Ms Emily Sun
Piano , Violin & Viola (Virtual Class)
A native of Taiwan, Emily Sun is a versatile violinist, certified OCT (Ontario Certified Teacher) & Alexander Technique teacher. Ms. Emily began her study of violin in Taiwan at the age of seven. She comes from a family of music. In 1999 she moved to Canada where she met Sydney Humphreys who had a great influenced on her later music training. She holds a Bachelors and Master of Music in Performance from McGill University, chef diploma from Liaison College, Bachelor of Education from UOIT and AT teacher from Toronto School of AT. Her violin teachers included Yehonaton Berick, Mark Gothoni , and Denise Lupien. She has performed with Cathedral Bluff Symphony Orchestra and Georgian Bay Symphony as second principal, Orchestre Métropolitain, Montreal Symphony, Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, Canadian Sinfonietta, Sinfonia Toronto and Mendelssohn Choir. Emily has performed with Celtic Woman, Chantal Kreviatzuk, Diana Krall, The Canadian Tenors and Sarah Brightman. Along with performing and adjudicating various festivals, Ms Emily enjoys playing guzheng and piano. Ms. Emily is currently a string teacher with TDSB and an occasional teacher with DDSB.Ms. Emily has over 18 years teaching experience. Her students won different awards at North York Music Festival & Kiwanis Music Festival Toronto. Recently one of her students won the 2016 RCM gold medal award in Ontario.
Ms. Jennifer Mak
Piano, Violin & Viola
(Virtual/In Person class)
Ms Jennifer has over 16 years of experience teaching piano, violin, and theory to all age groups at beginner and intermediate levels. She has prepared students of all ages for music festivals, RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music) practical and theory examinations, arts school auditions, and recitals. Jennifer is a motivating teacher who believes that learning should be fun and exciting, and she strives to help students of all ages develop a love and appreciation for all forms and genres of music. She values the relationships she has with her students, and she is always thinking of ways to support her students and help them grow as budding musicians. While she stresses the importance of good fundamental basics and technique, Jennifer encourages her students to be creative and to express themselves through their music. In addition to teaching, Jennifer is an experienced arts administrator who works as the Artistic Operations Manager at Toronto Summer Music, one of Canada’s top classical music festival. In her role at the festival, Jennifer manages all of the Academy programs as well as the entire festival schedule for over 100 musicians each summer. Jennifer holds a Master of Arts in Child Study and Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Ms. Regina Lam
Piano & Rudiment Level 5 to ARCT Level (Virtual Lesson)
As an affiliated teacher with Royal Conservatory of Music for fourteen years, Regina has been successfully preparing students for RCM piano examinations, rudiments examinations and history of music examinations, in which a majority of her students have achieved First Class Honours with Distinction (90-100) in the three subjects and at each level ranging from 1 to 10. Having taught at York University for nearly ten years as a teaching assistant for two courses, Classical Piano Performance and Piano for Non-Majors, she has developed a high level of professionalism and strong interpersonal skills in her interactions with students. In her classes at York University, students who major in Classical Piano Performance Stream and students who are non-music major earned excellent grade (A) at end-of-year juries. Prior to her teaching at York University, Regina was a Pianist-in-Resident for the Opera Workshop and Chamber Music at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
As a piano teacher, Regina’s work includes preparing students for annual piano recitals, and coaching students for competitions in the GTA where her students awarded prizes at Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival, Peel Music Festival, and North York Music Festival. As a rudiments and history of music teacher, Regina has brought the subjects to life. Her students demonstrate strong understanding of music theory and history of music in Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels.
Professionally trained since age of six, Regina graduated Summa Cum Laude in Piano Performance from the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music. She continued her piano studies at York University, Toronto where she earned her BFA specializing in Piano Performance. Since returning from Memorial University of Newfoundland, where she furthered her professional training at the Master's level in Piano Performance under the guidance of Professor Timothy Steeves, she completed her MA in Ethnomusicology at York University, Toronto. Her research interest focuses on "Canada Classical Music: Women Composers of 19th and 20th Centuries" in which she is examining the impact of both colonialism and post-colonialism on the development of classical music in Canada.
CELLO Teacher
Ms Shannon Lai teaches cello and piano for any age groups and levels. She is a certified Suzuki cello teacher, and she holds a BMus in cello performance and a Chamber Music Diploma from Wilfrid Laurier University since 2021.
Despite her background in classical music and experience in preparing students for RCM examinations, she also believes in the importance of teaching her students to use music as a creative outlet. She hopes to instill in each of her students a curiosity to explore, and become independent musicians with the ability to apply their technique to various genres and styles of music. She has experience playing in jazz, pop, contemporary improvisation, and mixing theatrical and musical improvisations.
Her teachers included Brenda Muller, Katie Schlaikjer, and currently Andras Weber. She is also an avid chamber musician, spending her summers as a recurring participant at QuartetFest in Waterloo, Ontario, and Summer Chamber Music Workshops at Apple Hill Center in New Hampshire. Through these experiences, she had the pleasure of playing with musicians from across US, Peru, and Jerusalem.
She is currently undertaking Creative Ability Development (CAD) training, a form of musical improvisation pedagogy developed by Suzuki teachers. She also is a part of the Diversity Equality Inclusive Access (DEIA) committee in the Suzuki Association of Canada. Shannon only began learning cello at 16 years old, before which she received her Gr. 10 RCM Piano Certificate with First Class Honors.