Canadian pianist and piano pedagogue Derek Zhi Guang Chiu enjoys an active professional career. A three-time recipient of Steinway & Sons Top Piano Teacher Award in Calgary (2016, 2018 & 2020) enjoys a successful international career as a performer, music educator, clinician, adjudicator and music consultant.
As a performer, Chiu has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. Most recently he has performed at Biola University, California State University – Northridge, Showcase Pianos in Vancouver, Bishop’s University, University of Lethbridge and the University of Regina. His orchestral engagements have included performances with the Windsor Community Orchestra, Briercrest College Orchestra, Rockland Symphony Orchestras and The Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra.
Chiu’s academic lectures have explored the music of Bach, Chopin, Liszt, and Mozart. Chiu has presented at the Colorado State Music Teachers’ Conference, The Colburn School, the University of Windsor, Lakehead University and Providence College to name a few. Chiu maintains a private studio in Calgary and is a sought after master class clinician, ensemble coach and guest teacher.
Chiu graduated with a Master of Music degree in 2003. During his studies at the Manhattan School of Music, Chiu was mentored in chamber music by pianist Daniel Epstein of the Raphael Trio and engaged in rigorous studies in Baroque and Classical performance practices
He is the Alberta Regional Representative for the Royal Conservatory and a member of their College of Examiners.
John Lowry has been Associate Concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra since 1987. He was Concertmaster of the Edmonton Symphony for the 2002-2003 season, and has served as Guest Concertmaster of orchestras in Halifax, Winnipeg, Kitchener-Waterloo, Red Deer, and the Adelaide Symphony in South Australia. John began his musical studies in Edmonton with Ranald Shean and went on to graduate from the University of Toronto and Yale University. His teachers have also included George Neikrug, David Zafer, and the eminent American virtuoso, Oscar Shumsky.
John has been a member of such musical organizations as the Opera Company of Boston, Esprit Contemporain, and the Canadian Opera Company. He was formerly Concertmaster of the New Hampshire Philharmonic and Opera New England, and has also performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra and National Ballet. He was previously on the faculty of the University of Manitoba and the University of Lowell, Massachusetts, and has also taught at the University of Calgary, Mount Royal College, and the Comox Valley Youth Music Centre. John has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Halifax, and Red Deer, with such conductors as Hans Graf, Mario Bernardi, James Judd, Jean-François Rivest, Timothy Vernon, and Ivars Taurins.
As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with such artists as James Campbell, Bernadene Blaha, Rivka Golani, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Eliot Fisk, Robert Silverman, and Angela Cheng. He has participated in the Pacific Rim Festival, Alberta Scene 2005, and the Windy Mountain Music Project. He is a founding member of Calgary’s Land’s End Chamber Ensemble, specializing in 20th and 21st century music, which won the Western Canadian Music Award for Outstanding Classical Recording in 2005 and 2006. His violin was made in Milan by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi in 1769.
Concert Program for Feb 7:
Melody by Myroslav Skoryk
Sonata in G major for Piano and Violin, K. K.301/293a by W.A. Mozart
I. Allegro con spirito II. Allegro
2 Légendes – St. Francois de paule merchant sur les flots, S. 175 by F. Liszt
Romance in F major Op. 50 by L. van Beethoven
Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de Piano de S. Bach by Charles-François Gounod (arranged for piano and violin)
performance dedicated to Max Ishida (2008 to 2023)
