Preparatory to Intermediate Divisions: Christopher Kin Ming Wong & Nicholas Rada
Senior Division: Allen Reiser
BIOGRAPHY OF CHRISTOPHER KIN MING WONG
Pianist Christopher Kin Ming Wong is one of Vancouver’s most sought after music educators, collaborative pianists, performers and adjudicators. Born and raised in Vancouver, he is a passionate and dedicated musician. He has over twenty years of experience teaching piano privately, ranging from beginner to diploma level while his collaborative work with instrumentalists spans the orchestral spectrum. Mr. Wong enjoys adjudicating festivals and sharing musical ideas with young musicians. He has adjudicated for the Clef Society of Burnaby’s Scholarship and Music Festival(2013), the Student Performer’s Guild Festival(Fall 2014, Spring 2017) the Chilliwack Lions Club Music and Dance Festival(2017) and the North Fraser Music Festival(May 2019). Mr. Wong is a pianist of diverse musical interests, having worked extensively with the UBC Opera Ensemble, BC Youth Choir, University Singers and the BCCF’s summer music program, Choral Stage, led by Marisa Gaetanne. Mr. Wong regularly plays for the West Point Grey Academy Junior choirs, directed by Eve Richardson and Stephen Anderson. Mr. Wong completed his initial musical studies with Rebecca Kelly and David Vandereyk. Later he studied with a number of celebrated musicians including Dr. Jamie Syer, Bruce Vogt, Jane Coop, Alexander Korsantia and Edward Parker. Mr. Wong holds a Bachelor’s in Piano Performance from the University of British Columbia and a Master’s in Piano Performance from the University of Victoria. Additionally, he holds LLCM and FLCM performance diplomas from the London College of Music, Thames University, England as well as both ARCT Piano Performer and ARCT Piano Teacher (Royal Conservatory of Music) diplomas. Mr. Wong believes that music education is an enriching experience and a key component in a child’s well-rounded education. Mr. Christopher Wong is a piano faculty member at the Vancouver Academy of Music.
BIOGRAPHY OF NICHOLAS RADA
Nicholas Rada is a pianist and a leading pedagogue in the Vancouver Area.
He has taught privately since 1999, and has been based in Vancouver, B.C., since 2005. His students have been regular competition winners both nationally and internationally, with many receiving first place at North Shore Music Festival, Richmond Music Festival, Kiwanis Music Festival, Student Performer’s Guild, Pacific Youth International Music Festival, Pacific Rim International Piano Competition, Seattle Young Artist’s Music Festival, among others. Since 2015, Nicholas’ students have been regular competitors at the National Finals of the Canadian Music Competition, with students receiving First Place annually since 2017.
Nicholas believes it is important to engage actively with the music community, and aims to encourage community engagement among his students, who perform at senior’s homes, community centers, and charity events every year. Nicholas is proud to have built a studio of serious young musicians, who are interested in not only in studying piano and theory, but advancing on to become young performers engaged in a multitude of musical activities. His students have gone on to advance their musical studies at a graduate level, with many having fruitful careers in music.
Since 2000, Nicholas has been providing masterclasses internationally, and has traveled abroad as a piano coach to Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and across the United States, including Greenville (South Carolina’s Governor’s School for the Arts), Seattle, Hartford, New Canaan, and New York. He has been a returning faculty member at Music Fest Perugia since 2017. Nicholas has been a judge at the C3 Piano Concerto Competition in Calgary, and a regularly returning judge at the Festival on the Lake since 2008.
Nicholas grew up in Vancouver, B.C., and was first taught to play and improvise by his father. Formal piano lessons continued in the hands of Patricia Hoebig, at which time Nicholas also began studying the violin under Helmut Hoebig. His early musical education consisted of intensive piano, violin, chamber music, and orchestra coaching with The Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra and The Vancouver Academy of Music. Nicholas went on to complete his Bachelor’s (with distinction) with a major in music and a minor in math at The State University of New York (Purchase) under the tutelage of Dr. Sasha Starcevich. In 1999, Nicholas was a regional finalist in the Music Teachers National Association Competition, as well as a top prizewinner in the national finals of the Canadian Music Competition. Following his Bachelor’s at Purchase, Nicholas went on to receive his Master’s at the University of British Columbia under the tutelage of Sara Davis Buechner.
Performance opportunities have brought him to such cities as Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Czeske Budejovice, Munich, Baden-Baden, Perugia, Udine, New York, Boston, New Haven, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle and many others. He has performed with numerous orchestras, most recently appearing with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Il Soloisti di Perugia, the Vancouver Academy of Music, and the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra.
BIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN REISER
“It was clear from his opening flourish in Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto that he is a player not only of dynamic brilliance, but of mellow touch...” (London - England)
Allen Reiser has performed with various orchestras in England and Canada, and recital engagements have taken him to nearly every major centre in Western Canada. He is a pianist of diverse musical interests, with a particular interest in Canadian piano music and the music of Franz Liszt.
Allen Reiser’s first released CD, “A Canadian Piano Album”, was nominated for a 2001 Prairie Music Award in the category of Outstanding Classical Recording. A second CD, “Sonatinas and Little Sonatas”, was released in June of 2009; “.... a wonderful collection of intermediate-level sonatas and sonatinas”. (Clavier Jan/Feb 2010) His Sonatina album was the basis for a book published in Germany, simply titled “Allen Reiser”, which focuses on the composers present on that CD.
Allen Reiser is active throughout Western Canada as a performer, adjudicator and master class clinician. He has presented workshops and recitals for local, provincial and national Registered Music Teachers’ Associations. A National Gold Medalist of the Toronto Conservatory of Music, he has also been honoured by Calgary’s Mount Royal University with a Distinguished Faculty/Teaching Award. His two major teaching positions have been at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and at Calgary’s Mount Royal College, now Mount Royal University, and he has been guest piano instructor at summer schools in Cranbrook, Camrose, Sundre and Victoria.
Allen Reiser’s former instructors include Peter Katin (England) and Dr. Robin Wood (Canada). He currently operates a private piano studio in Calgary.