Our board

Shannon was appointed President in June 2024 after serving on the Executive Committee as the Secretary for five years. She has been a director since January 2018 but also served on the volunteer committee since 2017. She has also been one of our Volunteer Coordinators for the Lolitas Lounge Just Jazz Friday series and both our summer and fall festivals and serves on the Finance and Governance committees. Shannon brings many years of board experience to JazzYYC and has also been active as a volunteer and is also on the board of the Southern Alberta Land Trust Society as their Treasurer. Learn more about them https://salts.land/

Ross is currently the GM for Real Estate Canada at Shell, responsible for the execution of commercial deals and projects, facilities management and HSE. He is also accountable for digital enablement for Real Estate across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Ross has been with Shell for 26 years including diverse commercial roles in Downstream. He has experience in integrative leadership, bringing together stakeholders with various views and skills to achieve a common goal. He has experience in creating and executing strategies gained while managing long-term supply balances and accountable for a large profit & loss balance sheet for Imports while in Trading and Supply.

Prior to Shell, Ross was a drum instructor and professional musician. He plays drums, piano and bass and enjoys composing and recording music in his home studio. Jazz was a core technical competency of his early playing years, but he has played across and enjoys various genres of music, especially when they intersect. Live music and music education have been fundamental to creating and sustaining his passion for music. A native Calgarian, Ross is keen to merge his personal passion and professional competencies to support the JazzYYC Vision and Mission.

Deb is an agricultural economist with nearly 30 years’ experience managing projects for Global Affairs Canada (formerly CIDA), the World Bank, the ADB and other international organizations around the world. She’s been performing jazz vocals since 2003.  Debra’s commitment to jazz led to the creation of the “Giant Steppes International Jazz Festival” in 2004.  In 2008, Northern Lights Quartet collaborated at the Giant Steppes Festival with the traditional Mongolian group, Altai Khangai.  They toured Canada in 2009 and recorded the CD “Northern Lights Altai Khangai”.  In 2011, she released her debut CD, “Heart Wide Open” with her long-time musical partner, guitarist, Keith Smith.  She was part of the volunteer committee that led to the creation of JazzYYC. She joined the JazzYYC Board in 2012 as Secretary and become the President in 2013, serving in that role until 2019.  She now serves as Past-President and Chair of the Fundraising Committee. She is also a member of the Calgary Musicians Association and SOCAN.

Currently a Sales Manager with Siemens Energy, Darren provides Electrical, Automation and Digital solutions to Energy Customers in North America as well as developing Automation and Power Management solutions for integrated Wind, Hydrogen, Ammonia projects throughout Canada. Darren holds a Bachelor of Applied Information Systems and has over twenty years experience providing Sales, Commercial and Project Management to the Utility, Oil & Gas, Energy, and Industrial space. Darren brings energy and ideas to develop businesses and engage people.  

Darren’s volunteer experience over the past five years has included Event support for the JazzYYC International, Summer and Canada Jazz Festivals as well as volunteering for the Calgary Folkfest and CKUA. Early in his career Darren volunteered for CJSR as On-Air and Production support then pursued Recording Engineering and worked as a Sound Reinforcement Engineer. A long time Calgarian, Darren enjoys downhill skiing and scuba diving and is eager to combine his professional and musical activities to grow the Calgary jazz community. 

Audie is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 30 years of Finance and Accounting experience in Canada as well as internationally, spanning the Manufacturing, Oil & Gas Midstream, and Public Sector (municipal) environments. He has held senior-level positions leading high-performing accounting teams that delivered comprehensive financial analysis to drive enhanced operational efficiency. Audie brings a strong foundation in both business and technical accounting within large, dynamic organizations and is known for mentoring staff and fostering collaboration.

Outside his professional responsibilities, Audie has been an active member of the Finance Council at his local church for over 15 years. He enjoys music, is interested in soccer, appreciates hiking in the mountains, traveling, and providing mentorship to new and aspiring CPAs.

Diego Bernal is a longtime supporter of JazzYYC and an experienced professional in data, strategy, and governance. He has four years of nonprofit board experience with Verb Theatre, where he provided oversight in financial and strategic governance. With a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master’s in Business Analytics, Diego works as a senior manager in data and insights within the financial services sector. He brings expertise in data, processes, and strategy to support organizational growth and efficiency.

Shelley is an enthusiastic Human Resources professional with 30 years’ experience in a variety of HR roles, primarily within the North American and global energy industry. She is currently Senior Talent Management Advisor for Parex Resources, where she is focused on enhancing employee engagement and creating programs to promote diversity and cross-cultural awareness. Shelley is recognized for her creativity, positive outlook, and ability to build strong business relationships while providing practical human resources solutions. In addition to holding a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Regina, Shelley is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) in Alberta. 
Shelley has a lifelong love of music and knows all the words but can’t carry a tune.  When she isn’t learning Spanish, Shelley’s reading a book or gardening.

