Tracy is a passionate music educator, performer, and advocate for music education in the public school system. She was a music teacher/band director for over 30 years in School District 73 and in 2023 earned the district’s Owl Award for Excellence in Public Education for Music and Leadership. Tracy has played stand-up and electric basses with the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, Thompson Valley Orchestra, Brandenburg Orchestra, Beyond Brass, and in a number of ensembles ranging from rock, to jazz, to classical. She has conducted several ensembles for fundraising concerts. She had stepped up on multiple occasions for the Thompson Valley Orchestra prior to accepting this music director collaboration. Tracy served on many Boards, including the Kamloops Interior Summer School of Music and Thompson Valley Orchestra. She enjoys the camaraderie each group fosters and appreciates the sense of community these organizations provide for musicians and audiences.
Steve Powrie has been an educator in Kamloops for many years in School District #73 and at Thompson Rivers University. He has pursued his passion for music through teaching band, choir and general music; playing in a variety of musical organizations such as the Kamloops Symphony, Thompson Valley Orchestra, Vancouver Philharmonic, and the Persichetti Wind Quintet; as the Music Director of KISSM; and as a festival adjudicator, guest conductor and workshop presenter throughout the province. He has performed and acted in many musicals in Kamloops and Vancouver such as West Side Story, Grease, Wizard of Oz, and My Fair Lady; and was the Musical Director for productions such as HMS Pinafore and Annie. He is an author of educational resources, writing for publishers such as Oxford University Press, Pearson Press, and Nelson Publishing. Steve considers it a great privilege to be one of the TVO Musical Directors and loves the sense of community and enthusiasm for building musicianship.
Norris and his wife Heather moved to Kamloops from Grande Prairie AB after years of teaching strings in the community and at the Grande Prairie College. Norris continues to teach in Kamloops and in 1997 founded the Thompson Valley Orchestra as a place for community musicians to play. He and Heather served as Music Directors for many years at St Paul's Cathedral in Kamloops. On the 20th anniversary of founding the Orchestra, Norris retired as Musical Director. He still lives and teaches in Kamloops, and we hope one day, we can twist his arm(s) to return to the Violin section as first chair or come back to conduct a number or two as a guest conductor. We dream!
Don Bennett was a Kamloops Symphony Orchestra trombonist, music educator and community music supporter for many years, and was a guest conductor here at TVO from 2017 through 2020. His sudden passing in 2020 left a gap in the Kamloops music scene that remains very hard to fill. Don's energy, musicianship and dedication to music for youth is sorely missed.
The Don Bennett Music Legacy Fund as been set up in his memory with help from the BC Interior Community Foundation. Proceeds will go towards supporting community music events of all kinds. You can click here to reach the BCICF link to contribute to Don's fund.
Guest Conductors
John Franks
After Norris Berg retired, there was an interval where TVO was supported by some key players, who stepped up into conducting roles. In addition to Steve Powrie, and Don Bennett, John Franks did some heavy lifting for our group. Conducting looks deceivingly simple, but takes enormous energy, preparation and skill. We are thankful for the extra service especially from John Franks who did a number of concerts in the seasons between 2018 and when Covid hit in 2020. He served as we crawled out of the post-Covid interval, and still supports the TVO in the trumpet section.
Rod Simmons
One other Guest conductor who was stepping up post-Covid was Rod Simmons. He planned and prepared our Christmas 2023 concert, but had to step out at the last minute. He continues to be very involved in the music scene in Kamloops as a trombonist with the KSO, teaching, and hosting the "When Swing Was King" radio show on CFBX 92.5FM.