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 Our
Conductors
Lucille Lewis, A.R.C.T., R.M.T.
Born and educated in Winnipeg, Lucille received her musical
training there under violinists Anne James, Victor Pomer
and Richard Seaborn, while later studies were with Steven
Staryk in Vancouver and Dr. Suzuki in the United States.
She has continued further studies in Europe as well as at
the Moscow Conservatory.
Lucille has been actively involved in promoting cultural
activities in our community and has been on the Boards of
the Surrey Symphony Society, Arts Council of Surrey and District,
the Surrey Parks and Recreation Commission, the Surrey Registered
Music Teachers Festival, the Surrey Centre for the Performing
Arts Society, and was a recipient of the Surrey Outstanding
Service to Arts Award.
Ms. Lewis currently teaches private violin students in her
Surrey studio, has adjudicated numerous music festivals and
scholarship competitions, and conducted violin clinics and
workshops for other students. She is now in her 29th season
as conductor of the Surrey Youth Orchestra, during which
time the group has enjoyed notable success, annually winning
top honours in the Kiwanis Music Festival, participating
in national workshops in Banff and Saskatoon, and the International
Youth Music Festival in Harrogate, England. Lucille has also
been on faculty at Kwantlen University College and
conducted the String Ensemble at the Langley Campus. Former concertmaster of the University of Manitoba Orchestra, Lucille is now a member of the West Coast Symphony, and has performed as a freelance musician with other orchestras and chamber ensembles in the Lower Mainland and throughout British Columbia.
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 returns to
the Surrey Symphony Society for his 4th season as 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 enjoying his 10th
season as 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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