Qualified Teachers

Wan Tsai Chen has been passionately teaching Suzuki violin and viola with the Suzuki method for over 30 years and Suzuki early childhood education (SECE) for over 19. Wan Tsai was a faculty member of the Department of Music at Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taipei American School and Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School in Taiwan. She is currently the artistic director for the Suzuki Talent Education Society (STES) in Calgary, Alberta a position she has held since 2001.

Wan Tsai continuously strives to develop and promote the Suzuki ECE program for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their parents at STES. She applies Reggio early childhood education concepts and Edwin E. Gordon’s Music Learning Theory into her teaching in both strings and early childhood classes. In addition to having been a presenter at several Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) conferences over the years, Wan Tsai was on the SAA conference team in 2004/2012 and served as SECE coordinator for the 2006/2014 SAA Conferences. Wan Tsai has been a clinician for National and International teacher workshops and Institutes. She has given numerous Suzuki ECE workshops for various universities in Taiwan and has made presentations in Japan for teachers, parents and children. Wan Tsai was on the SECE faculty for the 16th Suzuki Method World Convention in Matsumoto, Japan, in 2013.

Wan Tsai’s dedication and commitment to spreading the beauty and importance of the Suzuki Method continues. With full support of the Suzuki community in Calgary, she produced the video Suzuki Project Zero in 2013 and three Suzuki ECE videos in 2014: Shaping Character from the Start, From the First Heartbeat and Suzuki ECE-The Pillars of the Instrumental Journey.

Wan Tsai received her B.A. in Music Performance from the Chinese Culture University and her M.A. in Curriculum and Teaching from Michigan State University. She is a registered Suzuki violin, viola, ECE teacher with the SAA and became a SAA registered SECE Teacher Trainer in 2015. Wan Tsai is honored to be one of the founding members of the SAA and Latin America (Mexico) SECE committee and also, since August 2015, serves on the Board of Directors of the SAA.

Lisa was inspired to become an Early Childhood Music teacher because she is a great believer in the Suzuki method. Her son was in the baby classes and continued on with the violin and piano program. Having been in the program for many years, he has not only developed music ability at a very young age, he has learned much self discipline and patience.
One of her favorite quotes is “Where love is deep, much can be accomplished” by Shinichi Suzuki. Lisa would like to help the program continue to thrive in Calgary. She enjoys working with the parents and their children. and being a part of the Suzuki team at STES.

Pat Huck currently enjoys teaching Piano and Early Childhood Education at the Suzuki Talent Education Society. She studied piano at the Regina Conservatory of Music with Francis England and Thomas Manshardt and voice with Dan Cameron and Ben van der Gught. While studying in the Bachelor of Music program, she taught piano at the University of Regina. She enjoyed the demands of accompanying other musicians as well as directing a church choir for many years. Pat maintained a thriving studio in Regina for over 25 years, teaching and promoting the Suzuki experience throughout Saskatchewan. Her love of the Early Childhood program brought her to Calgary AB. where she continued teaching piano in the Suzuki program at Mount Royal University and Early Childhood at STES. She continues her many years of teacher training at workshops and institutes throughout North America and recently, Australia. Her teachers have included Dorothy Jones, Elaine Worley, Haruko Kataoka, Peggy Swingle and more recently, Fay Adams. Pat is credited with a wealth of parenting skills earned as a mother of four and a grandmother of thirteen. She is a keen observer of family dynamics and enjoys working with parents helping them hone their parenting skills.

“Play the accordion”, he said. “It’ll sound great”, he said. Although this conversation happened two decades ago, it was the beginning of a lifetime of Musical Adventures! Having grown up playing classical piano, and flute in band, Josanna now teaches several instruments, and has played in a band with her husband, Peter (of said accordion conversation), for many years. In the process, she’s learned to play upwards of 20 instruments and intends to continue learning more. Josanna is one of the ECE teachers at STES, and though her background is with Conservatory Canada, she is looking forward to continuing her education in the Suzuki method. As a mother of 3, life is quite busy, but whenever there’s a quiet moment, she can be found in a corner, enjoying the fine pairing of a good book with dark, fair-trade chocolate. : )

Alethia Lewars has been a private music and theory instructor in Calgary for over 15 years. She has performed in a variety of ensembles on piano and flute and has many years of experience as a church music director, leading the musicians, choir and concert band.

Alethia strongly believes that every child has ability and considers it a privilege to participate in the growth of this ability as a Suzuki parent and teacher. Alethia is a registered piano teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

Soon Young Sohn received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Se-jong University in South Korea, where she was a private music teacher for ten years. She received additional training at the Gottingen Music Conservatory in Germany, where she taught in a Korean-language music school. Soon Young joined the Suzuki Society’s faculty in 2003 and is teaching both private and group lessons to violin students. Soon Young is a registered teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

Terrence McCarthy first joined STES as a teacher in 1974. He holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Calgary. From 1973 to 1976, he taught violin with the Society. In 1975, Terry began a twenty-five year career as a teacher of strings, band, social studies and language arts with the Calgary Board of Education. He is a past president of the Alberta String Association and is a founding member of the Orchestra Society of Calgary. He has played violin in the Calgary Civic Symphony and the University of Calgary Orchestra. Terry is a registered teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas and recently became a member of the Prairie Mountain Fiddlers. He often leads the Prairie Mountain Fiddlers in concerts around Calgary.

