will address pedagogy, rehearsal techniques, gesture, interpretation, score study, and developing ensemble culture and community. 

This workshop is held in the Desautels Faculty of Music’s beautiful facilities on the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus.

Schedule and Repertoire List

2026 Schedule

Friday, January 30, 2026

  • Schedule to come soon.


Saturday, January 31, 2026

  • Schedule to come soon.
     

2026 Repertoire List

Loch Lomond, Jared Hall
Joy, Frank Ticheli
Light Shines in the Darkness, Barry Milner
Three Ayres from Gloucester, Hugh Stuart
One Life Beautiful, Julie Giroux
Folksong Suite, Vaughan Williams

Registration

Maximum number of conducting stream participants: TBD

Conducting stream payment deadline: TBD

Oberving stream payment deadline: TBD

  • Conducting Participant: $275.00
  • Conducting Participant (Student): $175.00
  • Observing Participant: $175.00
  • Observing Participant (Student): FREE

Workshop schedule details for the 2026 Wind Band Workshop will be available TBD. 

2026 Clinicians and Presenters

Headshot of director of bands Jacquie Dawson

Jacquie Dawson, Facilitator and Clinician

Director of Bands, University of Manitoba

Dr. Jacqueline Dawson is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator across Canada and the United States, appearing at numerous festivals and conferences coast to coast. She is currently an Associate Professor and the Director of Bands at the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music where she conducts the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble, teaches courses in music education and oversees the graduate wind conducting program. Jacquie was the Artistic Director of the Winnipeg Wind Ensemble from 2009-2020, helped establish the Winnipeg Youth Wind Ensemble and is the founder of the Winnipeg Chamber Winds Collective. She was recently awared a grant through the University of Manitoba Strategic Initiatives Fund and awarded a University of Manitoba Community Engagement Award for outstanding service and community activity. Jacquie is a strong advocate for music education and a clinician for the Yamaha Canada True North Master Educator program.

Dr. Dawson is an active preponent in the promotion of new wind band works and has led of participated in numerous commissions and premieres of works by Gary Kulesha, Kenley Kristofferson, Viet Cuong, Steven Danyew, Holly Harrison, Peter Meechan, Isabella Morrill, Karen Sunabacka, and more. Jacquie received undergraduate degrees in music and music education from Memorial University of Newfoundland and holds a master's degree in conducting from the University of Manitoba where she studied with Dr. Dale Lonis and Earl Stafford. She completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Kansas under the tutelage of Dr. Paul Popiel.

Gillian McKay smiling

Dr. Gillian MacKay, Guest Clinician

Director of Bands, University of Toronto

Gillian MacKay is Professor of Music of the University of Toronto, where she conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting. She serves as Associate Conductor of the Jack Long Honour Band, the national honour band held in conjunction with MusicFest Canada each year. Dr. MacKay has adjudicated and guest conducted in Canada, USA, Asia, and the UK.

Known for her earlier research into the relationship between conducting and mime, Gillian is currently exploring the application of the Michael Checkhov Acting Technique in the development of expressivity and character in conducting gesture. She has also undertaken study of clown to encourage joy and spontaneity in rehearsal and performance. Her current sabbatical work explores philosophies of non-violent social action, and proposes a reduction of the toleration of casual violence in wind band repertoire.

Dr. MacKay leads the University of Toronto Wind Conducting Symposium each July, and has been the guest instructor at other symposia in Canada and abroad. She has been honoured twice by the Canadian Band Association, receiving both their National and International Awards. Gillian earned degrees and diplomas from University of Lethbridge, University of Calgary, McGill University, and Northwestern University.

Monica Chen holding a conducting baton

Monica Chen, Guest Presenter

Assistant Conductor, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Music Director, University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra

An emerging Canadian conductor, Monica Chen is the RBC Assistant Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra and Systema Winnipeg, working closely with Maestros Daniel Raiskin and Julian Pellicano. Since September 2023, Monica has conducted over 40 performances with the WSO, and guests regularly with Canadian orchestras and opera companies such as with Calgary Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony, Kamploos Symphony, Manitoba Underground Opera, Saskatoon Symphony and Regina Symphony. Recent opera productions unclude conducting Britten's Albert Herring, Mozart's Magic Flute, and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. This last season, she made her ballet debut with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, conducting 13 shows of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker on tour in Victoria and Winnipeg. She was a conducting fellow with Orchestre Métropolitain's Conducting Academy, working with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and is currently a fellow with Tapestry Opera.