• conductors
• rehearsals
• our goals

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 teaches private violin students in her Surrey studio, has been on faculty at Kwantlen College, adjudicates music festivals, and is in her 26th season as conductor of the Surrey Youth Orchestra. Under her direction, the Surrey Youth Orchestra has enjoyed notable success, annually winning top honours in the Kiwanis Music Festivals, and participating in very successful workshops at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and in the international Youth Music Festival in Harrogate, England. Lucille is also a freelance musician, performing with the West Coast Symphony and other groups.

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

Carla is in her 15^th successful season as Conductor of the Intermediate Strings.  Birston, active in youth music education for many years as co-founder and conductor of the highly acclaimed Semiahmoo Strings, studied with the late Helmut Hobeig and Gerald Stanick.  Carla has a busy schedule as a freelance musician and an examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music, and is also much in demand as a violin instructor in the White Rock area.

Her ability to make a piece of music come alive in a lilting, dynamic way was noted by Alex Browne, Arts and Entertainment Editor of the Peace Arch News, who after attending a Surrey Symphony Society concert wrote,

"…the strongest demonstration of the quality of musicality in the evening was to be found in the work of the Intermediate Strings, another Kiwanis gold medal ensemble, brilliantly conducted by Carla Birston. 

In spite of the youth of many members, this group is an outstanding model of control, dynamics and phrasing. Its version of Mozart's Divertimento in F Major showed Birston's fondness for somewhat daunting and demanding tempos, but was carried by a brilliance of attack and unison phrasing that often seemed far beyond the years of the players. 

The Bergamasca of Gianoncelli orchestrated by Respighi for his Ancient Airs and Dances suite - and re-arranged by Harold Birston - was a particular delight, demonstrating again the control of the ensemble in pianissimo effects, and extending contrapuntal and pizzicato sections."

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

Rick Dorfer returned to the Vancouver area during the summer of ’06 and is currently residing in White Rock, where he is quickly establishing himself as a performer and pedagogue. In addition to his second season as the conductor of the Surrey Junior Strings, Rick regularly performs with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and the Abbotsford Symphony and maintains a vibrant violin studio in White Rock and Langley.

Most recently, Rick concluded his studies at the University of Washington where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the tutelage of Ron Patterson. At the university, Rick was the concertmaster of the university symphony orchestra. In addition, he was featured with the orchestra in a “dynamic” solo appearance in the summer of ’05. While in Seattle, Rick was the Assistant Principal Second Violin in the Tacoma Symphony and was active in the freelance community through his participation in various recording sessions and ensembles.

Prior to his stay in Seattle, Rick was invited to study with the Miró Quartet at Kent State University in Ohio. While pursuing his Master’s degree in violin and conducting, Rick also had the opportunity to participate in the graduate string quartet program. Additionally, he holds an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor’s degree from University of British Columbia. Rick has also completed a career development residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts.

Rick’s future endeavours include establishing a strings summer camp in ’07 at a retreat centre on Orcas Island in Washington State.

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

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 the pit orchestras of the Toronto production of Miss Saigon, and the Arts Club Theatre production of Beauty and the Beast. Gregory presently teaches Beginning Instrumental Music and IB 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 second season as co-instructor for the Woodwind and Brass sections of the Surrey Youth Orchestra. This is actually Allan’s 7th season, as he has worked with the orchestra in previous years. Making music on double reeds is what energizes Allan. Often, you will find him conducting Concert Band, teaching music theory, coaching quintets and even rehearsing the Dixieland band at Trinity Western University. He also teaches music theory and bassoon at Langley Community Music School. Allan’s performing career includes the Vancouver Opera Orchestra (bassoon and contrabassoon) and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra (baroque and classical bassoons).