Coastal Sound Music Academy Artistic Team
Coastal Sound is proud to have an artistic team which includes professional singers, award winning music educators and choral conductors, composer/ arrangers, acclaimed musicians in a variety of styles. At the forefront of our teaching, is a nurturing care for the singers in our vocal ensembles, and a desire to help each singer realize their potential through music. Meet the team in each of our choirs below!
Diana Clark
Artistic Director
Coastal Sound’s founding Artistic Director, Donna Otto, invited Diana to lead this organization in 2009. Diana has an eclectic background that includes a Master’s Degree in Music Performance and top program honours in a Master of Music Education from Northwestern University, Illinois. Diana is recognized for her creative work with young artists and has served as a clinician across Canada. She has adjudicated, led honour ensembles, provided music workshops and reading clinics throughout Metro Vancouver and Canada.
Diana has been a music educator in schools for 25 years and offers a treasure-trove of ideas in her workshop sessions that connect repertoire to curriculum and performance. Such diverse training and interests have contributed to Diana’s approach to music education: to nurture budding musicians so that they grow to be thoughtful, creative artists and engaged, caring and contributing citizens.
In 2015, Diana was the recipient of the national Experiences Canada Ambassador Award for exceptional leadership and dedication to youth through Experiences Canada’s Youth Exchanges programs.
She is proud to serve the Canadian choral community on the Board of Choral Canada, where she coordinated the first-ever national choral census. Results have just been released!
My goal is to create opportunities for people to discover the transformative power of music, so that they will love and value this art form, and pass it on to their children. If more people made music together, the world would be a better place!
Sources Songplay
Laura Epp
Director
Laura Epp is an enthusiastic member of the CSMA team. She directs the Sources youngsters, sings in DeCoro, and her children sing in the choirs too. Music has always been an important and powerful part of her life. For Laura, music is a way to connect people and create joy. She wants to share this joy with the youngest of the Coastal Sound choirs: Sources. She always looks forward to Tuesday after school when she can sing and play with these wonderful children.
Laura has been a teacher in BC for over 20 years. She has Bachelors of Science and Education from U of S and a Master of Education from SFU. She is currently working at SFU as a Faculty Associate, where she mentors beginning teachers.
Coastal Sound Kids
Angie Lundin
Director
Angie has been a member of the Coastal Sound family for more than 20 years. She was a member of CSMA’s inaugural Adult Choir, taught Kinderdance and Sources to hundreds of children and is now the director of Con Brio. Angie recently wrote and performed her one woman show Finding Wonderland as part of her SFU Masters of Arts thesis. Having spent much of her adult years working professionally as a singer and actress around the globe, she is now an elementary music specialist in Coquitlam where she passes on her passion and knowledge to young children.
Laura Epp
Director
Laura Epp is an enthusiastic member of the CSMA team. She directs the Sources youngsters, sings in DeCoro, and her children sing in the choirs too. Music has always been an important and powerful part of her life. For Laura, music is a way to connect people and create joy. She wants to share this joy with the youngest of the Coastal Sound choirs: Sources. She always looks forward to Tuesday after school when she can sing and play with these wonderful children.
Laura has been a teacher in BC for over 20 years. She has Bachelors of Science and Education from U of S and a Master of Education from SFU. She is currently working at SFU as a Faculty Associate, where she mentors beginning teachers.
Coastal Sound Junior Choir
Grace Lee
Director
Grace is a music educator who is passionate about music and all the joys and wonders it brings. This passion was found when her family moved to Canada from South Korea and she discovered that music was a universal language that could unite people from different backgrounds. Ever since then, Grace has been immersed in the world of music through her involvement in choirs, bands and performing arts groups and has continuously sought out opportunities to develop her musicianship as well as her teaching skills. She has obtained her B. Mus and B.Ed degrees from UBC, as well as her GDE diploma and M.Ed degree from SFU. She has been employed as a teacher in SD43 since 2015, and under her direction, her elementary school choir has been recognized at provincial and national levels. In 2015, the Lieutenant Governor of BC presented the Ranch Park Choir with the Enthusiasm and Spirit Award of the Sing Me a Song BC Program, and in 2018, the choir was named one of the top 10 finalists in the Passion Prize category of the annual CBC Music Challenge. Grace has also been an active member of the CMTA (Coquitlam Music Teachers’ Association) and has displayed leadership by volunteering to be an Elementary Rep, hosting the District Music Jamboree, and organizing and directing the District Honour Choir. She is thrilled to be a part of Coastal Sound Music Academy and is looking forward to creating beautiful music and wonderful memories with the members of the Junior Choir!
