The Southeast Centre for Music is a gathering place for some of the best teachers in the province. As part of the Steinbach Arts Council’s educational offerings, SCM strives to meet the teaching needs of our community, reaching the high level of musical education that has become an expectation in the Southeast. Our teachers connect with students and parents, taking time to understand their goals, working to achieve them, no matter the skill level. They bring a vast knowledge within their teaching area to each lesson – whether you are a child or adult, beginner or advanced student, SCM works to find the teacher that is right for you, and provides learning and performing opportunities for all musicians who study here.
Our Instructors
PIANO
JULIE SIDORCHUK, PIANO
(BM Canadian Mennonite University, ARCT)
Julie Sidorchuk was born and raised in Steinbach, Manitoba. She began playing the piano when she was five years old. Her past instructors include Lauri Plett, Jane Duerksen, Madeline Hildebrand, and Shirley Elias. In 2018 she completed her ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music and recently graduated from Canadian Mennonite University with a Bachelor of Music degree concentration in Piano Performance in 2020.
She has performed in many different festivals and competitions over the years, including the Southeastern Manitoba Festival, Winnipeg Music Festival, AMAF Provincial Music & Arts Festival, Women’s Musical Club Scholarship Competitions, and the Verna Mae Janzen Music Competition. She remains active in the music community by playing piano in church and growing her teaching studio. She looks forward to working with students of all ages to explore their love of music!
CANDACE HAMM, PIANO & MUSIC THEORY
(B. Mus, ARCT, RCM cert.)
Candace Hamm’s instructors have included Dr. Darryl Friesen, Barbara Cornish, and Cameron Friesen (piano), Dr, Karen Sunabacka and Professor Charles Horton (music theory), and David Klassen (voice). With 11 years of teaching experience, Candace maintains a studio of over 50 students each year. She has been heavily involved in music in Southeastern Manitoba with time spent as past president of the Southeastern Manitoba Festival, co-founding the Shoptalk pedagogy series for music teachers through the Southeastern Manitoba Music Teacher’s Association, performing in various venues, and is the current Royal Conservatory of Music representative for the Southeast.
Candace focuses on combining creative, cutting-edge instruction with a high level of classical performance, working with the Southeast’s up-and-coming young pianists to achieve their musical goals in examinations, competition, and university auditions. She is particularly passionate about empowering each of her students to develop a lifelong relationship with music according to their unique gifts and talents!
Candace is looking for students in these levels: beginner students, intermediate/advanced students, those who are interested in learning music theory, church music, and conservatory prep program for pianists preparing for university.
Visit her website: candacehammpiano.weebly.com
JORDAN MARTENS, PIANO
(B. Mus, University of Manitoba)
Jordan Martens has loved music from a young age. Starting with piano lessons in Grade 2, he went on to continue his passion and graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba. Jordan has been taught by many well-known musicians of the Southeast including Dr. Judy Kehler-Siebert, Jane Duerksen, Dr. Darryl Friesen, Prof. Charles Horton, and Dr. David Moroz, and has participated in workshops and masterclasses with world renowned pianists such as Jan Lisiecki.
With a Grade 10 level RCM certification Jordan is passionate about helping others discover a love for piano and spreading joy through music.
STRINGS
PETER JO, VIOLIN
(MM University of Manitoba)
Peter Jo began violin instruction at the age of 9 with Simon Young Kim, pupil of the world renowned violinist Jascha Heifetz. In 2007, Peter has been accepted and studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov music school for the gifted children which is the pre-college of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia. While in Russia, Peter studied with Baranova Alexandrovna and Lev Klychkov, concertmaster of the St. Petersburg philharmonic orchestra. After moving to Winnipeg in 2009, Peter studied with Dr. Oleg Pokhanovski, professor at the University of Manitoba, attaining his Master of Music degree in violin performance. at the University of Manitoba, received full tuition scholarship. Besides Classical music, Peter enjoys playing crossover, pop, jazz, and gospel music. He has performed with various artists and entertainers such as Two Cellos, Fall Out Boy, and Cirque du Soleil. He has produced four gospel recordings which are sold over 3,000 in Manitoba.
KATHARINA FUCHS, VIOLIN
(BM University of Manitoba)
Katharina Fuchs recently completed a Bachelor of Music degree in violin, with a minor practical study in piano, at the University of Manitoba studying with renowned Dr. Oleg Pokhanovski. She is a recipient of multiple scholarships, including the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music Scholarship and the Allan McKean Memorial Scholarship.
During her studies at the University, Katharina had many performance and collaboration opportunities performing with a number of ensembles, including the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra. She participated in masterclasses with world-renowned violinists such as Taras Gabora and Amy Hillis.Raised in a musical family, Katharina eagerly learned both the violin and piano from a young age. She started her musical education in Germany studying with Virgil Gega in Kaiserslautern and has had many opportunities to perform in competitions and festivals.Katharina has been giving private studio violin lessons for several years teaching students from beginner to advanced. She is dedicated and motivational to each student. Her goal is to bring out the best in each student’s playing and to pass on the love of music and the joy of playing the violin. She has great joy, together with the student, witnessing their growth to a higher level of violin playing.
