Teachers Biographies
Marie-Ève Arseneau - Monica Asly - Elissa Bernstein - Lucie Bouchard - Gisèle Dalbec - José Duclos - Geneviève Dussault - Isabelle Héroux - François Lessard - Elizabeth Little - Anne Massicotte - Luce Napert - Lucie Roy - Michel Szczesniak - Christine Vanderkooy
Marie-Ève Arseneau
Marie-Ève Arseneau completed a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Music Education at McGill University. She is a piano teacher in the extra-curricular program at l’École de musique Vincent-d’Indy. Long-time chorister with an increasing list of conducting assignments to her credit, she is the assistant conductor of the EMSB Chorale and a member of La Ceilagh Chamber Choir. Since January 2007, she has also been teaching in the band department at F.A.C.E. School at the elementary and high school levels.
Monica Asly
Monica Asly has been involved in music for most of her life as a singer, actress, performer, pianist and composer in her native country, Lebanon. For many years, she was involved as a vocalist with Lebanese composer, songwriter, actor and playwright, Ziad Rahbani and his mother, singer Feyrouz. This included studio recordings, concerts at various Festivals in Lebanon as well as tours in Europe performing at the Olympia in Paris and the Royal Festival Hall in London to name a few. Tours included Brussels, Barcelona and several cities in France to perform in Rahbani’s Oriental Jazz concerts. She has also appeared with other musicians as a vocalist and keyboard player at the Carthage Festival in Tunisia.
She is a graduate of the McGill Conservatory of Music where she currently teaches Music Theory and Ear Training. She completed most of her music studies at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University where she is a Faculty Lecturer in Musicianship. Monica is also a pianist and has taught Theory and Solfège at CAMMAC in the past.
Elissa Bernstein
Elissa Bernstein has been performing as an actor, singer and dancer, and teaching all three of these disciplines since 1989. She brings the powerful Vox Method to students at all levels; from the nervous adult who finally braves that first singing lesson, to professional opera singers looking for a unique elite training experience, as well as national dance champions seeking to express their uniqueness as performers. Elissa has brought her dynamic and inspiring teaching style to CAMMAC for the past 13 years in the week specializing in Broadway Singing, Dancing and Acting. Elissa also teaches dance at Dawson College, and has a private performing arts studio in Montreal.
Lucie Bouchard
Lucie Bouchard holds a Concert Diploma in baroque flute from McGill University and from the Conservatoire de musique du Québec (concours) in modern flute; she has also specialized in France for three years with Alain Marion, Raymond Guiot and Philippe Allain-Dupré. She was heard several times on Radio-Canada in chamber music and as soloist with the Orchestre de chambre de Québec (concerto by Hoffmeister and flute concerto by Devienne also broadcast by France-Musique). She also took part in broadcasts such as Récital, Concert intime, Jeunes artistes canadiens and Banc d’Essai. She has been a member and soloist (Suite in B minor by JS Bach and Concerto in E by CPE Bach) of the Orchestre baroque de Montréal and has played with several orchestras as an occasional member on both baroque and modern flutes (Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Ensemble intercontemporain de Paris, etc...) She gave recitals in France, Germany, Belgium, West Africa, Ontario and Quebec. She has taught in several schools such as the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Rimouski in the last 6 years. She taught flute and recorder for the Conservatoire de musique of the Collège Stanislas, where she was a coordinator until June 2007. She is a member of a Flute and Guitar Duo with Ezequias Lira and she teaches for CAMMAC at the Lake MacDonald Music Centre during the summer.
Gisèle Dalbec
Gisèle Dalbec, Concertmaster of the Kingston Symphony Orchestra since 1989, is a Queen’s Faculty Member, teaching Violin and Chamber Music in the School of Music, a faculty member of the CAMMAC Centre at Lac MacDonald, QC, and adjudicates regularly across Canada. Ms. Dalbec has recorded for CBC Radio, and is a frequent soloist with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra. She and pianist Michel Szczesniak have produced 2 CDs, Notes to Myself and Bow and Ivory. This last recording includes a recording of Marjan Mozetich’s L’Esprit Chantant. Prior to coming to Kingston, Gisèle was a violinist with the Winnipeg Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and numerous New Music organizations. A freelance musician and chamber music performer in Canada and the United States, she holds degrees from the Universities of Toronto and Yale. She can be heard as soloist with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, in a new CD entitled A Symphonic Tapestry.
