Lorraine Ambrose grew up in Edmonton where she attended the University of Alberta and completed her Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance. She also received Associate and Licentiate Degrees from the Western Board of Music and had subsequent studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and in Munich, Germany. After her formal studies, she accepted a position as piano instructor at the Community Music School of Vancouver, now called the Vancouver Academy of Music.

Lorraine enjoys teaching students of all levels. They have been recipients of numerous awards in local, national and international competitions, including concerto performances with professional orchestras in Toronto, Montreal, Seattle, and Vancouver.

Lorraine is also proud to have had her students receive scholarships to attend such prestigious schools as the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute, the Eastman School, and the Royal Academy of Music (London).

“There are two means of refuge from the misery of life – music and cats.”
– Albert Schweitzer

Ms. Wang received her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Vancouver Academy of Music, studying with Mr. Lee Kum Sing. She was a prize winner of numerous competitions including the Kay Meek competition.

She has given solo recitals in Canada, the United States and China. She has appeared throughout Switzerland as both a soloist and chamber musician. She has been invited to the Morningside Music Bridge in Calgary, the Gold Country Piano Institute in California, the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy, the Holland Music Session and the Warsaw Piano Workshop.

She has performed as a soloist with the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre and the West Coast Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Wang studied the Suzuki method with Merlin Thompson and Rita Hauck. She was an adjudicator at the Arbutus Music Festival. She is also a faculty member at British Columbia Conservatory of Music and an active collaborative pianist.

Martha Brickman is a graduate of the Conservatoire in Montreal in harpsichord and chamber music (Premier Prix). Martha was a student of Kenneth Gilbert, and studied the Suzuki Method with Susan Magnusson.

Ms. Brickman is a former Professor of Harpsichord at Laval University and Conservatoire de Musique et d’Art Dramatique. An active performer, Brickman has appeared on stage for Vancouver’s Masterpiece Music, Early Music Vancouver, UBC’s Noon-Hour Concerts, CBC’s Arts National and Westcoast Performance, Hornby’s Summer Festival, and Victoria’s Summer Festival.

Martha has also released a recording entitled Baroque Gems of the 18th Century. Ms. Brickman has adjudicated many local piano competitions including Burnaby Clef, Student Performers’ Guild, and the North Shore Festival.

Angela Schiwy is a graduate of the UBC School of Music where she majored in piano performance, studying with Lee Kum-Sing. In France she worked with Nicole Rolet de Castelle at the Schola Cantorum de Paris. Following her studies Angela performed with chamber music ensembles, both locally and on tour in BC, and taught piano at the Vancouver Academy of Music starting in 1978. She trained in the Suzuki method with Haruko Kataoka at the American Suzuki Institute as well as at workshops held in San Francisco and Vancouver. Her students have achieved excellent results in Royal Conservatory exams, and she herself holds the ARCT in performance. Later, in addition to teaching privately, she held a number of positions as archivist at universities in Canada and the United States, at the City of Vancouver Archives, and at the United Nations in New York.

Joan Hurst graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Music, with a major in piano and a minor in classical guitar.

Ms. Hurst spent her fifth year studying ‘Special Teaching Techniques’ with Robert Rogers. Joan studied the Suzuki Piano Method under Dorothy Mae Williams, Doris Koppleman, and Haruko Kataoko.

For ten years, Ms. Hurst was Music Director and Co-ordinator of Jerome’s Music School, where she taught theory and the Yamaha Music Course.

Joan Hurst has been a member of the VAM faculty since 1987.

Teresa Ho graduated with a Bachelor of Music at UBC where she studied with Professor Jane Coop. Prior to her undergraduate studies, Ms. Ho received her ARCT in piano performance and pedagogy.

Ms. Ho studied with Winifred Scott Wood and Robin Wood at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, where she was elected as an Associate in piano performance and pedagogy. In the 1980′s Teresa studied with Haruko Kataoka, co-founder of the Suzuki Piano Method.

Teresa Ho has been Head of the Suzuki Piano Department at VAM since 1988.

Saida Matyukov is a graduate of the Moscow State Conservatory of Music. Ms. Matyukov was an active performer throughout the former Soviet Union performing in Moscow and St. Petersburg and collaborating with such conductors as Maxim Shostakivich and Rudolf Barshai.

Following post-graduate studies with Teodor Gutman, Saida was appointed to the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. In 1981, Ms. Matyukov emigrated to Canada where she taught at the Mount Royal College in Calgary and has served with distinction on VAM faculty since 1987.

Yumiko Van Rooi received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Toho Gakuen University of Music (Tokyo, Japan).  Yumiko continued her studies with Saida Matyukov at the Vancouver Academy of Music, receiving her Artist Diploma.

Ms. Van Rooi has performed in master classes for Robert Silverman, John O’Connor, Mikhail Vosklesensky, Jan Ekier, and Lee Kum Sing.  Yumiko has also studied with Akiko Teranishi as well as Suzuki Piano Pedagogy with Susan Magnusson and Merlin Thompson.