NATALIE DAWE, CELLO
(BM University of Manitoba, MM Western University)
Natalie Dawe recently completed a M. Music degree in performance at Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music where she studied with Thomas Wiebe, and was the recipient of a graduate scholarship and teaching assistantship. During her undergraduate program at the Desautels Faculty of Music, Natalie studied with Dr. Minna Rose Chung and was a prize winner in the Genser and Concerto Competitions. Prior to moving to Winnipeg, she travelled to Beijing with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra to perform and record a CD that won an East Coast Music Award. In 2011, Natalie toured Sweden and Finland with the University of Manitoba Singers. In 2014, she performed with Rod Stewart at the MTS Centre, and for the Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall at Government House. Natalie is currently an instructor with El Sistema Winnipeg, teaches at the Douglas Kuhl School of Music in Morden, and the Division of Preparatory Studies at the Desautels Faculty of Music.
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“Natalie is not only a highly skilled and accomplished cellist, but also a warm and friendly teacher who loves to laugh! She offers a vast amount of knowledge and playing skills to her students. Under her teaching, students develop beautiful tone and musicianship on the instrument, even at the beginner level! Others are impressed at the tone she can help beginners achieve. She is innovative in problem solving and strives for excellence, while maintaining a positive learning atmosphere. She inspires learning and growth from her students! Natalie is a fantastic teacher who is easily recommended!”
GUITAR
WILLIE WIEBE, GUITAR
(B. Mus, University of Toronto)
Willie Wiebe graduated as an Eaton scholar at the University of Toronto in 1992, where he studied under Norbert Kraft. He has performed extensively in both solo and chamber settings. His varied performances have been aired nationally on both radio and television.
His solo recording, Time Travel, was received favourably across the country, and was presented in an hour-long feature on CBC’s The Music Room. Also on CBC, he performed a live broadcast on the Sunday noon series Arts Encounters, and was featured in their annual Governor General’s Christmas concert playing his own arrangements for guitar, voice and choir. In 2006, he was a featured soloist in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival. Since that time, he has retired from performing and focused on teaching.
Wiebe has taught guitar at several universities, colleges and studios for 40 years. Since 2012, he has been playing for Artists in Healthcare in their CancerCare program.
MUSICAL THEATRE & STEINBACH YOUTH CHORUS
GABRIELA GALLO
(BM, BEd, PBEd, University of Manitoba)
Gabriela Gallo is a talented and energetic, multi-award-winning music educator and choral specialist. Born and raised in Steinbach, Manitoba, Gabriela has spent her youth and adulthood performing as a soloist, in small group ensembles and choruses in multiple operas, musicals and operettas, performing with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Winnipeg’s own RWB. She has spent the last nine years cultivating an outstanding musical curriculum in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division incorporating dance, recorder, musical literacy, and instrument exploration while focusing on Kodaly singing methods and Orff-based practices. Throughout her career she has had the honour of conducting choirs and workshops all over the province, writing, directing and choreographing over 15 original musicals, implementing Orff Days for hundreds of students, instructing preschool level music classes through universities, coaching private vocal lessons and acting as a mentor and guide for music colleagues throughout Manitoba for both the early years classroom and choral education. When Gabriela is not performing or teaching, she loves to spend time with her twin boys and travel to her husband’s hometown in Sardinia, Italy.
TINY TUNES & Individual Music Therapy Sessions
BETH JANZEN – individual adapted piano lessons & music therapy sessions
(BMT, MCAT)
Beth Janzen is an accredited music therapist (MTA) in Canada. She has a Bachelors of Music Therapy from Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, MB, and a Masters of Arts in Creative Arts Therapies (Music Therapy) from Concordia University in Montreal, QC. Beth also has training in Neurologic Music Therapy, Guided Imagery in Music (GIM), and Music Together. In 2018, her article Music Therapists’ Perspectives on Working with Educational Assistants in School Settings was published in the Canadian Journal of Music Therapy.
Beth works with individuals of all ages and abilities, but specializes in working with infants and toddlers, and school aged children with diverse abilities. She currently provides music therapy services to schools, day programs, and individuals living in the community, and contributes to childhood development programs including the Arts4Tots program at SAC!
Beth lives with her husband, two children, and Yorkie in Steinbach, Manitoba. She enjoys playing a variety of instruments including the piano, guitar, saxophone, and flute. During the school year she performs in the Community Concert Band at Canadian Mennonite University.
For more information on music therapy, visit musicalrootstherapy.com.
VOICE
ALYSSA HILDEBRAND
(BM Canadian Mennonite Univeristy, MM Western University)
Alyssa Hildebrand, soprano, recently completed a Master of Music in Literature and Performance at Western University, studying with Jackalyn Short. She completed her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance at Canadian Mennonite University, studying with David Klassen. Alyssa grew up in rural Manitoba, and was given many opportunities to grow her artistry through local productions and festivals.
Throughout her studies, Alyssa has had several performance opportunities, including the role of Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro through Accademia Europea Dell’Opera in Italy. She has been the finalist in several music competitions, including the Verna Mae Janzen Competition and Winnipeg’s Tudor bowl. She has performed several roles including: Josephine in HMS Pinafore, Bastienne in Bastien und Bastienne, and understudying the role of Anne Page in the Merry Wives of Windsor.
In addition to Alyssa’s passion for music performance, she has a deep love for vocal pedagogy. She has a keen interest in the workings of the vocal mechanism, and how to use this knowledge to help others become better performers. Over the past few years, Alyssa has enjoyed teaching voice students at different levels both privately and through institutions such as the Ontario Mennonite Music Camp. She is thrilled to be connecting with new students in Steinbach, and helping them to learn how to use their voices to create beautiful music!
