Janet Beretta graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Musical Arts (Music Education). At the time, with the availability of jobs in teaching music being sparse, Mrs. Beretta ventured into the business world. She tripped into Human Resources where she enjoyed 15 years of HR Management and Training and Development. During that time she completed her Certificate in Human Resources Management and her Certificate in Adult Education.

Mrs. Beretta left her career in HR to dedicate more time to her first love: her family. Mrs. Beretta and her husband, Jim, have two musical daughters, Rachel and Megan. In fact, it was through being a Kindermusik parent, beginning in 1995 that Mrs. Beretta became convinced to return to one of her other loves: music.

Mrs. Beretta has been enjoying teaching at Kindermusik of Cambridge since 1998.

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Deborah Carbone graduated from The University of Western Ontario with an Honours Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Education. Mrs. Carbone has taught winds, strings and vocal at both the elementary and secondary levels, as well as provided opportunities for her students to participate in choirs, bands, festivals and annual musicals. She has also been involved in curriculum development, teacher training workshops and presentations on the importance of music programs in the elementary schools.

Mrs. Carbone’s interest in teaching Kindermusik developed as a result of her daughter’s enrollment in the Kindermusik of Cambridge program. Stephanie’s love of listening to the CDs and the obvious musical development that was taking place convinced her to take the training in 1995. It also met her needs to be an ‘at home Mom’ and still pursue her love of teaching. Mrs. Carbone finds this age of child delightful to teach and firmly believes that children will thrive if given the opportunity to be successful in a positive and fun-filled learning environment. She views it is a special privilege to be a child’s first teacher.

Mrs. Carbone and her family reside in Cambridge. She keeps busy with two daughters in violin, piano and dance, as well as volunteering at her daughter’s school and serving as coordinator of summer camps for Kindermusik of Cambridge.

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Hannah Hastings-Fuhr has fostered her love of music since the early age of 7 when she sang and did solo work with the Inter Mennonite children's choir until the age of 16. She continued to study and perform throughout high school where she was involved in a performing arts program with special interest in drama, music and art. Mrs.“H” began studying vocal music privately at the age of 12.

She spent many years working at Silver Lake Mennonite Camp, near Sauble Beach ON, where she instructed various activities and eventually became the Program Director. Following this, she became the Nature Director at Camp Valaqua in Alberta, where she met her husband, Adrian. Mrs.“H” continued her studies at Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg and majored in both Church Music and Theology. She has sung with various choirs including The Mennonite Mass Choir, The Mennonite Oratorio Choir, The Menno Singers, and a number of smaller chamber and jazz ensembles. She has also been heavily involved with musical stage productions including Jesus Christ Superstar in Winnipeg where she produced and choreographed the show.

Mrs.“H” has found a perfect fit as a Kindermusik teacher, where both her love of music and children can come together. She and her husband reside in Waterloo with their daughter, Naomi. Mrs. "H" has been a licensed Kindermusik educator since 2001.

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Jennifer Hickson-Palmer holds an Honours Bachelor of Music Therapy from the University of Windsor. She has been a Kindermusik educator since 2001 and also worked for numerous years as a music therapy consultant in the GTA.  Music has always held a great connection to life for her and thus, she enjoys so much being able to facilitate learning in young children through Kindermusik.  Much of Jennifer’s time is currently spent with her two young boys, Connor and Zackary, who also enjoy Kindermusik.  Jennifer has been privileged to work with various children with special gifts and special needs throughout her life and always looks forward to learning more from each child she teaches in Kindermusik.

Jen, known as "Mrs H-P" to her little students, taught at Kindermusik of Cambridge a few years ago, but her husband's job took the family to the west coast and we've missed her ever since! We are so thrilled to have back this fall!

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Mrs. Jacques

Michelle Jacques holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education, a Bachelor of Education, and an Ontario Teacher’s Certificate. She has also completed Levels 1 to 3 Teacher’s Certification in Orff-Schulwerk. She became a Licensed Kindermusik Educator in 1985 when she was offered a position to teach the program under the direction of one of the original authors at the Toronto Montessori Schools.  In 1987, she founded Kindermusik of Cambridge teaching 27 children in her basement studio. Today, she is the director of two commercial studio locations and together with a faculty of 14 licensed educators, they serve almost 700 children weekly in the full range of Kindermusik curricula in Cambridge and Waterloo. Her program is recognized as one of the top 25 in the world.

Over the course of her career, Mrs. Jacques built Kindermusik from 6 to more than 500 educators across Canada in her role as Canadian Distributor, also responsible for marketing and teacher recruitment. She is a Mentor for Kindermusik University, as well as KI’s Key Communications Rep for Canada. She’s been a writer of both curricula and Professional Development Seminars. The favourite part of her work is being in the classroom with the children!

Mrs. Jacques and her husband, Tim, live in Cambridge, with sons, Tyler and Paul. The family’s interests include travel, skiing, boating, adventure and their little dog, Frodo.

