March Break Piano Artistry Camp 2026

Faculty

Carson Becke

Canadian Pianist Carson Becke has performed extensively in Canada, Great Britain, Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean.  A versatile pianist, he is at home as a recital and concerto soloist, chamber musician, and vocal collaborator.  He is also the director of Pontiac Enchanté, a concert series in Luskville, Quebec.  After moving to the United Kingdom in 2005 to study at the Purcell School for Young Musicians, Carson completed his undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.  Following studies in London, he completed a master’s degree (M.Phil.) in performance and musicology at the University of Oxford, supported generously by the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation of Canada.  He completed his doctorate (D.Phil.) in musicology at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. His doctoral studies were supported by the Canadian Centennial Scholarship Foundation.

Carson’s doctoral studies were centered on the music of Richard Strauss.  As a result of his interest in Strauss, Carson has released two albums, featuring Strauss’s early piano music and lieder (with mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta), which are available in hard copy on his website store and on streaming platforms.  His interest in Strauss was generated by a deep interest in music written in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries more generally, and one of his missions as a pianist is to bring to light some of the music from that period that has escaped twenty-first century attention.  Composers that he has included in recent programmes include Julius Reubke, Vincent D’Indy, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Rebecca Clarke.

As a vocal collaborator and chamber musician, Carson has shared the stage with Jack Liebeck, Robert Pomakov, Wallis Giunta, Lavinia Dames, Hinrich Alpers, Arnold Choi, Paul Marleyn, and the Ironwood Quartet, among others.  As a member of the Dolmen Ensemble, he toured the UK, Malta, Australia, and New Zealand on behalf of the Royal Over Seas League.  He forms one half of Duo Octavian, a two-piano ensemble that he co-founded with fellow pianist Suren Barry in 2016.  Duo Octavian seeks to expand the two-piano repertoire with their own arrangements of various works and with arrangements/commissions by other performers/composers. They co-authored a new two-piano transcription of Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, which they premiered with the Ewashko Singers in 2019. The duo has also presented the Canadian premieres of two arrangements by Russian pianist Dmitri Alexeev, including a concert suite from George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess, and Stravinsky’s The Firebird. They are currently working with the critically acclaimed composer Christopher Goddard to commission a new work for two pianos.  

Carson is an experienced composer and arranger: his orchestral composition Three Nocturnes was the winner of the BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composers Competition in 2007, and his short melodrama On Death (based on poetry by John Keats) was performed by members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra on BBC Radio 3.  He has written a number of virtuoso piano transcriptions of orchestral music and art song, which frequently appear on his concert programmes. His transcriptions include a Tosca Fantasy (based on themes from Puccini’s Tosca), Gustav Holst’s ‘Jupiter’ from The Planets, Gershwin’s ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’, and assorted lieder by Strauss and Wagner.  Some of these scores are available for perusal and purchase on his website store.

Through the Covid-19 pandemic, Carson remained busy, and participated in a number of musical projects that used technologies to work around the necessary global lockdowns. In collaboration with the Gustav Mahler Society UK, he released a video album of lieder from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn that is available to view on YouTube, and on the Pontiac Enchanté website.  He was a jury member for the Ottawa Steinway Gallery Online Piano Competition, the Steinway Canada Young Artist Virtual Piano Competition, the Canadian Music Showcase, and the University of Ottawa Concerto Competition.  He also created a virtual lecture series on a range of musical topics for the Rideau Chorale, an Ottawa-based community choir.  

Carson lived in the United Kingdom for fifteen years: first in London, and then in Oxford.  In 2019 he moved back to his hometown of Ottawa, Canada, where he currently lives with his partner Madeline, and their energetic dog Jerry.  When he is not engaged with his various musical pursuits, he is an avid outdoorsman: in the wintertime, he is a cross-country skier and snowshoer, and in the summertime a canoeist and hiker.

Philip Chiu

Renowned for his “pianist-painter” artistry that transforms sound into vivid colour (La Presse), Philip Chiu is recognized as one of Canada’s most distinctive pianists, celebrated for his brilliant technique, poetic sensibility, and captivating stage presence. Winner of the 2023 JUNO Award for Best Classical Solo Album and the first-ever recipient of the Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer, one of Canada’s largest classical music prizes, he has earned a reputation for performances that combine virtuosic mastery with an instinctive ability to create genuine connections with audiences.

A sought-after soloist and chamber musician, Chiu has performed across Canada, the United States, Japan, and France, appearing in major venues and festivals and collaborating with many of today’s foremost artists, including James Ehnes, Emmanuel Pahud, Régis Pasquier, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Bomsori Kim, Johannes Moser, and the New Orford String Quartet. His longstanding duo with violinist Jonathan Crow has become beloved among chamber music audiences, and his commitment to bringing music to communities nationwide is reflected in more than fourteen extensive cross-Canada tours with Prairie Debut, Jeunesses Musicales Canada, and Debut Atlantic.

Chiu’s discography underscores both his deep affinity for the classical tradition and his dedication to amplifying contemporary voices. His JUNO-winning album Fables (ATMA Classique) and its successor Voyages—a tribute to his birthplace of Hong Kong—form part of an ambitious triptych project weaving works by Ravel and Debussy with new commissions from Canadian composers such as Anishinaabekwe artist Barbara Assiginaak and Alice Ping Yee Ho. He has also recorded John Burge’s 24 Preludes for Solo Piano (Centrediscs), Tapeo with cellist Cameron Crozman (ATMA), Night Light with flautist Lara Deutsch (Leaf Music), and a collaboration with Pentaèdre honoring Jacques Hétu. His recordings for labels including ATMA Classique, Warner Music, Analekta, Leaf Music, and Centrediscs are frequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3, France Musique, ICI Musique, and CBC Music.

Authentic, imaginative, and deeply human, Philip Chiu continues to redefine what it means to be a classical pianist in the 21st century—an artist whose performances invite listeners on an emotional journey while affirming his role as both a cultural storyteller and a leading ambassador for Canadian music.

Shoshana Telner

Canadian pianist Shoshana Telner has performed as soloist and chamber musician across Canada and abroad.  She made her solo orchestral debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra at the age of 16, and has since performed with orchestras including the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, The National Academy Orchestra, the Boston Classical Orchestra, the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, and the York Chamber Ensemble. Shoshana has performed recitals at numerous summer festivals including the Ottawa Music & Beyond Festival, the Elora Festival, the Kincardine Summer Music Festival, the Waterside Summer Series, the Brott Music Festival, and the Blueridge Chamber Music Festival. She is a founding member of the Toronto based TakeFive Ensemble, a piano quintet with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Shoshana received a Bachelors degree on full scholarship from Boston University, a Masters degree from The Juilliard School, and a Doctorate in performance from McGill University.  She has taught piano and coached ensembles at Wilfrid Laurier, McGill, and York Universities, and currently teaches at McMaster University.  Shoshana frequently gives masterclasses and adjudicates competitions.  Shoshana’s recordings include the six Bach Keyboard Partitas (Centaur Records), the Grieg violin/piano sonatas with Jeremy Bell (Chestnut Hall Music), selected Mozart Sonatas and Sonatinas (The Mozart Effect), and selected solo works of Canadian composer Colin Mack (Cansona Arts Media). Her latest CD, the early works of Robert Schumann, will be available on Centaur Records in 2025.