2022 Festival Adjudicators

BOWED STRINGS

John “Adidam” Littlejohn is a violinist and hip-hop artist. He is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory where he completed a Master of Music degree and a Graduate Performance Diploma in violin performance with Herbert Greenberg, after completing a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Michigan. He has served as the concertmaster of the Newark Symphony and has been a member of numerous orchestras and ensembles including the Baltimore Opera Orchestra. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras and given recitals throughout North America and Europe.

John has been a string pedagogue for over 20 years. He is currently a faculty member at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the Delta Community Music School. As an active proponent of music outreach, John is the director of the Thrive City String Boot Camp, a tuition-free intensive retreat for string players. While in graduate school he received specialized training in violin pedagogy and curriculum development from Rebecca Henry, co-chair of the Peabody Institute’s Preparatory String Department in Baltimore, Maryland. John aims to inspire, engage, and equip each student through a unique curriculum that combines the methodology of Shinichi Suzuki and Paul Roland, with teachings of Joseph Gingold, Ivan Galamian, Demetrius Dounis, Otakar Sevcik, Henry Schradiek, Jazz Improvisation, and some original tools developed through experience. His students have won competitions and have gone on study music in University.

“Adidam”, which is an acronym for “All Day I Dream About Music,” has released three full-length albums, “Violinistik”, “All Day I Dream About Music,” and his latest release, “Caterpillar Chronicles.” Tim Smith, music critic of the Baltimore Sun, called his music “distinctive” with “tightly rhymed lyrics,” and a VH1 entertainment journalist called his compositions “extremely original and magnificently arranged and played.”

He is a currently a member of Infinitus, a genre-bending, beatboxing string trio, performing education and community performances throughout North America, Asia, and Africa. Infinitus recently completed a successful string of over 10 performances at the Lincoln Center in New York, NY.

In addition to his musical endeavors, John is also a pastor. In 2021, he completed a Master’s of Divinity (MDiv) degree with a focus in Global Studies and is an associate pastor at Kingdom Life Community Church in Langley, BC. He currently resides in the greater Vancouver area with his wife and children.

DANCE

Born and raised in North Vancouver, BC, Canada, Lauren Overholt has been performing since the age of 2 in various styles of dance. She has trained at NYU Tisch and has performed all over Canada, Spain, and a 22 city touring show in China, with the Dragonfly Orchestra. Lauren runs her own boutique entertainment company Enfuse Entertainment, which specializes in mashing up different styles to create amazing performances for any audience. Lauren also has a passion for TV & Film as well, starring in shows such as Supernatural, Bates Motel, and dancing on a feature film with Steve Carall. She is also an owner and Artistic Director of Seymour Dance where she produces two large-scale ballet productions a season, and sends over 100 students to multiple competitions each season. Her dedication and love for the arts, keeps her constantly creating and learning. She looks forward to upcoming opportunities and believes the only limitations that exist are in our minds.

Megan Green originally hails from Fort St. John, BC, where she trained in the disciplines of Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary & Acrobatics. After graduation, she moved to Vancouver to pursue a career in dance and joined Move! The Company. Having fallen in love with teaching early in life, Megan also continued to pursue her passion in that field, and ultimately decided to focus full-time on training young dancers. She has been teaching for over 15 years and feels just as passionate about teaching as she did when she was assisting classes at 12 years old. Megan holds her Associate Certification in the Cecchetti Method of Ballet and holds acrobatic certifications from both CDTA and Acrobatic Arts. She is also an RYT certified yoga instructor and loves using a variety of fitness and crosstraining methods to keep her students healthy and challenged. Megan has taught and choreographed for many studios across British Columbia and Alberta, and currently lives and teaches in Vancouver.

FOLK INSTRUMENTAL

Wesley Hardisty is a vibrant emerging fiddler, composer and collaborator from the Northwest Territories. From Fort Simpson, Wesley is a member of the Dene First Nation. He has performed nationally and internationally from Seattle to Iqaluit. He has played on folk festivals, fiddle festivals, Indigenous-focused performances, including multiple tours of the NWT as a feature performer and supporting artist, Canada Scene and Northern Scene in Ottawa, 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He has two original albums and multiple commissions.

Wesley has been part of fiddling training programs as a student and now a teacher. He attended the Gulf Island School of Performing Arts and is currently in the NACC Mentorship program being mentored by acclaimed violinist/producer/composer Jesse Zubot. Wesley is sought-after as a collaborator with fiddlers, singer-songwriters, and classical ensembles.

Welsey values community connections and has made it a priority to perform for elders and be a leader in youth mentorship from the training programs that he went through as a student. Notably he is an Artistic Ambassador for the Downie-Wenjack Fund.

HARP & GUITAR

Elizabeth Volpé Bligh was the Vancouver Symphony’s Principal Harpist from 1982 to 2018, after 6 years with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra. She has performed several solo concerti with the VSO and other orchestras, including two written for her.

Elizabeth has taught privately and at UBC, Vancouver Academy of Music, VSO School of Music, PRISMA and VSOI. In 2012, she taught and performed at the 6th International Harp Workshop in Italy and co-founded Canadian International Summer Harp Institute with Gianetta Baril, Judy Loman and Cristina Braga.

Her articles are published in magazines such as Harp Column. She has given master classes and lectures in China, New Zealand, USA, Italy, Hong Kong and Canada.

Her compositions for solo harp, (in Royal Conservatory of Music and Trinity UK Syllabuses), are being performed internationally. Her YouTube channel includes her performances of these pieces, among others. She is President of the West Coast Harp Society and was Chair of the 11th World Harp Congress Host Committee in 2011. She has performed at international harp conferences and festivals and was a judge at the OSM Standard Life Competition in 2010 and various Kiwanis Festivals. She was an Artistic Advisor for the 2020 Vancouver International Music Competition.

