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Obituaries
Québécois singer and songwriter Jean-Pierre Ferland died on April 27 at 89. Ferland wrote more than 450 songs and released 30 albums. He will be remembered as a champion of francophone music, with his song Je reviens chez nous being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.
Canadian jazz legend Phil Nimmons died at age 100 on April 5. Nimmons was known as the “Dean of Canadian Jazz” and was awarded the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2002—the highest honour for an artist in Canada. Known for his immense dedication to his students and fellow musicians, Nimmons started numerous university music education programs and helped found the Canadian League of Composers (today the Canadian Music Centre).
Sir Andrew Davis died of leukemia on April 20 at age 80. Davis served as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1975-1988, where he helped establish the current home of Roy Thomson Hall. He was perhaps most famous for his appearances at the BBC Proms and as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1989-2000).
Appointments/Retirements
Barbara Hannigan has been appointed the new Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. This initial appointment is for three seasons, beginning August 2026. She first conducted the ISO in Spring 2022, and is known for her championing of avant-garde music.
Barbara Hannigan, Photo by Ari Magg
Anthony Roth Costanzo has been appointed General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia. Costanzo is a Grammy Award-winning counter-tenor and creative producer. He will continue his singing career while taking on this leadership role in his hometown.
Holly Mathieson will be stepping down as Music Director of Symphony Nova Scotia after her second contract ends in June 2025. She began with the symphony in 2018, and her final concert in May 2025 will feature Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin has received an appointment as the Head of Conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music. Nézet-Séguin is a current faculty member at the school, and the new appointment is a result of efforts to expand the institution’s conducting program.
Awards
Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, Gabriele Strata et Anthony Ratinov
@Tam Photography
Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko has won top honours at the 2024 Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM). The win includes a cash prize of $30,000, a career development grant of $50,000 offered by the Azrieli Foundation, and a recording prize valued at more than $54,000 offered by Steinway & Sons. Gabriele Strata took home second prize, with third going to American Anthony Ratinov.
Conductor Thomas Burton wins the inaugural Iwan Edwards Scholarship from Choral Canada, in partnership with the JM Canada Foundation. The prize was announced at the closing gala of Podium 2024. Burton is the Artistic Director of the Orpheus Choir of Toronto and is praised for his innovative and eclectic programming.
Henry From has won the 2024 Shean Piano Competition, earning him the opportunity to perform with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
The Eckhardt-Gramatté competition announced Justin Saulnier as the first-prize winner of 2024. The competition focuses on Canadian and contemporary music, and Saulnier will tour his program across Canada in October-November 2024. Second and third prizes were awarded to Tiffany Yeung and Astrid Nakamura, respectively.
The National Youth Orchestra presented flutist Arin Sarkissian as the winner of the 2024 Michael Measures Prize. He will receive a cash prize and perform a concerto during the NYO’s summer tour. Second-place winner, percussionist Andrew Busch, will also receive a cash prize and additional performance/recital opportunities.
Lydia Adams has been designated as the first Conductor Emerita of the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto. The title was awarded to Adams in recognition of her 35-year tenure with the ensemble and her influential leadership and artistic impact. Adams conducted Haydn’s Creation at the May 15 concert in celebration of her new role.
News
The Royal Conservatory Orchestra comprised of students from The Glenn Gould School made their Carnegie Hall debut on May 7. The concert was led by Maestro Peter Oundjian and pianist Stewart Goodyear performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”). The program also included Kelly-Marie Murphy’s Curiosity, Genius, and the Search for Petula Clark and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra announced a tour to Ottawa and Montreal in celebration of its 101st anniversary, to be held in early May with Gustavo Gimeno leading concerts at Roy Thomson Hall, Maison symphonique, and the National Art Centre.
The program included the North American première of enargeia, a suite of vocal works by woman composers spanning 800 years, assembled and performed by mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, and the world première of Illumination, commissioned by the TSO from RBC Affiliate composer Alison Yun-Fei Jiang.
The Royal Conservatory of Music has established My Piece of the City, a program created in partnership with The Daniels Corporation. The program will help make Koerner Hall more accessible for arts presenters by providing partial or full financial assistance to equity-deserving groups. Applications and details are on the RCM website (rcmusic.com), and are open until July 1.
The Canadian Music Competition (CMC) has canceled its 2024 edition and is undergoing major restructuring, moving from Montreal to Orford Musique on March 1. For ecological considerations and due to rising costs, the CMC will no longer send a team of judges across Canada; each province will organize its own national audition. The gala concert is replaced by concerts with orchestras given in the finalists’ and winners’ home regions.
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