Speakers & Sessions

Week #1 - Technique & Musicianship

July 6, 2026

Dr. Jarred Dunn

Jarred Dunn captivates audiences worldwide as a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist. He is heard on CBC/Radio-Canada, Classical 96.3, RadioFrance, WWFM, WQXR, VNMO, New Classical FM, and elsewhere. A Laureate of Lithuanian Chopin (First Prize, Concerto Award), Hoffman, Vitti, Verona Zinetti, and Rome International Competitions, he records for Lexicon Classics and ATMA labels. His discography includes Górecki’s World of the Piano (ATMA), nominated for Prix Opus Contemporary Album of the Year (2025) after its reception as “a landmark recording” (LaScena) and “an important album of the highest artistic stature” (PanM360). Fanfare called Chopin’s Diary: the Mazurkas “some of the finest Chopin since Rubinstein.”He has collaborated with pianists Anna Górecka and Maria João-Pires, cellists Marc Jaermann and Jessica Korotkin, violinist Anna Kuk (DuoMirage) and the Ãtma Quartet, among others. He is Artistic Director of Kallmünz Summer Piano Festival (DE), teaches at numerous international festivals, and is on the Alumni Committee of Aspen Music Festival. He has been a Tonebase Artist since its inception and taught at the inaugural Tonebase Summer Piano (USA). He is a Yamaha Artist.Dr. Dunn is in great demand as a pedagogue, most recently at The Juilliard School, Royal College, Guildhall, Colburn, Royal Irish Academy, Oberlin, Peabody Precollege, Mannes Precollege, and other renowned institutions. He serves as a juror of national and international competitions. A noted scholar, he authored Górecki’s Solo Piano Music (Bloomsbury) and numerous research papers. He is the winner of awards and distinctions for his artistic, pedagogical, and scholarly achievements. His artistic activities are supported by Canada Arts Council, FRQSC, and the Bader Foundation.He studied with Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Anna Górecka, Andrzej Jasiński, Dorothy Taubman, Jacob Lateiner and Yoheved Kaplinsky. Later, he worked extensively with Andrei Gavrilov and Maria João-Pires in Europe.

Session #1: Progressive Etudes: Imagination and Integration
LIVE 9-10am PST

How can we engage students in etude practicing with greater enthusiasm and focus? What practice habits lead to excellent etude performances in examinations, auditions, or competitions? This presentation unfolds in three parts: (1) practical tools for early and intermediate etudes, (2) assigning etudes that merge technique and musicality, and (3) approaches to sophistication concert etudes. Repertoire will feature didactic etudes (Heller, Czerny, Berens) and concert etudes (Chopin, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Liszt).

Nita Pelletier & Joyce Janzen

Biography coming soon...

Session #2: Easy Improv at the Piano
LIVE 10-11am PST

Teaching students the basic skills of improvisation leads to the development of musicianship and "functional" musicians. Musical literacy is enhanced when students can not only read music fluently but also improvise and create their own compositions. A vital part of ensemble work is the ability to be versatile and adapt to any musical opportunity. Students developing a close connection to music become an important part of the musical community and enjoy music culture throughout their entire lives.

Dr. Xun “Richard” Xu

Dr. Xun “Richard” Xu is a violinist and pedagogue known for his systematic approach to bow control. After years of struggling with right-hand tension, he inherited the Otakar Ševčík bow technique tradition based on 40 Variations for Violin, Op. 3 during his graduate studies. Through The Bow Doctor programs, Dr. Xu shares this system with musicians worldwide, combining technical insight with clarity shaped by personal experience.He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls across China, the United States, Thailand, and Canada. His recent performances include a recital at Steinway & Sons Piano Gallery Thailand (Reimagined Soundscapes: Echoes Across Cultures), his doctoral lecture recital Bitter Suite by Martin Bresnick, and numerous orchestral and chamber concerts throughout North America and Asia.He previously served as the Patricia Pierce Visiting Artist in Residence at South Dakota State University and has been featured as a Violin Fellow Artist with the Boulder Bach Festival. He was also First Violin of the Ravnan String Quartet, funded by Ms. Yi Xue. Before studying in the United States, he served as Concertmaster of the China Youth Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and performed with the Peking Sinfonietta Orchestra.A dedicated educator, Dr. Xu has taught at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and South Dakota State University, and now teaches in Vancouver, Canada. His Ševčík Bowing technique workshops and masterclasses—including those at Mahidol University College of Music, Zhaoqing University, and the University of British Columbia—reflect his commitment to bridging performance and pedagogy through clear, systematic training.