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"Anna"

After many fulfilling years as a Kindermusik mom, participating in classes with her two young daughters, Anna Janacek is delighted to be joining the teaching staff of Kindermusik of Cambridge/KW. “I’ve always valued the Kindermusik approach, the research that has gone into it, and the inclusion of both the whole child and the whole family in the music-making experience,” she writes, “and my daughters and I always had such a fantastic experience in our classes!”

Becoming a Kindermusik educator was a natural choice for Anna as it allows her to incorporate both her passion for music and the joy she experiences in working with children. With music degrees from both the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto, her background is in vocal music and choral conducting. She has been involved in choirs, both as a singer and conductor, for many years, and has also been very involved in music leadership in the church with both children and adults. Experiences in dance and musical theatre round out her background.

Through her work with Kindermusik, Anna hopes to encourage families to come together through the joys of music and to nurture and honour the individuality of each child. She looks forward to many joyful and musical discoveries with her families this year!

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Kathy Lepp received her Kindermusik training from the Canadian Headquarters in Cambridge.  She holds an Honours Bachelor Degree in Music Therapy from Wilfrid Laurier University and has worked as a music therapist since 1991. 

In addition to teaching Kindermusik, Mrs. Lepp works with the Waterloo Regional Infant Development Program on a contractual basis, offering music therapy to developmentally delayed infants and toddlers and their caregivers. 

She resides in Waterloo with her husband, Youri, and children, Sofia and Aron.

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Nadine Linton has a contagious love for children and her community. A graduate of the University of Waterloo, she has grown to love her adopted city. After she received her Bachelor of Education at the University of Windsor, she taught Grade 4 French Immersion and primary Music. Nadine plays the guitar, the bass guitar and the recorder and has sung with the Grand Philharmonic Choir for 3 years. An educator and musician, she has seen how a solid music program increases literacy and numeracy in students and raises Provincial test scores in those areas. The next practical step was for her to become a licensed Kindermusik teacher. She has the desire to provide a solid foundation for music and future learning, and to see her students grow in every area of development: social, physical, emotional and cognitive. As her goal is to benefit her community, her role as educator will enable a greater degree of bonding between children and their parents, will help children build socialization skills, and will provide an opportunity for friendships to grow between families and children.

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Mrs. Murray

Pat Murray is the former director/owner, and currently serves as Head Teacher, of KW Kindermusik, which she founded in 1990.  She received her Kindermusik teacher training from the Kindermusik Canadian Headquarters in Cambridge, Caldwell College, New Jersey, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois and from York University, Toronto.  In addition, Mrs. Murray holds an Early Childhood Education diploma from Sir Sandford Fleming College in Peterborough.  She taught preschoolers for close to 25 years in a variety of settings including the K-W and the Sunshine Montessori Schools, the Waterloo Separate School Board and in her own classes.  

Mrs. Murray brings a genuine warmth and love of all children to her teaching.  Mrs. Murray has been active in her church choir, the University of Waterloo Choir and the Mass Mennonite choir.  She resides in Kitchener with her husband, Clark, and twins, Blake and Jenessa, both Kindermusik and Recorder-Orff graduates.

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Mrs. Randall

Angela Randall is a sincere and compassionate person with a passion for music and its many benefits.  She grew up in a home filled with music and has geared her life towards providing musical learning and healing for others.  Mrs. Randall graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, with a Bachelor of Music Therapy Degree and General Psychology.  She completed her Fundamentals of Kindermusik training through  Kindermusik University in the spring of 2005.

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"Tammy"

Tammy Stinson comes to our studio with a Bachelor of Music Education from Wilfrid Laurier University and a recently completed Bachelor of Education from The University of Western Ontario. Tammy has worked in sales for Waterloo Music since 1985, serving music educators across the country. In 2006 she completed her Orff Specialist Certification and looks to complete her Kodaly levels as well. Tammy also worked for KW Habilitation Services for ten years and during that time volunteered with KW Special Olympics.

After participating in some Kindermusik classes with her daughter Greta, Tammy decided to become an educator, continuing her growth as a teacher and her role as a stay-at-home-mom! Currently residing in Kitchener, Tammy and her husband, Steve, enjoy spending time outdoors by the pond when they are not completing the renovations on their house. It never ends!

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Winnifred Ykema-King received her Kindermusik training through Kindermusik University in the fall of 2002 after 20 years of working in the manufacturing industry in customer service, training and documentation. Her expressive and graceful manner comes from many years as a dance teacher, choreographer and director at a dance school. She competed in professional dance competitions and trained students for amateur competitions; in many cases placing very well. During this time, Mrs. "Y-K" was honoured to receive the "Top Teacher" Ontario Region Award.

Always interested in the arts and drawn to music, Kindermusik has allowed Mrs. "Y-K" to pursue a life-long dream and satisfy her love of children and teaching. She discovered Kindermusik after reading an article in the newspaper about the Village with Seniors program and immediately registered her daughter, Serina, for classes. Serina, adopted from China early in 2002, helped Mrs. "Y-K" to realize she had a deep desire to make a difference in children’s lives and feels Kindermusik enables that to happen.

Mrs. "Y-K" resides in Cambridge with her husband, Wayne, and their beautiful little Serina.

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