2010 Piano Camp (PC)
August 9 - 13, 2010
St. Vladimir's Cultural Centre
404 Meredith Road NE (Memorial Drive and Edmonton Trail)
Calgary, Alberta
9:00 am - 5:00 pm daily
See the registration form or the fee summary for fee information.
Photo courtesy of Gus van Helden
The Piano Camp is an exciting five-day experience for pianists, aged 10 to adult, to explore the many facets of piano playing in a supportive, fun atmosphere that promotes a positive attitude towards practising and performing. Students are coached in prepared solo repertoire and new ensemble pieces. Students attend classes in musical style, interpretation, memorization, technique and performance anxiety. Classes on choir, art, improvisation, the Alexander Technique and a composer (a different composer is selected each year) are also offered.
Performances
Thursday, August 13, 7:00 pm and Friday, August 14, 2:00 pmSt. Vladimir's Cultural Centre
404 Meredith Road (Memorial Drive and Edmonton Trail)
Calgary, Alberta
Dr. Faina Bryanskaya Piano Camp Clinician for 2010
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Faina Bryanskaya and Joseph Fridman will be the clinicians for the piano camps in 2010.
Photo and biographical information courtesy of Longy School of Music
Dr. Bryanskaya is an internationally acclaimed pedagogue who has been called “Teacher of Teachers.” In the former Soviet Union, she was founder and methodological advisor of the Advanced Training for Teachers of Music Schools, Colleges, and Conservatories, as well as Professor of Piano Pedagogy at the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatory and faculty at Mussorgsky Music College. She has also presented pedagogy workshops and master classes as a guest lecturer at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, and served as a faculty member at their summer piano camps for piano teachers.
Dr. Bryanskaya teaches at the Longy School of Music located in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Longy School of Music is one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and Boston Conservatory.
Certification: M.A. with honors, Ph.D., St. Petersburg State Conservatory. Studied with Natan Perelman. Lectures, workshops, and master classes in Russia, Israel, Germany, Poland, The Netherlands, and the U.S., including MTNA conventions. Solo/duo performance in Russia, at the Silesia International Music and Wellness Festival in Poland, at the Smith Center for the Arts at Providence College, and live on WGBH Boston radio and St. Petersburg TV, Russia.
Joseph Fridman
Joseph Fridman comes to us from Edmonton. He is an incredible musician who unreservedly loves, lives and breathes music. He has earned two master’s degrees, one as a pianist and one as an opera director. Both degrees are from the world-renowned St. Petersburg State Conservatory (Russia ). He is a concert pianist, teacher, vocal coach and accompanist. He taught at the Schools for Musically Gifted Children of St. Petersburg and Kiev and the Pskov Music College and performed with the St. Petersburg and Pskov Philharmonics.
Mr. Fridman served on the faculty of the Alberta College Conservatory of Music from 1991 till 2002 and taught in the Conservatory’s International Music Academy and the University of Alberta. Mr. Fridman is a director and teacher of the Alberta Music Academy. He lectures and gives masterclasses and workshops in Canada, Ukraine, Russia and the USA. He has taught in various summer schools: “Strings and Keys” (Bergen), Alberta College summer school (Edmonton) and now as a clinician with CASSA.
Mr. Fridman has adjudicated a number of festivals and competitions, including the prestigious Canadian Music Competition (2004). His piano students have received first class honors and medals in RCM Exams, first and second prizes in the Kiwanis Festival, Northern Alberta Concerto Competition and Fall Festival. Mr. Fridman performs in solo and chamber recitals and has been broadcast frequently on CBC Radio.
Piano Camp Composers for 2010
The extra piece(s) you will be asked to prepare for the 2010 Piano Camp will be chosen from works by Prokofiev and Bach. The choice of piece or pieces will be sent to you when you register. A decision will be made soon on whether campers will be asked to prepare one piece from one of the composers or to prepare one piece by each of the composers.
Happy CASSA campers 2010
2010 Clinicians Dr. Fridman and Dr. Bryanskaya
Photos courtesy of Gus van Helden
We wish to remind you that videotaping of CASSA productions and performances is not permitted. DVDs of performances are available through CASSA.
Friends and relatives may take photographs, but to avoid distracting the performers, please do not use flash photography during the performance.
Teacher Profiles
Janice Dahlberg, Piano Teacher
Janice Dahlberg began her formal education in music as a piano major and vocal and choral accompanist at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. After raising four children, she earned a diploma in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto, and a bachelor of music degree from The University of Calgary. An experienced chamber musician, she teaches piano and piano pedagogy. Her activities include serving as a master class clinician, an adjudicator, a book and music reviewer, and a Youth Talent Showdown Judge for the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede. She sings with the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus.
