Meet our Piano Teachers!

RCM ARCT Performance in Piano and Violin, and Piano Licentiate of London (England) College of Music; B.Mus. and MMus in Trumpet Performance, Boston University.  

During high school, Dr. Neal Andrews earned ARCT diplomas in both piano and violin from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto as well as the Piano Licentiate of the London (England) College of Music. These achievements combined with his trumpet skills led his piano teacher (the renowned Edward Parker) to dub him the future “one-man conservatory.”

While earning both the master and doctoral degrees at Boston University, Neal performed on numerous occasions at Boston’s Symphony Hall as 1st trumpet with the BU Symphony Orchestra. At that venue, a reviewer noted Neal’s performance to “merit special commendation.” Also during his time in Boston, Neal served as teaching assistant at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. 

Dr. Andrews’ abilities on trumpet have received national recognition in both Canada and the United States. In Canada, these were recognized early with a CBC Galaxie Rising Star award (2003) as “Best Classical Musician Under 16.” In addition, Neal twice represented his home province of BC at the National Music Festival (FCMF). 

In the United States, Neal’s university ensembles were repeatedly selected to participate in the U.S. National Trumpet Competition, most notably in 2009 when his trumpet ensemble placed 3rd nationally. More recently, Terry Everson, professor of trumpet at BU, recommended Neal to perform a series of concerts with the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass.Neal was a founding member of the Andromeda Quintet, a professional brass quintet in Boston. He also played soprano cornet for 5 years with the New England Brass Band under the direction of the composer/arranger Stephen Bulla whose recommendation led Neal to join Toronto’s Weston Silver Band.

Neal has been teaching piano, violin and trumpet for many years and is very excited to be a part of our team of teachers at CMC. 

BMus, University of Toronto 

Pianist Michele Comrie is an experienced music teacher originally from the Kitchener-Waterloo area. An accomplished musician as well, she completed her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto in 2013. Prior to her university degree, she competed in many music festivals across Ontario, receiving multiple scholarships and first place awards for her performances.

In addition to piano, Michele is a self-taught guitarist and trained alto saxophonist, with prior experience in bands and ensembles. Along with her teaching career, Michele is the Music Director at Mount Carmel Zion United Church and enjoys developing and coaching the choir there. 

Accustomed to teaching a wide-range of students in age and ability, Michele enjoys finding new ways to teach each student that fits their unique style. She has coached students towards First Class Honours in RCM exams, festival competitions, learning new styles of Rock and Pop, and even beginner jazz improvisation. 

Michele is excited to have joined the faculty at CMC! 

B.Mus. in Performance, UVic; MMus in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, UofT 

Raised in Victoria BC, Aimi's music making journey began when she was three years old in group piano lessons, accompanied by her mother. From that point onwards, she has continued her music education through the years, winning numerous competitions and awards in local and provincial festivals. She has also been a recipient for various scholarships and awards through the Victoria Conservatory of Music and the University of Victoria. 

Aimi is an active performer in solo and chamber music, and recently enjoyed performing with the Victoria Conservatory of Music Chamber Orchestra as a winner of their concerto competition. 

Under the tutelage of professor May Ling Kwok, Aimi graduated with distinction from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance in 2018. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy under the instruction of Dr. Midori Koga. 

Aimi has been teaching piano, theory and history since 2010. In her teaching, Aimi hopes to create an environment where students have fun making music and can develop physical facility in their piano playing. She looks forward to helping students at the CMC find their own individual sound and voice at the piano.  

B.Mus. in Performance, UVic; MMus in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, UofT; ACP in Harpsichord Performance, UofT; ACCM, Conservatory Canada (Associate Performer) 

Louise Hung’s first introduction to Classical music was hearing a rendition of Für Elise playing through the speakers of garbage trucks in Taiwan as an awe-struck baby. Now, she works to share the curiosity and wonder of music through her teaching and performing. Growing up in Coquitlam, BC and now studying in Toronto, she has won numerous scholarships and awards from festivals, solo and concerto competitions, and summer institutes. She completed her undergraduate degree in Piano Performance with Distinction at the University of Victoria under the tutelage of May Ling Kwok. Currently, she is completing her MMus in Piano Performance and Pedagogy program at the University of Toronto; studying performance with Professor Marietta Orlov and pedagogy with Professor Midori Koga. Her areas of pedagogical research are the application of mental imagery and Baroque dance in piano education. 

