Atsuko Montcalm
School Director / YAMAHA Instructor / (Private Piano *Full)
Atsuko was born in Japan, and began studying music at the age of four when she was enrolled in Junior Music Course at Yamaha Music School. Atsuko’s musical talent was apparent from an early age in YAMAHA curriculum including intensive study in Junior Special Advanced Course. She also participated in and won many competitions including the PTNA(http://www.piano.or.jp/english/) Piano Competition. Atsuko attended Miyagi University of Education where she majored in elementary and junior high school music teaching. In 2001, Atsuko moved to Toronto, Canada and began teaching with the Yamaha Music Canada Corporate School.
Atsuko’s fondest memories of her early exposure to music lessons are of the end of year concerts, group ensemble performances, and the moments when it was her, her peer and the music before an audience, realizing a goal that had taken months of practice. Atsuko’s first teacher, Yuko Hirano, was the inspiration to Atsuko’s life-long love of music. A calm, gentle, kind and patient teacher, she helped instill the same values in Atsuko.
“Giving children the gift of music gives confidence. If everyone continues practicing we can achieve playing a song – that’s an accomplishment. The children learn to appreciate arts – be a part of music. The ensemble format is key – cooperation is a good skill to have for anything in your life – thinking about other people, helping each other, trying to achieve one goal together.” – Atsuko Montcalm
Atsuko now lives in Ottawa with her husband Richard and two children. In 2010 she realized a dream and opened the Kanata Music Centre.
MANDY WILK
School Administrator /
Private Flute Teacher
Originally from the United States, Mandy holds a masters degree from Indiana University, where she was awarded a Jacobs School of Music Artistic Excellence Fellowship and a Graduate Tuition Award. She also completed her Bachelor of Music at the University of Alabama, graduating summa cum laude within the Honors College with two degrees – a BM in Flute Performance, and a BA in German.
During her university years, Mandy was awarded the prestigious Undergraduate Scholar Award from The Presser Foundation in 2014; she also has been a featured author with The Instrumentalist once and Flute Talk twice. In addition to being actively involved in school orchestras since high school, Mandy has also had the opportunity to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, and her hometown orchestra, the Nashville Symphony. She has had the privilege of performing principal flute on many significant orchestral pieces, including the famous Daphnis et Chloé.
In addition to performing, Mandy loves to teach and help out with the music-making process anyway she can, including administration! She is excited and grateful to be a part of the Kanata Music Centre team.
Instructors
Ramez Faltas
Private Piano & Theory Teacher
Ramez is a graduate of the Faculty of Specific Education, University of Alexandria, Egypt with a Bachelor of Music Education specializing in classical music and is also a graduate from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), UK.
In 2016, he completed the Piano Teacher Specialist Course at The Royal Conservatory. Ramez performed with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Chamber Orchestra, Alexandria, Egypt as well as “Les Compagnons”, and the Jesuits Cultural Centre.
With more than 10 years of extensive teaching experience, he teaches students of all ages and levels of expertise both performance and theory and prepares lessons tailored to each student’s needs.
Stephanie Moore
Certified YAMAHA Voice instructor / Private Voice Teacher
Stephanie Moore has over twenty years of experience in solo and ensemble performance. With a background in both a Classical and Contemporary vocal pedagogy. Her love for music and performance began at a young age, and she has been performing ever since. This includes solo, choir, musical theatre, and bands. She a is a recorded artist and song writer.
Stephanie acquired her Honours BA in Music, and Bachelor’s in Education primary/Junior from the University of Ottawa. During this time, she was enrolled in the Vocal Minor program for two years and studied with Masters Vocalist Kareen Lecasse, under the adjudication of Sandra Graham (Director of Opera). Stephanie has recently completed her MA in Transformational Urban Leadership from Azusa Pacific University. Her most recent research project is entitled “Fostering Creativity and Imagination in Preschoolers Through Play-Based Arts Education”.
Stephanie has been teaching ensembles and privately for over two years, and oversaw the full vocal roster at Opus Academy during the 2013-2014 school year before starting her masters abroad. During this time, she also designed and implemented musical theater and vocal camps for students raging from 4-12 years. She has a background in preschool education and has experience teaching private students of all age range and experience.
Stephanie is a passionate and loving teacher who believes in the process of students’ discovery and development of their abilities and passions. She believes that students thrive when they are inspired and given understanding to fuel their practice and growth.
Joseph Mueller
Private Guitar and Ukulele Teacher
Joseph began his musical journey in 2004 when he purchased his first guitar. He started out learning rock and heavy metal music. After graduating from high school, Joseph decided to pursue music at the post-secondary level and attended Cambrian College’s Music Performance program. The music program at Cambrian College introduced Joseph to classical music. Here, he studied classical guitar performance under the tutelage of Philip Candelaria and Dr. Matthew Gould. During his time at Cambrian, he achieved the top prize for the guitar division in Kiwanis of 2012 and also received an Honourable Mention the same year at Kiwanis Provincials under the grade 10 category.
Joseph obtained his Bachelor of Music with Honours (Performance, Composition) from Carleton University in 2017. At Carleton, he studied under Julien Bisaillon. Joseph took private lessons, has participated in masterclasses, and workshops with Florian Larousse, Zarko Ignjatovic, Dr. Alvin Tung, Aldo Rodriguez Delgado, to name a few. In his spare time, Joseph enjoys furthering his musical knowledge and skill on electric guitar and listening to new music.
