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Beach Music has been a well established part of the Beaches community since 1984. The warm and friendly atmosphere has proven to be an integral part of the studio's success. The teachers at the studio are all well educated, talented performers and composers. Lessons are tailor made to suit the wants and needs of the students, whether it's preparing for Royal Conservatory or university entrance exams or just learning the basics to have fun. The studio is managed and co-owned by April Cameron. Along with her brother and business partner, Scott Cameron, she has built Beach Music into a thriving centre of musical activity in the Beaches. See Scott's website at www.cameronstrings.ca See an article on Beach Music Studio
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Andrew Donaldson guitar, voice, piano Andrew has an ARCT in Guitar Performance and has studied piano and voice privately for many years. He has taught guitar, voice and piano since 1974. Andrew recently completed three years instructing music theory and classical guitar at Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario. He is also Music Director of Hilariter Singers and Players, a vocal and instrumental ensemble that performs a wide range of music, specialising in global worship music. With Don Anderson, Andrew has published a collection of global church music entitled "With Many Voices" (Binary Editions, Toronto, 2001). Andrew has composed music for school text books (Addison-Wesley Canada), church curriculae (Wood Lake Books, Canada), and the Toronto Chamber Choir in Toronto. Some of Andrew's former students include Alanis Morisette and Gene MacLellan (composer of "Snowbird" and "Put your Hand in the Hand"). He is currently putting his composing, writing and editing skills to work on several projects: a debut CD for Hilariter Singers and Players, a musical setting of the Orpheus myth for the Toronto Chamber Choir, and a series of workshops on music in worship entitled "Celebrate: Bringing life to worship and worship to life." Andrew is currently Pastoral Musician and Worship Enlivener at Trafalgar Presbyterian Church in Oakville, Ontario and President of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Christopher Peterson, A.R.C.T. guitar, bass, rudiments, harmony, music history Chris holds a degree in Composition from the Royal Conservatory of Music and has been a member of The Royal College of Examiners since 1996. He joined the faculty at Beach Music in 1986. Chris has been teaching guitar for over twenty-five years, covering many styles of music including jazz, classical, fingerstyle country blues, electric blues, rock and pop. As a theory instructor, Chris teaches a wide variety of subjects which include the rudiments of music, harmony, counterpoint, analysis, music history and composition. Chris has also been a performer for more than twenty-five years, playing in various classical, jazz, blues and rock ensembles. Recently he recorded a CD of original works with the acoustic ensemble Roscre. Currently he plays with the jazz, blues and rock group, the Swellheads.
Donna O'Connor piano, voice Donna O'Connor brings three decades of performance to Beach Music. She continues her successful career as lead vocalist and front person with the "Graham Howes Band" and numerous other ensembles, and has opened for such artists as Burton Cummings, Three Dog Night, James Brown, Patti Labelle and Dionne Warwick. Starting in church choirs at a young age, then moving on to musical theatre in her teens, Donna landed acting, singing and dancing roles in many productions ("Bye Bye Birdie" - Theatre Young Company, "West Side Story" - The Ottawa Music Theatre and "Anne of Green Gables" - Orpheus Society), while continuing her private studies in voice, piano, guitar and saxophone. Her live singing career began in 1978 when she fronted her own successful touring band "Hostage". During this time, Donna co-produced and arranged the single "Play it by Heart" which earned radio play in the United States. Settling down in Toronto in 1988, she began private voice lessons with the acclaimed vocal coach and therapist Gloria Ferrer and continued her busy performance schedule, adding keyboards onstage and singing lead and background on studio jingles and demo sessions with acclaimed songwriters such as Matthew Gerrard (Hannah Montana, High School Musical 1 and 2). In 1993 Donna was accepted as voice coach and therapist at The Centre for Human Performance and Health Promotion clinic, aiding injured vocalists with proper breath control and relaxation techniques. In 1994 Donna wrote, arranged and co-produced her own CD titled, "As I am". To date, she is continuing piano studies (RCM Certificate Program) with Donald Himes and attending The Royal Conservatory of Music Teacher Training Program in Early Childhood Education, a course which involves learning music through movement and song. Tony Mason piano, recorder Tony has a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Illinois and an ARCT in both organ and piano. He has also studied Orph with Lois Berkenshaw Fleming at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and jazz with Tony Caramia. He is an accompanist for several ballet schools in Toronto as well as a church organist and choir director. Tony is also an Associate of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and the official pianist of the Empire Club of Canada. Jim Pellegrini piano, voice Jim graduated with a Masters of Education degree in 1992 after completing Grade 10 Piano and Grade 8 Voice at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He has been teaching music for over 25 years, during which time he has adjudicated in numerous festivals, conducted choirs in 11 countries and worked in the music industry as a talent scout. In addition to his teaching duties at Beach Music, he is a church organist and music director and serves as a management consultant to education-based institutions. Joe Poirer guitar, bass, violin, mandolin, piano Joe, who is bilingual, has a BA in Music from St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Since graduating he has toured North America with several bands and in 2001 he released an independent CD featuring his own compositions. Currently, he is performing in three bands: a Doors Tribute, a Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute and a group which plays all his original music. Joe teaches a variety of guitar styles - blues, folk, rock and jazz - as well as Celtic violin. Tanya Bailey piano, voice Tanya graduated from Blagoveshensk College in Russia in 1997 with the equivalent of a Royal Conservatory of Music ARCT Diploma in Piano and Voice. In Canada, she completed courses at the Royal Conservatory geared toward teaching piano technique for Grades 1 to 10. Tanya is an experienced soloist and choir conductor and is expert in many different styles of vocal and piano music. She currently performs regularly for various banquet facilities throughout the GTA. Hilary Donaldson, BFA - piano, voice, rudiments Hilary is a graduate of the Theatre and Music programs at Concordia University in Montreal, Québec where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts with distinction. There, she studied music history, theory and composition. As the culmination of her composition studies, she composed a five-minute work for mezzo-soprano and ensemble entitled "Eeyore's Poem" - a setting of a text by children's author A.A. Milne. She is currently a student of concert pianist Eve Egoyan and has studied for many years with Chris Peterson. Hilary was Assistant Conductor of the intermediate choir of the Bach Children's Chorus of Scarborough, under artistic director Linda Beaupré, for their 2006-2007 season. At the same time, she directed a group of a dozen children in the musical "It's Cool in the Furnace", and according to their parents, the kids are still singing all the songs. Currently, she is the Youth Music Director at Royal York Road United Church in Etobicoke, where she leads a children's choir and the youth band. Rob Hiemstra - guitar, piano, bass Rob is a full time performing and teaching musician in the GTA. A self-taught guitarist and vocalist, he performs a wide variety of styles from the songbooks of classic rock, blues/R&B, funk, soul, jazz, country and heavy metal. Coming from a musical family, Rob was trained in classical music, completing Grade 8 Royal Conservatory Piano Studies and Grade 2 Rudiments. Throughout high school he played drums, electric bass, guitar and trombone in concert and stage bands as well as rock bands outside of school. He studied as a keyboard major in the Humber College Jazz Program, and has since devoted his life to performing and teaching music.
General Information
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