Instructors

All of our instructors are professional musicians who hold music and/or education degrees. They have a range of musical backgrounds and ways of expressing themselves through music. From studying music in Cuba, Brazil and West Africa, to writing music for animation, to developing original works for ballet, our instructors offer a wealth of experience and have a passion for teaching and learning music.

Guitar

Mark Vescovi – Guitar Instructor

Mark completed a Masters degree in Music at the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelors degree in guitar and composition at Oregon State University. He is a published and recorded songwriter with music signed to Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Music, and to Carlin Music Canada. His songs can also be found in TV shows like Degrassi-The Next Generation and in feature films such as ‘The Last Wedding’. In 2010 Mark started SongSync, a company which places music in film, TV and other media.

Aquizamín García – Guitar Instructor

Colombian guitarist Aquizamín García has been playing the guitar for more than 20 years. As a soloist and member of different groups he has performed at major venues in South and North America including New York City. His performances with the “Gentil Montaña Guitar Quartet” have been reviewed by important journals such as Soundboard and Classical Guitar Magazine: “spectacularly well-received.” As a soloist he has been invited to perform at important venues in the Vancouver area including the Chan Center and the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theater at Douglass College. In 2010 he received his Master of Music degree from UBC. Aquizamin’s Website

Stephen Fisk – Guitar and Ensemble  Instructor

Stephen holds degrees in Arts and Music Composition as well as a Masters in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory (Boston). He has been a respected member of the Canadian jazz community since the late 1980s, having toured and recorded with Freeplay, the Chris Tarry Group, and Uncommon Gold, as well as working with many notable international artists. He has mentored many of Canada’s finest young jazz artists and is a member of the Contemporary Guitar faculty at Vancouver Community College.  www.uncommongold.com

Valerie Jackson – Guitar Instructor

Valerie holds a Master of Arts in Musicology (McGill) and a Bachelor of Music Degree in Guitar Performance (Victoria). She has studied and performed in Japan, Spain and Holland and is passionate about sharing music with young people!

Piano

Gordon Cobb – Piano Instructor

Gordon received his BFA from SFU and his MMus in Composition for New Media from the London College of Music in the UK.   In the fall of 2011 Gordon will begin his PhD studies in Arts Education at SFU.  He has worked both locally and internationally in dance, film, television, theatre, ice skating, and web cobbhousestudio.com.  He is also the Artistic Director of Cobb House Studio, a children’s production company specializing in film and music production web.me.com/cobbhousestudio.

Kevan Ellis – Piano and Ensemble Instructor

Kevan has over 15 years of teaching experience in group and private piano instruction. He majored in music composition and received his BFPA from Simon Fraser University. Actively involved in composing and performing as a vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist, Kevan has had his music featured on television and film and has released several CDs of his own music with various Vancouver acts such as Cinderpop and SK Robot, which have received worldwide distribution. www.myspace.com/cinderpop

Boris Favre – Piano and Ensemble Instructor

Boris holds an A.R.C.T. Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), a Jazz Diploma from Vancouver Community College and a Bachelor of Music Degree from UBC. Though formally trained in classical piano, Boris’s true passion is for jazz and world music. He has toured extensively for a decade as bassist for the internationally acclaimed Celtic-funk band Mad Pudding. He currently performs with fiddler Shona Le Mottée, children’s entertainer Music with Marnie and with the Deborah Ledon band, a Cuban-Jazz project. www.borisfavre.com

Percussion

Paul Bray – Percussion Instructor

Following a family tradition of music, Paul is a professional performing percussionist, musical educator and instrumental artisan residing in Vancouver.  His enthusiasm for performance and culture leads Paul on international tours with his many musical projects and inspires his ongoing musical apprenticeships in Cuba and Brazil. Paul teaches percussion at SoM and accompanies modern dance at AU.

Robin Layne – Senior Percussion  Instructor

Holds a Diploma of Music from VCC, is a graduate of the L.A. Music Academy and has studied in Cuba.   He now splits his time between leading his band Jarimba, teaching percussion and marimba, and performing everything from world music to avant garde jazz.  He recently toured China with the Roma Swing Ensemble.  Robin is the mallet instructor at SoM.