José Duclos
The watercolours of José Duclos are distinguished by the contrasts of zones of sfumato juxtaposed with minimal brushstrokes in bold colours. This artist does not fear abstract space. Delicate drawings and a refined palette evoke the beauty of his subjects and bring to light a very personal poetry. José Duclos had developed and taught wet-on-wet watercolour techniques since 1990. She is an inspiring and a sought-after teacher who knows how to awaken artistic passion in others. http://www.joseduclos.com
Geneviève Dussault studied music and trained in several dance styles (Classical, Baroque, Renaissance, East Indian and Contemporary). In 1991, she obtained a MFA in dance from York University and, in 1996, she graduated as a Certified Movement Analyst from the Laban / Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies.
Since 1984 she has been teaching at the Dance department of Université du Québec à Montréal. In her practical classes, she integrates Laban/Bartenieff dynamic principles with rythmic studies in an original way which can be easily adapted to various purposes. She also teaches dance history and anthropology, notation and movement analysis. In the nineties, she taught and choreographed for the Music Faculties of Université de Montréal and McGill. As a dancer and choreographer, she worked on films and performed in Canada and Europe with the support of Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec.
She has been teaching early dance and creative dance for children at CAMMAC musical center for more than twenty years.
Isabelle Héroux
Active on the international scene, Isabelle Héroux performs often in solo, duo and with an orchestra. She has played in France, Italy, Germany, Morocco, Algeria, Lybia, Equador, Tunisia, Turkey, Mexico, the United States and Canada. She has done broadcasts with Radio-Canada and on the “Bravo!” satellite channel as a soloist and chamber musician.
Several of her recordings brought her acclaim from the critics, including “!Viva España!”, “Regards” and “Music for guitar and flute” by Georges Delarue.
Mme Héroux teaches guitar and instrumental pedagogy at Sherbrooke University. She also teaches guitar at Laval University, Lionel-Groulx College, Sainte-Foy Cegep, Drummondville Cegep, and History of instrument building at the Limoilou College.
She has completed a doctorate on the teaching of classical guitar with a cognitive approach.
Geneviève Jalbert. Pianist Geneviève Jalbert recently completed a Master’s degree in piano accompaniment at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, where she studied with Michael McMahon. Geneviève holds a BMus (piano performance) degree from McGill University, receiving the “Marion Magor Memorial Scholarship”, the “Bruneau prize” and a “James McGill scholarship”. She is also the recipient of a Canada Council travel grant. Since beginning her studies, Geneviève has collaborated and appeared in recital with numerous soloists and ensembles, including “Lakeshore Light Opera”, the “McGill University Choral Workshop”, and the “McGill Savoy Society”. She is currently the accompanist for “Les jeunes chanteurs de FACE” and the “Yellow Door Choir”. She is a founding member of the Montréal-based song collective “Liederwölfe”. Geneviève is an alumni of the “Opera NUOVA Intensive Summer program” (Edmonton, AB, 2006) as well as of the “Vancouver International Song Institute” (2007), where she participated in masterclasses with Margo Garrett and Graham Johnson.
François Lessard obtained a Master’s Degree in Interpretation (recorder) from the Université de Montréal, where he studied with Francis Colpron. He teaches the recorder privately in the Montreal area, and at the Lake MacDonald Music Centre (CAMMAC) during the summer. He taught for many years at the Collège Regina Assumpta and at the École préparatoire de musique de l’UQAM. My Blog: Cours de flûte à bec
After graduating from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Elizabeth Little studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London and at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands. She performed in many solo and chamber music concerts and recordings and played with Early Music ensembles (such as the SMAM). From 1980-2012, she was a professor at the Collège Lionel-Groulx where she taught cello, chamber music, music theory and conducted the choir. She has taught at the CAMMAC Lake MacDonald Music Centre since 1972 and was Artistic Director from 1999 to 2009.
