Meran Currie-Roberts
Cello
Originally from Victoria BC, Meran Currie-Roberts has had a successful career across Canada as a cellist, fundraiser, arts administrator and teacher. She is currently the Executive Director of the Health Arts Society of Alberta as well as a cellist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Meran has played for the Edmonton Recital Society, Festival of the Sound, Elora Festival, Festival Ibero Americano, Music at Port Milford, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Kincardine Festival and Festival Vancouver. She made her solo debut with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 2020, playing Jocelyn Morlock's Solace. She is also a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton.
After graduating with a B.Mus and M.Mus from the University of Toronto, Meran was an active cellist and teacher in the Toronto area. She frequently appeared with the Kitchener-Waterloo, Thunder Bay, and Windsor Symphonies as well as a five-year stint playing for the Toronto production of The Lion King!
Meran moved to Winnipeg with her young family in 2009, quickly establishing herself with an appointment as Dean of the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts (MCMA). She was responsible for a music faculty of over forty teachers, as well as programming for locations in Winnipeg and Steinbach, MB. She started a multi-generational fiddle program at the MCMA as well as running outreach programs in three school in Winnipeg’s inner-city.
With a subsequent move to Calgary in 2011, Meran was initially responsible for the education and outreach programs at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Her fundraising success led to an invitation to move to Alberta Ballet, where she managed corporate and individual giving. Throughout her years as a full-time administrator, Meran continued to play cello, performing with the Winnipeg Symphony and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras. With her family’s move to Edmonton in 2015, Meran was delighted to join the rich cultural fabric that is our city and Treaty 6 territory.
In 2016, along with a dedicated board, Meran established the Health Arts Society of Alberta (HASA) as an active musical force in Alberta. HASA is a registered charity that brings over 300 professional concerts to elders in care annually. With a roster of over 100 of Alberta’s finest musicians and more than 100 partner care facilities, the organization subsidizes the cost of professional artists so that marginalized elders have access to the same high-quality music that the general public enjoys.
Meran joined the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra after a successful audition in 2018. She is thrilled to “get back to her roots” as a cellist while continuing to further her administrative career and the mandate of the Health Arts Society. In addition to her work with HASA and the ESO, Meran is a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta and is on faculty at the MacEwan Conservatory of Music. She spends her spare time training for marathons, baking bread and visiting her public library branch at least twice a week to support her reading habit.