Our Piano Team
What Makes Our Piano Teachers Special?
Fun LessonsPiano teachers who make lessons a fun, encouraging experience. We strive to instil every student with a positive attitude towards learning music.
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Colette Hennebury Director, Piano Colette Hennebury
Colette has been teaching piano since 2009 and has worked with students ages 3.5 to adult. She has completed the Royal Conservatory of Music's (RCM) Elementary and Intermediate Piano Pedagogy certificates, as well as the Advanced Piano Specialist Training through the RCM. She enjoys working with students who wish to excel in RCM exams. Currently, Colette is practicing and preparing for both the ARCT diplomas in Piano Pedagogy and Piano Performance, and has completed theory courses (History, Counterpoint) at the ARCT level. She welcomes students of all skill levels, and loves seeing her students develop confidence as they master their favourite pieces and develop into well-rounded musicians! Her favourite composer to play is currently Nikolai Medtner. When she is not teaching piano, Colette enjoys practicing the piano, spending time with her husband and cat, learning to play the saxophone, and researching pedagogy topics. 
Eddison Ly Piano Eddison Ly
Eddison has been passionate for music since he started piano at the age of 8 years old. To this day, he continues his musical studies in both practical and theoretical components. Eddison will finish his practical level 10 RCM exam in August 2018. He has also completed music theory up to Advanced Rudiments, Intermediate Harmony, and History 2. Eddison is well versed in teaching a wide range of students regardless of age, level, or style. His goal is to help each student understand what music means to them, and to make it a new enjoyment in life. His philosophy is to build a strong foundation for sight reading, as he believes it is a significant challenge young students face. Aside from piano, Eddison has been singing in a choir group for the elderly and hospital patients to help them find comfort in music. On his spare time, he likes to watch movies and play board games with friends. 
Connie Loo Piano & Cello Connie Loo
Connie had been fascinated by music ever since learning piano at age 7. Connie had since progressed into teaching piano and cello. Connie had a successful track record of mentoring students of all ages from beginner up to advanced level in her 18 years teaching career. Connie had successfully completed Licentiate, LTCL (Trinity College London) in piano; Associate, AMusA (AMEB) in piano and ABRSM Grade 8 in Cello. Connie believes in fun and engaging music lessons to help spark a child’s imagination or ignite a lifetime of passion. Join us to open the mind to endless possibilities! 
Sarah Chen Piano Sarah Chen
Sarah’s musical journey began at the age of five, when she first fell in love with the piano. Through perseverance, support, and passion, music grew to be a core part of her life. Ten years later, she received her level 10 history and harmony certificates, and is now working towards her level 10 practical exam. Sarah has experimented with trumpet and saxophone, and at one time had the honour of being lead tenor sax in the school’s senior jazz band. In her free time, Sarah enjoys dancing, debate and math. Sarah loves seeing students develop into young musicians and find their own musical style, and she believes each student has unique talents. She values the freedom music has to offer, but also stresses the importance of technique. To Sarah, music is not just vibrations through the air, but an escape from the real world. It can both connect diverse cultures across the world, as well as characterize unique communities within our society. 
Bethany Koepke Piano Bethany Koepke
Bethany has been teaching piano for 9 years. Her passion for teaching students of all ages stems from her early piano education. Beginning at the ripe age of 4, Bethany worked through the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) levels. Finishing with the practical exam of her Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (ARCT), she has her Grade 10 certificate as well as her Advanced Rudiments and Intermediate History and Theory Certificates. Not only does she enjoy the complexity of Beethoven and Brahms, Bethany has dabbled with learning the flute and is swiftly falling in love with the ukulele. Her favourite part of teaching is seeing how proud her students are when they perform at recitals, as well as watching them having fun during lessons. 
Ellen Ji Piano Ellen Ji
Ellen started playing piano when she was six. She loved the beautiful sound of music but not as much as her daily practice on the piano. She became fascinated with playing piano when she discovered that it could help her create any popular songs she wanted on the piano just by memorizing the melody. Through years of playing and practicing piano, Ellen became skillful in playing both classical and popular songs. She completed the Shanghai Musicians Associate Grade 10 Piano Certificate and the Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 7 Piano Certificate. She is enthusiastic and loves to see her students grow in joy and success while mastering great pieces of music written by famous composers like Chopin and Beethoven. She also loves helping her students learn their favourite popular songs as well. Playing piano isn't the only expression of her love for music, she also enjoys playing and learning flute and clarinet when she is not working. 
