Teacher Bios

About Our Faculty....

In 1991, Seneca College decided to close the Seneca Suzuki School of Music, which had been in operation for over 15 years. A core of teachers wishing to continue in a school environment created The North York Suzuki School of Music, a not-for-profit organization. Although the general format is similar, the school has evolved and at present includes 14 faculty members and one administrator. The enrolment has grown to approximately 200 students.

Our faculty members are: Piano: Maureen McReynolds, Elizabeth Sherk, Jeanine Noyes, and Rebecca Hogeterp; Violin: Liz Johnston, Gretchen Paxson, Heidi Behrenbruch, Marianne Urke-Rapson, Capella Sherwood, Jennifer Burford and Elena Spanu. Cello & Kodaly: Orsi Lengyel Musicianship & Toddler classes: CT Lo Administration: Kathryn Klos

Faculty Members...

Maureen McReynolds

Maureen McReynolds received an Honors Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Ottawa in 1982. She was introduced to the Suzuki Method when she attended a piano institute led by Haruko Kataoka at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester N.Y. in 1988. She subsequently studied under Gail Lange, and has taken courses with many distinguished teachers such as Doris Koppelman, Bruce Anderson, and Peggy Swingle among others. Maureen taught at the Seneca Suzuki School of Music and is co-founder and past director of the North York Suzuki School of Music. She has been a clinician at numerous institutes and workshops including the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute, Montreal Piano Institute, Oakville Performing Arts Camp, Thunder Bay Piano Institute and the Royal Conservatory Suzuki Workshop. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Suzuki Association of Ontario.

Jeanine Noyes

Jeanine Noyes earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Queen's University in 1989. She studied the Suzuki method at several institutes and received a long term training with Gail Lange. Jeanine has been teaching piano at the North York Suzuki School and the Beaches Suzuki School since 1992. She also writes songs, has recorded two CDs, and performs regularly. For more information visit her website at www.jeaninenoyes.com.

Orsi Lengyel

Orsi Lengyel was born in Budapest. After completing the Bachelor of Music Performance degree in Vienna Austria, she immigrated to Canada in 1995 and studied with Shauna Rolston and Simon Fryer at the University of Toronto. In 1996-97 she took part in a string quartet and studied with Paul Pulford and the Pendereczki String Quartet. She studied Suzuki cello with Sally Gross, and received Kodaly teacher's certificate at the RCM in 1998. She is teaching Suzuki cello and Kodaly musicianship at the North York Suzuki School of Music since 1999. Orsi is the co-founder and owner of Wellington Music performance group and agency, playing with Tapestry New Opera Works and other professional chamber groups.

Rebecca Hogeterp

Rebecca Hogeterp earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Western Ontario in 2000. Her teachers included John-Paul Bracey and John Hess. Thereafter she studies with renown pianist/pedagogue Jean-Paul Sevilla in Paris. She also completed an Artist Diploma in Piano Performance from Utrecht's Conservatorium where she studied with Russian pianist Alexander Warrenberg. Over the years, Rebecca has attended many piano pedagogy and performance institutes. She has been teaching at North York Suzuki School of Music since 2004 and is a highly qualified RCM teacher of all levels.

Marianne Urke-Rapson

Marianne Urke-Rapson received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance Violin from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music. She has been a member of the Edmonton Symphony and is currently with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra where she has been playing for the past 17 years. She was concertmaster of the Nepean Symphony in Ottawa and played with the National Arts Center Orchestra and 13 Strings Chamber Orchestra of Ottawa. Other orchestras she has played with include Hamilton Philharmonic, Symphony Nova Scotia, National Ballet, Esprit, Hull Chamber Orchestra and Thunder Bay Symphony. Her chamber music activities include the Rossingnol Trio in Ottawa and the Cypress String Quartet in Toronto. She has been teaching privately since 1982.

Elizabeth Sherk

Elizabeth Sherk. B.A. '69: Ontario Teacher's Certificate '70; RCM gd. 9 Piano '99; R.C.M Early Childhood Music ' 97; Suzuki Piano Teacher Training units 1a - 7 including Japanese Pedagagy with H. Kataoka, ongoing from '85. Studio at North York Suzuki School of Music from 1985 to present. Elizabeth came into the world of Suzuki through being a Suzuki Parent. After seven years of daily listening and playing music with her own three children, she realized that she could use her piano and teaching skills to become a Suzuki piano teacher herself. She values highly the peer mentoring aspect of Suzuki education and is grateful for all she has learned by simply observing in other people's studios. She encourages new parents coming into her studio to foster the same respect for the great value of learning by observation. "Self-reflection is a supreme ability: Give your child life's handle bar".

