ABOUT
Adrian Dennis is an artist that seeks to push artistic boundaries. Born in London Ontario in 1989, and
raised in Waterloo Ontario, Adrian found music and the guitar at age 12. He quickly became immersed in
various styles of music and took to composing his own songs at a young age. This evidently led to
studying Jazz, a complex art form with a rich history and plenty to be inspired by. After becoming
involved in high-school Jazz groups, Adrian moved to Toronto in 2008 to study Jazz formally at the
University of Toronto. There, he studied intently with seasoned educators David Occhipinti and Geoff
Young, and began composing his own compositions and leading his own groups.
Now based in Toronto, Adrian leads the Adrian Dennis Quartet; made up of some of Toronto’s strongest up-and-coming musicians. The band recorded their debut full length album in December of 2022 entitled “Moon Rising”. Adrian aims to capture an imaginative and emotionally driven inner world with his music, touching on musical influences like Wayne Shorter and Bill Evans; and European jazz
musicians David Doruzka (guitar) and Kristjan Randalu (piano). With one foot in the past and one in the future, Adrian looks to crystallize his artistic vision and create music that listeners can find instantly
relatable.
THE ADRIAN DENNIS QUARTET
The Adrian Dennis Quartet plays original and classic modern jazz
" This group has a special aura, the kind you find in musicians with extensive stage experience and encounters with other great artists. There’s also a cultural aspect to Adrian Dennis’s music. "
- Paris-Move.com
Alto Saxophone
MATT WOROSHYL
Matt Woroshyl is an award winning saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He has performed with esteemed musicians such as Jamie Cullum, Jane Monheit, Donny McCaslin, Wycliffe Gordon, Adam O’Farrill, Mike Murley, Robi Botos, Eric Marienthal, Tim Ries, Jon Faddis, Ingrid Jensen, Aaron Goldberg, Leo P, Mark Godfrey, Gabriel Zucker, Allison Au, Marie Goudy, John MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Orchestra, the Kyle Athayde Dance Party, After Funk, and KamyR, among others.
Matt has performed extensively in such venues and festivals as the Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, Terminal 5, The Toronto Jazz Festival, Koerner Hall, Mile One Centre, The Sitka Jazz Festival, The Ottawa Jazz Festival, and The Rex Hotel.
Matt released his debut album Forward in 2018, featuring Toronto’s brightest in Alexei Orechin on guitar, Julian Anderson-Bowes on bass, Ian Wright on drums, and special guest WDR Big Band’s Billy Test on piano.
Matt is also a clinician, having worked with students across Canada and the United States. Matt possesses an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in Jazz Performance and a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music.
Upright Bass
MALCOLM CONNOR
Malcolm Connor has established himself as a sought after bassist in Toronto’s vibrant music scene. Malcolm has been recorded on multiple albums ranging from jazz to modern folk and hip-hop.
Malcolm continues to perform regularly as a freelance sideman in many small jazz ensembles, as well as in the Toronto Jazz Orchestra. One can also hear Malcolm in singer/songwriter settings with Belinda Corpuz, and the improvisational hip-hop collective "Czyphor".
In the forced hiatus due to the Covid 19 lockdowns, Malcolm created series of solo works, performed and recorded in isolation, under the banner "MCLoops".
An alumnus of University of Toronto Jazz Program, Malcolm was the recipient of the 2013 "SUBA Institute Award for Performance
Excellence" which led to the recording of the eight piece group "Visim", who's EP consists of original arrangements of music from each of the band members respective cultural backgrounds. In 2017, Malcolm led a Jazz/Hip-Hop collaboration to be the recipient of the "TD Discovery Series" bursary.
Drums
MARK BALLYK
Mark Ballyk is a musician and experimental artist who has created works throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, and China. He pursued his interest for music and art by studying jazz performance at the University of Toronto and the Manhattan School of Music, as well as sound art at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.
Mark’s work revolves around creating unique aesthetic experiences that interrogate and create relations between natural, urban and virtual environments. he is known for his emphasis on artistic risk-taking and unconventional performance strategies.
Since living in Berlin, Mark’s work has increasingly focused on digital objects and their ubiquitous impact across all fields of human activity. He seeks to establish notions of intimacy and real temporal experience within this context, highlighting the power of performance, risk-taking experimentation, and the repurposing of digital tools for work that inspires transformation in consciousness. his artistic vision is one that aims to challenge preconceived notions of art-making and spark new ways of thinking.
mark has collaborated with several notable artists, including Shasha Chen, Nick Dunston, Kaan Güneşberk, Dillon Bastan and others. mark’s teachers have included Michael Carvin and Samir Chatterjee (drums and percussion), Joe Morris (improvisation), and Luc Döbereiner and Johannes Regnier (computer).
