KEVIN KOMISARUK, Piano Adjudicator |
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“The playing is remarkable...you can hear the organ breathing, even weeping, as if it were almost human.” - Radio Canada |
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GRAHAM BANFIELD, Guitar Adjudicator |
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Musician, educator, and researcher Graham Banfield explores how music serves as a portal to the human experience. |
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PETER DE SOTTO, Strings Adjudicator |
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Peter is a remarkable talent who’s chameleon like abilities allow him to perform on the violin not only as a seasoned classical violinist but also as a dazzling gypsy virtuoso. |
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2016 - TODD YANIW, Piano Adjudicator |
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Canadian pianist Todd Yaniw is a young artist praised for his “atmospheric contrast of poetry and power … a hair-raising performance”. Since his debut with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at age 13, Mr. Yaniw has performed frequently in Alberta and Ontario; at festivals and venues including the Banff Centre for Music, Edmonton’s Winspear Centre for Music, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Toronto’s Arts & Letters Club, the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, and Toronto’s new Koerner Hall. Mr. Yaniw has performed with the symphony orchestras of Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, and Guelph. Mr. Yaniw toured the Canadian maritime provinces as a soloist in February 2013, under the auspices of Debut Atlantic. Todd has been interviewed and broadcast on several occasions on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [CBC], and Toronto’s Classical 96.3 FM. In December 2012, Todd recorded a one-hour program for the CBC as part of its NEXT series, a radio program that promotes talent on the rise. Internationally, Todd has performed at the Monte Carlo Opera House in Monaco, the Jamaica School of Music in Kingston, Jamaica, several concert halls in China and Italy, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. James’s Piccadilly in London England, and the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York. Yaniw’s debut CD, “Todd Yaniw: Scriabin, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Chopin” was released on the Chestnut Hall Music label in September 2006. |
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2016 - KATHARINE RAPOPORT, Strings Adjudicator |
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"Katharine Rapoport teaches violin and viola performance, DMA seminars in string pedagogy and string literature at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, where she is an Adjunct Professor. She also teaches String Methodologies at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. |
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2016 - MARK DABOLL, Voice Adjudicator |
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Mark Joelson Daboll is a voice teacher, music educator, performing baritone, and Founder/Director of Please Judge Me – the innovative web platform for vocal coaching. He has been interviewed on a variety of vocal topics on CBC Radio 1, The Global Morning Show, Schompera.com, and City TV’s Breakfast Television, and featured in University of Toronto’s Alumni Magazine. A member of the voice faculty at the University of Toronto, he also maintains a private Toronto voice studio, specializing in the diagnosis and correction of vocal problems, growth and maturation of the voice, and the application of cutting-edge voice science for performance at the highest level. |
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2016 - CHRIS THORNBORROW, Composition Adjudicator |
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"Chris Thornborrow is a Toronto based composer of chamber music, opera, and film scores. His music has been described as, “complex and clear, with subtle playfulness,” and he has received a number of awards for his work. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music for Walking, a piece based on the life and creativity of Canadian animator Ryan Larkin. In the same year he received two multiple Socan Awards for Young Audio-Visual Composers as well as the 2013 Toronto Emerging Composers Award Honourable Mention. |
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2016 - ROB MACDONALD, Guitar Adjudicator |
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Sincere performances of bold and engaging repertoire have established guitarist Rob
MacDonald as one of Canadaʼs most exciting performers of new music. As both a soloist and chamber musician his persistent quest for fresh repertoire regularly leads to thecreation of new works and the presentation of rarely heard pieces. |
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2015 - WHITNEY O’HEARN, Voice Adjudicator |
