Please note - The information for the music for String Camp 2026 has been posted and camp registrants are given instructions about how to download parts for the 2026 string camp repertoire upon registration. It includes the following with a proviso that some further revisions/cuts may be made in due course.

Strathcona County String Music Camp - Summer Repertoire 2026 includes the following:

"St. Paul's Suite (Movement I and Finale) by Holst"

"Pizzicato Polka by Strauss"

"Symphony No. 5 (Movement I) arranged for strings by Schubert"

"On the Nature of Daylight by Richter"

"Aus Holbergs Zeit I (Movements I and V) by Edvard Grieg"

"Concerto Grosso in D Minor Op. 3 No. 11 by Vivaldi"

"Grave from Violin Concerto in G Major by Benda"

 

Our Camp Director, Conductor and Music Coaches

 

CAMP DIRECTOR: Murray Vaasjo

Murray was born and raised in Edmonton and attended the University of Alberta where he received a Bachelor of Music degree. He has been a member of the Okanagan Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, the Arden Ensemble, National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the Edmonton Youth Orchestra. Murray studied with Sally Thomas in Meadowmount, New York and with Shirley Givens and Sidney Humphries in Victoria.

In 1990 Murray returned to Edmonton to join the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Murray is also active as a teacher and is the co-founder of the Wye String Ensemble.

Murray conducted the Penticton Strings, an amateur adult orchestra in the Okanagan.

For two seasons, he conducted musicals with the Penticton Singers and Players with professional members of the Okanagan Symphony. He was the conductor and founder of the Sherwood Park Youth Strings and Penticton Junior Strings. Murray is happy to conduct both the Wye String Ensemble and the Edmonton Philharmonic Orchestra next season.

 

 

CONDUCTOR: Shah Sadovski

An ardent believer in the power of music to unite, inspire, and elevate, Shah Sadikov is one of the most driven conductors of his generation. From concert halls to classrooms, community centers, and libraries, he leads a multifaceted career as a conductor, violist, educator, and researcher. His collaborations with numerous organizations and hundreds of individuals reflect his deep commitment to arts accessibility and advocacy. In late 2025, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was excited to welcome Shah as Assistant Conductor & Community Ambassador. In this role, Sadikov will assist Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni, lead ESO programs throughout the season, and serve as a key ambassador for the orchestra’s community outreach. He will also play a vital role with the Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta (YONA), supporting the program’s artistic growth and helping inspire the next generation of young musicians.

Shah currently makes his home in Saskatoon. In the past decade, Sadikov has appeared as conductor and soloist with the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Turkistan Chamber Orchestra, and the National Radio Chamber Orchestra in his native Uzbekistan. He has also conducted ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Hamburg Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Sinfonietta, Kazakh State Philharmonic, and Saskatoon Symphony, among others. Shah’s wide-ranging musical interests extend far beyond the symphonic realm. Alongside symphonic, operatic, and ballet repertoire, he brings the same commitment and joy to pops, jazz, and genre-blending projects. Recent engagements include Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (State Bolshoi Theater of Uzbekistan), Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (Peabody Opera), Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Landlocked Opera/NAVO), Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (FHSU), Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker (American Youth Ballet), Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (Owen/Cox Dance), One Vision – The Music of Queen with Jeans ’n Classics (Saskatoon Symphony), and Paris on the Prairies at the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival (Saskatoon Symphony / Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra). He has also composed and recorded for rapper Tech N9ne’s albums Something Else and Special Effects, in addition to contributing to several film soundtracks. Equally devoted to contemporary music, Shah premiered more than a dozen new works in the 2024–25 season alone, including the short opera This. Is. You. Are. by Puerto Rican composer Julio Elvin Quiñones (Telltale Opera Theatre) and Ethan Soledad’s Cages of Jade at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

As a BIPOC artist, Sadikov has championed underrepresented communities through his work with NAVO Arts Inc.—a nonprofit he co-founded with his partner, Canadian violinistVéronique Mathieu—by presenting works by minority artists and commissioning new pieces by composers such as Anne Guzzo, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Althea Talbot-Howard, and Alex Shapiro. In the 2024–25 season, he conducted Chickasaw composer Jerod Tate’s Standing Bear: A Ponca Indian Cantata with baritone Grant Youngblood, and will bring the work to Saskatchewan in 2026, while also revisiting works by composers Dinuk Wijeratne and Ingrid Stölzel. During his tenure as Music Director of the Hays Symphony Orchestra (2015–2019), the orchestra reached its first pedestal of success in every direction: innovative programming that appealed to a wide range of audiences (including two seasonal festivals—Cottonwood Chamber Music in the spring and New Music in the fall), consistently high-quality performances with a strong following, the launch of the ensemble’s first brand and website, and the founding of the Hays Youth Orchestra. The Children’s Halloween Concert became one of the city’s most successful family events. Mr. Sadikov also served as Assistant Professor of Upper Strings and Orchestra Director at Fort Hays State University.

