Music Competition - my/maSCENA

Photo: Bo Huang

Adrianne Pieczonka: The soprano and CMIM jurist is ‘very pro-competition’

By Gianmarco Segato on 11 April 2022 Interviews, Music Competition

The 2022 vocal edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal has assembled a distinguished international jury drawn from the crème de la crème of top name singers, administrators and voice teachers. The panel will be chaired by Zarin Mehta, former Managing Director of Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. The other jury members are British baritone Sir Thomas Allen, former Chair of the Juillliard Voice Department Edith Bers, German bass-baritone Robert Holl, German collaborative pianist Hartmut Höll, Artistic Director of the Festival de Lanaudière Renaud Loranger, former Metropolitan Opera Artistic Administrator Richard Rodzinski and German soprano Christine Schäfer. But the jurist…

John Brancy: Life after CMIM

By Adrian Rodriguez on 8 April 2022 Music Competition

Back in 2018, American baritone John Brancy left everyone in awe at CMIM after winning first prize in the Song Division, as well as advancing to the Aria Division finals, a feat perhaps comparable to that of a marathoner who also competes in the 100-metre. Nonetheless, his vocal marathon was just beginning. Since then, the velvet-voiced baritone has made debuts with several significant opera companies. At Oper Frankfurt in 2018 he sang Peter in Olga Neuwirth’s Lost Highway, based on the David Lynch film. Then in early 2020 at Pacific Opera of Victoria, he was the Steward in the…

Newswire: Canadian Jacques Forestier Amongst 8 Semi-Finalists of Irving M. Klein International String Competition

By Newswire on 6 April 2022 Music Competition, Newswire

SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 4, 2022 – Celebrating 37 years of helping the world’s top young string musicians gain prominence in the competitive world of classical music, the Irving M. Klein International String Competition returns to in-person competition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, our presenting partner. Produced by the California Music Center, the Klein will also stream on the Violin Channel, starting 10AM Sat June 4th and 3PM Sun June 5th. Audiences worldwide will be able to view all contestants as they compete for cash prizes and performance contracts, as a distinguished jury of seven convenes to determine this…

CMIM 2022: Profiles

By Andréanne Venne on 6 April 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Vocal

Australia Alexandra Flood (1990) soprano | Art song Professor(s): Neil Semer, 2014-present KS Prof Andreas Schmidt, 2014-2017 Anna Connolly, 2011-2013 Vivien Hamilton, 2004-2011 Prizes: 2015 & 2017 2nd Prize, Richard Strauss Competition, Munich, Germany 2015 Winner, Australian Music Foundation Award, London, UK 2014 Awardee – Acclaim Opera Awards Teatro alla Scala Fellowship, Italy 2014 Winner, Opera Foundation for Young Australians AIMS Award, Australia Canada | Bulgary Adanya Dunn (1990) mezzo-soprano | ARIA Professor(s): Don Marrazzo, 2018-present Edith Bers, 2014-2018 Lorna MacDonald, 2008-2014 Prizes: 2021 Winner of three prizes, Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques, Montréal 2021 Award Winner, Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award,…

Photo: Brent Callis

CMIM 2022: a Very Human Adventure

By Justin Bernard on 6 April 2022 Music Competition, Opera

While its 2021 piano edition, won by South Korean Su Yeon Kim, certainly prevailed during the pandemic, it was only able to do so by pre-recording performance rounds in 16 cities throughout the world. This year, for the vocal edition, the Montreal International Music Competition (i.e. CMIM: Concours musical international de Montréal) can finally welcome back candidates on site, as well as live audiences to its halls. General and Artistic Director Christiane LeBlanc looks upon this reunion with great happiness. For her, the past two years have been synonymous with pitfalls, but also with extraordinary lessons for the future. …

Newswire: Honens Reinstates Russian Competitors

By Newswire on 18 March 2022 Arts Industry, Music Competition, Newswire

17 March 2022 – The Honens International Piano Competition unconditionally condemns the invasion of Ukraine and the human rights violations perpetrated by the Russian government, aided by Belarus. We stand with the people of Ukraine in defence of their freedom. Last week, the Board of Directors made the difficult decision to revoke invitations to Russian competitors to the 2022 event. This decision was made following lengthy and in-depth discussions about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Since that decision, we have seen and heard so much. Alongside the horrific images from across Ukraine, we’ve seen thousands of Russian citizens arrested…

Prix D’Europe 2022: Promoting Music For Over A Century

By Andréanne Venne on 3 February 2022 Music Competition

Born Emma Lajeunesse, Quebec’s first diva rose to fame under the name of Emma Albani, one she borrowed from the state capital of New York. The local clergy of that city viewed her much more favourably than the one of her native province, who thwarted her dream of going to Europe, deeming it too dangerous for pure souls to work in theatres abroad. But her story reveals the level of indifference towards the arts of that time, when artists were denied access to wider recognition. In 1911, the Liberal government of Quebec premier Lomer Gouin created the Concours Prix…

Bruce Liu: Chopin (Deutsche Grammophon, 2021)

By Justin Bernard on 14 December 2021 CD and Book Reviews, Classical Music, Music Competition, Piano, Romantic

Bruce Liu: Chopin Bruce Liu, piano Deutsche Grammophon, 2021 Following his resounding victory at the 18th Chopin Competition last October, Montreal pianist Bruce Liu received honors from the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. It has released a live recording of some of its performances from the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw (Poland). The opportunity to live or relive this event that marked musical life on a planetary scale, in a world still struggling with the pandemic. It all begins with the Andante Spianato in G major in an interpretation full of grace and elegance. Bruce Liu creates a feeling of comfort…

Rose Naggar-Tremblay, mezzo-soprano

Montreal Mezzo-soprano Rose Naggar-Tremblay Wins 82nd MSO Competition

By Justin Bernard on 27 November 2021 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Music Competition, Opera

Montreal, November 27, 2021 ▪ The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is thrilled to announce the name of the 2021 OSM Competition’s Grand Prize winner: mezzo-soprano Rose Naggar-Tremblay. This 82nd edition dedicated to the voice was held in an entirely online format from November 13 to 27, bringing together Canada’s most talented young artists, and representing tomorrow’s rising generation of professional musical performers. In the comfort of their homes, surrounded by their loved ones, contestants were informed this afternoon of the results of the Competition during a ceremony hosted by ICI Musique radio personality Marie-Christine Trottier and OSM Assistant Bass, Eric…

This Fall’s Competition Winners

By Andréanne Venne on 16 November 2021 Music Competition

Azrieli Music Prizes Winner of the 2022 Commission prize is Canadian-Iranian composer and pianist Iman Habibi. A founding member of the Piano Pinnacle piano duo, he has been commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and has collaborated with the Vancouver and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras and the JACK, Chiara, Del Sol and Calidore String Quartets. Other recent awards include numerous SOCAN Foundation prizes, the Brehm Prize for Choral Composition (2016) and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the British Columbia Arts Council. www.imanhabibi.com. Aharon Harlap,…

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