Faculty

Department Head

Simon MacDonald

Simon MacDonald began playing the violin at age seven, here in Victoria, British Columbia. Following studies with Frona Colquhoun and Sydney Humphreys, Simon earned his AVCM Teacher and Performance Diploma from the VCM, Bachelor’s degree from New England Conservatory in Boston, and Master’s degree from the Schulich School of Music, at the University of McGill, in Montreal. Simon’s musical education also included performing at music festivals in Europe and North America, including Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (Germany), The Festival of Two Worlds (Italy), the Spoleto Festival (Charleston, South Carolina), Tanglewood Music Festival and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Massachusetts), and at ArtSpring Festival on Salt Spring Island. […]

Program Instructors

Roger Buksa

As an experienced adjudicator, and member of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s College of Examiners, Roger Buksa has judged festivals throughout BC including the lower mainland. His students regularly earn awards in regional and provincial competitions and have been selected to perform as concerto soloists with orchestra. He has also participated in the VCM Summer Piano Academy as a teacher and performer and has performed in several concerts as part of the VCM Presents series, including with classical guitarist Dr. Alexander Dunn, and in an established duo-piano team with Anna Cal. […]

Müge Büyükçelen

Müge Büyükçelen was born in 1975 in Istanbul, Turkey, where she began playing music at the age of nine. She studied at the Istanbul State Conservatory, where her natural talent was quickly recaognized and she was awarded the “Best Young Musician” Award. She studied privately with Nicolai Chumacenko, Sandra Goldberg, Ayla Erduran, and Burkhard Godhoff. Müge holds a Masters degree in music performance from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and an Associate Teaching Diploma from the Victoria Conservatory of Music. She has taught and performed at the Toulouse National Conservatory and is a former member of both the Bilkent Symphony (…)

Mary Byrne

One of the active and energetic musicians in Victoria’s artistic community, Dr. Mary Byrne _DSC1043 Low Res Colour_webhas devoted much of her professional life to performing, studying, and teaching the flute. She received a B.Mus. in Flute Performance and Music Education (1985) and a M.Mus. in Flute Performance (1986) at the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Victoria, where her field of specialization is the pedagogy and performance practice of the flute performer/teachers at the Paris Conservatoire during the 19th and early 20th centuries. An active teacher, adjudicator, lecturer, recorded artist, and published author (…)

Hannah Craig

Hannah Craig considers it a very distinct privilege to be studying music during a time in which the world requires art with great desperation. Cello has been the crux of Hannah’s life for as long as she can remember, having been born into a family of great musical talent. Prior to attending university she was a scholarship student under the tutelage of her mother, Joowon Kim, and David Hetherington at The Conservatory’s Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists. In 2013, she began her undergraduate studies at McGill University in the studio of Matt Haimovitz. It was during […]

Edwin Gnandt

Awarded the designation of “Professor Emeritus of Piano and Music” from Ambrose University in Calgary, Edwin Gnandt continues to enjoy a collaborative career in music as pianist, accompanist, author, adjudicator, competition juror, workshop clinician and international speaker. He adjudicates festivals across Canada – most recently the Edmonton Music and Performing Arts Festival, as juror for the Canadian Music Competition (CMC), the National Steppingstone Competition, the Bosendorfer (BC) Piano Competition and the Steinway Junior Competition. In September of 2022, Mr. Gnandt served as the Keynote Speaker and Competition Juror for the BCRMTA Provincial Piano Conference. He has been praised by the San Fransisco […]

Tori Gould

Violinist Victoria (Tori) Gould (née Lindsay) has consistently distinguished herself as an exuberant and varied performer and instructor. In 2006 Tori joined the Victoria Symphony Orchestra in British Columbia, Canada, in the position of Principal Second Violin. She has also held the Assistant Principal Second Violin chair with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony and can frequently be seen performing with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Past orchestral experiences include acting guest Concertmaster of Symphony Nova Scotia and numerous performances with the Houston Symphony and Houston Grand Opera orchestras. A widely hailed solo performance with the National Repertory Orchestra and with the Victoria Symphony […]

VCM Guest Faculty

Each year the VCM is pleased to welcome a number of guest teaching artists to work with our students in one or more program areas. Guest program instructors can either be an existing member of faculty teaching in another program area, or one from our ever-expanding artistic community!

