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 Faculty (In Alphabetical Order) Nicole Dubinsky - Voice, Musikgarten, Little Voices  Nicole holds a Masters of Music in Voice Performance and Literature from the University of Western Ontario. She is also a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University with an Honours Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and a Diploma in Opera. In 2011 Nicole performed as the Queen of the Night in WLU’s 100 Anniversary Production of Die Zauberflöte, as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with the Accademia Europea dell’Opera, and as Susanna in UWO’s main stage production of Le Nozze di Figaro. Last year Nicole sang as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Bach Elgar Choir and the Kincardine Summer Music Festival and her past roles include Diane (Orphée aux enfers), Sandrina (La Finta Giardiniera) andSister Constance (The Dialogues of the Carmelites). Nicole is teaching Musikgarten classes and private voice lessons with the Esch Music Academy where she is delighted to be guiding young children and adults alike in their love of music. Jessica Esch - Piano, Musikgarten  Jessica has over 20 years of private piano studio instruction and professional accompanying experience in Canada and the United States. Her major teachers have included the revered Canadian pedagogues James Anagnoson at the Royal Conservatory of Music with whom she obtained the A.R.C.T. Performer’s Diploma, and Dorothy Morton - with whom she received a Bachelor of Music degree (Distinction in Performance) from McGill University. She has also coached privately with Steinway Artist Robert Roux. Jessica has also pursued additional studies at a number of important summer Music Festivals in Europe and at the Chautauqua Institute of Higher Learning in New York. Jessica’s students have enjoyed considerable success in various levels of Royal Conservatory of Music examinations, and at local music festivals/contests in the Greater Toronto Area. In addition to her piano studio, Jessica is active within the greater arts community in the G.T.A. She served as the official accompanist for the Toronto Taiwanese Choir from 2004-2005 and has accompanied professionally for numerous R.C.M. exams and recitals. She is a former orchestra manager of the Canadian Sinfonietta, one of Toronto’s most dynamic chamber orchestras, and presently volunteers in various capacities for that orchestra. Jessica is a natural in working with pre-college talent, and young children. She exudes a warm, nurturing persona, while at the same time challenges her students with a focused and structured lesson environment. In addition to her piano credentials, Jessica is one of the few certified Canadian instructors of Musikgarten; an internationally recognized program introducing babies, toddlers and young children to the wonders of music. Michael Esch (DMA) - Piano, Theory  Dr. Esch has been featured in numerous recitals throughout Canada; most notably at the Glenn Gould Studio and for the Canadian University Music Society. His performances have been broadcast on CBC Radio as well as various television programs throughout the country. Internationally, he has appeared in concert throughout Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the United States and Germany. He made his debut in Asia in 2005 at the SingaporeArts Festival. Dr. Esch has appeared as a guest soloist with numerous orchestras including career highlights with the Canadian Sinfonietta at Glenn Gould Studio, and the Toronto Philharmonia at George Weston Hall. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with a number of acclaimed artists including the Belgian violinist Michael Guttman and the eminent violist, Rivka Golani. Since 2005, he has served as pianist-in-residence with the Canadian Sinfonietta Chamber Players. Dr. Esch has enjoyed grant support from the Chalmers foundation, and is a multiple grant recipient from the Canada Council for the Arts. He has enjoyed success in numerous competitions in Canada, as well as at international levels. A sought - after adjudicator in Canada, he has adjudicated festivals at the provincial level for the Ontario Music Festival Association, the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’Association, as well as the Canadian Music Competition 50th Anniversary National Tour, among others. Dr. Esch has taught at Wilfrid Laurier University and currently serves on faculty at The Glenn Gould School/Royal Conservatory of Music. He is a senior examiner for RCM exams. Helen Flannery - Musikgarten Helen Flannery is a licensed Musikgarten instructor. As a former high school music teacher with Niagara District School Board (formerly Niagara South Board of Education), Helen brings a wealth of music education and classroom experience to the studio setting. Helen holds an Honours Bachelor of Music degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor of Education degree from Western University. Helen is a mother of three young children and she looks forward to introducing