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Maïthéna Girault: Dreams come true with Golden Violin win

Maïthéna Girault, Axel Strauss, Brenda Ravenscroft
Published: 8 November 2017

Original article from the McGill Reporter.

"When Maïthéna Girault was announced as winner of the 2017-2018 Golden Violin Award on Oct. 29, it marked the end of one journey for her and the beginning of another.

The Golden Violin is awarded every year to an outstanding string player enrolled in the Schulich School of Music and Girault had been a semi-finalist on two other occasions. Not only did Girault make it through to the finals this year, she won, making for an emotional moment for the musician whose mother used to bribe her with pistachios to keep practicing when she was a six-year-old novice.

“It gives my confidence a nudge – which I needed it because I don’t always believe in myself,” says Girault. “After a long, emotional journey a lot of my dreams are finally coming true.”

Ironically, for someone who has just won one of the most prestigious individual music prizes in Canada, Girault says her greatest pleasure comes from collaborating with other musicians.

Girault’s interest in violin was piqued when she was six, watching one of her cousins playing at a family get-together. “I thought it would be so cool to learn violin so we could play together,” she says."

Read the complete article.

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