Neil Campbell has been a part of Calgary’s legal community for years, beginning as in-house counsel for television and film production companies before serving as Senior Legal Counsel (Research) at the University of Calgary. A dedicated jazz enthusiast, Neil brings extensive experience in commercial transactions and legal matters related to not-for-profit organizations and registered charities. While they stepped back from active legal practice in 2024, they remain a member in good standing with the Law Society of Alberta.

Andrew Choules-Nisbet is a dynamic and passionate leader with significant experience building and leading high-performance teams, and a proven track record of building relationships with internal and external stakeholders based on trust and transparency. Andrew is a skilled communicator, with a solid background in strategic consulting, reporting, metric development, and governance. After nearly 15 years with the Energy and Resources sector, he has recently transitioned to the Government and Public Services sector. Andrew has successfully led numerous technical and service transformations, helping organizations realize cost-savings in excess of $1,000,000 through efficiencies, improvements, and strong governance. His technical expertise in a litany of IT services and solutions, coupled with his ability to build strong and lasting partnerships across a variety of stakeholder groups and sectors, has delivered results throughout his career.

Andrew has a deep love of music and its ability to transcend language to bring people together, and plays bass, guitar, and clarinet, albeit poorly. Having grown up in a house where Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, and Joshua Redman were in constant rotation on the family stereo, he is driven to help build and develop a vibrant jazz scene in the city. He strongly believes that that a healthy cultural scene is necessary for any city that wishes to be world class, and is dedicated to using his experience to broaden access to high quality jazz experiences by supporting innovation, reducing barriers to entry, and building strong communities. Andrew enjoys reading, writing, and loves to cook.

Robin Dymond brings a lifelong appreciation for music, jazz and creating organizations that excel at their purpose. Robin started piano lessons at 8, choir at 9 and by 11 was singing with a Calgary Cathedral boys’ choir on a tour of England. Heady stuff, except to go on that tour there were two years of non-stop fundraising: door to door and grocery store raffle tickets sales, newspaper and bottle drives and even selling coffee to Stampede parade fans from a vendor tray. He hardly had time to listen to his new KISS records! Since that time music has played a large part in his life, with both amateur performing (jazz, R&B, choir) and listening at the intersection of progressive Jazz, Rock and whatever Jacob Collier is doing.  

Robin is semi-retired from a 35-year career in product development that included 3D audio processing, first generation digital hearing aids, and founding four technology companies. He has trained over 10,000 people in person in the US, EU and Canada in Agile product development methods and spent 8 years living in the US, providing his expertise to many large corporations. In Canada, he has worked with many significant entities to improve collaboration and operational effectiveness. He holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Calgary. 

Robin is looking forward to actively support JazzYYC with its mission of growing jazz music and culture here in Calgary. He is grateful for JazzYYC’s mission and is looking forward to helping the organization reach its goals.

Patrick Elliott is the COO and co-founder of Carbon Alpha, a private company focused on evaluating, developing and operating carbon sequestration assets within the carbon removal and industrial CCS industry. Prior to co-founding Carbon Alpha in 2021, he was the Executive Vice President and co-founder of Jupiter Resources, a private Calgary-based energy company, which grew to become the 9th largest natural gas producer in Canada. From 2007 to 2014, Patrick was Vice President of Business Development and a co-founder of Canbriam Energy. Patrick has been involved in upstream energy industry developments for 30 years, starting his career as a petroleum Geologist at PanCanadian through to executive leadership positions. Since 2018 Patrick has been an Associate at Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies and mentor at the ScaleUp program and is passionate about supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Geology from the University of Western Ontario and is a Professional Geologist with APEGA. 

Artur is a passionate jazz and contemporary music enthusiast with 20 years of experience in event organization and the travel industry. Currently, he serves as the CEO of My Caribbean Luxury Travel, a luxury tour operator exclusively working with the Dominican Republic. Artur’s jazz and musical tastes have been shaped by Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Joe Zawinul, and Keith Jarrett. However, his introduction to jazz music was influenced by the Musique Concrète genre, pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer and Jean Michel Jarre. Artur has organized several events that complement his interests in music and cinematography, dedicated to the works of Miles Davis, Jean Michel Jarre, David Lynch, Ingmar Bergman, and Canadian film directors David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan.

Ian’s music career spans jazz performance to arts management.  He has managed award-winning artists, including Lemon Bucket Orkestra. As a founding Board member of Music Calgary, he delivered the first SoundOff conference. He has consulted for the Canada Council, the Calgary Folk Music Festival and the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. As Director of Programs at the National Music Centre (2010-2012) he programmed the National Jazz Summit. With CADME, the NMC presented educational seminars and workshops. Before moving to Calgary in 2006, he was Music Supervisor and Creative Consultant for Haddock Entertainment and Label Manager and Director of A&R at Wicklow Records in Vancouver and a working musician and freelance music journalist in Toronto. Ian graduated from the Jazz Program at Capilano College and spent 4 years as a working/touring musician out of Edmonton. In Calgary, Ian has served the Boards of the Janus Academy for children with autism (2007 to 2015; President from 2009) and the Autism Aspergers Friendship Society (2017 to 2023; Vice Chair 2020).