RCM Community School Quick Links

Here are some links to the RCM Community School and its programs for the 2007-08 season. From the RCM site:

Founded in 1886, The RCM Community School is the oldest division of The Royal Conservatory of Music and is also one of the largest community-based music schools in North America.

Designed for people of all ages and levels of ability, it is recognized for its outstanding Early Childhood Education programs and its commitment to lifelong learning. The high-quality, practical and academic instruction offered by The RCM Community School represents a constantly evolving selection of musical traditions, including early music, classical, popular, folk, jazz and world music.

The Community School offers practical music classes and lessons in a variety of acoustic and electric musical instruments; classes in music theory and history, music appreciation, and music and technology; as well as accredited and internationally recognized professional certification courses in music teacher training.

Community School Home Page

Toronto Faculty
Mississauga Faculty

2007-2008 Course Schedule

• Full Course Schedule
  
• Private Lessons
• Children's Programs
• Classes for Teens
• Classes for Adults
• The Royal Diploma Program

(I will be teaching the Collaborative Piano Class Wednesday evenings starting September 26.)

Registration

• Registration Forms (pdf)
  
• Payment Options
• Registration Policies

Toronto Registration:

Tel: (416) 408-2825
Fax: (416) 408-1955
communityschool [at] rcmusic dot ca

Mississauga Registration:

Tel: (905) 891-7944
Fax: (905) 891-2897
cawthra [at] rcmusic dot ca

More contact info

Community School Concerts and Events
RCM Concerts and Events

Update 9/4/07:

The RCM site has been non-functional since August 31, apparently because of a server meltdown. The site should be up and running again by the end of this week.

RCM Community School 07-08 Course Schedule

The course schedule for fall and winter classes at the RCM Community School is now online and registration is open.

This year at the Community School I will be coaching singers and teaching piano at both the RCM main location and at my Oakville home studio, as well as teaching the Collaborative Piano Class at the main location Wednesday evenings at 7pm starting September 26.

Course Schedule
Registration Info

Registration and Student Services Office (Toronto):
Tel: 416.408.2825
Fax: 416.408.1955
communityschool [AT] rcmusic.ca

Registration and Student Services Office (Mississauga):
Tel: 905.891.7944
Fax: 905.408.1955
cawthra [AT] rcmusic.ca

The 5 C's of Learning Piano Technique

One of the most difficult things for any piano teacher to impart is the necessity of learning technique properly and incorporating it into a daily practice routine. I have found that talking about how to practice technique, why it is important, and what it can instill in an individual's playing are essential to a piano student's continued development.

Here are five C-words that can help with this task.


1. Command. Scales, triads, chords, and arpeggios are not stand-alone exercises--they are building blocks for creating music, as any composer will tell you. Knowing how to play these musical building blocks will simplify the process of learning and understanding music you encounter. In addition, technique contains the seeds of piano playing's physicality such as finger strength, good fingering habits, finger crossing, arm weight, hand and arm stability, and the integration of these over time into an efficient playing setup. That scale passage in a Beethoven Sonata will be much easier to incorporate into your performance if you know you've already learned and mastered the relevant scale and its fingering.

The Brown Scale Book For Piano. Scales, Chords and Arpeggios for Piano. Technique. Elementary-Advanced. Level: Grades 1-10. Book. 46 pages. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company. (HS1) See more info...

2. Clarity. Have you heard a perfectly executed 4-octave arpeggio lately? They are becoming rarer and rarer these days, to the chagrin of many an RCM examiner. Spending time on these technical exercises can teach you to listen to the details of playing necessary for developing an acute sense of awareness that can allow you to be in the moment in all your playing.

3. Comfort. Technique isn't just about the accuracy game, but about incorporating a large number of physical concepts into a whole. Are you comfortable when you play? Where is the tension? Does anything hurt? Working with your teacher in solving these problems through technique can create a basis for a stable and workable playing setup when playing repertoire.

