Pierre Gagnon

Pierre Yves Gagnon, born in Montreal, Quebec, is fluent in French and English. He is an experienced viola and violin Suzuki teacher living in Oakville, Ontario. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Viola Performance from the University of McGill, where he studied under the direction of Steve Kondaks. He further pursued his studies with Ralph Aldrich at the University of Western Ontario where he received a Masters degree in Viola Performance and Literature. Mr. Gagnon was a member of L’Orchestre des Jeunes du Québec and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. He was also principal violist of the Canadian Chamber Orchestra in Banff. He is currently a member of the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, and has been a teacher for the Oakville Suzuki Association for the past thirty years. He is also a member of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association.

He was introduced to the Suzuki method while studying at McGill University and took his first unit training at the Guelph Suzuki institute in 1983. He has now completed all ten violins units as well as viola units 4 to 9. He has attended many conferences in Canada, United States, Germany and Japan, including three workshops with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki.

He is a regular teacher at the Oakville Performing Arts Day Camp where he teaches violin, viola, recorder and chamber music. Additionally, he has taught at several Suzuki Institutes in Canada and United States.

Emma Grant-Zypchen

Born and raised in Ottawa, Emma began her musical studies with the National Capital Suzuki School of Music at the age of 7. There she studied with Kirk Starkey and Margaret Tobolowska. At Canterbury High School she attained a Fine Arts Certificate in the Strings Program where she was taught by John Pohran and Janice Mah. After high school she decided to pursue her musical studies further at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music where she obtained her Bachelor’s of Music in Cello Performance with Outstanding Achievement in Cello, Dean’s Honour List and the McGill Alumnae Society Prize under the tutelage of Matt Haimovitz. During this time, she was twice a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada whose tours saw them performing such venues as Montréal’s Maison Symphonique, the National Art Centre’s Southam Hall, Toronto’s Koerner Hall, the Berlin Konzerthaus and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall.

After graduating from McGill in 2019, she returned to Ottawa and began her career as a music educator, becoming a teacher at the same Suzuki school that fostered her as a child, as well as at OrKidstra. She finds great fulfillment in this path, aiming to share her love of music and the cello with the next generation, and enjoying witnessing each child uniquely grow through their musical experiences. Emma has completed Units 1 and 2 of Suzuki teacher training with Susan Gagnon and Tanya Carey, respectively. She received her Master’s of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Montreal where she studied with Yegor Dyachkov.

In her free time, she enjoys various outdoor pursuits such as running, cross country skiing and backcountry canoe camping as well as hobbies such as watercolour botanical illustration and knitting.

Sharon Jones

Sharon Jones is a violinist and singer. She began her violin studies as one of the first Suzuki students in Ontario, Canada. At the age of ten, she met Dr. Suzuki and participated in his group classes at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Three years later, she had the unique opportunity to work with Dr. Suzuki at an International Society of Music Educators Conference in her hometown of London, Ontario, Canada as part of a small group of North American children. She later worked with Dr. Suzuki again in Berlin and in the United States. Other Suzuki mentors over the years include Alice Joy Lewis, and Bill Starr.

After spending four months in Japan in 1985, her mother, Dorothy Jones, returned home and began work on the Suzuki school she had promised Suzuki she would start. It was at this time she asked Sharon to begin developing the baby/toddler curriculum, which is now known as Suzuki Early Childhood Education (SECE) and used in SECE classrooms worldwide. Sharon Jones is also the singer on the original SECE English Language Curriculum recording. Sharon is an SAA registered Teacher Trainer in Suzuki Early Childhood Education (SECE). She is the founder and director of the Thames Valley Suzuki School in London, Ontario where she continues her work as a violin and SECE teacher in addition to her Teacher Training and mentorship of many SECE teachers around the world.

In London, she also directs and performs with the celtic group, Haggis Stew. Sharon has been a presenter, clinician, teacher, and trainer at conferences, institutes, and workshops in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Ireland, Japan, and Australia.

Lauren Taylor

Violist and violinist Lauren Taylor is an emerging young musician from Ontario. She is an enthusiastic beginner Suzuki violin and viola teacher, with extensive performance training in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings, as well as with her band, Safe as Houses.

Lauren began her Suzuki teacher training journey in the fall of 2020, when she began her two-year long-term teacher training course under teacher trainer Paule Barsalou. She completed Violin Units 1-4 in April of 2021, and is set to complete her training in Violin Units 5-8 with Practicum in April of 2022.

