Yukiko is a partner at Nossaman LLP, a Los-Angeles-based law firm with offices across the United States. She graduated from law school at the University of Toronto in 1997 and practiced in the mergers and acquisitions groups at top-tier firms in Toronto and New York, as well as the leading infrastructure group at Davis LLP in Vancouver and Tokyo, before joining Nossaman in 2011.

Yukiko’s passion for the performing arts began at the tender age of six, when she began studying violin through the Suzuki School of Music in Toronto. She completed her studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music and spent her artistically formative years studying with former Toronto Symphony violinist and University of Toronto professor, Leo Wigdorchik. She won numerous local competitions in Toronto and performed as a guest soloist with the North York Symphony Orchestra in 1988.


Her love of the violin fortuitously led her to audition for the first public performing arts school in Toronto, Claude Watson School for the Arts. She was accepted into the school in its founding year, and spent the next five years dedicating half of each school day to the performing arts, including three types of dance, theatre, visual arts, and various types of music ensembles. The experience transformed her by fostering a deep appreciation for the various arts at an early age and giving her new tools with which to express herself, relate to others and find a sense of community. She continued immersing herself in an intensive academic and artistic curriculum throughout high school at Earl Haig Secondary School.
Through Arts in Our Hearts, she hopes to share with children of a new generation the extraordinary benefits that she experienced, and continues to experience, through her exposure to the performing arts.

 

June Goldsmith, a musician, music educator, and entrepreneur, founded the outstanding Music in the Morning Concert Series in 1984. She believed classical music that challenged, educated as well as entertained, would find a following at 10:30 in the morning. June has created a niche with her unique morning concert format, offering challenging programming to an audience that prefers its cultural experiences during the day. She has a loyal and ever-increasing following, proof of her commitment to her dream.


June, who has a Master of Arts in music from Stanford University, is revered in the community for her willingness to share her love of music and for her support of upcoming and established artists. In November 2002, in recognition of her contribution to music, June was inducted into the British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame. On March 11th, 2005 in Ottawa, June received the Order of Canada for her long time contribution to music in Canada. In June 2005, she received the Order of British Columbia for her contribution to classical music in the province. In 2004, the University of British Columbia established the June Goldsmith Scholarship in Music to pay tribute to her achievements as impresario, educator and musician. She is committed to presenting a varied line-up of music from opera to ballet to chamber music, and to reaching out to all ages through performances, lectures, and commissioned works. She appears regularly on CBC Radio’s North x Northwest.


June brings her passion for music and invaluable experience to the board of Arts in Our Hearts, and our collaboration with Music in the Morning is instrumental to the quality of classical music programming that Arts in Our Hearts is able to provide.  In particular, the partnering of Arts in Our Hearts with Music in the Morning’s Family Music series, which is a series of interactive concerts for families comprised of performances by world renowned artists/educators, allows Arts in Our Hearts to bring unique, world-class performances to children at no cost to the schools or students.







Yukiko Kojima - Founder and Director


June Goldsmith - Director



Sean Muggah - Director - Secretary

Christine Choi - Executive Artistic Director









Christine began her professional career at the age of 14 when she became a member of the first violin section in the Regina Symphony Orchestra.  While completing her B. Sc. (Life Sciences) at Queen’s University, she was coached by Kenneth Perkins and was a featured soloist with the Queen’s Symphony Orchestra and the Queen’s Chamber Ensemble.  She completed an Advanced Certificate in Music Performance at the University of Toronto where she studied violin with Scott St. John and Lorand Fenyves, and chamber music with William Aide, Patricia Parr and Terrence Helmer.  As a chamber musician, she has participated in numerous festivals across North America, including the Scotia Festival of Music, the Stanford Seminar (with the St. Lawrence String Quartet), and the Colorado Springs Music Festival, where she was a winner of the concerto competition.   

Christine graduated with a medical degree from the University of Toronto in 2004, and completed her residency in Emergency Medicine in 2009. She is currently a full-time emergency physician based in Vancouver.

Sean Muggah is a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG), a leading Canadian full-service law firm, where he is regional leader of its Not-for-Profit Group and Education Focus Group. Prior to joining BLG, Sean was foreign counsel with the law firm of Nishimura & Partners (now Nishimura & Asahi) in Tokyo, Japan.

Sean is actively involved in the community, including as the secretary and director of Covenant House Vancouver, as a volunteer with BLG Reads to Kids Program and as a past co-chair of BLG’s United Way Campaign. He brings a wealth of legal and not-for-profit experience to the board of Arts in Our Hearts.