Meet our Teachers ...
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Dr. Sasha Starcevich - Artistic Director Pianist Sasha Starcevich is an international performer and teacher. Since receiving his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Yale University in May of 2003, he has continued to thrill audiences in the United States, Canada and Europe. Starcevich has given recitals at New York's Carnegie Recital Hall, Moscow's Tchaikovsky Hall, Windsor Castle, and in London's Wigmore Hall. As a soloist he has performed with orchestras across the globe also toured Russia with the Samara Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed at several international festivals. Starcevich has recorded for CBS Television in the United States and has released two CD's in the United States and in London, England. Dr. Starcevich has been affiliate professor of piano at the State University of New York, department chair of music and professor of piano at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts, and has taught students attending the pre-college division at the Juilliard School in New York. He currently maintains an active private studio in Bellevue, Washington. This Summer, Dr. Starcevich will join the faculty of Musicfest Perugia, in Italy. His students have been prizewinners of local, national and international awards, and have gone on to study music at prestigious schools such as the Yale School of Music and the Juilliard School in New York. Dr. Starcevich is in frequent demand as a performer, adjudicator and presenter of Master Classes throughout North America, Russia and China. Through Showcase Pianos, Starcevich will present Masterclasses for students and seminars for teachers. His students have included Tristan Teo, Evgenia Rabinovich, Jovian Cheng, and Tim Zhang. |
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Registration Now Open!
Aberdeen Centre: (604) 270-8861 or info@showcaseacademy.com
#3480 – 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC
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Bogdan Dulu - Advanced Teacher Bogdan Dulu is an active performer on three continents. A native of Romania, he received a Bachelor’s degree from Bucharest University and a Master’s degree from Mannes College of Music in New York City. He is currently pursuing his doctorate degree with acclaimed Canadian pianist, Jane Coop, while receiving UBC's prestigious 4-Year-Fellowship for top doctoral students. He has been a teaching assistant at the School of Music since September 2010, where he teaches undergraduate college students. Bogdan Dulu's career started flourishing soon after his orchestral debut at the age of 12, receiving many awards, distinctions, and prizes at international piano competitions. Most recently he won the 2011 UBC Concerto Competition, which led to his Canadian debut with UBC Symphony Orchestra on a handcrafted Fazioli F278 piano. He has appeared in concerts at New York City's Carnegie Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, as well as in Canada, Japan, and Europe (Rome, Paris, Brussels, Warsaw, Bucharest, Sofia). He has recorded for the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation and has also been invited to perform in music festivals across Europe and the United States. |
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Clare Yuan - Advanced Teacher Ms. Chia-Hui Clare Yuan began playing the piano at the age of five. A recipient of many awards, including Entrance Scholarship of UVic and the William Templeton Memorial Scholarship, Clare obtained her Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance. While studying at the University, she was appointed by the UVic Orchestra as a pianist. In March 2009, she made her New York concerto debut with the Metropolitan Philharmonic of New York Orchestra. In May 2009, Ms. Yuan received her Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of renowned Russian pianist, Dr. Arkady Aronov. She is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree (doctoral academic degree in piano performance) under the guidance of world famous Canadian pianist, Professor Jane Coop, at the University of British Columbia, where she has been awarded scholarships and a teaching assistantship position as a highly recommended musician and instructor. |
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Ross Salvosa - Advanced Teacher ROSS SALVOSA is a descendant of the unbroken lineage of pianists and pedagogues tracing back to the virtuoso pianist-composer Franz Liszt. He has performed in concert venues around the world as an orchestra soloist, solo recitalist, collaborative artist and chamber musician. He has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras and is a prize winner of national and international piano competitions. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia and holds a full scholarship under the guidance of world renowned - legendary concert pianist Sara Davis Buechner. Ross has established a reputation as a very distinguished and sought after pedagogue. His students have won both local and international competitions and his creative unorthodox approach to teaching continues to inspire upcoming young talents. He has given masterclasses and lecture seminars on building early childhood technique in North and South America and Asia. |
