Canada's Professional 

Title



SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND ARTS 
Bringing exceptional music, dance and art  education 

Our Team

Meet our Office Manager and Dance Faculty Team 

Lissette Martinez

Office Manager 
Lissette has been a part of 
CP School of Music and Arts 
since 2015. 
She studied Accounting and worked for many years in the Bank industry. Upon arrival to Canada , Lissette worked at an ESL school which gave her the opportunity to help students in their transition into a new country and new language.  She enjoys being around kids and families and is always willing to help.  Lissette's favorites hobbies include cooking, embroidery and she also enjoys playing dominoes.


Olena Kovalevska 

Dance Instructor
Olena Kovalevska is an experienced ballet teacher, who also teaches many other genres of dance including jazz, hiphop, acro, tap and preschool dance. She started dancing at the age of 3, studied at Vaganova Ballet School in Russia and graduated from world famous Leningrad State Music Hall. Olena was a the primary dancer of the Krasnoyarsk Dance Company of Siberia, as well as a dancer for the legendary Russian singer Valeriy Leontiev. She had also taught classical ballet at famous dance studios in Croatia and Turkey. Olena has been a member of Canadian National Ballet School and was teaching various workshops and seminars from 1998 - 2008 .
She has been apart of CP School of Music and Arts since 2009 and as you can see dance is her passion for life.

Zoe Pagonis

Dance Instructor 
Zoe Pagonis started dancing at the age of 7. She began training in many styles such as tap, acro, ballet, jazz, musical theatre and lyrical at a competitive level, where she competed across Canada and the United States. Currently, she is a part of a pre-professional youth company specializing in tap dance. Her love of dance has led her to perform in many shows across Canada and assist leading artists in workshops, conventions and guest choreography. With a background in competitive gymnastics from the age of 5, she strived to combine the creative aspects of dance and the physicality of gymnastics into her teaching styles. She is currently attending The University of Guelph-Humber for their Psychology program and is planning to pursue a career in occupational therapy. Her hopes for the future are to provide the proper training for her students in a creative and exciting learning environment. 

Milica Mrkonjic

Dance Instructor
Milica started dancing at the age of 5 training in many genres such as ballet, jazz, tap, hiphop, lyrical and modern. She graduated from the University of Toronto (Honours Bachelor of Arts) and is currently attending Brock University for the Teacher’s Education program, specializing in the primary/junior division. In 2003, Milica was a part of the Nutcracker and performed for the University of North Bay's hockey team home opener in 2010. Milica has taught dance for the past seven years at CP School of Music and Art. Teaching for Milica has always been about building confidence, technique and allowing movement to help dancers navigate through everyday life. When Milica is not teaching dance, she is trying new recipes in the kitchen, playing volleyball or exploring new hiking spots with friends. 


Meet Our Music Faculty Team

Candace Santos

Piano, Voice Teacher

Candace has been passionately teaching for 9 years at CP School of Music and Arts .She teaches classical and popular music for piano and voice  in a wide variety of genres. Candace began piano lessons at the age of 5 and voice lessons at age 6. She graduated at York University in the Classical Voice program for her Specialized Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in music. Candace has won numerous competitions, a few to mention includes; 2006 CNE Rising Star Junior Grand Champion and  2012 CNE Rising Star Youth Grand Champion, she won the 2012 National Grand Champion for the Canadian Youth Talent Competition in Winnipeg. She is a multi-gold medalist for the World Championships of Performing Arts in 2009 at Los Angeles. Candace Santos was also honored to perform in 2013 at the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York. Candace aims to continue teaching and sharing this gift of music given by the Lord.


Alison King

Piano, Voice Teacher

Alison King has been working at the CP School of Music & Arts for eight and a half years. She teaches voice, piano and theory. Alison had been in choirs through all of elementary school, and in her teens decided to start taking voice lessons. She began playing the piano at the age of six with her mother who was a piano teacher. Alison has a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, where she majored in voice. She chose to be a teacher, because she enjoys helping young musicians to develop a love for music. In her spare time she enjoys reading, writing and listening to lots of different genres of music.

Roland Hunter

Guitar, Piano, Drums Teacher

 Roland Hunter teaches  guitar (classical and popular),  piano and drums. He did his music studies at Berklee College of music (Boston), University of Victoria and York University. He has a masters degree in music composition from York University. Roland has been teaching music for 25 years. 

With his students, he enjoys exploring musically diverse topics and guiding them to discover the things they love in music.

Irina Tesker

Piano and Voice Teacher
 Irina Tesker teaches an advanced  piano and voice. She has  graduated from the Saratov State Pedagogical University (Russia) with an Honors degree specializing in Music, as well she obtained a Music Education diploma from Volgograd State Pedagogical College (Russia).  