Voice

Lonnie Delisle – Voice Instructor

Lonnie Delisle has worked extensively in music all his life. Originally from Prince George, at the age of 17 he left for California to immerse himself in his musical passion, gospel music. He returned to Canada to broaden his music studies and over the past years has been the music director for three large Vancouver-area churches and producer of numerous musical productions.

Lonnie has performed as a guest Hammond organist and tenor soloist for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and has played a number of lead tenor operatic roles. He has also traveled the globe performing for diverse audiences and is a seasoned choral director and music producer.

Currently Lonnie is loving being engaged fully in his passion as co-music director of the Marcus Mosely Chorale. The variety of vocal ensembles he’s arranged for and directed have performed unique arrangements of gospel, pop, classical, traditional choral and rock.

Lonnie’s formal training includes a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from Western Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Trinity Western University.

Kirstn Hawson – Voice Instructor

Kirstn is a professional actress/singer/voice-over artist.She recently moved to Vancouver and has taught at such places as Arts Umbrella and The Richmond Arts Centre; she currently runs the Speech & Drama program at The Shadbolt Centre as well as their Musical Theatre division with fellow SoM instructor, Erin Hope-Goldsmith. While at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England where she studied acting, movement and specialized in voice, she was sponsored by Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir John Geilgud. Kirstn later found a passion for teaching and has taught professional performers, children/teens aged 2-19, adults and stunt men around the world. She has performed on stage in London’s West End as well as all over Europe, The Middle East and America. Kirstn can also be seen in many commercial, television and film projects. She is currently an ambassador for Jenny Craig and can be seen in their recent commercials promoting the Metabolic Max program.

Carrie Tennant – Voice Instructor

Carrie Tennant is well known in the choral community for her energetic and creative approach to working with youth. Carrie’s choirs have received numerous accolades, including top awards at the National Music Festival and the Canadian Competition for Amateur Choirs. As a high school teacher, Carrie built a large and thriving choral program at Maple Ridge Secondary School. Now working primarily with community youth ensembles, Carrie conducts the SarahMcLachlan School of Music Youth Choir, the Chor Leoni’s MYVoice Vancouver Choir, and is the Associate Artistic Director of Coastal Sound Music Academy, where she directs their 70-voice youth choir. Carrie is also an Artist-in-Residence with the Vancouver School Board, the coordinator of theVancouver Kiwanis Choral Festival, and a frequent clinician, adjudicator and retreat facilitator throughout British Columbia. In 2008, Carrie was the recipient of the BC Choral Federation Youth Achievement Award for distinguished support of choral music in BC. Carrie also performs and records as a member of Vancouver-based indie-pop group the Salteens, who last year toured across the country with “Yo Gabba Gabba Live!” after being featured on the Nickleodeon show – “Yo Gabba Gabba”.

Songwriting

Kate MacColl – Songwriting Instructor

Kate has enjoyed a vibrant and multi-faceted music career as a teacher, administrator and performer for almost 3 decades.  In addition to teaching at SoM, Kate is a secondary music specialist, a mentor at UBC, and a singer in the internationally renowned Elektra Women’s Choir.  She is also a self-published composer and arranger; recently, her score for “The Body” (by award-winning playwright, Nick Darke) was licensed for production in the UK.

Music Fundamentals

Anna Baignoche – Music Fundamentals Instructor

Anna Baignoche has been a student, performer, and an appreciator of the music of the world for as long as she can remember. Having travelled, lived, and studied in Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, and Turkey as a young adult, she was deeply impressed by these countries’ integration of music into the culture. After completing a degree in Contemporary Voice, specializing in world music, at Vancouver Community College, Anna B. (her stage name) has performed for 13 years in the Vancouver music scene in various projects: Anna B. and the Heartbones, a western Latin jazz sextet, Catita, a bossa nova and samba duo, and Diez, a ten piece Latin jazz band (samba, son, mambo, bossa nova). In the winter of 2009 she received a BC Arts Council Grant to study bossa nova in Rio de Janeiro, taking classes in voice, dance, percussion, and Portuguese. She has released two albums with her original project Anna B. and the Heartbones: Heartbones (Western Jazz), A Deal With the Wind (Western Latin Jazz – Spanish and English). Anna has recently returned to school to complete a Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology at UBC. She also leads Local Vocals, a 65 member singing and dancing group in East Vancouver, a Family Choir, and a song group for teens-at-risk.

