MNjcc Suzuki Program Teacher Bios 2017-18 season Gretchen Paxson-Abberger violin, viola, improvisation, Artistic director of MNjcc Suzuki Program, MNjcc Suzuki Summer Music Camp Gretchen Paxson Abberger holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from Bennington College, a Bachelor s degree in Music Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and a Master s degree in Historical Performance from the Mannes College of Music in New York City, as well a 2-year Long Term Certificate in Suzuki training from the School for Strings in New York City studying with Louise Behrend. Further teacher development has been short-term training courses with the following: Ronda Cole, Daphne Hughes, Allen Lieb, Carol Smith, Ed Sprunger, Carey Beth Hockett, and Brian Lewis. Gretchen has been teaching privately, free-lancing, as a guest teacher at Suzuki workshops in the Toronto area since moving here in 1994, and has taught at the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute. She teaches all levels at the North York Suzuki Program, as well, is the artistic director for the Miles Nadal Jcc Suzuki Program, now in its 26 th year, and directs the MNjcc Suzuki Summer Music Camp now in its 9 th year. Gretchen founded Thanks to Dr. Suzuki Concert Performances, a charitable organization whose mission is to create community among students and teachers of Toronto area Suzuki schools in a yearly collaborative gala concert. She approaches the Suzuki philosophy from 2 sides of the Suzuki triangle, as a teacher, and also as a parent of two children who learned violin by the Suzuki method studying at the MNjcc Suzuki Program. Rebecca Sancton Ashworth violin, improvisation, fiddling (on maternity leave) Rebecca Sancton began studying Suzuki violin at age 4 ½ and received her BFA Honours in violin performance from York University in 2007. In 1998 and 1999 she was a member of the University of Western Ontario Symphony Orchestra and studied with Gwen Thompson. During her time at York University, she had the opportunity to study classical performance with Peggy McGuire, jazz with Al Henderson, Sundar Viswanathan and Lorne Lofsky, and contemporary improvisation with Casey Sokol and Matt Brubeck. She is a founding member of the fiddle group, Ninth Line, which grew from Saturday morning Suzuki group class around 1992. Ninth Line currently performs at various locations in the GTA. Rebecca teaches privately and group classes, and has directed a fiddling workshop up at the North York Suzuki School of Music. As well, she has taught group class, improvisation, fiddling and semi-privates for a number of years at the week long MNjcc Suzuki Summer Music Camp. Jennifer Burford violin, improvisation Jennifer was introduced to the Suzuki Violin Method at the age of four. Since then she has completed a Bachelor and Master of Music in Performance from the University of
Toronto and an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School. Throughout her ten years of experience as a teacher she has completed Suzuki teacher training units from Book 1-7. She feels privileged to continue educating children and parents with the Suzuki Method that fostered her love of music. She also teaches at the North York Suzuki School, Claude Watson School for the Arts, and Havergal College. In addition to her teaching, Jennifer pursues an active career as a freelance musician in the Toronto area and beyond. Recently she has performed with Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Mirvish Productions, Esprit Orchestra, and Canadian Sinfonietta where she holds the position of Principal Second Violin. Maya Chilton violin, theory/singing Maya has been a faculty member at the JCC since 2006. After a brief leave of absence in 2011 she returned to the faculty in 2013 as a group and private teacher. In addition to violin Maya has also taught voice at the JCC summer camp. As a graduate of Toronto's Humber College Maya majored in Voice & Violin, Composition and Performance. After completing her B.A. at Humber she studied under Paule Barsalou for her Suzuki Teacher training. Outside of teaching Maya is an active member of the Toronto performance community. She performs and tours as a singer, DJ and violinist for Down With Webster, Divine Brown & Alyssa Reid, to name a few. She is also the most recent solo artist to be signed to Maple Music Recordings. Philip Clark piano accompaniment Philip studied piano and harpsichord at Oberlin College, while majoring in philosophy. In his teens and twenties he played jazz piano with various ensembles. Since 2002 he has taught philosophy at U of T. His son Sam studied violin at the MNjcc, and his daughter Gwendolyn currently studies cello there. He became an accompanist for the Suzuki Program in 2014. Debra Cutler violin Debra moved to Toronto 3 years ago from New York City, and now teaches violin groups and private lessons at both the Etobicoke Suzuki School of Music, and at the MNjcc Suzuki Program. She started learning violin at the age of 4, and has played and taught violin in a variety of settings. Debra received a Bachelor of Science in Violin Performance from Indiana University and a Master of Arts in Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She studied Suzuki pedagogy at Indiana
