Barbara Siemens – Insights into Festival Participation for Students & New Adjudicators

The workshop was presented in two parts: preparing students "musically and mentally" for festival performances; and providing practical as well as philosophical guidance for prospective adjudicators.

Date: Monday, October 6, 2014 
Time: 10am – noon
Venue: Oakridge Studios, 497 West 40th Avenue (40th and Cambie)

Martha Brickman – The Historical Approach to Baroque Music

The workshop covered the following topics:

• description of harpsichord and clavichord action: how they differ from the piano's action
• working with a clean unedited score: how to determine phrasing, tempo, articulation and dynamics
• discrepancies in notation: finger-pedalling, notes inegales and double-dotting. How to play problematic pieces
• rubato and improvisatory sections in Bach
• ornament notation in Bach, Scarlatti and the French composers

Date: Monday, September 22, 2014
Time: 10am – noon
Venue: Tom Lee Music – Recital Hall, 929 Granville Street, Vancouver

Piano Master Class with Sara Davis Buechner

We hosted a piano master class with Sara Davis Buechner on Monday May 28, 2012 @ Pyatt Hall, VSO School of Music at 10:00am.

Free to BCRMTA Vancouver Branch members and students. $5 for non branch members

4 advanced level students performed
Elsie Chan - Prelude op. 32 no. 12 by Rachmaninoff
Phillip Sun - Sonata in Bb Major, K 570, 2nd and 3rd movement by Mozart
Angela Chen - Edward Ballad, op. 10 no. 1 by Brahms
Jano Ho - Sonata in A Major, K 331, 1st movement by Mozart

Click here to view photos

BCRMTA Year End Student Recital 2012

Date: Sunday May 27, 2012

Location: Tom Lee Music Recital Hall (3rd floor) – downtown, 929 Granville Street, Vancouver

Time:

Recital 1 1:00-2:15pm

Recital 2 2:30-3:45pm

Recital 3 4:00-5:30pm

Admission by donation; suggested $5 for the student scholarships fund for BCRMTA Vancouver Branch.

There were 79 students from 20 teachers, performing in our recitals. Thank you all the teachers for their interest in the recital. It was a very successful recital. We were making this a memorable event for both teachers and students!

Click here to view photos

Master Class with Janina Fialkowska

We are very pleased to announance that the world-renowned pianist, Janina Fialkowska will conduct a master class for our advanced piano students while she will be performing for Vancouver Chopin Society in March. A Canadian pianist, Janina performs all over the world. Her TV documentary "the World of Janina Fialkowska" won a Special Jury Prize at the 1992 San Francisco International Film Festival. Ms Fialkowska is an "Officer of the Order of Canada" and holds honorary doctorates from Acadia University and Queen's University. She made many CDs for Chopin and Lizst. During the 2010 Chopin anniversary year, three of Ms Fialkowska’s CDs were released. The CDs were devoted to the music of Chopin and all three received stellar reviews from the most distinguished critics around the world. Ms Fialkowska celebrated the Liszt anniversary 2011 on concert stage ("Virtuosa assoluta", Munich Merkur) as well as on CD. Her latest CD release "Liszt Recital" was hailed as "The most beautiful Liszt CD of this decade". For more information about Ms Fialkowska, please visit her website http://www.fialkowska.com/biography.aspx. For the information about her recital in Vancouver with Chopin Society in March, please visit the website http://chopinsociety.org/janina-fialkowska.html
Fee: Free for BCRMTA Vancouver Branch members; $10 at the door for non-members

Piano Masterclass with Janina Fialkowska 

• Date: Monday March 19, 2012
  
• Time: 10:00am to noon
  
• Where: Pyatt Hall, VSO School of Music, 843 Seymour Street, Vancouver , BC
  
• Level: Advanced, ARCT or above

Program
Albie Chan - Ballade Op. 23 in g minor by Chopin

Louise Cazander - Etude Op. 25 No. 1 by Chopin

Frances Armstrong - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 by Liszt

Celebration of Excellence Recital for Year 2011

The Celebration of Excellence Recital was held on March 4 at Tom Lee Music Recital Hall. We have 13 teachers participated and 34 performers who received first class honours with distinction from their 2011 piano exams. We have awarded 11 trophies with the Highest Marks Award.

Tom Lee Music has sponsored scholarships with gift certificates from Grade 1 to Grade 7. Winners from Grade 8 and above received BCRMTA Vancouver Branch Scholarships. All other players received gold medallions and certificates.

