Bio

Dr. Greg Caisley

Pianist, (Solo and Collaborative) piano teacher, Vocal Coach, Music Director (Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in Downtown Vancouver), Music Festival Adjudicator, and founding Artistic Director of the Post Modern Camerata as well as the United Voices Choir.

Dr Greg Caisley has worked in various capacities in the Musical Arts Community of Vancouver, B.C. for more than 20 years. He has worked in all aspects of music performance and education: coaching singers, adjudicating all levels and throughout most of Canada, recital work, recording projects, and most recently as a conductor of instrumental and choir ensembles.

Dr. Caisley completed his terminal musical degree, the Doctor of Musical Arts in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 2003, where he also worked as a Teaching Assistant for three years. In addition, he worked for two years at Pasadena City College coaching singers and instrumentalists for performance. He moved to Vancouver Canada in 2004.

Caisley has adjudicated hundreds of music festivals across Canada, including those in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, as well as Provincial Music Festivals in Saskatchewan and Alberta. From 2004-2011, he served as the Director of Keyboard Studies for MusiCamp Alberta; a summer music program for gifted music students from across Alberta and British Columbia. He was the President of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators Association for 5 years, only becoming the Past President of that organization in 2024.

Over his career, Greg Caisley has worked for institutions throughout the lower mainland, including the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Summer Vocal Academy, UBC’s School of Music, the Vancouver Academy of Music, and currently the VSO School of Music. In addition, he maintains a private piano teaching studio in downtown Vancouver. Dr. Caisley has performed in venues across the USA and Canada, as well as in Austria, Germany.  He has released two compact disc recordings and a music video for Bravo! Television. Aside from his work as a pianist and educator, Dr. Caisley has spent years developing music programming within amateur music communities in Vancouver, including the development of three different musical organizations.

He was the founding artistic director of the Postmodern Camerata, a chamber music ensemble consisting of professional instrumentalists and singers dedicated to the performance of chamber works across genres, from the music of the renaissance to very modern ensemble music.

For almost 15 years he worked as Director of Music for 3 United Churches in the Vancouver region. During that time, he worked with interested and passionate volunteers developing training programs for both young singers as well as what is now known as United Voices Choir. United Voices choir  is a choir of approximately 65 auditioned singers which is paired with professional singer soloists and instrumentalists to perform large-scale sacred music concerts twice a year.

He is currently the Music Director of Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in the Westend of downtown Vancouver.

Other passions include his three children aged from 11 to 26, his wife Yi Zhou (who plays first violin in the Vancouver Symphony), as well as cycling, poetry, travelling to warm places, and a love of the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.

Teaching Info

Why should you play the piano? Here are some of my thoughts about the entire process and the importance of music in our lives.

There is something very spiritual about learning to express yourself in music, and learning to do this now is the best time you have to explore. While working on technic, skills and repertoire is critical too, I find the students who are most successful are also on a lifelong journey with music and its role with themselves.

As a teacher, I am very interested in developing a holistic approach for a student’s understanding of themselves, and the important role that music can play in communicating and expressing one’s self to others. Learning the piano is a great way to learn about discipline- how to practise, study, and to do these things consistently. My experience teaching has been that among the most meaningful experiences a student can have is to express themselves to others through playing the piano and listening to music. To do this, there is a process of daily practising, of learning to listen, and of being more aware of each thing you do as a player.

Image 9
As a teacher of piano, as a coach of singers, and as a choral conductor, I am always ultimately searching for relaxation in playing, intellectual and musical challenges, and finding that special piece of music which can help the student grow, learn and thrill in the joy of making music and being creative. Learning about styles, composers, and how composers and music fit into the societies they were written in, as well as how they reflect today- are also really important to creating grounded, beautiful music.

At the same time as I strive for the artistic and creative, there is also a huge importance in practical technical training. I teach a solid technical foundation to enable students to accomplish their musical goals, I can prepare students for exam programs (such as the Royal Conservatory of Music), festival classes, and competitions, and beyond. And yes, I still teach remotely as well- using any medium the student would like. I have a piano studio in Downtown Vancouver, and I also teach at the VSO School of Music.

My students have achieved top marks in examinations, and have gone on to University Studies, as well as programs in Collaborative Arts, summer programs, and special studies at the highest levels.

Have questions? Send me an email or give me a call.