Olga Lishansky was born in Russia. She started her musical education at age six, in Siberia. She received an Undergraduate Degree at St. Petersburg and continued her education at the Conservatory in Kiev (Ukraine), graduating with Excellence in “Classical Piano Performance’’. Olga immigrated to Israel and then to Canada. She worked as a Piano Teacher for a number of years in both countries. Ten years ago Olga entered the financial industry and worked for a prominent corporation as a Business Analyst and then as a Project Manager. Not long after moving to Wasaga Beach, ON circumstances led her to revisit her musical roots. At that time she realized that music can connect people to their true-selves, their hearts and their souls. Olga’s first performance, after not playing for 20 yrs, was “Concerto in the Key of Soul” in Thornbury in the summer of 2007 and it was a great success.

“Through music we enter into the world of emotions, thoughts, ideas and images . . . the whole universe of our inner selves. There are no barriers – there you are free, joyful and complete. I believe the purpose of music performance is to connect the audience to this world, to communicate at a different level, the level of the soul” O.L.

Since that concert, inspiring others became Olga's life mission. She developed her own method to help people to re-discover themselves and live life from the heart. It expands on the concept that we are Creators of our reality and we are multi-dimensional beings. It offers a holistic perspective on life through the combination of music, meditation, yoga and other practices. This method was born from her playing piano at a “multi-dimensional level” and expanded to “playing life”.

"I want to help people to feel that shine inside them, to grow it and to live from it. It is the source of all good: health, peace and love" O.L.

Olga Lishansky is passionately working on implementing this mission on different levels: concerts, workshops, music interpretation classes, life coaching, recording a classical music CD and writing a book.

Contact Olga for info on other events, sessions, classes:
Phone (705) 445-5480
E-mail: olga.l@sympatico.ca

J. Louise Martin started playing violin at the age of seven in Montreal and continued her studies with John Montague when moving to Barrie in 1973. She went on to obtain a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Western Ontario, then took her studies to the Royal Conservatory for it's well known Orchestral Training Program. She toured Eastern Canada with the National Youth Orchestra and Europe with the Ontario Youth Concert Band during those years.

She has been active as a freelance violist for many years and played with orchestras throughout Ontario and B.C. Some of these orchestras include the Oshawa Durham Symphony, the Etoibcoke Symphony, the North Bay and Sudbury Symphonies,and of course the Huronia Symphony. In B.C., she played regularly with the Okanagan Symphony and the Kamloops and Prince George orchestras.

Seven Years ago, Louise founded the Huronia Arts Academy, a music and fine arts school in Barrie geared to quality music and art instruction for students of all ages and levels. She continues to run subsidized programmes in the elementary schools across the region to give children access to music regardless of their financial status.

Louise is quite involved with teaching the violin and viola. Students come for lessons from places as far as Aurora and Kleinberg to Parry Sound.

Many of Louise's students go on to study music at the University level. Recently one of her students won the Silver Medal Award from the Royal Conservatory by obtaining the highest mark in Ontario on his Grade IX Violin exam.

She continues to teach and play around the region with a real passion for educating students and instilling a true love for music.

Michael Adamson was born in Victoria, BC and began studying violin at the age of twelve. He attended university in the USA, attaining his B.Mus. from Boston University. Subsequently, he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Music in London for further work in violin performance and chamber music. With three fellow students, he became one of the founding members of the Lindsay String Quartet and studied with members of leading quartets: Griller, Tatrai, Kolisch, Hungarian and Amadeus. The group was installed as the resident quartet at Keele University and went on to achieve international acclaim for their interpretations.

Returning to Canada after a concert career of several years in Europe, Michael earned his living as a software consultant in the computer industry until he recently retired. All the while, he has continued solo, chamber and orchestral activities including serving as concertmaster for the York Symphony and artistic director for the Apollo Chamber Orchestra. He is the founder and violinist of the Amity Trio, Simcoe's premiere chamber music group, which concertizes extensively throughout the region and the Greater Toronto area. Currently, he teaches violin, viola and chamber music both privately and at the Huronia Arts Academy in Barrie.

Maggie Arnold started studying piano as a pre-teen in Mississauga, ON. In her early teen she started learning to play the flute. Maggie continued her training in College where she majored in flute. During her teenager and young adult years, Maggie played with several orchestras and bands. She performed with the Mississauga Symphony for a year or so when it first
started up. After her tenure with the Symphony, she joined an Orchestra in Toronto and for several years was the youngest player to perform with them.