Gabriele Roccella Piano Gabriele Roccella
Gabriele’s passion for music originated just about when he was a toddler, requesting to watch Disney’s “Fantasia” on a daily basis. He fell in love with the piano and in 2011 he obtained the 10-year Diploma in Piano Performance from the Conservatory of Palermo (his hometown) in Italy, with all the required complementary subjects (Solfeggio, History of Music, Harmony & Analysis). He performed numerous recitals both as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles, and was awarded bursaries during master-classes with internationally renowned teachers. His enthusiasm for sharing learning experiences led him to complete a 2-year training as a Teaching Assistant in the same Music Conservatory, working with students of all levels. He is also extremely fond of progressive rock and various other genres, and thinks of music as a never-ending universe of opportunities for discovering one’s self and building relationships with other people. He is an all-round keyboard-instruments enthusiast and has dabbled with the harpsichord, while having fun with synthesizers as well. While he loves J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Skrjabin and Liszt, he enjoys far too many other composers to mention. He moved to Calgary in 2016 as a PhD student in Greek and Roman Studies at UofC, pursuing his interest for these ancient societies. 
Megan Maller Piano Megan Maller
Megan first began playing piano at the age of 7 and has had a continued passion for learning and developing her musical talents. Megan has completed her grade 8 RCM including her advanced rudiments. In addition to learning and playing the piano, Megan also enjoys playing the trumpet, guitar and the ukulele. Megan is continuing her study of music and passion for teaching through her educational pursuits at the University of Calgary, where she is enrolled in the bachelor of education and music program. Megan loves a wide variety of musical genres. However, she has a particular passion for jazz, classical piano and Broadway show tunes. 
Xinran Zhang Piano Xinran Zhang
Xinran has been in love with piano music since the age of 5 and has since been playing piano ever since. She earned her Grade 10 RCM certificate with the completion of Advanced Theory as well as Intermediate Harmony and History while she was in junior high school. Outside of piano performance, Xinran has volunteered as an accompanist for a choir group at the Sonata Music School. Xinran finds great joy in working with children of all ages regardless of whether they want to follow the RCM curriculum of their own direction - or both! Watching her students work hard and take pride in their achievements is the most fulfilling part of teaching for her! She secretly adores duets and music from the Romantic era and would be ecstatic to play alongside her students. 
Jennifer Merrill Piano Jennifer Merrill
Jennifer started playing piano at the age of 5, flute at age 12, and clarinet and saxophone in University. She completed her RCM 8 in piano and has her Bachelor of Music degree from Brock University. Jennifer has been teaching for 16 years and has played in various community groups and as a solo musician. Her other interests include travelling, hiking, and camping! 
Curtis Lo Piano Curtis Lo
Curtis started playing piano when he was 6. The art of music wasn’t really known or appreciated at first but he has since grown to love every aspect of it. He’s achieved his Grade 9 RCM Piano, with Harmony 3. He’s been teaching piano since 2013 and enjoys helping his students value music in both traditional and non-traditional ways. In addition to piano, he played the oboe in junior high and high school. He is a firm believer that hard work trumps talent. His love of music has brought him to the art of DJing and producing hip-hop and electronic dance music, which were mostly self-taught. Accordingly, these genres of music are his favourite, but he also enjoys listening to a wide variety of genres, including metal! He also enjoys jamming with people and playing with a local band. Outside of music, Curtis enjoys playing basketball, hanging out with friends, and learning new topics. |
Alison Fox Piano Alison Fox
As a little girl, one of Alison’s favourite memories was waking up to her mom playing the piano, at which she would jump out of bed and follow the music to the living room! There, she would soak in each piece and dance with her sisters. At a young age she began piano lessons and once she had attained her Grade 8 RCM, she started teaching piano, all-the-while advancing in her RCM studies. Alison continued this pursuit in music, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Music at Trinity Western University. Following those years in BC, Alison then taught again for a couple of years between 2014 - 2016. She now finds herself back in Calgary and is excited to take up teaching again! The greatest thrill for Alison is being able to journey with each student, helping them to discover the beautiful gift of music and enabling them to develop the skills and techniques that allow each student to find joy in the music they play - from Bach to Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, or Grieg, to playing by simple chording or just sight reading pieces for fun! 
Soojung Kim Piano Soojung Kim
SooJung Kim is a collaborative pianist and piano teacher. She started playing piano when she was four. SooJung has completed her Bachelor’s degree piano performance and Master’s degree in collaborative piano. SooJung has been accompanying for ballet, musical theatre, Piano duo, Piano trio, choir and University opera theatre. SooJung loves working with children and has a passion to sharing music as a performer and a teacher. Her primary goal of teaching is to make student to enjoy making music at the piano. She finds most fulfilling part of being a teacher is when she sees students are engaging, motivating and finally achieve their goal of learning. Besides performing and teaching, SooJung enjoys travelling, hiking, golfing, and cooking. 
