Susan Michaels
Musical Director, Susan Michaels, has a MUS. BAC and BAC of ED from The University of Toronto. An award winning music educator, formerly of The Scarborough and North York Boards of Education, she is a brass specialist, with an A.R.C.T. on the euphonium and trombone. As past Director of Scarborough's elite, all city high school band, The Scarborough Wind Ensemble, Mrs. Michaels toured with the group throughout Canada and the U.S. performing in places from Toronto's Roy Thompson Hall and Massey Hall to Washington's Kennedy Center and the Pentagon. A trained vocalist from the studio of Robert Loewen, Mrs. Michaels was a member of The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir for seventeen years and performed with The Toronto Symphony countless times at Roy Thompson Hall and Massey Hall in Toronto, The National Centre for the Performing Arts in Ottawa and Carnegie Hall in New York. An accomplished pianist and arranger, she often arranges music for the choir. The Renanim Youth Singers allows Mrs. Michaels to unite her passions for music, teaching youth and community.
Mark Andrews
Mark Andrews is from Gibsons, BC. He began studying the piano at the age of 2 with Jesse Morrison, best known as the first teacher of prominent Canadian pianists James and Jon Kimura Parker. Upon her retirement, he studied with Edward Parker of Burnaby, BC, under whose tutelage he completed several advanced diplomas, including the ARCT Performer's, ARCT Teacher's, LLCM, and FLCM. At the same time, he studied violin and viola under Roxelyn Ethridge and Erno Kabok, and achieved his ARCT Performer's in violin. He was also a regular electee to the Provincial Finals on both piano and violin, and won multiple best-in-province and best-in-country awards from the Royal Conservatory of Music on both piano and viola. In 2001, he entered the University of Toronto to study Piano Performance, studying with James Anagnoson for two years before transferring to the studio of Dr. James Parker. Upon completing his B.Mus, he entered the M.Mus program immediately, and is currently completing his final year of study. Mark looks forward to pursuing further education in the field of Music Technology, as this subject has been of lifelong interest to him.