Session #3: A Frog-First Approach to Ševčík Op. 3: Developing Reliable Bow Control

Many violinists reach an advanced technical level yet continue to struggle with bow control, tension, and inconsistency of sound—particularly when repertoire demands refined articulation, clarity, and flexibility at the frog. Despite years of study, these challenges often persist because bow technique is frequently addressed in fragmented or generalized ways rather than through a systematic, anatomically aware process. This workshop addresses that gap through a focused exploration of Otakar Ševčík’s Op. 3 – 40 Variations, approached through a modern pedagogical lens. The presenter’s approach is rooted in direct pedagogical lineage. While pursuing doctoral studies, he studied Ševčík’s bow technique extensively with Professor David Neely, whose pedagogical heritage traces through Peter Marsh, Scott Willits and ultimately to Ševčík himself. Through this work, the presenter resolved long-standing issues of bow-hand stiffness and tension that had resisted correction through conventional methods. This experience now informs a teaching model designed to make Ševčík’s material accessible, flexible, and practical for today’s students and teachers. The workshop focuses on the frog-first framework of Op. 3, emphasizing that true bow control originates where leverage, weight, and finger articulation are most perceptible. Participants will explore selected sections from the nine frog-based categories in Ševčík’s system, including direct action at the frog, frog spiccato with finger and arm elevation, combinations of direct action and spiccato, and exercises designed to clarify the relationship between arm weight, hand leverage, and finger independence. Rather than attempting to “cover” the entire method, the session demonstrates how Ševčík intended the work to function as an encyclopedic resource—allowing teachers to extract precise technical solutions for specific problems. Through guided group practice, demonstration, and pedagogical explanation, participants will gain tools to help students experience immediate improvements in control, awareness, and sound production. The workshop is appropriate for violin pedagogues, advanced students, and performers seeking a deeper, more reliable foundation for bow technique. By reconnecting historical methodology with modern understanding, this session offers a practical pathway toward freer, more efficient, and more expressive playing.

Nicole Chan

Hong Kong–Canadian soprano and harpist Nicole Chan is a Doctor of Music (Vocal Performance) and a Graduate Certificate (Choral Conducting) Candidate at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. She holds a Master of Music (Vocal Performance and V ocal Pedagogy) and a Bachelor of Music (Vocal Performance) from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, graduating with the highest academic distinction, as well as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Global Leaders Institute. This season, Nicole performs with Opera McGill as Madame Herz in Mozart’s The Impresario and as Monica in Menotti’s The Medium, conducts the school choir, the Schulich Singers, and is featured as a soloist in the McGill Songbirds’ concert in Hong Kong. In the 2024–2025 season, Nicole presented solo recitals at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, The Celeste Series, and Musica del Cuore. Her recent operatic roles include Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia with NUOV A V ocal Arts, Sœur Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites with Opera McGill, Milica in Svadba with Opera Horizons, and Dodo in The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe) with Opera Hong Kong. She was a soloist with the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble and was awarded First Prize at the 2025 Canadian Classival Competition. Nicole is fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin, and conversant in Danish, Italian, German, French, and Shanghainese. She is a finalist for McGill University’s Research Alive Prize and a recipient of the Li Ka Shing Foundation–Opera Hong Kong Young Artist Overseas Fellowship.

