User:Hartshornwalton/sandbox

Dr Keith Hartshorn-Walton

Tuba, Piano, Bass Organ, Bass Trombone

Dr Keith Hartshorn-Walton is an accomplished and versatile musician, active in a wide variety of musical activities. A multi-instrumentalist, Keith has performed professionally on several instruments: On tuba, he was a full time member of The Foothills Brass from 2005-2018. With this ensemble Keith performed at concerts and schools across North America. He was highly involved in the design of their touring show, Brasscapes!, which featured several of his arrangements, including special tuba solo features such as Miles Davis’ Donna Lee. This and others were also part of the CD which Keith recorded with the group in 2008 entitled “Stampede!”

Now in Ottawa, Keith plays tuba and sousaphone with many ensembles such as Mélanie E, the Bank Street Bonbons, Safe Low Limit and more.

As a freelance musician in the Toronto area, Keith has performed as a rhythm section player (piano or bass) with Swing Shift, The George Lake Big Band, and many side projects and functions. On tuba, he was a regular substitute on tuba with the Lemon Bucket Orkestra and the Boxcar Boys, and played at the Toronto Jazz Festival with both of those ensembles, which specialize in Balkan music and traditional roots music, respectively. Keith also was a frequent guest with the Red Peppers Dixieland band, the Excentric Jazz Band, and the Jazz Ambassadors, with whom he played the Port Hope All-Canadian Jazz festival on two occasions. He has developed a reputation for excellent time, a wide repertoire of memorized tunes, and exciting solos. He was also a founding member during the development of the Wintergarten Orchestra, which specialises in early European orchestrated jazz.

Keith has produced and recorded two CD projects with his wife Melanie. The first, entitled “Jazz à la Francaise Vol. 1” has received airplay on Radio-Canada, 105.1 Choq FM in Toronto, and was used in a short feature film “Nite” (2009) directed by Philip Yao. Keith arranged the music, rehearsed and performed on the tracks on piano, bass, and organ, and was involved with the mixing and mastering. Their second CD, CHEMIN has been featured on CBC's All in A Day, La villa stragiato, Radio-Canada and CTV. This album was released in 2017. He also has worked as a session musician and arranger for Walkdown sound in Brooklin, Ontario. This included several tracks on a CD for saxophonist Matthew James. In 2014, he led a traditional jazz group as part of a series of videos recorded at the University of Guelph to be used in their online music history courses. Keith completed his Doctorate at McGill University in 2010, during which he was the recipient of a Schulich Scholarship. He was runner-up two years in a row at the National Music Festival in the open brass category, and is now a frequent adjudicator at music festivals. He currently the tuba instructor at Carleton University and Music Director and organist at Wall Street United Church in Brockville, Ontario. He lives in Ottawa with his wife, Melanie and their two children.