PIANO

Dr. Greg Caisley completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, working with Dr. Alan Smith. Earlier studies included two years of Aufbaustudium in Germany, as well as special studies and concerts in Vienna, Banff, and throughout the United States. Since moving to Vancouver in 2006, Dr. Caisley has worked and performed for many music institutions around Vancouver, including the Vancouver Academy of Music, City Opera Vancouver, UBC and The VSO School of Music. In addition, he has completed several CD albums, tours, and even a classical music video. He has studied with some outstanding musicians over his career, including Martin Katz, Heinrich Schiff, Michael Uhde, Elly Ameling, Kevin Fitzgerald, Robert Höll, Tracy Dahl, Ruth Golden, Rudolf Janzen, and Hans Hotter.

Dr. Caisley has taught both solo and collaborative piano for 15 years in his private studio, now located in downtown Vancouver, and a number of his students have continued on to both professional music careers, and further studies at important musical institutions, including as far away as the Conservatory in Milan, and as close by as the University of Victoria School of Music. In addition to his career as a performance artist and piano teacher, Dr. Caisley has worked extensively as a vocal coach and répétiteur. He has worked for opera companies, and coached over 50 classically trained singers. Some of these singers have gone on to successful careers in German and Italian opera houses, as well as well as working in various groups throughout the Vancouver region.

Dr. Caisley is a strong proponent of music education as an inspiration and vocation for both listener and performer, and as such is a passionate champion of the Canadian music festival movement. He has adjudicated more than 200 festivals across Canada, and has held masterclasses in many smaller communities in support of music education, communication skills, and the links between music, history, and psychology. Dr. Caisley also currently holds the position of President of the Canadian Music Festivals Adjudicators Association.

Aside from his work as a pianist and teacher, Dr. Caisley has spent more than 20 years developing programming within music communities in Vancouver, including the founding of three different organizations. Within these various projects, Dr. Caisley has spent a considerable amount of time composing original material to complement a wide variety of musical knowledge and ability, as well as conducting the ensembles, musical preparation, and building the administrative board support.

These organizations included the Postmodern Camerata, a chamber music ensemble consisting of professional instrumentalists and singers dedicated to the performance of chamber works across genres, which he was the artistic director of for 8 years.

Dr. Caisley has a career spanning 15 years as Music Director in three major United Churches in the Vancouver Region. During that time, he developed the Pneuma Voices training program for young singers. Dr. Caisley taught over 50 young choristers, many of whom have gone on to further musical training, and singing in the community.

Finally, Dr. Caisley also founded and continues to direct the United Voices Choir, a choir of approximately 50 auditioned singers which is paired with professional singer soloists and instrumentalists to perform large-scale sacred music concerts. Their repertoire extends from Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Saint John Passion, through to the Brahms’ Requiem and Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna.

Currently, he is the Director of Music at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, in the west end of downtown Vancouver, where he plays both piano and pipe organ.

SPEECH & DRAMATIC ARTS

Performer, Teaching Artist, and Coach, Luisa Jojic is a multiple Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nominee who works on stage and screen. As a performer, Luisa has worked with many celebrated theatre companies including The Arts Club, Bard on the Beach (8 seasons), Touchstone Theatre, Pi Theatre, The Gateway Theatre, The Belfry Theatre, Blackbird Theatre, and Patrick Street Productions. Screen credits include appearances on Riverdale, Legends of Tomorrow, Supernatural, and Reaper. She is a senior teaching artist at Bard on the Beach, where she was a founding instructor in both The Riotous Youth Program and Bard in Your Neighbourhood. She is a YWCA Women of Distinction Award Nominee, and a recipient of a Pacific Community Resources Award for Outstanding Practice in Teaching. Luisa holds a BFA in Acting from The University of British Columbia. She currently coaches with Viva Voce Speech Arts Studio. For a more detailed performance biography, please visit www.luisajojic.com.

VOCAL/CHORAL

Sandra Meister is no stranger to the musical landscape in British Columbia. Through her work as a conductor, clinician, school principal, music educator and mentor she has infused great music into the lives of thousands of singers. Sandra has conducted, led workshops, and adjudicated throughout North America, Europe and China. Sandra heads up the Choral da Capo course for the BC Choral Federation and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Governor General’s Medal for Outstanding Service to Arts and Culture in Canada, the British Columbia Choral Federation’s Willan Award, and the British Columbia Music Educators’ Association Professional Educator award. Sandra and her husband, Ross reside in Metro Vancouver with their goldendoodle, Daisy.

WOODWINDS & BRASS

Energetic, passionate, and driven, Tak Maeda believes that embracing every moment at rehearsals and on stage is the key to a successful performance. A graduate of the Osaka College of Music and an overseas student of Frank Kaderabek (former principal trumpet, Philadelphia Orchestra), Tak played his trumpet with The Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, a full time professional orchestra in Japan, from 1979 to 1989. In addition, he was a Band Clinician for Yamaha Music Foundation Japan for years, where he conducted mass bands and honour bands at Yamaha sponsored clinics and festivals in Western Japan. It was here that he began to mentor younger band instructors.

In search of more musical challenges, Tak moved to Canada in 1990. He played trumpet with the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and was the choir director of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church Choir in North Vancouver, as well as the bandmaster of the North Vancouver Youth Band.

Tak is now enjoying his busy life as the music director of The Sea to Sky Wind Ensemble (in North Vancouver), The West Vancouver Concert Band, The West Vancouver Pops Band, and The Suncoast Concert Band here on the Sunshine Coast. He also occasionally takes on the role of guest conductor at public and private high schools in the Greater Vancouver area.