Faculty

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David Stone is a versatile musician, able to wear many different musical hats, and brings a level of passion and artistry to ensembles and projects of every size and genre. He is an award-winning teacher, helping to shape the students of today into the musicians of tomorrow.

As a performer, David has been studying and performing double bass and piano for nearly 40 years. He has studied with many acclaimed musicians, including Ed Tait, Joel Quarrington, Tim Dawson, Harvey and Bonnie Silver among many others.

In addition to his formal classical studies, David is an accomplished jazz performer and arranger. He has studied with many of Canada's finest jazz musicians, including Oliver Jones, Alex Dean, Pat LaBarbera, Pat Collins, and many more. He is also an active Musical Theatre performer, arranger, and musical director.

David has been composing for classical ensembles, musical theatre, and various forms of digital media for many years. Receiving his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto, he studied composition and orchestration with Christos Hatzis, Chan Ka Nin, and the late John Hawkins.

Artists who have commissioned and performed his works include the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Gryphon Trio, the Penthelia Singers, and the Capitol Theatre. They have been broadcast on CBC radio, and have been premiered in Canada, the United Stated and Europe. In addition, his works for television and multimedia have been heard across North America.

As a teacher, David has been privileged to guide and inspire students for over 20 years. He is a vibrant, enthusiastic motivator for students of all ages. His belief of "Making Music Make Sense" was the founding principle for Toronto Music Alliance. He lives in Toronto with his wife, two sons, and bunny rabbits.

As the Director of Toronto Music Alliance, David oversees all programs and staff. David also is the Registrar and Administrative head at the school. He can assist new students looking to enroll in our programs as well as questions and billing from current students. Feel free to contact him for any of your music needs!

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Canadian pianist and piano pedagogue Derek Zhi Guang Chiu is enjoying an active professional career. In 2016 and 2018 he was named by Steinway & Sons as one of the Top Teachers in Calgary, Alberta. He has a growing reputation as a performer, music educator, clinician and speaker.

As a performer, Chiu has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. Most recently he has performed at Biola University, California State University – Northridge, Showcase Pianos in Vancouver, Bishop’s University, University of Lethbridge and the University of Regina. His orchestral engagements have included performances with the Windsor Community Orchestra, Briercrest College Orchestra, Rockland Symphony Orchestras and The Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with artists Roberto Cani (concert master of the LA Opera), David Lakirovich (assistant concert master of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra), Meghan Jacoby (principal flute Chamber Orchestra Symphony by the Seas) and David Mitchell (clarinetist from the US ARMY Band).

In addition to maintaining a full performance schedule, Chiu is a devoted piano pedagogue. He has presented pedagogical workshops on E-Learning/online music teaching, utilizing technology in the teaching studio, cognitive practice, aural skills development, sight reading, Baroque performance practice, memorization of music. His academic lectures have explored the music of Bach, Chopin, Liszt, and Mozart. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Chiu was appointed to the online teaching team at Virtuosity.Online. He has led lectures on piano technique, motivating teenagers and a four part series on teaching, studying and performing the keyboard works of Mozart for the new online music education platform. Chiu has also presented at the Colorado State Music Teachers’ Conference, The Colburn School, the University of Windsor, Lakehead University and Providence College to name a few. Chiu is also a clinician for the Royal Conservatory having presented workshops across the country on the 2015 Celebration Series, 2016 Celebrate Theory and annually at the Royal Conservatory’s Summer Summit.

Chiu maintains a private studio in Calgary where his piano students have earned scholarships to attend undergraduate and graduate music schools; have received gold medals from the Royal Conservatory; and are prize winners at local, national and international piano competitions. He has been teaching online since 2015 and provides consultation to teachers who are interested in establishing a virtual teaching presence. He is on the Faculty of the Cremona International Music Academy (Italy) and JVL Summer School for Performing Arts (Canada). Chiu is a sought after master class clinician, ensemble coach and guest teacher.

He is the Alberta Regional Representative for the Royal Conservatory and a member of their College of Examiners. Chiu was featured on CBC Music’s website on the topic of teens and piano lessons in November 2017.

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Violinist Bethany Bergman is a member of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and is Principal 2nd violin of the Hamilton Philharmonic. She is active in and around Toronto with the Esprit Orchestra as Principal 2nd, Elora Festival, Toronto Symphony, and the National Ballet among others.

