Melissa Bandura
Melissa has been playing violin since she was four years old. She has studied both Suzuki method and the Royal Conservatory of Music classical styles and has expanded her repertoire to include bluegrass, celtic, old time fiddle, gypsy, blues and jazz. She currently teaches all styles professionally and plays in her own folk band as well as in quartets, Mariatchi ensembles and other professional bands in and around Vancouver. Melissa teaches private violin lessons and Violin Basics classes at the Shadbolt Centre.
Evan Bates
Born and raised in Vancouver, Evan has been pursuing his musical career since he was young. In addition to teaching double bass, cello and guitar, he has been performing with a variety of groups across greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island since the mid ’90s. Evan’s musical experience spans a wide range of styles from classical to folk, and jazz to world music. After earning his Bachelor of Music from the University of Victoria and having taught privately in Victoria for several years, he has recently returned to the mainland to further his musical career and to continue to teach his love for music.
Martina Chan
Martina graduated from the University of Manchester, England with a Bachelor of Music degree where she majored in composition and 20th century European music. Martina has attended Master classes with Christopher Hogwood, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and Karlheinz Stockhausen. In addition to her work at the Shadbolt, Martina teaches piano privately from her Vancouver studio. Martina has taught private piano at the Shadbolt since 1989.
Christine Clarke
Christine received her A.R.C.T. in piano in 1990 and has been teaching privately in her home for the past six years and at Shadbolt since Fall 2007. As a B.C. registered teacher, Christine also teaches Art and French in high school. Christine really enjoys working with children and has two young ones of her own at home.
Miranda Clingwall
A freelance artist, teacher and graduate of the University of British Columbia, Miranda Clingwall moved to London England in 2001 to continue her flute studies through master classes with William Bennet, Peter Lloyd and Michel Devost. She has performed in various local orchestras, co-founded The Pacific Wind Trio and performed Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto as a concerto competition winner at the Vancouver Playhouse. Currently, Miranda is performing as a duo with Karen Morlang, piano, and composing and performing electronic flute music with the Vancouver Electronic music collective Unity Waves. Her first album, Ohm 1, will be released Feb 1, 2006 on the Unity Waves website, www.unitywaves.com. Miranda has been teaching private flute, flute classes and flute ensembles at the Shadbolt since May, 2003.
Ross Curran
Ross holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Victoria and an advanced performer’s certificate from VCC. He received the Outstanding Musician Award from the National Association of Jazz Educators, and he attended the Pacific Jazz Workshop and Master Classed with Nick Fiore and Louis Moyse. In addition to his teaching, Ross works as a freelance musician throughout the lower mainland performing with the Telemann Wedding Trio, Preservation of Swing Big Band, and recording for CBC and film. Ross has been teaching at the Shadbolt since 1977.
Mathew Davidson
Mathew is a graduate of Simon fraser University - BFA in music. He is currently completing his graduate studies in Music Theory and Ethnomusicology from UBC. Mathew has played violin with the New Westminster Symphony Orchestra and the UBC Chamber Strings. He has also played in non-western ensembles, having studied Chinese, Balinese, Japanese, Korean and African music. He played erhu (Chinese fiddle) in the UBC Chinese ensemble for several years. Mathew teaches Violin Basics and private violin at the Shadbolt Centre.
Miriam Davidson
Miriam obtained her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British Columbia in 1996; since then she has been an active performer and instructor. She is currently a member of the Laudate Singers and teaches throughout the lower mainland. In the winter, Miriam will lead the Young Voices Performance Ensemble in addition to teaching group and private singing lessons at the Shadbolt.
Joel De Stefano
Joel earned his Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario and his Masters of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University. He is working as a freelance composer and performer in the lower mainland and is the co-founder of ”Proximity Lab“, an interdisciplinary performance society. Currently he teaches private piano and piano basics classes, as well as assisting in the administration of the music program.
Holly Denney
Holly has worked as a professional singer throughout B.C. and Alberta with an a cappella group, and she has worked in Vancouver clubs, both as a jazz singer and lead vocalist in several dance bands. For the past 12 years, she has taught preschool Orff music classes at the Shadbolt Centre and has completed a recording of songs for young children. Holly can also be seen at the Shadbolt Centre coaching students in private voice lessons and orchestrating the Teen Mellifluous Voices and Adult Shadbolt Singers Ensembles.
Allan Dionne
Allan Dionne graduation in 1995 from the Bachelor of Music in Percussion program offered at UBC. Since 1997 he has been teaching drums and accordion in the Greater Vancouver area. Presently he is teaching at Prussin Music and Guildford School. Allan is a full-time member of two local bands; Madd Pudding and The Shona Le Motte Band. He has performed extensively in Canada, the U.S.A. and Europe and has recorded several CD’s with both groups. Allan has also performed with the Prince George Symphony and Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestras. Allan teaches Drum Set Basics and gives private lessons at the Shadbolt Centre.