Krishna Shetye Piano Krishna Shetye
Krishna believes that music is a passion that everyone has within them. Whether the goal is to be able to play pop songs while singing or perform the classical repertoire, the musical foundation should be strong in order to accomplish one’s desired level of accomplishment. As a piano teacher, Krishna focuses on techniques such as reading, interpretation, and performance comfort for those who want to embrace the classical aspect of the instrument. With students who simply want a good understanding of the piano or want to play a variety of genres, she focuses more on skills such as improvisation and interpretation by ear. Krishna began her piano training at the age of 4, where she eventually joined Yamaha’s Junior Special Advanced Program (JSAC). During her four years in JSAC, she was given the opportunity to compose and perform music for established musicians and executives from all over the world. As she advanced, Krishna adhered to the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) curriculum until level 9 and performed annually at the Kiwanis Music Festival. In school she constantly participated in extracurriculars such as jazz band and the pit orchestra as well as being a member of the concert band. Krishna is a huge fan of jazz piano and was exposed to different styles during her time in the southern United States where she had her first taste of artistes like Gershwin and Count Basie. Her favorite musical era is the Modern Era, where styles clashed and true masterpieces were created such as Bernstien’s “West Side Story,” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird”. As Krishna transitions into university this year, she plans on being just as involved with music at school and through teaching. 
Joanna Tija Piano Joanna Tija
Joanna has 11 years of experience in teaching students, with her ABRSM Grade 8 Piano and Grade 5 Theory. Passionate for music, her professional experience includes coaching students of all levels, teaching skills that range from basic scales to classical overtures, successfully teaching students to read sheet music, and communicating with younger students’ parents. Joanna began studying the piano at the age of 7 and won first place in piano solos in the Annual Hong Kong Schools Music & Speech Festival. 
Gabriella Hsu Piano Gabriella Hsu
Gabriella transitioned her career from accounting to teaching piano to better align with her values and passion for music. Her experience includes teaching piano to children from 2005 to 2007 and she started teaching again at the beginning of 2016. She finds it fulfilling to watch her students grow in their excitement and experience of music. Gabriella studied music in the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) and completed Grade 9 Piano, and Grade 9 Harmony and History. She wishes to further pursue the piano pedagogy certificate program with the RCM to strive for excellence in teaching. Gabriella enjoys improvising and re-creating songs on the piano, jamming on the guitar with friends, learning new instruments, and going to music festivals and concerts. 
Amanda Chen
Piano
Amanda Chen Piano Amanda Chen
Music has been a major part of Amanda’s life since she was five years old. She has completed her Royal Conservatory of Music ARCT Diploma in Piano Performance, including all the theory corequisites (History 3, Counterpoint and Analysis), obtaining RCM Gold Medals in Grades 3, 6, 7, and 10 along the way. She has performed numerous times at the Calgary Performing Arts Festival, and was featured in the RCM Pop-Up recitals leading up to the 2016 Juno Awards. A fan of Fauré, she welcomes students of all ages and abilities, and is well-versed in the rigorous RCM curriculum. She is passionate about teaching as a means of sharing her love of music. Outside of teaching, Amanda is currently working towards a bachelor’s degree in engineering at the University of Calgary, and also enjoys playing the saxophone, paintball, doing yoga, and travelling in her spare time. 
Cynthia Kwan Piano Cynthia Kwan
Since the age of 6 years, Cynthia has been following the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) curriculum and is currently working on her ARCT (Associate of The Royal Conservatory) Performer’s Diploma. She has completed and received all theory certificates from the RCM and achieved First Class Honors with Distinction for both Intermediate and Advanced History. She aims to convey the enjoyment of piano to her students while instilling in them strong techniques and musicality for this charming instrument. Beyond her life as a pianist and piano teacher she enjoys strumming a few chords on the guitar, increasing her knowledge in literature or just hanging around with her beloved canine. 
Rachel Kreyner Piano Rachel Kreyner
Rachel Kreyner is a versatile performer, accompanist and piano teacher with nearly a decade of experience teaching privately and accompanying for children’s musical-theatre and ballet schools, as well as University of Calgary ensembles. An active collaborative artist, she played for the U of C women’s chamber choir and the U of C orchestra in 2015, as well as being part of the U of C Klezmer/Global Village band from 2015- 2017. She also regularly collaborates with CPO-tenured instrumentalists, most recently with cellist David Morrissey and violinist Theresa Lane. Rachel yearly assists students with juries, auditions, CMC, RCM exams and entries in the RBC concerto competition. In the summer, she is the Musical director at the Calgary Actor’s Studio, performing over seven musical theatre productions (in the space of five weeks) with students ages 10-18. She has performed in masterclasses held by the Honens and Pro Musica societies, as well as premiering new works for composers in the ‘Happening’ concert series. Various Canadian teachers shaped her piano technique, most notably: Professor Marilyn Engle, Ann Davidson and Irena Ginzburg. Rachel recently completed her Master’s in Performance at the University of Calgary with Professor Charles Foreman, studying jazz with Professor Sheldon Zandboer. She is also the holder of a Performer’s ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music and a combined Bachelor of Music (performance)/ English Honors degree from the University of Calgary. During her tenure at the University of Calgary, she received a variety of awards including a grant from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Rachel’s teaching philosophy emphasizes balance between sight-based and sound-based methods of learning music, and tailoring lessons to the specific abilities and interests of her students. 
