Voice Teachers

Growing up surrounded by music, Alanna has been singing and playing piano since not long after she learned how to walk and talk. Graduated from Etobicoke School of the Arts as a musical theatre major, Alanna began writing music long before then, having her first completed song published on her public school's end of year CD. 8 years later she has continued to pursue her passion and in August of 2011 released an EP onto iTunes entitled "A Song for my Love", which features a track to be featured on a TV show on CTV next summer. Expanding her repertoire through high school Alanna began playing guitar and cello while expanding her vocal talents, participating in many choirs and performing across Canada, later winning gold in the National competition in Ottawa. She has had many mentors, receiving formal training in both piano and guitar from Bloor West Music studios, and then working closely with Michael Johnston from the Skydiggers. She has been teaching guitar, piano and vocals for three years, and continues to perform her music across the city

Jill Peacock is a voice, piano and beginner guitar teacher. She has been teaching privately as well as highschool after school programs in Toronto and the states on and off for ten years. She believes in a fun approach to learning music and being able to communicate well with students and let them enjoy the lessons while learning at the same time is a must for Jill. She studied piano performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and received her ARCT by age 19. She came to jazz studies later on in life when she attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. Currently, she is a jazz singer and singer/songwriter who plays and sings often throughout Toronto as well as occasionally in Boston/New York and Montreal.

Jordann has been playing piano since age 7. Born into a musical family, she went on to study Musical theatre, singing, theory and conducting. A graduate of the University of toronto’s Music Education program, Jordann had the privelege of studying with Tanya Tkachenko, Dorren Rao, Ivars Taurins, and Raffi Armenian. She has also worked with the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, putting on full musicals with the RYC, Randolph Young Company. Favourite Musical credits include “The Wiz”, “High School Musical”, “West Side Story” and “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Jordann has been teaching piano, Music Theatre, voice, guitar, as well as conducting choirs, of all ages for the past ten years

Growing up in Newmarket, Ontario, Larra Skye began studying classical guitar from the books in her parents' bookstore. Her formative musical years were spent playing trombone in the town concert band, singing in an award-winning children's choir, and performing her original songs at local coffee houses. In 2006, Larra's debut music album "The World Disappears" became the #1 independent jazz album for HMV Canada. Her music has since appeared on national radio and television stations including the CBC and Jazz FM 91. She has performed in Canada and the U.S, and a new album of original indie pop songs is currently being recorded with producers Marc Rogers and Karen Kosowski. Larra has trained privately with jazz educator Lisa Martinelli and as an honours classical voice student at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Lauren has been singing since she could talk, songwriting since elementary school, and playing piano for 12 years. Lauren made her big-stage debut at age 7 with the legendary Salome Bey, which kicked off Lauren's good fortune of working with seasoned professionals that helped shape her musical intuition. Lauren began recording her self-produced debut album, Sticker Collection, while she was still in high school. It featured over 20 session musicians and 5 arrangers and has since been heard coast to coast on CBC Radio 1 and Radio 2. As a solo artist she has participated in mentorship programs with Evalyn Parry and John K. Samson, performed extensively including at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and Summerfolk, and been named Owen Sound's Poet of the Month. Lauren teaches voice and piano. She is currently studying in the Artist-Educator Professional Training program at the Royal Conservatory. Lauren loves providing beginners with a solid grounding in technique and theory, encouraging students to find their musical voice, and guiding students in versatile approaches to popular music and songwriting.

Taylor Strande began her musical journey singing in choirs, playing violin in her elementary school orchestra and studying piano privately from an early age. Eventually deciding to go into music professionally, she had to make a choice between her instruments and eventually chose to pursue opera. She is thrilled to be able to continue to use her piano skills as a piano/voice teacher at Firefly. Taylor completed her Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto in 2007 with voice teacher Jean MacPhail and holds an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School with teacher Monica Whicher. Taylor has also studied under the instruction of Richard Margison, John Fanning and Marcia Swanston and has coached with Steven Philcox, David Eliakis and Mario Bernardi.

Marie Perry was born and raised in Smithers BC amidst mountains and music. She studied piano for six years but found her true calling when she picked up the electric guitar at fourteen and immediately began fronting her first band. Ten years later Marie is still fronting bands - she sings, plays guitar, and writes performing under her stage name MIP. Her most current project is her zany rock band, the Mip Power Trio. From British Columbia to Ontario Marie has performed at a variety of festivals, night clubs, bars, and cafes. The Mip Power Trio has headlined at the Smithers Midsummer Music Festival (BC) and the Lorussopalooza Festival in Magnetawan Ontario and they have performed in many venues in Toronto including the Horseshoe Tavern and the Rivoli. Marie has been teaching guitar, voice, and even a little piano, for just over 3 years now and she loves to enrich people's lives with the joy of music. Her musical style has been described as "fun, fast, and filled with high energy that is infectious" and she brings this enthusiasm to her teaching in hopes that each student can find their own musical calling.

Katie started writing and performing music while a earning her Honors Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music at York University in Toronto. Under the tutelage of her brilliant private instructor Sacha Williamson and the great Bob Fenton (who played with Billie Holiday, among other jazz greats), Katie began to develop her unique style of singing and composing. Katie has been teaching voice and piano lessons since 2009. As a teacher, she believes that fun and enjoyment should be at the forefront of playing and learning music. She is well versed various genres of music and can teach jazz, pop, rock, folk, or a mixture of any of those varieties, as well as classical piano. Using songs that the students chose themselves as the core of the lesson, she tailors her lessons to each individual student and teaches in a way that brings out their own voice. She inspires her students by challenging them in a variety of ways through interpretation, improvisation, technique building exercises and experimentation.