Dane Ko Piano Masterclass

May 24, 2026 | Dec 5, 2026 📅 Select Date
1:45 PM - 5:30 PM

 

About The Clinician

Hong Kong-born Canadian pianist Dane Ko is active as recitalist, chamber musician and
educator on international stages. Highlights in the 2024-25 season included recital tours to
Montreal, Toronto, Hong Kong, Macau, where he gave masterclasses and workshops at
The University of Hong Kong, University of Macau, and the University of Toronto. Highlights
this season include debuts at Montreal International Bach Festival, Chapelle Historique du
Bon-Pasteur, DOMS Ottawa, Algoma Conservatory Concerts in Sault Ste. Marie, and Ver
Sacrum Festival in Italy. Named a 2026 Gilmore Festival Fellow, Dane will appear in May
at the Gilmore International Piano Festival in Kalamazoo, Michigian.
As soloist, Dane has performed in France, Austria, Italy, Hong Kong, Macau, Canada and
the US in such venues as the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, Koerner Hall of The Royal
Conservatory, and Palazzo Chigi Saracini. Among Dane’s growing accolades are prizes at
Prix Ravel in Fontainebleau, The Shean Piano Competition, The Glenn Gould School
Chamber Music Competition, and the Canadian Music Competition “Stepping Stone”. Dane
has given interviews and performances on Florida’s Classical WSMR, Hong Kong’s RTHK
Radio 4, and CBC Radio One.
A dedicated and sought-after music educator, Dane serves as an instructor of piano at
McGill University and is invited for lectures and masterclasses worldwide. Dane adjudicated
the 2025 Ontario Music Festivals Association (OMFA) Provincial Finals and served as a
member of the inaugural Junior Jury of the 2024 Montreal International Piano Competition
(CMIM). Dane is also award-winning research scholar passionate about investigating the
intersections of culture, psychology and physiology. Dane won the Canadian Federation of
Music Teacher Association (CFMTA) National Conference student presentation
competition in 2025 with a project on the foundational philosophies of Chinese traditional
music. He has received repeated invitations to guest lecture on mental practice strategies
for pianists at institutions such as University of Toronto’s Graduate Piano Pedagogy
Seminar, University of Hong Kong Advanced Performance Seminar, Wilfred Laurier
University Faculty of Music among others. From 2024-27, Dane is a recipient of the Canada
Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral Award from the Social Science and Humanities Research
Council of Canada (SSHRC) for his research on the pedagogical legacy of his late teacher,
Marietta Orlov.
From his first encounter with music, Dane cultivated a diverse musical pallet that spans
genres and cultures. Dane lived his first eleven years in Hong Kong with his father who was
active in the Chinese traditional music scene as conductor, erhu and guzheng teacher.
Forging his path as a classical pianist, his musical cultures eventually collided in
opportunities to appear as soloist in the Yellow River Concerto with Yao Yue Chinese
Orchestra in Hong Kong City Hall, and in duo with prominent soloists of Chinese
instruments, including Erhu master George Gao. Beyond musical cultures, Dane’s personal
relationship with music began without borders through improvisation. He dabbles in jazz,
popular music, and is a strong proponent of improvising ornamentation and cadenzas in
Baroque and Classical repertoire. His affinity with improvisation was recognized with the
Prix Langage Musical harmony prize established by Nadia Boulanger at the Fontainebleau
School in France.
In the classical music realm, Dane’s training spans Europe, Asia and North America at such
academies as Chigiana, Mozarteum, Fontainebleau, Banff, Rebecca Penneys Piano

Festival, ISA of mdw with Lilya Zilberstein, Robert Levin, Klaus Hellwig, Jan Jiracek von
Arnim, John Perry, Eric Le Sage among numerous others. In Canada, he is particularly
grateful to his primary teachers Marietta Orlov, Anna Fomina, Lydia Wong and Ilya Poletaev.
Dane holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance, an Advanced Certificate in
Performance, a Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Toronto and an
Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory. Currently based
in Montreal, Dane is a Doctor of Music candidate and instructor of piano at McGill University
Schulich School of Music.

Sessions

Sunday May 24, 2026

Children (age 6-11) - 2-3:15pm - 5 participants, 15 minutes each 

Teens (age 12 and up, playing RCM Level 7-ARCT repertoire) - 3:30-5:30pm - 3 participants, 40 minutes each

Sunday December 4, 2026

Amateur Adults (all levels) - 1-3pm - 3 participants, 40 minutes each

Teens - 3:30-5:30pm - 3 participants, 40 minutes each

Please register for the correct session. Charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $25. All donations go to support emerging artists and future programming at the Academy.