Classical Programs: Classical programs include; Classical Intensive, Piano Intensive, and String Playhouse.
Summer Festival Choir: Combines singing and learning with a community spirit.
Come sing with us!
Auditions for CYMC Musical Theatre's production of Come From Away will be open soon.
Stay tuned to our Instagram and Facebook for more details.
Please contact us with any questions.
Island Jazz Intensive will return summer 2026.
More information soon.
Stay tuned to our Instagram and Facebook for more details.
Please contact us with any questions.
As of Jan 15th 2026 Classical Programs are open to registration. Musical Theatre and Island Jazz will be launching in the next couple of weeks. Thank you for your patience.
Our faculty brings years of experience, passion, and care to every lesson.
Originally from Windsor, Ontario, Kathryn is an active & versatile freelance violinist and educator on Vancouver Island. Her passionate and intuitive musicianship has brought her the opportunity to perform with distinguished ensembles around Canada and the USA. Currently, she performs with the Victoria Symphony, Music for The Pause, Victoria Baroque Players, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and Sidney Classical Orchestra.
She was born into a musical family, with both parents educators and string performers, and has many fond early childhood memories of tagging along to with her father, professional cellist and conductor, at his Windsor Symphony rehearsals.
She studied at the University of Toronto and University of Michigan under the tutelage of the late Yehonatan Berick as a merit scholar. Over the years, she has brought her talent various music festivals, including the Vancouver Bach Festival, Berwick Academy at the Oregon Bach Festival, Brott Music Festival, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Domaine Forget, National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and Interlochen Centre for the Arts.
As a busy entrepreneur, Kathryn is the owner, artistic director, and avid arranger of Cascadia Strings, a highly sought-after, award-winning professional event music company, as well as a concert chamber ensemble, providing live music from Victoria to Whistler and everywhere in between.
Kathryn can also be heard on the album, “La riche canadienne: The Music of Elinor Dunsmuir”, an exciting project which premieres a collection of post-romantic, recently-unearthed chamber works by the fascinating Canadian composer.
Campbell River native, Tyson Doknjas, is an active freelance violinist and private teacher in Victoria. He is a member of the Victoria Symphony and performs with various groups on Vancouver Island, including Pacific Opera Victoria, Victoria Baroque, Pacific Baroque Festival, and Aventa Ensemble.
Tyson studied violin performance at the University of Victoria with Sharon Stanis of the Lafayette String Quartet. Tyson has participated in various orchestral programs across the country, including the National Academy Orchestra in Hamilton, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto, and Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific in Powell River.
As an avid music educator, Tyson worked as a string mentor through the University of Victoria, where he worked at grade schools across the Greater Victoria region. He was also a coach for the Sooke String Academy as well as a teacher for the Harmony Project in Sooke, B.C.
On multiple occasions, he has also served as a string sectional coach for the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra. Tyson enjoys adjudicating at various music festivals, including: the performing arts festivals in Kamloops, Cowichan Valley, the North Island, and Campbell River.
Violist Jessica Pickersgill’s passion for music began at a young age and has since blossomed into a genuine desire to help others fall in love with music through her performance. As a result, she has performed for audiences in Canada and around the world, including Italy, Russia, and America.
Jessica attended the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance under the tutelage of two master violists: Rebecca Albers, the Assistant Principal of the Minnesota Orchestra, and Lawrence Dutton, Violist from the esteemed Emerson String Quartet. She then continued to expand her education and performance practice at the renowned New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston, where she studied under Avery Fischer Grant Recipient and William Primrose Competition winner, Dimitri Murrath.
She graduated Cum Laude with a Master's in Viola Performance. During her extensive educational pursuits, Jessica continued to work and study with world-renowned musicians, including Hsin-Yun Huang, James Ehnes, Richard Aaron and many more. During this time, her enthusiasm for chamber music was fostered through coaching from eminent ensembles, including The Emerson String Quartet, The Borromeo String Quartet, The St Lawrence String Quartet and a host of others.
