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Assistant Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at The University of British Columbia, Dr. Corey Hamm is also co-director with Giorgio Magnanensi of the UBC Contemporary Players. He is pianist with the prominent new music ensembles Hammerhead Consort and The Nu:BC Collective. With Nu:BC he has performed multimedia concerts of works by Gyorgy Ligeti, Howard Bashaw, George, Gyorgy Kurtag, John Adams, Michel Gonneville, Chris Paul Harman, Nikolai Kapustin, Steve Mackey, Bright Sheng, Frederic Rzewski, Chen Yi, and many others. Hammerhead Consort was broadcast from the prestigious Witold Lutoslawski Studio on tour in Poland in June 2000 under the auspices of both The Canada Council and Polish Radio. Hammerhead won Best Classical Recording at the 1993 ARIA Awards. CBC Radio recorded Hammerhead in premieres of works by Hamel, Helweg and Godin at the opening concert of New Music Concerts 2004-2005 season in Toronto. The Consort premiered Howard Bashaw’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Two Percussion with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in March 2000. They have won such important Canadian awards as the Sir Ernest Macmillan Memorial Foundation Chamber Music Award (1992), and the CIBC National Music Competition (1991). He has been involved in the commissioning of over sixty solo, chamber and concerto works and has performed with the Lethbridge Symphony, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and The Symphonic Wind Ensemble of Minneapolis in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue under Craig Kirchhoff. Hamm has also performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on its Roundhouse and Musically Speaking series. Corey Hamm won first prize in the 2004 Elinor Bell Piano Fellowship Competition in Minnesota, was a semi-finalist in the 5th Orleans International Contemporary Piano Competition in Orleans, France 2002, and was the second prizewinner at the 1995 Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition for Contemporary Piano Music.

Jasper Wood made his solo orchestral debut in 1987 with Symphony Nova Scotia. Since then he has established a flourishing reputation through his frequent performances with many of North America's top orchestras. He can be heard frequently on National Public Radio in the United States, and CBC/SRC Radio in Canada. He has recorded numerous CD’s for Endeavour Classics, Analekta, Disques Pelleas, and Naxos. His CD released in May 2006 with pianist David Riley on the Endeavour Classics label, contains the violin/piano works of Bela Bartok, and Contrasts for violin, piano and clarinet with the principle clarinetist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ricardo Morales. He has also recorded music videos for the Bravo! television network. Mr. Wood has been awarded both the Sylva Gelber Award and the Virginia Parker Prize, two of the most distinguished prizes awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. Jasper Wood is a professor of violin at the University of British Columbia.

Diane Sanford, Executive Director
Diane

An experienced piano teacher of traditional, conservatory and Suzuki methods, Diane prepares students for music festivals, recitals, university entrance exams, RCM and LCM piano exams as well as for music history and theory exams. She graduated from UBC School of Music and did teacher training at Bellingham and Langley Suzuki Institutes. She is on faculty at the North Shore Music Academy and is an active member of the BCRMTA. In addition to her arrangements for piano solo and string quartet she has written a series of technique books for young students. Diane has performed as an accompanist and chamber musician in Vancouver, Miami, Waterloo and Hanover, New Hampshire and is pianist at West Van Violins.

Aaron Au, Violin and Viola
Aaron

A native of Lethbridge, Alberta, Aaron Au is currently a first violinist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra as well as Sessional Lecturer of Viola at the University of Alberta. A frequent guest of CBC Radio, Aaron has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on both violin and viola in concerts across Canada, the U.S., Cuba and Europe. Aaron has appeared as a faculty member and performer at festivals throughout Canada, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and the Agassiz Chamber Music Festival. Aaron is also active as a conductor, having studied under David Zinman and Murry Sidlin at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival. He has also served as Resident Conductor of the Mill Creek Colliery Band in Edmonton as well as appearing as a guest conductor with the University of Alberta Academy Strings Orchestra and the Edmonton Youth Orchestra. Aaron recently completed his Doctor of Music degree at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Tanya Prochazka and Guillaume Tardif where he was a Killam Scholar was also awarded the University of Alberta PhD Scholarship. Aaron is founding President and Artistic Director of the Edmonton Recital Society.

