Sistema Kingston Team

Email: tomm k@queensu.ca

Karma Tomm’s multi-faceted career has included performing, teaching, and music administration. She holds degrees in violin performance from McGill University and Indiana University. She performed professionally as an orchestral and chamber musician, toured North America, Europe and Asia with different ensembles and participated in several international festivals, and has taught students of all ages and levels. She particularly enjoys collaborations with living composers, and projects that involve different artistic mediums.

In 2007, she relocated to Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario where her focus shifted toward teaching and administration. In 2015 Ms. Tomm, together with colleagues from Queen’s University, the Limestone District School Board, The Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library, and a fabulous team of teaching artists and volunteers, launched Sistema Kingston. Ms. Tomm is committed to providing access to high quality music learning for children who face adversity, and to building bridges for students between Queen’s University and the greater Kingston community.

Originally from Toronto, Charles Fung started to play the cello at the age of three. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree, as well as his Bachelor of Education at Queen’s University. In September of 2022, Charles joined the Kingston Symphony as a section cellist. While not teaching or performing, Charles enjoys watching hockey, comedic movies, eating ice cream, and reading novels.

Bibi Henson is originally from the Kingston/Gananoque area, and has been playing the violin since she was six years old. She holds a Bachelor of Music with a concentration in violin, a minor in Jazz Voice performance and a minor in Psychology from McGill University, and has been teaching private violin lessons for the last eight years.

Bibi is a passionate violinist with a rich performance background spanning continents. Having played in China with the Performance Ensemble of Canada and in Europe with the Montreal Suzuki String Orchestra, she also performs with the Orchestra Kingston.

Dedicated to the art of music education, Bibi loves teaching and is excited to join this dynamic team, eager to share her expertise, enthusiasm and love of learning with students and colleagues alike.

Laura Kelly has been working in the arts locally for over 20 years. She is a Queen’s alumni with a focus in Philosophy. Laura is responsible for booking live music at several performing arts venues in the Kingston area. She is the founder of Many Moons Events as well as Kingston’s Annual Slow Dance (now in its 17th year). In 2024, her initiatives received a CKAF project grant. Laura is an active member of the Kingston Music Advisory Committee which helps to implement the City’s recently developed Music Strategy. Having grown up in Kingston, Laura took her deep passion for music and held positions at The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts as well as CFRC 101.9FM. Now, she is thrilled to contribute to Sistema Kingston’s mission of bringing accessible, high quality music education to Kingston’s youth.

When she isn’t working, you can find Laura further exercising her passion for music as an all-vinyl DJ and as a drummer in a variety of Kingston live acts. Laura loves to spend her spare time hiking or relaxing in nature with her loved ones.

Daphne is a graduate of Queen's University where she studied cello under the guidance of Wolf Tormann and acquired a Bachelor of Music in 2016. Her Sistema Kingston connection began in the very first year of the program 2015-2016 where she taught as a Lower Strings Teaching Artist. With her Sistema students' autographs covering her cello case, she then moved to England where she spent five years continuing her cello studies and teaching music to youth across the UK. Solo cello performance highlights include performing at St. Martin-In-The-Fields at Trafalgar Square for the 150th Canada Day celebrations in 2017 to feature Canadian female composers.

Her experiences using music education as a vehicle for building self confidence in adolescence at the Red Balloon Learner Centre in Cambridge reinforced her belief in the power of music and the importance of community. Upon her return to Canada, Daphne resumed her work with Sistema Kingston as a Lower Strings Teaching Artist during the pandemic and joined Kingston Community Strings as the sectional lead. She has been a guest cellist with Kingston's Melos Choir & Period Instruments and is featured on their Voces Feminarum recording.

Today, Daphne is a third year carpenter's apprentice while actively maintaining her passion for music performance and education in the Kingston area. She looks forward to another year with the Sistema Kingston program! 

Jan LeClair is a Kingston Ontario based educator and musician. Hailing originally from southwestern Ontario, Jan has been a performance musician for much of her life. Recently retired from her day job as an elementary teacher and administrator, Jan now devotes her time to music performance, gardening, cooking, rural romps with her sheltie, and her long term passion project, Sistema Kingston.

A recent recipient of an Imagine grant from Kingston’s Isabel Bader Centre (2021) and an artist residency at Kingston’s Grand theatre (2022), Jan’s primary musical focus is traditionally based. An experienced folk festival player, highlights include the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Calgary Folk Music Festival, Summerfolk (Owen Sound), Folk on the Rocks (Yellowknife), Alianait (Iqaluit), Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival, Festival Chants de Vielles, and Kingston's own Skeleton Park Music Festival. Jan is a frequent collaborator with other musicians, choral groups, and theatrical productions.

Amanda MacLean is a Kingston Ontario based Child and Youth Worker. Spending most of her life growing up in Kingston, she is passionate about the local community and supporting youth development through education, community engagement, and inclusive initiatives that drive positive social impact.

Amanda is driven by a lifelong love of music. She believes music education can transform youth, empower them to succeed and foster confidence and lifelong success.

When not working Amanda enjoys crafting, reading, camping, and watching her favourite TV shows. Favourite non-musical activity: wool felting

Maureen Murphy is a Newfoundland-born educator, musician, and choir director who has devoted her career to helping children find their voices through music. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Education from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador , her continued focus being Music Education. She began teaching on the Burin Peninsula, where she discovered the power of music to build confidence, belonging, and joy in young learners.

For more than two decades with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, she embraced its multicultural classrooms, directing choirs, developing inclusive curricula, and leading concerts and liturgical celebrations. She also shared her performer’s spirit, singing solos in the Staff Arts choir and playing Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof. Across Ontario, she became known for reaching students of all ages and abilities, while also serving as a mental health advocate and fostering inclusive spaces. Beyond the classroom, she founded joint school choirs, collaborated with youth orchestras, and mentored colleagues in music education. Her teaching philosophy has always been student-centered: meet each child where they are, create a safe, joyful space, and celebrate every step forward. Now retired from full-time teaching, she is pursuing an interest in music therapy while continuing to share her passion through Sistema Kingston. For Maureen, music is not only a profession but a lifelong calling—a way to nurture learning, confidence, and joy.

She enjoys laughter, song, and good food—especially pizza—with family and friends, many of them on the East Coast. Her closest companions are Ella, her Great Pyrenees-Lab, and Munchi, her cat.

Juan Velasco is a multifaceted artist, who has built his career through music, teaching, media, and community engagement. Originally from Ecuador and now based in Kingston, Ontario, he brings over a decade of experience as a musician and educator to his role as a music foundations teacher with Sistema Kingston.

Juan holds a bachelor’s degree in Contemporary Music and his background as both a performer and media artist shapes a dynamic and contemporary approach to music education. His teaching philosophy emphasizes accessibility, creativity, and connection, inspiring students not only to develop technical skills but also to discover music as a lifelong means of expression.

Passionate about Kingston and its vibrant cultural life, Juan views education as a bridge between the city’s artistic heritage and its future generations.

Originally from Mississauga, Ariel Zaichick has over 20 years in classical voice training, and currently teaches privately at her home studio, Music By Ariel. After graduating from Queen’s University with her B.Mus in Voice, Ariel has made Kingston her home, teaching classes and vocal directing with Bottle Tree Productions and singing with the Melos Choir & Period Instruments Ensemble and Isabel Voices. This is Ariel’s 7th year with Sistema Kingston!

Splitting her time between teaching and performing, stage highlights for Ariel include Olympia in “Les contes d’Hoffman” (Midwest Institute of Opera), Maria in “West Side Story in Concert” (Queen’s University Orchestra) as well as intensives such as The Russian Opera Workshop (Philadelphia), Druid City Opera Workshop (Alabama), Franco-American Vocal Academy (Périgueux, France) and the Acting Opera Intensive (NYC).