Robert Holliston

Robert Holliston studied at the Victoria Conservatory of Music under Robin Wood and Winifred Scott Wood, and at the University of British Columbia under Robert Rogers. As an accompanist and chamber player he has performed throughout Canada and the USA, England and New Zealand, and has been heard frequently on CBC-Radio. He has recorded CDs with the popular salon ensemble Viveza, trombonist Ian McDougall, tenor Ken Lavigne, his brother Tom Holliston, Show Business Giants, and members of the Hornby Island Ensemble. Robert has collaborated with many of Canada’s leading singers, including Richard Margison, Benjamin Butterfield, Judith Forst, Nathalie Paulin, Susan (…)

Patricia Kostek

Clarinetist Patricia Kostek has a distinguished career as recitalist, symphony orchestra musician and university professor. Her performances have garnered international acclaim and she has been recognized for “…rarely heard clarinet tone, so pure in all its registers” and “complete technical mastery” of the clarinet. Patricia has given recitals and master classes, and served as competition jury member in major cultural centers of Europe, Asia, Canada, the USA, Mexico and South America. She has adjudicated for International Music competitions in Spain, Brazil, Belgium, Paris, Quebec City and Buenos Aires. An active recording studio musician, Patricia has performed on the soundtracks of dozens of television and Hollywood motion picture scores as well as video games. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of Victoria. […]

Tatiana Kostour

Ms. Tatiana Kostour is a violinist from the Ukraine, and a graduate of the Kiev Conservatory of Music. In addition to studies in performance and pedagogy, including teaching methodologies and practicum, under some of the finest teachers in the Ukrainian, Tatiana always stood out with the highest marks in performance and teaching. Believing in life-long learning, Tatiana has continued to polish her teaching techniques over the years, and has achieved a very high level of success. Many of her students have won Gold and Silver medals from The Royal Conservatory of Music and placed first in The National Canadian Music […]

May Ling Kwok

May Ling Kwok studied with Robin Wood at the University of Victoria where she received her Bachelor of Music. She continued on to doctoral studies with Gyorgy Sebok at Indiana University, and was awarded the Distinguished Performer’s Certificate. Presently teaching at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and the University of Victoria, she is active as a teacher, adjudicator, and concert pianist. Concert tours have taken her to the United States, Mexico, Russia, Western Europe, and Russia. She has appeared as a soloist with the Victoria Symphony, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, the Moscow Philharmonic, the (…)

Nicole Lavallée

Nicole Lavallée studied piano at the Victoria Conservatory of Music receiving her AVCM in Performance under Linda Stobbe and her AVCM in Piano Pedagogy with Linda Low and Winifred Scott Wood. She continued her studies at the University of Victoria obtaining her Bachelors with May Ling Kwok and Masters in Music with Bruce Vogt. Nicole is a qualified Kelly Kirby instructor and regularly teaches masterclasses at the VCM. She enjoys teaching students of all ages, performing in the community, and actively works with other indigenous performers and musicologists in Canada in the pursuit of truth and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

Guyonne Le Louarn

Born in France on December 27, 1975, Guyonne Le Louarn began to study violin at the age of five in Rennes, then Nantes. She switched for the viola in 1993 and went on to study chamber music, theory and history of music, orchestral work and conducting in Nantes and Paris earning multiple gold medals in all disciplines. Meanwhile she earned a degree in Early Music under the tutelage of Daniel Cuiller in Nantes. In 1998, she won the Paris Interschool competition with outstanding grade and was a finalist at the National Viola Competition in Epernay in 1999. She also played […]

Jany Lu

Jany Lu is a keyboard faculty member at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and she enjoys working with the next generation of musicians to enrich their musical life. While in Toronto, ON, she studied various curriculums and piano methods including Yamaha, Alexander Technique, and workshops with the Alan Fraser Piano Institute. She taught for three music schools including the University of Toronto Piano Pedagogy Program. There she taught group and private lessons using curriculum that she carefully designed. Jany is a Yamaha Certified teacher and has taught group lessons for young children from the age of three to five at a Yamaha School.

