Mentors
Curious ears led Marcella Barz from Kamloops to Dublin, Ireland to pursue contemporary bass clarinet performance. In 2023, she graduated from the Technological University Dublin with a Doctor of Music degree that explored the production of electronic sounds using sensors and released an album of collaborative music with Chinese composer Yue Song.
While in Ireland, Marcella collaborated with Irish composers to produce international performances and gave workshops for composers interested in composing for the clarinet(s). She taught clarinet and chamber music at Maynooth University for several years.
Previously, Marcella graduated with a Master of Music in clarinet performance from the Dublin Institute of Technology (2017) where she studied with Dr Paul Roe. Marcella also studied with Patricia Kostek at the University of Victoria and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 2016.
Marcella works at the Butchart Gardens and explores independent music projects in her spare time. She is currently experimenting with improvisation and seeking out chamber music collaborations.
An active teacher, adjudicator, lecturer, recorded artist, and published author, Mary C. J. Byrne (Ph.D) is internationally respected for her wide-ranging work as a flute-in-hand musician and teacher. With the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Camosun College, and her own Piccolino Studio, she boasts thriving studios and classrooms of students at all ages and
stages of musical interest. She is a regular performer with the Victoria Symphony.
Without borders or boundaries, she eagerly performs chamber, solo, and small orchestra music for the full flute family. Mary is in demand as lecturer and writer on topics of music and as leader of music-tourism. She earned B.Mus. in Flute Performance and Music Education and M.Mus. in Flute Performance degrees from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Victoria, specializing in pedagogy and
performance practice of the flutists at the Paris Conservatoire during the 19th and 20th
centuries.
stages of musical interest. She is a regular performer with the Victoria Symphony.
Without borders or boundaries, she eagerly performs chamber, solo, and small orchestra music for the full flute family. Mary is in demand as lecturer and writer on topics of music and as leader of music-tourism. She earned B.Mus. in Flute Performance and Music Education and M.Mus. in Flute Performance degrees from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Victoria, specializing in pedagogy and
performance practice of the flutists at the Paris Conservatoire during the 19th and 20th
centuries.
Samuel He He was born in 1994 in Victoria BC and began piano at age 6 and clarinet at age 11. He is the winner of the 2017 BC Provincial Festival for senior woodwinds, a prize winner with the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society, and has been awarded a number of honors and scholarships, most notably the prestigious British Columbia Graduate Scholarship. A full-time professional musician, Samuel is a member of the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy.
As a diverse musician, Samuel has attended festivals such as Domaine Forget, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestral Institute, and the Beijing International Music Festival Academy, and has performed in masterclasses for such musicians as Yehuda Gilad, Keith Adam Lipson, and Carlos Ferreira.
An alumni of the Harry Ainlay high school music program, Samuel continued with music into university and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Victoria and a masters degree from the University of British Columbia. His primary teachers include Patricia Kostek, Jose Franch-Ballester, Eric Abramovitz, and Sam Boutris.
In his free time Samuel enjoys playing video games, and between 2013-2015 was signed as a professional gamer for the premier American organization compLexity Gaming, a subsidiary of the Dallas Cowboys football team. In 2018, he was one of 12 North Americans to qualify to attend the Blade and Soul world championship qualifiers at ESL studios in Leicester, England, and in 2021 was awarded from hundreds of applicants a $10,000 USD esports scholarship+apprenticeship by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and YESports Hong Kong esports company.
As a diverse musician, Samuel has attended festivals such as Domaine Forget, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestral Institute, and the Beijing International Music Festival Academy, and has performed in masterclasses for such musicians as Yehuda Gilad, Keith Adam Lipson, and Carlos Ferreira.
An alumni of the Harry Ainlay high school music program, Samuel continued with music into university and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Victoria and a masters degree from the University of British Columbia. His primary teachers include Patricia Kostek, Jose Franch-Ballester, Eric Abramovitz, and Sam Boutris.
In his free time Samuel enjoys playing video games, and between 2013-2015 was signed as a professional gamer for the premier American organization compLexity Gaming, a subsidiary of the Dallas Cowboys football team. In 2018, he was one of 12 North Americans to qualify to attend the Blade and Soul world championship qualifiers at ESL studios in Leicester, England, and in 2021 was awarded from hundreds of applicants a $10,000 USD esports scholarship+apprenticeship by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and YESports Hong Kong esports company.
