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 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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