Samantha Whelan Kotkas

Samantha Whelan Kotkas is a professional trumpet player, teaching artist, storyteller and award-winning children’s book producer with over 20 years working in the Alberta, Canada and International Arts communities.  She performs regularly with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Rosa Barocca, the Red Deer Symphony, Altius Brass and has authored several works which she has performed with Symphony Orchestras and Canada’s top jazz musicians.

Samantha is currently working on an immersive outdoor musical storytelling experience with original live and recorded music, story and dance called 'Wandering with Wonder'.  This project will premiere at the Leighton Art Centre in the fall of 2020.

In conjunction with her active career as a performer, Samantha is the education advisor for Calgary Pro Musica and a teaching artist for the National Arts Centre of Canada (NAC) where she finds the cross-cultural work she does with Walter MacDonald White Bear, as part of the Music Alive Program, very meaningful.  She has written outreach and music teaching guides for the NAC, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.  She is also the brass instructor at Central Memorial High School in Calgary, Alberta Canada.  For more information about Samantha please visit her website at www.samanthawhelankotkas.com

Music Alive Program Options:

• Classical Composers (Possible composers: Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, or R. Murray Schafer)
• Cross-Cultural Experience (Possible themes: Music & Nature, Friends & Families, or Listening & Creativity)