Wilma van Berkel
Wilma van Berkel, born in the Hague, the Netherlands, obtained both her teacher's and performer's degrees from the Rotterdam Conservatory, where she studied with Hans van Goch and Jorge Oraison. She was awarded two consecutive Foreign Exchange Scholarships from the government of Czechoslovakia and a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Culture to study at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts with Štepán Rak. Wilma teaches guitar at the music faculty of the university of Western Ontario. Apart from maintaining a busy private music studio, she performs with Duo Resonance (Sibylle Marquardt, flute), and with violinist Corey Gemmell as well as soprano Sherry Steele.
Canada’s leading guitar duo, Robert Kubica and Wilma van Berkel, possess "a charisma that is rare in the guitar world", and critics have consistently praised the duo's expressive range, technical facility, and audience rapport. Their two-CD set of the complete guitar duets of Fernando Sor on the Naxos label has sold tens of thousands of copies around the world, has been featured regularly on both English and French radio in Canada, and has received glowing reviews in Canada, the U.S., Germany, France and Spain.
The duo is continually expanding their repertoire through brilliant transcriptions of works which showcase their expansive palette of tone colours, such as Janácek’s intimate cycle of piano miniatures On an Overgrown Path, and Dvorák’s vibrant Slavonic Dances. The duo has also commissioned important new works such as Alan Torok’s La Symétrie Charmante, which is featured on the duo’s third CD entitled The Charm of Symmetry (1998), and his Flamenco-influenced concerto for two guitars and string orchestra.
The Kubica-van Berkel duo was formed in 1990 in Prague, on the advice of the renowned guitarist and composer Štepán Rak, with whom both Robert and Wilma were studying at the time. Rak, delighted with their ensemble work and imagination, soon began presenting the duo in concert in cities around the Czech Republic. Since 1992 they have been based in Canada, where they have been in demand as concert artists and as teachers. They have been awarded numerous grants from both the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council. Both Robert and Wilma have been on faculty at The National Music Camp of Canada for the past 8 years.
Degrees and Post Graduate Studies
- 1990-1992 Post graduate studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, Czech Republic.
- Two-year Foreign Exchange scholarship and scholarship from the Dutch Ministry of Culture
- 1988-1990 Performance Degree, Rotterdam Conservatory, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- 1983-1988 Teaching Degree, Rotterdam Conservatory
Performing Experience
- In 2005 formed duo with Corey Gemmell, violinist
- As a member of the Kubica/van Berkel Guitar Duo, formed in 1990,
performed many concerts in Europe and Canada - Had many performances broadcast on radio networks in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and both French and English Canada
- Released three recordings: Two volumes of "The Complete Guitar Duets of Fernando Sor" on Naxos International and "The Charm of Symmetry" on Woodlark Discs
- In 1999 formed the flute and guitar duo: Duo Resonance with Sybille Marquardt
- As a free lance musician worked with and accompanied many outstanding musicians including Corey Gemmell, violinist and Sherry Steele, soprano.
- Frequently adjudicates festivals such as the Peel Music Festival, London Kiwanis Festival ,The Winnipeg Music Festival, the Brandon Music Festival and most recently the Burlington Festival, Calgary Kiwanis Festival and OMFA Provincials.
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