Maggie then set aside her music to raise her 2 boys. About 10 years ago she started playing again with church bands. She has since developed arthritis which prevents her from playing as she once did, but she continues to perform in church and with friends. Maggie currently teaches piano and flute privately in her home. Her aim is to make music fun and something to
be enjoyed on all levels.

Maggie has been in a wheelchair for about 5 years now. She has become very involved in accessibility issues and is on the Board of Breaking Down Barriers as well as being the Chair of the Clearview Accessibility Advisory Committee. Music is one way that she has been trying to overcome her disability. She may not be able to play the same, but can still fill her music with love and dedication.

"Praise him with the strings and flute." Psalm 150:4

Faythe Pal began her classical piano training at the age of seven. Through her teens she worked as a piano accompanist for children’s dance, creative movement and ballet classes. At A.Y. Jackson Secondary School in North York, ON, Faythe was known for both her tenor saxophone and piano performances. She played in seven bands, in competitions and at a variety of events covering a broad range of musical styles (Alternative, Jazz, Dixie Land, Rock, Adult Contemporary, etc.). Knowing that there was only one school for her, in the fall of 1992 Faythe moved to Boston, Massachusetts to attend Berklee College of Music. She completed her five year dual major in Music Production and Engineering and Music Business and Management in the summer of 1995. By this time she had already been writing poetry and song lyrics for eight years and managing the careers of up-and-coming musical artists for three years.

With a Marketing Management Certificate and Associate Membership status from the Canadian Institute of Marketing under her belt, in 1997 Faythe left music aside to pursue a lifelong career in Marketing. In July of 2008 she earned her Professional Marketer Membership status. In-between that time Faythe took on several other pursuits. In the winter of 2001 she started taking courses towards a Certified General Accountants of Ontario accreditation. In the fall of 2006 Faythe stepped up onto a new stage - the political arena – as she ran for Council in the last Wasaga Beach Municipal Election. Since the spring of 2003 Faythe has been running her corporation, Hands of Time Inc. which includes the following companies: Dusk, Fishy Fish, Hoti, Off The Cuff Marketing and Sunshine on a Cloudy Day. In April of 2008 the Wasaga Beach Chamber of Commerce presented her with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Faythe is currently an Executive Director of the Wasaga Beach Women’s Business Association, a Director on the Collingwood Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and a Councillor for the Canadian Institute of Marketing.

Faythe has been a member of the Breaking Down Barriers Fundraising Committee since the spring of 2007. In an effort to raise funds and awareness for Breaking Down Barriers Independent Living Resource Centre she presents two yearly events. “Concerto in the Key of Love” marks the second annual “Concerto” classical music event. Faythe also puts on a yearly fun filled charity fundraiser at Sunshine on a Cloudy in Wasaga Beach on July 1st as a part of the Canadian retail store’s birthday celebration.

Ronley Teper a performance artist turned musician, has collaborated with the who's who of the Canadian independent music scene --not to mention puppets-- to produce a body of music that listeners constantly compare to Tom Waits and Mary Margaret O' Hara. Her new EP Ronley Teper's Lipliners grew out of twenty short musical monologues that were publicly workshopped during twenty improvised shows featuring a revolving door of Canada's finest musicians who together create lush cinematic musical landscapes.

The Ottawa Citizen describes her as having "an almost childlike fascination for experimentation."

Americana UK has called her "Eclectic Nu-Freak Folk Perfect for Late Night Listening."

"If Joanna Newsom gave birth to Tom Waits' illegitimate daughter and then refused to breastfeed her, the girl might grow up sounding a lot like Toronto's Ronley Teper," according to BlogTo.

Ronley was born in South Africa and grew up in Toronto. She picked up a guitar in high school, then learned to put her alluring poems and monologues to thematic melodies. Her first release Stories From The Tray (2001), produced by Keith Mariash, is an album of stories depicting a naive waitresses sobering experience serving sordid regulars. Ronley's follow-up album, Cornered In The Alley, produced by Mark Mariash (Sarah Slean, Ron Sexsmith), Carl Petzelt, and Chris Bartos (Sarah Harmer) is an exploration of Universal Love and the pretty, dark, dirty, ugly, childlike and beautiful experiences of everyday love. Ronley continues to experiment in vocal characterizations, music as a performance art, puppetry and poetry with some of Canada's finest performers.

Visit her website: RonleyTeper.com