Since 1995 he has held many positions in the field of music education including  an accompanist for a ballet company (piano), Elementary Music School teacher, Choral Conductor,  and a music instructor at Mohawk College.  She is specializing in classical but can perform and teach all styles

Meet Our Music Faculty Team

Ryan Henry

Drums, Piano , Guitar Teacher 
Ryan received his Bachelor's Degree is in Music Education, specializing in Jazz Drums from the University of Toronto. He is currently furthering his studies at York Teacher's College.Ryan
 started taking lessons when he was twelve and instantly fell in love with the joy that music brings, and the collaboration that is possible in a band. His main music teachers at the University of Toronto were Grammy and Juno award winning musicians, he gained valuable insight into effective methods of teaching music from them. He has always found music as something that should be fun and enjoyed and he wants to bring that to every student he teach.

Anita Mijares

Piano, Voice Teacher
Anita Ysabel Mijares started playing classical piano in 2001, at the University of the Philippines College of Music Extension Program.  After moving to Canada in 2009, she worked with Greek composer Constantine Caravassilis and world-renowned pianist, Professor Christina Petrowska-Quilico at York University. She performed in yearly recitals and showcase and was a featured pianist on Pterodactyl Problems’ recent album, Esoteric Hobbies, as well as accompanies in various vocal and instrumental performances and examinations in Southern Ontario. She also volunteers as Praise and Worship leader for Greenhills Christian Fellowship Peel. Anita has been employed as a piano and vocal instructor at Canada’s Professional School of Music and Arts since May 2014. In her spare time, Anita likes designing and making clothes, and modeling for photoshoots.

Meg Rowen

Voice, Piano Teacher
Meg Rowen is one of our music teachers at CP School of Music & Arts. She began singing with a professional coach at the age of seven and since then has learned to play piano, guitar, ukulele and flute. Her passion for music led her to graduate from Metalworks Institute of Sound & Music Production where she specialized in Music Performance & Technology. Along the way Meg has learned a lot about the music industry and is able to incorporate music business, music history, theory, songwriting and performance into her lessons. Learning from Meg is about finding yourself as a musician and preparing for your musical career. 

Tiffany Hu

Violin and Piano Teacher
Tiffany  is teaching violin and piano. She enjoys teaching and working with her students to further their musical talents and appreciation. Tiffany was introduced to the violin when she  was seven and piano when she was twelve, and continued playing both ever since. She is a  certified at RCM Level 10 for violin, RCM Level 8 for piano. Outside of music, Tiffany also enjoy all forms of visual art, tennis, and swimming. 

Meet our Art and Music Faculty Team

Eric Kovalevskyy

Art Instructor 
Eric Kovalevskyy has been been drawing ever since he could remember.  His grandfather was a painter and he encouraged his artistic ability from the very beginning. Eric graduated from a video game design and development program, where he specialized in concept art, 3D modeling, and texturing. He have been teaching  for 10 years. Eric  enjoy working with enthusiastic students, and helping them discover their own artistic talents and skills. When he is not teaching art, he enjoys video games, rock ‘n roll music, nature photography, acting, and singing in a choir.



Fanny Hung

Piano, Voice and Theory Teacher
Fanny received her diploma in education from McGill University  and she has  BFA in Music from Concordia University. She  has been teaching at CP Music School since 2018, teaching voice, piano, theory, harmony. Also Fanny works as a SK/French/Music teacher in a private school. She had worked as a Music Director in various churches in Montreal and has  over 30 years of teaching experience in Music. Fanny is a mom of three  children and she enjoys watching them training and competing in their High Performance Program of Rhythmic Gymnastics, Synchronized Swimming, and Speed Skating.

Irene Boyko

Piano Teacher
Irene received her Associate degree in piano along with pedagogy for music teacher with the Western Ontario Conservatory of Music. In addition, she is a certified teacher with the Royal Conservatory of Music for Advanced Theory, History and Piano. Irene has been teaching   for 30 years. She prepared students for the Royal Conservatory exams in  both practical and theory each school year. Awards were given to the 3 highest marks in each discipline.
As well, the students participated in 2 recitals during the school year. The final recital was theme oriented so as to diversify the repertoire, create new musical challenges, and have fun for the students as well as parents. Irene have been with the CP School of Music  and Arts for 3 years.


Joseph Apong

Guitar and Piano Teacher

 Jospeh started playing piano when he was about 7 years old, and in high school he learned how to play the tenor saxophone and guitar. He continued to pursue music and classical guitar at York University where he graduated in 2011.  Joseph  have been teaching for about a decade at CP School of Music and Art. Inspiring 

others to see what is possible with a little bit of effort is one of the reasons why he enjoys teaching.  Aside from music, he do like to juggle which he finds uses the same principles as music such as rhythm and coordination. He enjoys running a fair bit as well and love following the latest trends in technology.    

