Dorothy Francis – Junior Piano
Dorothy Francis is an active teacher, RCM examiner, and adjudicator with students ranging from Prep to Licentiate levels within the Royal Conservatory of Music. Her students have competed at Provincial levels and have achieved high standings in RCM exams, including a recipient of the Gold Medal award for Grade 10 piano.
Dorothy holds a Masters in Music in Performance and Literature from the University of Western Ontario under the tutelage of James Anagnoson. Dorothy was the recipient of a Western Graduate Research Scholarship during her Masters degree and her performances have been described as musical and sensitive. She also holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Art History, English, and Psychology from Trinity College at the University of Toronto.
Dorothy is currently part of the College of Examiners at the RCM and she is also certified in Early Childhood Music Education focusing on Kodaly, Orff and Dalcroze methodologies. As a pedagogue, Dorothy aims to cultivate each child’s appreciation of music while developing their technical and musical skills.
Arianne Ewing-Chow – Intermediate Piano
Arianne Ewing-Chow is a piano teacher, examiner with the Royal Conservatory of Music, and an experienced adjudicator. Her passion and desire in her teaching life, is to merge the students’ emotions with the written output of the composer, to create an intended musical expression. Her focus begins inherently on the physical aspects of playing to then have the tools to create ease of flow of energy through the fingertips.
Her musical background has helped her build a foundation on most levels of study, from the keen excited beginner to the more committed advanced performer. Her desire to travel and study music led her abroad to international masterclasses in Bad Bertrich, Germany where she studied with John Perry. As well, she gained much insight under Brian Ganz and Luis de Moura Castro at the Almalfi Coast Music Festival. She also performed in the ten-piano monster concert in Rome and Toronto organized by Toyich International Projects.
Her approach and inspiration for her teaching and adjudicating style comes from influences and/or teachers such as James Anagnoson, Marc Durand, Richard Goode and the late Boyanna Toyich. Her students have received numerous scholarships, and awards and top recognition including the Gold Medal for the highest mark on an RCM examination.
Through ‘Music with a Cause’ concerts, Arianne alongside other giving artists, have raised funds for the MS Society of Canada, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Canada, The North York General Hospital, The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada, and The Canadian Cancer Society.
Arianne’s credentials include Glenn Gould Professional School – Artist Teacher and Performer, University of Toronto – Bachelor of Music, Royal Conservatory of Music – ARCT Performer and ARCT Teacher, member of the College of Examiners, ORMTA – member and past president of the North York-York Region branch.
Brett Kingsbury – Senior Piano
Brett Kingsbury is a diverse performer, active in both solo and collaborative capacities. He is pianist for the acclaimed Madawaska Chamber Ensemble, and he has worked with many ensembles and performers, including members of the Hamilton Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, and violinist David Gillham. Brett has also championed Ferruccio Busoni’s daunting Fantasia Contrappuntistica, a rarely heard work that was the topic of his doctoral dissertation, and which he has performed for both the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society and at the University of Toronto Scarborough. This season’s concert highlights include a solo recital at Western featuring music of Franck and Schubert; a performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra; a viola recital with Caitlin Boyle, formerly of the noted Cecilia String Quartet; and a concert with Chamber Music Hamilton featuring Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals.
Brett is currently an assistant professor at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University, where he teaches studio piano, Performance Research, and Piano Literature. Brett is also a former sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto Scarborough and at Brock University. He is in demand as an adjudicator for music festivals across the province. While a student at the University of British Columbia, he was named R. Howard Webster Fellow at Green College.
Denise Williams – Vocal
DENISE WILLIAMS (Singer/Voice Teacher/Founding Artistic Director/Producer) Denise Williams is a professional singer, and music educator. Her over 30 year international performance career has put her at home on the concert, opera, and theatre stages. Denise concentrates her time on performance education, and holds masters degree in Community Music from Wilfrid Laurier University. She has been a member of the Royal Conservatory of Music Examiners, national adjuducator, and private voice teacher for over 25 years. She currently is on the voice faculty at Sheirdan College’s Music Theatre department and is a sessional music professor at the Canada Christan College.
