Paul Dykstra - 2023
Mr. Dykstra has been a performing artist in North America for over 35 years. His travels have taken him to the US, where he lived for 20 years, and performance credits include recording with renowned clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, performances of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 with the Great Bay Philharmonic in 2016 and 2018, chamber music collaborations with renowned New England artists, and solo concerts in Canada and the United States. He has also toured with NYC Living Arts Company in performances of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in the United States and Trinidad. Recently relocated to his native Canada in 2020, he now resides in Kelowna and continues an active musical career which includes performing, mentoring, arranging, and musical collaborations of all types. Paul is on the Faculty of the Kelowna Community Music School, and is a member of the College of Examiners of the Royal Conservatory of Music. His past teachers and mentors include Helmut Brauss (University of Alberta) master classes with Robin Wood and Anton Kuerti, and touring performances on behalf of the Valhalla School of Music in the Kootenays. Mr. Dykstra was a finalist for the American Prize Concerto Competition in 2016. Paul is very pleased to be back in the Cariboo for Festivals in Quesnel (where he lived for 17 years) and Williams Lake!