This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra wraps up its 2024-25 season on a poignant note this spring as its revered concertmaster, Gwen Hoebig, steps down from the position she’s held for an astonishing 37 years.
Photo: Mark Rash
The Vancouver-born musician lauded for her impeccable artistry currently holds the mantle as Canada’s longest-serving concertmaster, following the retirement of L’orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s Richard Roberts in September 2022 after his own 40 seasons.
When asked what she’s most proud of from her decades-long tenure, Hoebig replies succinctly: “My playing, and also my relationship with my colleagues. … My overriding goal as concertmaster has always been to maintain the highest level of excellence, and I feel I’ve been able to do that.”
WSO Music Director Daniel Raiskin sings Hoebig’s praises, saying she has “helped to shape the orchestra’s unmistakable sound and artistic identity over the years in the most profound way.”
Hoebig began violin studies at age five with her father, Helmut Hoebig, before making her orchestral debut two years later with the Vancouver Youth Orchestra. She also played chamber music with her equally accomplished cellist brother Desmond Hoebig, cheered on by their mother, well-known Vancouver voice teacher Patricia Hoebig.
Gwen Hoebig as a child
Her flourishing talent quickly led her to The Juilliard School where she met her Winnipeg-born pianist husband, David Moroz. She (surprisingly) embarked on a double major as pianist/violinist, before dedicating herself full-time to the latter instrument under famed pedagogue, violinist Sally Thomas.
Prior to her arrival in Winnipeg, Hoebig served as concertmaster for Montreal’s Orchestre des jeunes du Québec (1983-5) and spent three seasons with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. She was also concertmaster of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra between 1987-90.
Searching for greater leadership responsibilities, the artist applied to her first choice of available concertmaster positions, the WSO, as well as similar posts in Calgary and Quebec City. After three gruelling rounds in which an initial field of nine players vied for the plum position, Hoebig ultimately received the nod as the unanimous choice of the WSO audition committee. She freely admits it was a “big deal” to join what is still arguably an “old boy’s club” as a rare female concertmaster back in the late 1980s.
Hoebig assures she’s not retiring, but merely stepping down from the inordinate pressures that go hand in hand with the concertmaster role. She intends to return to the WSO’s violin section in 2026. In May, the orchestra pays tribute to Hoebig’s legacy with their season-finale, Celebrating Gwen Hoebig, in which she’ll lead her colleagues one last time in two epic masterworks by Debussy and Strauss.
“I’ve been so lucky to do what I do and to work with the people I work with,” the musical leader reflects. “I wanted us to be the very best orchestra that we could be, and that is something I still very much believe. I feel we’ve been able to do that.”
For more on Gwen Hoebig’s final season as concertmaster with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, visit www.wso.ca
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
