Our Accompanists
It can be tricky to find a competent accompanist.
Most of our teachers are highly experienced and versatile accompanists.
For general advice, please contact us here. You are welcome to contact any of our accompanists directly.
(Alphabetical order)
Camila de Oliveira
Location : North Shore (Beach Haven)
Qualifications : BMus (Hons) at Faculdade de Artes Alcântara Machado, Postgrad Diploma in Music at The University of Auckland and currently undertaking MMus.
Experience : Collaborative pianist and piano teacher. Currently teaching at Albany School of Music and Remuera Music Academy. Collaborative pianist with experience in strings, brass, Opera Music Theatre, and choir repertoire.
Gabrielle Peake
Location : Remuera and Kingsland.
Qualification : MMus in Performance First Class Honours, ATCL & LTCL Diploma in Piano Recital.
Catherine Bennett
Location : North Shore (Birkenhead)
Qualification : BMus (Hons) in Performance, LRSM, LTCL (in flute and piano)
Experience : Privately teaching in NZ since 2005. Previously worked as an itinerant piano teacher in Borough of Bromley, England. Current itinerant piano teacher in St. Cuthbert’s College and Kristin College. Professional accompanist since 2005 working closely with University of Auckland School of Music, NZ Singing School, Westlake Girls and Boys High School choirs, and St. Cuthbert’s College choir.
Gemma Lee
Location : North Shore and Epsom/Remuera.
Qualification : MMus in Performance First Class Honours (UoA), LTCL Diploma in Piano Recital (Trinity Guildhall).
Experience : Gemma is a piano accompanist and music coach with 10+ years' experience working with a range of ages and musical levels in both school and private settings.
Gemma is well-versed in the NCEA Music curriculum, having accompanied quite possibly hundreds of performance assessments over the years! Most notably, she has accompanied students from Takapuna Grammar School's acclaimed musical theatre programme and choral ensembles since 2011. Gemma is also an experienced choral accompanist (Westlake Boys' and Girls' High Schools, Takapuna Grammar School, Auckland Girls Choir, North Shore Children's Choir), has musically directed several productions at Opera Factory, and regularly performs with violinist, Dr Charlotte Francis, and singer Jane Horder.
Flavio Villani
Location : Kingsland, St Heliers
Qualifications : MMus in Performance First Class Honours (University of Auckland). Currently undertaking a DMA (Waikato University)
Experience : Soloist, chamber musician and piano teacher for 10+ years. Currently director of L’Accademia music school based in St Heliers.
Linda Lin
Location : Albany (weekdays) and Epsom (weekends)
Qualification : MMus in Performance First Class Honours
Experience : Soloist, accompanist and piano teacher for 10+ years. Countless number of performance experience with strings, woodwinds, brass instruments and also with ensembles for school and ABRSM exams, choirs, recitals, recordings and competitions.
Rachel Song
Location : North Shore (Albany) and Epsom.
Qualification : MMus in Performance & Bachelors of Arts Psychology Major, ATCL Diploma in Piano Recital (Trinity Guildhall).
Experience : Rachel has been professionally accompanying singers and instrumentalists since 2009.
She has worked with a variety of school choirs including Westlake Girls High School, Carmel College, Bayview Primary School, Northcross Intermediate school, and Murrays Bays Intermediate school. She has built a unique connection with the North Shore Youth Music choirs directed by Vanessa Kay since 2009 which embarks on tours in and out of the country.
As well as being a supportive choral accompanist, she is a competent soloist accompanist and collaborative pianist for chamber musicians.
She is available for all concerts, performances and exams.