She is founding Artistic Director of No Strings Theatre which aids youth in developing their skills in music theatre as well as grow in their team skills for life. Professional memberships include Vice President of The Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association (ORMTA), executive of the National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS), as well the Canadian Actor’s Equity Association (CAEA).
Denise is very pleased to be adjudicating at the Milton Music Festival this season.
Rachel Cleland – Choral
Soprano Rachel Cleland’s voice has been hailed as ‘full, florid, and astonishing’ and her performances praised as ‘resplendent’ and ‘visceral’. Her recent seasons have included Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Elsa in Wagner’s Lohengrin, Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Mozart) and Violetta in La Traviata. Rachel was thrilled to sing her third Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra – a concert in which she also sang a boisterous rendition of Rule Britannia.
As a conductor, Rachel brings a passion and joy to every rehearsal while striving to create a fun and musically enriching experience for the choir members. She is in her 8th season as Music Director of the Guelph Community Singers, her 3rd season as Artistic Director of the Milton Choristers, and her first year as the Director of Music Ministries at Knox Milton. Rachel has also conducted several show choirs, children’s choirs and church choirs and is currently working on her Masters of Conducting at Messiah College.
As an educator, Ms. Cleland believes that children and youth need a chance to express themselves artistically and builds her curriculum to engage the four major learning styles – Spatial, Auditory, Linguistic and Kinesthetic. Her encouraging, positive demeanour coupled with her expectation of hard work and respect, make her a sought after teacher, clinician and curriculum creator. Rachel was able to share her excitement and love of music with children experiencing poverty over her 10 years teaching with DARE Arts. During her time there, she taught 17th, 18th and 19th Century music, assisted on Stage Combat workshops with Fight Director, Jennifer Parr, conducted the Dixon Glee choir and was Assistant Conductor for the ‘We are One’ Jazz Project. As a clinician, she has worked with the Canadian Opera Company, Centauri Summer Arts, Queen’s University (Belfast), York University (Ontario), the BYP Music Festival (Kilkeel) and in various independent studios.
Bijan Sepanji – Strings
Born in Tehran, Bijan Sepanji is a Canadian-Iranian performer and educator who is based in Toronto, Canada. As a member of the Ton Beau String Quartet, Bijan regularly performs new compositions by Canadian composers as well as well-known classical works by 18th, 19th and 20th century composers. So far, he has performed concerts in Ontario and Alberta, as well as in China, Turkey, Iran, Italy and the USA.
In the past two seasons, Bijan performed a number of concerts and gave masterclasses with The Ton Beau at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee as well as in Chicago, Illinoise. In addition, Bijan also performed a violin recital and offered workshops in his hometown, at the University of Tehran as part of a composition competition for the students of the university.
Having trained at Indiana and McGill universities, Bijan’s orchestral experiences include performances with Indianapolis and Kitchener-Waterloo symphonies, as well as with Sinfonia Toronto, Espirit Orchestra (Toronto), London Symphonia, Hamilton Philharmonic and the Toronto Concert Orchestra.
While at Indiana University, Bijan’s interest in string pedagogy led him to study with Mimi Zweig and Brenda Brenner, two well-respected string pedagogues in North America. Bijan’s teaching principles are based on the teachings he received at Indiana University Bloomington, as well as the two Suzuki Training Programs he has attended more recently. This knowledge, and a decade of teaching strings has allowed Bijan to become an effective and highly sought-after teacher in Toronto and North York. He is a certified Suzuki teacher and a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) and the Suzuki Association of Ontario (SAO).
Bijan is also the conductor of the Mooredale Youth Orchestra, conducting and working with the junior strings division and preparing them for three diversely-programmed concerts a year.
