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Teacher and
tuba player who started out with the North Vancouver Youth Band and the
National Youth Orchestra of Canada until attending the Eastman School of
Music on a Canada Council Arts Grant.
He was soon
putting his education to work by freelancing with the National Symphony
Orchestra of Peru, the Vancouver Ballet Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera
Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, a variety of brass groups, and
a touring production of Annie. In 1984, he landed a steady gig as
the Principal Tuba for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
He and bass
trombonist, Christopher Taylor, premiered Malcolm Forsyth’s “Two
Gentil Knyghtes”
at the University of Alberta’s Convocation Hall in Edmonton on 2nd
June 1985.
A decade
later, he started up the Mill Creek Colliery Band, a small orchestra of
twenty-five musicians, based on the model of the British brass bands. He has also been active with the
euphonium/tuba ensemble, Albertasaurus, formed in
1996, and they released a self-titled album in 2000. In June of 2001, they went on a
mini-tour of Alberta with stops at Gaetz Memorial
Church in Red Deer and Hope Lutheran Church in Calgary. Other groups with which he has been
active include Bass Line Road, the Edmonton Wind Ensemble, the Ergon Brass Octet, and the Tarragon Tea Orchestra.
On 23rd
January 2004, he was the guest soloist in a concert with The New Edmonton
Wind Sinfonia, a double bill comprising “Scherzo
for Tuba and Band” by Kevin Norbury and the
“Tuba Concerto” of Bruce Broughton at Convocation Hall. He was one of a handful of musicians
selected to perform in a program entitled Bach, Bernstein & Beaulojais
at All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral on 25th May 2007. Members of that makeshift group,
including Scott, returned to the cathedral in November for an advent
concert.
He was a
member of the Applied Faculty at the 2008 Cantando
Festival, held at the Winspear Centre in
Edmonton. On 3rd June
2008, his original composition, “Spotted Bear and the Death Lodge”,
was premiered at the International Trumpet Guild Conference. He has also participated in the
University of Alberta’s noon music series, including a recital on 25th
January 2010 of music by Deegan, Gershwin,
Schumann, Sulek, and Wilder.
In the field
of music education, he has taught at The King’s University College
and The University of Alberta.
Edmonton Wind Ensemble recordings
Snake Fence Country (Howard Cable)
CBC Records
5165 (Snake Fence Country)
Conductor – Harry Pinchin
Sources:
- http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/music2/swhetham.cfm
- http://www.islandtrombone.com/cantrbn.html
- http://www.folio.ualberta.ca/37/17/events.html
- http://www.chisham.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Search=soloist
- http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/story.html?id=52f5ce9b-0c23-4f04-9afa-499ba670c527
- http://www.allsaintscathedral.com/library/Saints%20Alive/Advent%202007.pdf
- www.cantando.org/concertprog/swe%20program.doc
- http://www.trumpetguild.org/2008conference/June3.pdf
- http://eventful.com/edmonton/events/monday-noon-music-scott-whetham-tuba-allene-/E0-001-026441466-0
- http://www.kingsu.ca/academic-departments/music/sessional-teachers.html
- http://www.shifting.ca/albertasaurus/index.html
- http://www.harrogateband.org/band-008.htm
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