4. Creativity. A common myth about technique is that is is boring. Part of a teacher's job is to make the daily dose into a fun and rewarding part of a student's practice day. Why not bundle basic technical exercises with the learning of musical concepts? Here are just a few ideas:

• Vary dynamics, pp to ff, play with crescendo and diminuendo
• Vary articulations--try playing scales with different articulations and combinations of articulations.
• Vary the order--Arrange the order of exercises by type (ie. octave scales, triads, etc.), key, play them all and note the problems, work only on problem patterns. Warm up with technique or cool down with it. Creating a new experience all the time can eliminate the boredom.
  

5. Confidence. It's performance night and you've waiting backstage. Have you done your work? If you haven't, you may experience the genuine fear associated with performance anxiety and it ain't fun. How to deal with performance anxiety? Do your preparation, both with the specific piece you're performing and the relevant technical requirements, so you can feel the deep confidence of both being able to play both musical works and your instrument with command, clarity, comfort, creativity, and confidence.

Piano Adventures Technique & Artistry Book, Level 1 By Randall Faber, Nancy Faber. For Piano. Piano Adventures. Level: Grade 1. Book. Published by The FJH Music Company, Inc. (FF1097) See more info...

10 Ways To Compete With The Lowest-priced Piano Teachers In Town

As the summer is upon us, now is the time when studios and schools begin to think about recruiting for the coming school year. As interested parents and students navigate the world of music teachers via advertisements, flyers, referrals, word of mouth, and AdSense ads, the inevitable question is eventually asked: "How much do you charge?"

The rate differences for piano teachers can vary drastically in an area. In Toronto, they vary from between $30 and $120 an hour. My rate through the Royal Conservatory of Music Community School is $62 per hour and $31 for a half hour, which puts me in the mid-priced range $100 per hour, which puts me near the top of the price range in Toronto. At my Oakville home studio, my private rate is a slightly more reasonable $60 per hour.

However, the toughest part of each year is competing with teachers that charge less than $35 per hour, many of whom are drastically under-priced for what they offer. My yearly battle has resulted in this guide on how to compete with the lowest-priced.

I'll start with a few words of wisdom from Martha Beth Lewis, who has written about this subject extensively on her site. On the subject of what fees actually are, she writes:

Here's what we should be thinking: our lesson fees are tuition.

• They reserve a space in our schedule for a specific student.
• Music instruction is an on-going thing.
• It is an investment in time and effort, as well as money.

Here's what we should -not- be thinking:

• Our lesson fees are payment for services rendered.
• They are a flat fee for a product delivered.
• They are fees paid for the duration of the buyer's interest.

As for the perils of charging too low a fee, she writes:

Charging a low fee - possibly because you think students will be unable to pay you more - typecasts you as a cheap teacher. An unspoken assumption among buyers is that you are not a very good teacher because if you were better you'd be more expensive! As a low-fee teacher, generally you will tend to draw from the pool of students who consider music instruction as a short-term activity and who consider what they pay you as money given for a one-time service rendered (like baby-sitting or a haircut). This kind of family tends to be cavalier about lesson attendance, cancellation, timely payment, and continuation in lessons.

I partially disagree with Martha on this one. In our find-the-lowest-price culture, parents are looking for a service, are willing to pay as little as possible for it if they can, and usually don't have the skills to equate price with quality unless they have prior experience accessing private education. On the other hand, a teacher with a higher rate often tends to have students with a commitment towards working hard and for a longer time period.

Therefore, here are some ways to compete with teachers that charge less:

1. Advertise your education. Teacher, institution, and program. If you have a high-quality education, that can certainly affect your fees, and a teacher with a graduate degree in music is entitled to charge more than one that doesn't.

2. Advertise your professional network. If you are a member of MTNA or a local registered teachers' association, you have access to professional development, student performing opportunities, and professional publications that non-members don't. In addition, many local associations have minimum rates for their members.