Scott McInnes has become a leader in the musical community as a performer, conductor, composer, arranger and clinician. In the fall of 2005 Scott moved to British Columbia to play bass trombone for a season with the Victoria Symphony. The following year he joined both the University of Victoria as an instructor and the Vancouver Island Symphony (VIS). Scott takes great pride in his position as Principal Bass Trombone with the VIS and has been fortunate to not only perform as a soloist and chamber musician with the VIS, but also to conduct his esteemed colleagues. At UVic he teaches private trombone lessons, the Business of Music course, as well as conducts the big band, brass choir, trombone choir and Vikes Band.Beyond the university, Scott can be seen performing with a variety of groups ranging from jazz and rock bands to chamber groups such as iTromboni (North America’s only professional trombone quintet) and the Pinnacle Brass Quintet of which he a founding member. Helping to build community, he is also the Artistic Director of the BC Brass Collective as well as the Meridiem Wind Orchestra. Scott is constantly striving to bring the highest quality music to the greatest number of people.
Roy Styffe
Amaya Sydor is a bass trombonist from Brandon, MB, currently completing her undergraduate degree in classical bass trombone performance at the University of Victoria with Scott MacInnes. She is an active working musician within Victoria, performing with groups such as the Victoria Symphony, Victoria Choral Society, and The Festive Brass. She has also been a member of the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra since 2022. Amaya has received numerous awards, including winning the 2022 UVic concerto competition, performing the concerto with the UVic Wind Symphony and the BC Naden Band the following year. Amaya has been teaching a small trombone studio since 2023, and has been a mentor with the Youth Mentorship Program since 2023. Outside of music, Amaya enjoys connecting with nature through hiking and birding. She believes in the power of practicing outdoors to enhance mindfulness and musical expression.
Canadian lyric tenor Jan van der Hooft has been described as “a rare breed, comfortable with high tessitura, and showing an exciting lyricism in the sound.”
Although it was cut short, the 2019-20 season included several notable performances. Jan made debuts with both Pacific Opera Victoria (Il Trittico and Missing) and Vancouver Opera (Flight of the Hummingbird), as well as the Victoria Civic Orchestra (Messiah), and the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus.
Mr. van der Hooft is an alumnus of the Calgary Young Artist program (’17-’19) and holds degrees from the Schulich School of Music (MMus.) and the University of Manitoba’s Desautel Faculty of Music (BMus., Post Bacc. Mus.).
During the pandemic pause, Jan was awarded the 2020 Joe Boxer Memorial Fund bursary award (Flight of the Hummingbird), and has been building a side career as a freelance photographer.
So far the 22/23 season has included performances with the Victoria Philharmonic, as the Archangel Uriel in Hayden’s Creation, as well as The St. Barnabas Scholars, who presented a special ‘Leçon des Tenebres’ service by François Couperin, as part of the church’s Holy Week celebrations.
Jan and his wife, Soprano Anna van der Hooft, live, work and teach in Victoria, BC.
Although it was cut short, the 2019-20 season included several notable performances. Jan made debuts with both Pacific Opera Victoria (Il Trittico and Missing) and Vancouver Opera (Flight of the Hummingbird), as well as the Victoria Civic Orchestra (Messiah), and the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus.
Mr. van der Hooft is an alumnus of the Calgary Young Artist program (’17-’19) and holds degrees from the Schulich School of Music (MMus.) and the University of Manitoba’s Desautel Faculty of Music (BMus., Post Bacc. Mus.).
During the pandemic pause, Jan was awarded the 2020 Joe Boxer Memorial Fund bursary award (Flight of the Hummingbird), and has been building a side career as a freelance photographer.
So far the 22/23 season has included performances with the Victoria Philharmonic, as the Archangel Uriel in Hayden’s Creation, as well as The St. Barnabas Scholars, who presented a special ‘Leçon des Tenebres’ service by François Couperin, as part of the church’s Holy Week celebrations.
Jan and his wife, Soprano Anna van der Hooft, live, work and teach in Victoria, BC.