A Fond Farewell To Dina Gilbert
For the past 8 years, we have had the incredible fortune of having Dina Gilbert as the Music Director of the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, and now it has been announced that at the end of the current Season she will be stepping down from her position. I had the unique privilege of being “behind the scenes” for nearly all of her tenure with the KSO in my former position working in the office as the marketing coordinator.
I can still very easily recall when I first met her. She was one of the finalists to fill the position and she was here to conduct the orchestra as part of the selection process. Her incredible passion and energy were immediately apparent. I was her ride to Sagebrush Theatre for the first rehearsal, and though it was uncommon for me to need to remain on site I was there for pretty much the entirety of that rehearsal. By the time they had reached their break, somehow I knew Dina was going to be the one getting the job. All of the finalists were great, we would have been fortunate to have any of them taking on the position, but there was that “I just can’t put my finger on it” feeling. And my strange feeling was right.
Dina came into the position full of exciting ideas. Over the last 8 years I have thoroughly enjoyed her concert programming, as has the rest of the audience. We have all been introduced to amazing musicians that she brought in as guest artists over the years that we may not have discovered otherwise. We have also all been dazzled by her clear love of music, her artistry as a conductor, and her infectious energy talking to the audience from the stage or in the lobby post-concert. And while she was dazzling us, she was also elevating the status of the KSO’s reputation across Canada.
Of course, her career wasn’t exclusively happening here in Kamloops. We’ve all been proudly watching all of her professional accomplishments as her career continued to build, with very recent highlights being her appointment as Music Director of the Walla Walla Symphony Orchestra and the newly created Associate Conductor position with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, to say nothing of the ever-increasing invitations to conduct orchestras across North America and overseas. It was obvious from the start that, to paraphrase Trooper, she was here for a good time, not a long time. And now, that time has come.
It was a privilege and a pleasure to work with her in our respective roles with the KSO, to have her commission and conduct a piece of mine, and in general to get to know her. I know we will all miss her, and we will continue to follow her career with great interest. It won’t be long before we’ll be telling people “I knew her when…”
Dina, you did a lot for the KSO and the Kamloops arts community. Thank you for everything.
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Ryan Noakes
Ryan Noakes was born in 1979 in Kamloops, British Columbia, where he grew up thinking life was a musical with his parents constantly playing and singing along with records. An accomplished singer, he has been a member of numerous choirs and vocal ensembles and performed in several musical theatre productions. Ryan received his BMus in composition from the University of Victoria in 2008. At UVic he was a two-time recipient of the Murray Adaskin Prize in Music Composition. Ryan also helped to establish two new vocal ensembles at the university. After graduating from UVic, he was instrumental in the creation of the Vancouver Island Chamber Choir; as a founding member, manager, and composer-in-residence. In 2010 Ryan relocated to Vancouver and received his MMus in composition from the University of British Columbia in 2012. He has recently returned to his home town of Kamloops.
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