The Kingston Piano Trio
The Kingston Piano Trio is made up of members Andrew Dicker (violin), Jeff Hamacher (cello), and Susan Mander (piano). Founded in 2020 they perform chamber music concerts and recitals in Kingston and the surrounding area.
Group members perform with The Kingston Symphony, The Kingston Baroque Consort, Orchestra Kingston, Melos Baroque Orchestra, and teach privately and in various organizations throughout the city. Members hold music degrees from Boston University, The University of Toronto, and Western University.
All three members of the Kingston Piano Trio are residents of Kingston and active music teachers and performers in the community.
Violin
Andrew Dicker is a violinist and founding member of The Kingston Piano Trio. He performs regularly with The Kingston Symphony, The Kingston Baroque Consort, The Melos Baroque Orchestra, and as concertmaster of Orchestra Kingston. He is a violin teacher and the violin coach for the Kingston Youth Orchestra.
He received his Master of Music degree from Boston University and his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Toronto. He has performed with orchestras in Canada and the United States and participated in masterclasses working with many of the finest teachers and performers in both countries.
His formal studies were with Bayla Keyes, Timothy Ying, and Jacques Israelievitch. Before attending university, he studied with Karma Tomm, Stelth Ng, and Eric Watson.
Cello
Since 2005, Jeff Hamacher has been active in and around Kingston both as a busy private music teacher and as a freelance musician.
He is a multi-instrumentalist and singer who appears regularly as a member of Melos Choir and Period Instruments, the Kingston Symphony, the Limestone Trio, and the newly-formed Kingston Baroque Consort.
He has performed on an occasional basis playing cello with the Kingston Chamber Choir and for various music theatre productions at the Thousand Islands Playhouse. His playing has been featured on recordings for a variety of projects. He has appeared as an on-stage actor-musician in four productions of Once -
The Musical.
In addition to having served as orchestra librarian with the Kingston Symphony between 2012 and 2014, he rounds out his employment activities with music preparation tasks
such as arranging and transcribing.
Piano
Susan discovered her love of teaching piano at the age of fifteen and has been teaching piano ever since, but it was while pursuing her music degree at Western that her love of chamber music was kindled. Since then she has had a dual purpose in life.
Susan moved to London, England where she lived for five years, working at St. John’s Smith Square Concert Hall and performing in chamber music recitals in England, Scotland and Wales. She traveled extensively throughout Europe and attended master classes and concerts in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland, all the while continuing to teach and bring her love of music to new generations.
As an adjudicator and examiner with Conservatory Canada, she has traveled across Canada inspiring young people with her positive attitude and passion for music.