Piano
Holly Duff
Holly received her Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of
Western Ontario, and an Associate of the Victoria Conservatory of Music in Piano
Pedagogy. Her most inspiring musical mentors have been Dr. Robin Wood of Victoria
and Robert Rogers of UBC. Established in 1993, Holly is a founding director,
administrator and performing pianist with West Coast Chamber Music, one of the
foremost classical concert series in Vancouver. Interested in discovering and promoting
the work of women composers, the series has provided an excellent platform to
program such works alongside standard repertoire.
Holly has also had a lifelong passion for storytelling which she has combined with music on stage in children’s concerts
performed across the lower mainland. With a wealth of teaching experience over
decades, Holly is a sought after piano and Orff music teacher, masterclass clinician and
piano adjudicator. With much experience in dance, Alexander Technique and other body
work, she is particularly adept at fostering a natural and relaxed piano technique in her
students and thrives on instilling expressive playing and a love of music. They generally
excel in their exams, festivals and recitals. Currently, she teaches at the Jean Lyons
School of Music in Vancouver, and the Arts Conservatory in Richmond. When she’s not
playing the piano, you might find her writing, knitting or hanging out in her garden with
her family and cat.
Dr. Anna Vavilova
Latvian-born Canadian pianist and educator Dr. Anna Vavilova was raised in a rich musical tradition with a pedagogical lineage tracing to Chopin. Her distinguished teachers include Professor Kum Sing Lee, a juror of the Chopin Competition; Dr. Sara Davis Buechner, a bronze medalist of the Tchaikovsky Competition; and Dr. Henri-Paul Sicsic, a disciple of Alfred Cortot.
A laureate of the Pacific Spotlight Competition on CBC Radio Two and recipient of the KPU Top 25 Music Alumni Award, Dr. Vavilova has established a distinguished career as a performer and educator. She is an RCM Examiner and RCM Certified Teacher whose students have gained admission to leading music programs, including The Juilliard School, McGill University, and the University of British Columbia, and have achieved notable success in competitions and examinations.
Dr. Vavilova has served as a guest artist, lecturer, adjudicator, advisor, and juror in Canada and internationally, including engagements with Performing Arts BC, the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, the Abbaye de Pontlevoy Music Festival in France, and international festivals and competitions in Italy, Latvia, and Russia. She has also created more than 600 educational recordings and tutorials devoted to Royal Conservatory of Music repertoire.
Karen Lee Morlang
Strings
Jonathan Der
Jonathan Der, violinist, conductor, chamber musician and church organist, enjoys sharing music with the Lower Mainland communities. For the past 22 years, he serves as the associate conductor and chamber music director with the Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra. He also directs SCHMUSA, the summer chamber music program at St. Anne’s a one week summer intensive chamber music camp in Richmond. He currently holds the position of Music Director/Organist at St. Anne’s Steveston Anglican Church. He has conducted a many Cantatas and Oratories and gives regular choral workshops to several church choirs and community choirs. In performance, he has appeared in concerts as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor in the Chan Centre, Orpheum Theatre, The Annex, Gateway Theatre, Michael Fox Theatre, and other venues. He served as the Music Director of the Sunshine Coast Symphony Orchestra for 3 years before Covid.
Mr. Der dedicates most of his hours to violin pedagogy. For the past 28 years, he has taught many young musicians to become a professional musician. His main teaching philosophy focus on building strong technical foundation through natural posture and expressing emotions by means of tone colours. Today, hand full of his students hold positions in major orchestra such as VSO, New York Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra, and BBC orchestra.
Mr. Der graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a Performance Diploma, a Bachelor of Music Degree from McGill University, and obtained a master’s degree from Indiana University in Violin Performance with a minor in conducting. Mr. Der was appointed Assistant Instructor of Prof. Mauricio Fuks (at I.U.) when his teaching career began. He studied chamber music with the distinguished Prof. Rostislav Dubinsky (first violinist of Borodin Quartet), Prof. Gyorgy Sebok and Prof. Leonard Hokinson. Jonathan has played in several professional orchestras under the baton of world-renowned conductors such as Maestro Kurt Mazur, Christophe Eschenbach, and Myung-Whun Chung.
Guitar
Adrian Verdejo
Adrian Verdejo is a Canadian-Mexican guitarist, recording artist, podcaster, and music educator based in Vancouver. He performs as a soloist, and with flutist Mark Takeshi McGregor in the McGregor-Verdejo Duo . He is a founding member of the Victoria Guitar Trio and has performed in Duo Verdejo with his violist sister, Meghan Verdejo. He has played throughout Canada, and has also performed in the US, Mexico, and Europe.
Adrian frequently performs as an orchestral and chamber musician on a variety of plucked string instruments with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Turning Point, Aventa Ensembles and many more.
Adrian Verdejo is a full-time guitar instructor at Douglas College where he currently serves as Coordinator for the Music Department. He holds degrees from the University of Ottawa (MMus), University of Victoria (BMus), and Capilano University (DipMus), where he studied with guitarists Patrick Roux, Dr. Alexander Dunn, and Stephen Boswell. He has performed in master classes of many renowned guitarists including Pepe Romero, David Tanenbaum, Nigel North, Ben Verdery and Fabio Zanon.