Hailed by critics as "charismatic, crisp, precise, and elegant”, Janna Sailor has firmly established herself as a conductor, violinist, and groundbreaking visionary on the Canadian music scene.

Recently listed on the Women in Music Canada’s “Honour Roll - 10 Female Artists to Watch” in March of 2023, Janna combines diverse experiences on the international stage with a deep sense of community, equality, and social justice, Janna’s creative output is firmly rooted in the conviction that classical music should be inclusive and accessible to all. This conviction has led Janna to work on a number of arts based social initiatives, including instructing disadvantaged youth on Vancouver’s downtown Eastside, fundraising and outreach activities for immigrants, establishing music therapy programs, and the founding of the Allegra Chamber Orchestra, an all female professional ensemble with a social action mandate to champion the works of female minority artists and to enact change through music. The orchestra and its unique output and mandate has been featured on CBC Radio, Radio ICI, The Walrus, The Strad magazine, The Violin Channel, The Hub, public radio stations across Germany and France, amongst other international media. The orchestra regularly commissions, mentors, and premiers works by Canadian, female and minority composers, and assisted in the founding of a music therapy program for women living on the street on Vancouver's downtown Eastside. Active as a concert producer, Janna’s work can be seen on stages across Canada, and heard on the airwaves as a producer for CBC Calgary.

Roxi Dykstra (Masters, Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Dance Lyon, France, M.Mus. Univ. de Montréal, ARCT Piano) has been working as a professional musician since 2004. She held the principal viola position of the Prince George Symphony for three years, an assistant principal viola position in the Orquestra do Norte in Portugal, and a permanent full-time position at the National Portuguese Orchestra (with the national opera at the historic Teatro Sao Carlo). She performs chamber, orchestral, and solo work across Europe and Canada, including with the Vancouver, Toronto and Okanagan symphonies and with chamber ensembles in the area, and most recently, has been filling in for concertmaster for the Prince George Symphony. 

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An enthusiastic northerner, Roxi works hard to promote musical opportunities and musical excellence in the north. She is the founder and co-director of the Orchestra North Summer Program, and director of its Academy program, which is committed to developing professional development opportunities for northern professionals and emerging artists from across BC.

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Roxi has extensive experience as a teacher, director and workshop host- she has been a Royal Conservatory of Music instructor for over 15 years, adjudicates with the British Columbia Performing Arts Festival Association, as well as on many occasions directed bands, choirs and orchestras, including most recently in 2021, a production of Peter and the Wolf with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. She is artistic director of the Spirit of the North Classical Music Festival which typically brings dozens of classical concerts annually in August to Smithers and area. Roxi is a current doctoral candidate at the Kunstuniversitat Graz, Austria.

Taiwanese cellist Yu Yu Liu is a dedicated musician who recently moved from New York City to the Vancouver area. Ms. Liu is the newest appointed principal cellist at the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and will be working closely with the Prince George Youth Orchestra. When she isn’t performing on stage, she devotes her time and energy to teaching young cellists at the Shuang Music School. She also coaches chamber music at the Surrey Youth Orchestra. Ms. Liu has made appearances at Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony 21.

Ms. Liu holds both a master's degree and a bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School under the guidance of Astrid Schween and Fred Sherry. She also received a master’s degree in Orchestral Performance from Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Qiang Tu. During her studies, she worked under the batons of Leonard Slatkin, Semyon Bychkov, Marin Alsop and Alan Gilbert in venues such as Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. To name a few notable events, Ms. Liu gave the NY premiere of Yoshirō Irino’s Three Pieces for Cello Solo (1969), recorded for Fala Chen’s award-winning director-debut short film called the “Passenger”, gave the world premiere of Saad Haddad’s “Thulathi”, and many other remarkable projects.

As an orchestral player, Ms. Liu worked tirelessly with several orchestras in the tri-state. She held the principal position at Ensemble 212 from 2016 to 2022. She made regular appearances at Bare Opera, Riverside Choral Society, New York Concerti Sinfonietta, Opera Italiana Orchestra, to list a few. She has been invited to several summer programs such as Composers Conference: Contemporary Performance Institute, Interlochen Arts Camp, Music@Menlo, and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.

Outside of the practice room, Yu Yu enjoys going to the movies and hiking with her family and her two cats, Bilbo and Frodo.

Dennis Colpitts, a graduate from the Department of Music (UBC, 1976), has taught music in the Lower Mainland and Okanagan at all levels of the school system. His blended major of trumpet, voice and conducting have enabled him to participate in a wide variety of musical opportunities including the Vancouver Cantata Singers, Phoenix, a Chamber Choir, the Okanagan Festival Singers, the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra and the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. He conducted the Kelowna City Concert Band from 1992 to 2000 and 2011 to 2020, and co-conducted the Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra with Rosemary Thomson from 2010 to 2022.

Mr. Colpitts has been second chair in the horn section of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra since 2000 and plays trumpet in the OSO Brass Quintet (aka Fish On Five). In 2011 Mr. Colpitts retired from 34 years of teaching and began a busy life as a Teacher On call and a volunteer working with brass students in the schools. He also conducts the OSO Wind Ensemble for the UBC Okanagan's convocation ceremonies each year. 

Mr. Colpitts has played the Last Post since 1994 for Kelowna's Remembrance Day Ceremony and since 2001 has played on an authentic World War I bugle.

Hannah Yin has been playing the violin since the age of 4. She started in Vancouver studying the violin with Alla Shmaenok, then moved to Prince George in 2014 at the age of 7 and started studying with José Delgado-Guevara, who is still her teacher today. Hannah has been an active participant in the annual Prince George and District Music festival and was a delegate to the provincial festival in 2022. She has been a side by side player in the Prince George Symphony Orchestra since 2019, and has been a member of the Prince George Youth Symphony Orchestra since its beginning in 2022. Hannah has most recently completed her RCM 9 exam in both violin and piano. Aside from playing music, Hannah enjoys reading, judo, and good food.

Originally from Calgary, Ken spent over twenty years in Toronto as a musician and arts administrator, having originally moved there to complete his Masters in flute performance. He moved to BC in 2021 to become the Executive Director of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. 

With eclectic musical tastes, Ken enjoys playing music from Medieval to modern, and has performed on many different instruments, including medieval gemshorn, tin whistle, and fife, in addition to the modern flute and piccolo.  A passionate believer in the storytelling power of music, he especially enjoys working with artists in other disciplines to create immersive experiences and to bring new relevance to older pieces.

Ken is thrilled to have this opportunity to meet and collaborate with musicians in his adopted home of Northern BC.