MICHAEL COSTELLO
Certified YAMAHA Instructor / Private Piano Teacher
Michael Costello earned both a Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University and has taught music in the public school board. During this time, he was responsible for delivering a music program to students from Kindergarten up to Grade 12.
He has enjoyed a long career teaching privately. His students range from the vary young to seniors. Michael is known for teaching students with special needs, implementing a program that is therapeutic and fun.
Along with teaching, Michael enjoys composing his own piano works and is currently working with a violinist to perform these and other works in concert.
Demetry Prezelj
Certified Yamaha Instructor / Private Piano Teacher
Demetry Ian Prezelj completed his studies in piano performance under the mentorship of David Jalbert at the University of Ottawa. He has furthermore completed his 10 Royal Conservatory of Music training in 2016 at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts under the supervision of Natalia Pavlovskaia. Besides his conservatory training, he has participated in masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Angela Hewitt, Krzysztof Jablonski, Janet Lopinski, Janina Fialkowska, André Laplante, Peter Longworth and Marvin Blickenstaff. He has been an avid competitor in the Kiwanis Music Festival from 2014-2017. As a performing pianist, he has made his solo concert debut at the NAC in February 2020. Demetry has competed in many competitions such as the Canada International Piano Competition, The Canadian Music Competition, the University of Ottawa Orchestra Competition and the Orchestra Toronto Concerto Competition. Demetry has also partaken in many prestigious festivals including Orford Musique and the Tuckamore Music Festival.
Throughout his years of training and teaching, he has come to the conclusion that no single student or musician is the same. Therefore, a single rigid strategy of instruction is not his pedagogical aim. Instead, Demetry gears his instruction based on the student’s individualistic personality and skills. The goal is to create a student that reflects his/her own vision in music, to provide practical strategies that will enable the growth of their inner musical ear, and to develop their interests and skill in the various styles of classical music. It is important to remember that the whole musician is greater than the sum of the individual parts that went into creating that musician.
Demetry looks forward to becoming a Yamaha instructor, as well, providing a unique and highly personalized method of learning for private piano students, creating an environment to nurture, educate and encourage creative individuals to achieve their highest level of success at KMC.
Natania Fok
Private Piano Teacher
Natania Fok started to nurture her love for music when she started piano at age 4 and violin at age 8. She holds a piano Associate Performance diploma and obtained the highest mark in Canada for an associate level piano practical exam in 2020. She currently studies at the University of Ottawa and piano performance with Richard Raymond who teaches at the Montreal Conservatory.
Along with her musical education, Natania has extensive experience as a performer and has been competing regularly in music festivals at the local, provincial, national and international levels. Among her accolades is the first prize of the Enkor International Music Competition and is a prize winner of the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano competition, a multiple prize winner of the Canadian Music competition and a multiple prize winner at provincials where she has represented Ottawa since she was 8 years old. As a performer, she made her debut as a piano soloist at the National Arts Center (NAC) in 2015, has collaborated with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra in 2018 as a piano soloist and as a violin soloist with The Strings of St. John’s in 2019. Natania believes in the importance of collaborating with her fellow musicians, and hence has ensemble experience as Principal Second and Co-Concertmaster of the Ottawa Junior Youth Orchestra, as a member of a piano duet and as an accompanist.
Additionally, she feels it is important to share her music with others so she chooses to volunteer by giving performances at the Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Center and other various retirement and long-term care homes.
In addition to her performance and ensemble experience, Natania is fully proficient in both English and French and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish and Indonesian.
Natania’s teaching philosophy is to instill a love for music in her students and to ensure that music will accompany them for the rest of their lives. She believes that musicality is as important as technique and tries her utmost best to make learning an enjoyable and fulfilling journey for her students.
Cheryl Wallace
Private Piano & Theory Teacher
Cheryl grew up in a small tourist town in Southwestern Ontario. She began her musical studies in piano at the age of seven. Studying with the Royal Conservatory of Music, she was introduced to the many facets of music training including composing, history, and theory. She successfully competed in regional music festivals throughout her youth. When she was 14 years old, Cheryl discovered her love of sharing music when she started teaching piano lessons.
During her teen years, Cheryl was very active with the town’s main attraction which was the Victoria Playhouse Theatre. Many famous musicians performed there which gave her the rare opportunity to accompany them and join their ensembles. She was also the pianist for many musicals such as The Fantasticks, Ain’t Misbehavin and Godspell. She was the accompanist for the Sarnia Dance Academy and volunteered her time to play frequently at the local retirement home. During this time, she won two national awards for composition and one for the highest mark in Grade 10 music history.
Cheryl attended the University of Toronto for her Bachelor of Music degree specializing in education. She has also completed courses in early childhood development, diverse learning techniques and “Reaching and Teaching” special needs children.
After graduating, Cheryl continued teaching privately and also trained for and began teaching the Music for Young Children program. She continued teaching this group-based program for 30 years. During this time,she ran summer music camps and her students participated in Rhythm Ensemble festivals, exams and recitals. She was frequently asked to be a judge for their International Composition Festival. She also composed and recorded many of the accompaniments for the Music for Young Children program.
Having heard several brilliant performances by Yamaha students, Cheryl is looking forward to joining the Kanata Music Centre team. Using her skills and experience teaching group classes, she is excited about exploring the Yamaha program and its world renowned success.
Cheryl currently teaches piano, theory, music history and composition both in person and online. She continues to volunteer at a retirement home, playing both classical and popular music.