Mikkel Andersen is a classical guitarist from Copenhagen, Denmark, trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe, the Americas, and Greenland, and is regularly invited to international classical guitar festivals. Foreign composers have written music for him, and he has released three solo albums — the first, "El Llanto de la Guitarra," was named CD of the Week on Danish national radio and launched his international career. At home, Mikkel runs Copenhagen Guitar School — Casa de la Guitarra — where he teaches up to 40 children and young adults each week and mentors students preparing for conservatory admission. He has more than 25 years of experience teaching guitar at music schools across Denmark, and his approach is direct, warm, and built on the belief that serious musicianship and genuine human connection belong in the same room. Classical music found Mikkel by accident: at six years old, his godmother gave him a cassette with children's stories on one side and Tchaikovsky on the other. He flipped the tape and never went back. He picked up the guitar at nine, growing up in a working-class family where nobody else played music, and practiced more hours than most because that's how his household worked — you got things done. At camp, Mikkel is our visiting international guitar faculty, teaching classes from absolute beginner through advanced classical guitar, including a new Music of Spain & Latin America exploratory class open to all musicians and non-musicians!

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Lianne Cranfield has been singing since age 3 and has performed thousands of shows. She has played in pubs and cafes, on big stages, at festivals, large private events and most notably, played while touring for an extended period of travel in New Zealand and Australia.  Upon her return to Canada, she conducted research on music’s effects on the developing brain as a component of her Masters of Education.

 She came to the Yukon in 2012 where she became a mother and a counsellor at a local highschool. During this time, Lianne offered a children’s music program, Musical Minds Yukon, and continued to develop her vocal coaching and art therapy program, Find Your Voice. 

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Raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, by two professional musicians, Sarah Hamilton was surrounded by oldtime, bluegrass, ragtime and swing music from an early age. She has been playing fiddle since the age of six and started performing shortly with bands including: The Done Gone Stringband, Annie Lou, Pigeonhawk Stringband, Combo Royale, The Swinging Pines, and Happy Trails, Prospector. Throughout her career Sarah’s passion for American music has pulled her around the states to study, observe, and participate in some of the finest Appalachian, Cajun and Swing music the vast country has to offer.

Sarah has been teaching fiddle privately and in group settings for over 15 years. She has experience teaching children and adults privately, and at music camps across Canada including Nimblefingers workshops and festival (bc), Northern Lights Bluegrass and Oldtime (sk), Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival and Yukon Summer Music Camp.

She is extremely passionate about teaching fiddle, guitar, singing, music theory, improvisation and dance and has spent the past several years as a music educator at Big Cedar Music: Music Education North, a highly successful music program that specializes in therapeutic music programming for Indigenous Youth.

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Wesley Hardisty is Dene First Nation from Tulita and Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨Kų́ę (Fort Simpson) Northwest Territories. Wesley is a vibrant fiddle player, composer, and collaborator who started playing the fiddle at age 12. Notable performances include: the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the Inuvik 2011 Truth and Reconciliation Commission National event, and the National Arts Centre events Canada Scene and Northern Scene. His album 12:12 won the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award in 2012. Wesley is an instructor for the Kole Crook Fiddle Association. As a student through the program he played for William and Kate in Yellowknife on their 2011 Royal Tour of Canada. He attended the Gulf Island School of Performing Arts, and was formally in the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre Mentorship Program, mentored by acclaimed violinist/producer/composer Jesse Zubot. 

This mentorship led to a contribution to Jesse’s music score for the Bones of Crows TV Series, nominated for 12 Canadian Screen Awards. Most recently, Wesley’s contributions with Carmen Braden and the Canadian Chamber Choir (CCC) has been nominated for a JUNO award for Classical Album of the Year, for their Album, Where Waters Meet. Wesley is a highly sought-after musician, collaborator, and commissioned for many projects with fiddle players, classical ensembles, and singer-songwriters. Wesley values community connections and has made it a priority to perform for elders. He upholds his community commitments in BC and NT in various roles.

He is a mentor in mentorship programs and provides valuable feedback to up and coming musicians. Wesley stays involved in the not-for-profit sector by serving on the Board of Directors as the Vice President and Acting President of the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, taking part in the Atti! Indigenous Artists Collective Committee and providing consulting services to the Salt Spring Island Foundation. Since 2023, he has been involved with V’ni Dansi workshops and performances, which aims to educate both the aspects of Métis history and culture in schools and communities. He is also an ambassador for the Downie-Wenjack Fund.

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Matthew Lien is a songwriter, performer, engineer, and producer based in the Yukon, with 25 studio albums to his name and a career that has taken him — improbably and spectacularly — from Whitehorse to some of the largest stages in Asia. His debut album Bleeding Wolves became a phenomenon in Taiwan, launching an international career that has seen concert audiences of 30,000, Asia's Grammy-equivalent award (the first ever won by a foreigner), and Asia's Emmy-equivalent for his work in television and radio. The Taiwanese government appointed him Cultural Ambassador, and Esquire magazine named him Man of the Year. Back home, Matthew has won the Western Canadian Music Award (with two additional nominations), received the Parliamentary Certificate of Honour, and was appointed Canada's Special Envoy to Taiwan. More recently, his research into immersive binaural recording technology has won Yukon University's Innovation Prize, a National Research Council IRAP Grant, and has been published by the Audio Engineering Society. He builds his own recording equipment, runs Whispering Willows Recording out of his studio near Whitehorse, and remains as curious about how sound works as he was when he pressed record for the first time.

At camp, Matthew teaches Write a Song! Produce a Demo! — a week-long intensive where four students write, arrange, and record an original song from scratch in a professional studio — and leads a hands-on Binaural Sound Seminar during the opening weekend. Twenty-five albums in, he's still most excited about the next one.

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Mark Limacher is a JUNO-nominated pianist, composer, improviser, arranger, and genre-crossing musician based in Calgary. A graduate of The New School in New York City, he has studied privately with composers Linda Catlin Smith and Laurence Crane, and apprenticed with Bunita Marcus in Brooklyn. His compositions centre around works for solo instruments and small ensembles, and in 2022 he was selected as an Artist in Residence for the Festival of the Sound's Music Scores program, featured by the National Arts Centre's Music Alive initiative. His orchestrations and arrangements have been performed by Theatre Calgary, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Kensington Sinfonia, and vocalists including Ellen Doty and Allison Lynch. Mark is best known as the creative partner of three-time JUNO winner Caity Gyorgy — their duo album "You're Alike, You Two" earned a JUNO nomination, and their most ambitious collaboration, "Caity Gyorgy with Strings," which Mark arranged and conducted with over forty musicians at Calgary's National Music Centre, was nominated for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year at the 2026 JUNOs. At camp, Mark will be offering orchestration and arranging classes, and joining Caity Gyorgy for Words & Music: The Songwriter's Lab. When he's not at the piano, he's probably thinking about what should happen at the piano. 

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Ron Long is a voice teacher, performer, and certified Estill Master Trainer based in Edmonton, Alberta — the first in the province and one of only two in western Canada. He holds a Master of Music in Opera and Musical Theatre from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and has performed extensively with Edmonton Opera over more than two decades, with credits including Aida, Salome, The Merry Widow, La Cage aux Folles, Sweeney Todd, Titanic, and The Mikado. A proud member of Canadian Actors' Equity, Ron brings both the science and the artistry to everything he teaches. His approach is grounded in the Estill Voice Model — a science-based method that gives singers concrete, anatomical control over how their voice actually works — combined with his training as a certified yoga instructor and Reiki Master. He teaches privately at his studio in Edmonton and online, and has guided students into music programs across Canada and the United States, coached Edmonton Opera chorus members, and helped singers recover from vocal strain and illness. He is also a sought-after adjudicator for music festivals across Alberta and has taught at MacEwan University's Alberta College Conservatory of Music. At camp, Ron teaches classes spanning opera, music theatre, vocal technique, and masterclass coaching for youth and adults, and leads an Estill Voice Workshop during the opening weekend. If you've ever been told to "sing from your diaphragm" and wondered what that actually means, Ron is your guy!  

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Toby Moisey hails from Smithers, BC, He earned his Bachelor of Music in Flute  from the University of Victoria before refining his technique at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Saint Petersburg Russia. He then returned to Canada to complete a Bachelor of Education at McGill University, which led to teaching music in Whitehorse for five years—co directing the ensembles of the Whitehorse All-City Band Society—before pursuing his Master of Music in Conducting at the University of Toronto (2025) with Dr. Gillian Mackay.

As a performer, Toby is equally at home on the orchestral podium and as a soloist; he has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles, showcasing contemporary repertoire alongside more traditional programs. His collaborations span chamber projects with composers, to studio sessions with Major Funk and Erica Mah. At Yukon Summer Music Camp, Toby brings this breadth of training and performance experience to large ensemble and chamber coaching, crafting dynamic rehearsals that challenge and inspire every player–from new learners to advanced musicians.

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Lonnie Powell might just be the most recorded drummer in the Yukon Territory. Over a 50-year career behind the kit, he has performed, toured, and recorded across virtually every genre — country, rock, blues, jazz, hip-hop, world beat, Latin, reggae, and free improvisation — with a versatility that has made him the first call for artists and producers across the North and beyond. He has shared stages and studios with Bryan Adams, Long John Baldry, Taj Mahal, Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne, Brandon Isaak, Declan O'Donovan, Matthew Lien, Kim Beggs, Daniel Janke, and many others, and has recorded at studios from Old Crow Studio and Green Needle Recording in the Yukon to Bryan Adams' Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. Lonnie studied for several years under the legendary Jim Blackley, the internationally renowned drumming pedagogue and author of The Essence of Jazz Drumming and Syncopated Rolls for the Modern Drummer. Since relocating to Whitehorse 27 years ago, Lonnie has become a pillar of the Yukon music community — not just as a performer and session musician, but as a mentor and healer. He founded the Whitehorse Community Drumming Circle, which meets weekly to build connection through group drumming, voice, and dance, and has spent several years drumming with recovery clients at the Whitehorse Mental Wellness Centre, integrating breathwork and sound vibration into health and wellness practice. At camp, Lonnie teaches Drum Kit Foundations, Drum Kit Intermediate Grooves, and Rhythms of Recovery and Connection, and co-leads Band Lab with bassist Ragn Royle. Bring sticks if you've got them — Lonnie will bring the groove.