Assistants

Guitar

Aaron Pettigrew – Guitar Assistant

Aaron is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, currently pursuing a major in jazz and contemporary trumpet at Vancouver Community College. He also plays trumpet, guitar, and various other instruments with the local indie-pop band Wintermitts. He’s very excited to have the opportunity to work with such a talented, inspiring group of students and teachers at SoM.

John Rogers – Guitar Assistant

John is a Vancouver based guitarist, composer and recording engineer/producer. He holds a Diploma from Columbia Academy in Recording Arts and a Diploma in classical guitar performance from Douglas College. He recently completed his BA in music from the University of British Columbia. He plays electric guitar in local rock and free improvisation groups.  As a recording engineer, John has recorded a variety of types of music ranging from symphonic, chamber and opera to electronic, rock and jazz.

Piano

Dorothy Chung – Piano Assistant

Dorothy began her musical training with the Kelly Kirby method at a young age.  Since then, she has earned her ARCT with First Class Honors, a music diploma from Capilano College and a Bachelor’s at U.B.C.  She is an active performer and teacher.  She teaches students of all levels and instills the joy of music into all her students.

Sean Fulton – Piano Assistant

Originally trained in classical piano, Sean eventually pursued studies in jazz piano at the VCC School of Music. In his time there he earned his Jazz Diploma, and in addition distinguished himself receiving the Chris Gage Memorial Scholarship for Jazz Piano, a Notable Event Music Award and completing the third year level performance concentration. In addition to teaching, Sean is an active performer, collaborator, recording artist, composer, and has recently embarked on a career in film scoring.

Ivan Oluic – Piano Assistant

At the age of 9 Ivan began taking piano lessons.  He continued his studies at the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach from 2002 until graduation in 2008.  Although he began as a classically trained pianist Ivan ventured into jazz and modern repertoire.  Ivan was introduced to composing at age 11 when an elementary school teacher showed him a notation program on the computer.   Ivan continues to foster his creative development by working on sound creation, emulation of analog devices and multi-layered synthesizers.

Percussion

Katie Rife – Percussion Assistant

Dedicated to both performance and education, Katie recently returned to the Vancouver area after completing graduate studies at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has also studied music at UBC and has been an artist in residence at the Banff Centre.  Katie performs mainly orchestral and contemporary music, but has a wide range of musical interests and is always seeking new and creative ways to both play and teach percussion.

Rupinder Sidhu – Percussion Assistant

Rupinder is a Vancouver based performance artist and facilitator. From a young age diverse music’s from around the world have inspired and informed his sound: from folk and classical forms of India, to Hip Hop, Reggae, Tuvin throat singing, to West African percussion and the list goes on.   Rup is the program coordinator for Hip Hop Hope he also co-founded Metaphor bringing hip hop performances and empowerment workshops into youth detention centers, schools and rural communities.  For more info. check out www.byanydreamsnecessary.com

Youth Choir

Sasha Niechoda – Youth Choir Accompanist

BMus, Honours Piano Performance, University of Western Ontario.

Sasha has been a professional pianist, keyboard player, keyboard programmer, and musical director for over 25 years, and his career in Musical Theatre has taken him around the world.  He is currently the Musical Director for the Arts Club Theatre Company production of “Blood Brothers” at the Granville Island Stage.  He received his Bachelor of Music with Honours in Piano Performance from the University of Western Ontario, and has been the accompanist for the SoM Youth Choir for the last 6 years.

Songwriting

Erin Hope-Goldsmith – Songwriting Assistant

Erin has a certificate in audio engineering from Harbourside Institute of Technology, an ARCT Piano Performer’s degree, and a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from UBC, where she studied music with Rena Sharon, Sal Ferreras, and Mei Han.  She has worked for 12 years as a collaborative pianist with singers, choirs, and instrumentalists.  She enjoys teaching music, piano, and sound engineering to kids of all ages!

Music Fundamentals

Samantha Fu – Music Fundamentals Assistant

Samantha holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance from UBC, as well as a Master of Music and Professional Diploma in Orchestral Studies from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. In addition, Samantha holds A.R.C.T Performance Diplomas in both Piano and Flute from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto). Samantha performs around the lower mainland and has been an extra with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra.