Meet the Teachers
Explore biographies below (click to expand):
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DMA, MMus, BMus Perf., Artist Dip., ARCT
Praised for expressing "ultra-sensitive and highly refined pianism" (Quinte Society for Chamber Music), pianist Petya Stavreva holds a Doctorate degree in Musical Arts from Western University.
Dr. Stavreva recently relocated to St. Albert and is working to further develop the Avante Piano Studio both online and in-person. She was based in Toronto for 20 years, where her students have continuously succeeded in festivals and competitions. Most recently, two of her students were awarded 1st place at the RCM's "Music Lights the Way" festival for levels 5 and 10. She is a passionate advocate for long term injury-free playing and is dedicated to teaching this aspect of music making to her students.
As an RCM examiner, Petya prepares any interested students for RCM exams of any level.
She is also active as a performer. She served as a Program Director of the Quinte Society for Chamber Music concert series in 2023, and is currently the President of the St. Albert Piano Teachers' Association.
Petya has been a prize winner of numerous competitions in Canada and Europe such as the international competition “Franz Schubert” in Rousse, international competition “Music and Earth” in Sofia, among many others, and has performed concertos with the Toronto Sinfonietta Orchestra. She has played concerts throughout Canada but also internationally, including in the US, France, Italy and Bulgaria.
While in Ontario, Petya has frequently collaborated with cellist Amahl Arulanandam (of VC2) for concerts and recordings.
Petya is a sought-after adjudicator for piano competitions and festivals such as Kiwanis Festivals in: Toronto, Ottawa, Peterborough, Pickering, Brantford, Oshawa, Kingston, Temiskaming Shores, Stratford, Markham, and the Provincial Ontario Festival, among others.
In 2020 and 2021, Petya collaborated with violinist Marie Berard (the concertmaster of the Canadian Opera Company) for the official recordings of the new RCM Celebration Series books.
Prior to arriving at Western, she finished her master’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving full scholarship and grant support from Canada Arts Council, as well as the Webb Trust Fund at the Glenn Gould School. Before beginning her graduate studies, she obtained an Artist Diploma on full scholarship from the Glenn Gould School, and a bachelor's degree in performance from the University of Toronto. Petya was an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for ten weeks in 2012.
Shortly after moving to Canada, Petya attended the Taylor Performance Academy at the RCM in Toronto with full scholarship. She has been very fortunate to study with a variety of teachers including Leslie Kinton, Anton Nel, James Anagnoson, Jamie Parker, Marietta Orlov and Arshalouis Nersessian. While in Austin, Petya also studied collaborative piano in addition to her solo degree, with Anne Epperson.
Until leaving Ontario, Dr. Stavreva has been a registered music teacher through ORMTA (Ontario Registered Music Teachers' Association). She is now an active member of ARMTA (Alberta Registered Music Teachers' Association). She currently teaches both online and in-person.
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DMA, MMus, BMus Perf., Artist Dip., ARCT
Canadian pianist Todd Yaniw is a young artist praised for his “atmospheric contrast of poetry and power … a hair-raising performance”. Since his debut with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at age 13, Mr. Yaniw has performed frequently in Alberta and Ontario; at festivals and venues including the Banff Centre for Music, Edmonton’s Winspear Centre for Music, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Toronto’s Arts & Letters Club, the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, and Koerner Hall.
Dr. Yaniw has performed with the symphony orchestras of Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, and Guelph. Mr. Yaniw toured the Canadian maritime provinces as a soloist in February 2013, under the auspices of Debut Atlantic.
Todd has been interviewed and broadcast on several occasions on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [CBC], and Toronto’s Classical 96.3 FM. In December 2012, Todd recorded a one-hour program for the CBC as part of its NEXT series, a radio program that promotes talent on the rise. Internationally, Todd has performed at the Monte Carlo Opera House in Monaco, the Jamaica School of Music in Kingston, Jamaica, several concert halls in China and Italy, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. James’s Piccadilly in London England, and the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York. Yaniw’s debut CD, “Todd Yaniw: Scriabin, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Chopin” was released on the Chestnut Hall Music label in September 2006.
Todd’s extensive prize list includes Winner of the Roy Thomson Hall First Prize at the 2005 Toronto Symphony Volunteer Committee’s TD National Piano Competition; two-time national winner of the Canadian Music Competition, as well as silver medalist at the Eastman International Piano Competition. Mr. Yaniw has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, and was a recipient of the 2010 and 2012 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Awards.
Dr. Yaniw has been a faculty member for piano at the Taylor Academy at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto since 2018, and teaches piano privately.
Todd Yaniw was born in Edmonton, Alberta and his teachers include Michael Massey, Dr. James Parker, Professor James Anagnoson (The Glenn Gould School), and Dr. Jon Kimura Parker (Rice University). Mr. Yaniw completed his doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked with Dr. Anton Nel.