Rod Simmons received his Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1994. Between 1998 and 2008, Rod held both tenor and bass trombone positions with the Prince George Symphony. He also performed in big bands, R&B groups and musical theatre as a trombonist. His pit experience includes Cabaret, Oklahoma, Chicago, Annie, Gypsy and The Nutcracker.
In 2008, Rod moved to Kamloops, where he currently holds the bass trombone chair with the Kamloops Symphony while teaching in the independent school system. As a performing arts instructor, he has produced and directed high school level musicals in recent years, including The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Godspell, The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. Rod appeared for a number of years as a trombonist and tenor soloist with the Thompson Valley Orchestra and on several occasions with the Kamloops Brandenburg Orchestra in both Kamloops and Vernon.
In his spare time, Rod hosts When Swing Was King, a weekly radio program bringing big band swing music and early jazz vocalists to listeners throughout the Kamloops area. Rod is honoured to be back with the TVO this season.
John Franks is a veteran public school music teacher and holds a B.A. in Music and an M.A. in Communication Disorders from Washington State University, as well as an M. Ed. from the Department of Arts in Education at the University of Victoria. Since arriving in Kamloops in 2000, John has been a music contributor to the Kamloops community, having worked with numerous ensembles as a vocalist, trumpet player and conductor. He has been a church choir director for over 25 years and has been performing with the TVO for over 15 years. He has been one of our music directors since 2018. He feels it is a great privilege and joy to work with this wonderful, fun group of musicians.
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, playing in a variety of musical organizations, and as a former musical director of KISSM. Steve is an author of social studies textbooks, writing for publishers such as Oxford University Press, Pearson Press, and Nelson Publishing, with a focus on global and media education. He considers it a great privilege to be one of the TVO musical directors and loves the sense of community and enthusiasm for building musicianship.
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. We thank you.