About the Teacher
Hi, my name is Zoe Henderson and I'm the owner/teacher here at RoundaBOUT Community Arts (formerly, The Willow school of Music). I've been teaching music (piano, ukulele, voice, speech arts & drama) for over 25 years. Born and raised in Nanaimo, I moved back to the city in the summer of 2023; before that, I was living in Toronto, Ontario, where for 25 years I worked full-time as a professional music and drama teacher at various private music schools and community centres.
PIANO: A classically-trained musician (RCM Grade 10 Piano, Advanced Piano Pedagogy, Grade 8 Singing), I have been teaching piano to students of all ages for the past 25 years. I am also an award-winning composer, and a part-time freelance arranger.
UKULELE: In addition to my classical training, I have a long background in popular music and came to the ukulele about 20 years ago while pursuing gigs as a singer-songwriter. I simply got tired of lugging my heavy keyboard to venues that didn't have a piano. Enter... the ukulele! Having dabbled in guitar in my younger years, I took up the ukulele and fell in love with this charming and versatile instrument. Soon, in a desire to spread the joy of ukulele to others, I enrolled in the James Hill Ukulele Initiative teacher Training and have been teaching groups and individuals of all ages ever since.
SPEECH ARTS & DRAMA: I am currently the Artistic Director of Nanaimo Young People's Theatre (a registered charity) where, in addition to planning the school curriculum, I teach several classes and direct youth theatre. In the past, I have worked as an actor, playwright, producer, and director. My formal education includes a B.A. (Honours) in Drama from the University of Alberta, as well as advanced certificated in Speech Arts & Drama from The Royal Conservatory of Music.