Alana Chan, Conductor/Music Director
M.A. (Music with Distinction), B.Sc., ARCT (Piano Performance), RMT (CFMTA, BCRMTA, HKPTA)
Certified Advanced Specialist in Piano, Theory & History (Royal Conservatory of Music)
Recently selected as one of the four top emerging conductors in Canada by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Alana Chan was featured in the “RBC Canadian Conductors Showcase”. She is currently the Music Director of A Little Night Music Orchestra and Simon Fraser University Concert Orchestra. The orchestras she has conducted include the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, Hong Kong Symphonia, Hong Kong Elite Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Children’s Symphony Orchestra on concert tour in Austria, Prague Summer Nights Symphony Orchestra, London Serenata, and the Chamber Orchestra of New York at the International Respighi Conducting Competition where she was the first female conductor to be awarded Honorable Mention in Carnegie Hall. Summer of 2018, Alana was the Assistant & Cover Conductor for the fully staged opera “The Magic Flute” by Mozart at the Prague Summer Nights Music Festival in the Estates Theater in Prague (the only theater remaining where Mozart performed in). She also conducted two staged opera scenes concert in Tabor, Czech Republic. Alana was invited to return to Prague again in the summer of 2019 for the production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and “Marriage of Figaro”. Back in Canada, she guest conducted a performance of the musical “Once Upon a Mattress” by Rodgers and Barer, presented by the North Shore Light Opera Society. Since 2017, Alana has been invited every summer to conduct the orchestral concerts for the annual Taiwanfest to promote tourism and multiculturism in Vancouver. Alana’s past and present conducting mentors include Ken Hsieh, Timothy Long, John Nardolillo, Dr. John Farrer, Professor Howard Williams, Dirk Brossé, Frank Klassen, Jonathan Darlington, Arthur Arnold, and Jimmy Chiang.
In her earlier musical career as a pianist, amongst many other awards, Alana was a first prize winner at the Canadian Music Competition, the Kay Meek Competition, and was named top ten young talented pianists in the International Pacific Piano Competition; followed by her debut piano concerto performance with the legendary Canadian conductor Maestro Victor Feldbrill and the Vancouver Academy of Music Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre. Her piano teachers were Professor Saida Matyukov, Professor Lee Kum Sing, and renowned pianist Choi Sown Le. Alana achieved Master of Arts in Music with Distinction and was awarded the Scholastic Award from the Hong Kong Baptist University. Shortly after, she was featured in the Hong Kong Ming-Pao Daily newspaper for being one of the most successful alumni of HKBU. Upon invitation, she wrote and published an article on “Playing Together as One” for The Pianist Magazine (Issue 9). Recently, Alana was interviewed by the Japanese magazine Fraser Monthly for their March 2019 issue.
Alana’s abundance of music teaching experience involved leading music workshops, school bands and choirs. She has found and taught the school choir at the Jockey Club Sarah Roe School (the only international school for students with special educational needs in Hong Kong) of the English Schools Foundation. Alana was a music instructor at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. In 2012, she was invited by the Government of Hong Kong to give a series of “Summer Music Workshops – First Music Lessons” including an interactive presentation on “Peter and the Wolf by Tchaikovsky” and an introduction of Western and Chinese instruments for two consecutive summers. The competitions she adjudicated include the 61st Canadian Music Competition (CMC), 20th Asia Piano Open Competition (final round), Vancouver International Music Competition (1° round), 25th & 26th Annual Edith Lando Gifted Youth Music Competition, Phyllis Salter Annual Piano Competition, Vancouver Academy of Music Junior and Intermediate Symphony Concerto Competitions, and Mozart School of Music Vancouver Piano Concerto Competition. Alana is currently on faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music and is a certified Advanced Specialist in Piano, Music Theory & History of the Royal Conservatory of Music. She is currently the Vice President of the Canada International Arts and Music Society; and is on the board for the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society.
Besides music, she has also made contributions in the field of Chemistry and was awarded the Vice President Research Award from the Simon Fraser University.