Cary Chow, Piano
Cary

Recently moving to Vancouver from Victoria, Cary Chow is a concert pianist, recording artist, collaborative musician and teacher. Cary studied with Winifred Scott Wood, Dr. Robin Wood and Rena Sharon at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. By age fifteen, he had achieved the AVCM and LVCM (Victoria) and ARCT (Toronto) diplomas in piano performance; at age sixteen, he made his New York recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; at age eighteen, he was awarded the DipRAM, the highest prize from the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, where he studied with renowned professor Christopher Elton. In addition to holding a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music (with Distinction) in piano performance from the University of Victoria (with full University of Victoria Fellowship), he has completed the coursework for the Master of Business Administration degree at Royal Roads University, formerly Royal Roads Military College. He has performed recitals in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and China and has appeared numerous times with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Calgary Philharminic and the Victoria Symphony. In 2002 he was Guest Professor at the Shanghai Conservatory, and at the Beijing Central Conservatory in 2005. He has been a faculty member at the University of Victoria and the Victoria Conservatory of Music. His recording on the Tintagel label of Rachmaninoff’s Sonata #1 and Variations on a Theme of Corelli was released in 1999. A Zirkus CD of Schumann’s Carnival and Kreisleriana was released in 2007.

Joseph Elworthy, Cello
Joseph

Joseph Elworthy has received critical acclaim for his interpretive insight and technical prowess. Mr. Elworthy began his musical studies with Audrey Nodwell at the Vancouver Academy of Music; following six years of study with Eric Wilson, he continued his education at Yale University and the Juilliard School studying with esteemed pedagogue, Aldo Parisot. Upon graduation from Yale, Elworthy received the Yo-Yo Ma/Aldo Parisot Prize – the highest honor issued by Yale to a graduating cellist showing most promise of an international career. Mr. Elworthy has been a featured soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout Canada, the United States, Asia, and Europe, performing on such stages as Alice Tully Hall, Suntory Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, and Seojong Hall. He has appeared on numerous television and radio broadcasts around the globe including CBC, Arts & Entertainment, BRAVO, PBS, Radio Europe, and NHK. His recordings can be heard on EMI, Sony, Archtype, and Bose record labels. In addition to being the recipient of the Sylva Gelber Award of $15,000 from the Canada Council, Elworthy has received numerous Canada Council career grants exceeding $50,000. Mr. Elworthy has been a faculty member at the Long Island School of the Arts (NY) and the Closter Conservatory (NJ). He is currently Cello Instructor, Director of Chamber Music, and Conductor of Chamber Strings at the Vancouver Academy of Music. Joseph Elworthy is a member of the Vanier Piano Trio, which serves as the resident chamber ensemble at the Vancouver Academy of Music. Elworthy has been a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2002. Joseph plays on a rare 1760 Ferdinando Gagliano that once belonged to the legendary German cellist, Hugo Becker.

David Harding, Viola
Patricia

David Harding has an extensive solo and chamber music career, having performed throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Central America, in such venues as the Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw, and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. His performances have been broadcast on BBC, NPR and Deutschland Radio. David is frequently featured on CBC Radio in Canada. He regularly performs at chamber music festivals throughout North America including amongst others the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Strings in the Mountains, CO, Sitka Chamber Music Festival, AK, Festival of the Sound, ON, and the Cactus Pear Chamber Music Festival, TX. David is a member of Trio Verlaine and the American String Project, (a collaboration between quartet players, soloists and concertmasters.) David is a seasoned chamber musician, having been a former member of the Chester String Quartet, Toronto String Quartet and Triskelion String Trio. He has collaborated with members of the Cleveland, Tokyo and St. Lawrence quartets, and has made chamber music recordings for Sony, Crystal, Chesky, Innova and New Albion record labels.