3. If you teach at an institution, broadcast their curriculum, related courses, and financial aid. Part of a teaching institution's value is in offering a wide umbrella of courses for different types of students. For example, at the Royal Conservatory of Music Community School where I teach, students have access to a large number of programs for all age levels, performing opportunities, and financial aid based on both merit and need.

4. Advertise your performing career. Not every teacher is up to the level where they can actually perform for an audience and make money from it. If you perform regularly, that reflects a depth of experience you can bring to the teaching studio that can be reflected in your fee.

5. Advertise with better materials. Cheaper teachers rarely go to the expense of creating high-quality materials, but this is one of the most effective ways of looking professional. Simple things like high-quality business cards and attractive-looking flyers can make a big difference.

6. Offer online registration and support. You don't have to go to the expense of creating a huge server infrastructure in your own home to do this. Music Teacher's Helper offers a full range of options, including online registration, automatic billing, website integration, and student progress reports all for a reasonable monthly fee.

7. Performing opportunities for students. Not every teacher develops their students to the level where they can actually present their work for an audience. If you are a teacher that regularly puts your students in recitals and festivals, that shows a level of commitment that goes beyond the ordinary and should be reflected in your price.

8. Have a professional-looking studio with high-quality grand or upright piano. Merely having a large and spacious studio with grand piano is not the sign of a great teacher, requiring only money and good design sense, but it can be reason to charge a higher rate since it is a better learning environment.

9. Have an extensive library of scores in your studio. It is equally important to advertise your score collection and is the sign of a teacher that has a long-term commitment to acquiring the core materials of your field.

10. Advertise your articles and publications. If you have taken the time to create articles, books, publications, authoritative websites, or methods, this shows that you are an authority in your field and one that creates and builds rather than simply imitates, and is one of the primary indicators of one who could qualify for a high-end teaching rate.

Some options that are mandatory but didn't make the list because they are ubiquitous these days, can be faked, and shouldn't really figure into your rate:

• Creating a website. They are so easy to make these days and cost very little if anything, depending on type and location. Everyone seems to have a great picture and bio and it's hard to put yourself in front of the pack unless you truly distinguish yourself in this department by taking the time to offer something the others don't in terms of content or features, lovingly maintained and updated over years rather than days.
• Statement of teaching philosophy. Although this is a standard question asked of prospective teachers by parents the world over, statements of this sort can be faked. How can a dedicated teacher encapsulate their entire teaching philosophy in one sound bite? However, you still need to know what to answer and have something worthwhile to say when asked the question.
• Student accomplishments. Also can be faked and I've seen it done many times. I've also seen teachers raise their rates to exhorbitant levels based on the success of one student, rather than long-term quality and commitment to teaching excellence.

In case you are concerned you might be charging too little, Freelance Switch has a list of 10 ways to tell. Two of them are listed below:

3. You never run out of work, yet you are subsisting on baked beans and 2 minute noodles.
8. Even though you work 80 hour weeks your income level qualifies you for welfare payments.

Christopher Foley's Resumé

Dr. Christopher Foley, pianist

Website: http://collaborativepiano.blogspot.com
Email: collaborative piano [at] g mail dot calm

EDUCATION

Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music, Eastman School of Music, 1994. Studied with Jean Barr. Minor field in Twentieth-Century Music, Theory, and History. (A list of related coursework is available upon request.)

Master of Music in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music, Eastman School of Music, 1991. Studied with Jean Barr (Accompanying and Chamber Music) and David Burge (Solo Piano).

Bachelor of Music, University of British Columbia, 1989. Studied with Robert Rogers (solo piano), Rena Sharon (accompanying) and Douglas Finch (chamber music). Graduated with the highest marks in Music.

A.R.C.T., Royal Conservatory of Music, 1985. Studied piano with Margaret Brew and Margot Ehling. Studied harmony and counterpoint with Mary Fraser.