Gretchen Paxson

Gretchen Paxson holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and a Master's degree in Historical Performance from the Mannes College of Music. She has also completed a 2 year Long Term Certificate in Suzuki training from the School For Strings in New York City studying with Louise Behrend. Further Suzuki studies have been short term training courses with the following: Ronda Cole, Allen Lieb, Carol Smith, Ed Springer, Carey Beth Hodkett. While studying in New York, Gretchen was a freelance violinist on modern and period instruments. Orchestral and chamber music work took her to Europe as well. Gretchen has been teaching and free-lancing in Toronto since moving here in 1994. She teaches all levels at our school and is currently the artistic director of the Miles Nadal JCC Suzuki program. Recently she founded "Thanks to Dr. Suzuki Concert" Performances, an organization whose ideal is to create community among students and teachers of Toronto area Suzuki school. She approaches the Suzuki philosophy from two sides of the Suzuki triangle, as a teacher, and also as a parent of 2 young children learning by the Suzuki method.

Liz Johnston

Liz Johnston graduated from University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Music in Performance degree. She started teaching at the Seneca College Suzuki Program from 1988 - 1991, and continued at North York Suzuki starting in 1991 as one of it's founding members. She has received Suzuki certification Books 1-8 with several teacher trainers including Michele George, John Kendall, William Starr, Alice Joy Lewis and Edmund Sprunger. Liz has been a member of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra since 1994, and freelances with many other orchestras in the Toronto area. She also has an interest in period instrument performance, and received a Canada Council Grant in 2002 to pursue baroque violin studies at Oberlin College, Amherst Early Music Festival and the Tafelmusik Institute.

Heidi Behrenbruch

Heidi Behrenbruch holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an advanced certificate in Performance from the University of Toronto. She completed her primary accreditation to teach Suzuki with the Suzuki Talent Education Association of Australia. Her teacher trainer was Robert Wakely. Since then she has also trained with Nancy Jackson, Karen Kimmet, Edward Kreitman, Chrisophe Boussuat, and Linda Case. Heidi has been teaching Suzuki violin since 1994 in such places as Australia, Vietnam, USA and Canada. She is also an active freelancer in Toronto.

Jennifer Burford

Jennifer Burford completed her Bachelor of Music in Performance at the University of Toronto with Honors in 2004. There she studied with Mark Skazinetsky, Associate Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Jennifer has also completed a Career Development Residence at the Banff Centre performing with Canadian and international artists. She is also employed as an emergency supply teacher with the Toronto District School Board where she has taught children ranging in age from 5 to 15 in all subjects. Jennifer has pursued orchestral training as well, acting as concertmaster of both the University of Toronto Symphony and Opera Orchestras. She also has and continues to participate in several summer academies and festivals including Banff Centre Masterclass and Opera Orchestra sessions, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, and various other orchestras.

Capella Sherwood

Capella Sherwood started violin and viola studies as a child. After completing her Associate Diploma with Sydney Humphreys at the Victoria Conservatory of Music in Pedagogy & Performance, she moved to Montreal to study viola with Andrew Roy at McGill University where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Viola Performance. She continued to study with Andrew Roy and received the Concours avec Premier Prix, performed solo with the Conservatoire's orchestra, and won the Canadian Music Competition Nationals. She then moved to Boston to study with Kim Kashkashian for her Master's Degree in Viola Performance at the New England Conservatory. In Boston, Capella taught violin and viola both privately and in the public schools. She also is a freelance violist with orchestras including the Canadian Opera Company, Boston Pops, the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Kalistos Chamber Orchestra.

CT Lo

C.T. Lo is a keyboard player and commercial music producer. She has composed music tracks for Bell Canada, Spring Canada, TD Bank, Toyota, Coffee Time and many more. She is an in-house composer at the Hive Studios. C. T. did her Jazz keyboard studies at Humber College and took lessons from the late Brian Harris. She completed both Orff and Kodaly certificates from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She is an active studio musician, arranger and accompanist. C. T. also performs with local artists in the GTA. C. T. teaches children musicianship and runs toddler programs.

Elena Spanu

Elena Spanu has been playing the violin since the age of three. She started her studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music where she studied under both the Suzuki and the Royal Conservatory methods. She received her Bachelor of Musical Arts in performance and education from the University of Western Ontario. She has also attained an Artist Diploma in baroque violin performance from the University of Toronto, where she studied with Jeanne Lamon and various other Tafelmusik members. Elena freelances with various groups around the city. She also enjoys exploring different mediums, such as playing violin in rock and gypsy bands.