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Amy Hillis wins 2017 McGill Concerto Competition

Published: 15 February 2017

The winner of the 2017 Schulich School String Concerto Competition is Amy Hillis, a D.M.A. candidate in violin performance from the studio of Prof. Axel Strauss.  

Originally from Saskatchewan, Canada, Amy Hillis's studies are funded by a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) Doctoral Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Amy is also the recipient of a Professional Musician (Individual) grant from the Canada Council for the Arts as well as the prestigious Sylva Gelber Foundation Music Award which is given to Canadian musicians of outstanding ability and career potential. Amy performs on the 1820 Joannes Franciscus Pressenda, on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.

A recent graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Amy completed her Master of Music in 2014 with renowned pedagogue and performer, Ian Swensen. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from McGill University under the tutelage of former concertmaster of the Orchestre Métropolitain, Denise Lupien. While growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan, Amy studied with the concertmaster of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, Eduard Minevich.

A passionate orchestral musician, Amy is currently concertmaster of Montreal's Pronto Musica. Supported by the Canadian Aldeburgh Foundation, she has traveled to England on five different occasions to perform as part of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme as a principal violinist in the Britten-Pears Orchestra and with Aldeburgh Strings. In the summer of 2016, Amy soloed as concertmaster with the Britten-Pears Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Semyon Bychkov. Amy was also an associate member of Chicago's Civic Orchestra, concertmaster of the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra and concertmaster of SFCM's New Music Ensemble. During her last two years of high school, she was first violinist in the Regina Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she was concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2008 under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis and Maestro Jacques Lacombe.  Recognized for her leadership, Amy has won numerous orchestral awards including the prestigious Stephen Sitarski Leadership Award from the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. 

 

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