TEACHING/COACHING EXPERIENCE

Faculty, Royal Conservatory of Music, 2003-. Faculty member in both the Glenn Gould Professional School and the Community School. Duties in the GGS have included coaching singers enrolled in the Performance Diploma and Artist Diploma programs, playing in master classes by visiting artists, teaching Vocal Literature to Performance Diploma singers. Duties in the Community School include teaching piano, collaborative piano, small ensembles, and vocal coaching. Presented a lecture at the 2004 Art of Teaching Conference entitled Collaborative Skills for the Developing Pianist. Currently a member of the Faculty Association Executive Committee.

Coach/Repetiteur for Tapestry New Opera Works, 2002-. Productions include Opera To Go, an evening of one-act operas, Nigredo Hotel by librettist Anne-Marie Macdonald and composer Nic Gotham, Facing South by librettist Don Hannah and composer Linda C. Smith, and workshops for Over the Japanese Sea: An Office Opera (librettist Julie Salverson and composer Juliet Palmer) and The Shadow (librettist Alex Poch-Golden and composers Omar Daniel). Duties also include serving as coach/pianist on the creative team for Tapestry’s unique Composer/Librettist and Director/Musical Director workshops held in August. These one-week intensive workshops highlight interdisciplinary collaborations in order to explore the full potential of music in live performance and to take full advantage of a shared artistic vision. Participants have access to singers, repetiteurs and dramaturgical staff while collaborating on selected works in development. Recent performances include appearances at the Word on the Street Festival, Toronto City Hall and the Algoma Fall Festival.

Faculty Resident Accompanist, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, 1994-. Pianist for the studios of Lewis Kaplan, Zakhar Bron, Lynn Blakeslee, Cheryl Staples, Peter Kurau, Steven Doane, James Dunham, Yehuda Gilad, Cynthia Hoffman, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Rami Solomonow, involving coaching and rehearsing with students, as well as playing on both faculty and student recital programs.

Noye’s Fludde, Benjamin Britten Celebration 2003. Vocal coach, orchestral contractor and duo pianist for this production in collaboration with Musical Director Nicholas Goldshmidt and Stage Director Joy Coghill. Leading roles were played by Gary Relyea, Marcia Swanston, and Douglas Campbell. This performance was broadcast on the CBC Television program Opening Night in March 2004.

La Fedeltà Premiata, Mooredale Concerts, September 2003. Vocal coach for this production in collaboration with Musical Director Julian Kuerti.

Sessional Faculty, University of British Columbia, 1996-2002. Duties included coaching students enrolled in collaborative piano courses in both the vocal and chamber fields. Other duties include a teaching a two-year song repertoire course that covers the history of the solo vocal repertoire from the Middle Ages to the present and a chamber music survey course for piano majors.

Sessional Faculty, Vancouver Academy of Music, 1994-2002. Duties included coaching singers and instrumentalists enrolled in the Academy's Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma programs; playing for lessons, recitals, auditions; coaching the Academy's opera Training program for productions of The Magic Flute and Albert Herring as well as numerous opera scenes workshops; teaching vocal repertoire; teaching sight-singing and ear training to students enrolled in the first two years of the Bachelor of Music program. Many singers coached at the Academy have gone on to success in major competitions such as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Tamara Hummel and David Lee were both finalists in New York) and the Eckhardt-Grammaté National Music Competition (Heather Pawsey won first prize in 1996). Also served as adjudicator for the Academy’s Senior Secondary Piano Competition in 1998 and 2001

Undergraduate Chamber Music, Eastman School of Music, 1993-94. Coached students regularly for their undergraduate piano chamber music requirement.

Teaching assistant for Undergraduate Accompanying class, Eastman School of Music, 1993-94. As Jean Barr's assistant, coached students regularly in both the instrumental and vocal repertoires.

Teaching assistant for Freshman Sight-Reading class, Eastman School of Music, Fall 1993. As Jean Barr's assistant, provided individualized instruction to students in class on such subjects as ornamentation, transposition, keyboard harmony, and clef-reading.

