Artistic Team

Music Directors 2011-2012 season

• Diana Clark  (Coastal Sound Artistic Director, Children’s Choir and Novisingers Director)
• Jodi Proznick (Sources Early Childhood Music Education specialist)
• Tia Turner (Girlchoirs)
• Riley McMitchell (Boychoir)
• Angie Lundin (Sources Early Childhood Music Education specialist)
• Carrie Tennant (Youth Choir)
• Michael Grice (Adult Choir)
• George Chung (Men’s Choir)

Accompanists

• Kathleen McLeod (Adult Choir)
• George Chung (Youth Choir)
• Siri Olesen (Training Choirs)
• Barry Yamanouchi (Children’s Choir)
• Maana Javadi (Training Choirs)

Diana Clark

Coastal Sound Artistic Director

Children’s Choir & Novisingers Director

Diana Clark, newly appointed Artistic Director of Coastal Sound Music Academy, inspires singers with her joyous and passionate leadership.  She has an eclectic music background that includes a Master’s Degree in Music from Northwestern University in Illinois, course work in Ghanaian Dance and Drumming, Girlchoir and Boychoir director at Coastal Sound Music Academy, fifteen years performing, recording and touring as a trombonist with Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble and eighteen years teaching Music and Performing Arts to children and adults, including serving as District Fine Arts Coordinator.  She has also served on the board of Artstarts in Schools, a pan- provincial organization that connects students in schools with professional artists.

Diana believes that music learning is an essential and amazing part of the human experience, one that engages the body, heart, mind and spirit.  Thus, she devotes her career to helping people of all ages learn, value and appreciate music in all of its forms of expression. Inspired by her diverse experiences and enthusiastic to bring world-class music to her community, Diana recently initiated and helped produce Water’s Edge, a 25-hour continuous marathon of contemporary music, as part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

Education and Training:

• Bachelor of Music (UBC)
• Master of Music  (Northwestern University, Illinois)
• Top program honours in a Master of General Music Education (Northwestern University, Chicago)

Riley McMitchell

Boychoir & Training Choir Director

Baritone Riley McMitchell is equally comfortable in opera, musical theatre, gospel and concert repertoire.  Past opera roles include Falke (Die Fledermaus), Papageno (The Magic Flute), Guglielmo (Cosi Fan Tutte), DeBretigny (Manon) and Strephon (Iolanthe) and the Vicar (Albert Herring).  Riley holds a Bachelors of Music from UBC and participated in two seasons of Opera Nuova.  Riley received a full scholarship to study at the Lyric Opera Studio in Weimar, Germany performing in several Mozart opera productions. He continues to study voice with soprano Heidi Klassen and has coached with many of the leading musical authorities in Canada and Europe.  In addition to his singing career, Riley holds a Bachelors of Education from SFU and teaches elementary school in Coquitlam.  He is thrilled to join the artistic team of Coastal Sound this season.

Education and Training:

• Bachelor of Education – Simon Fraser University

Tia Turner

Girlchoirs & Training Choir Director, Vocal Coach

Tia joined the CSMA team in 2006 and as the newest conductor, is busy bringing fresh ideas to the organization. As the mother of twin boys, she looks forward to teaching the Girlchoir every week. Tia believes in the power of music to bring out the very best in everyone. She performs with the a cappella vocal quartet “Night Street”.

Education and Training:

• Bachelor of Music – Jazz Studies, Capilano University
• Bachelor of Education – UBC
• Orff Certification

Carrie Tennant

Youth Choir Director

A dedicated choral musician at the early stages of her career, Carrie Tennant is becoming well-known in the choral community for her energetic and creative approach to working with youth. As both a high school teacher and community youth choir director, Carrie works hard to foster a sense of leadership and community awareness in each of her singers.  Carrie’s choirs have won numerous awards and accolades, highlights of which include; being selected as the top high school choir in Canada at the National Music Festival for the past two years, and as the top overall choir at the BC Performing Arts Festival for the past three years. Carrie is also on faculty with Coastal Sound Music Academy, where she directs their youth choir. Carrie performs and records as a member of Vancouver-based indie-pop group the Salteens, who were recently featured on the Nickelodeon show -  “Yo Gabba Gabba”. In 2008, Carrie was the recipient of the BCCF Youth Achievement Award for distinguished support of choral music in BC.

Education and Training:

• Bachelor of Music (University of Victoria)
• Master of Music in progress (University of British Columbia)

Michael Grice

Adult Choir Director

One of Michael’s happiest times each week is Tuesday nights when he works with CSMA’s Adult Choir. To be able to work with such dedicated and eager musicians is definitely the joyful culmination of all that he believes to be important about education and the possibilities of music. He has conducted provincially and nationally acclaimed orchestras, concert and jazz bands, and concert and jazz choirs in churches, schools, and community organizations.

