Master Class Players is a group of six professionally-trained pianists who met several
years ago in a community outreach performance master class given by Boyanna Toyich
of the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Following years of intensive studies in
piano in their youth, most pursued careers outside music, returning to their primary
discipline and first love in later life. MCP regularly volunteer their public performances to
libraries, hospitals, seniors’ residences, as well as other fundraising and charity events.
For more information, please contact jwearing@sympatico.ca.
Lenore Beatty is an accomplished performer and chamber artist in Toronto. She is a
graduate of the University of Western Ontario (BA, Mus G Paed), the Glenn Gould
School at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and a Fellow of Trinity College, London. Her
teachers and mentors include Fair Cockburn, Clifford Poole, Howard Munn, Boris
Lysenko, Marc Durand, and Boyanna Toyich, with whom she continues to work. Lenore
has performed often at the Heliconian Club, the Arts and Letters Club, and at other
centres in Canada and the US. At the same time she continues a busy teaching career
in piano, theory, and performance.
Deanne Bogdan received her Solo Performer’s ARCT while in her teens. She studied
piano under Clifford von Kuster as part of her BA in Music and Philosophy from UWO.
Deanne holds an MA in English from York and a PHD from OISE/UT, where she taught
in the Graduate Program in Philosophy of Education for over two decades. The author of
three books and numerous academic articles, Deanne often incorporated her solo and
chamber music performances into her conference presentations. She is currently
Professor Emerita in the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences & Social Justice in
Education, OISE/UT. Deanne has performed in Rome and the US, has collaborated in
piano-poetry salons, and is one of six featured pianists on Toronto composer Erika
Yost’s CD, Roma: Suite for Piano. Deanne currently coaches with Boyanna Toyich.
Sue Dexter returned to a life in music after a career in journalism and studies in botany
at the University of Toronto. She began music studies in the 1950s with the late Walter
Kaufmann, the then conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony, and the late Gladys Barnes
in Ottawa. She grew up in a musical household, and frequently accompanied her
mother, a lyric soprano. At fifteen, Sue quit playing completely. Thirty-six years later, she
filled in for a friend at the studio of Toronto teacher and pianist Dorothy Glick, and has
not stopped since. She now studies music analysis with Art Levine and, most important,
the endlessly fascinating art of playing the piano with Margaret Halliwell.
Ron Jordan has been highly regarded in the Toronto area as an accompanist and organ
recitalist, recording and performing with instrumental, vocal and choral groups
throughout Canada and the United Kingdom for over forty years. In 2003, Ron returned
to solo piano, performing in competitions and concerts in the US and Canada. He is a
graduate of the University of Toronto and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of
Organists. Now retired from film and television financial consulting, Ron spends much of
his time assisting charities and non-profits in fund-raising performances and recordings,
as well as spending the occasional moment to write and perform his own music.
Joe Wearing, born in London, Ontario, obtained undergraduate degrees in both
Economics and Music at the University of Western Ontario. This was followed by
graduate work at the Universities of Toronto and Oxford. As an academic, Joe published
books and articles on Canadian political parties and elections, and is currently Professor
Emeritus of Political Studies at Trent University. Joe has competed in piano competitions
in Washington, Berlin, and Boston in addition to performing in the United States and
Mexico. He currently studies with Lawrence Pitchko.
Joan Zarry graduated from the University of Toronto in Music, and, after study abroad,
returned to Toronto to perform and teach music at the Royal Conservatory. She later
taught in the Music Department of Northwestern University and in London, England.
Returning again to Toronto, she embarked on a thirty-five–year career in property
management and design. A few years ago, Joan reclaimed her first love and is once
again enjoying practising, performing, and the friendship of fellow musicians. She is cofounder (with Joe Wearing) of Master Class Players, runs a Master Class Series, and is
an active member of the Heliconian Club for professional women in the arts. Joan has
performed in France, Mexico, the US, and England. She also enjoys teaching her
talented grandchildren.