Jan Urke

Instructor, Double Bass

BMus (University of Toronto); further studies in orchestral at the Banff Centre for Performing Arts

Jan Urke is Principal Double Bass of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. A student of Tom Monohan at the University of Toronto and Stuart Knussen at the Banff Centre for the Arts, he has taught as a sessional instructor of double bass at the University of Alberta since the mid 1980s, as well as a contract instructor of double bass at the Alberta College Conservatory Music. Mr. Urke has freelanced with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Ballet Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra. Formerly a member of L' Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec and the Thunder Bay Symphony, Mr. Urke has been Principal Bassist of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since 1980. He has appeared as a soloist with the Edmonton Symphony, Edmonton Chamber Orchestra, and Pro Coro Canada, and served as a Resource Artist at the the Banff Centre for a number of summers.

Career Highlights and Achievements

Performing with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Edmonton Symphony's performance at Carnegie Hall