Education and Training:

• Bachelor of Music, Instrumental and Vocal, (UBC)

Sources Early Childhood Music Education Team

Angie Lundin

Early Childhood Music Specialist, Sources

Angie has been a member of CSMA’s Adult Choir since its inaugural season and is thrilled to be teaching the Sources program. She has taught Kinderdance® to hundreds of children over the past eight years and is now a student herself. She has been accepted into Simon Fraser University’s Professional Development Program to become an elementary school teacher specializing in music and movement. Having spent most of her adult years working professionally as a singer, dancer, and actress around the globe, she is able to pass on her practical kno

wledge to CSMA’s youngest singers.

Education and Training:

• Bachelor of Arts, Telecommunications and Theatre (Indiana University, Bloomington)
• Three-and-a-half years training and working in New York City
• Off-Broadway, regional theatre, dinner theatre, and television

Jodi Proznick

Early Childhood Music Specialist, Sources

Jodi is a professional musician and Juno Award winning double bassist. She is currently an early childhood music specialist and an instructor teaching infant to 5 year olds at the Arbutus Club and for the Capilano College Community Music School. She is a trained Kindermusik Instructor and has 10 years of teaching experience in both Orff and Kodaly music education as well as a B. Music from McGill University and a M. Education from SFU. Jodi is a well sought after music adjudicator/clinician at a variety of universities, high schools and conferences locally and nationally

Education and Training:

• M.Ed. in Arts Education (SFU)
• B.Mus. in Music Educations (McGill University)
• Certified Kindermusik Educator (combining Orff, Kodaly, Suzuki Dalcroze and Montessori philosophies of music education)

Kathleen McLeod

Accompanist, Adult Choir

Kathleen McLeod is a Vancouver native who earned her Bachelor of Music at UBC. She holds an ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Licentiate of Music from the Western Board. Kathleen taught piano privately in New Westminster from 1993-95 before re-joining TELUS. She enjoys performing with instrumentalists and singers, and joined CSMA’s Artistic Team in 1998.

George Chung

Men’s Choir Director & Youth Choir Accompanist

George Chung began accompanying the Coquitlam District Chorus’ intermediate girls choir in 1998 at the invitation of Diana Clark.  In his 13 years with Coastal Sound Music Academy, George has been the regular accompanist for the intermediate choir, the junior girlchoir, the boychoir, Kiaro! and the youth choir.  He has also been a guest accompanist for the children’s choir, the chamber choir and the adult choir.

George enjoys playing the piano and the violin, having received an ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) for both instruments.  He now performs on the violin with the Solaris Piano Trio, a group he and his two middle school friends formed.  He also enjoys composing original music on the piano, and had his compositions featured at Water’s Edge Festival 2010. He regularly conducts and performs with the Simon Fraser University Chamber Orchestra, and ensemble that he helped to found. In addition to his musical endeavors, George began his MSc program at the University of British Columbia in September 2008.  He currently continues his Doctoral studies in genetics at UBC. He is an alumnus of Port Moody Secondary School and Simon Fraser University.

Barry Yamanouchi

Theory/Sight-singing Instruction & Accompanist, Children’s Choir

Barry graduated with a B.Mus. from U.B.C. and an M.Mus. from McGill University with a major in Sound Recording.  He works as an accompanist for several choirs and numerous solo singers.  He also makes recordings in his home studio and is a teacher of piano and theory.

Maana Javadi

Accompanist, Training Choirs

Maana has been with Coastal Sound for 6 years. She first started singing in the training choirs and then moved up to perform with Children’s Choir where she is a singer and group leader.  Last year, she started playing piano for the Novisingers and enjoys working with these young singers very much. Maana has been playing piano since the age of 5 and is currently in grade 10 Royal Conservatory. She is a hardworking and dedicated highschool student in Coquitlam.

Siri Olesen

Vocal Coach, Theory/Sight-singing Instruction, &  Training Choirs Accompanist

Donna Otto, CSMA Founding Artistic Director

Recognized throughout North America as a leading music educator, Donna Otto believes “music must be experienced by the whole person”. She is well known for her energetic and holistic teaching combined with artistically excellent musical performances. Drawing on over 30 years of teaching experience, she focuses on the intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual qualities that make music magical.  Donna Otto serves as consultant to Coastal Sound now that she is officially retired.

Education and Training:

• Masters of Music (UBC)
• Trained at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria
• Orff-Schulwerk Master teachers such as Doreen Hall (Canada), Jos Wuytack (Belgium), and Jane Frazee (US)
• Worked with conductors such as Elmer Iseler (Canada), Diane Loomer (Canada), and Henry Leck (US)