Sesaya is an organization dedicated to learning. The company principals, Arpita Ghosal (Ph.D. University of Toronto 1999) and Scott Sneddon (Ph.D. University of Toronto 1998), share an extensive background in education and training.

Arpita is Sesaya's Director of Music Education. Arpita's musical training began as a shared experience with her family: her violinist grandfather, her singer father and her dancer mother. From birth, she was surrounded by music, and gave her very first dance performance with a professional musical theatre company at the age of three. The director happened to see Arpita copying the choreography while watching her mother in rehearsals - and seeing that "something special" in her movements, cast her in a small but pivotal role in a musical based on Indian folklore. This show impressed upon her family that perhaps the ever-energetic Arpita had talent. After that, she began to study music and dance in earnest.

Arpita began a rigorous course of training with private vocal coaches, including 11 years in Western music, 9 in North Indian classical music and over 15 in Indian contemporary music with renowned recording artist Banani Ghosh of New York. She stopped formal lessons only when the rigours of her PhD studies and the demands of her career as a teacher required it. However, she continued to represent her school, university and community in concerts, conferences, competitions and performances across North America.

Arpita has had the privilege to study dance with many choreographers, but she considers her most influential teacher to be her mother, Kalpana Ghosal an award-winning dancer and choreographer who completed her training in the Indian classical styles of Manipuri and Kathakali before continuing her training with renowned Indian dancer Uday Shankar. Shankar was a disciple of Ballet great Anna Pavlova and used his balletic training to innovate Indian dance. He remains one of the giants of contemporary Indian choreography and brought Indian dance global attention. Under her mother's training, Arpita has performed in India, Canada and the United States. One of the highlights of her performing career was being invited - twice - to dance at the National Arts Centre studio stage at the performances of Gitanjali, by Canadian composer R. Murray Shaeffer, a musical work inspired by the poetry of the Nobel-Prize winning Indian poet-laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Interspersed with her vocal and dance training are 8 years of instrumental training in the trumpet and the French horn-one of the most difficult instruments to master. Arpita thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and all the social aspects of playing in an orchestra, as well as the opportunity to travel across the country with her peers, representing her school and university at auditions, competitions and award-winning performances.

When Arpita and Scott began to take their children to Kindermusik classes, they saw the powerful effects on their own children's development. For Arpita, the classes brought back vivid and happy memories of the beginning of her own education in music and movement - so much so that Arpita, already with 20 years of teaching experience, became a certified Kindermusik educator. She taught summer camps and studio programs at Catching Fireflies, one of the largest Kindermusik studios in Canada, before opening the Sesaya studio in North York. All of her musical training - vocal, instrumental and dance - has provided a thorough grounding in music history and theory, as well as practice. Her training in Eastern and Western music, and her access to experts in both, enables her to provide a uniquely rich classroom experience

So what about Scott, you ask? Well, in addition to being a Kindermusik dad, he is Director of the other half of the company: Sesaya Corporate Education. In this capacity, he has (alone, or with Arpita and other talented professionals) designed and delivered award-winning education, training and communication to:

• Children in two Boards of Education
• One association for gifted children
• Two Canadian colleges
• One Toronto university
• One telecommunications company
• Three Canadian banks
• Two US technology companies
• One great Canadian beer company
• Two major consulting firms

Wide spectrum? Yes - but not entirely unrelated to Kindermusik. The modes, subjects, and audiences of Arpita's and Scott's teaching are varied - but it's teaching, nonetheless. And they can't imagine doing anything else.

• The Royal Conservatory of Music (Assistant Teacher for Baby, Toddler, Kodaly, and Orff classes)
• Ryerson University (Early Year Learning Centre)
• Toronto Baptist Seminary and Immanuel Methodist Church (pianist ,singer, worship leader)
• The Korea Broadcasting System and Middle School.