Our Master Class Leaders

Violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon is one of Canada’s most respected performing artists. A graduate of Indiana University and the Curtis Institute of Music, Annalee is a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and a first prize winner of both the Canadian Music Competition and Eckhardt Gramatté National Music Competition.

Annalee is a founding member of three-time Juno Award-winning Gryphon Trio. She can be heard on 22 recordings on Analekta, Naxos, and other labels.

Annalee maintains a busy touring schedule across North America and Europe. From 2007 to 2020, she served as Artistic Advisor to the Ottawa Chamber Music Society. Annalee is currently Associate Professor of Violin and Performance Area Chair of Strings at University of Toronto Faculty of Music. She and Gryphon Trio members Roman Borys and Jamie Parker are ensemble in-residence at the Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts in Kingston, Ontario and artistsin-residence at Trinity College, University of Toronto.

Equally in demand as a teacher of violin and chamber music, Annalee has conducted masterclasses at Rice University, Stanford University, Royal Conservatory of Music, Hochschule für Musik Mainz, Domaine Forget, Orford Music Academy, Tuckamore Festival and School, Mount Royal University, and many more.

With Gryphon Trio members Roman Borys and Jamie Parker, Annalee leads educational projects in music schools and communities across the country. These include the ensemble’s flagship Listen Up! arts outreach program, with permanent hubs in Ottawa and Etobicoke; Orford Music Academy’s Piano Trio Workshop; and the Classical Music Summer Programs at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

For more than two decades, cellist and producer Roman Borys has distinguished himself as one of Canada’s leading artistic voices. A founding member of the three-time Juno Award-winning Gryphon Trio, Roman has released 22 acclaimed recordings on Analekta, Naxos, and other labels; toured internationally since 1993; and broken new artistic ground through cross-genre collaborations and multimedia performances.

Honours include 11 nominations and three Juno Awards for Classical Album of the Year. In 2013, Canada Council for the Arts presented Gryphon Trio with the prestigious Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts. In 2015, Roman received an Honorary Doctorate from Carleton University, in Ottawa, as recognition for his contributions to the community.

As Artistic Director of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, from 2007 to 2020, Roman programmed the summer Ottawa Chamberfest (among the world’s largest chamber music festivals); a highly successful fall-winter concert series; and a suite of community engagement and education initiatives, which included sensory friendly concerts for families with children on the autism spectrum.

Deeply committed to classical music outreach and audience development, Roman conceived, developed, and produced the Gryphon Trio’s flagship educational program, Listen Up!, in communities across Canada. Listen Up! now has two permanent hubs in Ottawa and Etobicoke, Ontario.

With Gryphon Trio members Annalee Patipatanakoon and Jamie Parker, Roman leads Orford Music Academy’s Piano Trio Workshop, and the Classical Music Summer Programs at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Gryphon Trio are ensemble-in-residence at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in Kingston, Ontario and artists-in-residence at Trinity College, University of Toronto. Roman lives and works in Toronto.

Violist Danny Lai was appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2014 by Music Director Riccardo Muti. He began his musical studies on the piano at age 6 and picked up the viola in public school when he was 10. At age 16, after performing the first movement of Mahler’s Second Symphony, he decided to make music his life. He studied at Northwestern University with Dr. Roland Vamos while taking orchestral repertoire classes with then CSO Principal Viola Charles Pikler. After graduating with degrees in both economics and music, Lai joined the viola section of the Colorado Symphony.

In Chicago, Lai is a frequent chamber music collaborator, playing with groups such as Civitas, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Pro Musica and with his colleagues in the CSO.

He has made recital appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He is an alumnus of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has performed around the world with such orchestras as the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Japan, the Lucerne Festival Academy in Switzerland and the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in Sydney, Australia. He also is the winner of several competitions, including the Jefferson Symphony International Young Artists Competition, the Thaviu String Competition and the Luminarts Union League Strings Competition. He was a semifinalist in the Stulberg Competition in 2010.

He plays on a contemporary viola made by Franz Kinberg.

Jamie Parker’s achievements are both lengthy and impressive. His musical roots can be traced to the Vancouver Academy of Music and University of British Columbia, where he studied with Lee Kum Sing. He then went on to complete his master’s and doctorate with Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School. Jamie continues the teaching tradition as the Rupert E. Edwards Chair in Piano Performance at University of Toronto Faculty of Music.

Beginning in 1984 with a first prize at the Eckhardt Gramatté National Music Competition, Jamie served notice that he was a rising star. The CBC concurred, selecting him winner of the 25th National Competition for Young Performers. The Virginia P. Moore Prize (known today as the Virginia Parker Prize) soon followed, further solidifying Jamie’s place as one of Canada’s best young classical musicians.

On-air programs repeatedly seek out his performances. Jamie has made frequent appearances on CBC, Bravo, Global Television Network, Much, and media platforms around the world.

Jamie’s style has earned The Globe and Mail’s praise as “one of the most searching musical intellects and 10 of the nimblest fingers in the business.” He has enthralled audiences in North America and Europe, counting diplomats and dignitaries among his rapt listeners.

A consummate professional, Jamie is critically acclaimed as both a soloist and as a chamber musician. He tours as the pianist for Canada’s foremost chamber ensemble, Gryphon Trio, and performs with major Canadian and international symphony orchestras. With three JUNO recording awards and many other nominations from his vast discography, Jamie Parker continues to graciously strive to do it all.