University, and received her Suzuki Books 1-8 Certification through the School for Strings in New York City. She has also taught early childhood music classes and received New York State Teaching Certification in Music for grades K-12. Debra has appeared in solo and orchestral performances in Cleveland, Ohio, Interlochen, Michigan, Bloomington, Indiana, Jerusalem and New York City. In addition to playing and teaching the violin, Debra enjoys playing the piano and guitar, singing, painting and following her native Cleveland s sports teams. Debra enjoys working with students of all ages and hopes to inspire a deep love for music and the violin in all of them. Melanie Doane - ukulele Melanie Doane, a Juno Award winning singer songwriter, has always had a big interest in music education due to the fact that her dad was the supervisor of Music for the Halifax City School during her childhood. Melanie studied voice and violin at Dalhousie University with the intention of becoming a teacher like her dad, but she became a performing artist instead, touring Canada and the world extensively with artist like Jann Arden, Great Big Sea, Lilith Fair to name a few. Melanie's songs have been featured in such hit shows as Being Erica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Brother and Sisters and many more. Her children are budding musicians and the whole family has a lot of fun playing music together. Sheila Goldman piano accompaniment Sheila holds a B. Music (Performance with Distinction) from McGill University, and a certificate from the Orchestral Training Program and Musical Performance and Communication. She spent many years playing French horn in the Regina Symphony and Oshawa Symphony orchestras and accompanying ballet classes on piano. Her classical training has since developed into improvisation on piano and vocals. She has also enjoyed working with the children at The Toronto Heschel School as musical director and set designer for their school plays. Sheila s involvement with the Suzuki Program began in 2002 with her then 4-year old twin daughters learning cello and violin. She finds great joy in making music with children of all ages. Katrina Grieve - violin Katrina grew up as a Suzuki violin student and has taught Suzuki violin for almost 20 years. Since 2000, she has taught with the Suzuki program at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Center. She also taught violin and piano for several years with the Oakville Suzuki Association. Katrina studied the violin at Oberlin College in Ohio and performs with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra. She has taken Suzuki teacher training for
both Suzuki violin and piano. Katrina also enjoys the experience of being a Suzuki parent to her two sons, who learn violin at the MNjcc Suzuki Program. C.T. Lo theory, musicianship, piano, improvisation (on leave for 2017-18) C.T. Lo teaches Music Theory, Harmony, Musicianship, and Piano at the Beaches Suzuki School, the MNjcc Suzuki Program, and North York Suzuki School of Music in Toronto. C.T. had taught at The Discovery Private School for Children with Non-visible Disabilities, and worked as a jingle writer at The Hive Studios prior to joining the Suzuki Schools. She is certified from the RCM for Kodaly, Orff-Schulwerk, Jazz Orff and Early Childhood Music Education. She is certified from More than Music of Kingston Ont. as a Suzuki Piano teacher. C.T. was in the Jazz Piano program of Humber College and studied with the late Brian Harris. She currently does Song Arranging in her home studio and freelances as a keyboardist. Nancy Lokan violin, viola, chamber music Nancy Lokan, started her violin studies in Ottawa, where as a teenager, she started freelancing professionally both in chamber music, and with various orchestras. She has a Bachelor's Degree in music from the University of Toronto where she studied violin with Lorand Fenyves and Leo Wigdorchik. Following this, Nancy became a member of the Canadian Forces String Ensemble for seven years. She has freelanced and taught Suzuki violin in Toronto for many years. She teaches chamber music classes, and Suzuki repertoire class at the MNjcc Suzuki Program, as well as teaching privately. Nancy studied Suzuki Teacher Training at Steven s Point in