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Ragn Royle is a bassist, bandleader, and one of Whitehorse's most versatile young musicians. He plays both electric and upright bass with equal conviction — and has needed both, given a musical life that ranges from bebop to death metal. Ragn leads the Northern Bop Delegation, a jazz group whose Yukon Arts Centre debut drew on the legendary saxophone-bass duets of Coltrane and Chambers, and he's a regular presence at Jazz Yukon's Jazz in the Hall sessions, where he anchors the rhythm section for visiting artists and community jams alike. He has performed alongside internationally touring musicians including Taras Luka and is a member of Logan Bennett's Muster Point collective. But jazz is only half the story. As a teenager at Vanier Catholic Secondary School, Ragn co-founded WaRRmAuth — a delightfully brutal nu-metal band that became one of the most talked-about acts in the Whitehorse scene, placing in the Battle of the Bands at the Future Routes Festival and earning a slot at the Atlin Arts & Music Festival. The ability to go from upright bass in a jazz trio on Friday night, to distorted electric in a metal band on Saturday, is exactly what makes him the right person to co-teach Band Lab with Lonnie Powell. At camp, Ragn teaches Beginner Bass and Intermediate/Advanced Bass, and co-leads Band Lab Beginner and Band Lab Intermediate with Lonnie. Whatever style you play... he's been there.

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Elayne was born in Dublin, Ireland. During her early school years, Gaelic and Harp were mandatory subjects along with the choice of Irish Step Dancing or the Irish Pipes. She studied all four until she passed her A-levels in England. Then, for a change of scene, she moved to Virginia in the USA where she completed two degrees along with an Associate in Music.

After university, her friends and teachers from Ireland, the United States and Canada all encouraged her to revisit the harp. Elayne has taught Royal Conservatory piano and theory in Whitehorse for the past thirteen years, and harp for the last seven. “Caol lorg duilleoga ar geroi egus cinamada" “Music leaves footprints on our hearts and souls.

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Andy Slade - Hailing from the Cowichan valley on beautiful Vancouver Island, BC, Andy Slade is a force on the piano. With a Bachelor’s degree in classical music from the University of Victoria and a Masters of Music in jazz from the University of Toronto, he is quickly becoming well known on the Toronto music scene. As a performer, Andy has worked in nearly every style of music, playing in Pop, Hip-hop, Orchestral, Funk, Choral, Folk, and Jazz projects across Canada the U.S. and China. Andy has been on faculty at the Victoria Conservatory of Music where he taught jazz piano at the post-secondary level, as well as working with the undergrad ensembles at the University of Toronto as part of his Master’s degree. He is a passionate educator and is dedicated to sharing his love of music with his students.

Andy's website link here: http://andrewslade.ca/

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Ellen Thompson was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon. She holds an ARCT in Piano Performance and Level 9 Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She is actively pursuing ongoing Orff Schulwerk training and has completed her Level 1 certification through Vancouver Community College and the BC Orff Chapter.

With over 10 years of teaching experience, Ellen runs a full studio with a focus on piano and early childhood music. Since 2017, she has been leading early childhood music and movement classes at the Heart of Riverdale. She believes deeply in the importance of integrating music into a child’s life—not only for the joy it brings, but for its role in supporting emotional expression, problem-solving, and motor skill development.

Ellen’s own musical journey began in 2000 at the Yukon Summer Music Camp, and she is thrilled to now be teaching those very same classes that first inspired her. 

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Born in Alberta, raised in British Columbia, and now a 21-year resident of the Yukon, Kathryn grew up steeped in classical and church music. She is a classically-trained pianist who was first exposed to English handbells about 35 years ago, starting and directing a beginning level choir for a few years. She also enjoyed the challenge of being a substitute ringer in an advanced group. The bells have always touched and inspired her beyond the mere notes that are played and she is delighted to be part of the Whitehorse Community Handbell Choirs.

Kathryn’s life outside of handbells includes sewing, kayaking, hiking, and spending time with her seven grandsons in BC.

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Vision Quest is a Whitehorse hip-hop duo made up of Yudii Mercredi (Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation) and Nick Johnson (Kluane First Nation, Southern Tutchone). Born and raised in Whitehorse, the two formed Vision Quest in 2013 after winning the Frostbite Music Festival's Battle of the Bands — and were invited to perform on the festival's mainstage the very next night. Since then they've toured across Canada, been nominated for a CBC Indigenous Music Award for Best Music Video (for their collaboration "Northern Lights" with Cody Coyote), and most recently performed at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse. Their music draws on stories of growing up in the North — life at -40, the 867, and the communities that raised them — delivered with an energy and stage presence that consistently gets entire rooms on their feet. At camp, Yudii and Nick are leading a three-day Hip-Hop Intensive during the opening weekend, taking students from writing their first verse to performing it on stage by Sunday.

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