Session #4: It Can Be Sung

Linguistic articulation is a topic that is often treated as a technical skill, rather than a cultural phenomenon. Nevertheless, from my personal experience as a professional singer of Asian heritage, we are routinely stigmatized as having poor diction and can be disadvantaged when singing in Italian, due to the lack of resources, in comparison with their European counterparts. Pronunciation is assumed to be a universal skill, and pedagogical resources reflect this. For example, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) has become a default tool for singers looking to sing in foreign languages. Although the IPA is praised for its applicability and universality, it assumes the reader knows how to physiologically produce the characters they are reading. The structural differences between verbally realizing the Chinese characters and the Latin alphabet can be a barrier for Asian singers. This research will address this challenge and provide a comprehensive pronunciation resource for Cantonese singers and their vocal coaches for singing in Italian. The main research question underpinning this study is: What would a linguistic toolbox for Cantonese native speakers contain to help them sound like native speakers of another language, in this case Italian? Beyond my doctoral dissertation, the ultimate goal is to create a practical guidebook and mobile application accessible to Cantonese singers and their educators at global institutions, private studios, and choirs.

Ian Campbell

Ian Campbell is a pianist, composer, improviser, and music educator based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is the founder of the Partimenti Workshop (www.partimenti.ca), an online program dedicated to exploring historical approaches to harmony, improvisation, and composition through the study of partimenti—bass-driven exercises that formed the foundation of musical training in European conservatories from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. His teaching brings together historical pedagogy, modern learning science, and practical musicianship, helping students develop fluency in harmony, improvisation, and composition.Ian holds a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Manitoba. He spent summers studying at the European American Musical Alliance at La Scuola Cantorum in Paris, France, where he studied counterpoint, keyboard harmony, composition and fugue with disciples of Nadia Boulanger.As a teacher, Ian works with students ranging from beginners to professional musicians. He believes that musical understanding develops most deeply when sound comes before notation and when students are actively engaged in making music. Ian maintains both an online teaching studio and an in-person studio in Winnipeg (www.creativepianolessons.ca). His students explore a wide range of musical practices, including improvisation, composition, and collaborative music-making.Alongside his teaching, Ian writes about music pedagogy and historical practice, and is currently developing instructional materials that integrate partimenti with contemporary approaches to music learning. His work aims to reconnect modern musicians with the creative, improvisatory traditions that shaped the training of composers such as J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Verdi among many others.Through teaching, writing, and performance, Ian seeks to cultivate a musical culture in which creativity, curiosity, and historical awareness support vibrant musical practice today.

Session #5: From Theory to Creative Practice: Teaching Harmony Through Improvisation and Composition

Many students experience music theory as abstract, disconnected, and difficult to apply musically. Perhaps you do too! This session proposes an alternative: teaching harmony as a living, creative practice grounded in improvisation, composition, and embodied musical understanding.Drawing on historical pedagogical traditions from the Neapolitan and French conservatories and Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory.This presentation introduces a pattern-based approach to harmony that emphasizes sound before symbols. Participants will explore how harmonic understanding can be taught through scales, intervals, and common harmonic and contrapuntal patterns—such as the Rule of the Octave, sequential patterns, and cadential formulas—rather than through isolated written exercises. These patterns are presented not as rules to memorize, but as flexible musical tools students can use to improvise, compose, and better understand repertoire. Through short demonstrations at the keyboard and recorded examples, participants will see how even early-level students can work creatively with harmonic motion, bass patterns, and voice-leading using simple materials.The session also draws on contemporary Music Learning Theory, particularly research emphasizing audiation, pattern learning, and creative engagement as foundations for musical understanding. By connecting historical methods with modern research, the presentation offers a pedagogical bridge between improvisation, composition, and traditional repertoire-based teaching.Practical applications will be emphasized throughout. Participants will leave with concrete strategies for:

Introducing harmonic patterns through scales and intervals
Guiding students in improvisation over structured harmonic frameworks
Using cadences and sequences as compositional building blocks
Helping students connect theory concepts directly to repertoire and creative work

This session is designed for teachers working with students at a wide range of levels and is especially suited for educators seeking to foster creativity, independence, and deeper musical understanding for their students.

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Full Registration: $80 CAD

Interested in specific workshops? Register by the Week: $25 CAD

Access all recordings, Q & A, and connect with colleagues until August 31, 2026

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