Melanie Doderai is a dedicated musician, educator, and performer with a deep passion for inspiring the next generation of musicians. Holding a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, and Master of Education, Melanie combines her academic expertise with a wealth of experience in music education and performance.
An active member of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers Association, Melanie holds an Advanced Specialist Certification from the Royal Conservatory of Music and has published ten theory books for string instruments through Mel Bay Publications. She is also a proud recipient of the CMFTA Award for Recognition of Professional Achievement, which she has held since 2010.
Melanie currently serves as an early childhood music specialist with Elk Island Catholic Schools, alongside a diverse professional practice that includes private instruction, leading music camps and performance masterclasses, adjudicating, and freelance performance. Melanie is recognized as Canada’s first aerial silk violinist and was featured on Canada’s Got Talent.
Beyond performing, Melanie is a passionate advocate for music education, leading workshops, masterclasses, and community outreach programs to inspire musicians of all ages. She also serves on the executive board and volunteers for numerous music organizations, including the Alberta Orff Chapter and the Fort Saskatchewan Music Festival. In addition, she is an active member of several professional music organizations.
Learn more about her work at www.silkandstrings.ca
ELLEN CHORLEY (she/her) is an Edmonton-based playwright, producer, director and arts educator. She is the current Artistic and Festival Director of the Nextfest Arts Company which produces Nextfest: Edmonton’s annual emerging arts festival, the Academy Director of the Theatre Network Summer Academy, the Students’ Club Facilitator for the Citadel Theatre, a teacher for Foote Theatre School at the Citadel Theatre and a Sessional Instructor at MacEwan University.
As a playwright, Ellen has had her plays produced all over Canada. Most recently, her play “Everybody Loves Robbie” was produced by Edmonton’s Northern Light Theatre and awarded the 2021 Alberta Literary Award / Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Drama. In her spare time, Ellen collects copies of the novel “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë. She currently has 117 copies.
ELLEN CHORLEY
Playwright, Theatre Artist and Educator
Artistic & Festival Director, THE NEXTFEST ARTS COMPANY
Director of Education & Summer Academy, THEATRE NETWORK
Artistic Director, PROMISE PRODUCTIONS
Students' Club Facilitator, THE CITADEL THEATRE
Instructor, FOOTE THEATRE SCHOOL AT THE CITADEL THEATRE
Session Instructor, MACEWAN UNIVERSITY
DANCE:
Maureen Tigner-Morison
Adela Wedler has an Associate of Music in Piano Teaching and Piano Performance, and a Licentiate of Music in Piano Performance. These were all completed through the former Western Board of Music, affiliated with the University of Alberta. In addition, Mrs. Wedler completed her Bachelor of Education in music at the U of A and taught music at the elementary and secondary levels with Edmonton Public Schools. Mrs. Wedler has seen many piano students in her private studio, at all levels, many of these staying with her throughout their school years. Many have gone on to study music at the University level. Mrs. Wedler has been on the ARMTA board at both the Edmonton and provincial levels and is a member of the Boris Roubakine Piano Club, a group of piano teachers that arrange master classes to keep active in their own performances. She is also a church musician, composing for choir, piano, and organ, volunteers her music at several long term care centres, and is a free-lance accompanist.
In her spare time, Mrs. Wedler and her husband love to travel and to visit their children and grandchildren in various provinces. Their last major trip was cycling in The Netherlands.
Maureen is a dance educator with over 25 years of experience at Victoria School of the Arts with roles as a K-12 Arts Curriculum Coordinator, Dance Department Head, and an Arts/Humanities Staffing Consultant with Edmonton Public Schools. She wrote dance curricula for Edmonton Public Schools and was a co-writer on the first International Baccalaureate dance programme in Cardiff, Wales. Maureen completed her M.Ed. at the University of Alberta with a focus on decolonizing dance curriculum and practice in 2020 and is a recent graduate from Royal Roads University with a certification in Executive Coaching in 2024.
Maureen has taught in local dance studios and continues to be a guest artist in the community, most recently as a sessional teacher at the University of Alberta, in Secondary Arts Education, a choreographer for Citadel Theatre’s Young Company and Korora Choirs, and a guest dance teacher with St. Albert Community Services. She continues her professional development with dance courses and teacher training certifications such as the Katherine Dunham Teaching Intensive in Chicago and Scott Putman’s Elemental Body Alignment System. Maureen has studied many dance forms including jazz, tap, ballet, African, hip-hop, composition, and modern dance in Edmonton and abroad. Prior to her teaching career, she was a professional, commercial dance artist who studied and toured internationally. Past credits include ArtsTrek faculty instructor, co-artistic director of Dance Nouveau, Rythmatix tour in Vancouver/Los Angeles, and choreographer for Grant MacEwan’s Theatre Arts Program, Korora Choirs, St. Albert Children’s Theatre, Citadel Theatre, and Theatre Network. She has served on many arts boards including the Alberta Dance Alliance, Grant MacEwan’s Theatre Arts Advisory board, and most recently the City of St. Albert’s Arts Development Advisory Committee. She continues to teach, choreograph, dance, adjudicate, and create!
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STRINGS - BAND
INSTRUMENTALS:
Melanie Smith-Doderai
Whitecourt Rotary Music Festival is proud to announce the 2026 Adjudicators:
CHOIRS, VOCAL SOLOS,
CHORAL SPEECH, SPEECH ARTS:
Ellen Chorley