The concert features the music of Beethoven and more! All proceeds support children's music programs in the city that are at risk of losing funding.

John Yan is a fourth year Integrated Sciences student at the University of British Columbia. He started playing the violin when he was seven years old, and in 2012 completed his RCM ARCT Performer’s diploma with first class honours with distinction. John served as the Concertmaster of Lord Byng Senior Honour Orchestra and graduated with the Best Strings Student Award. The group competed in prestigious orchestral competitions in New York, Portland, Atlanta, and Seattle. John has also been part of the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra, UBC Symphony Orchestra, and UCLA Symphony Orchestra.

Recently, John has been actively involved with UBC Music Initiative. He performs frequently at on campus events as well as in senior homes around Vancouver. In 2017, John was involved with Mindful Music, an organization affiliated with UCLA Health, and he gave weekly lunch time concerts at the Ronald Reagan Medical Centre located on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles.

Nicole Linaksita has performed solo and chamber concerts in Canada, USA and Europe. A participant in national and international competitions, she was awarded First Place, Audience and Teacher's Prizes at the 2011 Seattle International Piano Competition and was chosen as a semi-finalist for the 2015 OSM Manulife and 2013 Eckhardt-Gramatté Competitions. She was chosen to be the representative for the Vancouver branch of the BCRMTA Provincial Competition, winning Best Performance of a Canadian work for Butterflies and Bobcats by David L. McIntyre. She is also a two time national finalist for the Canadian Music Competition, and was selected to participate as one of 30 finalists in the CMC Stepping Stone Competitions in 2012 and 2016, placing among the top six in 2016. In 2017, she was a silver medalist in the Vancouver International Music Competition, and won first prize and audience choice for the BC Bösendorfer Piano Competition.

Nicole has frequently performed the works of contemporary composers such as Carl Vine, John Psathas, Lowell Liebermann, Karen Tanaka, Randolph Peters, Nikolai Kapustin, Henri Dutilleux, Alexina Louie, Jean Coulthard, David Rakowski, Marc-André Hamelin, and William Bolcom. Her interest in new music has also led her to work with a number of composers, including Dorothy Chang and Yota Kobayashi. She premiered Kobayashi's "Concrescence" for piano and electronics. More recently, she played with the Music on Main All-Star Band for their Vancouver premiere of Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians", as well as for the Canadian premiere of John Luther Adams’ “Ten Thousand Birds”, directed by Vicky Chow. Additionally, she frequently performs with the Postmodern Camerata, and Dunbar Heights United Church Choir and Orchestra. In December 2017, Nicole performed Moritz Moszkowski’s Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59 in the Music Without Borders Society Concerto Gala with the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra. She will be performing with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra in their 2019 season.

Nicole recently completed undergraduate studies in Piano Performance and Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, studying under Corey Hamm and Ryo Yanagitani, receiving the Director’s Graduation Prize for Outstanding Piano Performance. Prior to UBC, she studied with Diana Marr and David Vandereyk. Nicole also received the Gold Medal prize from the Royal Conservatory of Music for receiving the highest mark in Canada for her LRCM exam in 2011. Further abroad, Nicole has participated in the Chetham’s Piano School, where she has had the opportunity to play for and study with distinguished artists including Catherine Vickers, Eugen Injic, Leslie Howard and Douglas Finch.