Our Conductors

Dr. John van Deursen, M..M. (Northwestern), D.M.A. (Br.Col.)

Dr. Deursen is Music Director of Orchestra Armonia, a Vancouver area string ensemble, and Conductor of the Concert Winds at UBC, as well as Director of the Classical program of the Comox Valley Youth Music Centre. He is also instructor of Trombone and Tuba at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

John brings a wealth of experience from his ties to Asia - from 1995 until 2005 he held the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Taipei Philharmonic and was Director of the Taipei Philharmonic Pops; he also led the group in prestigious concert halls in the Czech Republic, Sweden and Helsinki, as well as the National Concert Hall in Taipei. John has been the Music Director of the Hsinchu Philharmonic in Taiwan and has made guest conducting appearances with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the Taipei City Symphony. John has also made his premiere with the Symphony of the Kootenays.

In addition to his Doctorate in Music (Conducting) from UBC, John undertook training with international master instructor Gustav Meier in Masterclasses in the U.S., Europe and Canada, and spent several years as assistant to Henry Mazer at the Taipei Philharmonic, gaining experience and knowledge from Mazer's time as Associate Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Each year, John works as a clinician with visiting wind bands and orchestras to UBC, and he has also given brass masterclasses on trombone in Taiwan, China, Korea and Canada.

Carla Birston, A.R.C.T., R.M.T., Bach. Of Music, Performance (U.B.C.)

Carla Birston received her Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from the University of British Columbia, where she studied with the acclaimed violist and pedagogue, Gerald Stanick. 

Carla has maintained a full class of private students in White Rock for twenty-five years and performs as a freelance orchestral musician. She has served as adjudicator for several music festivals in British Columbia, and is a Strings Examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music. One of the most rewarding facets of her career has been as a conductor of youth orchestras, including the Intermediate Strings and the Semiahmoo Strings

Rick Dorfer, D.M.A., M.Mus., B.Mus., Artist Diploma

Violinist Rick Dorfer currently resides in White Rock, B.C., where he is quickly establishing himself as a performer, adjudicator, and pedagogue. Rick is a member of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and also enjoys a variety of freelance opportunities, including recording sessions and new music performances. As an educator, Rick maintains an extensive teaching studio in White Rock, conducts the Surrey Symphony Society’s Junior Strings Orchestra, and coordinates the Surrey Symphony’s new Chamber Music Program. Rick has also recently adjudicated a number of music festivals and given many masterclasses throughout the region. Rick enjoys directing the Music, Meadows, and Mountains Retreat, a summer strings program located on beautiful Orcas Island, Washington. 

Gregory Farrugia, B. Mus. in Music Education, B. Ed

Gregory Farrugia is co-instructor for the Woodwind and Brass sections of the Surrey Youth Orchestra. Gregory Farrugia studied trombone and music education at the University of Toronto where his principal teachers were Gordon Sweeney, Frank Harmantas and Phil Nimmons. Upon being accepted into the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, he had the privilege of studying with renowned brass performers and educators Richard Erb and Vincent Chicowicz. He has been a music educator, conductor and clinician for over twenty years and enjoys dividing his time between teaching young musicians and performing. He has played with the orchestras of Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, the Canadian Opera Company and the Vancouver Opera, as well as Vancouver’s top Jazz and Latin ensembles. He has also performed as a soloist with Vancouver’s own Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and has played in various professional theatre productions in Vancouver and Toronto. Gregory presently teaches music in the Surrey school district, and is an active freelance trombonist in the Lower Mainland. He is also a member of Vancouver’s Phoenix Chamber Choir. Gregory lives in North Delta with his wife Ellen, three wonderful children, and a very active Labrador retriever named Zeta.

Allan Thorpe, D.M.A. (U.B.C.)

Allan Thorpe is co-instructor for the Woodwind and Brass sections of the Surrey Youth Orchestra. Making music on double reeds is what energizes Allan. You will also find him conducting Concert Band, teaching music theory, coaching quintets at Trinity Western University.  There were even some semesters where he had the joy of coaching a Dixieland Band there. Allan’s performing career, which has taken him to Asia and throughout North America, includes work with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra (bassoon and contrabassoon) and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra (baroque and classical bassoons).


 
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