Prairie Brass Camp! August 4-7, 2026!

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Eric Prodger is a Canadian bass, tenor, and contrabass trombonist from Gatineau, Quebec. He currently serves as Principal Bass Trombone of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, having previously held the same position with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra. Alongside his orchestral work, he maintains an active freelance career, performing regularly throughout Manitoba, Quebec, and Ontario.

Eric has studied at McGill University, the New England Conservatory, the Glenn Gould School, and the University of Ottawa. His principal teachers have included James Markey, James Box, Pierre Beaudry, Jeffrey Hall, and Douglas Burden.


As an orchestral musician, Eric has performed with many of Canada's leading ensembles, including l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and l'Orchestre Classique de Montréal. During his studies, he was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for four summer seasons (2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021).


An accomplished soloist and chamber musician, Eric has appeared in recital and chamber music performances throughout Canada. He has been a finalist in the National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition on three occasions (2017, 2019, and 2022), and in 2022 was named First Alternate in the Donald Yaxley Bass Trombone Solo Competition of the International Trombone Association.


An award-winning performer, Eric has received numerous distinctions, including the Friends of the National Arts Centre Orchestra Award, the Crabtree Foundation Award, the Sturdevant Prize for Orchestral Excerpts, the Rich Little Endowment Fund, and the Friends of the NAC Orchestra Scholarship. He can also be heard on the Juno Award-winning album "Maxime Goulet: Symphonie de la tempête de verglas", recorded in 2022 with l'Orchestre Classique de Montréal.

 Rachel Côté is a sought after Canadian horn player. She has appeared with l’Orchestre

Symphonique de Montréal, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber

Orchestra, and the Edmonton Opera, among others. She has been a fellow at the Tanglewood

Music Festival, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the National Arts Centre Orchestra

Mentorship Program, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar.

Rachel takes the horn beyond the concert hall and loves to collaborate with artists of all genres.

Her horn playing can be heard on Taylor Janzen’s recent single, “Everybody Goes to Heaven”,

which reached #9 on the CBC Top 20; Patrick Wang’s 2025 film “Rimbaud”; and on the

upcoming Radio Canada television series “Les accords d’Antoine”, which premieres in 2027.

Rachel is looking forward to her debut at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival this summer, with a new

initiative called “Cool Jazz Returns”. Rachel is a staunch advocate for music education - she

maintains a full private horn studio and is an in-demand horn clinician across Manitoba.

Rachel has a Bachelor’s of Music from The Glenn Gould School, and a Masters of Music from

Northwestern University. Her principal teachers include Gail Williams, Jon Boen, and Gabe

Radford.

Richard Gillis studied at The Banff Centre and The University of Michigan (M.Mus.; DMA), as well as privately with Armando Ghitalla, Vincent Cichowicz and James Stamp. Dr. Gillis is brass chair at the University of Manitoba, and artistic director of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, and performs internationally with Icelandic guitarist Björn Thoroddsen. Richard has recorded 21 albums as a leader and sideman; two of these received recognitions/awards from the Icelandic Music Awards, and two received nominations at the Western Canadian Music Awards. Most recent projects include Devotion, a collection of original solo and chamber pieces, and Voices: A Musical Heritage with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra.