Performers
Ross Turner
Trumpet
Ross Turner is a member of the Brass Faculty at the University of Windsor and Principal Trumpet of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 1989. He has also performed with many other regional orchestras, including the Hamilton Philharmonic, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Canadian Opera Company, Flint Symphony, Lansing Symphony, Saginaw Bay Symphony, Orchestra London, Thunder Bay Symphony, Regina Symphony and Victoria Symphony. He is currently a member of the Beaumont Brass – the Faculty Brass Quintet at Michigan State University where he earned his DMA in Performance – and has toured and recorded with Brass Rings. While his main focus is on classical music, Ross has also performed extensively in the commercial realm. He has worked with Johnny Mathis, Il Divo, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Mannheim Steamroller, David Foster, Petula Clark, Marie Osmond, Frankie Valli, Barry Manilow, and many more. He also has a great deal of music theatre experience, having performed in many shows in Toronto, including South Pacific and Miss Saigon at the Four Seasons Centre, and Wicked and Fiddler on the Roof at the Canon Theatre. He has toured North America with The King & I, Chicago, and Annie Get your Gun, and toured Asia with The Sound of Music.

Paul Otway
Trumpet
Paul Otway has extensive orchestral experience having worked with the Windsor Symphony, Esprit Orchestra (new music), National Ballet of Canada, Ontario Philharmonic, Toronto Concert Orchestra and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, among others. A highlight sampler of Paul’s commercial work includes the shows The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Wicked (twice!), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Sound of Music for Mirvish Productions, Ragtime, My Fair Lady and Sunday in the Park with George at the Shaw Festival, and Spamalot, Chicago and La Cage Aux Folles for The Stratford Festival. Aside from live performance, Paul has been recorded on several CDs, broadcast on CBC Radio, appears in the movie Fever Pitch and also in the pilot episode of Brilliant Minds (look for the trumpet player!).

Nicole Alexander
French Horn
Nicole Alexander, French Horn, received her professional training at McGill University while also doing four summers of advanced studies with the National Youth Orchestra Of Canada. A former member of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Nicole is now a member of the Toronto Philharmonia (with whom she has been soloist) and the Windsor Symphony. Her freelance work has been extensive, including engagements with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, in the pit of Mirvish’s Beauty and the Beast, with rock group Yes and with pop star Michael Bolton.

Thomas Henderson
Trombone
Thomas Henderson received his first post-secondary education in Physics and by the time he graduated from the University of Waterloo he had enjoyed the odd experience of simultaneously teaching, and being enrolled in, a computer-interface course he had designed (he gave himself an A). Even while continuing his scientific studies, Thomas had returned to musical studies and the course he set for himself upon graduation led him to schools in Vancouver, Banff and Toronto and to master teachers from all over the world. As an orchestral musician he has performed with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic and the Thunder Bay Symphony. Aside from managing and developing projects for Brass Rings, he frequently performs his popular children’s show Thomas And His Trombone. Outside of performing, Thomas has become an innovative and highly effective teacher who takes pleasure in helping students of all brass instruments develop to their full potential.

Brent Adams
Tuba
Brent Adams has held the Principal Tuba position for the Niagara Symphony for many years and performs regularly with several orchestras throughout Ontario, including the Hamilton Philharmonic, Orchestra London, the Windsor Symphony and the Hannaford Street Silver Band. As a member of the Niagara Brass Ensemble, Brent has recorded for Analekta and Echiquier recording companies as well as CBC radio. As a member of Brass Rings, he has toured extensively through Canada and the United States.

GUEST PERFORMER
William O’Meara
Organ, Keyboard
William O’Meara has performed throughout North and South America and Europe, including St. Paul’s Cathedral (London, UK), Harvard University Organ Society (Cambridge, USA), Sao Bento International Organ Festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Trnava Organ Days (Slovakia), Warsaw International Festival of Organ Music (Poland), Turin International Organ Festival (Italy), Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston, USA) as well as hundreds of concerts throughout Canada and the United States as soloist and in ensembles. From 1990 to 2003, he toured throughout North America with trumpeter Stuart Laughton through Philip Truckenbrod Concert Artists. From 2009 until his retirement in 2022, O’Meara was Cathedral Organist at St. Michael’s Cathedral, Toronto. O’Meara is also known for his improvised accompaniments for silent films for Cinematheque Ontario, the Toronto International Film Festival, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (Italy), the National Gallery of Canada, Goethe Institute, Pacific Cinematheque, Silent Sundays at the Revue, and the annual Toronto Silent Film Festival.