Louise has been awarded Conservatory Canada Medals of Excellence for piano studies, theory studies, history studies, and the Conservatory Canada Lynda Rehder Kennedy Medal of Excellence for the top exam marks in Canada. She has also worked with top pedagogues in both North America and Europe, including Robert Levin, Andrea Lucchesini, Jimmy Briere, Enrico Elisi, James Parker, Corey Hamm, Marc Pierre Toth, Ken Broadwood, and Ralph Markham, in masterclasses and summer institutes. 

Louise performs as a soloist and collaborative musician in recitals, competitions, and festivals across Canada. She is a performer comfortable on both piano and harpsichord. A passionate advocate for “hip” (historically informed performance), she has studied with Colin Tilney on harpsichord and is now studying with Tafelmusik’s Charlotte Nediger. Recent early music engagements include Tafelmusik Winter Institute, Opera Q, Cor Unum, Theatre of Early Music, and the Gallery Players of Niagara. 

Louise has been teaching piano, theory, and history since 2010. As a teacher, she works to nurture a student’s musicality, imagination, musical understanding, and physical comfort at the piano. She loves melding history, theory, performance practice and imagination into her lessons. She believes in tailoring her teaching style to suit each student’s search for their own unique way of musical expression.  

ARCT Performance & Pedagogy with Honours, B.Mus & M. Mus Composition, U of Toronto

As a third generation teacher, Lusiana has been teaching piano in Canada since 1991. Her mastery and love for teaching music inspired her to start the Classical Music Conservatory (CMC) in Toronto in 1997. As a teacher, Lusiana holds both ARCTs with honours in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, a Bachelor of Music, and a Master of Music in Composition. She has been teaching for over 30 years now, and each year, her passion for musical education grows. 

Lusiana teaches all ages and levels. She prepares students for all RCM levels of piano, theory and harmony as well as for music festivals with First Class Honours with distinction achievements. She believes in nurturing her students with long term concrete goals, a good foundation in technique and a lot of performance practice with much emphasis on FUN. She encourages her students to be open to other sources of learning from her community team of amazing teachers at CMC. 

Being the Executive Founding Director of CMC, Lusiana's time is extremely limited to a very select few students who are accepted by a personal interview/audition process.  

B.Mus. in Performance, Humber College, RCM Classical Guitar Performance ARCT level 

Luan Phung (born 1991 in London, England) is a Toronto based improviser, composer, guitarist, and teacher/clinician who works in a broad spectrum of musical idioms. He has been described as “outstanding” and “an impact player” who “raises the bar on so many levels” by distinguished Canadian guitarists Geoff Young and David Occhipinti. Equally comfortable performing straight-ahead jazz and freely improvised musical contexts, to fully notated new music/contemporary works, Luan is an in demand Canadian musician. 

As a young classical guitarist, he garnered a number of musical accolades including four consecutive Royal Conservatory of Music silver medals for the highest practical examination mark in the province, a number of first place gold medals at Performing Arts BC, a finalist for the renowned Kay Meek scholarship Competition, and a national finalist at the Canadian Music Competition, among others. Luan was chosen to play in the TD Canada Trust High School Jazz Intensive, led by the anchor of Chicago’s jazz scene, renowned and innovative flautist Nicole Mitchell and winning the CanFor scholarship in conjunction with the Vancouver International Jazz festival, as well as being chosen to play in the Ottawa Youth Summit All-star Band, led by Canadian trumpet great Jim Lewis and winning the Galaxie Rising Star award for jazz performance. Luan holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Humber College with honors and was awarded the Ten Quinlan guitar award and the Dave Stillwell composition award. Luan has studied with Hanh Nguyen, David Occhipinti, Geoff Young, Kirk MacDonald, Shannon Gunn, Jim Lewis, Ted Quinlan and many more. Luan currently leads his own quintet and performs/records in a variety of musical contexts and groups in festivals and around the Toronto area. 

Luan has over 10 years of experience teaching beginner and advanced music concepts and technique to students who range from young beginner children to potential post-secondary music degree entrance hopefuls and believes in the importance of imparting passion, curiosity, and knowledge onto the next generation of music makers. 

