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Laurel Gagnon, Koshiro Takeuchi and Sara Watanabe. Photo: Tam Photography

Newswire | Koshiro Takeuchi is the Grand Laureate of the Concours 2026

By Newswire on 5 June 2026 Classical Music, Montreal, Music Competition, Newswire, Strings, Violin

Montréal, Friday, June 5, 2026 – Japanese violinist Koshiro Takeuchi has been crowned the much-coveted Grand Laureate of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2026. Following a Grand Final filled with high emotions, Koshiro was awarded the top prize thanks to his refined musicality, his assured technique and his captivating stage presence. This thrilling Grand Final took place at the Maison symphonique, where the three Grand Finalists each performed a major concerto from the repertoire, accompanied by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal – the Concours’ official orchestra – led by Guest Conductor Sascha Goetzel. The decision was made by the…

Joe Hisaishi conducting Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Allan Cabral/Courtesy of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Review | Hisaishi Returns to Toronto Symphony Orchestra

By Andrea Rush on 2 June 2026 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Strings, Toronto, Violin

French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal famously apologized for writing a long letter, explaining that he did not have enough time to write a short one. The multi-talented composer and maestro Joe Hisaishi would not need to make such an apology. The May 28 TSO program that he curated, and the scores he composes, exude beauty through simplicity. The evening featured three composers, three works, one governing idea: to demonstrate the beauty of simplicity. It is an attractive force that cuts across cultures and centuries. Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall was well sold out in advance. From the main floor to…

Sara Watanabe, Bade Dastan, Koshiro Takeuchi, Laurel Gagnon, Aozhe Zhang, Photo: Tam Photography

Newswire | CMIM announces five finalists for Violin 2026

By Newswire on 1 June 2026 Arts Industry, Montreal, Newswire, Violin

Montréal, Sunday May 31, 2026 – Following a Semifinal that captivated the audience, the International Jury presided by Lucie Robert selected the five Finalists of the Concours 2026. The announcement was made following the jury’s deliberations after the last session of the Semifinal, during which the competitors dazzled the audience with a program comprising at least one full sonata, a Canadian work and another piece of their choice. HERE ARE THE FIVE FINALISTS WHO ARE ADVANCING TO THE FINAL – MOZART ROUND (by order of performance) Koshiro Takeuchi, Japan Laurel Gagnon, United States Sara Watanabe, Japan Aozhe Zhang, China Bade…

Photo: Bo Huang

Mark Fewer: New Bach Recording Showcases Canadian Luthiers

By Heather Weinreb on 1 June 2026 Classical, Classical Music, Violin

Canadian violinist Mark Fewer not only plays the violin—he plays a lot of them. His album—J.S. Bach: Violin Sonatas and Partitas, to be released by Leaf Music in August—is recorded on six different violins, each made by a leading Canadian luthier. The album is an “homage to Canadian makers. …I thought, what better way to pay tribute to these great makers than to challenge yourself to record the greatest challenge of the repertoire to begin with—which is this repertoire of unaccompanied Bach,” says Fewer. A passion for lutherie has marked the performer’s career. When he founded the Sweetwater Music Festival…

Avi Avital, Lucy Landymore & Stewart Goodyear

Music and Beyond 2026: From Vivaldi to Duke Ellington

By La Scena Events on 1 June 2026 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Orchestral, Ottawa, Strings, Violin, Vocal

Ottawa’s summer cultural calendar will once again come alive with the 16th season of the Music and Beyond festival, which runs from July 4–17. Now firmly established as one of North America’s most distinctive classical music and multidisciplinary arts festivals, Music and Beyond continues to redefine what a classical music festival can be by linking music with a wide range of other art forms and cultural disciplines. Presented in venues throughout the Ottawa area, the 2026 edition offers a wide-ranging and ambitious program. As always, audiences can expect internationally celebrated artists, innovative thematic programming, and performances that move fluidly between…

SooBeen Lee in the final round of CMIM Violin 2023. Photo: Tam Photography

Concours musical international de Montréal 2026: All Shades of the Violin

By Heather Weinreb on 4 May 2026 Classical Music, Interviews, Montreal, Music Competition, Strings, Violin

Out of 250 violinists who auditioned from all over the world, the preliminary jury selected 24, including three Canadians (Justin Saulnier, Paloma So and Belle Ting), to compete at this year’s edition of Concours musical international de Montréal. “We could have easily selected twice that amount,” says Artistic Director Shira Gilbert. “The level [of the competitors] is really exceptional.” Founded in 2001 by legendary Canadian bass Joseph Rouleau, together with politician and philanthropist André Bourbeau, the Concours is North America’s only international multidisciplinary classical music competition. Rotating annually between violin, voice, and piano, it is based on the model of…

Photo: Misha Obradovic

Lebrecht Weekly | Sergei Prokofiev: 2nd violin concerto &c (Warner Classics)

By Norman Lebrecht on 27 February 2026 Lebrecht Weekly, Violin

The Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic is a maverick in the manner of Nigel Kennedy and David Garrett, a stage animal with a twist of difference. On his latest album, Radulovic wears a monk-like cassock down to the floor with hair down to his waist, as if he had spent the last forty days in a cave, communing with the eternal. The music he performs here is by Prokofiev, a composer whose eye was forever on the earthly and the existential. The surprise lies in the soloist’s approach. Radulovic plays the concerto softly and with introspection, requiring the Philharmonia Orchestra (conducted…

Júlia Pusker. Photo: Szilvia Csibi - Müpa

Lebrecht Weekly | Leó Weiner: Violin concerto (Naxos)

By Norman Lebrecht on 13 February 2026 Lebrecht Weekly, Orchestral, Strings, Violin

Leó Weiner was the lost soul of Hungarian music. A professor at the Franz Liszt Academy from 1908, alongside Bartok and Kodaly, he shared his colleagues’ fascination with folk music but not their modernism. Weiner’s world belonged to Brahms and Liszt, his orchestration to the 1890s. His first violin concerto is a delight – Bruch without the big tune but with an entwinement of soloist and orchestra and much letting down of hair in the gypsy dances. This is thought to be its first complete performance and none of its 25 minutes outstays its welcome. Júlia Pusker is the unflashy…

Newswire | Concours musical international de Montréal Announces 24th Edition Violinists

By Newswire on 4 February 2026 Classical Music, Montreal, Music Competition, Newswire, Strings, Violin

Montreal, February 4, 2026 – The Concours musical international de Montréal announces the 24 violinists selected for its 24th edition, which will take place from May 27 to June 4, 2026, at Bourgie Hall and the Maison symphonique. Before a prestigious international jury, the selected artists will converge in Montreal to live an exceptional experience and the chance to distinguish themselves on the international stage. The 2026 edition brings together some of the most remarkable violinists of the new generation. This year, the Concours once again garnered considerable international interest, with 250 applications of outstanding quality received from 37 countries,…

Photo: Stuart Lowe

Rising Stars | Daria Schibitcaia – Sylva Gelber

By Kaitlyn Chan on 3 October 2025 Interviews, Strings, Violin

Alongside a 2025 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation award, violinist Daria Schibitcaia also earned herself the Walter Prystawski Prize. The young musician doesn’t take the prize for granted, emphasizing her gratitude and excitement for what she can now pursue with the foundation’s support. “This year feels like a big turning point for me, as I’ll be deciding where in the world I want to pursue my next degree,” Schibitcaia says. The Moldovan-born violinist is currently completing her Artist Diploma at The Glenn Gould School, studying with violinists Barry Shiffman and Erika Raum. Though she began playing violin and piano at the…

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