PROFESSIONAL PERFORMING EXPERIENCE

Pianist and Coach for the first two seasons of Bathroom Divas, a reality television show airing on Bravo!Canada. Bathroom Divas is a reality show that follows the progress of six young amateur opera singers chosen from national auditions as they attempt to survive a weekly elimination from Opera Boot Camp. The winning singer performed with Toronto Symphony Orchestra in season one and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in season two. Episodes with appearances include the Toronto auditions, numerous appearances in the Opera Boot Camp, as well as the final elimination that determines the winning singer in the season finale.

Festival of the Sound, Parry Sound, August 2006. Performed with season two Bathroom Divas finalists Elaine Hefferton Brown, Phillip Holmes, Paul Abelha, and Laura Landauer in a performance of operatic arias.

Divas Over the Top, Whitehorse Performing Arts Centre, November 2006. Performed Bathroom Divas season one finalists Sonja Gustafson, Sonja Anderson, Emilie Losier, Sergio Restagno, and Gail Malcolm and season one judges Mary Lou Fallis and Gary Relyea in a program of popular operatic selections. The trip to Whitehorse also involved judging a mini-competition (Outhouse Divas) and presenting a lecture and master class on the art of collaborative piano.

Women in Music Festival, Eastman School of Music, April 2006. Performed excerpts of Laura Schwendinger’s Pointillisms and Barbara Pentland’s Sung Songs with mezzo-soprano Wendy Hatala Foley.

Eastman School of Music Faculty Concert Series, February 2006. Performed two-piano eight-hand repertoire with Eastman Faculty member Jean Barr, fellow guest artist Judy Kehler Siebert, and Eastman graduate students.

University of Western Ontario Faculty of Music Friday Noon Hour Series, January 2006. Performed an all-Schubert program with tenor Kevin McMillan and flutist Anne Thompson.

Popera, a presentation of Opera Ontario, Hamilton and Kitchener, December 2004. Performed various cabaret selections for voice and piano with Jean Stilwell, mezzo-soprano.

FestItalia Opera Cabaret, presented by the Algoma Fall Festival, Sault Ste. Marie, October 2004. Performed with Tamara Hummel, Xin Wang, Lynne McMurtry, Martin Houtman, and Ian Funk. This was a concert of various operatic arias and ensembles presented by the Algoma Fall Festival in honour of the Italian community’s contribution to the civic life of Sault Ste. Marie.

So You Want to Sing a Show Tune, Helliconian Hall, September 2004. Pianist and coach for a one-woman show written and performed by Rebecca Hass and directed by Michael Albano. Works include various operatic and broadway favorites.

Sharon Temple Concert Series, Sharon, Ontario, June 2004. Performed with Colin Ainsworth, tenor. Works of Britten, Hahn, and Schubert.

Trinity in the Square Summer Series, Toronto, June 2004. Performed with Zorana Sadiq, soprano. Works of Golijov, Pack, Raminsch, and Ryan.

Music Around Us Young Artist Series, Glenn Gould Studio at CBC Toronto, October 2003. Performed with Peter MacGillivray, baritone and the Accordes String Quartet. Peter MacGillivray appeared as First Prize winner in the 32^nd CBC/Radio Canada Young Performers Competition. This concert featured works by Schubert, Rachmaninov, and Vaughn Williams.

DISTILLATION: the water project, a production of Continuum Contemporary Music at the DeLeon White Gallery, April 2003. Performed with the Continuum ensemble for this multimedia project that explores water and its nature through interaction between different media. This instillation/concert featured the work of video artist Ramona Lamlochand as well as the music of Linda C. Smith, Andriy Talpash, and Juhan Puhm.

First Annual Karin Kieser Award Ceremony, Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto, Jan. 2003. Performed with Ryan Scott, percussion, and Sanya Eng, harp, in Abigail Richardson's dissolve, winner of the first annual Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music, presented at the Glenn Gould Studio at CBC Toronto and recorded for the CBC Radio Two program Two New Hours. This recording later won Ms. Richardson first prize in the under-30 category in the International Rostrom of Composers competition and was broadcast over 100 times the following season in various European countries.

