Greg Caisley

PIANO DEPARTMENT CO-CHAIR; IN-PERSON & ONLINE LESSONS

Dr. Greg Caisley completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, working with Dr. Alan Smith. Earlier studies included two years of Aufbaustudium in Germany, as well as special studies and concerts in Vienna, Banff, and throughout the United States. Since moving to Vancouver in 2006, Dr. Caisley has worked and performed for many music institutions around Vancouver, including the Vancouver Academy of Music, City Opera Vancouver, and UBC. In addition, he has made several CD albums, tours, and even music videos across western Canada. He has collaborated with some outstanding musicians over his career, including Martin Katz, Heinrich Schiff, Michael Uhde, Elly Ameling, Kevin Fitzgerald, Robert Höll, Tracy Dahl, Ruth Golden, Rudolf Janzen, and Hans Hotter.

Dr. Caisley has taught both solo and collaborative piano for 15 years in his private studio, now located in downtown Vancouver, and a number of his students have continued on to both professional music careers, and further studies at important musical institutions, including as far as the Conservatory in Milan, and as close by as the University of Victoria School of Music. In addition to his career as a performance artist and piano teacher, Dr. Caisley has worked extensively as a vocal coach and répétiteur. He has worked for opera companies, and coached over 50 classically trained singers. Some of these singers have gone on to successful careers in German and Italian opera houses, as well as well as working in various groups throughout the Vancouver region.

Dr. Caisley is a strong proponent of music education as an inspiration and vocation for both listener and performer, and as such is a passionate champion of the Canadian music festival movement. He has adjudicated more than 200 festivals across Canada, and has held masterclasses in many smaller communities in support of music education, communication skills, and the links between music, history, and psychology. Dr. Caisley also currently holds the position of President of the Canadian Music Festivals Adjudicators Association.  Aside from his work as a pianist and teacher, Dr. Caisley has spent more than 10 years developing programming within music communities in Vancouver, including the founding of three different organizations. Within these various projects, Dr. Caisley has spent a considerable amount of time composing original material to complement a wide variety of musical knowledge and ability, as well as conducting the ensembles, musical preparation, and building the administrative board support. A notable organization founded by Dr. Caisley is the Postmodern Camerata, a chamber music ensemble consisting of professional instrumentalists and singers dedicated to the performance of chamber works across genres. Their repertoire is immense and varied, including everything from masterpieces from the renaissance to modern day fusions.

Dr. Caisley has a career spanning almost 15 years as the Music Director in three major United Churches in the Vancouver Region. During that time, he collaborated with interested and passionate volunteers to develop the Pneuma Voices training program for young singers. Dr. Caisley taught many of the young choristers, many of whom have gone on to further musical training, and singing in the community. Finally, Dr. Caisley also founded and continues to direct what is now referred to as United Voices Choir, a choir of approximately 50 auditioned singers which is paired with professional singer soloists and instrumentalists to perform large-scale sacred music concerts. Their repertoire extends from Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Saint John Passion, through to the Brahms’ Requiem and Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna.

In his spare time, Dr Caisley enjoys cycling, hockey, and reading the poetry of Charles Bukowski, e.e. cummings and Billy Collins. He loves to spend time with his three children, aged 7, 19, and 23, and his wife, Yi Zhou, who is a violinist in the Vancouver Symphony.