This page is under construction
Adjudication Team 2025:
John Kraus
William Rowson
Dr. Jane Saunders
Denine Williams
John Kraus
originally from North Bay, Ontario, is an active musician, having founded and or worked as the Music Director of the Durham Chamber Orchestra, the Lakeridge Youth Orchestra, the Clarington Concert Band, the Music Director and conductor of the Northumberland Orchestra & Choir, and is the current Music Director of the Parkdale Orchestra, Ottawa. He led the Kanata Symphony Orchestra. John has performed as a member of the Lavender Chamber Ensemble and the Electric City Swing Band, Peterborough. In the fall of 2017 John was nominated as one of five candidates for the Heinz Unger Award, a national honour administrated by the Ontario Arts Council, recognizing professional conductors.
​
As an educator, John taught for over 30 years and is a member of the Ontario Music Educators' Association, promoting the value and need for Music education in schools. He has led workshops and clinics across the province as well as leading and conducting honour ensembles. John is a member of the Canadian Music Festivals Adjudicators Association, providing him the opportunity to hear student
performances across Canada. He has been a faculty member for the Lake Field Music Camp, an adult summer music camp located in Lakefield, Ontario. In addition, John hosts Maestro’s Picks, a weekly hour long radio show which can be heard on Northumberland 89.7 and Sudbury’s 96.7 CKLU-FM, featuring music of all styles.
​
Dr. Jane Saunders
Dr. Jane Saunders retired from her position as Arts Chair and Head of Music at Hammarskjold High School in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where she taught band and strings. Over her 25 year teaching career, numerous bands, orchestras, and jazz bands under her direction have competed at the provincial and national level. In 2009, Jane was a nominee for MusiCounts’ Canadian Music Teacher of the Year award. Over her career, Jane has enjoyed a wide variety of musical activities with her students. Though the focus on her classroom teaching has been band and orchestra, Jane has directed Broadway musicals, choirs, jazz bands, and guitar classes, and has also instructed “music teacher students” at the University of Minnesota and Lakehead University.
​
Jane completed her music education studies at The University of Western Ontario (H.B. Mus.Ed. 1988), The University of Windsor (B.Ed. 1989), The University of Minnesota (MA. 1994) and Lakehead University (Ph.D. 2004).
Jane serves as a director with the Ontario Music Educators’ Association and is a member of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association. Jane has adjudicated at festivals in Saskatoon, Kitchener-Waterloo and Kenora. In 2013, she was adjudicated the brass and woodwind soloists at Performing Arts British Columbia’s provincial competition.
​
William Rowson
William Rowson is hailed as one of Canada’s most compelling and versatile young artists. He has worked with orchestras across Canada and currently serves as the Artistic and Executive Director of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, as well as being the Music Director of the Stratford Symphony Orchestra. Recent guest conducting highlights include appearances with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, the London Classical Soloists (UK), the Regina Symphony, and the Victoria Symphony, as well as return engagements with both the Saskatoon and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras.
From 2016-2018 Bill was the Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, becoming the orchestra’s Associate Conductor in 2019. He has led the Grammy and Juno award-winning ensemble in over 160 performances.
​
Bill is also an active composer, whose original works and orchestral arrangements have been performed by orchestras and ensembles throughout Canada, the US and Europe, and have been broadcast in over 20 countries. Upcoming projects include the 2023 premiere of a new children’s opera Frog Song, produced by Here for Now Theatre and the Stratford Symphony, as well as a new work for the Victoria Symphony.
Bill is also committed to music education of the highest calibre, having produced, and written several symphonic educational programs and by working with youth ensembles throughout BC’s lower mainland as well as working at the Glenn Gould Professional School, and the National Academy Orchestra of Canada. Bill is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Toronto.
​
Denine Williams
Denine Williams is an esteemed, recently retired music educator with a remarkable 35-year tenure at Korah Collegiate, Sault Ste. Marie. She is the inaugural recipient of the Community Builders Award (2021) and has been recognized through nominations for both the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the Premier’s Teaching Award. Denine pioneered the musical theatre program at Korah Collegiate, transforming it into a bastion of high-calibre productions that have delighted thousands.
She has significantly impacted the local arts scene in Sault Ste. Marie, by conducting instrumental band and choir concerts, organizing cultural trips for students, and directing the renowned Korahsters choir.
Denine's commitment to fostering artistic talent continues as she brings her wealth of experience and passion to the Northern Ontario Music Festival.
​