She loves to play a variety of styles from Baroque to popular and alternative music. On Baroque violin she has performed and recorded as a member of the Aradia Ensemble, and played as a guest with Tafelmusik. She has recorded and performed in Canada and abroad for film, television, and radio, with popular musicians including Kanye West, Barbara Streisand, Earth, Wind, and Fire, The Canadian Tenors, Andy Stochansky, Patrick Watson, Belle and Sebastian, and Sarah Slean, as well as making the Polaris Prize winning "He Poos Clouds" CD with Indie artist Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy.

She has worked with theatre companies including Theatre Rusticle in "Peter and the Wolf", Summerworks in "L'Histoire du Soldat", and at the Tarragon Theatre playing the violin as part of Judith Thompson's "Body and Soul".

She has been a participant in many festivals including the National Repertory Orchestra, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Prussia Cove and the Tafelmusik Baroque Seminar. She was a member of the Colorado Music Festival orchestra in Boulder for seven years, played for many years with the Iris Chamber Orchestra (Memphis) and played in the Charlottetown Festival on PEI in the summer of 2006 and 2007.

After earning a Bachelor’s degree in both Violin Performance and English Literature from Indiana University, Bloomington, under the tutelage of Franco Gulli and Nelli Shkolnikova she went on to study and work in Munich and Berlin. In Germany, she was the recipent of stipends to study from both the Munich Orchestra Akadamie and the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester (formerly Radio Symphony of the West).

While living in Germany, she peformed with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Munich Chamber Orchestra, and Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Berlin. She also toured with numerous chamber orchestras and as a chamber musician while living there. She played under the baton of Sir Georg Solti, Roger Norrington, Vladimir Ashkenzay and Valery Gergiev among others. In her last year living in Germany she was engaged with the Gewandhaus Orchester in Leipzig.

She moved to Toronto to study with Lorand Fenyves at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto, from which she received an Artist Diploma and Masters Degree in Violin Performance. She decided that Toronto felt like home from her first weeks as a student here.

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Claire Haig-Halsall is a music teacher with a plethora of experience and a passion for fostering joy in learning. Hailing from Winnipeg, Claire was bit by the music bug as a child and since then she has performed an innumerable amount of times in different musical theatre productions, choirs and bands.

Claire is a graduate and valedictorian of Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto in 2021, and since then has spent time performing, teaching and music directing around the city. She also sings, plays piano, guitar and bass, and writes original songs for her own band Rookie.

She is capable of teaching a variety of vocal styles, including musical theatre, pop/rock, classical, jazz, blues, gospel and opera.

Claire’s focus as a teacher is on curiosity and cultivating confidence. Her approach is all about meeting each student where they are at, and she’s not afraid to get a little silly along the way. She is so excited to join the excellent team of teachers at Toronto Music Alliance!

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Octavian Iacob is an accomplished musician and teacher with over 15 years of experience. He has many areas of expertise, including conducting choir and instrumental ensembles, compositing and arranging, as well as solo performing and accompaniment

His musical journey began in Romania at age 5, studying piano and theory at the Public Music School with Angela Nemesh. HIs first public composition event was winning the first prize for “Youth Music Festival” performing his own Fantasia for Organ on a B-A-C-H Theme at the age of 15.

Octavian graduated from the Musical Pedagogy program with a Major in Classical Composition at George Enescu University of Arts, Faculty of Music, Romania, in 2001. He earned a Masters in Musicology in 2004 at the same university with a specialty in Piano Acoustics. He taught piano, theory and opera and ballet accompaniment at George Georgescu High school of Arts and Octav Bancila High school of Arts, for many years.

In Canada he graduated from the Bachelor of Education Program with Tyndale University, Toronto, and received his Ontario College of Teachers Certification in 2014. Octavian is currently completing his PhD in Musicology and Composition.

As a piano and theory teacher, Octavian is a passionate and enthusiastic leader, combining both traditional European and modern methods in a unique blend, instilling in his students the foundations for a life-long bond with music.

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Miriam Kemppainen began piano and violin studies at a young age, her talents nurtured by active support from her parents. As a tribute to all music educators, Miriam also credits her junior high and high school music teachers, Mrs. Zena Miller and Mr. Ian Grant, for instilling in her the love and joy of music. A part of this early journey included successful participation in local and regional music competitions, both in the orchestra and as a soloist.

