Artists of Chisel Creek

Tilman Sandvoss is an accomplished orchestral, chamber, and solo musician noted for having a luscious tone and profound musicality. He began his musical education at home with his father Christopher Sandvoss at the young age of five, and later continued his viola studies in the Academy and Advanced Performance Program at the Mount Royal Conservatory. He has participated in international festivals including the Festival Academy Budapest, the Domaine Forget Academy and its Chamber Music Intensive program, as well as the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove. In 2019 he was also the only violist to be invited to Germany to take part in the Goslar Internationale Konzertarbeitschwochen, where he studied with Elisabeth Kufferath, professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover and member of the Tetzlaff Quartet.

Tilman has had the pleasure of working with many internationally distinguished artists and teachers such as Kim Kashkashian, Antoine Tamestit, Maxim Rysanov, Paul Coletti, Gerald Stanick, Andres Cardenes, Sharon Wei, and members of the Calidore, Kronos and Chiaroscuro Quartets, to name a few.

As a fan of new music, Tilman has both collaborated and given world premieres with composers such as Vincent Ho, Peter Jancewicz, Brian Current, Jörg Widmann, Julian Anderson and Huw Watkins.

Recently, Tilman has founded an international chamber music festival in Western Canada called Chisel Creek Classical, where he invites artists from around the world to perform and teach over a two week period.

Tilman received his Bachelors of Music degree (Honours) in viola performance at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto under the mentorship of violist Steven Dann. He is continuing his education at The Hochschule für Musik in Basel where he is pursuing his Masters degree in the class of violist Silvia Simionescu.

Tilman performs on a viola made by his father, master luthier Christopher Sandvoss.

Australian violinist Leanne McGowan is currently a Master’s student at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik Berlin with Professor Stephan Picard. She is the winner of the Dorcas McClean Travelling Scholarship for Violinists, Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Young Instrumentalists Prize and was awarded “Most Promising Player” at the Gisborne International Violin Competition, among many other prizes. She has performed as a soloist with the Queensland, Northern Rivers, Preston and South Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, Queensland Youth Symphony and Melbourne Conservatorium's Camerata Orchestra.

Leanne has performed all throughout Australia, Europe and the United States, at festivals such as the Kronberg Academy “Chamber Music Connects the World”, Gstaad Academy Festival, Marvão Academy, Kronberg Violin & Viola Masterclasses, Festival Academy Budapest, Keshet Eilon Mastercourse, Villars Music Academy, New York String Orchestra Seminar and Aspen Music Festival. Leanne has toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and substitutes regularly with the Berlin Philharmonic.

An avid chamber musician, Leanne has performed alongside musicians such as Antje Weithaas, Gidon Kremer, Miklos Perenyi, Henning Kraggerud, Tatjana Masurenko, Arnaud Sussman and Tessa Lark. She previously studied at the Colburn Conservatory of Music with Robert Lipsett and the Australian National Academy of Music with Dr Robin Wilson. She has received additional mentoring from Ana Chumanchenco, Christoph Poppen, Mihaela Martin, Kolja Blacher, Kristof Barati and Vadim Gluzman. When she is not playing the violin, Leanne loves to do anything outside, whether it be skiing, hiking or soaking up the sun in Berlin’s many parks.

Winner of the 2021 Michael Measures Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, Métis-Canadian cellist David Liam Roberts enjoys an international career as a soloist and chamber musician. With his Rilian Trio, David Liam recently won the 1st Prize, Audience Prize and Commission Prize at the 12th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in Norway.

The 2024-25 season includes two extensive tours of the Canadian Prairies with pianist Godwin Friesen (together they are known as Prairie Sons). The upcoming season also includes appearances at the Copenhagen Summer Festival (Denmark) and the Prince Edward County Festival (Ontario), Trondheim Kammermusikkfestival (Norway), as well as debuts in Calgary (Calgary Pro Musica) and Oslo with the Rilian Trio. Recent engagements include debuts in Tromsø, Norway, as well as recitals presented by the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium, Music Toronto and the Gallery Chamber Players of Niagara.