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Mezzo-soprano Whitney O’Hearn “has a warm and expressive voice and an amazing sense of line” (Ottawa Citizen). She is an up-and-coming Toronto based vocal artist pursuing a career in opera and contemporary music. A prolific performer, Whitney seeks to make music more accessible through collaborating with composers and singing in unusual venues in a wide variety of traditional and unexpected ensembles. As a voice teacher, she shares her insights and philosophy with students from a broad spectrum of genres. Whitney has studied with Sandra Graham and Daniel Taylor and is continuing her studies as a doctoral candidate under Wendy Nielsen at the University of Toronto. She has also sung, amongst many other roles, Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen, Mère Marie in Poulenc’s Les Dialogues des Carmélites, Maurya in Vaughn Williams’ Riders to the Sea and The Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aneas. In the Ottawa area she has been a soloist with Coro Vivo Ottawa, the Ottawa New Music Creators, the Kanata Symphony Orchestra, the Pembroke Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, Whitney was invited as a guest artist to perform Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players, Stony Brook, NY, she received the Frederick-Karam Scholarship, and she was the winner of the University of Ottawa Concerto Competition, where she performed Gustav Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer. She has performed in the Ottawa International Chamber Festival, the Festival Pontiac Enchanté, and she appeared as Mercedes in the wildly successful Carmen on Tap over its five seasons. In January 2014 she reprised her role as The Sorceress (Dido and Aeneas) in collaboration with Schola Cantorum, Theater of Early Music, and Tafelmusik. |
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2015 - TANYA CHARLES, Strings Adjudicator |
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Recipient of the Women’s Art Associate of Canada – Luella McCleary Award, the Gabriella Dory Prize in Music, and the Hamilton Black History Association’s John C Holland Award for Youth Achievement, Canadian violinist, Tanya Charles, has captivated audiences with her passion, energy, flair and finesse. Her performances have been described as “intense and exciting” (The WholeNote Magazine) and “colourful and bold” (Musical Toronto). She has performed in venues across Canada, the USA and the Caribbean as a soloist, chamber- and orchestral-musician. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Tanya moved to Toronto in pursuit of higher education and musical training. She had the opportunity to study with Mark Fewer, Mark Skazinetsky and Atis Bankas and obtained a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto and an Artist Diploma in Orchestral Performance from the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music. As a former concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and an alumnus of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, Miss Charles has been propelled into her performing career. Currently, Tanya serves as the concertmaster of the Sneak Peek Orchestra and also holds a position as a First Violinist with Sinfonia Toronto, a 14-piece virtuoso string ensemble. In the United States, Tanya holds the position of Assistant Concertmaster with the Colour of Music: Festival Orchestra and Principal Second Violin of the Colour of Music Festival: Virtuosi Ensemble and had the privilege of performing as a soloist with them in October 2014. Tanya also enjoys playing outside of the classical genre and loves to improvise. She is a violinist with the Toronto-based mariachi band, Viva Mexico Mariachi, and also has recorded and performed alongside many mainstream artists such as Shad, K-Os, Snoop Dogg and Stevie Wonder. As an educator, Tanya is on Faculty at the Interprovincial Music Camp, as well as she serves as a guest string clinician at various secondary schools, youth orchestras, and music festivals across Ontario. She is the String Specialist for the Brampton Symphony Youth Orchestra and is on faculty at the Regent Park School of Music, a music school that provides music education to youth-in-need in high priority areas Toronto. As Tanya is of Vincentian descent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), she has been active in promoting classical music throughout the island and has been working closely with their Governor General and stringed-instrument educators there since 2004. Along with hosting violin masterclasses, speaking at forums, and performing for various outreach activities with the young, Vincentian students, she was hosted by the Governor General for her invitational solo recital at the Government House in 2004. |
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2015 - TARIQ HARB, Guitar Adjudicator |