Ron Ellis
A professional musician for the over 20 years, Ron is not only an instructor of piano and music theory, but also an accompanist and soloist. He has worked at Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan College and locally at Simon Fraser University, and numerous lower mainland ballet schools and companies. He currently teaches private music lessons at the Shadbolt Centre.
Graham Howell
Graham holds a Bachelor of Music degree in performance from UBC and has taught saxophone, flute, clarinet, and music theory for over twenty years. He has taken saxophone master classes, jazz improvisation and jazz arranging classes, woodwind courses at the Armed Forces School of Music in Victoria, and basic military training with the Band of the Ceremonial Guard in Ottawa. Graham is also an avid performer, having toured with Skaboom, Stigmata, Jazz-Beat poet Ralph, the Powder Blues, and Canadian Pop legend Lee Aaron. In addition, he can be heard on numerous CD recordings, CBC broadcasts, and even music videos on Bravo!, CMT, and MuchMoreMusic. Currently, Graham occupies the first Tenor Sax/Clarinet chair with the Alex Browne Aristocrats of Swing Orchestra, plays in jazz combos featuring his wife, vocalist Melissa Howell, and teaches at the Shadbolt Centre.
Zeljko Krakan
Zeljko has been teaching for the past 20 years and many of his students have achieved outstanding results in their violin competitions and Examinations. Mr. Krakan received a Bachelor of Music degree from Sarajevo University, where he studied with a renowned pedagogue Gino Sagrestano. He played in Sarajevo Symphony Orchestra and Strings Chamber Orchestra with whom he traveled throughout Europe and Asia. Since coming to Vancouver in the early 1990s he has taught and performed extensively. Mr. Krakan is founder of trio “Allegra”, which is known for the ability to play successfully many different styles. Mr. Krakan teaches the Intro to Ensemble for Strings class and private violin lessons.
Duane Murrin
After taking the Commercial Music Program at Capilano College, Duane enjoyed playing in a number of bands. Recording CDs, performing live and getting on the radio from time to time. Eventually he went on to Simon Fraser University to work towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts, studying mainly music composition, electro acoustics and dance accompaniment. In 2002 he participated in a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and now composes, performs and records music for numerous dance, theatre and film projects, as well as working as a dance accompanist at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and teaching adult Guitar Basics classes.
Elisabeta (Zozi) Podut
Zozi obtained her Masters Degree in Piano performance and Music Pedagogy at the AG Dima at Music Academy in Romania, Europe. Her Masters studies included the interaction between music, sociology and psychology. Since moving to Vancouver, Zozi has accompanied dance artists and classes at Main Dance Society, Harbour Dance, and Richmond Academy of Dance. Zozi has been teaching private piano, theory and adult piano classes at the Shadbolt since 1995.
Alison Poulter
Alison Poulter has taught private piano lessons part-time for the past ten years. She completed her A.R.C.T. in 1987, B.A. in 1991, and Masters in Education in 1997. Alison holds a professional teaching certificate and has taught Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grades 4–7 in East Vancouver. Alison currently teaches Piano Basics at the Shadbolt Centre.
Alain Reiher
Alain Reiher immigrated to Montreal from Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1965. In 1981, Alain was awarded First Prize in classical guitar interpretation from the Conservatoire du Quebec Montreal where he studied under Stephen Fentok. Alain’s composition credits include the following: the National Film Board of Canada, “Preambule and Rhapsodie” published in the Winner’s Circle 1994: The GFA Set Piece Competition, and, most recently, 20 Miniatures, the title composition for his debut CD, released January 2002. Alain has taught private classical guitar at the Shadbolt Centre since 1996.
Sarah Russ
Sarah’s instructors have included Ron Ellis and Judith Maltz. She has worked with the Shadbolt dance program as a ballet accompanist since 1999 and has composed music for the year-end dance recitals. She has published four piano compositions with RYCUN music, a digital publisher (www.rycunmusic.com). Sarah joined the music faculty as an accompanist in 2000 and as an instructor in 2003. She currently teaches Piano Basics and assists with administering the music program, as well as accompanying dance classes.
Chris Wilson
Chris is a former Capilano College music student and is a graduate of the Musician’s Institute and California Institute of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Jazz Performance. He studied Orff music at UBC with Rob Amchin and has worked as a professional musician and private guitar/music instructor over the last seventeen years in Los Angeles and Vancouver. Currently Chris teaches Orff Music at Shadbolt Centre.
Lingling Yang
Lingling began her violin studies at seven years old. In 2004 she graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Violin Performance from Wuhan Conservatory of Music where she studied violin with Professor Maolong Teng. In addition to playing in the University Symphony, she has also played in many chamber groups and served as a full time lecturer and instructor at the Toji University in China. Lingling has taught violin for 13 years; she believes that learning to play violin is not only about performing but also about enjoying music, and it is the teacher’s role to discover the potential in every student. Lingling teaches private violin lessons at Shadbolt.
“The classes have been a welcome diversion from the work day.”
- David, 29 years with experience.