David Liam holds a Bachelors and Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he studied with Hans Jørgen Jensen and Andres Díaz. He is now studying with the acclaimed cellist Danjulo Ishizaka at the Basel Academy of Music in Switzerland.

davidliamroberts.com

Violinist and violist, Jennifer Armor has a passion for telling stories and performing joyfully. She was the winner of the 2024 Guelph Concerto Competition and will be performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto in their 2024/25 season. She shares a deep love of chamber music and in 2019 won the silver medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Competition with her string quartet. Jennifer is currently pursuing her masters degree in Basel, Switzerland at The Basel Academy of Music studying under Alina Pogostkina and is enjoying many mountain escapades and lots of dark chocolate. She graduated from her bachelors degree at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, Canada in 2024 studying with Paul Kantor and Barry Shiffman, and has had masterclasses with renowned faculty such as Leonidas Kavakos, Noah Bendix-Balgley, David Kim, and Barnabas Kelemen. In addition to her love of classical music, Jennifer is also an avid improviser and jazz vocalist and is studying jazz vocals as a minor at the academy.

Cellist Sabina Sandvoss was born into a musical family and received a cello on her fourth birthday. Since then, she has enjoyed a rich musical life, attending countless concerts and absorbing diverse artistic influences. Sabina received her early tutelage from her mother, cellist Beth Root Sandvoss, and performs on a cello handcrafted by her father, luthier Christopher Tilman Sandvoss.

Sabina studied in the Advanced Performance Program at Mount Royal Conservatory, where she had the privilege of performing in masterclasses with esteemed cellists such as Laurence Lesser, Gustav Rivinius, Alan Harris, Melissa Kraut, Estelle Choi, Tanja Tetzlaff, Colin Carr, and Johannes Moser. She has distinguished herself in numerous competitions, including winning the Rotary C3 Concerto Competition and first prize in the Frank Simpson Concerto Competition, leading to performances of the Dvořák Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations in spring 2022. Most recently, Sabina was a winner of the Corcoran Concerto Competition at the Glenn Gould School and will perform with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra at Koerner Hall during the 2025/2026 season, with acclaimed conductor Earl Lee. She has also advanced to the provincial and national levels in both the Calgary Performing Arts Festival and the Canadian Music Competition on numerous occasions.

In 2024, Sabina was awarded second place in the Canada Council’s Michael Measures Prize, recognizing her as one of the country’s most promising young classical musicians. This honor includes a $15,000 award and featured performances and recitals throughout the 2025 session and tour.

Italian-born violist Tristan Macaggi began his musical studies on violin at age 11 before discovering his passion for the viola at 16, studying under Dmitri Kourka. He completed his training at the Glenn Gould School in 2024 with Steven Dann and has worked closely with artists such as Krzysztof Chorzelski, Lech Antonio Uszyński, Pablo Hernán Benedí, and Richard Lester.

Tristan has performed across North America with ensembles including the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Hamilton Philharmonic, Royal Conservatory Orchestra, and the National Academy Orchestra of Canada under Alain Trudel. He is an alumnus of the Domaine Forget Chamber Music Intensive and has collaborated with members of the Kelemen, Chiaroscuro, London Haydn, Kronos, and Arditti Quartets. Recent highlights include a performance at the Opening Ceremony of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas and the 10th Anniversary Gala Concert of the Young Artists Orchestra of Las Vegas, with upcoming performances at the Chisel Creek Classical Series in Alberta (August 2025) and in Jinan and Shanghai, China (July 2025).

A committed educator, Tristan is on faculty with the Young Artists Orchestra of Las Vegas and will teach at the Cyrus Tang Foundation Summer Music Camp in China. He will begin graduate studies at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne (HEMU) in Sion, Switzerland in fall 2025.