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Lu Meng - Advanced Teacher Lu Meng, who graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music (CCM) 中央音乐学院 in 2006, majored in Piano Performance for his Master’s Degree. Due to Lu Meng's gifted musical talent, he became the primary training subject of the Central Conservatory of Music. At the age of five, he started playing the piano, and earning the highest test score at the age of ten, he enrolled in CCM's affiliated elementary school under the tutelage of Professor Jin Aiping. For his outstanding performance, in 1992 Lu was exempted from CCM Secondary School's entrance exam and studied for the next six years under the guidance of Professor ChenBigang. In 1998, Lu became an undergraduate student of the most prestigious conservatory in China- the Central Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Professor Yang Ming. In 2003, Lu obtained his Bachelor’s degree and in 2006 his Master’s degree in Piano Performance at CCM. During his time at CCM, Professor Yin Chengzong, Li Qifang, Pianist Jerome Lowenthol, Klauss Baesler and other famous foreign professors, in addition to a number of well-known pianists contributed to his craft through their various pointers and guidance. From elementary school to graduate school,Lu received scholarships every single year. Lu Meng also actively participated in music practice. He held many solo piano concerts and concertos and won several piano competitions, such as Best Performing Arts in the Sino-Russian Third Art Festival of College Students in 2004; Best Music Performance and Gold Award of the Professional Groups in Heizmann International Piano Competition in 2005. In 2002, courtesy to the China-Italy cultural exchange project, the famous Italian pianist Michele Campanella selected Lu Meng, the one and only Asian student to study at Italy's Accademia Musicale Chigiana with a full scholarship. Upon graduation from Chigiana, he received rave reviews after his graduation performance at the Chigiana Hall in the city of Siena. Lu Meng has great enthusiasm for teaching the piano. While training his students' piano skills, Lu also focuses on providing them with the best resources in music theory, work analysis,and style of performance. Using the principles of pedagogy and psychology, he reaches his teaching goals through personalized education to cultivate students' professional characteristics and styles. |
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Lay Tuan Tan BM/MM Piano Performance, New England Conservatory, Boston, RCM Examiner Lay Tuan Tan received a Master of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory and a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of South Carolina, both in Piano Performance. She won First Place in both the USC Concerto Aria Competition (which resulted in performance with orchestra) and the Columbia Northeast Music Festival Competition and was a Finalist at NEC Honours Scholarship Competition. Ms. Tan studied with Raymond Dudley, Stephen Drury, Jean Stackhouse (Pedagogy) and Margot Garrett (Accompaniment). As instructor, she is committed to developing the talent of each individual student and recognises the importance of nurturing the love for music within a positive environment. Her students have been consistent in receiving first place awards and high honours for outstanding performances in music festivals, First Class Honours with Distinction in RCM examinations and scholarships to attend prestigious music programs in the United Kingdom. She has performed in masterclasses with Nelita True, Bela Siki, the National Ballet of Canada’s workshop, the National Choreographic Seminar at Simon Fraser University and has attended the Ferienkurse fur Neuemusik in Darmstadt, Germany. Ms. Tan has been a featured soloist with the Standing Wave Ensemble, Vancouver New Music, Women in View Festival, Time Flies Festival and the Singapore Festival of Arts. |
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Maryna Prysyazhnyuk Maryna Prysyazhnyuk studied at R.Glier Kyiv Institute of Music (Ukraine) with Olga Orlova for four years, graduating with Distinction in Bachelors of Music Diploma in piano pedagogy, performance and collaboration. Later, she spent two years working towards her Masters in Music Diploma studying at the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music in the piano class of professor Igor Ryabov. During her years as a student, Maryna became a winner of the International Student Exchange Program, which took her on multiple concert tours to France and Latvia. Since 1997 Maryna has been busy teaching and accompanying in Vancouver. Here, she took private classes with a renowned pianist Alexander Korsantia at UBC and studied jazz piano with a legendary Linton Garner. Maryna is also a Provincial finalist of the Canadian Music Competition and a certified ORFF teacher. Maryna follows Russian tradition in piano playing and teaching. She enjoys working with students of all levels. Maryna strongly believes, that nurturing proper piano playing habits in young students will lead into developing strong technical skills and musicianship, that is so important for uncovering the most potential of each student. |
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Mimi Ho Mimi began studying piano at the age of three and her passion for music has never left since. She started her musical education in Hong Kong, where she built up a solid technical foundation and continued her musical journey in Vancouver, Canada. Her teachers included Ms. Yulin Yang, Dr. Sasha Starcevich and Dr. Corey Hamm. She holds an ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and a Diploma of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. Mimi has been teaching piano since her early teens; and for nearly two decades, she has literally grown up with some of her students. From her experiences in teaching students of all ages and abilities, she embraces the challenges of relaying vague and often difficult-to-grasp musical concepts in a methodical and digestible manner. Her fluency in both Chinese and English, and her understanding of child psychology allow her to communicate effectively with children and parents alike. Mimi encourages her students to participate actively in recitals, local music festivals, and RCM examinations. Her students often attain various awards in festivals and First-Class Honours standings in examinations, including BCRMTA and RCM Silver Medal award recipients. As the current President of the BC Registered Teachers' Association - Richmond branch, Mimi is proud to work with other fellow teachers to maintain the high level of excellence in music education in her local community. Through involvement with the Richmond BCRMTA, Mimi continues to promote music in the community, helping the Association in providing performance opportunities for students in various local venues, awarding outstanding students with scholarships and facilitating professional workshops for fellow members. |