Under the tutelage of Russian violin virtuoso, Victor Danchenko at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Miriam entered the Bachelor of Music Education program at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1986 as a string specialist. While at U of T, her studies included vocal pedagogy with Ms. Helen Simmie, which triggered her life-long love affair with the human voice and a pursuit of personal vocal excellence.

Upon earning her OISE with a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1987, Miriam embarked on a fulfilling career as a music, drama and English teacher in the private school system, with a focus on vocal, choral and instrumental music in the elementary and secondary divisions.

For the last 20 years, Miriam has devoted herself to vocal music through extensive studies with Gordon Wright and Dawn Willingham-King, and also through her home teaching studio. Her great delight is helping her students find their voices, and using a myriad of teaching tools to grow and develop those voices. Miriam has also successfully prepared many students for RCM exams as part of their vocal journeys.

In her career, Miriam has served actively as a soprano soloist, chorister, and choral and orchestral conductor, performing and conducting in a variety of church and concert settings.

Miriam is excited to be joining the Toronto Music Alliance family and sharing her love of singing with her students.

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A native of Vancouver, Evan Lamberton began his foray into music on the clarinet in his elementary school band. Soon after he began studies on the cello with Catherine Carmack, and later Ariel Barnes, under whose tutelage he developed a passion for chamber music and contemporary works. He continued his studies with cellist Shauna Rolston at the University of Toronto, where he was a winner of the Felix Galimir Award for Excellence in Chamber Music in both 2014 and 2016.

Evan is a founding member of the Polaris Prize nominated Queer Songbook Orchestra. In the fall of 2018 they embarked on the Canada wide "Tour of Heart and Mind" bringing the project to communities across the country from Whitehorse to St. John's, Newfoundland. Recently the QSO has developed an educational kids show to be toured around schools, and just celebrated the inaugural performance of the Queer Songbook Youth Orchestra backing singer Beverly Glenn-Copeland as part of the 2022 Luminato Festival in Toronto.

When not performing with QSO, Evan can be found teaching on faculty with Toronto Music Alliance, Sistema Toronto and facilitating sensory-friendly concerts and arts events for neurodivergent audiences as part of Xenia Concerts.

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Janice Lindskoog is a pianist, harpis,t and music educator. She has enjoyed a performance career over many decades working with some of the country’s finest orchestras, and as a teacher focuses on early music education.

Ms. Lindskoog began her musical studies on piano and harp in Edmonton, Alberta with Isobel Moore Rolston, later becoming a student of pianist Ernesto Lejano at the University of Alberta, and harpist Judy Loman at the University of Toronto where she completed the Bachelor of Music degree program. Sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts, she spent two consecutive summers at the Salzedo Harp Colony in Camden, Maine, working with Alice Chalifoux.

As an orchestral musician she has performed coast to coast in Canada including long associations with the Toronto Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Since 2006 she has enjoyed performing with the Charlottetown Music Festival covering a variety of shows including Anne of Green Gables.

Ms. Lindskoog teaches both piano and harp students, and has participated in the Advanced Certificate in Early Childhood Music Education classes offered by the Royal Conservatory of Music in partnership with Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). She has adjudicated for the Kiwanis Festival in various Ontario cities, including Toronto and Ottawa, and has taken part on juries at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, and the Glenn Gould School in the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Ms. Lindskoog currently serves as an officer of the Ontario Harp Society, and has helped facilitate the OHS biennial scholarship adjudication since 2001.

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Holly Marcello's passion for the arts - and specifically her love for Musical Theatre - has driven her to pursue performing since the age of eight. From taking vocal lessons as a child to performing in many Musical Theatre Productions back in her hometown in Orangeville, ON, her love for performing continued to grow.

After being accepted into the Triple Threat Program at Randolph College for the Performing Arts, she moved to Toronto and the rest is history!

After graduating in 2016, Holly went on to tour across Ontario, performing with a company called Big Kid Entertainment, whose shows brought educational musicals to young audiences. Since then, she has settled her roots back in Toronto and continues to perform when any opportunity arises. Her love of performing and working with younger students led Holly to teaching her craft, passing on the knowledge and passion to the next generation of performers.

She looks forward to bringing her Musical Theatre background and knowledge to the Toronto Musical Alliance and is excited to share her love for music and the arts with her students!