Anne Massicotte is a graduate of the Conservatoire de Québec in clarinet and chamber music. She was a member of the National Youth Orchestra, Orchestre des Jeunes du Québec, and Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières. She is an Orff specialist and now teaches elementary music for the Toronto District School Board. Her children’s choir won numerous gold medals at the Toronto Kiwanis Festival, and won second place at the Ontario Music Festival in 2010. She teaches recorder, and plays in a recorder consort. Anne has been teaching at CAMMAC since 1984.
Luce, an active participant in CAMMAC’s summer music programs since 2008, has been practicing yoga almost 5 years and has been teaching Hatha Yoga since 2012. Her teaching is influenced by proper alignment, breathing techniques and the restorative aspect of yoga. “Yoga helps musicians and singers by improving their flexibility, boosting their stamina, enhancing their concentration and helping them find support for their voice.”
Luce, a former federal public service executive, avid cyclist, experienced sailor and alto singer with the Chœur classique de l’Outaouais, utilizes her background as an adult educator, her experience as a singer and her certification as a Yoga Teacher to help her students realize their full potential through the practice of yoga.
Luce is accredited by the Yoga Alliance. Perfectly bilingual, she teaches both in English and French.
Lucie Roy
Before starting choir conducting, Lucie Roy took advanced instruction in singing and piano and received a degree in interpretation from McGill University in 1985. In the same year, she became a member of the Tudor Singers and of the Montreal Opera Choir in which she sang for more than 10 years. In 1989 she received a Second Cycle Diploma in Opera from the Ontario University Wilfrid Laurier. She was then invited in 1992 to participate in an advanced level workshop in Salzburg, Austria. Back in Montreal, she added private teaching to her professional activities.
In 2000, she became a member of the teaching staff of the Villa Maria highschool where she taught for 6 years. During that same period, she obtained a Second Cycle Diploma in Choral Conducting under the direction of Nicole Paiement, from the Université de Sherbrooke where she is currently completing an MA.
Madame Roy leads vocal technique workshops as one of the formative activities of the Alliance des chorales du Québec. She also offers perfecting workshops to various ensembles of the Montreal and Quebec regions. Since 2001 she is Music Director of the Disciples de Massenet and for the past 12 years has been conducting the Ensemble vocal féminin Modulation with devotion and passion.
Michel Szczesniak
A faculty member of the Queen’s University School of Music since 1990, Mr. Szczesniak is known in the Kingston area for his solo and collaborative work. He had performed at Queen’s, with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, the Cantabile Choirs of Kingston, “Music on the Rideau”, “More than Music”, St. George’s Cathedral, and numerous chamber music concerts with Kingston’s finest musicians. Originally from Long Island, NY, he holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has recorded for CBC Radio, and has a CD with violinist Gisèle Dalbec,
Christine Vanderkooy
Praised for her “sensitive and passionate artistic expression”, Christine Vanderkooy performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician across North America and has completed solo recital tours of Canada and Europe. Christine is a laureate of numerous competitions including the Eckhardt-Grammaté National Competition, the Gaudeamus International Competition for Contemporary Music, and she concluded the Young Artist Tour as winner of the ORMTA Competition. Completed in 2005, her Doctor of Music in Piano Performance at McGill University included specialized focuses on Russian piano Music and Politics in the 20th century, the Development of the Piano and its Influence on Composition, and the Psychophysiology of Music Performance Anxiety, for which she received an FCAR (currently FQRSC) Research Fellowship. Dr. Vanderkooy travels frequently as a clinician, adjudicator, and as a senior examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music. Dr. Vanderkooy has taught at McGill University, University of Prince Edward Island, University of Windsor, and Lakehead University, and is currently Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Regina. Her solo CD featured works by Schubert and Schumann. Christine has enjoyed coming to CAMMAC every summer since 2006!