Our two presidents, Mrs. Keiko Alexander and Mrs. Jammy Smith, presented the award to the winners. We have also invited Mr. Jim Thorpe from Tom Lee Music to give out their scholarships awards.

Piano Master Class with Lilya Zilberstein

Lilya Ziberstein conducted a master class for our advanced piano students on Wed Nov 16, 2011. Lilya Ziberstein performs all over the world. This year, she went to Taiwan, China, the United States, and Europe. She performs duo with world famous pianist, Martha Argerich, and she judges many major international piano competitions. She teaches in Germany. As a piano professor, and she holds master classes all the time, and they have great reputations. She has made many recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. She performed with the VSO about 2 years ago at Orpheum Theatre where she performed Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 3. This year, in November, she was invited by the Vancouver Chopin Society perform a piano solo recital on Nov 18, performing Chopin and Beethoven's works.

Due to the time limit, Ms. Zilberstein could only work with 3 students. After an audition on Oct 29, 3 advanced level students were selected to work with her.

Fee: Free for BCRMTA Vancouver Branch members; $10 at the door for non-members

Piano Masterclass with Lilya Zilberstein

• Date: Wednesday November 16, 2011
• Time: 10:00am to noon
• Where: Pyatt Hall, VSO School of Music, 843 Seymour Street, Vancouver , BC
• Level: Advanced, ARCT or above 

Program

Fraser Jang-Milligan       Sonata Op. 31 No. 2 1st mvt. by Beethoven 

Katarina Simic     10 pieces from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75 (no. 2, 3, 4 and 8) by Prokofiev 

Austin Tsai       Paganini Etude No. 6 by Liszt

Workshop on Learning Differences between Boys and Girls

Vancouver Registered Music Teachers and the Student Teachers' Auxiliary hosted together for a very special presentation given by the highly respected educator, BRUCE IVANY. Mr. Ivany has worked as an educator for 36 years teaching Grade 4-12, as an elementary and secondary counsellor, elementary vice principal and principal, Junior High principal and, for 11 years, as superintendent for the Abbotsford School District. He is a certified trainer with the Gurian Institute, a research centre which studies bio-neurological differences between boys' and girls' brains and how these differences impact how they learn. Mr. Ivany has conducted over 75 sessions for schools, districts and parents on the topic of how boys and girls learn differently. On November 6 Mr. Ivany addressed the RMT on the differences between boys' and girls' learning styles and will relate this to music instruction in particular.  This event was free to all BCRMTA Vancouver Branch members and STA members, $10 for non-members.

DATE: Sunday, November 6
TIME: 2:00pm-4:00pm
PLACE: Vancouver Masonic Centre room #112, 1495 West 8th Avenue Vancouver, BC

This event is partially sponsored by the Piano Teachers' Federation.

October 24, 2011 Violin Master Class

Violin Master Class with Don Lum

Don Lum received his formal music training in Western Canada, under the tutelage of Douglas Stewart. After fostering his abilities both as a solo and chamber musician, his extended studies have taken him to the Julliard School of Music where he worked with renowned violin pedagogue Dorothy Delay and assisted with the pre-college program.

 

As both a musical performer and educator, Don Lum is highly sought after for his work as an adjudicator, clinician and examiner. He is a member of the College of Examiners with the Royal Conservatory and frequently conducts master classes on violin technique. In addition to his active role within the Canadian music community, Don works in close quarters with many young musicians, chamber groups and school orchestras. Apart from these other musical endeavors, Don maintains a busy studio in Burnaby; many of his students have been the recipients of local, provincial and national awards. His graduating students have furthered studies in places such as Cleveland, Eastman and New York, some are currently holding positions in professional orchestras.

• Date: Monday October 24, 2011
  
• Time: 10:00am to noon
  
• Where: Long & McQuade, 368 Terminal Avenue, Vancouver
  
• Fee: FREE

Program
Isabel Ryznar    Grade 6    Allegro by Corelli; and Concerto in A minor 3rd movement by Vivaldi

Gower Sun    Grade 9    Spanish Dance by P. de Sarasate

Aleksei Angell    Grade 5    Bourrée by J.S. Bach

May 16, 2011 Piano Master Class with Keiko Alexander

Keiko Alexander conducted a masterclass for our intermediate piano students.  6 students from grades 5 to 8 of our branch members participated in this event.

