my new bio

I have a couple concerts coming up in the next month, (A flute a harp recital in Stratford, and a flute and harp children's concert in Stratford) and I was requested to submit my bio. It was time for an update anyways.... So this time I decided to write something a little less formal, and a little more fun.

Shauna Basiuk’s musical adventure began when she was a just a small child. Each night at bedtime, in an attempt to lull her to sleep, her parents would turn on the blue, Fisher-Price radio on her bedside table. “Good night”, Shauna would drowsily exclaim while giving her parents a hug and kiss, “I’m SO tired” and then she’d pretend to go to sleep. As soon as her parents left her bedroom, her eyes would pop open and she would lay awake, enjoying all of the captivating harmonies emitting from her radio. Eventually, as it always does, sleep would take over and Shauna would be carried into dreamland, drifting off to the enchanting melodies of classical music. The radio program was called Adventures in Music, and little did her parents know, the classical music that soared out of that little plastic radio would shape Shauna’s entire life.

A few years later, after much begging, pleading and promises to practice, Shauna’s parents bought her a piano. It wasn’t until many years later, at the age of 16 in fact, that she discovered her passion for flute, and her real musical career began. A few years later Shauna received a Bachelors Degree in Music Performance from the University of Calgary. In 2005 she completed the prestigious Artist Diploma in Orchestral Performance at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, in Toronto.

As to be expected in a musical career, and just like the name of her childhood radio show, Shauna has had many adventures in music. Music has taken her to exotic locations such as China, The Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, California, Texas, and across Canada. Beaches have also beckoned, and Shauna has been repeatedly invited back to perform as a guest of the Bermuda Chamber Orchestra. During the past 2 years, Shauna has performed regularly with harpist Ruth Mar. They have performed throughout Toronto, as well as in Stratford, Ontario.

Shauna’s contact with some of the most prominent flute teachers of today has helped her to form a unique and inspiring musical voice that she offers to her own students. She currently teaches at St. Clements Private School in Toronto, as well as in her own tiny but quaint coach house. Shauna is also on faculty at the University of Calgary Regional Summer Band Workshop and the Toronto Summer Music Camp. In her spare time she enjoys bird watching and writing short stories. She still enjoys listening to the radio.