Susanne Ruberg-Gordon
Susanne Ruberg-Gordon
Quoted by the Chronicle Herald as "a superb musician", Swedish-born pianist Susanne Ruberg-Gordon is a graduate from the Edsberg Institute of Music in Stockholm, Sweden.
She is frequently heard on CBC and has collaborated with artists such as Andres Cardenes, Andras Diaz, Alain Trudel, Ian Swensen, Desmond Hoebig, Jens Lindemann, Ning Feng, Arnold Choi and Nikki Chooi.
Studies at the Banff Centre brought her to the Bow Valley where she now resides with her family. Her primary teachers include Jose Ribera and Greta Eriksson, but she has also had the privilege to learn from Gilbert Kalish, Marc Durand and David Moroz.
Susanne has been on faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory since 1991 and has been a collaborative artist for the acclaimed Morningside Music Bridge program since 2001.
She is frequently heard on CBC and has collaborated with artists such as Andres Cardenes, Andras Diaz, Alain Trudel, Ian Swensen, Desmond Hoebig, Jens Lindemann, Ning Feng, Arnold Choi and Nikki Chooi.
Studies at the Banff Centre brought her to the Bow Valley where she now resides with her family. Her primary teachers include Jose Ribera and Greta Eriksson, but she has also had the privilege to learn from Gilbert Kalish, Marc Durand and David Moroz.
Susanne has been on faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory since 1991 and has been a collaborative artist for the acclaimed Morningside Music Bridge program since 2001.
Isabella Perron
Isabella Perron
_Isabella D’Éloize Perron is a 11-year-old artist. She took part in several national and international piano and violin competitions and won many first and second prizes. Judges describe her as a young accomplished artist who possesses surprising musical maturity, spirit and beautiful intensity, sincere musicality and great presence on stage.
In fall 2008, she took part in « La Cours des Grands » TV show with Gregory Charles as a violinist and singer. Since then, she has accompanied Gregory in several concerts in Quebec and in the United States. In 2010, she played Gregory Charles when he was a child in the very popular show « MusicMan » on tour through the Quebec province.
photocredit to OSA Images
In fall 2008, she took part in « La Cours des Grands » TV show with Gregory Charles as a violinist and singer. Since then, she has accompanied Gregory in several concerts in Quebec and in the United States. In 2010, she played Gregory Charles when he was a child in the very popular show « MusicMan » on tour through the Quebec province.
photocredit to OSA Images
Jan Lisiecki
Jan Lisiecki
Jan (pronounced ‘Yan') is mature, soft-spoken, humble, and not to quantify
nor qualify or anything, but he's also frighteningly talented.
Born in Calgary to Polish parents, Jan has been playing piano since the age
of five. He made his orchestral debut at the ripe old age of 9.
He's played all over the globe, including New York's Carnegie Hall, the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, to name just a few -- and he's shared the stage with the world's best, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Pinchas Zuckerman. He's won multiple international piano competitions.
Don't call him a genius though, and especially not a prodigy. "Prodigy seems to be something that can be applied to someone like Mozart, after he's dead," he says, "and I'm still alive!"
The young man who skipped several grades says he's just doing what he genuinely loves. He wasn't pushed into it by his parents, or his teachers. "My parents have been very supportive even though they're not musicians, they really aren't from the musical world, we've been learning, together all of it, from the beginning."
After he's picked his piano -- no.1 by the way -- the orchestra joins him on stage. In between his solos, he looks at mom and either waves or gives her a thumbs-up. Not as a statement, but as a question, ‘am I doing ok?' She blows him a kiss. He smiles and waits for his next solo.
Jan is currently touring Atlantic Canada with the orchestra, hoping his music will reach a younger audience. Yes, a young audience, because "it's cool," he says. "Jan, what's cool about classical music?" I ask him.
"Other music, you may go and party at a concert, classical music is serious, but it may show you things about yourself, it may make you reflect, touch you in a way other forms can't touch you."
Whether or not you are a fan of classical music – it is practically impossible not to be a fan of Jan.
Daniele Hamamdjian
He's played all over the globe, including New York's Carnegie Hall, the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, to name just a few -- and he's shared the stage with the world's best, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Pinchas Zuckerman. He's won multiple international piano competitions.
Don't call him a genius though, and especially not a prodigy. "Prodigy seems to be something that can be applied to someone like Mozart, after he's dead," he says, "and I'm still alive!"
The young man who skipped several grades says he's just doing what he genuinely loves. He wasn't pushed into it by his parents, or his teachers. "My parents have been very supportive even though they're not musicians, they really aren't from the musical world, we've been learning, together all of it, from the beginning."
After he's picked his piano -- no.1 by the way -- the orchestra joins him on stage. In between his solos, he looks at mom and either waves or gives her a thumbs-up. Not as a statement, but as a question, ‘am I doing ok?' She blows him a kiss. He smiles and waits for his next solo.
Jan is currently touring Atlantic Canada with the orchestra, hoping his music will reach a younger audience. Yes, a young audience, because "it's cool," he says. "Jan, what's cool about classical music?" I ask him.
"Other music, you may go and party at a concert, classical music is serious, but it may show you things about yourself, it may make you reflect, touch you in a way other forms can't touch you."
Whether or not you are a fan of classical music – it is practically impossible not to be a fan of Jan.
Daniele Hamamdjian
