Our Adjudicators

Adjudicators

Romina Di Gasbarro

Romina Di Gasbarro

JUNO Nominee, Romina Di Gasbarro is a singer, songwriter, and music educator from Toronto, Canada and central Italy. Romina began her career as a child playing multiple instruments and as a teen singing in bands in southern Ontario. She got her Bachelor’s music degree in Classical Guitar and Composition from the University of Western Ontario but soon transitioned into Voice Performance in her post-graduate Artist Diploma. She followed this by a Master’s in Composition and PhD studies in Musicology from York University. Upon graduating from UWO, Romina won the Array Music Young Composer’s Competition, working with composers, Linda C. Smith and Michael J. Baker before moving abroad to continue her studies.

Romina’s musical trajectory is wild ride that lead her to living and studying opera in Italy under the tutelage of legends like Victoria de los Angeles ( Accademia Musicale Chigiana di Siena) and in San Francisco California where she studied with Olivia Stapp (Festival Opera) and began her career in opera, singing roles like Mimi (La Boheme), Michaela (Carmen), Desdemona (Otello), and Sharron (Masterclass) to name a few.

Romina continued studying composition with giants like Franco Donatoni (Chigiana), Jack Behrens (UWO), and David Mott (York).  Her love for writing music pulled her back home to Toronto where she started her own eclectic ensemble that merged her worlds of classical, soul, folk, and jazz into a singer-songwriter style that is distinctively her own.

Romina has three solo albums, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council; the last of which, Risorgimento, received a JUNO nomination for World Music Record of the Year in 2020. Romina is a regular guest with the Italian Baroque ensemble, Vesuvius Ensemble with whom she has recorded and appeared in their regular concert season at the Heliconian Hall, Koerner Hall and on tour in central and eastern Canada.

Romina has worked as a Jury member for the Ontario Arts Council numerous times and has been a music educator in the YCDSB since 2014. She has created the Recording Artist Bursary award for emerging songwriters at St. Jean de Brebeuf CHS and relishes the opportunity to bring music and culture to the hearts and minds of the next generation.

Megan Yim

Megan Yim

Megan Yim has an accomplished story as a music educator, performer, examiner, and adjudicator. She has received the A.R.C.T diploma in Piano Performance, the Licentiate Diploma in Piano Performance (L.R.C.M.) and the diploma for Piano Pedagogy in all Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced levels from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She has won numerous awards and scholarships with top national standing.

Through her career, Ms. Yim has taught and adjudicated students of all ages, where she is commended on her ability to relate and build empathetic and fruitful relationships with her students, helping them reach their full potential as musicians.

Ms. Yim also holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in English and French, as well as Masters from the Schulich School of Business. She is a best-selling and published author of her memoir, Vignettes of a Pianist. Today, she is a full time piano teacher, adjudicator, author, and examiner within the College of Examiners with the Royal Conservatory of Music. Ms. Yim is also the Vice President of the Central Toronto Branch of ORMTA.

Eric Hudspith

Eric Hudspith

Eric Hudspith is an accomplished conductor and double bass player.  He recently retired from York Region District School Board where he was the Department Head of Music at Alexander Mackenzie High School, a regional Arts school.   He has conducted ensembles of all ages and types, including York Symphony Orchestra, concert bands, chamber orchestras, jazz bands, and choirs.  His performing groups have regularly been invited to Music Fest nationals, and his chamber orchestra placed second in the Kiwanis Music Festival Ontario finals.  Eric founded and acted as music director of the York Symphony Youth Orchestra for many years.   He has extensive experience in musical theatre and has been Executive Producer and Music Director for over 25 musicals.

Eric has been performing on the double bass since grade seven.   He has a degree in double bass performance from York University.   Eric was the Principal Bass for the York Symphony Orchestra for many years.  He has also performed with Cathedral Bluffs Orchestra, Etobicoke Symphony, Kindred Spirits Orchestra, Mississauga Symphony, North York Symphony, Orion Symphony Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra.    In musical theatre, Eric has performed on double bass and electric bass guitar with various community theatre groups in shows such as Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, Sound of Music, and West Side Story.

Aubrey Dayle

Aubrey Dayle

Aubrey Dayle received his formal music education at McGill University and Manhattan School of Music in classical and jazz percussion and has performed in various musical styles and situations.

He has toured with James “Blood” Ulmer; Hassan Hakmoun and Zahar (support act for Peter Gabriel); God Street Wine; the John Popper Band; Sam Rivers; Ernest Ranglin; and several other artists. While living in New York City, he continued to perform in diverse situations, including two years as the drummer for the Broadway show Bring in ‘Da Noise Bring in Da Funk. As a member of the John Popper Band, he appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Aubrey also performed at the famous Carnegie Hall with the New York Metro Mass choir.

