Teachers

Dan Hay

Dan has over 23 years experiencing teaching guitar. In 2011 he earned his Bachelors of Education as well as an Honors Degree in Arts from University of Ottawa. Before starting The Spark Music Academy in 2010, Dan taught at several music schools in the Ottawa area as well working as a music instructor for Camp Christie Kids. While running The Spark keeps him busy, he is also the head music teacher at Kanata Academy Private School. He’s always involved in several bands and music projects, currently playing lead guitar in Amos the Transparent.

Career Highlights

Releasing 5 records, tours of North America,  Japan and Australia, 3 Summers on the Vans Warped Tour, Guest on CBC's Q and The Strombo Show, songs featured in Degrassi and MTVs The Real World, and opening for artists such as Jeff Beck, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sloan, Loverboy. 

Available to teach

Guitar, bass and ukulele. 

Carter Peak

Carter has been playing drums for over 14 years and has 5 years teaching experience.  Throughout his career, Carter has focused on touring and recording with a variety of bands including Talk, Write Home, Vesuvius, and Jordan Mcintosh. He has honed his abilities as a drummer, while also expanding his knowledge into the realms of production and songwriting.

Career Highlights

Releasing 2 records, one of which charted on Billboard. Toured North America. Featured on Family Channel, and YTV. Played shows such as Bluesfest, Boots & Hearts (2 years), and the Cavendish Country Festival. Actively creating content on Instagram/Tik Tok.

Available to teach

Drums

Nathanael Larochette

Nathanael Larochette has been playing guitar for 18 years and is a solo artist as well as a member of the chamber folk trio Musk Ox and the instrumental metal band The Night Watch. After studying privately with Dr. John Higney of Carleton University, Nathanael began dedicating himself to instrumental music composition, exploring everything from ambient, folk, jazz and classical to atmospheric, technical and extreme forms of heavy metal. Though experienced with instrumental music, Nathanael has also spent 14 years teaching creative writing workshops in Ottawa schools and is happy to share his storytelling expertise with students interested in developing their songwriting and lyrical skills.

Career Highlights

Releasing 10 albums, performing in 11 countries, appearing at Ottawa Bluesfest, Terra Incognita Festival (Quebec City) and Wave-Gotik-Treffen Festival (Leipzig, Germany) opening for Norwegian world music masters Wardruna, Musk Ox's second album "Woodfall" being selected as one of the Top Canadian Albums of 2014 by The Needle Drop, performing original acoustic interludes on American atmospheric metal band Agalloch's album "The Serpent & The Sphere".

Available to teach

Classical/fingerstyle/electric guitar, sheet music, composition, lyric writing

Declan Ryan

Declan has been playing guitar for over 10 years. He started in 2012 at the Spark Music Academy and has since started teaching. He’s constantly involved in different music projects, most notably as the lead guitarist in Abstract Odyssey. When he’s not teaching, Declan is working on his degree at the University of Ottawa.

Career Highlights

Playing live at The Bluesfest, The Blacksheep Inn, The Rainbow, The Wakefield Music Festival, Summerfest, playing live with Tony D from MonkeyJunk, as well as playing guitar with LoudLove

Available to teach

Guitar Ukulele Bass