CLIFF RIDLEY • HIGH BARITONE
A native of Victoria BC, he studied at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, the Banff Centre and the Courtenay Youth Music Centre. He worked in the 20th century vocal repertoire with the distinguished Canadian soprano Frances James Adaskin. He was also fortunate to be able to fill out his vocal studies with Selena James and Catherine Wendol in Victoria, and with Robert Irwin and Dorothy Lawson in Winnipeg. He has performed frequently in Vancouver over the last few years and his repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary.

Cliff released two CD’s in 2006 both accompanied by the young Canadian pianist, Danielle Marcinek. The first, Ach des Knaben Augen (Ah, the boy’s eyes), explores themes of life and death and includes four of the Geistliche Lieder (Spiritual Songs) of Hugo Wolf, Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs) by Johannes Brahms, and Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Deaths of Children).  The second, Gentle Lady, do not sing sad songs…, celebrates the music written for baritone and piano by two of Canada’s most distinguished 20th century composers, Jean Coulthard and Violet Archer.  The recordings have been played on FM radio in Canada, the USA and Europe and are housed in the Rogers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and at the Library & Archives Canada.  The Gentle Lady CD is distributed by the Canadian Music Centre.  A music video of the title song, Gentle Lady, has recently been filmed with Cliff and Danielle in interaction with animation produced by the graphic artist and film maker Scott Hastings.  We await the release of what has been an exciting artistic endeavor for all of us. 

In 2009 Cliff and Danielle released their 3rd CD, Outward Voyage which is a compilation of Art Songs written for the performers by the Richmond BC composer Christopher Ludwig. It features a near complete setting of Ken Cathers book of poetry, Outward Voyage published by Oolichan Books in 1980. Set in five Parts the poems flow seamlessly in a continuous musical drama, a break from the Art Song tradition of setting poems individually.

Danielle had earlier worked with Chris on his piano CD, Expressivity, and when that project came to completion, Chris offered to write an Art Song for Cliff and Danielle together. One Art Song soon materialized into many as the performers and composer became more excited about the project. Cliff chose the poet Ken Cathers from a long remembered and favorite set of poems, Ladysmith, that he had encountered as a young man, reminding him of his childhood on Vancouver Island. Chris particularly liked Ken’s Outward Voyage poems which were set around the Gulf Islands. He knew the landmarks himself as he explored these same waters as a youth. Taking a 25-year-old clue as to where this man Ken Cathers lives, a phone number was tried in Ladysmith BC where we found him still residing. Ken was surprised but receptive to this  group of Art Song enthusiasts breaking into his life   so intently.  He confessed after the premier a year later (the first time we actually met in person), “I didn’t know what to expect” but we could tell that he was deeply moved.

This recording is the result of a delicate thread linking poet, composer, singer and pianist through time, place, memory and desire, culminating in a lasting creative bond. There is a parallel with the poems and Cliff sums up the recording in this way: “Through the flux of life and the shifting sea, the Outward Voyage poems are also an inward voyage, coming to anchor in a present time and place – the Gulf Islands of British Columbia.”

Cliff brings to his music many years of study in the complexity and depth of human thought and emotion. He holds a B.Sc.(Honours) in psychology from the University of Victoria, and an M.A.and Ph.D.in clinical psychology from the University of Manitoba. He is also a graduate of the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and a member of the American and the lnternational Psychoanalytic Associations. He practices clinical psychology and psychoanalysis in Vancouver BC, working with adults and children.

DANIELLE MARCINEK • PIANO
Danielle holds a Bachelor of Music degree in performance with distinction from the University of Victoria and an ARCT in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She studied with Dr. Robin Wood in Victoria and with Pat Miller in Port Alberni. In 1996 she was a recipient of the Denis Simons award for Musician of the Year. Danielle has represented Nanaimo at the provincial music festival and has twice been the winner for her performance in the Canadian Composer class in the senior division.

She has extensive experience in working with choirs in the lower mainland and Vancouver Island, including Surrey Children's Choir, the Bach Children's Choir, and Coastal Sound Music Academy and has been an accompanist at the prestigious International Choral Kathaumixw, in Powell River. Along with her work with baritone Cliff Ridley, Danielle teaches piano and is featured as a solo performer on composer Christopher Ludwig’s recently released CD under the Con Brio label titled Expressivity: Keyboard Works.  A multi-talented musician with wide interests, Danielle has had experience in a rock band and has branched out into the jazz and popular piano/vocal works and is also performing in that genre as a solo artist.