Dave Nathanael dedicates his life to be a good violin teacher asides of his time doing chamber and orchestra performances. He started his Bachelor of Music program at Pelita Harapan University in Indonesia with Dr. Tomislav Dimov, after he got the first place on the SPH-International Violin Competition. He then pursued his Master’s degree in violin performance and pedagogy at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in Canada, studying with Dr. Nancy Dahn. He was graduated Magna Cum Laude for both degrees.

Starting from his freshman year in his Bachelor program, he was invited to be the violin player with Jakarta Concert Orchestra and Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra. Later on, he’s also invited to play with Nusantara Symphony Orchestra, Twilite Orchestra, Jakarta Sinfonietta, as well as to lead Ananda Sukarlan Symphony Orchestra for an international piano competition. While he was in Indonesia, he was the associate concert master and assistant concert master in some of those orchestras. He was also invited to play as a soloist in the beautiful Aula Simfonia Jakarta.

Fortunately, music brought him out of Indonesia to broaden his experience in his musical journey. He was invited to be the associate concert master (and concert master) in Baroque Collegium ensemble in Singapore. In Australia, he is a violin player in Brisbane Concert Orchestra, Orchestra Concertino, and Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performed with Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Watershed Ensemble, and few ensemble groups in Canada. He was also chosen to take part in ‘III-Красноярский международный музыкальный фестиваль стран Азиатско- Тихоокеанского региона’ (Third – Krasnoyarsk International Music Festival) in Russia. In those countries, Dave and his fellow musicians established few ensembles: Quartet Passioné, Soli Quartet, The Quintets, and a few smaller ones. He has also been playing with humble world-class musicians, such as: pianist Adam Gyorgy, pianist Sam Haywood, violinist Linus Roth, and Amsterdam Viola Quartet.

Dave has taken master classes from musicians of various backgrounds, and he has been a certified Suzuki Music violin teacher since 2008 in Indonesia. He has worked with trainers from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Hong Kong, USA, Switzerland, Italy, Taiwan, and Korea. By that certification, Dave has been teaching Suzuki violin since 2009. Today, he’s enjoying his precious time teaching at Suzuki Talent Education Society in Calgary, both Early Childhood classes and violin teaching classes.

Award-winning Canadian cellist, Paul van der Sloot, spent his pre-collegiate years studying with John Kadz at the Mount Royal Conservatory in Calgary. He continued his studies in Boston at the New England Conservatory with Cleveland Quartet cellist Paul Katz, before returning home to study with Johanne Perron at the University of Calgary. He has enjoyed success as a performer with a versatile range of musical skills and experience, from performances as a soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra to rock & roll shows on electric cello at Calgary’s Palace Theatre.

In addition to performing, Paul enjoys his teaching positions at the Suzuki Talent Education Society of Calgary, the Calgary Multicultural “El Sistema” Orchestra program, and his own private studio, where he is dedicated to sharing his knowledge of the instrument with aspiring cellists of all ages. He also enjoys a casual career in the recording arts, producing recordings for fellow musicians and composing electronic music. 

When Paul’s cellos are put away, he can be found spending most of his free time mountaineering in Western Canada’s mountain regions, where he has climbed over 130 unique peaks in the past three years. Paul currently plays on a 2011 cello made by Wayne Burak.

Coenie Kruger was born in Windhoek, Namibia. Her family moved to South Africa when she was young and she spent her youth in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province. She attended the University of North West where she obtained a B. Mus (Hons.) degree and a Higher Education Diploma. She is married to Josef Kruger, a lawyer and they have three sons. They lived in Johannesburg where she taught music, piano and worked as an accompanist. In 1998 Coenie and her family emigrated to Canada. They now live in Calgary where she is a private piano teacher and accompanist.

Sandra Sims has had extensive experience as a solo pianist and collaborative artist, completing her Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance and Accompanying and Coaching at the University of Calgary and Westminster Choir College ( Princeton , New Jersey ) as well as attending summer courses in Paris , France ; Aspen , Colorado and Courtenay , BC . She has worked as a pianist in Toronto for the Canadian Opera Company, York University , the Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir, and the Hart House Singers and in Calgary for Rocky Mountain College , the Suzuki Talent Education Society, Cantare Children’s Choir, and the Academy at Mount Royal College. Most recently, Sandra completed her Bachelor of Education Degree at the University of Calgary and worked for 4 years as a teacher for the Calgary Board of Education.