Jaelem Bhate is a Canadian conductor, composer, and bandleader from

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He received his Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 2019 under the guidance of Dr. Jonathan Girard. He previously received his undergraduate degree in percussion performance at UBC where he graduated first in his class and received the prestigious Wesbrook Award for academic achievement and leadership. He has also studied with

Cristian Măcelaru Cristian Măcelaru (born 15 March 1980, Timișoara, Romania) is a Romanian conductor. Biography Măcelaru is the youngest child from a family of 10 children. He studied violin as a youth. He continued his music studies in the United States at th ...

, Yannick Nézet-Séguin,

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

Boris Brott Boris Brott, (March 14, 1944 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian conductor and motivational speaker. He was one of the most internationally recognized Canadian conductors, having conducted on stages around the world, including Carnegie Hall and ...

, Gerard Schwarz, and Fred Stride. Bhate has performed with the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra,

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

Symphony,

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

Symphony, and the

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

Symphony. He is the current director of the Vancouver Brass Collective, the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra, as well as the artistic director of Symphony 21, an ensemble which he founded. Bhate is also a current faculty member at the

. Bhate was named to the CBC's 2019 '30 under 30 hot classical musicians. He has released two albums with the Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra; ''On the Edge'', and ''Carmen'', a reimagining of

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

’s operatic masterpiece for jazz ensemble. ''On the Edge'' won the 2020 Julian Award for emerging Canadian jazz excellence.

Early life and education

Bhate was raised in Richmond, British Columbia. He attended

Hugh Boyd Secondary School Hugh Boyd Secondary School (H.B.S.S. or HBSS), commonly known as Hugh Boyd or Boyd is a public, co-educational secondary school part of School District 38 Richmond (SD38), serving and educating 599 (2022-2023) students from grades 8 to 12. Hugh Bo ...

where he began drumming in rock and jazz ensembles, considering music only as a hobby, going on to pursue a degree in sciences at the University of British Columbia. Bhate later began pursuing music academically when he was asked to chaperone for his former secondary school band and was elected to conduct when their instructor was absent. Bhate then transferred in his second year to pursue an undergraduate degree in Music, followed by a Masters of Music in Orchestral Conducting.

Discography

* Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra. ''On the Edge'', 2020. * Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra. ''Bizet's Carmen'', 2021.

References

Living people Canadian male jazz musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians Academic staff of the University of British Columbia University of British Columbia alumni canadian composers Canadian conductors (music) 1992 births {{jazz-musician-stub