TEACHER OF TRADITONAL AND SUZUKI VIOLIN

DIRECTS STRING GROUP CLASSES AND ENSEMBLES

Violinist Cassandra Leshchyshyn values music for its ability to inspire joy in those who experience it, as well as connection to others, to oneself, and to the world around us. Being an orchestral and chamber musician and teacher continues to offer Cassandra an abundance of opportunities for artistic and personal growth and is a great source of adventure.

An enthusiastic orchestral musician with a particular love of performing opera repertoire, Cassandra has performed in orchestras throughout Europe and across Canada. She has performed in major concert halls including the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Cassandra was an honorary member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and held leadership positions with the Scheswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in Germany. Cassandra has held concertmaster positions with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the University of Toronto Symphony and Opera Orchestras, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestral Institute at Whistler. Cassandra held leadership positions with the National Academy Orchestra in Hamilton, Ontario, and performed Vivaldi’s “Spring” Concerto as a soloist with the orchestra.

Cassandra has performed extensively as a spirited chamber musician, including in a piano quartet representing Lincoln Center Stage. This collaboration between Lincoln Center in New York and Holland America Line brought an eclectic set of programs to audiences aboard Holland America Line cruise ships. This included music from the classical repertoire, music of contemporary composers, popular, jazz, and Latin American music. The quartet voyaged through the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, through Vancouver to Alaska, and ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe and throughout the Mediterranean. Cassandra found fulfillment by connecting with her colleagues and audiences through performance, as well as through dialogue with audiences both on and off stage.

A native of Toronto, Canada, Cassandra studied with Jonathan Crow —  the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Concertmaster — at the University of Toronto where she completed her Bachelor of Music in Performance. She continued her studies with Violaine Melançon — chamber musician and founder of Duo M and the Peabody Trio — at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. Here she obtained her Master’s of Music and Graduate Diploma in Performance degrees.

In 2019 Cassandra was awarded a Canada Graduate Scholarship which helped facilitate her study of music by Ukrainian composers. She was inspired by the research, performances, and recordings of Ukrainian classical music by violinists Solomiya Ivakhiv and Carissa Klopoushak. Cassandra looks forward to continuing to celebrate Ukrainian culture through music and strongly believes in the importance of doing so at this critical moment in history for Ukraine and the world.

As a devoted teacher of private violin students and as a leader of orchestra ensembles and group classes at the Bermuda School of Music, Cassandra draws on her extensive performance experience, formal education, and varied teacher training. Cassandra completed violin teacher training at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University under the tutelage of Mimi Zweig and is trained in the Suzuki method. Cassandra is a teacher with a sensitivity towards each student’s unique makeup and circumstance, and works to curate a program that will best serve each student in their learning journey of and through the violin. Cassandra has experienced her own study of music to offer seemingly infinite opportunities for artistic and personal growth and understanding — it is along this path that she invites, guides, and encourages her students.

Cassandra intends to continue cultivating joy through music and making meaningful connections through music with students, colleagues, audiences, and with the world around her.