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Rising Stars | Ariana Maubach – COC’s Centre Stage Competition

By Kaitlyn Chan on 3 October 2025 Interviews, Opera, Vocal

For Canadian mezzo-soprano Ariana Maubach, pursuing an opera career felt organic. “I’ve been fortunate to have phenomenal teachers and parents who have supported me unconditionally from the very beginning,” she says. Maubach is also motivated by her younger self who, she says, could only dream of expressing herself with the vocal freedom Maubach has today. Last year, Maubach competed in Canadian Opera Company’s Centre Stage Competition. She sang “Seguidilla” from Bizet’s Carmen in the closed round and “Cruda sorte!” from Rossini’s L’taliana in Algeri for the public performance. “I love both of these characters—they’re clever, bold and incredibly fun to…

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…

Nadia Labrie : When the Flute Takes Up Jazz

By Justin Bernard on 3 October 2025 Classical, Interviews, Jazz, Winds

Thanks to Picnic Suite, a new digital album released in August by Nadia Labrie, listeners have been able to discover another work for flute, guitar and jazz trio with piano by French jazz pianist and composer Claude Bolling. This is the third instalment of a project dedicated to the composer who died in 2020—a project that will culminate in the release of a box set of three recordings to be released by ATMA Classique on Nov. 24, bringing together his complete works for flute. Labrie’s latest album is part of the Flûte Passion series, which began in 2018 and has…

Grand Prize Winners of the 2025 Canadian Music Competition: Barron Jiyu Jiang, Piano Trio Sacora, Julien Gagné and Ethan Wang

Canadian Music Competition: A Bold Return and Revision

By Kaitlyn Chan on 3 October 2025 Canadian Music, Classical Music, Interviews, Music Competition

Founded in 1958, the Canadian Music Competition (CMC) has discovered and supported generations of high-level classical musicians. Its continued relevance has relied on the organization’s ability to innovate, adapt, and meet challenges. With the end of a vital sponsorship in 2024, the CMC had to apply these strategies and now returns with renewed vigour in 2025. Newly sponsored by the Azrieli Foundation, the CMC introduced a revised structure for its 2025 edition that focuses on education, Canadian culture, and putting more power in the hands of its “chapters” (organizations affiliated with the CMC based in each province). Instead of its…

Hervé Niquet. Photo: Eric Manas

Les Idées heureuses : A season of inventiveness

By Justin Bernard on 3 October 2025 Baroque and Early, Interviews, Orchestral

Following the Bach suites reinterpreted by Dorothéa Ventura and Vincent Lauzer in September, Les Idées heureuses moves on to French repertoire with the same spirit of inventiveness, welcoming one of its great specialists, Hervé Niquet, in November. Ventura met him 30 years ago when she was a student at McGill University, attending his master classes in French baroque music. “I admit it was quite a shock,” she says. “Hervé expanded my horizons and I developed a love for this repertoire. We gave concerts in Montreal, Toronto, Paris, but this is the first time I’ve invited him. Hervé has always been…

Yegor Dyachkov. Photo: Elizabeth Delage

Preview | I Musici Launches Its First Conductor-less, Musician-Driven Season

By Emma Yee on 2 October 2025 Classical Music, Interviews, Montreal, Orchestral

On Oct. 9, 2025, at Espace Jax, I Musici opens their 42nd season, with guest cellist Yegor Dyachkov. This season marks their first performing with no conductor and new collective artistic direction. Violist and head of communications Thierry Lavoie-Ladouceur says, “We really wanted to try something new and have a horizontal way of thinking. There’s always been a lot of ideas coming from the musicians, so that’s what motivated the change, taking that risk and saying, ‘Why not try this new model?’” Solo violinist Julie Triquet, who has played with I Musici for 25 years, says this new direction is…

Stewart Goodyear. Photo: Andrew Garn

Preview | Stewart Goodyear Opens Edmonton Chamber Music Society 2025-26 Season

By Hal Kowalewski on 2 October 2025 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Interviews, Piano, West

With its 2025-26 season, the Edmonton Chamber Music Society (ECMS) presents a series of intimate performances that bring exceptional international talent to Alberta. Pianist Stewart Goodyear’s opening recital on Oct. 3, one of the highlights of the organization’s seven-show season, is a creative program that combines classic Beethoven sonatas with Goodyear’s own celebrated compositions. Though volunteer-run, ECMS holds itself to the same high administrative and programming standards as would any of its professional counterparts. Its volunteers are experts in the field of music, many having dedicated decades of their lives to ECMS’s mandate of bringing international talent to Edmonton. One…

Canada’s Newest Company Directors: Challenges, the Future and Significant Changes

By Gianmarco Segato on 9 September 2025 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Interviews

Following the post-pandemic trend, the renewal of leadership at Canada’s cultural institutions continues apace. Here, we meet the newest of these leaders to get their take on the current state of the classical-music industry. Michael Blais became Manitoba Opera’s new executive director on Aug. 1. He was most recently the company’s director of Operations and has been part of its administrative team since 2010. He succeeds Larry Desrochers, who has been the Winnipeg company’s general director and CEO since 2000. Prior to his role as director of Operations, Blais was box office co-ordinator. Before transitioning into arts management, Blais worked…

Leif Ove Andsnes, piano. Photo: Helge Hansen

Leif Ove Andsnes : The View from Above

By Justin Bernard on 4 September 2025 Contemporary, Interviews, Piano, Romantic

Leif Ove Andsnes rarely takes time off from music. Winter, summer, spring, autumn—it fills his days and, sometimes, his nights. At 9:30 p.m. on the evening of our Zoom meeting, the Norwegian pianist was getting ready to sit down at the keyboard for another rehearsal session. His concerts at the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival on the west coast of Norway and then at the Chamber Music Festival in the capital, Oslo, had barely ended when the artist was already looking ahead to the new season that awaits him. And what a season it will be! In the space of just…

Music Therapy: Helping Older Adults With Life Transitions

By Hal Kowalewski on 3 September 2025 Interviews

“I believe everyone can benefit from therapy, whether it be music therapy or verbal-based techniques,” says Kiki Chang, an instructor of music therapy at Capilano University in North Vancouver and the former president of the Canadian Association of Music Therapists. “You do not need musical talent or to have previous experience with music in order to benefit from music therapy.” Chang says the aims of music therapy can vary, but common goals for older adults include expressing emotions, processing grief, reducing anxiety, and maintaining motor skills. Music therapists like Chang help participants to achieve their goals through a wide variety…

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