your children to the joys of music. Howard Fong - Violin Newly appointed associate concertmaster of the Kindred Spirits Orchestra in Markham,  Howard has studied violin performance under Maestro Tak-Ng Lai and Anli Huang. He furthered his studies at McMaster University with Sonia Visanté and received a Diploma specializing in violin performance. During his undergraduate studies, he served as the co-concertmaster of the McMaster Chamber Orchestra for 3 years. He has also served as concertmaster of both the Toronto Cultural Youth Orchestra and the Chinese Artists Society of Toronto Youth Orchestra from 2003 – 2005. Currently he is a member of the Richmond Hill Philharmonic Orchestra and Sneek Peek Orchestra. Howard is an Honours graduate of McMaster University. Harold Fung - Music History and Theory Harold Fung is a Royal Conservatory of Music Examiner in both piano and theory subjects. He is presently teaching music history and theory at Lakehead University - Orillia Campus while running a busy music studio in North York. He has also served as a coucil member and branch president for the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Asociation. Mr. Fung holds a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Piano Performance from York University and continued his graduate studies at Townsen University in Baltimore, Maryland. He has studied with Marc Durand in Toronto and Montreal and with Christina Petrowska at York University. Mr. Fung also attended masterclasses with well known pedagogues including Alfred Brendel in New York City, and Leon Fleisher, John Perry and Andre Laplaunte in Toronto. Joyce Lai - Violin/Viola  Joyce Lai enjoys a prolific career as a violin soloist , chamber musician and avid teacher. She is presently concertmaster and executive director of the Canadian Sinfonietta, a Toronto based professional chamber orchestra. As well, Joyce is also the violinist in the Riverdale Ensemble, the Croydon String Quartet and the Canadian Sinfonietta Chamber Players. She has been featured in a number of chamber concert series both as soloist and with chamber ensembles throughout Canada and overseas including the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Festival, Huntsville Chamber Music Festival, the Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival, just to name a few. Joyce has also performed as guest soloist with orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Szeged Symphony of Budapest, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, Etobicoke Philharmonic, the Toronto Chinese Philharmonic, the Canadian Chamber Academy, the Canadian Sinfonietta, the Glenn Gould Performing Arts Orchestra and the Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra. Joyce has always been very active in the community. She has performed in numerous charity fundraisers, for well-known Canadian politicians including former prime minister, Brian Mulroney, Toronto Mayor David Miller, Senator Vivienne Poy, and the former Governor General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson. She has been interviewed both on local TV and radio stations, as well as in the community newspapers, both in Chinese and English. Joyce has also done extensive teaching. With over 20 years of experience, Joyce has taught at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Baptist University. While in Hong Kong, Joyce was also the Head of Music at the Yew Chung International School, where she formed a school choir and string orchestra, entering competitions and recording school CDS. Joyce received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where she was a scholarship student and on the Dean’s List. She was also a recipient of the Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges Award for three consecutive years. Joyce holds a Master of Music Degree and a Performer Diploma from the Indiana University in Violin Performance. Robert Rival, DMA (Composition) - Theory Currently serving as resident composer with the Edmonton Symphony orchestra,  Robert Rival (b. 1975) is a Canadian composer whose contemporary tonal style is characterized by drama, clarity and lyricism, described by critics as "well crafted," "engaging" and "immediately appealing". His music, for chamber ensemble, voice, orchestra and the stage, has been broadcast on CBC radio and performed by the Gryphon Trio and other leading Canadian musicians and ensembles. The Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival has presented his music since 2004, including a Piano Trio, Clarinet Trio, the song cycle Red Moon & Other Songs of War and a Schubert Fantasy. His orchestral works include the one-movement Symphony "Maligne Range". He has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the latter for his research on Shostakovich. Rival's writing has appeared as liner notes for Analekta and as program notes for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He has a DMA in composition from the University of Toronto. www.robertrival.com  |
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