DOROTHEA HAYLEY, SOPRANO
Canadian soprano Dorothea Hayley has been a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, the Bourgas Symphony and Capriccio Basel, and has appeared in recital in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. She has performed in festivals such as the Happening Festival, Gulangyu Piano Festival, Performer’s Voice Symposium, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and the Atempo Festival, and with organizations like the SMCQ, Chants Libres, CIRMMT, Codes d’accès, Vancouver New Music, the Little Chamber Music Series That Could, and the Land’s End Ensemble. She is a member of the Erato Ensemble, Ensamble Atempo, and the Hayley-Laufer Duo.
A former Visiting Faculty Artist at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Dorothea currently teaches at Vancouver Community College. She is the co-artistic director of the Blueridge Chamber Music Festival.
Dorothea pursued vocal studies at McGill University, the University of British Columbia, and the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, and has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Koerner Foundation, the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada, and the Conseil des arts et des letters du Québec. She holds a Doctor of Music degree from Université de Montréal.
ALEJANDRO OCHOA, PIANO
Alejandro is a consummate performer and music educator. He holds doctoral and master degrees in piano performance from McGill University as well as a bachelor degree with Magna cum Laude distinction from Universidad de Los Andes. The recording of his graduation recital, “Three Centuries of Pianistic Virtuosity,” was awarded the Otto de Grieff National Prize for outstanding thesis work.
Alejandro has performed to great critical acclaim throughout Colombia and Canada and has given numerous solo and chamber music recitals in Germany, The Netherlands and Portugal. As a fortepianist he has performed in Vancouver, Montreal and Belgium. His latest CD recording for the label Enkii Records© features works on fortepiano by C.P.E. Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
On top of a being a soloist, recitalist and collaborative pianist, Alejandro has dedicated a great part of his life to music teaching. His students have won numerous prizes at both local and national levels, and are starting to make a name on their own. Alejandro instructed piano at McGill University and taught other keyboard and theory courses at the same institution. He is also the co-Artistic Director of the Blueridge International Chamber Music festival, which features a two-week chamber music workshop for young musicians aged 12-18, and a series of concerts featuring some of Canada’s most distinguished musicians. His passion for quality music education also led him to found TopMusicTeachers.com with the hopes of revolutionizing the private music teaching industry.