About

While I spent the vast majority of my life learning to play standard Western Classical repertoire, these days I especially enjoy working on music that makes me feel like I am free to “play” with a sort of childlike wonder and exploration. My favourite pieces to play feature extended techniques such as playing on the strings and pins inside the instrument, using my physical voice to tell a story while playing the piano, and adding items to the strings to create a prepared piano. I also tend to gravitate towards pieces that feature jazzy harmony and rhythm, but I am not a jazzer whatsoever. Some of my favourite recent performances include performing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Sonata for Violin and Piano with violinist John Littlejohn (Blueridge Chamberfest, 2025), performing with singer/songwriter Alicia Kayley at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (November, 2024), performing with bassoonist Ingrid Chiang as part of the UBC Noon-Hours series (March, 2023), a performance of videogame music with the UBC orchestra conducted by Lucas Waldin (November, 2022), and performing in the final round of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Piano Competition in April, 2022.

Throughout my life, I have spent significant time engaging with theatre, dance, and singing in addition to my serious education as a pianist. I grew up taking Ukrainian dance lessons for many years, and then as a young adult I learned some swing dance which matched my love of jazz music. I have taken drama classes and private musical theatre coachings, as well as an acting and movement class for singers during my Master’s degree. I also spent most of my life taking private voice lessons and I hold an ARCT in voice performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Singing and acting has always filled a part of my being that piano could never fully fill. Discovering repertoire for vocalizing pianist has really opened up possibilities for me that fulfill many of my passions at once.

In addition to contributing significantly to my artistic skills and enjoyment in life, my experience in theatre, dance, and singing as well as my commitment to fighting stigmas associated with mental health, gender inequity, and cultural oppression inspired my Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) research. This work is grounded in feminist theories and political philosophy that support the development of the “self” as a way to connect more deeply with my audiences. (You can read more about this research on the My Research page.) I am grateful that this DMA research was funded by SSHRC and the UBC Public Scholars Initiative.

Throughout my doctoral studies and the more that I study feminist theory and political philosophy the more strongly I feel about advocating for and promoting music by women composers, queer composers, and composers of the BIPOC communities. While I still have a long ways to go before I can say that I have learned as much music by these populations as I have music by white men (mostly dead), I do not put a programme together anymore without ensuring that it is not a programme entirely of white male composers. Most of all, I really enjoy music that has historically been, or is currently underrepresented and I believe in being an advocate for social justice through my programming, my performances, and my teaching.

In addition to my work as a performer, I currently teach at Vancouver Community College, and I maintain a private studio of piano and voice students of all ages and levels. I love to help my students find solutions to technical and creative challenges at the instrument and to strategize ways of managing performance anxiety. Mostly, I enjoy watching my students get excited about music and being on the artistic journey with each of them.

I was born on Treaty 6 territory, which is the territory of the Cree, Sauteaux, Stoney, Nakota, and Dakota peoples, otherwise known as Nipawin, Saskatchewan. I have lived farther west on Treaty 6 in Lloydminster, AB, and in Sherwood Park, AB, as well as on unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin territory (Ottawa, ON, and Hull, QC). I hold a DMA in piano performance from the University of British Columbia under the guidance of Corey Hamm and Hedy Law, a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of Ottawa under the guidance of Frédéric Lacroix, and I hold a “Diplôme d’études musicales” from a conservatory in France under the guidance and Jacques Bernier.

When I need a break from my piano shenanigans, I love to sing, dance, bake, eat delicious food, and spend time with family, friends, my amazing husband Alexander, and our mini-Aussie Luna.