Margot Lange

Margot Lange, a native of Guelph, Ontario, started violin lessons at age three, and piano lessons soon after. She was very active in the Guelph / Kitchener-Waterloo music community, playing in many local chamber music ensembles and orchestras, and singing in local choirs. In 1989, she left Guelph to study French-English Translation at the University of Ottawa.

More recently, she completed a teaching program at Carleton University, and she currently teaches English as a Second Language in the Ottawa area. Margot has played with the U of O orchestra, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and now, the Strings of St. John's. Since 1994, she has also been experimenting with other styles of music, including Latin, rock, and especially folk. In 2003, she began playing violin and singing in a latin band.

Katherine Tinkler

Katherine Tinkler  was born in December 1972 at the Nsambya Mission Hospital in Kampala, Uganda.  The family removed to Boston, USA in 1973 and subsequently to St. Catharines, Ontario in 1975. With the exception of a year spent in Sussex, England, Katherine's education has been completed in Canada. She has been playing violin since 1981, initially as a pupil of Mary Beth Doherty. She was a member of the Niagara Youth Orchestra from 1985 to 1991 and accompanied the orchestra on its European tour in 1990. She entered McMaster University in 1991 as a student of Marta Hidy and was Concertmistress of the McMaster Chamber Orchestra for 1994/5. She was awarded the Hamilton Performing Arts Scholarship for 1994/95 and graduated in 1995 with First Class Honours in Music Performance, History and Theory. Katherine continued her education at the University of Western Ontario and December 1997 completed her Masters in Library and Information Science. She has played for Symphony Hamilton (1993-1996), Divertimento Orchestra (1998-2000) and Sinfonia Musica (1999 & 2000) and currently as second violinist with Strings of St John's.

Julia Sandquist

Julia Sandquist began her musical career growing up in Toronto. Over the years, she has played in community orchestras such as the Hart House Orchestra, the North York Symphony, the Kingston Symphony, and the Ottawa Symphony. She has been a member of the Strings of St. John's since September 1999.

Julian Hughson

Julian Hughson began playing the violin and viola in Wales where he played with the National Youth orchestra as well as other regional orchestral and chamber groups. Since coming to Canada he has continued to play with various orchestras in Ottawa area including the Ottawa and Nepean Symphony Orchestras. Before joining the Strings of St John's he was concertmaster of Divertemento Orchestra and is also principal violist with the Kanata Symphony Orchestra.

Marg Macpherson

Margaret Macpherson, (née Turner), is a piano and music theory teacher, and an accompanist, currently teaching and playing in Ottawa. She holds degrees in Music: ARCT, (performer and teacher), LMM, and a M.A. in English literature. She studied piano with Dorothy Johnson, Alma Brock-Smith, and John McKay, and violin with Vic Pomer and John Gomez. From 2005 to 2010 she was on the faculty of the Bermuda School of Music, in Hamilton, Bermuda, teaching piano and music theory. She has performed with chamber groups in Canada and Bermuda, and has played as an accompanist for the School of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ottawa’s The School of Dance and the Bermuda School of Russian Ballet. As a violinist, she has played with Divertimento Orchestra in Ottawa and the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been in the second violin section of the Strings of St John’s since the founding of the orchestra.

Laurie Goodman

Biographical note coming soon ...

Regina de Hoog - in memoriam

Regina de Hoog, a founding member of the Strings of St John's, passed away Friday, July 2, 2010 after a brief battle with a rare disorder of the immune system.  She was a lively, vivacious musician whose great enthusiasm for the Strings of St John's was an important factor in the orchestra's growth as well as the cohesion among the members.  In the early days of her illness, she timed her treatments so as to not interfere with her orchestra commitments, such was her devotion.  In the end, her husband Adriaan, daughter Ariane and son Julian were with her as she gently drifted away with much dignity during her sleep.