Shah completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting at Johns Hopkins University Peabody Institute, studying with eminent Marin Alsop and Joseph Young, and earned a Master of Musicology with Dr. Laura Vasilyeva. His broader artistic development has been shaped by mentorship and masterclasses with figures including Bernard Labadie, Robert Spano, Michael Stern, Ludovic Morlot, Patrick Summers, Larry Rachleff, Donald Schleicher, Kim Kashkashian, Paul Neubauer, and Paul Coletti. During his residency at Peabody, Shah underwent rigorous choral conducting training under Dr. Beth Willer, Grammy-nominated Artistic Director of the Lorelei Ensemble, immersing himself in repertoire from the Medieval era through the 21st century, with a memorable highlight in Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with the Baltimore Baroque Band. As a researcher, Shah’s interests span two distinct and contemporary areas: the role of AI in the performing arts, and the history of Western music in Central Asia—contributing to the broader discourse on the decolonization of Soviet music.

 

 

 

 

 

Camp Coordinator - Miriam Ferguson

Miriam Ferguson began studying the viola at the age of eleven when she joined the Edmonton Public Schools Strings Program.

In 1997, she graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Music Degree in performance on the viola. She decided four years later to return to the University of Alberta and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Education Degree. Her viola teachers have included Miyo Inouye, Norman Nelson, Jonathan Craig, Tom Johnson and Rivka Golani.

Miriam Ferguson has been the principal violist of the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, the University of Alberta’s Academy Strings and the University Symphony Orchestra. She occasionally plays in the viola section of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Miriam is currently busy as a private violin and viola instructor, freelance musician and, more recently, conductor. She conducts the Music Enrichment Program’s Beginner Student Orchestra and Beginner Adult Ensemble and often subs in to lead the WyeString Ensemble.

Miriam Ferguson also performs with Quartetto con Brio, the Ursus String Quartet, and with the Cifra Hungarian Folk Music Ensemble. The Cifra Ensemble has performed with the Edmonton Symphony and has been broadcast on CBC Radio One. Miriam has twice visited Hungary and Romania with the Cifra Ensemble to study and perform authentic village folk music.

 

 

 

 

COACHES

Violin I Instructor/Chamber Coach: Anna Kozak

Anna Kozak is a core member of the first violin section with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, an Assistant Concertmaster of the Alberta Baroque Ensemble and a Principal Second Violin of the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton. She has earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto and a Master of Music degree from the University of Calgary.

Anna loves being an orchestral musician. It’s a profession that has taken her to concert halls all over Europe as well as Carnegie Hall in New York.

Being a violinist, Anna finds life just wouldn’t be complete without chamber music. She’s been very fortunate to have been a part of many wonderful chamber groups and have performed in most exciting venues. She’s been a founding member of the Onyx String Quartet and Tersona Piano Trio. She’s performed at Winspear countless times at ESO events, at the Rozsa Centre with University of Calgary professor Edmond Agopian, at the Yardbird Suite with the Obsessions Octet to name a few.

She’s had the pleasure of performing solos with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Alberta College Percussion Ensemble.

Besides performing Anna finds it fulfilling to share her passion and knowledge with her students. She holds a small private studio, teaches at the annual Wye Strings Camp and on occasion leads coaching sessions for local amateur groups.

Anna is playing on a violin made in 1770 by Giovanni Battista Gabrielli of Florence.

Once she is done all her practicing, performing or teaching, Anna enjoys spending time with her husband on their acreage. Gardening (especially cutting grass with her new tractor Deer Johny), reading, taking long walks, listening to the birds...

 

Violin II Instructor/Chamber Coach- Ewald Cheung

 

Edmonton native Ewald Cheung joined the ESO's first violin section in 2018 after earning performance degrees at the Juilliard School and McGill University.

A prize-winner in multiple violin competitions and an avid chamber musician, Ewald was a founding member of the Roddick String Quartet and Geistrio, and has performed extensively around Canada in recitals, chamber music collaborations, and as soloist with orchestras.