Patricia Hoy, Piano

Patricia Hoy has gained attention and critical acclaim as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Canada, United States, Asia and India. Dr. Hoy has been featured as a soloist with such orchestras as the Montreal Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Quebec Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra and the Ventura Symphony. She has been a featured pianist on CBC, PBS and WQXR. As a chamber musician, Dr. Hoy is frequently invited to collaborate with musicians in performances of the standard repertoire as well as exploring and recording new compositions. Dr. Hoy has been a faculty pianist and program coordinator at the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts and a member of the UBC faculty of music. Dr. Hoy was a scholarship student of the eminent teacher John Perry at the University of Texas at Austin and at the University of Southern California, where in her first year she won the coveted first prize in their concerto competition. Awarded a Graduate Fellowship, Dr. Hoy went on to obtain her Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Piano Performance. She was recognized as the top graduating doctoral student and in the same year was named the most promising young artist in Los Angeles by the Armand Hammer Foundation. In 2008, Dr. Hoy was appointed Artistic Director of the Coral Wind Chamber Music Festival in Ucluelet, B.C.

Domagoj Ivanovic, Violin
Domagoj

Domagoj recently completed his studies at the University of Miami, graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance. Born in Zagreb, Croatia, he was the recipient of numerous prizes and awards in violin competitions at the national and international level, the most important being First Prize in the National Violin competition and First Prize in the National Chamber Music competition. He has appeared as a soloist with the Zagreb Philharmonic orchestra and with the Miami Symphony orchestra. Described as a player with “clear technique and great sensitivity” by El Nuevo Herald, he has performed in Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, France, Spain, Hungary, Canada, and the United States. His playing can be heard on Croatian National Radio, as well as several CDs released by Albany Records. He performs regularly with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and has been on faculty for several seasons at YAE and Marrowstone Summer Music Programs.

Lambroula Pappas, Voice

Lambroula Pappas is rapidly emerging as one of Canada’s finest young singers. With her sparkling coloratura voice, Ms. Pappas has performed with the Vancouver, Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec Symphonies; Festival en Lumières and Lachine Festival. She has also been heard with European symphonies and in opera houses. Ms. Pappas recently performed with The Pacific Opera Victoria in The Cunning Little Vixen and with Montreal Opera in L’Elisir d’Amore, Die Zauberflöte and in Thaïs. As a member of Montreal Opera’s Young Artist Program, she sang in La Fille du Régiment, Cosi Fan Tutte, Amelia goes to the Ball and Lucia in Lucia di Lamermoor. Ms. Pappas won first place at the Metropolitan Opera Competition in Seattle and Pittsburgh and advanced to the semi-finals at the Metropolitan Opera Competition in New York. She has made several recordings and has appeared on many CBC television and radio programs as well as a Bravo television documentary. In 2006/07, Ms Pappas will be performing with the Lake Union Civic Orchestra, Northwest Sinfonetta, and will début with L’Opera de Nice in Cosi Fan Tutte.

Bo Peng, Cello

Bo graduated from the Eastman School of Music, and also holds a Performer's Diploma from the Indiana University. He is a two-time winner of the Music Teacher National Association Competitions, and has won 3rd place in the International Chamber Music Competition (Czech Radio "Spring of Prague"). As a soloist and chamber musician, he has attended summer festivals and master classes including International Summer Academy at University Mozarteum (Salzburg, Austria), the Banff Summer Festival, the Spoleto Summer Festival, the Taos Chamber Music Festival and the National Arts Center Young Artists Programme where he worked with world-class musicians such as Lynn Harrell, Gary Hoffmann, Aldo Parisot and the Tokyo String Quartet. Bo Peng's teaching experiences include being a sectional coach for the Dallas Youth Orchestra, and teaching cello in the Dallas Private School District. Currently, Bo is a Cello teaching assistant at UBC from where he is completing his Doctoral Degree in Cello Performance and is on faculty at North Shore Music Academy.