Kristie Ibrahim

Percussionist Kristie Ibrahim is an instructor of keyboard percussion and co-director of the McGill Percussion Ensemble with Fabrice Marandola at the Schulich School of Music.

As a co-founder of Montreal percussion ensemble SIXTRUM (2007-), as well as percussion duos Double Lateral with Jeremy Fitzsimons (2005-06), and Akrostick with Fabrice Marandola (2008-), Kristie dedicates much of her career to creating new works for percussion. With these ensembles, she has had the opportunity to premiere dozens of new works and to collaborate on numerous occasions with renown Canadian and international composers and ensembles including Tim Brady, Patrick Burgan, Brian Cherney, Gareth Farr, Philippe Leroux, Nicole Lizée, Martin Matalon, Robert Normandeau, Arnaud Petit, Jean Piché, John Psathas, Laurie Radford, John Rea, Nina Young, and Le NEM, SMCQ, Chants Libre, Viva Voce, OSM Chorus, O Vertigo Danse, Les Percussions Claviers de Lyon.

Constantly experimenting with new performance techniques, Kristie has premiered numerous staged shows directed by Michel G. Barette with SIXTRUM (Exotica, Histoires de Gestes, K’anchay, 6D- Six Dimensions of Percussion, Rythmopolis 2018), and has performed original works and shows for choreographed percussion on international stages as a member of New Zealand Percussion Ensemble Strike (2001-02). She has created and performed hundreds of staged percussion shows for young audiences, including Strike School Show (Strike, NZ 2001-02), La Grande Tortue/How Great Turtle Rebuilt the World (Jeunesses Musicales du Canada/Sixtrum, Canada 2009-2015), Alerte au Triton (Sixtrum/Sacré Tympan, Montreal 2015-16), ZoomBoomBoom (JMC/S.Moore/A.Diamond, Montreal 2019-). Devoted to Arts Education, Kristie also teaches percussion at FACE School in Montreal and is a percussion clinician for the Quebec Band Association.

Passionate about working with artists from other disciplines, Kristie has collaborated extensively as a performer and sound designer with local and international choral directors, choreographers and theatre directors. Her sound designs for Geordie Production’s The Jungle Book (2008) and Repercussion Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013), were nominated for Montreal English Theatre Awards in the category for Best Sound Design, and she is the recipient of a Montreal English Theatre Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre for SIXTRUM’s sound design and performance for Angélique (2017), and a Coup de coeur from the Académie Charles-Cros (France) for SIXTRUM’s CD De la percussion (2016). Kristie has performed internationally with chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras in Canada, USA, France, Mexico, and New Zealand, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO), Auckland Philharmonia, Wellington Sinfonia, and Symphony Nova Scotia.

Kristie has a Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from Dalhousie University where she studied with James Faraday, and a Masters degree in Chamber Music from McGill University where she was a student of D’Arcy P. Gray.