Short Bio for Concert Programs
Originally from the border community of Del Bonita, Alberta, Carlos Foggin is a Calgary-based organist, pianist, conductor, composer, and doctoral researcher in the University of Calgary's Transdisciplinary Studies program. His research focuses on Gregorian-chant-based organ improvisation in the liturgy. He holds a MMus and is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists.
He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Marquis Music, a multi-ensemble performing arts collective that houses a resident chamber orchestra, chamber chorus, and opera orchestra. He is also the Founder and Music Director Laureate (2016-2025) of the Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra.
As a composer, his works include The Litany of St. Joseph, premiered in 2025 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of St. Joseph's patronage of Canada (1624-2024). The work was subsequently presented to Pope Leo XIV. Mr. Foggin is a recipient of the Alberta Emerging Artist Award and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.
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This biography supersedes all previous versions and is current as of October 2026.
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Longer Biography
Carlos Foggin is a Calgary-based organist, pianist, conductor, and composer. He holds a Master of Music in Organ Performance from the University of Calgary, and is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, Canada’s oldest musicians’ association. Recognized for his contributions to the regional arts landscape, Foggin was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022 and the Alberta Emerging Artist Award by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta in 2020.
In 2025, Foggin founded Marquis Music, a multi-ensemble performing arts collective. Under his direction as Artistic Director, the organization operates with a flexible structure that houses distinct resident ensembles, including the Marquis Chamber Orchestra, the Marquis Chamber Choir, and a dedicated Opera Orchestra. This collaborative model allows the collective to fluidly scale from intimate chamber works to large-scale productions. In March 2025, the Marquis Chamber Orchestra and Chorus premiered Foggin's 13-movement oratorio, Litaniae Sancti Joseph, at the Jack Singer Concert Hall. Commissioned by God Squad Canada/Heroic Men, the work is the first-ever large-scale choral and orchestral setting of this sacred text. In October 2025, the score and recording were presented to Monsignor Marcos Pavan, Music Director of the Sistine Chapel, by the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, and subsequently delivered to Pope Leo XIV.
Foggin previously spent nearly a decade shaping regional classical music as the Founder and Music Director of the Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra (2016–2025), where he now serves as Music Director Laureate. During his tenure, he conducted extensive live performances and broadcasts in wide variety of urban and rural venues, collaborating with esteemed Canadian and international soloists such as James Campbell CM, Glen Montgomery, Stephen Nguyen, Magdalena von Eccher, and Kathleen van Mourik. As a commercial session musician and soloist, his playing can be heard on numerous commercial recordings.
An adaptable keyboardist, Foggin has performed as a collaborative pianist alongside major international touring acts, including Il Divo and The Canadian Tenors. His arranging credentials include work for prominent British Military Bands, such as the Band of the Scots Guards, with whom he has also performed.
In addition to his active performance career, Foggin is a doctoral student in the University of Calgary's Transdisciplinary Research program. Bridging music, religion, and ritual studies, his PhD research explores the transmission of ritual knowledge in contemporary Catholic worship, with a specific focus on Gregorian chant and organ improvisation.
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Honours & Awards
2026 Classical Recording of the Year (YYC Music Awards) LINK
2026 Creativity Award in Connection, Community and Culture
(University of Calgary – Faculty of Arts). LINK2025 Music’s Future Scholar (MPTF)
2025 Classical Recording of the Year (YYC Music Awards)
2025 Professional Artist of the Year (Airdrie Mayor’s Night of the Arts)
2024 Community Ensemble of the Year (YYC Music Awards)
2023 Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
(Lieutenant Governor of Alberta: Salma Lakhani) LINK2020 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award
(Lieutenant Governor of Alberta: Lois Mitchell) LINK2019 Compelling Calgarian (Calgary Herald) LINK
2016 Fellow, Royal Canadian College of Organists LINK
Nominations
2026 YYC Music Awards Community Ensemble of the Year
2025 YYC Music Awards Classical Recording of the Year
2025 YYC Music Awards Community Ensemble of the Year
2022 RBC Emerging Artist Award
2021 Rozsa Foundation Emerging Arts Administrator Award
2020 Alberta Artist in Residence & Arts Ambassador
Scholarships & Prizes
Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (Government of Alberta) | 2026
Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (Government of Alberta) | 2025
The Clifford McAree Scholarship (RCCO) | 2025
Professor Allan Gordon Bell Distinguished Faculty Achievement Graduate Scholarship in Music (University of Calgary) | 2025
Norman Kennedy Graduate Scholarship (University of Calgary) | 2024
Royal Canadian College of Organists – Fellowship Examination | 2016
The Willan Prize, Heather Spry Prize, Doreen Porter Prize
Anthony G. Petti Scholarship in Music (University of Calgary) 2015
F.L. Fenwick Scholarship in Music (University of Calgary) 2013 | 2014 | 2015
Jason Lang Scholarship (Government of Alberta) 2014 | 2015
Royal Canadian College of Organists – Associateship Examination | 2013
The Willan Prize, Rollinson Prize, Ruth & Ralph Barker Prize
Royal Canadian College of Organists – Colleague Examination | 2008
The Kathleen Williams Prize
Reviews
Describing the experience is a challenge. A “soul-penetrating performance,” as one attendee put it, captured the essence of the moment. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with calls for a repeat performance and a sense of witnessing something truly historic. The lobby shimmered with an electric energy as attendees processed the profound experience.
- SL, link
The Litany [of St. Joseph] blew us away. So many Catholics from across the diocese, united with our bishop and the Papal Nuncio to Canada in honoring Saint Joseph, was a huge witness to our city, our nation, the Universal Church, and the world and a tangible reminder that we are all pilgrims of hope.”
- Maria & Ian Doll link
The musical direction by Carlos Foggin fluently encompassed the wide variety of styles
- KD, Calgary Herald
Carlos Foggin conducted the orchestra with clarity and a sense of style, making the rhythmic transitions from number to number in a secure, musical manner. [They were]...fully up to snuff.
- KD, Calgary Herald
Carlos is keenly sensitive to the musical implications of each score, and has a clear sound in his mind, which he insists on from players. His vision is broad, grand and confident; his conscious and unconscious body language conveys easily discernible musical meaning.
- JVD
Carlos brings excellent musical interpretation as well as a thorough knowledge of the score to rehearsal and performance. He is fantastic at drawing the audience into a shared experience with the orchestra. You won’t feel like you observed the concert, but rather were an important part of it, which is how it is supposed to be!
- JB
Carlos is a pleasure to work with, bringing energy and enthusiasm to everything he does. He is respectful and is not only able to take constructive criticism well but actively seeks it out in his pursuit of excellence as a musician.
- GJ