B.Mus., Calgary, M.Mus., Doc of Mus., U of Toronto

Erik Ross composes for all musical media and he has written for productions that include electronics, theatre, film and dance. His large choral work, Icarus in the Sea, with text by Lorna Crozier, was toured four times in Canada by the Canadian Chamber Choir, and his chamber opera Northern Lights, Eastern Fire, with librettist Phoebe Tsang, for which he was also the pianist and music director. His commissions also include a piece for Toca Loca’s P*P Project, a solo steelpan and brass band piece for steelpan virtuoso Liam Teague for the 25th anniversary season of the Hannaford Street Silver Band, a large work for the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan and a chamber orchestra piece for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. His concerto for saxophonist Wallace Halladay and percussionist Ryan Scott premiered in March 2013 on the final concert of the 30th anniversary season of the Esprit Orchestra. His song cycle, Waypoints, with the poetry of Zachariah Wells, was written for Phillip Addis and Emily Hamper and was premiered in Toronto and was subsequently performed by the commissioners at the Bastille Opera house in Paris. His most recent commissions also include a song for tenor Lawrence Wiliford and a song cycle for soprano Ambur Braid and the Canadian Art Song project, on the death poetry of Charles Baudelaire. He is currently writing a song cycle for chamber orchestra, soprano and tenor for g27.  

Dr. Ross’s Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra was premiered by Joseph Salvalaggio and the Memphis Symphony, and it was performed again at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Melbourne, Australia, by Diana Doherty under the direction of Nicholas Daniel. His piano trio was premiered by the Gryphon Trio at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, he wrote a chamber opera for Tapestry New Opera Works’ production at the Opera America Conference, and he wrote a marimba concerto for Ryan Scott and the Esprit Orchestra.

He holds a Doctor of Music degree from the University of Toronto where his advisor was Christos Hatzis and he was a two-time recipient of the John Weinzweig Scholarship. He spent two years composing for the Canadian Composers Music Workshop at the Festival of the Sound under the direction of Gary Kulesha, he has acted as musical interpreter for numerous John Oswald projects, and he has acted as dance captain for numerous Halo Ballet productions (a piece that combines live music with live video dancing).  

Erik also takes great enjoyment in performing contemporary classical/jazz/rock repertoire, particularly that of his peers, and he is an improvising pianist and keyboardist, including performing for the New Creations Festival with the Toronto Symphony. He has received numerous awards, fellowships and scholarships, including top prizes at SOCAN, and has received commissions from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Music Gallery, Roger D. Moore and the Laidlaw Foundation.  Erik is an avid educator, and has taught private and conservatory piano, theory, improvisation and composition lessons to individuals of all ages and ability levels for 20 years. He has taught classes at the University of Toronto and U of T at Scarborough and has been an instructor/composer for numerous music programs including: education director for Soundstreams Canada’s Cool Drummings Festival; the Canadian Music Centre’s outreach program; with the Gryphon Trio at Earl Haig Secondary School; the Classical Music Conservatory; the Canadian Composers Music Workshop; the Canadian League of Composers’ Composing the Future; the Canadian Children’s Opera Company’s OPERAtion KIDS program; Young People’s Theatre’s Music Theatre program.  

Erik has also written works for artists and ensembles such as soprano Carla Huhtanen, counter-tenor Scott Belluz, the Aldeburgh Connection, Arpatambora, the Caliban quartet, the Lee-Villanueva Duo, oboist Sarah Jeffrey, accordionist Joseph Petric, hornist Gabriel Radford, as well as a cave installation that was produced in collaboration with the Contemporary Keyboard Society through the New Music in New Places series of the Canadian Music Centre. His compositions have been performed by artists such as vocalists Tracy Smith Bessette, Norine Burgess, Teri Dunn, Matthew Leigh, Allyson McHardy, Marion Newman, Giles Tomkins and Vilma Vitols, hornists Nancy Goodearl and Joan Watson, New Music Concerts, the Talisker Players, and the Land’s End Chamber Ensemble. He has had live performances of his works in Australia, Canada, England, France, Japan, Latvia, Thailand, and the United States.  

Erik is at: www.erikrossmusic.com  

Bachelor of Music in Jazz and Commercial Music, Humber College

Originally from Kanagawa, Japan, Hiro Suzuki is an enthusiastic musician and teacher with 9 years of teaching experience both in English and Japanese. Hiro works predominantly in the genres of jazz, Latin, pop, and rock. 

After formally learning the piano and drums, Hiro picked up the guitar and played in various jazz, rock and bossa nova groups, orchestra pits for musicals, and on recording projects. 

Hiro acquired his first experience in teaching back in Japan, where he taught guitar students of all levels and ages for 4 years at a music academy. Then, Hiro moved to Canada to pursue a degree in Music at Humber College, where he studied with David Occhipinti, Lucian Gray, Kirk McDonald and Trevor Giancola, and was awarded Humber's scholarship for academic excellence in 2021. 

After graduating from Humber, Hiro is an active performer in the Toronto live music scene. Since moving to Canada, Hiro has taught in-person and online private guitar, ukulele, drums and piano lessons tailored to each student's needs and requirements for the past 5 years.