Mrs. Dahlberg is vice-president and assistant artistic director of the Calgary Arts Summer School Association. She is the newly elected president of the Royal Conservatory of Music Alumni Association, Calgary Chapter. She has been President of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association as well as the Calgary Branch of ARMTA, and represented Alberta as first delegate to the Canadian Federation of Teachers of Music Association.
Edwin Gnandt, Piano Teacher
Canadian pianist EDWIN GNANDT enjoys a successful career with over five hundred appearances as soloist, accompanist, adjudicator and workshop clinician. He has been praised by the San Francisco Examiner for his "consistently alluring sound," by the Oakland Tribune for his "ear for phrasing," and by the Los Angeles Times for his "distinct refinement." Mr Gnandt's performances have taken him throughout Canada and the United States as well as to Russia and Scotland. Recent appearances include St Petersburg, Russia; Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, and Vancouver. Recently, he was invited as a visiting Professor of Music at Azuza Pacific University in Los Angeles, California, where he collaborated with Polish pianist Roza Yoder in pursuing his continued interest in Chopin.
Mr. Gnandt completed his bachelor of music degree at the University of Calgary and his master of music at the University of Washington under Randolph Hokanson. He also studied at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland under a Canada Council grant and did postgraduate studies with Adele Marcus at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He collaborates and records with many of Canada's finest musicians. Mr. Gnandt currently serves as a full-time faculty member at Ambrose University College, Calgary.
Recent Publications
"Edwin Gnandt is a pianist of sensitivity; he has about him that elusive but distinct refinement that a wine connoisseur or a horseman might refer to as breed. One gets the impression that at his worst, this pianist couldn't offend one's sensibilities, that a lapse of taste wouldn't figure in his musical makeup."
Benjamin Epstein, Los Angeles Times
"Gnandt seems to have an endless variety of tonal weight at his command. He possesses a French style of coloration - like a painting that features 15 shades of light blue and 20 shades of dark blue."
Heuwell Tircuit, San Francisco Chronicle
"He possesses a rare gift that few people have - he phrases from the heart."
Aldo Ciccolini
"He polished this outgoing concerto nicely with a fine finger technique and an ear for phrasing."
Charles Shere, Oakland Tribune
"Gnandt made a most consistently alluring sound - his most impressive showing came with a sweeping Romantic reading of the Chopin Ballade in F minor."
Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner
"The Liszt was performed with flowing strength and magnificent phrasing, passing from strikingly clear attacks to romantic liquid legato phrases."
Don Forsyth, Penticton Herald
Discography
Piano Music of Chopin and Liszt (2006) A Beethoven Portrait (2007)
Prof. Edwin Gnandt
Associate Professor of Music
Ambrose University College
email: egnandt@ambrose.edu
150 Ambrose Circle. S.W.
Calgary, AB T3H OL5
403.410.2000 Ext. 5903
Lana Henchell, Piano Teacher

Lana Henchell received her bachelor and master of music degrees from the University of Calgary, where she studied with Marilyn Engle under major scholarships. She has played in masterclasses for Janina Fialkowska, Sergei Babayan, Georgy Sebok, Nikolai Demidenko, John Perry, Marc Durand, Dang Thai Son, Jean-Paul Sevilla, and Stéphane Lemelin; and during the 2003 Esther Honens Competition, with Ursula Oppens.
Winner of the 1994 Calgary Kiwanis Music Festival Rose Bowl and a first-round competitor in the 2000 Esther Honens Competition, she has also received second prizes in the Shean Piano Competition (Edmonton, 1998), the International Stepping Stone of the CMC (Montréal, 1997), the Austrian-Canadian Society Mozart Competition (Calgary, 1996), the National Music Festival (Sackville, NB, 1996) and the Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition (Champaign-Urbana, IL, 1993), and took third prizes in the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Piano Competition (1997) and the CIBC National Music Festival (Montréal, 1994).
Miss Henchell has played numerous recitals in the Calgary area as soloist and as accompanist, and has appeared with Calgary orchestras, performing concerti by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Grieg. She participated in the 2003 “Barbara Krakauer” Academy in Vaison-la-Romaine, France, through a major grant from the Alberta Foundation of the Arts. In January 2004, she performed in concerts for the University of Calgary’s New Music Festival, “Happening”.
As a result of winning First Prize at the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Piano Competition in May 2004, Miss Henchell travelled across Canada to perform a sixteen-concert tour. This included a performance of the Mozart C Major Piano Concerto, K.503, with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra. In 2005, Miss Henchell performed a solo recital at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for the 2005 Alberta Scene Festival, which was broadcast on CBC Radio Two.
Miss Henchell has taught private piano and theory lessons, adjudicated festivals and accompanied both professional and student musicians in the Calgary area. Currently, she is working towards her D.M.A at McGill University under the tutelage of Richard Raymond.
