Vic Lyn

From Ballads to Rock, Funk, Country, Blues, Latin, Jazz Reggae, Island music, R&B or World beat - Vic is a versatile musician and teacher who is knowledgeable, experienced, easy going and makes his classes fun!

With a wide range in tastes and a great passion for teaching and performing music he teaches a great variety of finger picking and strumming techniques on the guitar.

Having performed for years as a solo performer and band member in Canada and the Caribbean on keyboards and guitar, Vic is equally at home on the big stage or small club scene. However, nothing pleases him more than to see a beginner student’s eyes light up when they realize that they are actually playing music for the first time and it sounds pretty good!

Born in Jamaica, he has studied music formally for Clarinet and Tenor Saxophone and later studied Jazz Guitar at the Yamaha School of Music. He has been playing the guitar for over 30 years and is also self-taught on the keyboards with an excellent ear.

He has been teaching guitar in Canada for over 15 years and his wide knowledge of styles, skills along with his patience and upbeat personality have made him a favorite with his students. Most recently he has taught guitar and keyboards with the Whitby Community Connections program in Durham region.

His lessons will appeal to your interests, build enthusiasm and get you started playing the songs you like individually or as part of a band, while covering the necessary basics and theory.

As a good all round musician and performer, his skills and experience allows him to teach general band performance as well as individual instrumentalists.

Mary Wei

Sandra Rusu

Michael Vuscan

Michael Vuscan was born in Romania on 18 May 1970. He became interested in music from an early age and later he begun his studies in music theory.In 1992 he moved to Bucharest and started to play jazz in the most important clubs and festivals.
Being attracted by the expressionism direction he begun to produce ambient music combining contrasting elements from world, electronic, and neoclassical music.
Different lines of composing co-exist in Michael Vuscan's music. Minimalism, Eastern European philosophy as well as the world of surrealism were influences on his music.

Michael's career as a musician opened to new directions and his work list includes a large part of jazz, pop, and electronic music. In 2001 his widespread success with the single Stay of his band Jais, was his first step in the music business industry as a record producer/ songwriter.

He gained award nominations and the single Stay was air played in heavy rotation for one year on the major Tv and Radio stations. His nominations include MCM Music Award, MTV Music Award, UCMR ADA Award, and many others.
Michael Vuscan has an extended experience as a composer/ artist/ producer/ arranger for film, television, and concert stage; his portfolio includes soundtracks for contemporary dance ,ballet , radio theater, documentary, short films.

In 2002 he moved to Toronto ,Canada where he attended Trebas Institute for audio production specialization. Meanwhile he continued to write and produce music, releasing new albums like Jais-Serenity, Believer.

Lidia Kirshina

A focused yet fun teacher, Lidia is welcomed in addition to the Canada Music Academy. As a professional musician, Lidia splits her time between performing and teaching and has been doing so for the last 15 years. She is a great teacher if you're looking to prepare for RCM exams. Lidia's students have gotten marks up to 99% in both piano and theory exams at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Also she is successful in preparing her students for various music festivals and competitions.

Lidia completed her Masters Degree and graduated with First Class Honours as a Performance and Theory Music teacher in Toronto. She is a virtuoso soloist of Chamber Orchestra as well as an experienced accompanist. She has issued her own CD with romantic music.

Karin Matsunaga

Mrs. Karin Matsunaga has been playing and performing on the violin from a young age of 4. Ever since then music has been an extremely important part of her life. She was trained by many well known teachers and completed several RCM exams with first class honors. With formal musical training and education from University, she stands on many lit up stages performing different styles of music from classical to rock. Her interest towards music grew so much that she soon started to write her own pieces featuring different instruments and styles, and she also joined several musicians to broaden her knowledge of various genres of music. Her teaching career began at the age of 14, instructing a group of young musicians on how to play classical pieces. Even after that she continued her well organized classes, known to be enjoyable and maintaining an atmosphere in which students from children to adults develops musically.

Mr. Alexander Tikhonov

Mr. Alexander Tikhonov holds a “Master of Music in Performance” Diploma from St. Petersburg State Conservatory and a “Bachelor of Music in Performance” Diploma from St. Petersburg College of Music. He also holds a Bachelor Degree in Wind Ensemble Conducting from St. Petersburg State Conservatory Music College as well as a second Master of Arts in saxophone performance degree from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and Culture. Alexander is the recipient of the Gartow Stiftung Wettbewerb Award (Germany) and a Laureate of the “Hopes, Talents & Masters” International Competition (Albena, Bulgaria), “Maria Yudina” International Competition (St. Petersburg) as well as All-State Chamber Music Competition (Novomoskovsk).Mr. Tikhonov brings to the Toronto School of Music & Arts over 10 years of teaching experience. He is multi-talented musician with tremendous experience as a performer in Classical orchestras, Chamber ensembles, cruise line ship show bands, Top 40 Club Bands and Lounge Bands.Alexander has performed concert tours in Canada, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, the UK, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, South Korea and has taken part in diverse cultural events throughout all those countries.

He has regularly performed at the Sheraton Cadwell Orchestra (Toronto), Festival Wind Orchestra (Toronto), Lotte World Hotel Lounge Band (Seoul, South Korea),The Grand Symphony Orchestra directed by S.Stadler in the Opera and Ballet Theatre at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, St. Petersburg Musical Theatre “Wonderland”, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra directed by V.Kornev, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra of TV and Radio directed by S.Gorkovenko, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra “Classica” directed by G.Kantorov, Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg Academic Chapel directed by V.Chernushenko, The Admiralty Navy Band directed by A.Karabanov, Jazz Band “RiO” and others.

Mr. Alexander Tikhonov possesses strong knowledge and excellent skills for teaching the Classical style, as well as the Jazz, Swing, Blues, Latin, Funk, Reggae and Rock. Determined to bring out the best of his students, Mr. Tikhonov is one of the most highly recommended teachers in the GTA.