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Toronto-based pianist Gregory Millar made his professional debut at age 18 with a solo recital in his hometown of Lachine, QC, after winning that city's prestigious mérite culturel award. Gregory is the recipient of prizes in the Sinfonia Toronto International Concerto Competition, Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition and the Felix Galimir Chamber Music Prize. He earned a DMA from the Eastman School of Music, was the first graduate of the Collaborative Piano Performance Master's degree program at the University of Toronto, received an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School and a Bachelor of Music from McGill University. His major teachers were Jean Barr, Douglas Humpherys, Peter Longworth, Jamie Parker, Cameron Stowe and Kenneth Woodman.

He has since led a career as a versatile soloist and chamber musician that has brought him across several Canadian provinces, the Northeastern United States, and a recent European debut in Belgium. His playing has been described as "compelling... a tour de force... devastatingly beautiful." (The Muskokan) Millar is featured on two CDs of chamber music by Toronto composer Frank Horvat — Me to We and The Current Agenda — released this past September. He gave the premiere of Colin Eatock's Book of Saints in 2010, as well as the first complete performance of Jean Coulthard's 13 Preludes at the conference of the Canadian University Music Society in Victoria, BC in 2013. He also has appeared on the Belfountain Music Festival in Caledon, ON, Westwood Concerts series in Toronto, and was a guest soloist with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra. Millar has partnered with many prominent artists and ensembles, including violinist Jasper Wood, violist George Taylor, soprano Melanie Conly, actress/singer Theresa Tova, Talisker Players of Toronto, and the Venuti String Quartet. In addition, he served as a resident pianist for the Banff Centre's summer masterclass program, as well as the Kendall Betts Horn Camp in New Hampshire.

Millar also works as a music copyist/engraver for the Royal Conservatory of Music's Teacher Certification Department.

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Megumi started playing the piano in Japan at the age of three and studied at the Toho School of Music since early childhood. Having moved to the U.S. at the age of twelve, she has won numerous awards, including first place in Young Artist's Competition at Bozeman State University, first place in Yamaha Music Competition in State Division, and Gold and Silver winner in Spokane Arts and Music Festival. She was a guest soloist performing with Glacier Symphony Orchestra and with Billings Symphony Orchestra. In 2010 She performed with University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

She is an active chamber musician with a wide range of repertoire, with a particularly extensive knowledge in viola music. She has worked as a collaborative artist at Indiana University, University of Toronto, Royal Conservatory of Music and Morningside Music Bridge festival in Calgary. She has collaborated with opera singer Takako Yanagida Lordly on various projects, such as a fundraising concert at Glenn Gould studio, and the recording of the CD "Sakura" for the National Association of Japanese Canadians Cultural Development Program.

She enjoys working with students ranging from beginner to university levels in piano performance, composition, and keyboard harmony and ear training, with experience ranging from private lessons to group classes consisting of 6-8 year old children.

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Milen Petzelt-Sorace is a Juno Award-nominated freelance composer from Toronto, Ontario. He began his musical studies by playing the violin at the age of 12, and soon found his interest leaning towards the music used in film, video games, and television.

At 16, he began taking private composition lessons with University of Toronto alumni David Stone alongside his violin studies, and was given leadership roles through out his high school career including the position of Orchestral Concert Master, as well as writing music for original school productions.

He continued his compositional studies at York University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Special Honours in Music. During his time at York, Milen also wrote large orchestral arrangements outside of his academic studies for the student driven ‘Media Music Concert’ orchestra, where he was also offered the administrative position of Orchestra Manager and Concert Master.

Today, Milen is a working composer based out of his hometown of Toronto, and has accumulated credits across multiple media outlets such feature film (Tower of Silence), short film (Case of the Massey Bodice Ripping), and web series (The Village Green). Outside the screen, Milen also continues to write for the concert stage and theatre productions. He was awarded first prize at songSLAM Toronto 2019 for his artsong "He Holds Her In His Arms", set to the text of renowned Canadian librettist Eugene Benson. In addition to composing, Milen arranges music for pop, alternative, and rock artists including Juno-Award winning Canadian rock-band ‘Protest the Hero’, whose album Pacific Myth featured orchestral arrangements by Milen and went on to be nominated for a Juno-Award.

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Sharon Prater has been seen on many of the major concert stages of the world as former cellist of the internationally acclaimed Colorado Quartet. The group’s busy schedule at that time included performances across North and South America, Asia and annual tours of Europe.