Mary Jill Mcculloch

Mary Jill McCulloch is principal flutist of Civic Orchestra of Victoria. She performs with Voces Intimae as both flutist and singer, and plays violin with Sooke Philharmonic. Since coming to Victoria in 1989, Mary Jill has appeared as flute soloist with St. Cecelia Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Victoria, Victoria Chamber Orchestra, and Sidney Community Music School Orchestra. She has performed frequently in the Christ Church Cathedral Summer Recital Series. She enjoys teaching students of all ages and levels of proficiency, using a wide variety of music. Her students have often won top honours in their Conservatory exams and excelled at (…)

Jennifer Mitchell

Jennifer Mitchell learned piano, violin, and pipe organ while growing up. She studied piano with May Ling Kwok at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and was a student in the founding class of the Collegium Program. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of Victoria, and received a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Western Ontario under John Hess and Mark Payne. A teacher, church organist, and collaborative pianist, she enjoys performing with like-minded musicians.

Emily Nagelbach

Emily Nagelbach, Faculty Department Head, Winds and Brass, Conservatory School of Classical Music. Emily is second flute/piccolo with the Vancouver Island Symphony and principal flute of the Palm Court Orchestra. As a freelance musician, she has performed with many orchestras, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Opera Victoria. Emily holds an AVCM from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), a B.Mus. in Performance and Theory from Wilfrid Laurier University and a M.Mus. in Performance from the University of British Columbia, studying with Amy Hamilton, Lorna McGhee and Camille Churchfield. As a teacher, Emily thoroughly enjoys teaching flute and piccolo to students of all ages and abilities. Her students are part of a vibrant and active studio, performing regularly in recital, masterclass, festivals, and exams. […]

Maria Wang

Born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, Maria (Yun-Hsuan) Wang is a versatile cellist and music teacher. Maria began her musical journey with the piano and later switched her focus to the cello at age 13. In 2008, she received a full tuition scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance at West Virginia University, USA. Maria relocated to Victoria with her family in 2012 and continued studying cello for a Master of Music degree in Cello Performance at the University of Victoria with Pamela Highbaugh Aloni, the cellist of the renowned Lafayette String Quartet. Maria has been actively […]

Crystal Wiksyk

Crystal Wiksyk is a theory and musicianship instructor at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, where she coordinates the Classical Music Theory program within the Ann & George Nation Conservatory of Classical Music. Crystal teaches group classes as well as individual lessons at the VCM, and has taught theory and musicianship classes for the VCM/Camosun College Diploma program. She is the co-author of three publications for the Royal Conservatory of Music, and also leads the Music Theory programming for the VCM’s Summer Academy. Crystal is a Royal Conservatory certified theory teacher and long-time member of the BC Registered Music Teachers Association.

Brian Yoon

Brian Yoon is currently the Principal Cello of the Victoria Symphony. Since winning First Prize at the 35th Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, he has been presented in recital from coast to coast, with repertoire ranging from Bach and Beethoven to Shostakovich and Metallica. As a soloist, Brian has recently appeared with orchestras in works by Brahms, Dvorak, Haydn, Lalo, Morawetz, and Schumann. His main teachers include Judith Fraser (Vancouver Academy of Music), Paul Marleyn (University of Ottawa), and Desmond Hoebig (Rice University). Brian has received support from the BC Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation.