A.D. (Connecticut, USA),
M. Mus. Perf. (New York, USA),
B. Mus. Perf. (Toronto, Canada),
ARCT Perf. (Royal Conservatory of Music, Canada),
RMT (Kitchener-Waterloo ORMTA, CFMTA),
Sr. Examiner, Royal Conservatory of Music Examinations (Canada), and Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory Achievement Program (USA)

Canadian-born and of Chinese descent, Donna Mak has had an extensive performing history as a pianist, accompanist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist with orchestras. Her principal teachers were Marjorie and Garth Beckett, Marietta Orlov, Boris Lysenko, Arkady Aronov, and Luiz de Moura Castro. She studied chamber music and accompanying with Patricia Parr, William Aide, John Hess, and Mitchell Stern. Pedagogy teachers included Marina Geringas and Vera Wills. Donna eagerly took many special interest workshops and seminars presented by the Miller Institute for Performing Artists on injury prevention and ergonomics for musicians, as well as courses in psychology. Her formulas and tips for “practicing for success” that work for herself have been adapted and applied to her students on an individual basis and have achieved successful results. Donna has also had masterclasses with such renowned artists as Anton Kuerti, Richard Goode, Greta Kraus, and Dalton Baldwin.

Growing up, she accumulated a wealth of experience performing at countless venues and actively competing at the local, provincial, and national levels, and was a multi-award and scholarship recipient throughout. She has appeared on television, newspaper, and radio for her piano endeavours.
 
In Toronto she won the prestigious W. O Forsyth Scholarship for both piano and academic excellence all four consecutive years there, and maintained Honour Roll status in New York. In Connecticut, it was one of Donna’s solo piano recitals that inaugurated the newly acquired Steinway in Millard Theatre, and she was a performing member of the American Liszt Society, pianist in the Contemporary Players ensemble which included premiering new works on a regular basis, celeste player for the Groton Ballet Orchestra’s “Nutcracker”, and accompanist for the Avon-Simsbury school board.
 
Donna has had numerous years of teaching and adjudicating experience, and was also Assistant to the Director of Chamber Music Studies at Hartford and the piano instructor at a private school for boys in North York. Currently, Donna dedicates a full schedule of teaching piano and theory students at her own Studio in Kitchener, while continuing to accompany choir and travel as a Senior Examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music Examinations (Canada) and the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory Achievement Program (USA).
Donna additionally devotes time to giving back to the community, and has presented concerts and fundraisers in support of: St. Mary Hospital’s Cardiac Centre; Grand River Hospital’s Cancer Care Centre; the K-W Canadian Red Cross’s tsunami relief efforts; the Waterloo Region Food Bank; the K-W Heart & Stroke Foundation; the YWCA Mary’s Place shelter; CCA church building funds; and the Canadian Diabetes Association. Many of her students have also participated as performers and fundraisers through their music in the community.