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I - CHENG CHEN A native of Taiwan, I-Cheng Chen started his music studies in Taiwan at the age of six. He continued his advanced musical training in Vienna, Austria and in Montreal, Canada in Piano Performance, as well as in Composition and Conducting. During these years, he performed in major concert halls and music festivals. His playing is distinguished by softness of sound and variety of tone colors. His extraordinary memory (a three-hundred-composition repertoire) and excellent improvisational skills have led to a very active career, not only as a recitalist but as a pianist for classical ballet. |
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Rachel Lam – Teacher Rachel Lam, ARCT, dip ABRSM, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music degree from Simon Fraser University with a major in Electroacoustic Composition and World Music. She has been playing the piano since the age of 6 and it has been a passion of hers to analyse and explore piano compositions from various genres and composers. Teaching from a young age, she has a deep interest in learning different piano pedagogic methods from teachers and philosophers from all over of the world. In addition to piano, she plays the flute, saxophone, clarinet, trumpet and French horn. Rachel has taught music and band at international institutions, and has staged musicals with professional artists and educators in Canada, Japan and Hungary. She has conducted and sung in numerous choirs and has been invited to and choreographed for the CEESA Choir Festival in Moscow, Russia. She is a member of the Budapest all women's acapella singing group Sirens and has performed in several concerts in Budapest. |
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Chloé Hurst Chloé Hurst is an active pianist, singer and teacher. From the age of three, she started her formal training in music and has now completed both her bachelor and master of music from The University of British Columbia. Over the years, Chloé has performed in several recitals, concerts, and festivals around the globe such as at the Vancouver International Airport during the 2010 Olympics and during a recent trip to China were she was well received by the State Council of The People's Republic of China, provincial papers, and other forms of media. Whilst performing, Chloé is a member of the theory faculty at The Vancouver Academy of Music in the preparatory and college divisions, and has been running her own private studio for piano, voice and theory for several years. |
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Jovian Cheng Jovian Cheng was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Vancouver, BC, where he began his early music studies with Peggy Yip in Richmond. He then studied with Sasha Starcevich for a number of years before entering the UBC School of Music where he is currently under the tutelage of Amanda Chan. Jovian has also studied under Sara Davis Buechner and Ian Parker. Jovian is a gold medal recipient and winner in the 2009 Seattle Young Artists Music Festival Concerto Division.He was also a prize winner in the 2010 Seattle International Piano Competition. He won the first prize in the Senior Division at the Performing Arts BC Provincial Competition 2009 in Prince Rupert representing the Coquitlam District Music Festival. Jovian has also performed on the National CBC Radio in Canada after being awarded the grand prize in the 2008 CBC Radio's Battle of Beethoven and has won the first prize in the 2007 Canadian Music Competition Finals in Quebec. He has performed as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra twice, under directions of Evan Mitchell in 2010 and Ken Hsieh in 2007. He was awarded the grand prize by the Festival on the Lake Concerto Competition after performing with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra in May 2009. Jovian has also performed with the Northwest Philharmonia Orchestra directed by RoupenShakarian. Jovian was chosen as one of three people from a selection of local pianists to participate in a master class with Lang Lang hosted by Tom Lee in 2009 where all ticket sales were donated to the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabilities. He also participated in the Charity Ice Breaking Care Society Piano Concert at the Chan Centre to raise money for remote provinces of China and the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. Jovian has also performed at a Young Artists Concert at the Capilano University Performing Arts Theatre. He also has been teaching students with great success for the last 4 years with skill levels varying from beginner to advanced.Jovian is also the music director for the Band Division of the Air Cadets Squadron 692 which requires him to teach and conduct a classroom of more than 30 high school students. Jovian is in his third year of music studies at the University of British Columbia working on his Bachelors of Music degree. |
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Michael Chen Michael Chen graduated from Communication University of China with a Bachelor’s degree with First Honours in music composition and production. In 2003, he moved to the UK to study music composition and technology under Philip Wilby at the University of Leeds and graduated with a Master of Music in 2004. From 2004 to 2009, Michael worked in mainland China as Music Director at CCTV and Editor of the magazine "Gramophone" . During those years, he also taught piano performance and music theory in his spare time. His students are frequently awarded top marks in the RCM examinations and have participated in many recitals. |
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Max Zipursky - Jazz Teacher Since graduating from Capilano University with a B. Mus in Jazz Studies, Max Z has become one of the city's hottest players. Although he often plays your typical Jazz standards and lounge tunes, Max specializes in Hip Hop, Jazz and Soul. He plays old favourites, new and originals with a special twist that makes him unique to Vancouver's circuit of players. Max can be seen playing solo at the Fairmont Pacific Rim and Shangri-La hotel lobbies, with Myles Bigelow performing live Latin House music or with his band The Star Captains. Although Max maintains a busy performance and recording schedule, he loves to share his passion for music with others through teaching. By nature he is laid-back and low pressure, and he takes this approach when teaching. |
