Please scroll down for faculty biographical sketches and photos.
 | Violinist Rick Dorfer currently resides in White Rock, where he is quickly establishing himself as a performer, adjudicator, and pedagogue. In addition to maintaining a vibrant teaching studio in White Rock and Langley, Rick is an active freelance musician and primarily performs with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. Rick also conducts the Surrey Junior Strings Orchestra and has adjudicated several regional festivals. Most recently, Rick established the Music, Meadows, and Mountains Retreat, a summer strings program located on beautiful Orcas Island, Washington. Rick’s post-graduate training included an artist diploma from the Glenn Gould School and culminated in a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington. In addition, Rick has completed extensive Suzuki teacher training at several summer institutes throughout North America. |
 | Susan Gagnon holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario. She is a member of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and the Toronto Arts Trio. Susan is a registered Teacher Trainer with the SAA. She has been on the faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music since 1984, is currently Suzuki Department Head and is a core member of the Young Artists Performance Academy faculty. She is an examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music and authored the 2007 Cello Syllabus. She also is a member of the Canadian Federation of Adjudicators. Susan is currently Vice-Chair of the Suzuki Association of Ontario./ | |
 | Anna Hughes started her violin studies as a Suzuki student at the age of three in the Suzuki String School of Guelph as a student of her mother, Daphne Hughes. She later studied with Tom Wermuth and spent a year with the Orchestral Training Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto where she studied with Moshe Hammer. Anna’s orchestral training was enhanced by attending the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for two summers. She completed her Bachelor of Music Performance Degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1992, studying with David Updegraff and David Cerone and completing an additional year of Suzuki Pedagogy with Michele George. Anna has taught and done freelance work in Winnipeg, England, and throughout Southern Ontario. Currently she is the coordinator of the University of Manitoba Suzuki Program and continues to teach and freelance in Winnipeg and surrounding areas. |
 | James Malmberg is a faculty member of the Richmond Music School, and of the Delta Youth Orchestra, and maintains studios in Vancouver and Tsawwassen. He has been a faculty member of UBC Summer Music Institute, the Yukon Summer Music Festival, and the Edmonton Suzuki Institute. After graduating from the UBC School of Music, James has continued his study of Suzuki pedagogy in Arizona, California, Oregon and Edmonton. He performs as a freelance musician in the Vancouver area, as a member of the Sinfonia of the North Shore, and as concertmaster of the Richmond Orchestra. |
 | Joanne Melvin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Carnegie-Mellon University, and Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in violin performance from East Carolina University. She is a violinist, Suzuki parent, church musician, and a teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience. She is a registered Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and is past Chairperson of the SAA. Joanne was Artistic Director of the Suzuki Talent Education Society in Calgary for 9 years. She has taught students from age 2 to 80, and from “pre-Twinkle” to advanced levels and has been a faculty member at many Suzuki Institutes throughout Canada and the US. |
 | A native of Dayton Ohio, Theresa Plotnick holds a music degree from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Since coming to Calgary she has performed frequently as a freelance violist with many groups, and is a founding member of the Allegra String Quartet. After serving on the faculty of the Suzuki Talent Education Society in Calgary for 17 years, she now teaches a private studio of violin and viola students and is a co-founder of the Amici Strings Program of Calgary. |
 | For the past decade, Marian Rose has devoted her professional life to reviving the venerable tradition of folk and social dance through school programs, teacher workshops and community parties. Armed with a bejeweled accordion and a well-honed, theatrical teaching style, she works magic in classroom, turning everyone into confident, enthusiastic dancers in an astonishingly short period of time. Through years of travelling and research, Marian has amassed an eclectic repertoire including folk dances, singing games, squares, contras, and couple dances, with a special interest in Canadian dances, which she regularly teaches in both English and French. A well-rounded performing musician is also skilled in rhythm, movement, storytelling, communication and creative improvisation. She will take students beyond the techniques of playing their instruments and visit other disciplines to enhance musicianship, performance skills, and ensemble playing. |
 | Witold Swoboda was educated at the High Schools of Music in Bielsko-Biala and Cracow, Poland. In 1980 he graduated from the Cracow Academy of Music with a Masters in Violin Performance. A member of the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra, Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra and as violinist and violist with Ewa Demarczyk Ensemble he has performed in many European countries, Cuba, Mexico and former USSR. Since 1981 he has lived with his family in Canada, where he has been a member of the Canadian String Quartet, concermaster of the Sault Symphony,Toronto Sinfonietta, Peterborough Symphony, Etobicoke Symphony and Orchestra da Camera Toronto. He has performed numerous solo and chamber music recitals with his pianist wife Ewa, both in Europe and North America. His teaching positions have included Algoma University, Mohawk College as well as Summer Music Camps and workshops in Canada, United States, England and Poland. Witold is the founder and artistic director of the International Chamber Music Workshop in Pulawy, Poland. He is co-founder of Accademia Musica, a very successful Suzuki music program in Peterborough, Ontario. Witold is a full time faculty member of the Suzuki String School of Guelph. He is also a sought after clinician and adjudicator. |
 | Keiko Takahashi began learning the Violin at age 5. She earned a Bachelor's degree in performance and teaching from Toho University of Music in Japan. After moving to Calgary she became a faculty member of the Suzuki Talent Education Society and was there for 17 years. She now runs a private studio teaching violin and viola. She also travels as a clinician throughout Canada. On top of this she is a busy freelance musician playing with various orchestras including the Calgary Philharmonic, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet Touring Orchestra, and The Red Deer Symphony, various chamber ensembles, musical and theatre groups throughout Canada, the US and Japan.
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