STEP

Julia Bowdring (Fiddle)

Julia Bowdring has been involved with STEP for over ten years, and loves teaching the fiddle classes. She has played the violin since she was eight years old, and discovered her love for traditional music at the age of eleven. Julia is in the STEP Fiddlers, the Celtic Fiddlers, and her own trad band, Cùnla. She plays for many events around St. John’s, such as St. Patrick’s Day and Canada Day celebrations, The Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, conferences, weddings, and benefit concerts. She is the concert mistress of the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Orchestra. Julia also plays piano, and has recently completed her Grade 10 Royal Conservatory exam with honors. She is currently working on her Bachelor of Music in piano at Memorial University.

Nancy Case-Oates (Violin)

Nancy Case-Oates began her musical studies on piano and violin at an early age, performing regularly at local Kiwanis Festivals and winning many awards for violin, piano and voice. She has acquired degrees in performance from both Universities of Toronto and Victoria.

Nancy holds the position of Principal Second Violinist with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, a position she also held with the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, and is also currently the Second Violinist of the Atlantic String Quartet. She has been featured as solo artist twice with the NSO Sinfonia.

Currently, Nancy maintains an active performing career with the NSO, teaching Suzuki violin, and playing with The Pachelbel Trio. In her spare time, Nancy designs and creates hand-embroidered crafts and enjoys spending time with her sons Edmund and Noah.

Scott Chancey (Viola, Violin)

Scott Chancey began his musical studies on the violin at the age of 4 in Sudbury, Ontario. It was during his high school years in Ottawa that he discovered his love of the viola particularly in chamber music. Scott worked on his Bachelor in Performance at the University of Ottawa on violin and viola with professors Calvin Sieb and Neil Gripp. He was violist of the Volta String Quartet (1990-2001) which traveled the world from Guatemala to Eastern Europe.

Scott's love of music does not limit itself to the classical world. He has been involved in a few musicals with the Zucchini Grotto Theatre Company in Ottawa and toured with "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" in the summer of 2005. More recently Scott was accepted at the Henry Mancini Institute in July 2006 for a one month program focusing on jazz, improvisation and film music.

Sean Conway (STEP Senior Orchestra, ACSI Director)

Sean received his Bachelor of Music at Memorial University's School of Music where he studied viola with Dr. Nancy Dahn and Prof. David Gillham. Prior to Memorial he studied viola with Kate Read and Alison Black and cello with Dale Root.

In addition to teaching with the Suzuki Talent Education Program Sean is a violist with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia. Sean has been a member of the NSO since 1998 and accepted the position of the orchestra's Personnel Manager in 2006.

Sean and fellow Suzuki Teachers Matthew March, Heather Kao and Scott Chancey form The Four Seasons String Quartet, an ensemble that has enjoyed success since 2002 performing for functions at The Rooms, Government House, The Johnson GeoCentre and numerous corporate and private events throughout the city.

His first experience with the Suzuki Talent Education Program was in 1990 as a student cellist with the Suzuki Senior Orchestra directed by Angela Brand. Sean was excited to assume the role of orchestra director of the very same ensemble in 2007.

Sean finds a happy and rewarding balance in teaching and performing and enjoys working with all of his violin, viola and orchestra students, helping them find the same joy and satisfaction that a life of music has brought him.

Danna Hunter

New to our faculty September 2009. Welcome Danna!

Jennifer Johnson (Violin, Body Mapping)

Photo: Sheilagh O'Leary Jennifer began her musical training in southern Ontario, Canada and earned her Honours Performance Degree from Converse College, South Carolina, studying there with Paul Statsky. She was Director of the Suzuki Talent Education Program at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, before coming to St. John's, Newfoundland in 1993 to play as principal second violin of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and second violin of the Atlantic String Quartet. During her twelve years playing with the Atlantic String Quartet, she performed regularly with artists of international acclaim including Krystof Penderecki, Dennis Brott, Patrick Gallois, Rivka Golani, and Anton Kuerti.

In addition to her performing career, she also has a well-established reputation as a pedagogue in St. John's. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to the advancement of musical education, specifically through the Suzuki Talent Education Program of St. John's of which she served as Artistic Director from 1998-2002.