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Jenaya Carol Jenaya Carol began piano lessons at age 8 at the urgings of her performer-teacher grandfather and began teaching at age 16 when she opened a studio of her own. For years, she enjoyed teaching students of all ages and backgrounds and instructing them through private lessons, award programs, and public performances. A life-long student herself, she is a firm believer that, while hard work pays off, the best way to learn is to have fun doing it! Admittedly a perfectionist at heart, Jenaya is proud of her achievements including First-Class Honours in Grade 9 Piano and District Top Student Award in Music History 4. While accuracy and mastery are at the forefront, her philosophy is that music is also highly individual. That's why she encourages her students to develop their musical instincts and to cultivate their individual talents. Each student is encouraged to reach their full potential as artists, to cultivate a life-long love for music, and ultimately to enjoy sharing it with others. Classical music will always be her first love, but she confesses to exploring her talents in other genres such as jazz, blues and big band. In addition to teaching piano, she has worked with kids and teens in many capacities, including volunteer work at Edmonds Youth Centre and as a support worker to children with Autism and ADD. She is fluent in English and French and speaks "un poco de Espanol". |
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WAKA SHINKO She says: "I'm a simple piano lover". Born in Hyogo Japan, she started her piano playing at four years old with her sister. When she was five, she could already play back any melody on a piano by ear. She became a constant pianist and accompanist in the family choir, at the pre-school level through to high school. When she was 17 years old, Shinko’s talent was recognized at the Mainichi Broadcasting Station and she was selected as a "Miss Campus DJ" solo radio music show, becaming also a TV personality in the Saturday Night TV show "Endless Night" at Kansai Television. This led to her work as a music composer and she subsequently presented her original music in the morning show "Good morning Sunshine" by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation. As a Yamaha professional pianist and keyboard player, she has given many concerts and performances nationally. During this time, she also graduated from Osaka City University and from her studies in musicology at Osaka College of Music. She has not only worked as a music composer and performer, but has also loved to have fun and share it with others in many ways. The music genres of her choice are classical, popular and rock. Since Vancouver, Canada welcomed her in 1996, it has became her new hometown. She has worked as a piano technician (tuning and regulating pianos), and is currently focusing on teaching more. After having taught many students, she has established effective and enjoyable piano learning styles. She is a mother of one son who happily obtained a Piano Performer's diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music when he was 17 years old. From her experience as a parent and teacher, Waka has devoted herself to supporting parents in raising and motivating their children in the enjoyment of piano for life. Her students range from young children to adults, not only in private lessons but also in group lessons, through websites and other forms of global media. From Finland to Mongolia, Australia to Argentina, more than 400,000 viewers and music lovers have benefited from her proficiency and unique style of teaching. The passion for creating music is endless. Her original piano music is available through iTunes and in CD at Amazon.com. In her personal life, Waka loves baking sweets, traveling, dancing and going to concerts. |
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Carol Zhang Chinese-born pianist, Carol Zhang, has been studying piano since the age of four. For the past five years she has studied under the tutelage of Donna Fishwick and is currently a member of the Donna Fishwick Piano Ensemble. Carol has garnered local, regional and national accolades for her performances and musicianship. She has received coaching from Dr. Sasha Starcevich, and has had Master Classes with Pavlina Dokovska. Carol participated in the Music Festival Perugia in 2011 where she performed at the famous Castiglione Del Lago and the Sala Dei Notari in Italy. She performed the concerti of Mendelssohn with the Munster Hochschule Orchestra and also had Master Classes with well-known Ilana Vered and Gary Graffman. Ms. Zhang has appeared as soloist with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra on multiple occasions and has performed the concerti of Grieg and Mendelssohn during those concerts. She has also toured Europe and North America as part of the Donna Fishwick Piano Ensemble, appearing in such prestigious venues as the Lichtenstein Palace in Prague, the Bosendorfer Recital Hall in Vienna and Steinway Hall in New York City. |
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Margaret Lu Margaret Lu, ARCT, holds a Bachelor's degree in Music majoring in Piano from the University of British Columbia with Corey Hamm and a Master's degree in Piano Performance with renowned performer and teacher Paul Schenly and Katherine Brown from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland Ohio. She began her training at age 6 and has always had a passion for all genres of music. She has performed for Frederic Rzewski during Rzewski fest at UBC and has competed extensively throughout the lower mainland. Margaret began teaching students of varying levels from a young age and focuses on building a strong technical foundation upon which musical expression and interpretation can expand upon. While at CIM she studied Piano Pedagogy under the Chair of the Preparatory Department Sean Schulze. In her spare time Margaret enjoys learning about Audio Engineering and explores the makings of game audio and sound effects. |
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