Adjudicators for 2022 SPG Festival:
- Jean Brown, BC https://www.pianotipsbyjean.com/
- Libby Yu, BC http://www.libbyyu.com/
- Thomas Green, Ontario https://www.rcmusic.com/bios/thomas-green
Jean Brown - Junior Classes
Jean Brown has been a piano teacher in the Greater Vancouver area for over thirty-five years. She has consistently developed students from a young age who have matured to regularly receive accolades placing first in the province and within the top 3 nation-wide.
Jean is a certified Suzuki Piano Teacher and has been teaching Suzuki method to young children for the past 30 years. The essentials of the Suzuki method are an early beginning, parental participation, and memorization by listening and repetition. Jean has had the pleasure of having received instruction from the esteemed Jean Lyons and Lorne Watson, among others, in teachings regarding performance and instruction.
Jean has a rich history of involvement within the musical community, serving as an executive for the Alumni of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto for several years. She has been involved in the adjudication of various music festivals throughout the lower mainland, and regularly organizes local piano concerts for her students’ benefit. In past years Jean has taught at the Langley Community School of Music, and she presently teaches at the Jean Lyons School of Music in Vancouver as well as at her private studio in Port Moody.
Jean Brown has had several profoundly outstanding students throughout her career as a piano teacher. They have represented Vancouver, Coquitlam and the Fraser Valley in the Provincial Festival of the Arts, with several First-Place winners across the province. Her students have also represented Vancouver in the National Finals of the Canadian Music Competitions in various cities across Canada including Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Jolliette, and Vancouver.
Jean has twice taught students, in 1991 and 2016, who have received the Gold Medal for the highest ARCT mark in Canada. In 2016, her student was recognized as the “Young Artist for 2017” after placing First in the Registered Music Teachers national competition for ages 25 and under. Many more of Jean’s students have been recognized with other awards and examination results from the Royal Conservatory of Music, including several Gold Medals for various grades.
Ms. Brown has recently expanded her expertise to include the instruction of prospective piano teachers, sharing several tools and techniques that have proven successful with her numerous students. For up to date information on Jean’s newest events and material, we invite you to look up and/or follow Jean Brown Piano hosted through Facebook.
Libby Yu - Intermediate Classes
Vancouver pianist Libby Yu is recognized as an accomplished performer, collaborator, teacher and adjudicator.
She began her early studies with Phyllis Taylor and Edward Parker and then studied extensively with Lee Kum-Sing at both the Vancouver Academy of Music and at the University of British Columbia, where she earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance.
Libby captured the First Prize of the 27th CBC Radio National Competition for Young Performers and Second Place in the Eckhardt-Gramatte Competition for Canadian Music. She came to international recognition when she was awarded a Diploma of Honour at the 13th International Frederic Chopin Competition held in Warsaw, Poland.
A favourite with audiences, Libby has graced international stages including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Carnegie Recital Hall in New York, Le Chatre in Nohant, and the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. She has appeared as soloist with major symphony orchestras such as the Netherlands Philharmonic, Montreal, Toronto, National Arts Centre, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Vancouver, CBC Vancouver, Manitoba Chamber and Victoria. She has also performed in international festivals such as the "Chopin chez George Sand" Festival in Nohant, France, the Banff School, and the Holland Music Sessions, where she was chosen for the World Tour.
Libby has recorded in studio and in recital for CBC Radio and is also collaborates regularly in various chamber music and duo recitals. On the local scene in Vancouver, she brings her passion for music to share with audiences of all ages and venues; she is an artist for the Health Arts Society "Concerts in Care" which allows her to share her music to residential care homes and hospitals. She engages actively in music education and passes on her love for music to her studio of students who over the years, have won honours locally, provincially and nationally.
Libby has two solo albums available on CD and digital distribution: Chopin Recital 1 and Chopin Recital 2. The recording "Brahms: Sonatas and Songs" with violist Nicolo Eugelmi and mezzo-soprano Mariateresa Magisano was highly praised by the Strad Magazine and was also named a "Strad Selection".
Libby’s most recent solo album features her heartfelt program for the “Recital For Hope”.
Thomas Green - Senior Classes
Currently Pedagogy Specialist with The Royal Conservatory’s Certificate Program, Thomas Green served as The Royal Conservatory’s Chief Examiner from 2007 to 2020. He has conducted examinations and presented workshops on behalf of The Royal Conservatory and has adjudicated at music festivals across North America. In addition, he has served as Lead Facilitator for The Royal Conservatory’s online Teacher Certification courses and has facilitated online courses on Elementary-, Intermediate- and Advanced-level Piano Pedagogy. He currently serves on the repertoire selection committee for the 2022 Royal Conservatory Piano Syllabus.
Dr. Green maintains a flourishing studio of elementary-, intermediate- and advanced-level students in Windsor, Ontario, where he also teaches piano and theoretical subjects at the Académie Ste Cécile. A former Editor-in-Chief of The Frederick Harris Music Company, he holds a Bachelor’s degree from McGill University, a Master’s in Performance from the Université de Montréal, where he studied piano under Yvonne Hubert and accompaniment under John Newmark, and a Ph.D. in Music History from Brandeis University, where he completed a dissertation on the compositional process of Jean-Philippe Rameau.
Dr. Green has taught music history at McGill University and The University of Toronto and for many years served as an instructor in music history and theory at The University of Windsor. His research interests include the history of performance practice and the history of pedagogy, and he has given presentations on both at national and international conferences.
Thomas Green is an Adler Certified Professional Coach who enjoys working with students toward achieving their full potential.