Wisconsin, USA, and with Karen Kimmett, and Paule Barselou here in Ontario. All three of her children have studied violin by the Suzuki method. Observing the philosophy at work, both as a Suzuki parent and Suzuki teacher, has added an extra dimension to Nancy's life. In the last couple of years she and her two sons have become quite involved with helping the National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica, a social development program aimed at enhancing the lives of children from challenged communities through the discipline of learning classical music. Kerri McGonigle cello, chamber music A recipient of the Margarita Heron Pine String Prize and the Beryl Barns Graduate Scholarship, cellist Kerri McGonigle graduated with a Masters of Music degree in cello performance from the University of Alberta. While studying in Paris, she won Premier Prix with unanimous distinction in violoncello and chamber music from the Gennevilliers Conservatory. Having completed an Advanced Certificate in Baroque Performance with Tafelmusik through the University of Toronto, Kerri is based in Toronto and performs regularly as a recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral cellist on both Baroque and modern cello, recently playing with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Talisker Ensemble, Aradia Orchestra,
Nota Bene Orchestra and the Bach Consort. In addition to Suzuki training, Kerri studied cello pedagogy as part of her Masters degree with Tanya Prochazka and with Irene Sharp in San Francisco. She has been teaching cello and chamber music at the Miles Nadal JCC Suzuki Program since 2007. Erika Neilsen cello, chamber music Cellist Erika Nielsen has a multi-faceted career as a chamber musician, collaborative artist, orchestral player, and educator. Erika has performed with Grammy-winning artist Kanye West, Juno-winning artist Johnny Reid, and recent international performances include performing and acting in Charlotte: A Tri-Coloured Play with Music in Taiwan. Erika was principal cellist of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra from 2011-13, and 2015 she completed a 1000-kilometre bicycle tour of contemporary Canadian opera throughout Nova Scotia and Ontario with The Bicycle Opera Project. In October 2016 Erika produced a multi-genre solo show, OPPOSITES ATTRACT, at Gallery 345 in Toronto, featuring music for solo baroque cello, and improvising quartet ARKANA. As a member of The 6ix Quartet, she recently presented a programme by Canadian composer Patricia Morehead. She is on faculty at the ArtsAhimsa Chamber Music Festival in Massachusetts, has been a featured artist with Westwood Concerts, and has performed for new music series Soundstreams, Spectrum Music, and The Thin Edge New Music Collective. She frequently appears with The Big Sound Motown band, Classic Albums Live, and ELO tribute Strange Magic. Born in West Germany, Erika grew up in Kingston, Ontario and holds a BMus from Queen s University and an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School as a student of David Hetherington. She has also studied at the Banff Centre, Le Domaine Forget, and Schloss Beuggen, Germany; was a selected fellow for the Tafelmusik Summer Baroque Institute; and studied Italian baroque music at LAMP in Lunenberg, NS. Erika maintains a busy private studio, and we are delighted to have her as one of our newer Suzuki staff here at the MNjcc Suzuki Program. She performs on a JB Collin- Mézin cello from 1885. Lisa Olafson ukulele, musicianship Originally from Alberta, actor/musician, Lisa Olafson, came from a musical family who helped her realize her passion for music, at a very young age. In grade school she enjoyed learning recorder, ukulele, and flute as well as being part of the bell choir. In
junior high and high school, she continued with the flute and sang in every choir that she could find. Post-secondary, she switched her focus to acting and studied at Red Deer College and then professional training at Studio 58 in Vancouver before starting her career in Toronto. She worked as an actor for many years, including touring internationally with the renowned mask and mime theatre company, Theatre Beyond Words. She s written and toured her own one-woman clown show and is now performing with the female rootsy bluegrass trio, Dirty Dishes. She loves teaching music for babies and toddlers with Lovenotes School of Music and is thrilled to now share her love of music teaching the happiest instrument, the Ukulele! Amanda Penner violin, viola Originally from Manitoba, Amanda Penner completed a Bachelor of Music in violin performance at the University of Manitoba before moving to Toronto where she obtained a master s degree in viola performance at the University of Toronto. As a performer, she