Headshot/Biography Coming Soon!
Irene is a passionate dance instructor and has danced since the young age of three. As a student, she trained on Vancouver Island and in 1991 pursued a post-secondary education in Edmonton, Alberta at the Grant MacEwan University. Her training includes Classical Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theatre, Character Dance and Pointe. Irene is a fully registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance, Canadian Dance Teacher’s Association and Performing Arts Educators of Canada. In 1993 she established Tempo Dance Academy in Nanaimo BC, and continues to run the school as the owner/founder and artistic director. In 2017, Irene and former pupil and studio owner Lina Lewis opened the Elevate Dance Centre in Langford, BC. During the past three years, Irene ventured into something completely different - filming commercials with Chek Six News, local businesses and three seasons on Hallmark (Chesapeake Shores) as a background performer.
Yvette graduated with distinction from the University of Victoria School of Music and holds diplomas from the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto (ARCT, Performance), the Victoria Conservatory of Music (AVCM, Performance and Pedagogy), and Camosun College (Associate of Arts Diploma in music). Her tutors have included Dr. Robin Wood, Winifred Scott Wood, Dr. Gordana Lazarevich and Bruce Vogt. Yvette has examined senior levels of piano for The London College of Music and Media (England). Yvette enjoys both leading and participating in Master Classes.
Ildiko Skeldon is a Senior RCM Examiner with over 25 years of examining experience in both Canada and the USA. She is a certified teacher with the Royal Conservatory in both piano and theory, for elementary, intermediate and advanced levels. Ildiko is also a member of the Canadian Music Festivals Adjudicators Association and has adjudicated extensively throughout BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, encompassing junior to senior levels. Ms. Skeldon's influential teachers have been Audrey Mallinson, Kum-Sing Lee, Dale Reubart, Robert Rogers, Robert Silverman, Pawel Checinski, Ivan Moravec, and Anton Kuerti. She participated in summer studies throughout the 1970s at the prestigious Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary. Ms. Skeldon runs a successful studio in Richmond, BC, where she focuses on nurturing and inspiring musical growth in all ages and levels of students.
Jennifer Orr lives and works in Calgary. She has been a member of the Mount Royal University Conservatory’s Speech Arts and Drama faculty since 1986, and the coordinator of the program since 1998. Jennifer maintains an active leadership role in the discipline of speech and drama, making contributions as a teacher, administrator, adjudicator, examiner, workshop clinician, and in the area of curriculum development. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Calgary and Associate Diplomas in Speech Arts and Drama from the Mount Royal University Conservatory, Calgary, and the Royal Conservatory, Toronto. She specializes in teaching children and young adults and maintains a busy teaching schedule that includes a busy private studio, group lessons in creative drama, speech arts, public speaking, storytelling, and speech arts theory. She recently developed curriculum for an enhanced communication certificate program designed for internationally educated professionals, and a Speech Arts for Media program.
Brian Yoon is currently the Principal Cello of the Victoria Symphony. Since winning First Prize at the 35th Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, he has been presented in recital from coast to coast, with repertoire ranging from Bach and Beethoven to Shostakovich and Metallica. As a soloist, Brian recently appeared with orchestras in works by Brahms, Dvorak, Haydn, Morawetz, and Schumann. His main teachers include Judith Fraser (Vancouver Academy of Music), Paul Marleyn (University of Ottawa), and Desmond Hoebig (Rice University). Brian has received support from the BC Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation.
Mame Helise Goehner, a lyrical soprano, has been performing and studying music since the age of six. Studying under the expertise of Opera Nuova’s founder Kim Mattice Wanat and Canada’s top baritone Peter Barcza, she has won several major scholarships and festivals throughout Canada and Europe. Mame is currently the President of Choir Alberta and owns and runs two thriving music schools in Victoria, BC and Calgary, AB. She was a prominent figure on many stages in Alberta until she made her move to Vancouver where studying at UBC, she completed her BMus and MMus under the tutelage of Bruce Pullan and Nancy Hermiston. Mame has toured throughout Europe. She personally sang for the Queen of England and has showcased many private recitals and performances in Canada. She is experienced in lieder, opera, 20th Century art song, musical theatre, pop and jazz.