During her time in school, she often subbed for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra under music director Benjamin Zander, was invited and attended the Rome Chamber Music Festival three times, and was notably selected as a finalist for the Lower String Concerto Competition at NEC.
She is now on the sub list for a variety of orchestras, including the Victoria Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, is performing solo and chamber works around Victoria, and is also dedicating her time back to younger generations, acting as a teacher and head of the string department at the Victoria House of Music.
Originally from Burns Lake, BC, Erin is a freelance cellist, session musician and cello teacher, now settled in beautiful Victoria, BC. As a young artist, she performed her solo set at the “Listen Up” Festival in Vancouver and was selected to record her compositions at CBC Radio 2.
Receiving multiple fine arts scholarships, including an entrance scholarship to Capilano University, she completed her studies at the University of Victoria, earning her Bachelor's of Music degree in 2010 and Master's of Cello Performance in 2012 under the mentorship of Pamela Highbaugh-Aloni.
Erin is a founding member of the two-time award winning “Cascadia Strings”, as well as writing/recording/performing in her band “Auburn Blind.” As a cellist she has played with the Prince George Symphony, the former Galiano Chamber Orchestra, Sooke Philharmonic and the Civic Orchestra.
Erin has had lots of fun recording in music studios all over Vancouver Island with groups such as Current Swell, Fox Glove and Noah Edwards. Session recording has also been an exciting new venture for Erin, recording cello for documentaries The Wild (2018), Walking With Plants (2019) and soon to be released indigenous documentary to be featured on Chek News, Tzouhalem (2021) She has also done session work for Cloudrise Pictures including the animation mini series: Esluna: The First Monolith (2019) and Esluna: The Crown of Babylon (to be released in 2021).
Derek Stanyer grew up in Langley, BC. He earned his Bachelor of Music from the University of Victoria in 2010 and his Master of Music from the University of Ottawa in 2012, supported by a full scholarship.
He has won numerous awards and prizes, including being a finalist in the national Knigge Piano Competition, the University of Victoria Concerto Competition, the University of Ottawa Concerto Competition, and the Sooke Philharmonic Concerto Competition.
He won the top prize in the Johann Strauss Competition, allowing him to study at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, in 2012. He has also attended the Vancouver International Song Institute and the Strings and Keys chamber music program in Alberta.
Derek completed a diploma at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris from 2012 to 2014, and is currently in the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at the University of British Columbia on a full Doctoral Fellowship. He has performed extensively both as a soloist and as a collaborative pianist throughout Canada, France, Belgium, Austria, Netherlands, USA, and Mexico.
He has worked as a vocal coach for the UBC Summer Opera program since 2014, and is currently working as an opera coach for UBC Opera. Recent notable performances include the NATSAA vocal competition, the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the Silk Purse Gallery concert series, and the Music Friends concert series in Vancouver.
Derek focuses on the art songs of Nikolai Medtner; his doctoral research concerns these works, which are a substantial yet largely ignored part of the art song repertoire.
Lori Mazey teaches Theatre Arts and Dance at G.P. Vanier Secondary School in Courtenay, BC. She has her degree in Theatre, her Master's in Educational Leadership, and is an Associate of Trinity College in London for Speech Arts.
Lori has directed over 50 musical and plays for School District 71, CYMC and companies including Courtenay Little Theatre. She has won numerous awards both regionally and provincially for directing with the ABCDE and Theatre BC Drama Festivals. Award-winning productions include Biloxi Blues, Never Swim Alone, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged, Romeo and Juliet, At the Bottom of Lake Missoula, The Laramie Project, and Torn Rainbow – a show she wrote about homophobia in high schools and which toured Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland over three years.
Lori is the recipient of the Queens Jubilee medal for the arts, ABCDE’s B.C. Drama Teacher of the Year award, the Comox Valley Arts Council’s Mentor of the year award, Rotary’s Paul Harris fellowship, and was named as one of the Comox Valley’s citizens of the century and the Comox Valley Educator of the Year Local Hero.
