Beethoven’s 9th

A native of Toronto, violinist Jeremy Bell earned a B. Mus degree from the University of Toronto, and from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he received his Masters and Doctor of Music.  Joining the Penderecki String Quartet in 1999, Dr. Bell is Artist in Residence at Wilfrid Laurier University where he teaches violin, chamber music, and is the author of “Beethoven String Quartets – Performance Perspectives”.  

Described by the Toronto Star as a violinist who “agitates in the most intelligent and persuasive manner”, Bell has recorded over 25 discs including the premiere Canadian recording of the Béla Bartók string quartet cycle, Marjan Mozetich’s ‘Lament in the Trampled Garden’ (winner of the 2010 JUNO Award), and the complete Grieg sonatas for violin and piano with pianist Shoshana Telner. From 2000-2007, Bell was the artistic director of NUMUS Concerts where he created several multi-media events at the Perimeter Institute. He has performed a wide range of music, performing baroque with Consortium Aurora Borealis and Les Violons du Roy, Cuban jazz with Hilario Duran, as well as collaborating with pipa virtuoso Ching Wong, NYC’s DJ Spooky, and rap star Jay-Z. 

In addition, Bell has performed as concerto soloist with many orchestras in Canada, USA and Mexico, including the Toronto Symphony, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra.  Currently he is the artistic director of QuartetFest and the Leith Summer Festival, and has been on faculty at the Festival del Lago International Academy of Music in Mexico since 2018.  Bell lived in Sudbury from 1977-1985 and is deeply grateful for his formative mentorship with Metro and Mary Kozak. 

An award-winning violist and chamber musician whose playing has been described as “absolutely splendid… dancing with emotion,” (The Day) Dr. Jamie Arrowsmith’s career spans genres and pushes boundaries. He has collaborated with Asian and Arabic musicians as part of the London, UK-based Notes Inégales Improvisation Ensemble, performed with renowned jazz and blues artists throughout the United States, and has appeared at several leading music festivals, including the BRAVO! Vail Valley Music Festival, the Strings in the Mountains Chamber Music Festival, and the Southbank Centre New Music Biennial. Jamie has been a regular guest artist with the Cambrian Concert Series and the City of Lakes Music Society, and continues to perform as a guest soloist and chamber musician around Northern Ontario. 

Jamie holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Kent State University and Brunel University London. His academic work focuses on the intersection of professional and amateur practice in community orchestras, a topic for which he has published and presented papers at conferences around the world. He has won numerous first prize awards as a chamber musician, including the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, the MTNA Chamber Music Competition and the Green Lake String Quartet Competition. He has been part of the distinguished panel of judges for the Guangya Chengdu International Violin Competition in Chengdu, China. He has also been recognized by Northern Ontario Business as a 40 Under 40 award winner for community arts leadership, and was a recipient of the Joan Mantle Music Trust Community Award. He is also the recipient of the Positive Impact Award from the Cambrian Student Council, for his work supporting student success and wellbeing, as well as the Jamie West Good Neighbors’ Award. In 2025, he was deeply honoured to be granted the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his contributions to community arts and culture. 

Jamie is the Music Director of the Sudbury Youth Orchestra, and the founder and director of the Sudbury Sound Collective improvisation ensemble. He has also been Resident Conductor of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, and has twice been named as Music Director for the Northern Ontario Music Festival Honour Band. From 2005 to 2023 he was a full-time professor in the School of Music at Cambrian College, and remains an active string clinician and adjudicator around the province. Jamie has taught English and Music with the Rainbow District School Board, where he is currently a vice-principal.