Christ First Church, 1700 Mazo Crescent, Mississauga, L5J 1Y8
Clinician: Annie Wong
Dr. Annie Wong is a passionate and experienced performer, educator, and adjudicator. She is on the piano faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, teaches chamber music and gives master classes at the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists, and is a member of the RCM College of Examiners. Having served as Academic Lecturer at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney, she taught undergraduate and graduate students in piano performance, concert performance classes, weekly master classes, chamber music, music theory, music history, aural skills and musicianship, and keyboard harmony. During her time in the United States, she taught applied piano, class piano, and music theory to undergraduate students at Shenandoah University and was on faculty at the Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy. She has been invited as a juror for international piano competitions in Australia, Macau, and Indonesia, and frequently adjudicates music festivals across Canada. Annie’s performances have been described as “imaginative and evocative”, and audiences are thrilled by her “powerhouse exuberance”. She has performed across Canada, the United States, and Australia, in venues such as the Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Koerner Hall, Mazzoleni Hall, The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver Art Gallery, The Orpheum, Vancouver Playhouse, Telus Studio Theatre, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, St. Andrew’s Church, Guilford Station Arts Club, Westminster Canterbury, and the Live at Lunch Concert Series at the Winchester Medical Centre in Virginia. She was the first prize winner of the Virginia Music Teachers Association Concerto Competition and Shenandoah Conservatory Concerto Competition, and was a prizewinner in the Bjorn and Lori Hareid Competition as well as the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society Scholarship Competition. Annie received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree on a full scholarship from Shenandoah University in Virginia, graduating with the Outstanding Performance in Piano Award. She was twice the recipient of the prestigious Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges Award in recognition of her exceptional academic achievements. She holds a Master of Music degree from the Mannes School of Music in New York City and was the recipient of the Dean’s Award. Along with her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British Columbia, she was awarded the Ruth Parnum King Memorial Prize. Her principal teachers in her advanced studies include Dr. John O’Conor, Professor Irina Morozova, Professor Jane Coop, and Dr. Terence Dawson. She has benefitted from master classes with Alfred Brendel, Richard Goode, Jon Kimura Parker, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Martin Katz, Craig Sheppard, Robin McCabe, Ann Schein, Henri-Paul Sicsic, Hiromi Okada, Victor Rosenbaum, Prisca Benoit, and Ieva Jokubaviciute. Aside from her love for music, Annie enjoys spending hours at museums, practicing Taekwondo (in which she holds a black belt), and watching her two young sons discover the world.
Testimonial by one of the teachers Lisa Raposa Millar:
“The masterclasses with Dr. Michael Esch were top-notch. He easily drew parallels between piano technique and a number of disciplines including literature, baking, and Tai chi and demonstrated snippets from an impressive range of repertoire. Above all, what stood out to me more than anything was his ability to connect with each student and bring out their musical best. I have already received thanks from a number of parents for these classes and appreciate the constant enthusiasm which he displayed over 6 hours of teaching!”
