ASHER FARBER is a freelance pianist, collaborator and teacher located in Toronto. Asher's passions include opera, song, choral work, vocal piano and musical education. He has worked in masterclasses and received instruction from many great singers and coaches including Stephanie Blythe, Adrianne Pieczonka, Wendy Nielsen, and Daniel Taylor. Asher completed his Masters of Music in Collaborative Piano Performance at the University of Toronto (2014) with Steven Philcox. He also has a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Ottawa, (2011, Magna Cum Laude), with pianists Stéphane Lemelin, Andrew Tunis, and Frédéric Lacroix. In 2010, Asher recieved the Nora Hickson Kelly Scholarship in Music, awarded to students who exemplify great potential as future performers.Asher began working with the MNJCC in 2014 as accompanist and assistant conductor for both the Daytime Choir and Community Choir. Additionally, he plays for Eurythmy classes at Waldorf Academy for grades 2 to 8, pairing music with coordinated expressive movement. As a dynamic rehearsal pianist and vocal coach, he has worked alongside Odd Opera's 'Don Giovanni' (2017), Halifax Summer Opera Festival's 'Susannah' (2015), Toronto Opera Initiative’s 'Hansel and Gretel' (2015), and Opera on the Avalon's 'Die Zauberflöte' (2013).Although Asher is classically educated, he regularly collaborates alongside many different and eclectic soloists, singers, instrumentalists, ensembles, and bands in many different styles, including: opera, chamber music, jazz, musical theater, hip hop, rock, folk, klezmer, cantorial, blues, funk, pop, power metal, and even gospel. From a young age, Asher has been immersed in Klezmer and Jewish music, having attended 'KlezKanada' in Quebec for numerous summers under scholarship, where he learned and performed alongside some of the greatest klezmer musicians in the world today.