Trevor Wagler
Conductor & Artistic Director
Trevor Wagler has dedicated his life to the art of music. He is co-owner/Director of Renaissance School of the Arts, as well as a freelance French horn player (on both modern and historical instruments), conductor, organist, composer, arranger/orchestrator, music editor/copyist and adjudicator/clinician.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition, a Diploma in Performance, and a Diploma in Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, as well as a Masters of Music Degree in Horn Performance from Western University. He has performed with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Tafelmusik, Orchestra London / London Sinfonia, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Nota Bene Period Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony, the Stratford Festival, Drayton Entertainment and more, sharing the stage with the likes of Dianna Krall, Anne Murray, Michael Burgess and Howard Cable.
Trevor has conducted the historic Waterloo Concert Band since 2006, and spent nearly two decades conducting various ensembles for the KWS Youth Orchestra Programme. He was the regular guest arranger/conductor for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s acclaimed joint performances with KW GLEE. He founded KW YCB in 2017, and is extremely proud of this small band of superstars!
Passionate about music education, Trevor maintains an active teaching schedule at Renaissance School of the Arts, and holds Contract Faculty positions at both Laurier University and the University of Waterloo (Conrad Grebel University College).
In addition to his performance and teaching schedule, Trevor is also a busy arranger/orchestrator and composer, having written more than 1000 scores for orchestras, bands, chamber ensembles and soloists around the world. Recent commissions have included arranging new orchestral charts for NYC saxophone soloist (and YouTube sensation) Leo P with the Kingston Symphony, new music for the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa), editing/typesetting music for Ottawa’s Platypus Theatre and Canadian composer Alexina Louie, as well as several new arrangements for concert band.
Trevor is a member of the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, the International Horn Society, the Historic Brass Society and the National Geographic Society.
Trevor resides in Waterloo, Ontario with his soulmate, flutist Wendy Wagler, and three fabulous children.
Lauren Helmer
Assistant Conductor
Lauren Helmer is a music educator from Kitchener Ontario, Canada. She has been the Associate Director of Bands of Eastwood Collegiate Institute’s Integrated Arts Magnet Program since 2018. Previously, Lauren taught at Preston High School in Cambridge, ON for 6 years. Her bands have consistently achieved the highest honours at the provincial and national level, competing at various festivals, and competitions, both locally and abroad.
As a performer, Lauren was the associate principal trombonist, and 2nd trombonist of the Guelph Symphony Orchestra for 8 years before joining the Stratford Symphony Orchestra in 2012. After 14 years of service, Lauren retired from the Canadian Army Reserve Forces in 2020. She was the trombone section commander of the internationally honoured Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Band since 2007. Prior to joining the RHLI, Lauren spent four summers performing on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, with the Band of the Ceremonial Guard, from 2007-2010.
As a conductor, Lauren was appointed the Artistic Director for the Guelph Concert Band in 2022. She has studied wind ensemble conducting with Dr. Denise Grant, the late Michael Purves-Smith, and has attended conducting clinics throughout North America. Lauren also holds the position as the Assistant Conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Youth Concert Band, and she is the Artistic Director for “Summer Music” Camp in Southampton Ontario. Lauren is a member of the Canadian Band Association, the Ontario Band Association, the Ontario Music Educators’ Association, and is the Provincial Chair of Ontario for the Women Band Directors’ International organization.
Lauren maintains a busy conducting schedule outside of Kitchener, clinicing young bands and orchestras. When she is not teaching, Lauren enjoys both performing with, and directing local wind ensembles, big bands, and brass groups. Lauren holds an Honours Bachelor of Music Education from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Western Ontario. Lauren spends her free time with her incredibly supportive husband and daughter, running, lifting weights, snowboarding, hitting the links, reading a good book, or enjoying a cup of coffee.
