Julijana
Julijana holds two certificates for RCM Level 10 in both Piano and Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and has graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with an Honours Bachelor of Music, majoring in Contemporary Music: Composition with distinction. In 2016, Julijana was awarded a Gold Medal from the Royal Conservatory of Music for achieving the highest grade on her Level 9 Voice exam. She is the founder of Fortepiano Music Studio since its start in 2018.
Teaching privately for over 12 years, Julijana's diversity in performing and teaching experience, as well as the many talented musicians she has had the privilege to work with, has enabled her to work with passionate and eager young musicians with patience, professionalism, and enthusiasm.
When she’s not teaching, she can be found composing in her studio. An award-winning composer, Julijana has worked on projects that aired on television networks such as TVO, as well as having her work performed by Canadian ensembles from coast to coast.
Julijana’s extensive performance experience (most notably with The Rolling Stones and Cirque Du Soleil) and training distinguish her from the rest and allow for a unique expression through her music.
Meet Our Team
Andrew
Andrew Sporcic is a teacher in the Waterloo Region District School Board. He began playing guitar at the age of 11 and developed his love for music into a career in education. Andrew studied jazz guitar at McMaster University, and went to teachers college at Western University. He honed his craft and continues to perform as often as possible whenever he is not teaching.
Andrew is also a well known musician in the Croatian community in the GTA. He plays traditional Croatian instruments with his band for weddings, parties and concerts and has accompanied many singers from Croatia during their tours in North America including Stjepan Jeršek Štef, Cecilija and Šima Jovanovac. A member of tambura band Frajeri since 2013, he also often accompanies folklore groups for performances and has even performed for the President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar Kitarović & Justin Trudeau!
Andrew's desire to share his love of music led him in the direction of education and making sure that students are able to have the same or more opportunities and support that he had as a child learning music. Andrew's goal is to inspire and engage students so they can not only express themselves through art, but to also preserve their culture and heritage.
Listen to Andrew’s music here.
Dani
Danijela Hajdinjak or Dani Kristina is a singer/songwriter who focuses on performance and music creation. While self-producing music, she incorporates multimedia in various way to use music in specific contexts.In 2022, Dani graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with an Honours degree in Integrated Musical Arts. With extensive RCM training in voice, piano and theory, Danijela uses both her knowledge of essential skills and performance to provide a unique learning experience.
Dani has garnered a following of over 98,000 on TikTok, where she often posts vocal tips and music-related content. She recently released her first EP, Aura, now available on all streaming platforms and continues to release new music frequently.
Visit Dani’s website here
Vishnu
Meet Vishnu, a guitarist from India who is currently residing in Ontario. He started playing the guitar at a very young age. He has completed his grades under the Associated Board Of The Royal Schools Of Music. Vishnu's center of attention is to create music of his own. He has a band in India and has been working with them for the past 5 years on releasing his album. He has released songs that are available on Spotify, Youtube, and Apple Music under the band name Benhurmusic. Vishnu now focuses on delicate acoustic guitar work blending in with ambient soundscape to create music. His passion and dedication made him a professional session guitarist that helped him grow in India.
Vishnu believes that music can be taught at any age if one has the urge to achieve it. He has been providing guitar lessons to youngsters and adults. Teaching is the one thing that he enjoys other than creating music.
Jazzmine
Jazzmine is a trumpet player with a wide array of interests in the music performance, brass pedagogy, and musician wellness worlds. Currently completing her Master's in Trumpet Performance at Western University in London, Ontario, Jazzmine’s primary trumpet professors have included Shawn Spicer, Aaron Hodgson, and Guy Few. With experiences ranging from orchestra, opera, and chamber music to big band, musical theatre, and funk bands, she is happy in any musical environment she’s been a part of. Her favourite experiences so far include playing on stage at the Stratford festival, Aeolian Hall, the Grand Theatre in London, ON, and being a part of Orchestra North’s brass academy with “Brassthetics” brass quintet. Jazzmine has also been acting as stage manager for London Symphonia since spring of 2022. Jazzmine hopes to continue her musical education and eventually earn her DMA in Trumpet Performance.
As a brass instructor, her teaching style is inclusive and adaptive to each student's needs. She sees importance in keeping her students' interests peaked by incorporating music they enjoy, while also building solid fundamentals and a good understanding of the standard repertoire.
Outside of music, Jazzmine enjoys playing volleyball, and hiking with her adorable corgi. She is very excited to be a part of the teaching team here at Fortepiano Music Studio!
Bill
15-year-old pianist Bill Vu started learning the piano after being discovered by world-renowned pianist Dang Thai Son at the age of 5. He previously studied with Richard Raymond at the Montreal Conservatory of Music and in 2017 he became a scholarship student of Dr. Michael Berkovsky at the Phil and Eli Taylor Academy Performance for Young Artists. He is now in the studio of Anya Alexeyev, at the same institution.
Bill has won music festivals and competitions, from regional to provincial to national, as well as international. Some of them include First at Canadian Music Competition National Finals; Prize winner of the Canadian Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra Young Artist Competition and KW’s 2023 Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition Prize winner.
Bill made his orchestral debut at the age of 10 with the Canadian Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in 2018. In that same month, he also performed with the CAST Youth Orchestra and the Kitchener Waterloo Community Orchestra. In Sept 2019, Bill was featured as a guest (and the youngest) performer at the Canadian edition of the George Enescu Festival.
Bill has had the opportunity to work with some of today’s world’s most sought-after pianists, such as: Dang Thai Son, John O’Conor, Hung – Kuan Chen, Dr. Tamás Ungár and James Anagnosons.
With his 2 pianists brothers, he takes part in all sorts of fundraising events. In February 2022, they raised over $4500 for the Canadian SickKids Foundation. The “Vu Brothers” also successfully raised $1930 for the Ontario Alzheimer Society through their “Music For Dementia” Project. Their “Music For Dementia” piano recital recently took place at the HighView Residence in Kitchener, a retirement home that provides care for people with Alzheimer Disease and related Dementias.