Loras College Guest Artist Series, Dubuque, Iowa, Jan. 2003. Performed with violinist Mitchell Johnson, first prize winner in the 2002 Concert Artists International Competition in works of Grieg, Beethoven, Debussy, and Kreisler.

Six at the Beginning, a presentation of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Dec. 2002. Performed with Mike Kane and Linda C. Smith in John Sherlock’s Line Dance Variation for three vintage electric pianos with dancers. This work was a result of the first musical commission ever offered by the School of Toronto Dance Theatre.

Canadian Contemporary Music Workshop, Toronto, September 2002. World Premiere of Space for solo piano by Toronto composer Jackie Shin.

furtherEASTfurtherWEST Festival, Vancouver, June 2002. Presented by Vancouver ProMusica, this is a festival that highlights connections and collaborations between Eastern and Western ensembles and musical traditions. Performed Eliot Weisgarber's Japanese Miscellany for solo piano, as well as with the Vietnamese ensemble Tak Chi in works of Mark Armanini.

Filumena Workshop, Banff Centre, May 2002. Coach, repetiteur, and member of the creative team for this musical and dramaturgical workshop for John Estacio's opera Filumena, to be premiered at the Calgary Opera in early 2003.

120 Songs for the Marquis de Sade, Modern Baroque Opera and Vancouver NewMusic co-production, Vancouver, Feb.-March 2002.This work was the winner of the 2001 Alcan Performing Arts Award. Vocal coach and pianist/MIDI keyboardist for the production. Libretto by Peter Hinton, music by Peter Hannan, co-directed by Kate Hutchinson and Peter Hinton. This work will be the subject of an upcoming television documentary co-produced by French and English CBC to be broadcast nationally, in addition to a radio broadcast on both CBC networks.

Vancouver New Music Ensemble, Core member, 1996-2002. Pianist for Vancouver New Music Ensemble. Highlights include Shifting Tides, a concert featuring women composers as part of the VNMS’s Vox Femina festival; Inner Space, featuring chamber music with brass and electronics; and was a featured soloist on Countdown: The Odd Decades, a six-hour retrospective of music from the 10’s, 30’s, 50’s 70’s, and 90’s. Other concerts include the first three Vancouver International New Music Festivals, the VNMS's 25th Anniversary Concert, a tour of eastern Canada featuring concerts in Toronto and Montreal, and solo appearances on a concert entitled The Wanderer: Chamber Music of Africa.

Musical Director and Pianist for the 3 Divas, 2001-2002 season. The 3 Divas are a “trio of talented entertainers with beautiful voices, gorgeous stage presence, and a delightful sense of irreverence.” Musical selections are chosen from the operatic, art song, and popular repertoires. Recent engagements include two sold-out concerts in Kelowna and Vernon, British Columbia.

B.C. Tour with Canadian violinist Judy Kang, September 2001. Music of Beethoven, Massenet, and Wieniawski. Concerts in Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Terrace, and Summerland. Ms. Kang performs on a 1689 Baumgartner Stradivarius on loan from the Canada Council.

Nicolai Korndorf Memorial Fundraiser Concert, University of British Columbia, September 2001. Pianist for Music for Owen Underhill and his Magnificent Eight. Broadcast for future broadcast on the CBC Radio 2 Program 2 New Hours. All proceeds toward the Korndorf Foundation.

Sonic Boom Music Festival, Vancouver, Spring 2001. Performed solo piano works of John Baker and Matt Rogers at the Western Front.

Richardson's Roundup on CBC Radio One, Fall 2000. Two performances with soprano Heather Pawsey of Canadian parlour music from the 19th and 20th centuries have be featured on this popular and eclectic radio show.

CBC Regina Galleria Series, May 2000. Performed with soprano Heather Pawsey a program of historical Canadian music written before 1914. Works chosen were from the art song, opera, parlor music, patriotic, ragtime, and march genres. Highlights from this performance will be performed in September 2000 on the nationally broadcast CBC Radio Two program “Richardson’s Roundup”.