Kristen O'Neill Piano Kristen O'Neill
Kristen has been teaching piano since 2009, and loves seeing her students get a strong musical foundation with diverse activities as part of regular lessons (rhythm, ear training, popular music). She has experience in musical theatre as Assistant Vocal Director and Orchestra Keyboardist, and in a school classroom setting. Kristen says, "I have a passion for music and sharing that knowledge through fun and meaningful lessons. I strive to keep the student engaged through creative activities and allowing them to chose their own pieces. My education and vast arts background allow me to bring a highly creative component to my lessons which help keep my students motivated." 
Jaclyn Ruddy Piano Jaclyn Ruddy
Jaclyn's love for music spans a lifetime! She began playing piano when she was 5, and has achieved her Grade 9 RCM certificate with History 1 and Harmony 3, and Elementary Piano Specialist Designation. She is currently studying for her Grade 10 piano and enjoys helping her students succeed in RCM exams as well.. She has participated in Kiwanis Music Festivals and has traveled as far as Berlin, Germany as part of a choir. Jaclyn says, "As a child I was very high energy and always running around, the only time that I would sit still was in front of the piano. I loved practicing and performing for family and friends, and I’ve always had a passion for music and working through the Royal Conservatory Program. It provided me with structure and discipline through lessons, practicing and examinations. I had an amazing piano teacher growing up, she was definitely someone that helped mentor me, someone that helped shape me into the strong woman I am today. I want to share that with your children." Her favourite musical era is the romantic era, and Chopin is her favourite composer right now. In the summer, Jaclyn loves hiking and camping! 
Tarryn Raju Piano & Drums Tarryn Raju
Tarryn grew up in South Africa, which is where her love for music began. She started playing piano when she was 7 years old, following the Trinity College (London) Syllabus. She has completed her Grade 8 Piano, Grade 7 Voice, Grade 5 Drum Kit and Grade 6 Theory examinations through Trinity College. She has been involved in various Jazz ensembles and has regularly played piano and lead worship since the age of 14. After graduating, she went on to study her Bachelors and Honors degrees in Education, specializing in Foundation Phase (K-3). After teaching for 5 years in a classroom (with a few private piano students in the afternoon), she decided to pursue her passion for music once more. She started working in a school teaching music (piano, class music, singing, and marimba) for the past 3 years. Her marimba ensemble went on to win various awards across East London, including the Ultimate Performer 2017 and Best Marimba band at the Port Rex Lions Eisteddfod. She has also conducted mass school music festivals involving over 15 schools. Tarryn enjoys playing board games and travelling in her spare time, and is excited to start this new adventure in Calgary! |
Ivy Chi Piano Ivy Chi
Ivy began studying piano at the age of 5. She obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degrees, majoring in piano performance at the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing,China). She received a scholarship to complete her Artist Diploma in piano performance from the Royal College of Music (London) under the tutorship of professor Vanessa Latarche, Leon McCawley (winner of the Leeds International Piano Forte Competition), and Dina Parakhina. In her studying career, she has taken master classes with some first class pianists such as Tomas Ungar and Klaus Baessler. Meanwhile, she worked as a piano coach for singers and violinists while she was studying. Ivy has 25 years of piano teaching experience and teaches all ages of students. After Ivy graduated from Central Conservatory of Music, she taught as a piano tutor and an associate professor in Xinghai Conservatory of Music (Guangzhou, China). She inspires her students with enthusiasm and creativity which allows students to achieve success in their music studies. In Ivy’s teaching, she always finds way for students to solve difficulties with technique in piano performance, as well as to understand the meaning of and express the feeling of the music. Many of her students have won piano competitions and received admission to well-known conservatories in order to pursue their music dreams. Ivy can teach piano in different styles mainly in classical music, music theory, and music history. She is also fond of pop music and loves to explore in this field. Ivy is interested in math, chemistry, travelling, baking, and tuning the piano… Let’s explore new things and find the beauty of the world and music! 
Cherry Lee Piano Cherry LEe
Cherry has been teaching piano and theory part-time since 2005. She has worked with students ranging from ages 4 to 60. She enjoys helping students recognize the benefits of engaging in music and believes music aids in brain development. This is especially true when using your eyes, ears, voice, hands and feet when playing piano! Cherry has completed her Grade 10 Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) as well as music history, rudiments and harmony. She is passionate about teaching and hopes to help others love it too. On her own time, Cherry enjoys playing the piano, listening to songs of different eras, baking and reading non-fiction. |