Lauren has performed as a soloist with the Guelph Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Concorde Performing Ensemble, and has participated in the OMFA Provincial Finals for her solo work, as well as with string quartet, chamber orchestra and symphony orchestra. She was a founding member of the Formare Piano Quartet, second place prize winners of The 2019 Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition. Prior to ths, she attended Quartetfest 2017 with the Oniero String Quartet as Penderecki String Quartet Prize winners. There, they were invited to perform the Golijov Last Round nonet with the Penderecki String Quartet and Dave Young at the Quartetfest twenty-fifth anniversary opening concert, as well as the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with James Campbell at the Quartetfest opening gala. She was a member of the Concorde Performing Ensemble, an award- winning youth chamber orchestra, during their exchange tours in Edmonton, AB., St. John’s, NL, and Poland, as well as their performance at the 2012 Suzuki Association of the Americas bi-annual conference. Lauren has also toured with The National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and performed as principal viola with The Royal Conservatory Orchestra and the Wilfrid Laurier University Symphony Orchestra.

Lauren began her musical journey at the age of four in her hometown of Guelph, Ontario, where she studied at the Suzuki String School of Guelph under Paule Barsalou, Witold Swoboda, and Elspeth Durward. She then attended Wilfrid Laurier University in the violin studio of Jerzy Kaplanek and the viola studio of Christine Vlajk, where she earned Alumni String Scholarships for outstanding performance and the Alumni Gold Medal for highest academic average in her graduating class. After her BMus, Lauren completed the Chamber Music Diploma program, focusing intensively on string quartet playing with the Penderecki String Quartet. She then went on to attend The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in the studio of Steven Dann on The Patrick and Barbara Keenan Foundation Scholarship, where she earned an Artist Diploma and stayed an additional year as an Orchestral Scholar. When she is not performing classical music, Lauren is a member of Kitchener-Waterloo indie-folk band Safe as Houses, who have released three full-length albums, and have been touring Canada in support of their latest FACTOR funded record, Lucky Lucky (Deluxe), since its release in April 2019.

Myra Yeung

Dr. Myra Yeung is an adjudicator and guest clinician in Canada and the USA. She is a Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) Certified Teacher as an Advanced specialist.

Dr. Yeung is a proponent of lifelong learning and enjoys working alongside colleagues to offer enriching programs for students, parents, and teachers. Some examples include directing and co-chairing Suzuki workshops, coordinating children’s summer camps in Whiteshell Provincial Park (Manitoba), and directing a mentoring program for teen girls in inner-city Winnipeg. She is a past Artistic Director in Toronto, past Program Director in Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky, and past violin and viola faculty in Ann Arbor, eastern North Carolina, and Winnipeg. She served on the Suzuki Association of Ontario Board of Directors from 2018 to 2021.

In 2018, she presented a pedagogical project at the 45th International Viola Congress in the Netherlands.

Myra grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, learning Suzuki viola from Joanne Martin and RCM piano from Lydia Wiebe. For a few years after completing her undergraduate computer science degree, Myra worked in IT full-time and taught evening violin lessons and group classes. While she continues to enjoy working on computer projects, Myra’s passion for teaching became quite evident during that time and she went on to pursue graduate studies in music performance and pedagogy. She credits her music teachers for instilling in her a wholehearted joy of teaching with excellence.

Recent achievements by students in Dr. Yeung’s studio include Concertmaster chairs, 1st Place awards, scholarship awards, and university scholarships. She herself is the winner of many competitions and awards for viola, piano, and chamber music.

Dr. Yeung is currently on faculty at Etobicoke Suzuki Music in Toronto, Ontario. She teaches a full violin and viola studio with levels from young beginner to collegiate.

Anne Rankin

I am a passionate educator of children and advocate for the arts. I have taught children in private and group settings for over 20 years. I am a certified Suzuki Method Cello teacher and have held teaching studios in Toronto, Boston, London and Peterborough.

Trained as a cellist, I received my Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Artist Diploma from McGill University. I have freelanced with the Vancouver CBC Radio Orchestra and the Boston Lyric Opera.

I am the Executive Producer and Founder of Shoestring of Shoestring Opera, a charitable organization that performs opera for children and families in schools and theatres. Recognized widely for its innovative programming, the company has delighted over 30 000 children throughout Canada.

At Etobicoke Suzuki Music I am the Director of the cello program and the Coordinator of our Suzuki Early Childhood Education program, called Sprouts. It is my pleasure to be a faculty member of this fine program, both as a cello and Sprouts teacher.

Michael Hammond

Michael Hammond is a mental health speaker with the Federal Speakers Bureau on Mental Health in Ottawa. A communications professional with the Department of Canadian Heritage, Michael founded The Happiness Project mental health support group in West Ottawa in 2022. His group has staged several fundraising events for mental health causes since its inception. This summer, he launched the Happiness Project mental health podcast on all streaming platforms.

Michael is also a men’s mental health advocate in the Knights of Columbus, member of the Our Lady of Peace School parents’ council and social media director at his local church.

A former journalist in Peterborough, Sarnia, Kitchener and Ottawa, Michael is also a published author, Suzuki parent and big believer in the power of music and teachers to change the world.