Ms. Prater is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she earned the Master of Music degree and for two years worked as teaching assistant to Joel Krosnick of the Juilliard Quartet. Other studies were at the Aspen Music Festival with Paul Katz and the Cleveland Quartet, the Banff Institute with Zoltan Szekely and William Pleeth, and the Britten Pears School (England) with the Janacek and Vermeer Quartets.

Coming to Toronto in 1990, Sharon was subsequently a member of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the Amadeus Ensemble, and the Espirit Orchestra. She has been on the faculty of the New School of Music (Philadelphia) and taught as adjunct chamber music faculty at the University of Toronto, as well as being a guest lecturer and performer at universities and festivals across Canada and the United States. A member of Ensemble Vivant between 1999 and 2009, she recorded four discs with that group – “The Music of Leroy Anderson”, “Fete Francaise”, “Audience Favouites”, and “Homage to Astor Piazzola”.

Sharon was Principal Cello of the Toronto Philharmonia from 2003 through 2012.

She plays on a cello by Jose Contreras made in 1762.

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A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, William Shookhoff has enjoyed a long musical career as pianist, conductor and music educator. Specializing in opera and music theatre, his experience also includes solo piano, chamber music, and orchestral conducting.

Bill has served on the music staffs of the Canadian, Edmonton, Portland (Oregon) and Netherlands Opera Companies, and has served on the music faculty of the Universities of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier, Alberta and Grant MacEwan. Summers have taken him to the Banff Centre, the Johannesen School (Victoria), as well as to programs in Chichester, UK; Burgundy, France; and Sieggraben, Austria.

Career highlights include being the inaugural Associate Conductor of the first Canadian company of Les Miserables, and the initial touring company of Phantom of the Opera. He has also been music director for productions at Neptune Theatre (Halifax), Persephone Theatre (Saskatoon), and Citadel Theatre (Edmonton). Career conducting highlights include a "Monster" (10 pianos, 30 pianists) Concert at Carnegie Hall, Walton's chamber opera "The Bear" at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and the university orchestra of Wuhan, China.

He is currently in his 12th season as director of Opera by Request in Toronto.

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A native of Moscow, Yosef Tamir-Smirnoff began studying the violin at Tchaikovsky Academic Music College at the Moscow State Conservatory under the guidance of Irina Kouznetsova. After immigrating to Canada, Yosef studied viola in Montreal with Alexei Dyachkov, the former violist of the Shostakovich Quartet, and in Bloomington at Indiana University where he was the Teaching Assistant of Professor Alan DeVeritch, graduating with Artist Diploma. After settling in Toronto, his principal teachers were late David Zafer and Steven Dann.

As a visiting artist, Yosef has given masterclasses at University of Toronto, Queens University, Silver Creek Music Foundation, Dalhousie University and Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute. He has been on a faculty of the Music in Port Milford International Chamber Music Festival and Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute.

Yosef has led the viola sections of Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Yuri Bashmet, Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Norwegian Radio Orchestra. He has performed and toured North and South Americas and Europe with Verbier Festival Orchestra, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich. Other ensembles with which he has performed are I Musici de Montreal, National Ballet of Canada and Toronto Symphony Orchestras. He presently holds a position in the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra.

As a soloist he has performed with Idyllwild Arts Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia Orchestra, Huntsville Festival Orchestra and others.

Yosef has been successful in numerous competitions: He won first prize in the Idyllwild arts Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Kuttner Quartet Competition, and second prize in both the American String Teacher’s Association and Montreal Symphony Orchestra Solo Competitions.

Yosef is a highly sought-after chamber musician. For nearly ten years he has been a member of the critically acclaimed Tokai String Quartet, prize winners of the 2007 Banff International String Quartet Competition. He performed as a guest member of St. Petersburg String Quartet and also has performed with the members of Ying Quartet, St. Lawrence Quartet, Toronto’s ARC Ensemble and Art of Time Ensemble. The recording that he made with the ARC Ensemble was nominated for 2008 Grammy Award. As a soloist and chamber musician he has also collaborated with Pinchas Zukermann, Measha Brueggergosman, Jasper Wood, Jonathan Crow, Ruth Laredo, Ilya Kaler, Anton Kuerti and others. His performances have been broadcasted on NBC Television, CBC Radio and WQSR radio.