has a wide range of interests and experiences. As a classical orchestral player and chamber musician, she has played most recently for Orchestra London, Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Sinfonietta, and Feu Noire String Quartet. Her playing abilities also include improvising, arranging string parts and recording as a session player for various singer-songwriters, electronic musicians and bands, as well as Multibeat Music and Ivory Storm Productions. During this time she has also developed as a teacher, continuing her training in the Suzuki method, gaining experience while teaching at the Huntsville Suzuki School, private and group lessons, chamber music, outreach music programs in the schools and theory. Amanda joined the MNjcc Suzuki Program team last season after moving back to Toronto, and freelances in the city as well. Alison Porter Suzuki Pre-School Music classes New to our Suzuki program teaching team, Alison is the proud mama of a budding 4- year old violinist who studies at the MNjcc Suzuki Program. A Suzuki music teacher, and professional performer, she founded and directs her own music school in east Toronto called Lovenotes School of Music. Alison has a passion for sharing music with young children, gentle parenting strategies and baking good pies. She has been working as a music instructor for over 10 years and living it her whole life. Growing up, she studied classical violin, playing in orchestras and quartets and took home many a festival ribbon. After getting her start in the classical world, Alison went on to play violin in numerous indie-rock, alt-country and folk bands and currently sings and plays in the sassy all-girl country/bluegrass trio called Dirty Dishes.
Tova Rosenberg cello Incorporating her extensive Suzuki training with her love of working with young children, Tova Rosenberg has developed innovative teaching ideas for young cellists and exciting programs for early childhood music education in New York City, and now in Toronto. For almost a decade, Tova was the teacher of the Early Childhood Music Program at the School for Strings in Manhattan, where she also taught Suzuki cello lessons and theory classes. She was a member of the cello faculty at the Diller-Quaile School of Music as well as the Third Street Music School Settlement. She has been a cello teacher for the Music Institute of Long Island, the Suzuki program at Brooklyn College and for the summer string festival at the Elisabeth Morrow School in New Jersey. An active performer, Tova was a founding member of the TEA trio. She holds an M.M. from DePaul University and a B.M. from McGill University and is a graduate of the School for Strings 2-year intensive Suzuki Teacher Training Program. She is also certified in the Mark O Connor Violin Method. Since moving to Toronto, Tova has been appointed to the cello faculty at the Miles Nadal JCC Suzuki Strings Program as well as the Etobicoke Suzuki School of Music, where she also directs and teaches the Suzuki Early Childhood Education program. Tova has been the sole creator and teacher of custom Early Childhood Music Curriculums around Toronto, previously running classes out of the Wychwood Barns' Music in the Barns studio and the Miles Nadal JCC. Currently, Tova runs her one of a kind, music education program, Do Re Me! out of the Trinity St. Paul's Centre in the Annex. Jane Quinn violin (private lessons only) Jane Quinn holds a BA in Music from The University of Western Ontario, and a certificate from The Orchestral Training Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She co-founded The North York Suzuki School of Music in Toronto where she teaches as well. In 2005 Jane moved to Rothesay New Brunswick where she taught in her home studio, and as well in local school string ensembles. She enjoyed freelancing in the New Brunswick region, was the concertmaster of the local community orchestra Alto Mare, and also helped to co-found 1 st City Chamber Players. This latter ensemble participated in a local concert series and was invited as Ensemble in Residence at the 2012 New Brunswick Early Music Festival in St. Andrew s, NB. In 2013 Jane adjudicated violin for Junior-senior levels at the Annapolis Valley Music Festival in Nova Scotia, and in 2014, here in Toronto, at the YIP Festival and Toronto Mandarin Lion s Club Music Festival. Jane has studied Suzuki pedagogy with the following Suzuki trainers - Helen Brunner, Michelle Higa-George, Alice Joy Lewis, Allen Lieb, and Terri Einfeldt. She teaches beginner through advanced levels of Suzuki violin, incorporating all levels of RCM curriculum, and RCM exam preparation. Presently Jane teaches both private lessons and groups at the North York Suzuki School of Music, and privates only for the MNjcc Suzuki Program.