Masaki named Banff Centre music director

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This article was published 18/04/2023 (1245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Less than a year after being named to the Order of Manitoba, Brandon University music professor Megumi Masaki received another big appointment last week — new director of music at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Beginning May 1, Masaki will be tasked with leading the implementation of the centre’s overall music programming, which involves developing and nurturing prospective artists who have enrolled in this prestigious educational institute.

Masaki will continue to work as a music professor here in Brandon, with this new position also representing a “great opportunity for partnership and collaboration,” according to BU dean of music Greg Gatien.

“Needless to say, we are delighted that Megumi is adding this role to her already full plate, while remaining fully committed to the mission of our School of Music and university as a continuing member of our faculty,” Gatien said in a news release last Friday.

Banff Centre dean of arts Mark Wold was similarly excited about Masaki’s appointment, stating her experience as an international performer, multimedia artist, post-secondary educator and curator will come in handy for this new leadership role.

“With Megumi’s leadership, energy and enthusiasm, we are in the best possible hands,” Wold said. “We’re lucky to have her determination and expertise.”

On a personal level, the Banff Centre also had a formative impact on Masaki’s trajectory as an artist, since she participated in the institute’s Gifted Youth Program in 1977.

Over the following 45 years, Masaki said the centre provided her with the exact environment and inspiration she needed to learn and hone her craft.

“I am honoured to give back to this exceptional place and lead music programming that is built upon the strengths of the past and aligns with Banff Centre’s innovative strategic objectives,” she said.

Born in Japan, Masaki’s family arrived in Winnipeg when she was eight years old. Having taken up the piano before the big move, Masaki began touring at the age of 12.

Since then, she said, she has become an advocate for Canadian and Manitoban music, performing as a soloist and chamber musician around the world.

Masaki has also become well known as a talented multimedia artist, having collaborated with composers, visual artists, writers, choreographers and scientists to create 74 original works, including music-themed documentaries.

She became a BU faculty member in 2006 and has taken on a variety of responsibilities beyond teaching at the School of Music. This includes founding BU’s New Music Festival and becoming the artistic director of the long-running Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition.

Last year, Masaki was inducted into both the Order of Manitoba and the Royal Society of Canada for her various accomplishments in art and education.

» The Brandon Sun