Dorothea Johanson, Piano Teacher
Dorothea Johanson studied music in central Alberta from an early age. Her natural aptitude for teaching children was recognized and rewarded by the Western Board of Music when she received her Silver Medal for Pedagogy. A scholarship to attend the Banff School of Fine Arts allowed Miss Johanson the honour of studying under the highly respected teacher, Mr. Boris Roubakine, who directed her to ongoing studies with Mrs. Egbert in Calgary. Her training through the Yamaha Music Course helped establish her specialty of working with young children. She was a visiting teacher in kindergarten music classes and she developed her own Music Enrichment Classes for elementary aged children.
Miss Johanson is a long time member of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ARMTA) and has served on the executive in many capacities. She is presently the ARMTA Provincial Past President and represents Alberta as second delegate to the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Associations (CFMTA). Miss Johanson is an enthusiastic member of the Calgary Arts Summer School Association (CASSA) and is the Special Projects Director on the CASSA Board.
Miss Johanson teaches private piano students ranging from pre-school to adults. Her students have competed in music festivals and taken conservatory exams providing valuable opportunities to test and display their excellence. Always conscious of her students having the opportunity to be heard and appreciated, she has escorted young people to various audiences in the city, including the Esther Honens Promenade Concerts. Some of her students have pursued musical careers. Equally significant is that she has nurtured in her students a great love of music.
Gabriella Jonas, Piano Teacher
Gabriella Jonas is a graduate in piano performance from the Liszt Academy of Music, Hungary, and Grand Prize winner at the Liszt Piano Competition in 1978. She was a piano and chamber music instructor at the Bartòk Conservatory in Budapest, and at the Teacher Training Branch of the Liszt Academy, and music consultant for the Hungarian recording company, HUNGAROTON. Since coming to Calgary in 1987, she has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Calgary and has been recorded by the CBC. Ms. Jonas has been a faculty member of Mount Royal University since 1989.
Photo courtesy of Gus van Helden
Linda Kundert-Stoll, Piano Teacher
Linda Kundert-Stoll holds a bachelor of music (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and earned a master of music in Piano Performance on a Government of Alberta scholarship from the University of Calgary. She obtained her ARCT and AMRC (Gold Medal) teacher's diplomas through Calgary's Mount Royal College Conservatory and was a scholorship student at the Banff School of Fine Arts for three summers.
Ms. Kundert-Stoll has recorded for CBC radio and given recitals in Alberta and California. She was a piano coach for MusiCamrose for three years. She is a board member and a past president of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association, Calgary Branch; Chair of the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Association Conference that was held in Calgary in 2005; and was the ARMTA representative for the 1996 Esther Honens Calgary International Piano Competition Artistic Committee.
Ms. Kundert-Stoll is also an experienced teacher, accompanist, adjudicator and workshop clinician.She is an examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada and for the Royal American Conservatory Examinations in the U.S.. She has been a reviewer for the Frederick Harris Music Co. She enjoys administrative work, horseback riding and she sings for fun. Mrs. Kundert-Stoll is also the president and artistic director of CASSA.
Jennifer Aumentado, Improvisation Teacher
Jennifer Aumentado has been embellishing music ever since she was young. Starting on the organ, Jennifer learned to chord quickly and orchestrate sound and rhythm settings. At the age of 16, she began teaching, using new and creative embellishing techniques with students of all ages. Later, as an adult, Jennifer went on to study piano and keyboard graduating from Mount Royal College with a Diploma in Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance and completing her Grade 8 Royal Conservatory of Music. Jennifer continues to teach, accompany for choir and perform for events and functions around Calgary. Jennifer is also the proud mother of 2 boys and is an active school volunteer.
Jennifer Aumentado is the president and owner of Imagine Music Inc., previously known as Impromptu Music. Beginning as a sole proprietor, and now with a growing staff of 15 teachers, her dedication to the education of music has given her and her staff an undisputed reputation for quality and professionalism in the music community.
Jennifer is delighted to share her musical experience and knowledge with both the teachers and students with whom she works.
Julie Harris, Choir Conductor
Soprano Julie Harris holds a bachelor of music degree from the University of Calgary and an artist diploma from the University of Toronto. She also spent a year studying early music in The Hague for which she received a grant from the Canada Council. Julie has appeared as a soloist with many choirs and orchestras, and has also been engaged for roles in Baroque Opera. Since moving back to Calgary in 1999, she has created and runs the Early Music Voices Concert Series. She is a member of Duo Seraphim with Toronto-based soprano Katherine Hill and a founding member of Calgary professional vocal ensemble VoiceScapes. She is also in demand as a private voice teacher and works with a number of choirs and high school music programs around the city. This past season she was director of the University of Calgary's early music ensemble, the Collegium Musicum.
