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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 its balance of individual freedom and unified sound, and orchestral music, with its dynamic that she finds “amusing.” Her musical journey is a quest for technical mastery and a palette of ideas and emotions to inspire the audience, a mixture of virtuosity and sensitivity that is a hallmark of two of her inspirations, Maxim Vengerov and the Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan.
Of Armenian origin, Lynette wants everyone to learn about her musical roots: “I think it’s important to share this music. That’s one of my roles as an Armenian musician.” Some of her concerts, therefore, feature Aram Khachaturian or Komitas (1869-1935, the priest and musicologist who collected and celebrated Armenian national music). She is also a regular fundraiser for the Atken Armenian Foundation, which allows Armenian communities in need or living in isolation to benefit from a high-quality musical education.
In her spare time, Lynette likes running on Mount Royal or losing herself in a book. She admires the Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe, whom she values for his total understanding of the instrument and the clarity of his writing. Or she listens to the First Violin Concerto by Shostakovich, which she would like to tackle one day.
After she graduates, Lynette hopes to pursue her studies abroad, either in Europe or in the United States, immersing herself in what she loves. “Music makes me very happy and completes my life.” Her next short-term project is her degree recital. Long may she continue passing on her love of music beyond borders.
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