Meet our Music Faculty Team

Alice Chen

Piano Teacher

Alice is a piano teacher at the CP School of Music and Arts. She started playing piano when she was six and is currently working towards her Bachelor of Music in Performance at Western University. She has been in both ensembles and choirs since elementary school and enjoys working with different genres of music. Alice is also working towards her ARCT certificate along with RCM history and harmony. She thinks the most important thing about teaching is to find unique methods that fit each student and help them to realize their music potentials. She also believes that passion is the key to learning music. Besides piano, she enjoys arranging and composing, as well as reading, watching movies and tennis.



Jonathan Rattos

Piano Teacher

Jonathan Rattos is a jazz pianist /composer and educator, he teaches a wide variety of genres of music, specifically jazz harmony and improvisation. Jonathan has been studying music and playing the piano since the age of 4 years old . He has graduated from Humber College’s Jazz Performing Arts program in 2014 with Honours and have been teaching and performing professionally for over a decade. Jonathan believes that the moment where students see past the ‘work,’ and discover the joy of music for what it truly is can be life changing. Aside from music and piano, Jonathan enjoys golf, reading and watching old movies.

Mike Liu

Drum and Guitar  Teacher
Mike is a drum and guitar instructor at CP School of Music and Arts . He will be completing a Master’s of Teaching from Oise in 2023 as well as a bachelor’s in music education with a specialty in classical music. Mike started playing the guitar in the third grade when he saw his music teacher do it and decided it was really cool so he started taking lessons soon after. He hopes to inspire people to study and learn about new music through teaching and interacting with students, as well as maybe learn some new things from the students himself. Some hobbies include chess, watching movies and fishing.

Laura Raffin  

Voice and Piano Teacher 
Laura is a classically-trained musician and educator. She studied at The Royal Conservatory of Music‘s Glenn Gould School where she earned a Voice Performance Diploma along with a Bachelor of Music from Thompson Rivers University. Laura is humbled to have won First Place and Most Promising Young Singer Awards at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She also received First Place Awards in Gold & Platinum at the Kiwanis Music Festival. Laura has performed at Koerner Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, Princess of Wales Theatre and at other venues in Canada and the USA. Laura is excited to join the faculty at Canada’s Professional School of Music & Arts, where she looks forward to inspiring each student to advance in their musical training.

Meet Your Music Faculty

Jacob Manucdoc

Piano and Guitar Teacher
Jacob is a piano and guitar teacher at the CP School of Music and Arts. He is currently working towards his Bachelors in Music Education at the University of Toronto, and aims to complete a Master’s of Teaching in OISE. Jacob began taking lessons at the age of six and retained a constant love and attachment to the piano. He has been in a number of instrumental ensembles and choirs since childhood, and in his spare time has explored a variety of different musical genres and instruments. Jacob believes that passion is the greatest mentor of all and fuels learning more than any teacher could. So before even the most essential fundamentals, the most important lesson a student should learn is to be passionate about their music. Alongside his love for music Jacob enjoys other hobbies including reading, writing, and gardening.

Diane Vallesteros

Piano and Voice Teacher
Diane is a piano and voice teacher at CP School of Music & Arts. She began her musical journey at the age of 6 years old, and has received her Bachelor’s degree in music at York University studying classical piano with Raisa Nakhmanovich, and piano improvisation with Casey Sokol. Through her time at York, Diane also discovered her love for composing for film, video games, animation, and other forms of media. She then earned an Ontario College Graduate Certificate at Sheridan College from the Music Scoring for Screen & Stage program, and has since continued to gain credits composing for the screen. One of Diane’s goals for her students is for them to discover their love and own path with music creation and find their musical voice.

Ashley Zhao

Piano Teacher
Ashley Zhao started the piano at the age of 7 and developed a strong passion for the instrument. She has her level 10 RCM certificate and loves to play soundtracks from a variety of movies and TV shows in her spare time. In addition, she plays badminton at a national level and loves to run. Ashley is honoured and excited to be a part of experiential learning and hopes to be able to show students how cool the piano is, and the infinite possibilities the piano can bring to them. She can’t wait to share her knowledge and get students as excited about the piano as she is!

Alex Azh

Violin Teacher
Alex is a violin teacher at CP School of Music and Arts. He has completed his grade 10 RCM certifiate and I have also been a member of the Mississauga Symphony Youth Orchestra for 3 years as well.Alex is hardworking, patient, kind, and passionate about the things he does. Apart from music and school, he enjoy playing badminton, swimming, and video games. He also take part in the DECA business competition and the HOSA medical conference.