Lorna MacLachlan, Choir Conductor
Ms. MacLachlan is a native Calgarian who has taught within the community for over twenty years. She holds a master of music in composition as well a diploma in education. Before teaching for the Calgary Board she worked as a freelance composer and performer for such organizations as CBC, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Theatre Calgary, Access and many others. Her involvement with choirs has been going on since the 1970s.
Ms. MacLachlan has focused on teaching ensemble within the school system and in the community. As a director at Western Canada High School for the past several years, she has directed mixed choirs, girls choirs, jazz choirs, jazz bands as well as string groups and a full orchestra. She also directs the Women’s Choir and the Jazz Band through the Westwind Music Society. She also performs with her own quintet, and composes music for her performances.
Katrina Thompson, Piano Camp Assistant
Ms. Thompson is a piano instructor with the Chinook Studio of Music and also teaches from her studio in Calgary, Alberta. She has completed a bachelor of music (Honours) from Memorial University (Newfoundland) with a major in theory and composition and a master of music education from the University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK) with a major in piano pedagogy.
Ms. Thompson enjoys working with students of all ages and levels. She has taught piano lessons, music theory, keyboard harmony, master classes, Music for Young Children, undergraduate level music appreciation courses, and music for early childhood specialists. In addition to teaching, she has worked as an accompanist, an adjudicator, an arts administrator, a music research assistant, and as an interpreter at the Cantos Music Foundation. She is a member of the Alberta Piano Teachers Association (APTA), an executive member with the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ARMTA Calgary), and an administrator with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association (CASSA). Her favourite hobbies include cooking, hiking and rock climbing.
Erika Gundesen, Piano Camp Assistant
Erika Gundesen is entering her third year of the bachelor of music degree in piano performance at the UBC School of Music and will be studying with Jane Coop, one of Canada’s most prominent and distinguished artists. Her initial piano studies were in Calgary with her mother until 2002, followed by Joan Bell until beginning her university career. She holds the ARCT Diploma in Piano Performance with First Class Honours as well as five Royal Conservatory of Music Silver Medals for the highest exam marks in the province of Alberta.
Ms. Gundesen has received numerous scholarships and awards for her music and academic studies from Calgary-based organizations including the Calgary Kiwanis Music Festival, and the Alberta Provincial Music Festival, where she placed first in the 16 years and under category in 2007. She has also competed at the National level of the Canadian Music Competition, winning top prizes including first place in 2007 for the 16 years and under category. This year, she was a finalist in the UBC School of Music Concerto Competition as well as the Knigge Music Competition. Erika was the recent recipient of the Robert Silverman Prize in Piano and the Golden Leaf Scholarship in Music at the UBC School of Music scholarship awards.
Rebecca Leshures, Piano Camp Assistant
Rebecca Leshures grew up in Brooks, Alberta, and began piano lessons at age seven. At age fourteen, she began studying with Edwin Gnandt in Calgary. At the 2004 CASSA piano camp she met Professor Ingrid Jacobsen Clarfield, with whom she is now studying for a bachelor of music degree in piano performance at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. In 2005 Rebecca was a finalist in the Canadian National Piano Competition. She has won several awards at Westminster Choir College, including the Undergraduate Piano competition and the Freshman Piano Competition.
Simon Rose, Creative Writing Teacher
Simon Rose was born in Derbyshire, England. He graduated from university with a degree in history and has lived in Canada since 1990. He is also a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature of West Redding, CT. Simon and his two children, dog and cat live in Calgary, where he is active in the local community.
Simon's first novel for young readers, The Alchemist's Portrait, was published in 2003 and The Sorcerer's Letterbox followed in 2004. The Clone Conspiracy was published in 2005, The Emerald Curse in 2006, and The Heretic's Tomb in 2007. He was also a contributing author to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction: Volume One and a sixth novel, The Doomsday Mask, will be published in 2009.
Marco Farrier, Piano Camp Technical Assistant
Marco Farrier is a seasoned veteran of the CASSA Piano Camp having attended as a “camper” for the past 8 years. Marco is a former recipient of the Marissa Staddon Memorial Scholarship (Most Improved Pianist) CASSA (2006) and had the honour of being a featured pianist at the dedication ceremony and grand opening of the Alberta Children’s Hospital (2006). Marco holds his Grade 10 Royal Conservatory designation and is the accompanist for his church. He has also been the principle accompanist for two high school musical productions - “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (2008) and “Once Upon a Mattress” (2009). In addition to piano, Marco has been a percussionist in Kiwanis Festival award winning concert and jazz bands and choirs. Marco attends the University of Calgary where he recently completed his first year of studies towards a BSc BMEN (Biomedical Engineering) and a BSc in Pure Mathematics. He is also a member of the Arts and Science Honours Academy (ASHA) at the U of C.
