About the Group

The Overtonic Trio is a keyboard ensemble consisting of Cameron Denby and Caroline Bucher on marimba and vibraphone, and Kiara Nathaniel on piano. Over the past four years, we have been working together in various capacities, but typically as part of larger projects. We eventually realized that by creating music for our own unique combination of instruments, and our clear vision of representation, we had the potential to work together to create a special experience for an audience.  We are bringing our unique sound to Western Canada on a tour from Winnipeg to Whitehorse in September 2023.

For our upcoming tour, we are preparing a collection of standards and classic popular tunes with roots in classical music. The music will be adapted and arranged for our unique instrumentation, moving freely between the original classical material, to the re-imagination as a popular tune, and into our own adaptations of the music. We perform a variety of styles, including classical, baroque, ragtime, and jazz. We also perform contemporary music by Kiara Nathaniel, who is a composer as well as pianist for the group. The marimba and vibraphone parts are shared by Cameron Denby and Caroline Bucher. In the past, we have performed music by Scott Joplin, Artie Matthews, Charles Hunter, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Antonio Vivaldi, Georges Bizet, Francisco Tarrega, Manuel de Falla and Duke Ellington.

In the past, our projects have been supported by the Manitoba Arts Council, Groundswell Inc., and Michael Nesbitt.

Samples

Cameron Denby

Cameron Denby is a Métis percussionist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  While he was at the University of Manitoba, Cameron collaborated frequently with other students, including his fellow percussionists as well as composers and singers. He was a winner of the 2017 Desautels Faculty of Music concerto competition, and the Lieutenant Governor's Trophy for best overall performance at the 2018 Winnipeg Music Festival. Cameron studied the marimba with Jack Van Geem at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, completing a Professional Studies Diploma in marimba performance.

Since returning to Winnipeg, Cameron has been working independently to create collaborative performances with artists in his community. In 2019, Cameron created the Fresh Blood Project, an ongoing initiative to support collaborations between emerging composers and percussionists. In the summer of 2020, Cameron recorded his debut EP, Music for Vibraphone, with 100% of proceeds being donated to Black Lives Matter. As a performer, Cameron has worked with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Little Opera Company, and is the music director for the Chai Folk Ensemble. He has travelled around Canada, to the United States, Cuba, Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ukraine, and Israel. Outside of performance and collaboration, Cameron teaches at the Winnipeg Conservatory of Music and is a clinician around Winnipeg.
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Caroline Bucher

Caroline Bucher is a classically trained percussionist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and holds the position of Principal Timpanist with the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra.

Caroline graduated with her Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance in 2017, studying under Jeremy Epp (Principal Timpanist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) at the University of Manitoba. Caroline then continued her musical studies at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There she studied under Ed Stephan (Principal Timpanist of the San Francisco Symphony), completing her Master of Music in Percussion Performance in 2019. Throughout her studies, Caroline performed with many festival orchestras, including the YOA Orchestra of the Americas, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, and the Pacific Music Festival, touring across North America, Europe, and Japan.

In Winnipeg, Caroline continues to perform as a chamber and orchestral percussionist. She performs regularly with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and collaborates with Cameron Denby, the creator of the Fresh Blood Project. She is also an active clinician and teaches at the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts and the Desautels Faculty of Music Prep Studies program.

Kiara Nathaniel

Kiara Nathaniel (b. 1998) is an Indo - Canadian composer and pianist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Classically trained in both piano and composition, she received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance in 2020, studying with Dr. David Moroz.  She is currently in the process of completing her Master of Music in Composition, studying with Örjan Sandred.

Kiara’s compositions aim to explore emotions, the natural world, and human connection. She takes inspiration from a variety of musical genres such as pop, electronic, and minimalist music. Aside from her contemporary classical compositions, she also released her debut pop EP Indigo Sky in June 2022. Kiara has written for percussion ensemble multiple times over the past four years, frequently collaborating with local percussionist Cameron Denby through his regular concerts, most notably the Fresh Blood Project.

Kiara’s work Beams of Light (2022) for piano, cello and flute was written for Vancouver based ensemble Standing Wave and commissioned by Groundswell, a Winnipeg based new music organization. In the same year she also composed The Earth Will Remember for cello ensemble, and Rupture | Repair for orchestra, and most recently Three Landscapes: Concerto for Cello and Wind Ensemble. She has composed for multiple ensembles, including Standing Wave, the C String Collective, the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra and the University of Manitoba Wind Ensemble. Her music has been performed across Canada in Vancouver, Toronto, and Winnipeg. Kiara will be co-curating a Groundswell concert in Winter 2023.

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