Ewald can be heard on his 2015 recording with pianist Philip Chiu, "A Tribute to Fritz Kreisler."

 

 

Viola Instructor/Chamber Coach - Ethan Filner

 

American-born violist of the San Francisco-based, internationally acclaimed Cypress String Quartet from 2001-2016, Ethan Filner studied at Indiana University-Bloomington, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and New England Conservatory.

Ethan has been the ESO's Assistant Principal Violist since 2019, having previously held the same position with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony from 2017-19 and taught viola at the University of Toronto from 2016-19. With the CSQ until they disbanded.

Ethan has recorded nearly 20 albums, performed concerts in major and minor venues all across North America and Europe, commissioned and premiered dozens of new works for string quartet (and a few for solo viola), presented educational outreach programs for tens of thousands of students of all ages, and collaborated with many of the most inspiring musical artists of our time.

 

Cello Instructors/Chamber Coaches: Ine-Wilmé Coetzee and Mari Coetzee

 

Canadian cellist Ine-Wilmé Coetzee is recognized for her deep, rich, and resonant sound—an uncommon tonal palette that enables her to communicate the emotional architecture and narrative depth of each work with exceptional clarity. Known for her ability to translate story through sound, she brings listeners into the expressive world of the music with sensitivity, conviction, and artistic command. Ine began her cello studies with Christine Bootland and later continued with John Kadz and Johanne Perron at Mount Royal University and Arnold Choi principal cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic. She also studied music at Berklee College of Music, Boston and is a recipient of the ARCT Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music and has appeared in festivals and competitions across Canada, including the Canadian Music Competition.

In 2013, she performed as soloist with the Medicine Hat Academy Orchestra under Mélanie Léonard, former Assistant Director of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. An accomplished chamber musician, Ine was a member of the awardwinning YIP Piano Trio, which received first prize at the Provincial National Class Chamber Music Festival and represented Alberta at the National Music Festival in Ottawa. She is also a member of the Three Sisters Trio, whose music videos Journey of Remembrance and Illuminating Hope have collectively garnered more than 135K+ views on YouTube. Journey of Remembrance was featured at the Military Museums in Calgary, Alberta during the 2017 Remembrance Day commemorations.

In 2025, Ine and her sister, cellist Mari Coetzee, were invited to Alpharetta, Georgia to perform as a featured cello duet at Launch Your Ads Live, a major business and leadership conference highlighting interdisciplinary creative performance. Ine is frequently invited to perform at business events, including the Salesgirl Summit in June 2024, where she collaborated with acclaimed emcee Erin Cole on an original poem-and-cello performance that moved the audience to tears.

Alongside her performing career, Ine is an entrepreneur, business-owner and respected business coach and strategist for high-capacity creative entrepreneurs, drawing on over two decades of stage experience to teach mental resilience, artistic discipline, and the ability to perform under pressure. Ine continues to balance an active performing life with her work in creative leadership development, embodying an artistic career that bridges tradition and innovation.

 

 

 

Canadian cellist Mari Coetzee is an exciting, versatile performer and educator, who is passionate about traditional and contemporary music alike. Included in CBC Music’s 30 Top Canadian Classical Musicians under 30, Mari has performed at Carnegie Hall, as soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and with the Orchestra Symphonique de Québec among others, and recently performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto as soloist with the St Giles Symphony Orchestra. A frequent recitalist and chamber musician, Mari has performed across the USA, Canada, France, Switzerland, and South Africa, and participated in summer festivals such as the Tanglewood Music Centre, Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, Fontainebleau Music, and the Lucerne Festival Academy.

An avid chamber musician, Mari has received mentorship from members of the Takács Quartet, The Juilliard Quartet, and Cleveland Quartet. She has also performed the works of some of the world's leading 20th and 21st century composers, including Steve Reich and Sofia Gubaidulina, in both the New Juilliard and AXIOM Ensembles. Equally at home in orchestral settings, Mari has performed in concerts under such conductors as Alan Gilbert, Andris Nelsons, Marin Alsop, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Barbara Hannigan.

She received her Master’s of Music and Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School in New York City, studying with Richard Aaron. She also studied Baroque Cello with Phoebe Carrai in Juilliard’s Historical Performance department. Prior to this, her primary teachers included John Kadz, Johanne Perron, and Christine Bootland. She maintains and active performing and teaching career and makes her home near Edmonton with her husband, their three young kids, and dog Teddy.