In 2004, a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts funded a 7-month Alexander Technique sabbatical for Jennifer which permitted her to study throughout Europe and the United States with many of the world's leading Alexander Technique teachers. Some of these teachers included Pedro de Alcantara, Walter Carrington, Marjorie Barlow, Joan and Alexander Murray and Barbara Conable. Jennifer went on to train with Barbara Conable and in 2005 became Canada's first certified Andover Educator. She now presents Body Mapping workshops across the country working with musicians who are interested in learning to enhance their musical ability and to prevent injury through a clear understanding of how their bodies are designed to move.

Heather Kao (Violin, Accompanist)

Photo: Ruth Skinner Heather Kao is a freelance violinist and violin teacher in St. John's. She can be frequently seen on stage, either performing with The Four Seasons String Quartet, as a soloist, or at the Spirit of Newfoundland dinner theatre. She likes trying new things, and has recently joined the band Hey Rosetta! . She also sings with Kellie Walsh's Lady Cove Women's Choir. She has done countless recordings for radio, TV, and CDs. She has a performance degree from the MUN School of Music.

Heather is a past member of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, The MUN Chamber Orchestra, and The National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She has received many awards from the Kiwanis Music Festival, and has competed at the national level of the Canadian Music Competition and National Music Competition. Heather is glad to be back as a teacher and accompanist this year.

Rachel Landy

New to our faculty September 2009. Welcome Rachel!

Evelyn Osborne (Violin)

Evelyn Osborne is a teacher in the Suzuki Talent Education Program in St. John's, Newfoundland. She has taken both short- and long-term teacher training (books 1-8) with Teri Einfeldt, Alice Joy Lewis and Helen Brunner and has just completed a "baby" Suzuki course for pre-natal and infant music. Evelyn has also given international workshops for Suzuki students in Adelaide, Australia and Singapore on Newfoundland fiddle tunes and presented a paper called "Comparing Pedagogies" at the Suzuki Association of the America's 12th Conference in Minneapolis this past May. She completed her undergraduate degree in violin at the University of Ottawa, and a Masters of Arts in Canadian Studies/Ethnomusicology at Carleton University. Evelyn is now a Ph.D. student in Ethnomusicology at Memorial University where she researches Newfoundland fiddle styles.

Christina Smith (Violin, Fiddle, Cello)

Christina Smith is a performer, recording artist and teacher, living in St. John's. A native Newfoundlander, Christina performs in North America and Europe as half of the award-winning Newfoundland Folk Music duo, Christina Smith and Jean Hewson. She teaches both Suzuki Method strings and Newfoundland Fiddling in St. John's and at workshops in Ontario and Quebec.

Christina's compositions and arrangements can be heard on several CBC radio documentaries, as well as short films and videos. In demand as a session player in her hometown of St. John's, she has backed up Newfoundland's best known musicians, including Emile Benoit, Buddy Wassisname, the Irish Descendants, Jean Hewson, Jim Payne, Fergus O'Byrne, Ron Hynes and others. She is featured on a solo CD entitled Fiddle Me This, and the duo albums Like Ducks! and August Gale.

Christina holds a B.Mus. with Honours in History and an Artist's Diploma in Cello Performance from the University of Western Ontario, and the Suzuki Cello Teacher's Degree from the Talent Education Institute, Matsumoto Japan. She learned Newfoundland fiddling from Emile Benoit and Rufus Guinchard.

Gordon Stockwell (Violin)

Gordon Stockwell is a teacher, performer, and student in St. John's. He plays first violin with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and various other small ensembles. In 2006 he graduated from Cambrian College with a performance diploma and is currently completing his Bachelor’s Degree in music performance under Dr. Nancy Dahn. In 2007 Gordon made his solo debut with the Sudbury Symphony playing Prokofiev's 2nd violin concerto. He is new to the Suzuki program having recently obtained his teaching certificate under the tutelage of Helen Brunner and looks forward to working with the Suzuki students and teachers.

Past Teachers:

• Matthew March (Cello)
• Kristen Oliver (Violin)
• Sandra Pope (Cello)
• Kellie Walsh (Orchestra)