PLEASANT MOUNTAIN MUSIC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Gamelan Ensemble at VCC
Adrianna La Chimea is a Vancouver-based pianist with 15 years of experience playing classical piano including 4 years of jazz/pop piano. She began studying piano with The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) at the age of 6 and is currently in level 10. Since childhood, she has shown a love of music and a desire to keep improving her skills.
Throughout her youth, Adrianna has performed in many recitals and has received several awards for high achievement on RCM exams. She also competed in the "Crescendo International Music Competition" in 2016. During high school band, she learned how to play acoustic guitar, clarinet, flute, and many different percussion instruments. She won the "Tom Lee Music Scholarship" and the "Morag Cuthbertson Scholarship" awards for achieving a high GPA. She was also the recipient of the "Student Tech Award" for performing tech duties for several recitals at Vancouver Community College (VCC).
Adrianna is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Applied Music program at VCC studying classical piano with Emily Logan and jazz/pop piano with Sharon Minemoto. She received her Music Diploma from VCC in April 2023. After graduation, she plans to work towards completing the RCM Associate Diploma (ARCT).
Since September 2021, Adrianna has been an active member of the Gamelan ensemble at VCC. She composed several pieces for the ensemble that have been performed at various concerts. Some of her newest compositions will be performed at VCC's biannual ensemble concerts.
Adrianna La Chimea is a Vancouver-based pianist with 15 years of experience playing classical piano including 4 years of jazz/pop piano. Adrianna is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Applied Music program at VCC studying classical piano with Emily Logan and jazz/pop piano with Sharon Minemoto.
Chlöe Rowat (she/they) is a writer, director, performer, and educator. With over 10 years of interdisciplinary artistic and teaching experience, she is proud to have found her home as part of the Pleasant Mountain Music family. With the addition of PMM's Musical Theatre program, she's been involved in the development, and facilitation of five Musical Theatre programs for youth across the Lower Mainland.
George Halpern has made his reputation as "Georgie Bones", best known as a skilled blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and mean harmonica player. He also performs a very successful tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn with his band Cold Shot, and has performed all over Canada for audiences of just 1, to 5 million! You can hear his music on all streaming platforms.
After graduating from Cégep de l'Outaouais and studying at Carleton University, George began teaching at the Canadian Conservatory of Music. During this period George won the award for "Best Guitar Instructor" at the Ontario-Quebec Music Festival.
In 2021, he was awarded a life-time membership to the Toronto Musicians Association. The award cites his "solidarity with [...] fellow musicians, which helps us to grow as a musicians' community and achieve fair working conditions and dignity as working musicians."
George teaches bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ukulele, and harmonica. He is fluent in instructing most genres and styles from rock, rock & roll, blues, rhythm & blues, contemporary, punk, pop, and more, as well as classical guitar. He welcomes students of beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of study.
Some thoughts from George regarding music instruction: "I really enjoy teaching music. It's a satisfying feeling watching and especially hearing my students make progress. I find that each individual student has unique skills and motivations. My approach is to dwell into those talents and desires and explore methods to encourage development and growth. My years of experience has taught me to combine discipline with fun. Music theory is very important and my students will develop a vast musical knowledge, seamlessly as we explore their true eagerness to learn and succeed. My philosophy is " when all is said and done...it's the sound that counts"."
George Halpern has made his reputation as "Georgie Bones", best known as a skilled blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and mean harmonica player. He's performed all over Canada for audiences of one to one million! George teaches bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ukulele, and harmonica. He is fluent in instructing most styles and genres and he welcomes students of any age or skill level.
Passionate from an early age for the 6 strings, born and raised in Mexico, Hugo has been active in the music industry since 2013! Drawing on his touring and teaching experiences, Hugo inspires and encourages others to find their inner true-self voice and expression as an artist.
American percussionist Jade Hails is a dynamic presence on and offstage. Combining theatrics and technical performance in a musical amalgamation, Hails has committed his career to bridging the gap between the arts. Offering his skill set to other artists in ways that utilize their work, curating collaborations based on poetry and literature as well as visual art and dance. Currently based in Vancouver, Jade is a faculty member of various private lessons schools throughout the Lower Mainland, where he provides instruction for percussion technique, performance, and entrepreneurship.
