Accompanists
TITA EVIDENTE
LARRY GRAVES
MICHAEL MENEGON
JAKE OELRICHS
JAY SUSSMAN
Tita Evidente has been playing for dancers for more than 30 years, since arriving in Canada from her native Philippines. She first started as an accompanist at Pavlychenko Studios and York University, the National Ballet of Canada with Eric Bruhn as new artistic director, and The Toronto Dance Theatre with founding directors Patricia Beatty, David Earle, and Peter Randazzo. She has spent 27 years at the celebrated Banff Festival of the Arts in the Canadian Rockies in their Summer Dance program, and is playfully called, in Banff parlance, a ‘lifer’.
Evidente has played and taught music to dancers for major festivals and companies around the world, including the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Internationale Tanzwochen Wien (Vienna), The Royal Danish Ballet, and Skolen for Modern Dans (Denmark), among others. She has worked with numerous choreographers and teachers including Laura Alonso, Loipa Araujo, and Lazaro Carreno in Cuba, Sorella Englund in Denmark, Jean-Yves Ginoux in Paris, Susanne Linke in Germany, and Violette Verdy in New York. As well as The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Evidente also plays for the Toronto District School Board Performing Arts High Schools, Canada’s National Ballet School, and the National Ballet of Canada.
Evidente was invited last April by Madame Ramona de Saa, Director of the Escuela de Ballet Nacional de Cuba, to play in Havana for “Encuentro”, a festival of dancers from all over the world, learning the Cuban methodology. She is scheduled to teach dance pianists in Cuba next year in a course called Dance Accompaniment through Improvisation. She has participated in the Luminato Festivals playing for the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Nederlands Dans Theater. She has also composed music for film and choreography. She will continue to work with dancers; she thinks she has the best job in the world.
Larry Graves is a Juno-nominated multi-percussionist, drummer, and composer. Larry has dedicated himself to the exploration and innovation of rhythm-based performance traditions from around the world through research, creation, and education. After studying performance and composition at the Berklee College of Music, he was charmed by the deep sounds and wondrous poly-rhythms of West Africa. This led him on several journeys to Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Senegal to further explore music, dance and language.
Graves’ musical projects have received support from the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts, and he was nominated for a Juno Award in 2007 for his work with the Toronto-based world-beat ensemble, Mr. Something Something.
Larry has led numerous original music projects including DRUMHAND, Surefire Sweat and The Libation Street Band. He also performs as a side-person with various Toronto artists such as Donné Roberts and Moneka Arabic Jazz, teaches drum set and percussion at York University, and creates music for various contemporary dance organizations in Toronto. Larry runs a private drumming instruction program from his home, spends time cycling around Toronto, and builds LEGO with his son.
Michael Menegon graduated from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 1986 and has been a resident accompanist ever since. In that time, he has worked as a dancer with many Toronto based artists, choreographed works presented in Canada, Mexico, South America and Cuba, co-founded and directed fFIDA fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists, taught dance, worked as recording artist, singer/songwriter, guitar player and vocalist, composed for dance, and currently heads an improvisation-based group called SOM-Sound of Movement.
Jake Oelrichs is a drummer and piano player with a BFA in Music from York University. He is a recipient of the Oscar Peterson Scholarship, and the Imasco Award for the Performing Arts.
At York, Jake studied jazz and Afro-Cuban music with Mark Eisenman, Barry Elms, and Mike Marcuzzi, as well as free-improvisation with renowned pianist and CCMC member Casey Sokol. He studied privately for three years with world-renowned jazz percussion teacher Jim Blackley.
Jake fell in love with dance accompaniment while playing for York Dance modern classes to help fund his studies. He has since played for modern and ballet teachers including Peggy Baker, Christopher House, Sacha Ivanochko, Helen Jones, Elizabeth Leyds-Holmes, John Ottman, Holy Small, Kenny Pearl, Holly Small, and Darryl Tracy. He has accompanied dance at National Ballet, TDT, Dancemakers, Proartedanza, Pia Bauman School of Dance, T.M.U. (formerly Ryerson), Etobicoke School of the Arts, Earl Haig, Rosedale Heights, and Cawthra.
Jake plays in various groups at night, including surf-rock band Run With The Kittens, singer-songwriter Abigail Lapell, and improvisational group Aurochs.
(https://www.runwiththekittens.ca/)
(https://www.aurochsmusic.com/)
(https://www.all-set.org/)
(https://www.insoundmusic.com/music)
Jay Sussman is a highly motivated and skilled musician with over 15 years of professional experience playing the drums. He holds an M.A. and an Honours B.F.A. from York University’s Faculty of Music, and frequently records and performs with live music ensembles encompassing a multitude of genres. Sussman also accompanies live dance performances, and for over 10 years, he has collaborated with a number of prominent institutions including Canada’s National Ballet School, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, The National Ballet of Canada, Ryerson University, the School of TDT, Toronto Dance Theatre, York University, and numerous dance instructors. He has also taught music at York University’s Faculty of Music, and Cosmo School of Music, and he continues to teach privately.
Stich Wynston is a drummer, composer, bandleader and sideman born and based in Toronto, Canada and best known for his 30+ years as the dynamic drummer for The Shuffle Demons. He attended York University from 1980 – 1985 where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree majoring in music including studies in jazz with John Gittens and Lorne Lofsky, South Indian classical music with Trichy Sancharan and 20th-century classical music with James Tenney. During that time period Stich was also accepted to the world-renowned Banff School of Fine Arts summer jazz program for three years running in 1982, 1983 and 1984. While at the Banff School, Stich had the good fortune of studying with and playing with Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Steve Coleman, John Abercrombie, Anthony Braxton, Albert Manglesdorf and Julian Priester.
In the late seventies while still in high school, Stich attended two Jamey Aebersold summer jazz clinics with a faculty that included: Dave Liebman, Tom Harrell, Slide Hampton, Ronnie Mathews, Hal Galper, James Williams, Ron McLure, Rufus Reid, Elliot Zigmund and Ed Soph.
Stich has performed with numerous jazz artists and ensembles including: Julius Hemphill, Charles Gayle, Jon Ballantyne, Phil Dwyer, George McFetridge, Mike Murley, Brownman Ali, Lorne Lofsky, Ted Quinlan, Bob Mover, Jane Bunnett, Holly Cole and Molly Johnson. Stich is also one of the co-founders and co-leaders of the legendary Shuffle Demons, a band with whom he has released nine CDs and toured with for over three decades performing at festivals, concert stages and clubs all over the world.
Stich has also worked with many prominent artists in more commercial settings including: Jane Siberry, Tom Cochrane, Alex Lifeson, Big Sugar, The Sidemen, Dr. Pop and the Noise, Kobo Town, Digging Roots, Da and Abolengo.
For the past three decades Stich has been one of the first call musical accompanists for dance in Toronto working at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Toronto Dance Theatre Company, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre School and Company, Dancemakers, Ballet Creole, The National Ballet of Canada School, York University Dance Department, Ryerson University Dance Department, George Brown College Dance Department and many more working with the top dance teachers and choreographers both locally, domestically and internationally. Stich has also toured with the Ballet Creole Company performing in theatres across southern Ontario.