Adjudicators

Jeff has recently retired from thirty years of teaching elementary and high school music in York Region. He was the Head of the Music Department at Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario for twenty years where he worked with students of all levels and disciplines. His award-winning ensembles regularly received the highest ratings at provincial and national festivals and competitions. Jeff has been awarded multiple Conducting Excellence Awards at the Ontario Band Association's (OBA) Provincial Band Festival and is the founding Director of the OBA's Ontario Provincial Honour Band. He is currently working with school groups through the Ontario Educational Leadership Centre (OELC) and is a sessional lecturer with the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. As a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator Jeff is active across Ontario including the 2026 Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival and the MusicFest Nationals in Niagara Falls.

Jeff received his Honours Bachelor of Music Education from Western University and his Bachelor of Education from Nipissing University. He also recently received the 2025 Arts Ambassador Award from the City of Markham.

Canadian-born, Toronto-native Rob Tardik is a multi award-winning guitarist and contemporary pop/jazz/world/fusion instrumental music artist, who has performed at venues all across North America. Rob's last 10 album recordings have spawned 6 U.S Billboard charting singles, two of which went to the Top 10 on U.S contemporary jazz radio. His recent awards include being a finalist and honorary mention in the 2019 International Songwriting Competition, winning the 2018 & 2007 Established Solo Music Instrumental Mississauga (MARTY) Arts Award, and also placing 1st overall in the prestigious 2017 IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards), and being named the 2010 Canadian Smooth Jazz Guitarist of the Year. His latest multi-album release DIVERSITY is a 4-volume compilation in his various musical styles featuring all new material and re-mastered songs from all his past six recordings. He is an active music/guitar professor at the Metal Works Institute, Centennial College, Long-McQuade, and the Merriam School of Music and a Godin Guitars and D ‘Addario endorsed artist for over 25 years. 

An active member of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ORMTA) Kingston Branch, Canadian Music Festivals Adjudicators Association (CMFAA) and National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Michael Faulkner studied at Queen’s University, Kingston and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Piano/Voice performance and pedagogy as well as music theory and history. Known for his musical insight, beautiful tone and technical command, Michael began his music studies at age four, participating in numerous music festivals and competitions receiving many top awards and distinctions. Michael enjoys a rewarding career as teacher of more than 60 weekly students of all ages and levels in piano, voice, pedagogy and theory. As an examiner and clinician for Conservatory Canada Michael has had the opportunity to work with music teachers and students across this wonderful country and beyond. He leads a large community choir in the Quinte region which is a great passion. In his spare time Michael is an avid animal lover often helping in training future guide dogs with his family, attends concerts and theatre and loves exploring nature.

Anne-Claire Raineri is an internationally trained lyric soprano, choral conductor, and vocal pedagogue whose work lies at the intersection of performance, research, and higher music education. She received her training at leading French institutions, including the École Nationale de Musique d’Épinal, the Conservatoire de Nancy, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, and the Sorbonne. She holds a Doctorate in Vocal Performance (specializing in opera, mélodie, and Lied), a Doctorate in Musicology, and a Master’s degree in Harpsichord and Chamber Music.

Her performance career has taken her to major stages across Europe, North America, and Asia, including the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, as well as numerous opera houses in France and Japan. She has also participated in international tours with Cirque du Soleil. Her repertoire includes leading operatic roles such as Liù (Turandot), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Susanna and the Countess (Le nozze di Figaro), Micaëla (Carmen), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Tosca, and Manon… Her artistic work is characterized by expressive depth, strong stylistic awareness, and sustained technical rigor.

Alongside her performance activities, Anne-Claire Raineri has maintained a strong commitment to vocal pedagogy and choral conducting for over twenty years. She teaches voice, vocal technique, and diction at the elementary, secondary, and university levels, and regularly serves as a guest professor of vocal technique at several Québec universities. She currently directs the Troupe and Choir V’là l’Bon Vent and the Harmonie de Verdun Youth Choir, where her work emphasizes sound development, vocal health, and historically and stylistically informed performance practices.

She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting at the Université de Sherbrooke under the supervision of Robert Ingari. Her research and research-creation interests include vocal health in choral settings, rehearsal efficiency, conducting gesture, and the integration of research-based knowledge into artistic practice. Through her work, she seeks to promote sustainable, reflective, and artistically rigorous approaches to vocal and choral training.