Coastal Sound Children's Choir
Diana Clark
Director
Coastal Sound’s founding Artistic Director, Donna Otto, invited Diana to lead this organization in 2009. Diana has an eclectic background that includes a Master’s Degree in Music Performance and top program honours in a Master of Music Education from Northwestern University, Illinois. Diana is recognized for her creative work with young artists. She has adjudicated, served as clinician, led honour ensembles and has provided music workshops and reading clinics throughout Metro Vancouver and Canada.
Diana has been a music educator in schools for 25 years and offers a treasure-trove of ideas in her workshop sessions that connect repertoire to curriculum and performance. Such diverse training and interests have contributed to Diana’s approach to music education: to nurture budding musicians so that they grow to be thoughtful, creative artists and engaged, caring and contributing citizens.
In 2015, Diana was the recipient of the national Experiences Canada Ambassador Award for exceptional leadership and dedication to youth through Experiences Canada’s Youth Exchanges programs. She is proud to serve the Canadian choral community on the Board of Choral Canada, where she coordinated the first-ever national choral census. Results have just been released!
Barry Yamanouchi
Pianist
Barry Yamanouchi, pianist/accompanist, holds degrees in Piano and a Master of Music in Sound Recording from McGill University. Barry is in great demand throughout Metro Vancouver for his sensitive accompanying skills. As a full time professional accompanist, Barry was awarded with the BC Choral Federation’s Accompanist Achievement award in 2015 for service to the provincial choral community.
Coastal Sound Youth Choir
Will de Sousa
Conductor
Will de Sousa works in the Burnaby School District, currently at Alpha Secondary School, as a choir and band director. Will graduated from both UBC’s School of Education, and School of Music, studying secondary choral and instrumental education. Though percussion was his primary instrument, Will’s strongest passion has always been choral music, and he has sought opportunities to build his skills in this area, and to immerse himself in the choral community. Will believes that making music together is about much more than the actual music making; it’s about the community that is created. There is nothing more powerful than having a group of people come together to make something bigger than themselves, and that is why Will is so passionate about instilling that love of music in others. Before becoming Conductor of the Youth Choir, Will sang with the group for six years, and served as Assistant Conductor for 2 years. This makes his role all the more meaningful to him, as he gets to help provide the same opportunities that helped shape him into the person he is today.
Krista Pederson
Pianist
Krista Pederson is a singer, pianist and teacher in Vancouver. Born in Saskatchewan, and spending time living in Edmonton and Ottawa, Krista has enjoyed travelling through her life for study and adventure. She studied piano performance with Jacques Després at the University of Alberta and completed a master’s degree in collaborative piano with John Hess at the University of Western Ontario. She has also studied piano and voice in the U.S., Spain and Austria with wonderful musicians like Alexandra Munn, Christiane Riel, Margo Garrett, Patricia Caicedo and Norman Shetler. She has been so pleased to create a career that allows her to perform and share music with the people around her. Her work includes collaborating with singers, playing for ballet classes, teaching, performing and being a mother to her 4 little children. She has performed, toured and recorded with the Vancouver Chamber Choir and most recently, she has joined the Vancouver Cantata Singers and looks forward to sharing wonderful performances with those talented musicians.
DeCoro
Kelly Proznick
Director
Kelly Proznick is a musician, educator and conductor working on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish People in the Vancouver area of British Columbia. She teaches choir, band and musical theatre at New Westminster Secondary School, where she has also held the position of Department Head for Visual and Performing Arts for the last decade. Kelly conducts Coastal Sound Music’s adult choir DeCoro, and is the part-time District Arts Facilitator for SD40 New Westminster. She has worked for many years on faculty at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music Summer Jazz Workshop and was a founding member of the BC Choral Mentorship Project, studying under the mentorship of Dr. Geoffery Boers (U Washington) and Richard Nace. Kelly has done clinics and workshops on music education and leadership through music for various organizations including Elektra Women’s Choir, Chor Leoni Men’s Choir and the BC Music Educators Association. Her pedagogy and personal practice center around exploring identity, belonging and connection through the arts. Kelly holds a BMus from McGill University, BEd from UBC and a MEd in Arts Education from Simon Fraser University.
Elise Heard
Pianist
Elise Heard has enjoyed many years of music making and in various capacities. As a graduate of both UBC’s music program (BMus) in music theory and piano performance and Elementary Education (BEd), Elise has been able to fuse these two passions throughout her career. She currently teaches as a music specialist for the Burnaby School District, teaching music, dance and drama to all students K – 7 at Aubrey Elementary. Over the years Elise has sung with various choirs, including UBC Chamber Singers, Phoenix Chamber Choir and the Vancouver Cantata Singers. As well as raising two children with her husband, she has also accompanied various singers, instrumentalists and choirs, and has taught piano in her home studio. For several years Elise has accompanied for the adult choir, De Coro, which is an absolute joy and highlight each week, as this community minded group is dedicated to making music and laughter a part of their lives.