Combining theatrics and technical performance in a musical amalgamation, Jade has committed his career to bridging the gap between the arts. In performance, he has crafted a career based in interdisciplinary collaboration, commissioning and conspiring with various artists and performers to bring new works to audiences, students, and organizations. As an educator, Hails has spent the majority of his time instructing marching ensembles and public school programs fostering a culture of intensity and drive in the programs he has been a part of. Through determination and curiosity, Jade has recently come to Vancouver to generate more interest in percussion for students and audiences, providing them with further perspective on the craft of contemporary classical music.
As a former member of Left Edge Percussion, resident chamber percussion ensemble for the Oregon Center for the Arts and directed by Dr. Terry Longshore, Hails was invited to New York for the 2020 Bang on a Can LONGPLAY Festival. He was also a judge in the 2020 Left Edge Percussion Composition Competition selecting a work from over 80 submissions to be performed by the ensemble. These and many other collaborations paved the way for Hails' passion for expanding art and branching out to cooperate with different disciplines of artists.
In his pursuit of interdisciplinary cohesion, Hails has joined forces with Letizia Pent, Italian born pianist, to form Pas de Duo. A melding of the traditional and the contemporary, Pas de Duo arranges, adapts, and commissions works with the intent to accompany classical and modern dance performers, further bridging the gap between the arts. This combined with Hails' compositions and commissioning efforts display his true creative outlet and passions.
Jade Hails graduated from Southern Oregon University with his Masters in Music degree studying with Dr. Terry Longshore. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Oregon State University and has studied with Bob Brudvig, Alan Keown, and Matthew Keown.
Through determination and curiosity, Jade has recently come to Vancouver to generate more interest in percussion for students and audiences, providing them with further perspective on the craft of contemporary classical music. Jade welcomes students ages 6 to adult to embark on, or continue, their rhythmic journey.
Kelsey Luo is a diverse musician who specializes in vocals and piano. She is passionate about seeing the growth within her students from when they start their first lesson, to the progress they make throughout their music journey. She can teach in both English and Mandarin.
Letizia Pent, Italian pianist born in a musical family, played as a soloist in several music festivals in Turin and Washington DC, where she was among the finalists during the Washington International Piano Competition and performed at the Kennedy Center. She performs as chamber and collaborative pianist and additionally she has experience on stage as a dancer and theatre performer. During her music studies, Letizia took part in classes with many international pianists as Fabio Lutz, Aleksandar Madžar, Nikita Fitenko, Joaquin Achucarro and studied composition with Giulio Castagnoli. After graduating with brilliant marks in Turin, she was a student of Pietro De Maria in the Pinerolo Music Academy, and she spent one academic year in 2016 at the Royal Conservatory of Brussel with Piet Kujiken.
In 2021 she earned her Master of Music in Piano Performance under the guidance of Alexander Tutunov at Southern Oregon University, and she is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Piano Performance at University of British Columbia in Vancouver with Dr.David Fung.
Letizia Pent, Italian pianist born in a musical family, has played as a soloist in several music festivals in Turin and Washington DC, where she was among the finalists during the Washington International Piano Competition and performed at the Kennedy Center.
If you are a trans person looking to find your voice, a young rebel in search of a creative challenge or anyone who wants to get to know just how much their voice can do, you will have lots of fun in Marco's silly and strange process. He can teach in both English and Spanish.
Mr. Chris King is a longtime musician with extensive performance experience both locally, and internationally. His bass playing landed him several opportunities to tour BC, Canada, and South Africa. These days he is enjoying learning to play some more instruments, including piano, and has several new music projects in the work.
Sarah is a great lover of music, and hopes to instil a sense of commitment and enjoyment to lessons as well as encourage self-expression in her students. She teaches piano to all ages and abilities, as well beginner to intermediate trumpet, French horn, Baritone (brass instruments), theory, harmony, and history. She's trained in Classical piano and trumpet (Royal Conservatory of Music), ABRSM), as well as contemporary and pop piano. For trumpet and brass, she welcomes concert band, jazz band, and RCM students.