Lori is also an improv coach whose teams’ accomplishments include 2 National titles with the Canadian Improv Games and a Destination Imagination Global Improv Championship.
Carol Anne Parkinson is a joyful singer, voice teacher and conductor. She earned her Bachelor of Music from UBC in 1995 and continued to study with master teacher Arlene McIntyre from 2000-2005.
As a chorister, she has cherished memories of singing with the Cap Singers at Kathaumixw, with UBC Choral Union under the direction of Diane Loomer, earning first place in the Markdoberdorf choral festival in Germany with the University Singers, recording two CD’s with the Vancouver Cantata Singers, singing with Island Voices.
She has directed the Hellenic Chorus of Vancouver, several church choirs, CYMC Festival choir, was the founding director of the Nova Voce Choral Society, and currently directs the raucous Men of Notes choir!
Carol Anne has been a soloist with the Capilano University Choirs, CYMC, Timbre!, and NICS. When not making music, she can be spotted at the curling rink, Seal Bay, or curled up with a knitting project with her dog by her side.
Paul Gerritsen began his training at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary before graduating from the Canadian College of Performing Arts.
His career has taken him around the world, including performances with Norwegian Cruise Lines, Sleeping Beauty in Glasgow, Scotland and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express in Germany.
After over 10 years performing in Germany’s major theatres and at the Komische Oper Berlin.
Paul now teaches at Pantuso Dance and is so excited to work with CYMC on Come From Away!
Originally from Montreal, Greg holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Concordia University and a Master of Music in Jazz Performance from McGill University.
Prior to moving to Nanaimo to join the music faculty at Vancouver Island University, Greg was Director of Jazz Studies at Abilene University in Texas.
He has also been a member of the music faculties at McMaster University and Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, and Red Deer College in Red Deer, Alberta.
In addition to his broad teaching experience Greg has also enjoyed a career as a busy freelance jazz trumpet player, arranger, composer and conductor.
He's had the good fortune of playing in big bands and orchestras that have accompanied many fine jazz artists, and as the leader of his own groups has performed his original compositions in jazz clubs, concert halls and jazz festivals in Canada and abroad. Greg has released a CD entitled Cause and Effect, which features his original music.
Steve Wallace is one of Canada’s foremost jazz bassists. He was born in Toronto in 1956. Most of his career took place there and internationally, playing clubs, touring and recording with such American greats as Zoot Sims, Ray Bryant, Scott Hamilton, Rosemary Clooney, Woody Herman and many more, as well as with such Canadian giants as Fraser MacPherson, Rob McConnell, Oscar Peterson, Phil Nimmons, Ed Bickert, Mike Murley and many others. He moved to Courtenay in July 2021, where he now lives with his wife Anna.
Born and raised in Powell River, BC, Adam Robertson is a versatile drummer, percussionist and composer with strong West Coast roots. In 2020, he completed his Bachelor's of Music in Jazz Studies at Vancouver Island University and remains an active member of the island music scene as both a performer and educator. Adam can be heard in venues across the island with an eclectic mix of artists and ensembles, including Keanu Ienco, Andrew Homzy’s NOLA Nighthawks, free-jazz-noise-rock trio Dry Goods, and modern R&B group Mahogany.
Cayleigh Borsboom is a bookseller by day and a musician by night. She spent two years at Humber College in Toronto studying under the greats of the Canadian music industry before making Courtenay her home. Books, nature, board games, jazz, and friends that are family are what fill her heart with joy.
James holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from VIU and has studied piano with Phil Dwyer, Bob Murphy and Steve Smith.
He has spent a decade working on cruise ships in lounge and show bands.
More recently James has been the keyboardist of the high energy dance band Johnny Inappropriate, the pianist for VIU’s Vocal Jazz Choir directed by Rosemary Lindsay and is the organist with the Duncan Symonds Trio.