Nicole Wilton

Program Owner/Director

M.Ed, RMT, ARCT, B.A.

Nicole Wilton is a second generation Suzuki piano teacher in Saskatoon where she has taught for over 35 years. She maintains a private studio as well as being the Program Owner/Director of the Community Music Education Program, an early childhood music program and conservatory that she has managed for many years at the University of Saskatchewan. As of August, 2015, Nicole has taken this program off campus to run privately in the community which it serves as part of her own Wilton Academy Of Music.

Nicole holds a Master’s degree in Education, an ARCT in piano pedagogy and a Bachelor of Arts degree as well as various levels of Kodaly, Orff and Suzuki early childhood education designations. She is a frequent clinician, adjudicator and presenter at Suzuki workshops and institutes as well as early childhood conferences.  Nicole has achieved her Teacher Trainer designation with the Suzuki Association of Americas and is only 1 of 5 in all of Canada.   Nicole is a proud mom to 3 girls.

Brette Kristoff

Early Childhood Instructor

B.A. Hons

Brette has been involved in the early childhood music program since infancy, and even while in the womb, as both her mother (Nicole Wilton) and grandmother are/were musicians and early childhood music educators. Growing up in a musical household, she was encouraged to explore her creative and musical sides, enjoying a well-rounded and exploratory education. As a child, Brette was introduced to piano, violin, guitar, and voice— her favourite being musical theatre. She has been involved in assisting and teaching early childhood music through the CMEP summer camps since she was 15 years old, also working as a nanny/au pair in both Saskatoon and abroad. She enjoys working and learning with children through music and play in the early childhood music programs.

Brette holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in religion and culture and is currently pursuing her Master degree in religion and politics.

Jeannette Gross

Early Childhood Instructor

Jeannette has had a long and very rewarding career teaching music in Saskatoon. Along with a large studio of private piano students, she taught group piano and early childhood music with Yamaha Canada.

Jeannette (or Mrs “G” as all the kids call her) has taught early childhood music classes as well as daycare/preschool programming with Wilton Academy for almost 20 years before retiring four years ago. Deciding it isn’t quite time to fully retire from teaching, she has returned to Wilton Academy to do some more!

Jeannette enjoys volunteering, reading, walking and extended time away in the winters.

Alice DeCloedt

Early Childhood Instructor

M. Ed (Bilingual Learning)

This is Alice’s first foray into the world of teaching music discreetly to young children. As a child, she grew up dancing, singing and occasionally acting in Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. With a mother who taught creative dance, Alice tried to learn the piano, persevering for a good 14 years! She spent her early teenage years attending Sing for Pleasure summer camps, and her University summers running the booking office of a tuscan opera festival, in the Garfagnana. She would like to pass on her love and appreciation of music to all of the little ones she might meet along the way.

Working with children in the early years has taken Alice on a journey around the world! Alice has learned and taught internationally, with experiences in the U.K., Italy, the United States, Africa, Japan and Canada. Her passion for travel, married with her love of language learning led her to complete a Masters of Education in Bilingual Learning. Since 2020, she has volunteered and worked on a local nonprofit, Wild Sky Adventure Learning, bringing children back to nature for unhurried, child-led learning opportunities. She also directs Saskatoon’s *only* parkrun, a weekly free timed 5km walk/run/jog.

Alice is a proud mum of two children and has enjoyed participating with them throughout the Parenting with Music and Music in Early Childhood programs of Wilton Academy of Music.

Skye Lennox

Early Childhood Instructor

B. Ed

Skye has been an early childhood music teacher with Wilton Academy for many years in our classes, daycares and preschools. She has a Bachelor of Education degree and has enjoyed sharing music through the Wilton program.
She is also a violinist and Irish fiddler. Music has always been an important part of her life. As an adult she became the first certified Irish fiddle instructor in western Canada.

In her spare time, Skye is working on her Masters of Political Studies. She loves spending time on her farm chasing her dogs and chickens around when she is not running to activities with kids!

Michael Swan

Suzuki and Traditional Violin

B.Mus, ARCT

Michael Swan was born in 1963 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He studied with Dorothy Overholt, Norman Lee Bisha, Mark Reedman and Robert Klose as he was growing up. In 1979, he was awarded the Gold Medal for the highest standing in Canada for Royal Conservatory of Toronto ARCT violin examinations. While studying with Yuri Mazurkevich at the Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario, he was awarded the Hideo Saito Prize for academic achievement in 1981 and 1982. He then studied with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in 1984.

Since September 1984, Mr. Swan has been the Concertmaster of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Saskatoon Symphony Chamber Players, appearing as soloist with the Orchestra on several occasions. He performs solo recitals regularly, and has several musical compositions (solo, chamber, orchestra and vocal), and a few professional conducting engagements to his credit. He has been featured both as a solo violinist and as a composer on CBC radio.

Throughout his entire performing career, Mr. Swan has taught individual lessons in violin, viola and music theory, and has also given instruction in group settings.

Isaac Lo

Traditional Piano

ABRSM, RCM

Isaac has been playing and studying piano since 2006. After moving from Hong Kong to Saskatchewan in 2018, he has studied with Audrey Falk Janzen and currently, Lynn Ewing. Isaac has completed his ATCL through the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) with Trinity College London (the RCM equivalent level of ARCT).

Isaac enjoys performing and competing in various piano competitions and has also participated in Greystone Singers where he has explored many varieties of music. He is proficient in clarinet and has also studied rock and pop drum with Trinity College London.

In addition to English, Isaac is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese. He has been a piano instructor in Hong Kong as well as a volunteer instructor at Caswell Community School in Saskatoon. He encourages students to express themselves through music to build self-esteem and confidence.

Isaac is currently in his fourth year of biomedical science at the U of S, focusing on neuroscience, and hopes to pursue a masters and a medical degree in the future.

Brandon Redekop

Suzuki and Traditional Piano

Brandon has been a student in Nicole Wilton’s piano studio since the age of 4 years. He also attended U of S Early Childhood classes for several years with Mrs. Cole as his teacher.

He has completed Book 7 Suzuki piano as well as Book 4 Teacher Training, and is continuing his music education in Grade 10 Royal Conservatory of Music studies.

Brandon enjoys sharing his love of music with his ever growing family of piano students. Franz Schubert is his favorite composer and he enjoys listening to and playing all the great composers of every era. Brandon is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. He is also an avid competitor in Badminton.

Sam Gibson

Acoustic and Electric Guitar

Sam Gibson is a guitarist and instructor of acoustic and electric guitar. He enjoys teaching students of all ages and plays a variety of musical styles including Classical, Jazz and Rock. His music education began with piano in 2007, eventually completing a Royal Conservatory of Music grade 8 certificate. In 2011, Sam began taking guitar lessons and has since studied guitar as his primary instrument.

Sam has played with several local groups including performances at the Saskatoon Jazz Festival. He has been a member of the worship team at Elim Church in Saskatoon for 10 years and is the founder of Electric Praise which provides sheet music and video tutorials to worship team guitar players.

Currently, Sam is in the final year of his Computer Science degree at the University of Saskatchewan and has spent the last 4 years developing animation and graphic arts software that has applications in music education.