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In addition to teaching at Laurier, I am a freelance French horn player (both modern and historical instruments), conductor, organist, composer, arranger/orchestrator, music editor/copyist and clinician.
I received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition, a diploma in Performance, and a diploma in Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Masters of Music degree in horn performance from Western University.
I am conductor of the historic Waterloo Concert Band, conductor and Artistic Director of the K-W Youth Concert Band (KW YCB), organist at Zion Lutheran Church in Philipsburg, as well as owner/Director of Premier School of the Arts (“Waterloo Region’s Finest Arts Education Centre”).
While maintaining an active performance schedule, I am also a busy arranger/orchestrator and composer. My work has been performed by symphony orchestras (and smaller ensembles) across Canada and around the world, and has been broadcast nationwide on CBC radio.
- Currently the third-longest-serving director in the history of the Waterloo Concert Band (since 2006)
- Staff arranger for Pop Nation Canada
- Pop vocal arranger for Laurier’s Vox ensemble
- Recent commissions include arranging new orchestral charts for NYC saxophone soloist (and YouTube sensation) Leo P with the Kingston Symphony, new music for the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa), editing/typesetting music for Ottawa’s Platypus Theatre and Canadian composer Alexina Louie, several new arrangements for concert band, as well as pop vocal arrangements for Pop Nation Canada and the Laurier Vox Ensemble.
- Music copyist to the late Howard Cable, Alexina Louie, Peter Hatch, Alain Trudel and Boyd McDonald, among others.
- Other research interests include historical Canadian band repertoire, particularly the work of Prof. C.F. Thiele.
- I have written more than 1000 scores for orchestras, bands, chamber ensembles and soloists around the world, in styles ranging from Vivaldi to Lady Gaga.
- 2015 and 2008 nominee for KW Arts Awards in the music category.
- Transformation by the Gallery Players of Niagara (2014) – this recording features my transcription of Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin for oboe (James Mason), clarinet (Peter Shackleton), violin (Julie Baumgartel), cello (Margaret Gay) and piano (Leslie De’Ath) and was met with critical reviews (“Wagler’s quintet version of the Ravel is so crisp and vivacious it might well have been written for these instruments by Ravel himself.” — Fanfare Magazine, May/June 2015).
- I have performed with many Canadian orchestras and chamber ensembles, including the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Tafelmusik, Orchestra London / London Sinfonia, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Nota Bene Period Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony, the Stratford Festival, Drayton Entertainment and more, sharing the stage with the likes of Dianna Krall, Anne Murray, Michael Burgess and Howard Cable.
- I was the guest conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for their many acclaimed joint performances with KW Glee (2017-2023).
- I founded the Kitchener-Waterloo Youth Concert Band (KW YCB) in 2017.
- Conducted the premiere performance of Howard Cable’s last large-scale composition, “A Musical Tribute to a Legendary Music Man: Prof. C.F. Thiele” with the Waterloo Concert Band.
- May 2016 – Performed Mozart’s 3rd horn concerto on natural horn with the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra.