We are pleased to announce that this year’s Walter Prystawski Prize is awarded to 20-year-old pianist Ryan Zhu, from Vancouver, BC.
Judged the top contender in this year’s competition, Ryan has been awarded the 2024 Walter Prystawski Prize in addition to his Sylva Gelber award. Jury members were seized with his facility and artistry, calling his playing “next level.”
Ryan has been studying the piano for sixteen years, appearing across many concert stages with a broad range of repertoire. One of CBC Music’s “30 Under 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians” in 2021, he won second place at the Juilliard School’s Mieczyslaw Munz Piano Competition in 2022.
Winner of Juilliard’s 2023 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Ryan was featured in the gala concert in September of that year, broadcast on the classical music station WQXR; as the competition winner, he received a full tuition scholarship for the 2023-24 academic year. Ryan was also a semi-finalist in the 2023 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. In February of 2023, Ryan was named the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra’s Emerging Young Artist, performing with Charles Richard Hamelin and the Philharmonic. In September 2024, he will be competing in the Leeds International Piano Competition as one of the twenty-four competitors, and in the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in November.
Ryan has attended various festivals, most notably the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival Spring Workshop in 2023; the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in 2022; the 2021 Morningside Music Bridge Young Artists Festival, taking second place in the concerto competition; and the 13th Mariinsky International Piano Festival in 2018, where he was featured in a solo recital as well as a soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.
Ryan has won numerous other prizes at the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Piano Competition, the Philadelphia International Piano Competition, the Canadian Music Competitions, and the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Over the years, he has appeared as a soloist in cities such as St. Petersburg, Nice, Lucerne, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles.
In addition to collaborating with the Calgary Philharmonic and Mariinsky Theatre orchestras, Ryan has performed with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Orchestra, the Lions Gate Sinfonia, and the West Coast Symphony.
Ryan is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree with Robert McDonald and Stephen Hough at the Juilliard School. He has previously studied with Mira Yevtich, Michelle Mares, Kenneth Broadway, and Ralph Markham.
Ryan Zhu gratefully acknowledges the support of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation toward living and career-development costs in the year ahead.
The 2024 competition revealed a treasure trove of young talent. This year’s remarkable award winners were drawn from an initial pool of nearly 50 applicants, nominated by 24 prestigious music schools and eminent musicians from across Canada and around the world. The Foundation is grateful to these schools and individuals for taking the time and care to put forward their top Canadian students for consideration. As in previous years, our pre-selection panel spent several days listening to the recordings submitted by each candidate and determining which of them would move on to the final round of adjudication. This panel included Jeremy Bell (violinist and member of the renowned Penderecki String Quartet), Christopher Millard (retired principal bassoon of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa), Andrew Tunis (acclaimed pianist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Ottawa) and Monica Whicher (Head of Voice Studies at the University of Toronto). The Foundation also had the privilege of consulting percussionist Jonathan Wade of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. We are exceptionally grateful to them all for their exacting work.
We are equally grateful to the five jurors who had the difficult task of choosing this year’s laureates: Ann Elliot-Goldschmid (violinist, founding member of the Lafayette Quartet and professor at the University of Victoria, BC), Dinuk Wijeratne (composer, conductor, and pianist, currently on faculty at the University of Ottawa), and three Gelber Foundation board members: celebrated clarinetist James Campbell, CM (Artistic Director of Festival of the Sound); soprano and respected voice teacher Rosemarie Landry, CM, (professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music); and renowned pianist Stéphane Lemelin, (Chair of Performance Studies at the Schulich School of Music in Montreal).
The Foundation congratulates its 2024 laureates:
William Deslauriers-Allain, double bass, Montreal, QC
William Deslauriers-Allain is a young double bassist from Montréal. He has participated in many provincial, national and international competitions where he has won numerous prizes, including the OSM Competition, the Violons du Roy Concerto Competition or the International Society of Bassists (ISB) Solo Competition. He also won the prestigious Peter-Mendell prize from Jeunesse Musicales Canada, and an Award of Excellence from the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. William has collaborated as a chamber musician with renowned artists such as Barbara Hannigan, Kevin Zhu, Blake Pouliot, and Cameron Crozman, as part of the NYO Canada Festival, the Equilibrium Project and the Montreal Chamber Music Festival.
He recently finished his Bachelor’s degree with Joel Quarrington at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. In 2024, he will be taking part in the Aspen Music Festival and School during the summer and is deeply grateful to the Sylva Gelber Foundation for helping him pursue this and other important projects.
Emma Fekete, soprano, Val d’Or, QC
Canadian soprano Emma Fekete is praised for “her distinctive voice, well-mastered vocal technique, presence imbued with simplicity and truth, and radiant personality…” Emma is the 2024 South Carolina District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. In the summer of 2024, she made her French debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as Yniold in Katie Mitchell’s highly anticipated revival of Pelléas et Mélisande. Next season, Emma sings Adina in Un Elixir d’Amour, an adaptation for children of L’Elisir d’Amore with Opéra National de Bordeaux, Opéra de Reims and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, as well as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Opéra du Royaume. Emma was selected
to compete at the 73rd ARD International Music Competition in Munich and to take part in L’Académie de la Voix at La Fondation des Treilles with acclaimed soprano Nelly Miricioiu in the fall of 2024.
Emma was an artist-in-residence at the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal between 2022 and 2024, where she performed several roles to critical acclaim, as well as soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem. During this time, she collaborated with Orchestre de l’Agora, Orchestre métropolitain, Orchestre classique de Montréal and Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières. Prior to her Montreal residency, Emma worked and studied in Amsterdam for five years. As a member of the young talent program Jonge Grote Zangers she performed at the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ.
In addition to her Gelber award, Emma has been awarded bursaries from the Fondation Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, Les Offices jeunesse internationaux du Québec and the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten. She graduated cum laude from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam where she obtained her Master of Music degree in 2021 and her Bachelor of Music degree in 2019.
Alex Hetherington, mezzo soprano, Toronto, ON
Recently named one of CBC Music’s “30 Hot Classical Musicians under 30,” mezzo-soprano Alex Hetherington is a versatile musician performing on major stages across Canada. A recent graduate of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio, she performed in a number of their productions, as Mercédès (Carmen), the Slave (Salome), Lapák (Cunning Little Vixen), and Second Handmaiden (Medea). Highly skilled in the realm of new music, Alex recently sang Offred in Poul Ruders’ A Handmaid’s Tale at the Banff Centre, and she premiered the role of Riley in Nicole Lizée’s R.U.R. A Torrent of Light with Tapestry Opera. Further role credits include Rosina, Carmen, and Nicklausse.
On the concert stage, Alex has performed several times with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, and the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In the coming season, Alex will be returning to the Canadian Opera Company to sing Siebel in their new production of Faust, as well as making her house debut with Vancouver Opera as the Stewardess in Jonathan Dove’s Flight. In her spare time, Alex can be found reading, gardening, and admiring dogs.
Alex’s Gelber award will support lessons, coachings and travel to international auditions and competitions in 2024-25.
Carter Johnson, piano, Campbell River, BC
Praised for his interpretive sensitivity, imaginative programming, and ability to make classical music speak to different audiences, Canadian pianist Carter Johnson is quickly establishing a reputation as one of his generation’s most gifted and multi-faceted pianists. His most recent competition victories include first prizes in international competitions such as the 2023 Concours « Étoiles du piano », the 2021 International Competition of Polish Music, the 2020 Valsesia International Competition, and the 2023 Weatherford College International Competition. He was also recently awarded the Most Promising Pianist not Proceeding to the Final in the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition.
In 2018, Johnson won the top prize in two of Canada’s most important competitions, garnering both the grand prize in the Concours OSM and first prize in the CMC Stepping Stone competition.
Equally at home in the worlds of solo, concerto, chamber, and art song, Johnson has a particular interest in bringing light to the lesser-explored parts of the repertory, most recently championing a collection of works by relatively unknown Polish composers. In addition to the music of J.S. Bach (where he feels most at home), he is a particular advocate for the music of composers such as Schumann, Grieg, Fauré, Ives, Hindemith, Poulenc, Shostakovich, and Messiaen. Trained in elocution as a teenager, Johnson holds an ATCL with distinction in speech and drama from Trinity College London, and he regularly brings this expertise to his recitals.
Johnson holds a BMus from the University of British Columbia, an MM from the Juilliard School, an MMA from the Yale School of Music, and he is currently continuing his DMA there under Professor Wei-Yi Yang. He is grateful to receive the support of the Sylva Gelber Foundation toward living and career development costs as he pursues his studies.
Jayden Lee, flute, Montreal, QC
Jayden Lee enjoys an exciting career as a budding orchestral flutist. A native of Arizona, USA, he has had the opportunity to work with several ensembles, serving as principal flute with the McGill Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions and performing as guest principal, second flute, and piccolo in various ensembles including l’Orchestre Symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, the Kingston Symphony, and the Orchestre Classique de Montréal. Jayden is the current principal
flute of Ensemble Obiora, an orchestra based in Montréal with a focus on diversity and inclusion within the classical music community.
In addition to an advanced piano curriculum with the Yamaha School as a young musician, Jayden performed both flute and piccolo with various orchestras including the Honor Orchestra of America, the Arizona All-State Orchestra, the Phoenix Youth Symphony, as well as the Youth Symphony of the Southwest. As a soloist, he performed Cecile Chaminade’s Concertino for Flute and Wind Band with the Desert Ridge High School Wind Ensemble and François Devienne’s 7th flute concerto with McGill’sBeethoven Orchestra. As a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, he has had the opportunity to work with several conductors on both sides of the border including Samy Rachid, Simon Rivard, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, Alexis Hauser, Jean-Philippe Tremblay, Jean-Michel Malouf, Larry Livingston, and Jeffrey Meyer.
Jayden is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in flute performance at the Schulich School of Music with full scholarship and stipend, continuing his studies with Joanna G’froerer. He will use his Gelber award to pursue additional studies in New York City with Robert Langevin, Principal Flute of the New York Philharmonic, and to participate in professional orchestral auditions.
Julie Lin, violin, Surrey, BC
Canadian-Korean-Taiwanese violinist, Julie Lin has appeared as a soloist with the Richmond and Surrey symphony orchestras and appeared on international stages, including Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Julie has been featured on numerous concert series, such as the Vancouver Westcoast Music Society, Colburn Chamber Music Society, Pacific Region International Summer Music Association, and the Taiwan Friday Night Concert series.
Julie was awarded first prizes at the American Protégé International Competition, National Music Festival of Canada, and the Canadian Music Competition.
As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with distinguished artists, including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Demarre McGill, Andres Cardenes, and members of the Tokyo, St. Lawrence, and Calidore String Quartets. Julie has performed under the batons of esteemed conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel, Stéphane Denève, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Julie studied with violinist Martin Beaver at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, and with Gerald Stanick, Lawrie Hill and David Gillham. She is currently a Master of Music candidate at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she studies with Paul Kantor. Her Gelber award will assist with the costs associated with her participation in auditions, competitions, and festivals. Julie performs on an Andrew Ryan violin, on loan from Carole Brunsting.
Lauren Margison, soprano, Toronto, ON
Toronto-born soprano Lauren Margison is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble studio and the Atelier lyrique of the Opéra de Montréal. She is a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater Mainz. She was a first-prize winner of the 2018 George London Competition, and was also the youngest finalist in the Meistersinger von Nürnberg competition in 2016. In 2020 she was a semi-finalist in the Glyndebourne Cup, in 2021 a grand prize laureate of Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques and, in 2022, a semi-finalist of the CMIM competition in Montreal, recipient of a Sylva Gelber Music Foundation grant, and the first-prize winner of Edmonton Opera’s inaugural Rumbold Vocal Prize. In 2023 Lauren was a semi-finalist in the Paris Opera Competition.
Her recent credits include Desdemona in Otello, Nedda in Pagliacci and Anna in Le Villi (Staatstheater Mainz); Micaëla in Carmen (Pacific Opera Victoria); the titular role in Vanessa (VoiceBox Opera); the titular role in the Csardas Princess (Toronto Operetta Theatre); Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Suor Angelica in Suor Angelica (Highlands Opera Studio); and soprano soloist in Beethoven Nine with the Quebec Symphony. In the 2024-25 season she will sing the role of Mimi in La Bohème with the Opéra de Montréal. Margison holds a Master’s degree from the University of Montreal where she studied under the tutelage of Rosemarie Landry and Richard Margison.
Astrid Nakamura, violin, Toronto, ON
Originally from Toronto, Astrid Nakamura maintains an expansive performing career as a chamber, solo, and orchestral violinist. She has been part of a diverse array of ensembles across North America, such as the Houston Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Musiqa Houston, Kinetic Ensemble, the Dacamera Young Artists Program and Ensemble Urbain. Astrid has performed alongside members of the Doric and Jupiter quartets, as well as in masterclasses for members of ensembles such as the Guarneri Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Artemis Quartet, and the Alban Berg Quartett. Her chamber ventures include summer fellowships at Yellow Barn, Music Academy of the West String Quartet Intensive, and the McGill International String Quartet Association.
As a soloist, Astrid has won top prizes at Canadian competitions, including third place at the 2024 Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition and second place in the 2022 Golden Violin Competition at McGill University. In 2021, she won the McGill Concerto Competition with her performance of Prokofiev’s second concerto.
Astrid is devoted to collaboration and outreach. She currently teaches at public elementary schools in Houston as a Dacamera Young Artist, and has performed concerts in Houston in partnership with the MD Anderson Cancer Center, NobleMotion Dance, and the University of Houston BRAIN Center.
Astrid recently completed her master’s degree with Kathleen Winkler at Rice University on full scholarship from the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation. She is an alumna of The Phil and Eli Taylor Academy in Toronto, as well as McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. Her Gelber award will enable her participation in lessons, auditions and international competitions over the 2024-25 season.
Astrid currently performs on the c.1830-1850 Eckhardt-Gramatte Joachim Georges Chanot I violin, generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.
Radio Canada’s Classical Revelation for 2020-21, Isabella d’Éloize Perron is a violinist, violist, singer, pianist and passionate advocate for music’s transformative power. She believes that music and nature are deeply intertwined, and that they both have much to teach us about the human experience. Originally from Montreal, Isabella spent her formative years in Calgary, studying violin with Bill van der Sloot. She made her solo debut at age seven with the I Musici String Ensemble, and has since performed with orchestras worldwide, winning numerous awards, including first prize at the National Music Festival of
Canada (2014), first prize at the International Radio Competition for Young Musicians Concertino Praga (2015), and first place at the Orford Music Awards (2020). As part of her Radio Canada Classical Revelation award, she commissioned Métis composer Gregory Borton to create a work for piano and violin, which they recorded with Radio-Canada.
Isabella recently completed several sold-out tours across Canada and the United States, as well as an album, performing Vivaldi’s & Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, which included her debut on the Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. Isabella plays on a Guadagnini 1768, generously on loan from CANIMEX. Her award from the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation will support her continued artistic development in 2024-05 through a self-directed program of lessons and preparation for and participation in auditions and competitions.
Anna Stube, violin, Calgary, AB
Eighteen-year-old Latvian-born violinist Anna Stube has astounded audiences with her depth of expression and zest for the instrument throughout her international performance career—a career devoted to sharing the compassion and humanity of music. Anna made her solo debut at age 13 with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra after receiving the Grand Prize at the Canadian Music Competition. Subsequent awards include First Prize at the 2019 OSM Manulife Competition as the youngest ever winner, Grand Prize at the Glenn Gould School Chamber Competition, and a Corcoran Concerto Competition award.
In 2022 she was a featured artist on CBC Music’s “30 Hot Classical Musicians under 30.” As a soloist, Anna has played with numerous orchestras, including the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, the Calgary Civic Symphony, and the Kensington Sinfonia.
A passionate chamber musician, Anna has collaborated with preeminent ensembles such as the legendary Kronos Quartet and the award-winning LGT Young Soloists. She has also worked with acclaimed musicians such as Noah Bendix-Balgley, Christian Tetzlaff, Midori, Mihaela Martin, Philip Setzer, and Barry Shiffman. Anna has appeared as a featured artist at the 2023 Banff International String Quartet Festival, the 2022 Rockport Chamber Music Festival, and on NPR’s “From The Top” program.
Anna’s award from the Gelber Foundation will assist with living expenses and other costs associated with her continuing participation in the Bachelor of Music Program at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto.
Bruno Tobon, cello, Longeuil, QC
At just over 20, Bruno Tobon has been hailed as one of Canada’s most promising young cellists. A prize winner at the MSO Manulife Competition 2016, the International Stepping Stone Canadian Music Competition 2017, and the Prix d’Europe 2023, he has performed in numerous concert halls around the world, including the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Jubilee Hall in the UK, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in the US, and most concert halls in Canada. Bruno has recorded in Toronto’s Koerner Hall with distinguished music producer Theresa Leonard and pianist Jean-Luc Therrien. He has also collaborated with Carlos Miguel Prieto, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Giora Schmidt, Jinjoo Cho, Timothy Chooi, Barry Shiffman, Glen Montgomery, Peter Wiley and many more.he has performed in numerous concert halls around the world, including the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Jubilee Hall in the UK, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in the US, and most concert halls in Canada.
Bruno is a regular performer at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, the Musica Camerata Montreal society, and the Montreal Symphony’s Virée Classique (with Kent Nagano) as guest associate principal and 1st assistant in 2018 and 2019. Since 2016, a very active partnership with his mentor, Denis Brott, led to appearances on CBC News and PBS Mountain Lake, as well as on COGECO 9.5 FM radio and with TV host Benard Drainville.
A graduate student of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Bruno has participated in masterclasses with Johannes Moser, Steven Isserlis, Jean Guihen Queyras, Colin Carr, Andres Diaz, Raphael Wallfisch, Paul Watkins, Alisa Weilerstein, Michel Strauss, and Mischa Maisky. Bruno is an alumni of the New York String Seminar Orchestra and has been mentored by cellists Julie Trudeau and Bryan Epperson.
In 2019, Bruno was appointed affiliated professor of cello at the Préconservatoire de musique de Montréal. Since 2021, he has been on the artist roster of the prestigious Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto.
With help from the Gelber Foundation, Bruno is currently studying for a Masters degree at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague, in the class of Michel Strauss and Jan Ype Nota.
