Directed by Paolo Bortolussi, the UBC Contemporary Players ensemble includes graduate and undergraduate students from the School of Music focusing on music and performance of our time. Programs blend masterworks by internationally acclaimed composers with world premieres of works written expressly for the ensemble by UBC composition majors.

Flutist Paolo Bortolussi is a soloist, chamber artist and new music pioneer. Raised in Halifax, NS, he has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across Canada, the US and abroad. A specialist in contemporary music, Bortolussi is the flutist and co-director of the Nu:BC Collective, a new music and multimedia arts ensemble in residence at UBC. To date he has premiered over one hundred and fifty solo and chamber works. In 2016, Bortolussi released his first solo album, Israfel – music for flute and electronics, on the Redshift label, which includes works by Keith Hamel, Larry Lake, John Oliver and Kaija Saariaho. Currently principal flutist with the Vancouver Island Symphony, Bortolussi has appeared as soloist with the VIS as well as the Albany (NY) Symphony and the Turning Point Ensemble, and has performed with the Aventa Ensemble, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra, as well as the Vancouver and Victoria Symphony Orchestras. Bortolussi is on the music faculty of the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Trinity Western University. He holds a BMus in performance from the University of Ottawa as well as Masters and Doctoral degrees from Indiana University. He is currently director of the UBC Contemporary Players.

Leah Bruno is a Vancouver-based composer and multidisciplinary artist and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music at UBC. Her breadth of experience in the realms of music, acting and dance collaboration has led to a uniquely nuanced practice. As a composer, Bruno specializes in improvising for ballet—an outlet that she has found to have immensely shaped her musicality as a whole. Bruno frequently performs music of emerging composers in Vancouver and has recorded a number of premiers (Gabriella Yorke, Albert Wu, Hope Salmonson).

Joanne S. Na is a DMA student in Composition at UBC studying with Dorothy Chang, and serves as a coach for the Contemporary Players. Her works have been selected for scores and concerts throughout the US and South Korea, including the 63rd Annual University of Michigan Organ Conference, Pacific Chamber Orchestra’s Dream American Workshop, 2021 Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, Hwaum Project Academy Call for Scores (South Korea), among others. In 2021, she won the NAfME Student Composers Competition and received the Seoul Grand Philharmonic Orchestra Composers Award in 2020. She has collaborated with renowned artists and ensembles including Grammy-winning soprano Estelí Gomez, soprano Arwen Myers, cellist Arlen Hlusko, clarinetist Wonkak Kim, 4X5 Piano Duo, Delgani String Quartet, Kenari Quartet, Helix! New Music Ensemble, Hwaum Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Chamber Orchestra, and University of Oregon Symphony Orchestra. Her piece Open Letters for clarinet and piano is commercially recorded by clarinetist Wonkak Kim and pianist Eunhye Grace Choi and will be released in early 2024. Before coming to Canada, she studied in the US, earning her Bachelor’s from Rutgers University and Master’s from the University of Oregon.

Jackson Poling is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music at UBC and has been writing music since he was 13 years old. His key interests are in the genres of classical, rock, jazz and pop. Recently he co-created the musical improv show Peaceful Blips with artist Blue Chu, which he performed at the Vancouver Fringe Festival. He prides himself on his willingness to push boundaries by searching for sounds that will disturb and move audiences alike.

In the domain of the School of Music, Michael Tenzer finds a home in the Ethnomusicology division, where his musical pursuits traverse the global landscape. Engaging in a myriad of activities, Tenzer encompasses performance, composition, research, teaching, mentoring, music analysis, reflective writing, advocacy for diverse musical genres, and shaping the future of the world of music.

Hailing from New York City, Michael Tenzer pursued his undergraduate studies at Yale University, earning a BA in 1978. He completed a PhD in music composition at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986. A significant portion of his life, spanning five years or more, has been spent in Bali, Indonesia, immersing himself in the study of gamelan traditions. Additionally, in 1988-89, Tenzer delved into drumming and singing in South India, expanding his musical horizons.

Grateful for the guidance of esteemed mentors, including composers Martin Bresnick, Andrew Imbrie, and Gerard Grisey, as well as influential figures like Frank Bennett, N. Govindarajan, and Simha Arom, Michael Tenzer acknowledges the profound impact they have had on his musical journey. After a decade teaching music theory and composition at Yale University (1986-1996), he assumed the role of a professor of music at the University of British Columbia in 1996.

Among Tenzer’s co-founded, Gamelan Sekar Jaya in Berkeley, California, in 1979—an organization that continues to thrive. His compositions in Bali, integrating South Indian rhythms into the Balinese musical language, have left a lasting influence on the tradition. Notably, his advocacy for diverse world musics through publications has contributed to a broader perspective in music curricula. He continues to contribute to the musical landscape, he takes particular joy in directing Gamelan Gita Asmara, a group he founded in Vancouver and at UBC in 1996. Alongside these endeavors, he maintains a personal passion for jazz piano.

As the professor for Music 128, “Musical Rhythm and Human Experience,” a course required for incoming music students since 2019, he offers a global historical perspective on music and critiques the educational approaches within institutions. His teaching efforts were acknowledged in 2021 when the Society for Music Theory honored the course syllabus with its inaugural Diversity Course Design Award. Having directed numerous PhD dissertations and fostering lasting relationships with his advisees, many of whom are now university professors, Michael Tenzer remains dedicated to shaping the next generation of musicians.