- Inspired by Vaughn Williams’ Blake Songs, Maier set out to create his own groupings of short pieces with a musical theatre twist. He chose 5 quirky, funny poems by Liza McLellan and had composer Rebecca Pellet set music to them. Each poem offers bizarre and random advice, hence the name of the suite and CD itself “Advice From a Misguided Man”. These pieces are; “Dear Jeremiah”, “Page 10”, “Bohbins”, “How To Do It” and “How to Eat Cheese”. Each movement is sung by a different Canadian musical theatre star; Rick Miller, Michael Therriault, Evan Buliung, Martin Julien and Canadian comedy icon, Colin Mochrie. These actors have been seen on the biggest stages and have received critical acclaim and awards for their ability to bring truth, passion and humor to the text they deliver. They are interspersed throughout the CD as a break from the “serious” music, to provide a pallet cleanser for the next song. -“The Pipes” is an original arrangement of traditional bagpipe tunes by Colin Maier and Mark Camilleri. Arranged for oboe, bassoon, contra bassoon, percussion, bass and piano. There have been no pieces written for the oboe that emulate the idiomatic virtuosic ornaments, musicality and non-stop play that the bagpipes have. This piece does that. -“Songs of the North Woods, no. 1” is an original piece by Aura Pon scored for oboe, accordion(Alexander Sevastian), and cello(Liza McLellan). It is a fast and fun fantasy on Canadian folk melodies. It is the first in a series of adapted Canadian folk tunes -Classical standards of Saint-Saens’ Oboe Sonata with pianist Allison Wiebe. And the virtuosic La Favorita Concerto by Pasculli with 4 time world champion accordionist Alexander Sevastian -Latin jazz original “Song for Magdalena” by Juno winner Hilario Duran. And Persian jazz inspired original “Bakön” by Colin Maier. Both with the backup of piano, bass and drums -A soundtrack inspired orchestrally scored original by Rebecca Pellett entitled “Isn’t it Wonderful”. Recorded entirely by Colin Maier on 10 different instruments and 20 separate parts Oboist Colin Maier is a virtuoso with an international reputation who has been hailed as one of the prominent and dynamic oboists of modern times. He is renowned for his superb technique and brilliant sound. He is often called the Victor Borge of the oboe for his live shows and recordings. Born and raised in Calgary, Colin Maier graduated from the University of Calgary in 1997 with a degree in oboe performance studying with David Sussman. During that time he was the winner of the Calgary Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition (1997), the Scholarship for Russian Performing Arts (1997) and the winner of several classes at the Calgary Kiwanis Music Festival. Colin is currently the oboist for the internationally renowned and critically acclaimed ensemble “Quartetto Gelato” playing 50-70 concerts a year. During that time he has been heard on national radio broadcasts, seen on the BRAVO network and received the 2010 INDIE award for best classical ensemble. He has also played with orchestras such as; The Calgary Philharmonic, National Ballet Orchestra, Mississauga Symphony, Symphony of the Kootenays, Scarborough Philharmonic, Contact Contemporary Music Ensemble and the Niagara International Chamber Music Festival. In addition to oboe, Colin also plays clarinet, english horn, violin, 5-string banjo, acoustic/electric bass, piano, saxophone, flute, guitar and musical saw. With these other instruments, Colin has been the founder/leader of many independent groups that include; The Jive Mommas, High Strung, The Fabulous Doo-Wop Boys, The Plaid Tongued Devils, Sonshine and Broccoli, Full Fathom Five. In 2002, he was a featured Jazz oboist at the International Double Reed Festival where he performed and conducted a jazz master class. In addition to being a musician, Colin has also worked for over 20 years as a dancer, actor, stuntman, singer, choreographer, acrobat and martial-artist. Colin had the honor of playing the devil fiddler in the flying blue canoe for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies." Colin had also been seen in; “Lord of the Rings” (Mirvish), Fire (CanStage), “Forbidden Phoenix” (LKTYP), “KA” (Cirque du Soleil), “Amadeus” (Alberta Theatre Projects), “That Dance Show” (Saltance Productions), “Cats” (Neptune Theatre), Joseph’s Dreamcoat (StageWest/Drayton), “A Chorus Line” (StageWest), Sarah Brightman’s World Tour, and TV’s “Honey I Shrunk the Kids!”. This combination of music and theatre is quite unique and he continues to find new, exciting and ground breaking ways to combine his two passions.