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"Winner of both the First Prize and the Audience Choice Award in the Barrios WorldWideWeb Competition 2011, First-Prize winner in the Montréal International Classical Guitar Competition 2011, and Second-Prize winner in the Tokyo 55th International Classical Guitar Competition, Tariq Harb is quickly establishing himself as one of the leading classical guitarists of his generation. His music making has been described as “effortless and thoughtful” (Dr. Garry Antonio), and one that demonstrates "not just his flawless technique but also his refined taste and a great, innate sense for truly beautiful interpretation." (The Jordan Times) Harb has been chosen as one of CBC Radio's NEXT! 2013 artists, where he was celebrated as "Canada's next classical guitar superstar" and was showcased performing live at the Glenn Gould studios in Toronto, Canada. Harb's past appearances at music festivals and guitar events in North America, Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia, are highlighted by performances in prestigious halls such as the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall in Montréal, Canada, the 2000 year-old Roman Amphitheatre in Jerash, Jordan, the Bunka Kaikan concert hall in Tokyo, Japan, the world-famous Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre as part of the TEDGlobal 2013 event held in Edinburgh, UK. Moreover, Harb recently received an ‘Honorary Membership’ from the Arab Cultural Centre in Jordan, recognizing his efforts and contributions to the arts both in the Arab world and abroad. He released his debut solo album entitled “A Guitar Through the Eras” in June, 2013. Harb's engagements in 2015-2016 include notable concerts at Shanghai's bi-annual Guitar Festival, the Cairo Opera House, and at the 2015 Guitar Foundation of America Convention and Competition. Born in Jordan to parents of Palestinian origin, Harb moved to Canada to commence university studies. He studied both the violin and the guitar with classical guitarists Roddy Ellias, Patrick Kearney, Jerome Ducharme, Dr. Garry Antonio, Dr. Jeffrey McFadden, and with violinists Claude Gelineau and Clemens Merkel of the Bozzini Quartet. Harb also participated in many masterclasses including ones run by Lorenzo Micheli, Jason Vieaux, Pavel Steidl, Rémi Boucher, and Manuel Barrueco. Harb holds a Masters in Performance degree from McGill University, a Bachelor of Arts, and a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University. Most recently, Harb received the title of Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Toronto upon completion of his doctorate degree. Tariq Harb is a La Bella Strings Artist." |
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2015 - BRIAN MCDONAGH, Piano & Composition Adjudicator |
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Brian McDonagh began his musical training at the age of fifteen. Two years later he made his orchestral debut with the Toronto Symphony performing the Schumann Piano Concerto. He has studied in Toronto, New York and Vienna working with Marietta Orlov, Garrick Ohlsson and Andreas Schiff. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in piano performance from the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Mr. McDonagh has performed throughout Canada, Europe and the United States. He was a semi-finalist in both the Busoni International Piano Competition and the Beethoven International Competition held in Vienna. Shortly after he released his first solo recording titled 'Seminal' featuring works of Bach, Haydn, Brahms, Chopin and Bartok. This resulted in a major solo recital tour invitation. He performed in cities throughout South America on behalf of OXF AM International in support of women's suffrage on that continent. A second musical apprenticeship when, at the age of thirty-four, an interest in composition emerged. He studied composition with Alexander Rapaport in Toronto and pursued post graduate studies in composition with Samuel Adler at the Juilliard School in New York City. His compositions have been performed and recorded by members of the Toronto Symphony, the AMICI ensemble, the Chamber Society of Lincoln Center and several Solo performers both from North America and Europe and have been broadcast on the CBC in Canada and in Germany on the GRD. Works have been featured in three European Summer Festivals. He is a top prize winner in three international composition Competitions including the Grieg prize in Oslo Norway for his Second String Quartet composed in the first year of composing. Since 1996 he has taught in the Piano Department at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto teaching In addition to teaching pianists applied lessons he has taught courses in Piano Literature, Advanced Piano Pedagogy and Music Literature (graduate level) and Keyboard Skills for the nonpianist. Brian McDonagh is the Editor-In-Chief and founder of Plangere Editions. The publishing house specializes in music for solo piano, art song and chamber music. Established in 2008, it is now the largest publisher of Canadian art song in the country. Recent initiatives include a seven volume anthology of the collected Melodies of Reynaldo Hahn (2014) and the complete songs of Jean Sibelius (release 2015). Published in partnership with the Institute for Canadian Music (ICM) the complete piano works and string quartets ofJohn Weinzweig were released for the 100 Anniversary in 2013. Plangere and the ICM collaborated in establishing the 2015 Violet Archer Composition Prize and later this year the ICM I Plangere will be announcing the development of a major new series of publications to be available in both printed form and digitally. Information for Plangerepublications is to be found at www.plangere.com |
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Director: Charleen Beard |