Education - Studies
BMus (Violin Performance and Pedagogy), University of Texas at Austin MMus (Violin Performance), Hartt College of Music
Teaching
Mount Royal University Conservatory, Calgary, AB
Calgary Suzuki Talent Education Society, Calgary, AB
University of Texas String Project, Austin, TX
Professional Activities
As a faculty member at Mount Royal College Conservatory Jan Amsel was director of the Preparatory Academy program and coached many chamber music groups to festival victories as well as conducting master classes and coaching orchestra groups. She has also taught private and group classes at Calgary’s Suzuki Talent Education and at the University of Texas String Project. As a Mount Royal University branch teacher she presently maintains a private studio; Jan's students have won many awards and scholarships.
Her major teachers were Andor Toth, Leonard Posner, and Charles Treger. A string examiner for The Royal Conservatory since 2000, Jan Amsel has examined across Canada and in the United States for the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory Achievement Program. She has adjudicated festivals in Western Canada and in Ottawa and has also presented several teacher seminars in Alberta, British Columbia, and
Ontario.
Ms. Amsel is a full-time violinist in the first violin section of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, a position she has held for over thirty seasons. Passionate about music education, she is an active member of the CPO education committee and has performed chamber music in dozens of Calgary schools, libraries, hospitals, and seniors' facilities. In 1999 Jan Amsel created a highly successful series for the CPO called Saturday Morning at the Symphony, which she hosted and guided until 2012 when she developed a new series, Behind the Scenes at the CPO. Active in the Calgary chamber music scene, she has been a member of the Alberta Chamber Players and the Kensington Sinfonia. She performs in a violin/cello duo with her husband, CPO principal clarinetist Steve Amsel.
In 2006 Ms. Amsel was chosen as one of two Teaching Musicians from Southern Alberta for the National Arts Centre’s new program, Music Alive. Since then she has done solo presentations in over 150 schools and shared the lives and music of Vivaldi, Mozart, and Beethoven with over 16,000 Alberta students and teachers.