Visiting Composers Series, Cleveland State University, April 1998. Performed Pointillisms, a work for solo piano by American composer Laura Schwendinger.

April in Santa Cruz New Music Festival, April 1998. Performed Pointillisms, a work for solo piano by American Composer Laura Schwendinger.

Eckhardt-Grammaté National Music Competition Winners' Tour 1996. Pianist for the winner of the 1996 competition, soprano Heather Pawsey. The tour included recitals at McGill University, Carleton University, Mount Allison University, the University of Toronto, Lakehead University, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Brandon University, the University of Regina, the University of Saskatoon, the Calgary Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Vancouver Academy of Music, in addition to a residency at the Banff Centre.

Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, Brunswick, Maine, 1994-. Works of Elliott Schwartz, Colin Holmiski, Witold Lutoslawski, Christopher Winders, Gordon Beeferman, and Laura Schwendinger, broadcast on National Public Radio station WPKM Portland.

Vocal Arts in Concert, Vancouver, February 1995. Performed with soprano Diane Lewarne and baritone Craig Morash in a program in honor of the 50th anniversary of Anton Webern's death.

Inaugural Concert of Eastman-Dickinson Concert Series, Dickinson College, February 1994. Performed with flutist Julie Tunstall and cellist Richard Eckert.

Opus Classics Concert Series, SUNY Buffalo, January 1994. Performed with violinist Shannon Nance, broadcast live on National Public Radio station WBFO Buffalo.

Performed with Francesco Manara, concertmaster of the Orchestra del Teatro dalla Scala, Milan, August 1993. Platten Stenen Brug, Alkmaar, Holland. The performance was broadcast live on North Holland Radio.

Guest Artist Series, Cornell University, October 1992. Performed with violinist Shannon Nance.

Toured Japan with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, June 1992. Performances in Hiroshima, Osaka, Gifu, Tokyo, and other cities on the main island to promote their new Sony Classical disc.

Toured with Toru Miura, February 1992. Toru Miura is an internationally recognized euphonium soloist and records for Denon. Concerts in Mount Holyoke College, Ithaca College, Cornell University, and Eastman School of Music.

Performances with Intermusica Ensemble at Eastman. Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (selections) by John Cage, as part of a concert In Memoriam of John Cage; Nocturnes for violin and piano by George Crumb; Warble for Lilac-time for soprano and piano by Elliot Carter; Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo for tenor and piano by Benjamin Britten

Pianist with Musica Nova Ensemble at Eastman, 1992-94. Works by Simon Bainbridge, Christopher Rouse, Ned Rorem, Ruth Crawford, James Willey, Leslie Bassett, and Peter Maxwell Davies.

Over 150 recitals at the Eastman School of Music, 1989 to 1994, with students of voice, violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, french horn, and percussion.

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Owner and Author of The Collaborative Piano Blog, November 2005-. The Collaborative Piano Blog is a regularly updated weblog that addresses issues of importance related to the piano in ensemble, advertises current events I am engaged in, as well as those of selected colleagues in Toronto and elsewhere. Some articles include a definition of collaborative piano, a list of required and preferred skills for the collaborative pianist, collected ideas on how to learn a song or aria, and a list of viable career options in collaborative piano. This site is hosted by Blogspot, and is also accessible through the domain www.collaborativepiano.com. This site is currently the top collaborative piano site in the world (as ranked by Google and other leading search engines) and is also the top classical music blog in Canada.

Member of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Association at the Royal Conservatory of Music, 2005-. Co-opted in the fall of 2005 and elected in the fall of 2006. Duties include participating in the business and projects of the Executive Committee, including organizing FWD:Music, a faculty recital series started to create a projected Faculty Association scholarship for the Community School.

