Maritsa Brookes Concerto Awards

Liz Upchurch, voice

Pianist, pianist coach, and pedagogue Liz Upchurch is currently in her 24th season as the Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio, Canada’s premier training program for young opera professionals. There she has now trained a generation of Canadian artists. She is a recent recipient of Canada’s prestigious Ruby Award for her outstanding contribution to the world of opera.

She performed her first piano recital at the age of eight, one year after having accepted a coveted place at the Centre for Young Musicians, a music school for gifted children in London, England. There she trained as a violinist, pianist and singer. It was here that her passion for playing chamber music truly began. Her love of the human voice and its marriage to text was soon to follow. She came to Canada to study art song at the Banff Centre where she met her mentor, the late Martin Isepp. Through his guidance he helped to unlock the mystery of opera.

Since then she has worked on over 150 operas and new works. As a pianist she has curated, performed, and collaborated in hundreds of recitals and many world premieres.

Last year her recordings of Clara Schumann lieder with Canadian soprano Adrianne Piezconka were released in collaboration with the NAC.

photo credit: Chris Hutcheson

Kyoko Kashiwagi, strings

Kyoko Kashiwagi is an avid chamber musician as well as an experienced orchestral player. Born in Zurich, Switzerland and raised in Tokyo, she began taking violin lessons at an early age. By the time she finished elementary school, she had a modest dream of pursuing a career in music. She was accepted at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music where she studied with Koichiro Harada, the original first violinist of the famed Tokyo String Quartet. While attending the school, she won the concerto competition and performed Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto. Mr. Harada was an inspiring figure to Ms. Kashiwagi and with his encouragement, she decided to take an audition to study at the Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay, Joseph Fuchs, and Joel Smirnoff of the Juilliard String Quartet. There she met her future colleagues and formed Amernet String Quartet.

As a first violinist of the quartet, she led the group to win the first prize at the Fifth Banff International String Quartet Competition (1995), Tokyo Music Competition (1995), and Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, among others. The Amernet Quartet studied with the Tokyo Quartet and members of the LaSalle Quartet at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music. They received multiple awards and performed throughout the United States, Japan, Korea, France, Germany, and Switzerland and also have been invited to perform at Aspen, Newport, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Norfolk, Lucerne, and the Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart music festivals.

After leaving the quartet, she moved to Michigan where she teaches privately and performs as a member of the Muse Ensemble as well as on stage with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Shoshana Telner, keyboards

Canadian pianist Shoshana Telner has performed across Canada and abroad. Described as an “authentic musician with a sparkling technique” (Le Droit) and “full of fire and warmth” (the New York Times), Shoshana has a passion for engaging audiences with exciting performances. She made her solo orchestral début with the National Arts Centre Orchestra at the age of 16 and has since performed as soloist with several orchestras including the Québec Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Classical Orchestra, and the National Academy Orchestra.

Shoshana received a Bachelor’s degree on full scholarship from Boston University, a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York, and a Doctorate in performance from McGill University. She has taught piano and coached ensembles at McGill University, the University of Ottawa, Wilfrid Laurier University, and currently teaches piano at McMaster University. She frequently gives masterclasses, adjudicates competitions, and examines for the Royal Conservatory of Music.

For more, see https://www.shoshanatelner.com/index.htm 

photo credit: Bo Hung

Daniel Warren, winds, brass & percussion

Daniel Warren has conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, The Colorado Symphony Orchestra, The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Hamilton Philharmonic, Orchestra London, the Windsor Symphony,Symphony New Brunswick, The Thunder Bay Symphony, The ERGO and Continuum ensembles and the Canadian Chamber Ensemble. Many of these performances have been heard on CBC radio. Warren served as Resident Conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for fourteen years and, more recently, as Creative Advisor and conductor for Orchestra London Canada. For the past twelve years he has been conducting at the Westben Arts Festival Theatre in performances of opera, choral and orchestral programs.

As a conductor and as a trumpet soloist Warren has recorded both on CD and in live television broadcast. He has toured extensively with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Chamber Ensemble throughout Canada, the United States, England, France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and throughout South America.

For more, see https://www.danielwarren.ca/bio