Music Competition - my/maSCENA

Photo : Valentina Sadiul

Amy Hillis – Eckhardt-Gramatté Music Competition Winner

By Gregory Finney on 3 October 2018 Classical Music, Music Competition, Violin

Every year Brandon University in Manitoba hosts the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. Named in honour of composer, pianist and violinist S.C. (Sonia) Eckhardt-Gramatté, the competition founded in 1976 focuses on contemporary music and up-and-coming musicians. The winner receives a $8,000 cash prize, a performance tour across Canada and a three-week residency at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival. This year’s winner is Saskatchewan’s Amy Hillis. “I first heard about the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition as an undergraduate when many of the older, more accomplished students from McGill were finalists in the competition,” Hillis recalls. “Carissa Klopoushak – an inspiration to this day for…

Photo : Kevork Torosian

Lynette Israilian – 2018 Canimex Canada Music Competition Winner

By Benjamin Goron on 3 October 2018 Classical Music, Music Competition, Violin

Aged just 21, violinist Lynette Israilian won first prize in the Canimex Canadian Music Competition in June, giving her the privilege of playing with the Orchestre Métropolitain and guest conductor Nicolas Ellis. The young musician with the infectious smile and determined look plays a 2015 Jacques Martel instrument and is just starting the last year of a degree course at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with her teacher for the last seven years, Johanne Arel. “My aim is to become a soloist, so I can decide what I want to play,” she says. Nonetheless, she likes chamber music, with…

Photo : Loud Photography

Simona Genga – 2018 Canadian Opera Company’s Centre Stage and Ensemble Studio Competition Winner

By Gregory Finney on 3 October 2018 Music Competition, Opera, Vocal

Opera Canada says of mezzo-soprano Simona Genga after winning the Canadian Opera Company’s 2017 Centre Stage Gala and Ensemble Studio Competition that she was reminiscent of a young Stephanie Blythe with “a vocal plushness, amplitude and range mature beyond her years.” “I was first introduced to music when I was still a baby,” Genga says. “… [My mother] used to play Baby Mozart CDs for me which I also loved listening to when I was a kid! “I grew up loving to entertain people, whether by making up stories, plays, songs or poems. After being encouraged to try various activities…

Robert Wang

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 3 October 2018 Classical Music, Music Competition

Born in Shanghai and now a resident of Vancouver, Wang was introduced to classical music in China, starting piano lessons at age 4. He quickly developed an interest in the music of the Renaissance and the Baroque, which remains a reference to this day, although he also is particularly fond of Mahler. Attracted by Spanish music and captivated by the expressive possibilities of the instrument, Wang exchanged the piano for the guitar at age 11. This change coincided with the creation of his first works, strongly inspired by the artistic approach of the composers of the Second Viennese School. Wang…

Brent Crawford

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 3 October 2018 Classical Music, Music Competition

With numerous first prizes in national and international classical guitar competitions to his credit, Brent Crawford has been gaining recognition as a leader among guitarists of his generation. However, nothing predisposed young Crawford to the career of a performer. He started the guitar at age 8, influenced above all by his love of rock and rap of the 1990s. It was necessary to wait until his twenties for the piano music of Bach and Tchaikovsky to awaken a passion for the classical genre. The most recent win on his record is of the Montreal International Classical Guitar Festival and Competition,…

John Brancy – 2018 CMIM Aria Winner

By Adrian Rodriguez on 3 October 2018 Art Song, Music Competition, Vocal

Canadians might know American Baritone John Brancy as winner of the 2018 Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) and third prize in 2012. However, as pretentious as it might sound, winning the prestigious competition twice was probably another day in the office for him. During the last four years alone, the lyrical baritone has won many internationally renowned competitions: he obtained first prize in the 2018 Lotte Lenya Competition in New York; second prize at the 2017 Wigmore Hall Competition in London; and the media prize in the 2017 Belvedere International Singing Competition in Moscow; and first prize in the 2015 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. in 2015. After watching him perform…

Photo : Amélie Fortin

Dominique Beauséjour-Ostiguy, Prix d’Europe

By Benjamin Goron on 3 October 2018 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Music Competition

Dominique Beauséjour-Ostiguy is a cellist, composer and multi-instrumentalist who combines passion and creativity in a many-layered career on the Quebec artistic scene. In June his performance of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, with accompanist Michel-Alexandre Broekaert, won him the Prix d’Europe. Following a Bachelor’s at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal under Carole Sirois, the native of Laval has just completed a Master’s at Université de Montréal under Yégor Dyachkov. “I’d like to go and do further training in Europe next year, keeping one foot in Quebec, where I am part of various ensembles,” he says. As a performer, he’d like to…

Canada’s Next Great Art Song Vies for $100k Aviva Community Fund

By La Scena Musicale Team on 26 September 2018 Art Song, Arts Industry, Music Competition

Editor’s Note: La Scena’s project Canada’s Next Great Art Song is in competition for a $100,000 grant from the Aviva Community Fund. Read below about the project and how to vote. Our September issue was a special edition on the Art Song. Read about it in PDF format or in HTML. Vote for your favourite art song of all time at www.nextgreatartsong.com Few things bring people together better than great music or a great song. At La Scena Musicale (LSM), Canada’s foremost classical music and jazz magazine, our mission is to highlight the richness and diversity of talent of Canada’s…

Photo : Andrea Felvegi

Georgian Pianist Nicolas Namoradze Wins 2018 Honens International Piano Competition

By Newswire on 8 September 2018 Arts Industry, Music Competition, Newswire, Piano

CALGARY, Canada, September 7, 2018 — Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze (age 26) has been named Prize Laureate of the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition. He wins the world’s largest prize for piano $100,000 (CAD) and an Artist Development Program valued at a half-million dollars. Finalists Han Chen (Taiwan / age 26) and Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner (United States / age 21) each received Raeburn Prizes of $10,000 (CAD), and for the first time in Honens’ history an Audience Award of $5,000 (CAD) was presented to Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner. “What a wonderful thing for Honens … what a wonderful thing for Nicolas Namoradze!” says Neil Edwards, Honens’ President & CEO.…

The Ukrainian Dmytro Choni has won the first prize and golden medal of the 19th Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition

By Newswire on 6 August 2018 Arts Industry, Music Competition, Newswire, Piano

Santander, August 5th 2018.- This evening has been held the Closing Gala and Awards Ceremony of the 19th Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition. The event has been attended by the President of the Government of Cantabria, Miguel Ángel Revilla; the Mayoress of Santander, Gema Igual; and the President of the Albéniz Foundation and of the Santander Piano Competition, Paloma O’Shea. The Gala, presented by Eva Sandoval, has begun with the six finalists’ performance of Khachaturian’s “Sabre dance” (arrangement by Walden Hughes for 2 pianos and 12 hands). After Mrs. Paloma O’Shea’s brief speech, Miguel Ángel Revilla has handed in…

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