Date: Monday May 16, 2011
Time: 10:00am to noon
Location: Long & McQuade, 368 Terminal Avenue, Vancouver

Program
Thomas Pantea    Bagatelle op. 119 no. 1    Beethoven    Gr. 7
Richard Wang    Variations on Paganini Theme in A minor    Berkovich     Gr. 8 
Nancy Wang    Sonatina in G Major op. 49/2, 1st movement    Beethoven    Gr. 8 
-------  Short Break  ------
Sandra Lee    Sonatina in C Major op. 36 no.3 1st movement    Clementi    Gr. 7
Harnoor Sidhu    Evening at the Village    Bartok    Gr. 8
Jennifer Li    Sonatina in F Major, 2nd movement: Rondo    Beethoven    Gr. 5

Celebration of Excellence Recital for the Year 2010

Date: Sunday, May 8, 2011
Time: 2:00pm – 4:30pm
Location: Vancouver Masonic Centre，1495 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver

Trophy Winners
Andrea Chan, Tony Hao Han Zhang, Marisse Cheung, Phoebe Pang, Olivia Hu, Jenessa Quan, Jasper Liang, Monica Quan, Jasper Yoo, Bonnie Lee, Diana Chan

Scholarship Winners
Monica Quan, Jasper Yoo, Bonnie Lee, Diana Chan

Medallion Winners
Wesley Chew, Angela Hu, Ryan Jia, Brandon Jong, Cheryl Lin, Arianne Quon, Ryan Zhu, Julia Ho, YiRan Wang, Michelle Chan, Taylor Kuo, Jia Xu Chang, Yichen Luo, Bradley Ma, Ksenia Pinski, Grace Chao, Levina Chew, Raymond Liang, Anne Sha, Stephen Ohno, Louis Wei

Participating Students
Jasmine Kwan, Merissa Mah, Christopher Luey, Austen Wang, Steven Lew, Aisa Sayama

April 11, 2011 Workshop by Dr. Sasha Starcevich "With a Small Hand"

Dr. Sasha Starcevich gave a workshop on "small hands" on Monday April 11 - with the first half of the lecture on the discussion of how to overcome playing technique and repertoire with small hands, and followed by student demonstrations in the second half. 3 students with small hands were working with Dr. Starcevich.

Location: Long & McQuade - 368 Terminal Avenue, Vancouver
Date: Monday April 11, 2011
Time: 10 am - noon

Sandy Su, Moment musical opus 94 #2 by Schubert    Grade 10
Stephanie Yang, Minuet in G minor by Stolzel    Grade 6
Chiaki Pidruchney, Barcarolle by Chopin    Grade 10

March 18, 2011 Piano Master Class with Mr. Ian Parker

A piano masterclass with Mr.Ian Parker 4 advanced level students from 4 teachers performed for Mr. Parker.

Program

Shanny Chen    Estampes - Jardins sous la Pluie by Debussy    ARCT

Chuan Du   Nocturne in A-flat Major, Op. 32 no. 2, by Chopin    Grade 10   

Valerie Mok   Sonata Op.2 No.1, 1st Movt by Beethoven    Grade 10

Louis Wei    Images Book 1 - Reflets dans l'eau by Debussy    ARCT

February 21, 2011 Piano Master Class with Dr. Corey Hamm

Dr. Corey Hamm is both an internationally performing pianist and Assistant Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at The University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. He is Director of the UBC Contemporary Players and joined the faculty of UBC in Fall 2005.

Dr. Hamm is honoured to be nominated for and winner of the 2008/2009 UBC Killam Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching.

His performances (with associated lectures and master classes) have taken place in such cities as Hong Kong (5), Singapore, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Camrose, Brandon, Winnipeg, Guelph, London, Toronto, Montreal, Seattle, Bellingham, Pullman, and Minneapolis, with more performances to come.

• Date: Monday Feb 21, 2011
• Time: 10:00am to noon
• Where: Long & McQuade, 368 Terminal Avenue, Vancouver

Program of the Masterclass

• Austin Tsai: Paganini Etude No. 6 by Franz Liszt. ARCT Level
  
• Louise Cazander: Etude Opus 25, No. 1 by Chopin. ARCT Level
  
• Cindy Zhou: Toccata by David McIntyre - Canadian Composer. Grade 10
  
• Matteo Damascelli: Prelude op. 23, No.5 in G Minor by Rachmaninov. ARCT Level