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Daniel Walsh (he/him) is a multi-instrumentalist of over 20 years with over a decade of professional playing and teaching experience. He is known around Toronto as a guitarist, trombonist, bassist, and sousaphonist. Daniel has played in a wide variety of acts around the GTA. His career began by founding Toronto's street brass band as a full-time busker with his former band Turbo Street Funk in 2011, which spawned the beginning of many acts that, to this day, are part of the Toronto soundscape. He continues to work as a sideman and bandleader for several acts including SHOUT! the Band, Bourbon and Brass, The Dastardly Dans, Saul Torres and two of his own projects, Science Project and Dive Bomb to name a few. He holds multiple residencies around the GTA at Rouge River Brewing Company, Huatoli and Hotel X's Valerie Lounge. Daniel's experience as a musician extends to playing jazz, funk, RnB, pop, free music, salsa, brass band, folk music, classical, jungle/drum and bass, punk, metal, house, ska and more. He works regularly as an arranger and composer for many of the live acts he performs with.

As a teacher, Daniel is methodical, patient, and kind, believing fervently that music is a marathon and not a sprint. He believes that only through the process of building strong and attainable habits, musicians can grow and develop their craft to true mastery. Especially, Daniel is a strong proponent of the notion that music is something to be loved, even when working away at the most challenging parts of technique and theory development. The point of music is to be ultimately joyful, and Daniel guides all students towards this goal. His process for teaching involves giving all of his students a warm up sheet that covers the majority of the technical goals he and his students have agreed on and regularly following up and updating said warm up as the student progresses. Beyond that, in his lessons, he loves presenting his students with opportunities to study challenging and interesting repertoire, jazz theory and improvisation.

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Meredith Wanstall (she/her) has been teaching piano, voice, and theory for many years. She completed her MMus in Choral Conducting at Western University in 2022, studying with Dr. Mark Ramsay. Meredith is an Assistant Conductor with Les Choristes, an Apprentice Conductor with Amadeus Choir, and an Assistant Conductor with the Mississauga Summer Chorale. She was also an Assistant Conductor with the Bach Children’s Chorus for several years.

Beyond her passion for conducting, Meredith also enjoys teaching private lessons in piano, voice, and theory to students of all ages, and performing with Octava Vocal Ensemble, an 8-member a cappella group. Meredith completed her BMus in Music Education at the University of Toronto, where she studied voice with Mark Daboll. Past teachers include Penelope Dale (voice), Tina Torlone (voice), Arden Broadhurst (piano), and David Stone (theory). Meredith has earned two ARCT certifications in Piano and Vocal Performance.

Meredith’s gentle, patient and kind approach to teaching children and adults produces consistent progress. Her well-rounded musicianship ensures success in their musical endeavours and inspires a love of music.

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Denise Williams is a professional singer, music educator and facilitator. She holds an ARCT in Singing Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music, a Masters in Community Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, and studied Arts and Entertainment Administration at Metropolitan University.

Her 30+ year international solo performance career has put her at home on the concert, opera, and theatre stages, presenting a myriad of self-produced concerts and working with, to name a few national companies, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Mirvish Productions, Eastern Front Theatre, Theatre Northwest as well as international appearances. Highlights of her performance career include most recently a concert performance in with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Oriente in Cuba, and in Toronto, Walk Together Children - A Cross-Cultural Concert Celebration (Black, Jewish, Muslim) at the The Toronto Centre for the Arts, now known as the Meridian Arts Centre (Fall 2018), the Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s concert performance of Treemonisha at Koerner Hall, Andrew Craig's King’s Playlist at the Harbourfront centre's Fleck Dance Theatre (2017), the cast of Mirvish's North American Premier of The Sound of Music at the Princes of Wales Theatre (2008-2010), and other notable solo performances. Her CD, Walk Together Children, is a cross-cultural initiative, featuring music from the roots of Black & Jewish music.

Denise currently concentrates her time on performance education, and has founded No Strings Theatre with a desire to aid youth in developing their skills in music theatre as well as grow in their team skills for life. She has been a private voice teacher for over 30 years (Voices of Colour Music studio), as well as Royal Conservatory of Music examiner and national adjudicator for over 20 years. She is currently a part time faculty member in Sheridan College’s Music Theatre department, a certified advanced voice teacher for the RCM and sessional sacred music professor for the Canada Christian College.

Professional memberships include President of The Central Toronto Branch of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association (ORMTA-CTB), executive of the National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS), and the Canadian Actors Equity.

Denise has participated in international symposiums, particularly addressing cross-cultural sharing of music traditions involving the African Diaspora.