Kathryn Ladano MMus is one of Canada's premiere bass clarinetists. She
has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across Canada and has
been featured on CBC radio and in print across the country. Several
works have been composed for her and her ensembles from some of
Canada's most distinguished composers. Kathryn holds a masters degree
in bass clarinet performance from the University of Calgary and an
Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of
Waterloo. Kathryn has participated in masterclasses conducted by world
renowned bass clarinetist Harry Sparnaay, and her performance
instructors include Stan Climie and Tilly Kooyman. In 2004, Kathryn was
a recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts grant which allowed her to
study with renowned bass clarinettist and improvisor, Lori Freedman in
Montréal. Kathryn has also studied Electroacoustic Composition with
Richard Windeyer.
As a specialist of New Music and Free Improvisation, Kathryn's
repertoire often incorporates extended techniques and implements
electroacoustic and audio/visual accompaniment. As an enthusiast of
bass clarinet repertoire, Kathryn has guest lectured in university
composition classes across Canada speaking about compositional
techniques used in music for her instrument.
Kathryn has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the Calgary
New Music and Contemporary Showcase Festivals, Calgary's Nach Hause
concert series, the University of Waterloo, University of Guelph, and
University of Western Ontario's noon hour series' the Calgary high
performance rodeo, the KWCMS concert series, Toronto's Leftover
Daylight and NOW series', the 416 Creative Improvisors Festival,
Toronto's CONTACT New Music Marathon, the Guelph 'Sunday's at the
Centre' series, at Calgary's Beat Niq Jazz Club, at Vancouver's 1067,
and live on CKMS radio in Waterloo. Kathryn's music has also been
featured on CBC radio 2, CISM in Montréal, CJSW in Calgary, and on
TienCC in The Netherlands.
In 2004, Kathryn founded Canada's first bass clarinet duo, Bass
Impact with fellow bass clarinettist, Tilly Kooyman. Bass Impact had
the honour of representing Canada and performing a recital of Canadian
compositions at the 2005 World Bass Clarinet Convention in Rotterdam,
The Netherlands.
In 2006 Kathryn co-founded the Kitchener-Waterloo Improvisers
Collective (KWIC). KWIC's mandate has been to work to promote
improvising musicians, and the improvised music scene in the
Kitchener-Waterloo area.
Currently, Kathryn performs as a soloist and in a number of ensembles
that specialize in improvisation such as Digital Prowess, In Orbit, and
The VOC Silent Film Harmonic. Kathryn was a 2008 KW Arts Awards nominee
in the music category.
Kathryn Ladano is a Vandoren Canada Artist.
In the summer of 2010, Kathryn will be releasing her debut CD, Open.