Paul Hampson – Guitar
A native of Burlington, Ontario Paul Hampson began his music career in the 1980’s. After graduating from Western University Paul went on to spend over 30 years performing and teaching throughout North America. A multi instrumentalist, he has toured extensively with numerous large production tributes shows including, ABBA, Aerosmith, Tom Jones, Alanis Morrisette & Cher to name but a few. Throughout Canada and the United States he has shared the stage with legendary musicians such as Long John Baldry, Michael Burgess and Jeff Healey and has helped guide current artists, including Myles Erlick (Billy Elliot, the Next Step), Vivian Hicks (the Launch) and G-Force (America’s Got Talent) to stage, television and recording studios throughout. An accomplished classical guitarist Paul released two solo classical guitar albums and has played on over two dozen recordings. Paul is currently on staff at Canadian Dance Company as well as a production consultant with Stars Academy Talent out of Los Angeles, California. You can see Paul performing throughout Ontario as a solo artist and as the touring guitarist for Rita Carrey (sister of actor Jim Carrey).
Joseph Resendes – Brass/Woodwinds and Bands
Joseph Resendes is Assistant Professor at the School of the Arts at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he conducts the McMaster University Concert Band, and teaches courses in conducting. Previously, he worked as a Lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan Department of Music. Joseph has extensive credits as an active conductor, composer, adjudicator, and clinician that has allowed him the privilege of working with many professionals and recording artists such as ‘The Tenors’ (formerly the Canadian Tenors), multi-Grammy award winning producers like Steve Thompson, International tours with the ‘Musica em Viagem’ (Azores Musical Journey) wind ensemble, conducting the University of Saskatchewan Wind Orchestra, Northdale Concert Band, in addition to many highly acclaimed ensembles such as the University of North Texas Wind Symphony.
Joseph currently holds degrees from York University (BFA – woodwind performance and conducting, MA – Composition) and is working towards the completion of a PhD in musicology focusing in the area of wind studies. As a conductor, Joseph receives regular invitations to conduct or guest conduct orchestras, chamber ensembles, and wind ensembles locally and abroad. Joseph’s primary research interests include the dissemination of Canadian wind bands, literature, and Canadian music history. Research interests also include conducting, conducting pedagogy, and gesture as communication.
Ian Green – Composition
Ian Green was born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario and resides in Hamilton, Ontario. Playing piano since he was 5 years old, Ian enjoys playing all styles of music including: jazz, classical, pop, ragtime, blues, and freely improvised music. A graduate of Queen’s University (BMus, 2006) and the Royal Conservatory of Music at Toronto (A.R.C.T., 2006), Ian maintains a thriving music studio teaching piano lessons, music rudiments, history, and theory at all levels of the curriculum for the Royal Conservatory of Music. He also enjoys incorporating the various elements of Conservatory Canada and the Canadian National Conservatory of Music (CNCM) to offer a well-rounded teaching philosophy and approach.
In addition to teaching piano and theory lessons to students of all ages, Mr. Green has been very busy wearing many hats in the music industry and music community including: working as collaborative pianist for various community choirs in the Greater Hamilton Area; working as pianist, organist and choir director at local churches on a fill-in basis; he has published books of piano music with Debra Wanless Music (Ontario); working as a busy music festival adjudicator, having adjudicated the piano classes for all performance levels across Canada and the United States; working as a busy piano examiner with the Royal Conservatory of Music having traveled across Canada.
Mr. Green is managed by Mercury Artists Group, a talent agency based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is also signed with the independent record label Element-80 Records, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. His artist name is Ian J. Green, he can be found through all music streaming services worldwide.
Mr. Green is a member of many professional associations including: the College of Examiners with the Royal Conservatory of Music (Theory, Piano, and Organ); the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association; the Canadian Federation of Music Teacher Associations; SOCAN; the Royal Canadian College of Organists; and the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators Association. Mr. Green is an active volunteer and supporter of great music in the local community and is a loyal patron to the arts. By offering scholarships to young students, Ian believes in the strong spiritual and social values that are offered through all performance art.