Aubrey continues to work with James “Blood” Ulmer in a trio, and with his Memphis Blood Blues Band that features guitarist Vernon Reid. He also has solo project called “My id” that occasionally includes Vernon Reid as a special guest; the group has released three albums. Aubrey is currently working with Juno nominated artist Shakura S’Aida. His latest project is called 13go, with bassist Ian DeSouza, Kim Ratcliffe, and produced by Vernon Reid.

Norma Churchill

Norma Churchill

Throughout Norma Churchill’s thirty-five-year teaching career, she has worked at Appleby College, The Kingsway Conservatory of Music, St. Michael’s Choir School, and her own private studio, Cantare Music Studio. In addition, she has coached as a guest artist in Toronto District School Board arts schools, conducted master classes and was program director of a musical theatre program for 15 years. Norma is a long-standing member of the RCM College of Examiners and has adjudicated at various festivals across Canada.

In addition to her performance degree from the University of Toronto, Norma studied music and drama at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, the city in which she was born and raised. Norma continued her studies abroad with Vera Rozsa and Paul Hamburger of the Guildhall school of music in London, also attending the Else Mayer-Lismann Opera Studio with coaches from Covent Garden.  She went on to take courses at the Britten-Pears School of Music and the Beethoven Musikschule in Austria.  Norma’s extensive activity as a performer has influenced her approach to inspiring and establishing a solid musical foundation in her many voice students, from beginners to advanced. Her beautiful and expressive soprano voice has earned her a variety of operatic roles, chamber music and solo oratorio opportunities both at home in Canada and abroad in Poland and England. While overseas, lessons in Alexander Technique impacted her approach to singing so profoundly that it became a foundation for her teaching. Her passion for the voice leads her to pursue ongoing opportunities for professional development. Today, she continues to teach at St. Michael’s Choir School and has a thriving studio in downtown Toronto.

Fabio Biagiarelli

Fabio Biagiarelli

Fabio Biagiarelli earned both his undergraduate and Master of Arts degrees from York University. He further enhanced his academic credentials by obtaining a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto. With three decades of experience, Biagiarelli has instructed music in various educational settings, including both public and private institutions. Beyond teaching the Ontario curriculum, he has extensive expertise delivering the International Baccalaureate music program over many years.

Throughout his career, Biagiarelli has guided numerous music ensembles to prestigious festivals and served as an adjudicator for guitar performances. His leadership has enabled student musicians to participate in international tours across the United States, Europe, and China, where they not only performed but also immersed themselves in diverse musical traditions. As a musician himself, he has contributed his talents as a guitarist in various pop, rock, and jazz ensembles. His personal musical interests extend to composition and staying current with emerging music technology.

Biagiarelli is renowned as a dedicated, dynamic, innovative, and passionate music educator whose impact on the field of education is substantial. He is distinguished by his instructional approaches that successfully engage students of all learning styles, creating transformative educational experiences that have profoundly influenced countless young musicians throughout his career.

Mary Kenedi

Mary Kenedi

In 1983 Mary Kenedi made her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall, in a programme of works by Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Mozart, Chopin and a new Canadian work written for her.

Devoted to the music of Bartók, she has come to be recognized as one of the foremost exponents of this composer in Canada and internationally.  She has also organized fundraising concerts for the restoration of Bartók’s summer home in Saranac Lake. A highlight of her connection to Bartók was presenting a recital in the Bartók Memorial House in Budapest.

In 1999 she was invited by the Hungarian Ambassador to play at the National Gallery in Ottawa at a gala dinner for Prime Minister Jean Chretien to celebrate the joining of NATO by Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Also close to her heart is the dissemination of the music of Canadian contemporary composers, by commissioning, performing and recording their works. She has commissioned several piano concerti, solo pieces, and a choral fantasy from composers such as Mary Gardiner, Larysa Kuzmenko, Abigail Richardson, Michael Horwood and Kevin Lau.

She has performed concerts in Canada, the United States, Cuba, New Zealand, Australia and in Europe. Ms. Kenedi has also collaborated with several orchestras, among them the York Symphony, Sault Symphony, Niagara Symphony, Windsor Symphony in Canada, also the North Czech Philharmonic and Debrecen Philharmonic in Europe.

Mary will be performing Debussy’s Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra, with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra in February 2026.

Jason Lee

Jason Lee

Returning as an adjudicator for Musicfest 2025, Jason brings extensive experience as both a performer and educator. Jason graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance under the tutelage of legendary pianist Marina Mdivani. He has performed in recitals, events, and competitions across Canada, winning first prize at the CCC Toronto Piano Competition in 2012. Jason has taught piano and music theory for over ten years. Currently, he is a collaborative pianist for the Hamilton Children’s Choir.