Vice-President of Special Projects, National Association of Teachers of Singing Ontario Chapter, 2002-2006. Full member of NATS since 1997. Current duties include serving on executive committee, as well as creating and organizing activities bringing together the talents of the diverse chapter membership, the Toronto musical community, and the broader NATS community throughout Canada and the United States. Recent accomplishments include a panel discussion for the fall NATS workshop that highlighted the unique difficulties and challenges facing high-school level singers as they go through the audition process for universities and conservatories. Representatives from nine Ontario post-secondary institutions were on the panel, and because of the high turnout it has been decided to re-mount this workshop in the fall of 2005.

Board Member and Treasurer, National Association of Teachers of Singing Vancouver Chapter, 1998-2002. Duties included managing finances for the chapter, finding investment opportunities for the scholarship fund, budgeting for workshops by visiting artists, as well as participating in the process of re-writing the chapter's constitution and by-laws.

Cofounder, Vancouver Song Club, 1998-2002. Begun along with NATS member Carol Brauner, the Vancouver Song Club is a round-table discussion group and performing venue for young singers. Membership includes young professionals, students, and amateurs that meet on a monthly basis to perform for each other and exchange input regarding their professional development.

LANGUAGES

French, German, Italian--Reading knowledge, knowledge of diction in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Latin--Knowledge of diction in the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Full bio

Christopher Foley is a collaborative pianist dedicated to the fields of teaching, chamber music, art song, opera, and contemporary music. At the Eastman School of Music, he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1994, majoring in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music as a student of Jean Barr and David Burge. He is on the faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music, where he teaches piano, collaborative piano, vocal literature, vocal coaching, and serves as the head of the voice department at the Royal Conservatory School. He spent fourteen summers as Resident Accompanist at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine. In 1989 at the Eckhardt-Grammaté Competition for the Performance of Contemporary Music, he won first prize for the performance of the commissioned work (Walter Buczinski's Mosaics) and third prize overall. In 1991, he won first prize in piano at the Kneisel Competition for the Performance of German Lieder in Rochester, New York.
As pianist and repetiteur for Tapestry New Opera Works, he has been involved with recent, as well as being on the creative team for Tapestry's unique Composer/Librettist and Director/Musical Director laboratories. In 2010 he was the first Leadership Legacy Intern at Tapestry, where he created the Tapestry Songbook program, a workshop and recital program aimed at educating emerging singers and pianists in the new opera development process. At the 2006 Women in Music festival at the Eastman School of Music, he will be performing works of Laura Schwendiner and Barabara Pentland. In 2003, he performed works by Linda Catlin Smith, Andriy Talpash and Juhan Puhm with the Continuum Ensemble in Distillation: The Water Project, an interdisciplinary project featuring video installations by Ramona Ramlochand. A longtime member of the Vancouver New Music Ensemble, solo performances have included The Wanderer: Chamber Music of Africa and two critically acclaimed six-hour retrospectives of 20th-century music, entitled Countdown: The Odd Decades and Countdown: The Even Decades—Distance and Enchantment. In March of 2002 he coached and performed in Modern Baroque Opera's production of Peter Hannan's controversial new opera 120 Songs for the Marquis de Sade.

At the 2012 Honens International Piano Competition, he provided the color commentary for CBC's live global webcast of the final concerto round. Some of the many venues at which he has recently performed include the Eastman School of Music Faculty Concert Series, the University of Western Ontario, Cleveland State Composers’ Forum, Vancouver International New Music Festival, April in Santa Cruz, Sonic Boom, Toronto Arts Week, Word on the Street, Canadian Contemporary Music Workshop, Toronto Dance Theatre, Algoma Fall Festival, and the Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music. In June of 2004, his recording of Abigail Richardson's dissolve with Ryan Scott and Sanya Eng was awarded first prize in the under-30 division of the International Rostrum of Composers and was broadcast over 100 times throughout Europe and North America in the 2004-05 season. As author of the Collaborative Piano Blog, he writes about issues of importance to the collaborative pianist, as well as current musical events in Toronto and elsewhere. Dr. Foley has recently appeared as pianist and coach for the singers featured on the Bravo!Canada reality show Bathroom Divas. 

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Last revised 10/28/12

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