Team

Janice Lindskoog, Piano Teaching Artist

Janice Lindskoog began her musical studies on piano and harp in Edmonton, Alberta with Isobel Moore Rolston. She later became a student of Judy Loman at the University of Toronto, where she completed the Bachelor of Music degree program. Sponsored by the Canada Council, she spent two consecutive summers at the Salzedo Harp Colony in Camden, Maine, working with Alice Chalifoux. Ms. Lindskoog currently lives in Toronto, where she enjoys a busy freelance career. As an orchestral musician she has performed coast to coast in Canada including long associations with the Toronto Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Solo performances include appearances with the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and chamber music and new music recitals in Vancouver and Toronto. Since 2006 she has enjoyed performing with the Charlottetown Music Festival, covering a variety of shows including Anne of Green Gables.

Ms. Lindskoog teaches both piano and harp students, and has participated in the Advanced Certificate in Early Childhood Music Education offered by the Royal Conservatory of Music in partnership with Ryerson University. She has adjudicated for the Kiwanis Festival in Toronto, Guelph and Ottawa, and often participates on juries at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, and the Glenn Gould School in the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Janice joined Axis Music in 2012.

 

Donna Midanik, Program Manager

After receiving a BA from the University of Toronto and a year of teacher training, Donna began her teaching career in a grade 3 classroom in Brampton for two years. Donna then worked with the Toronto District School Board for 42 years, where she taught all regular classroom subjects from grade one to six.

She also holds a Ministry of Ontario Specialist certificate in Reading and a Specialist certificate in Special Education. She spent many years as a Special Education teacher, where she worked with kids with learning disabilities, autism and other challenges.

Donna has taught ESL programs to children, and after receiving a TESOL certificate from the University of Toronto in 2012, she worked as an ESL teacher with a Toronto non-profit agency.

Donna worked on a Special Literacy Project at Parkdale Public School where she provided literacy support and guidance to classroom teachers. She has presented Literacy Workshops and initiated and numerous clubs and programs within the schools. At Ossington/Old Orchard Public School, she won the Garfield Weston Award for Excellence in teaching.

Post retirement, Donna was the Education Coordinator for Esprit Orchestra, where she promoted their student concerts, communicated with educators and developed teacher resource packages. Donna continues to teach as a private tutor for elementary and high school students.

Donna joined Axis Music in 2018.

 

Judith Manger, Founder, Executive Director & Cello Teaching Artist

Cellist Judith Manger has performed with “elegance and poise” and “remarkably mature musicianship” (The Record), in Canada, the United States, and beyond. Judith holds a Masters of Music Performance from Northwestern University (Chicago) where she received the Richard and Helen Thomas Fellowship, and an Honours Bachelor of Music Performance from McGill University (Montreal) where she was awarded the Tani Salsinger Gold Medal in Performance for outstanding achievement in music performance.

Judith has performed as soloist with several orchestras including the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra and was a Boone Scholar of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, a training program for emerging professional musicians. She performed with McGill Cello Professor Matt Haimovitz in his Uccello Quartet at venues including Lincoln Centre (New York), Sanders Theatre in the Bank of America Celebrity Series (Massachusetts) and the International Cello Congress (Israel). Judith also collaborated in a quintet with McGill Jazz Drum Professor Chris McCann. As cellist of the Schulich String Quartet, she won Bronze Medal at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition (Indiana) and frequently performed on CBC Radio Two (Montreal). She was a featured speaker at a community arts conference held at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and has served on Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council granting juries.

Judith has extensive pedagogical experience and is a certified Suzuki teacher. Musical mentors include Hans Jensen, Bryan Epperson, Matt Haimovitz, Andre Roy and Simon Fryer.

Judith founded Axis Music in 2010.

 

Lucia Ticho, Cello Teaching Artist

Toronto-based cellist Lucia Ticho enjoys an active career as a performer and teacher. She is currently a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, and she has played with the Houston Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Classical Tahoe Orchestra. She has appeared as a soloist with the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, the Elgin Symphony, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and other ensembles in the Chicagoland area, where she was born and raised.

As a chamber musician, Lucia has played with the Houston DACAMERA and at music festivals around the United States, collaborating with artists like violinist Stefan Jackiw, singer-songwriter Ben Folds, and dancer Lil Buck. She is an advocate and enthusiast for new music, having performed with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, AXIOM, Loop38, the New Juilliard Ensemble, and the Shepherd School Contemporary Ensemble. She commissioned a solo cello work from American composer Kim Diehnelt in 2015.

Lucia is a dedicated teacher, and her students have been accepted to competitive pre-college and college programs at the Manhattan School of Music, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She is a certified instructor in the Suzuki method and is committed to expanding music education in K-12 classrooms, having taught over 50 school workshops across the Houston metropolitan area in 2021.

Lucia attended Columbia University (Bachelor of Arts, 2020), The Juilliard School (Master of Music, 2021), and Rice University. Her mentors have included Richard Aaron, Tanya Carey, Timothy Eddy, and Brinton Smith. She is an alum-na of the Aspen Music Festival, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the National Youth Orchestra, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, the Orford Music Academy, and the Sarasota Music Festival.

Lucia joined Axis Music in January 2023.