Andy Kim, Concertmaster
B.Sc. (Simon Fraser University), ARCT (Violin Performance)
Andy is a Violin Advanced Performance major enrolled at the University of British Columbia School of Music. At a young age, Andy studied with Hungarian violinist, Erno Kabok. Having completed the Associate of the Royal Conservatory examination in performance at fifteen, he has held the concertmaster position of the Kabok Strings Chamber Orchestra, the North Shore Light Opera Society Pit Orchestra, and the Simon Fraser University Concert Orchestra.
He has performed at multiple well-known venues including the Orpheum, the Rudolfinum and the Estates Theatre in Prague and has received coaching from Lauren Roth and David Gillham. In addition, Andy continues to polish his technique by performing in masterclasses with distinguished soloists such as Josef Spacek, Axel Strauss, Elissa Lee, Nancy Dahn, and Timothy Steeves.
Currently, he is studying under Jasper Wood at UBC and is teaching violin privately at the Maple Leaf Music School while leading A Little Night Music Orchestra (ALNMO) as concertmaster under the baton of his mentor, Alana Chan.
Gord Deyell, Composer in Residence
Peter Stigings, Conductor/Music Director Emeritus
Little Night Music Orchestra has been fortunate to have Peter Stigings as its Conductor and Music Director since September 2002. Peter has been involved in music and the arts for 40 years, and has served as conductor, adjudicator, evaluator and clinician throughout Canada, the United States and Hong Kong. He has directed bands, choirs, orchestras, jazz bands and is known as a master teacher. His bands and ensembles have participated in numerous regional, provincial, national and international festivals and events, and have toured extensively throughout Canada as well as the United States, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, England, Hong Kong, Macau and Japan.
Peter has served on a number of boards, including the British Columbia Music Educators’ Association, Canadian Music Educators’ Association, Vancouver Kiwanis Jazz Festival, Canadian Stage Band National Festival, Rocky Mountain National Festival, Pacific Music Fraser MacPherson Trust Fund, and the International Association of Jazz Educators. In 1990 the British Columbia Music Educators’ Association awarded Peter an Honorary Life Membership in recognition of his years of service to music education. In June 1999 he received the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
Peter retired as Chair of the Fine Arts Department and Director of Bands at Magee Secondary School in Vancouver in 1999. He is presently on the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia as a sessional lecturer and faculty advisor. In February 2002 he co-chaired the BC Music Educators annual provincial conference.
The members of A Little Night Music are challenged and inspired by Peter’s enthusiasm, dedication and ability to convey musical concepts succinctly, and are excited to be playing under Peter’s baton.
Derek MacDermot, FounderDerek MacDermot Derek MacDermot was the heart and soul of A Little Night Music for 30 years.
After his first career as a professional singer (interrupted by service in the Canadian Air Force during the Second World War), Derek taught music in the public school systems in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island until his retirement as a schoolteacher. Besides conducting his own school bands, he conducted musicals in Victoria and had a community orchestra in Saanich. When Derek returned to Vancouver in 1970 after obtaining a Master’s Degree in Music from the University of Wisconsin, he recognized the need for a community orchestra in Vancouver and began discussions with the Vancouver School Board to establish an orchestra as part of the VSB’s night school curriculum. Soon afterwards, A Little Night Music was born, and the rest is history.
The Orchestra has fond memories of Derek’s 30 years on the podium. He made a personal connection with each member, and through his encouragement and gentle humour he brought out the best in each player’s abilities (once prompting an audience member at a Robson Square summer concert to identify A Little Night Music as the VSO). Derek’s love of music and devotion to the Orchestra were contagious, and audiences often commented on the obvious enthusiasm of the musicians.
On Derek’s retirement in June 2002, he was appointed Conductor Emeritus of A Little Night Music Orchestra. Sadly, Derek passed away suddenly on December 4th, 2003. Our condolences to his family, including his partner, Joy McKim, former ALNM pianist.