Sacred Sounds Mitchell, Bjornson, Staples

Please join us for Sacred Silence Sacred Sounds, a contemplative gathering with different artists every month.

Jeff Goodspeed was originally scheduled, but is unable to leave Cuba. Instead we are hosting Chris Mitchell, Larry Bjornson and Dave Staples

Chris Mitchell (saxophone) is active in numerous endeavours and musical groups in Halifax.  He is an engaging and innovative saxophonist, heralded as one of Canada’s finest instrumentalists. Chris is a sought-after talent across a variety of genres, performing with a myriad of artist’s including David Foster, Natalie Cole, Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, and Rosemary Clooney, to name a few. Chris has also toured extensively in North America, Europe and in Asia and has performed with a numerous symphony orchestras. His extensive experience as a performer, composer and arranger has culminated in the production of four solo instrumental albums to date. He is on faculty at Dalhousie’s Fountain School of Performing Arts.

Larry Bjornson (bass) began his music education at Detroit’s Centre for Creative Studies Jazz Workshop, continued his studies at McGill with a bachelor of music in jazz performance and then graduate studies in performance at Wayne State University.  Upon returning to Detroit, he maintained a busy concert, club and touring schedule. During this time, he also became a member of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra. Larry has performed with a very broad spectrum of artists ranging from The Moody Blues, Nell Carter, Mitsou, top jazz musicians; Charles MacPherson, James Carter and Charles Tolliver to backing up personalities like Joan Rivers, and Regis Philbin. Larry is currently a member of the Stadacona Band of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Dave Staples (piano) is a well-known pianist and music educator from Halifax. Along with his duties as a teacher in the Halifax school system, he is very active on the local scene as a freelance musician. He has performed with such national and international artists as Dionne Warwick, Bobby Curtola, and continues to work with the best of the East Coast Music scene. Dave has also recorded extensively and has been on at least six ECMA-nominated projects in the last few years. In 1996, he received the ECMA Jazz Artist of the Year award with Jeff Goodspeed for their album Eastern Passage.