JANE RUSSELL, viola

Jane Russell was born in England and began her musical education on the violin, and continued her musical training in Canada with Keiko Yamada of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in Ottawa. In 1992, when her family moved to British Columbia, Jane began studying with Ken Stromberg of Vernon, BC. Jane joined the Brio Trio under Mr. Stromberg’s direction, playing viola. A memorable summer music school and festival with Professor Robert Bardston, of Medicine Hat Conservatory of Music, confirmed Jane’s decision to take up the viola full-time.

In 2005, Jane completed her Bachelor of Music in Performance on viola at the University of Victoria, under the tutelage Joanna Hood, violist of the Lafayette Quartet. Jane’s enthusiasm for new music began at the University of Victoria. She was seriously involved with the group Sonic Lab, which specialize in presenting contemporary works of music. This love of new music continued on into her Masters of Music, which Jane completed in 2009 at McGill University, studying with Andre Roy.

After completing her Masters, Jane moved to Sudbury, ON. There, she held the position of Principal Viola and Instructor with the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra for seven years. During this same period she was the violist for the Juno nominated Silver Birch String Quartet. The quartet ran a concert series in Sudbury, toured Northern Ontario extensively, ran and coached music festivals, completed several residencies at Banff Centre and recorded several albums. Jane also began a project called “Pop Up Concerts” where she performed short concerts featuring the viola in non-traditional venues around the city of Sudbury.

Jane and her husband Eamonn moved to Banff in 2016.  Here they’ve welcomed their two music loving kiddos, Samson and Winnie, into the world.  Jane dedicates her time to organizing the Banff International String Quartet Competition at Banff Centre, teaching, making music and spending time outside swimming, biking, running and skiing.