Classical Category
Pinchas Antal, piano
Pinchas Antal is an eighteen year old, third-year Bachelor of Music student currently studying piano performance at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in the class of Ilya Poletaev. At age ten he started playing piano under the supervision of pedagogue Vladimir Krassov while also taking advanced theory and composition studies with Professor Alexander Posdynakov. During this brief time he has amassed a large repertoire, gave numerous recitals and had the opportunity to have masterclasses with Professor Valeri Sigalevitch, perform for Dr. Indrek Laul, and audition for Maestro Zubin Mehta.
In 2015, Pinchas won 1st place Honours in the Crescendo International Music Competition and was invited to play in Carnegie Hall, New York. He also performed a solo piano concert in Montreal at the prestigious Chappelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur on November 11, 2015. On April 27, 2016, Pinchas performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Musicians of the World Symphony Orchestra in Montreal. At age 15, he placed 2nd at the Canadian Music Competition in the age 18-21 group performing the 1st movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 15. Most recently, Pinchas won the 2019-2020 McGill Classical Concerto Competition and will appear as soloist with the McGill Symphony Orchestra next season.
Piano Category
Jarred Dunn, piano
Jarred Dunn has been described as “a piano sound-colour magician” (Muzikos Barai, Vilnius), “evocative and mystical” (New York Classical Music Guide), "technically perfect” (Belarus First Radio) and “a virtuoso with the most exquisite touch” (Freethought Today). He is featured on CBC’s 2018 Top 30 Under 30 and hosted CBC’s This is My Music. In 2018, he took First Prize and Concerto Award at the Lithuanian International Chopin Competition (Vilnius) and won top prizes at the Kraków Jan Hofmann, London Grand Prize Virutoso, and Rome “Premio Academia” International Competitions. His recording, Chopin and Debussy, was released in 2019. He has been heard on the CBC, WQXR New York, Belarus First Radio, Freethought Matters TV and Freethought Radio (Madison).
Mr. Dunn performs as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with orchestras. He has appeared with Torun, Etobicoke, Niagara, Rose, Vilnius Chamber, Eurasian Chamber, Budapest Chamber, Toronto Sinfonia, and Minsk Radio and Television Orchestras.
Noted by Tonebase Piano as “a revered pedagogue,” Mr. Dunn has given lectures and master classes in Canada, United States, Poland, Lithuania, and Australia. His articles are published by the Canadian Music Educators’ Association and Canadian Music Teacher. Of special importance to him was research at the former site of Auschwitz-Birkenau, culminating in an article about Anita Lasker-Wallfisch (former cellist of the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra). David Dubal (WWFM) has called him “an important musician, pianist, scholar and writer within the great art of serious music.” His teachers include Stéphane Lemelin, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Anna Górecka, Jacob Lateiner, Dorothy Taubman, and Yoheved Kaplinsky.
Woodwind, Brass, Percussion
Sarah Amahrit:
Ayant grandi à Montréal, Sarah Amahrit baigne dans le milieu artistique depuis de nombreuses années. Suite à ses études en physique, elle complète maintenant son baccalauréat en interprétation du cor à l'Université McGill sous la tutelle de Catherine Turner. Interprète polyvalente, Sarah participe en parallèle à ses études à de nombreux projets musicaux, allant du jazz à la musique contemporaine, ainsi qu'au répertoire orchestral standard.
Amrit Gupta:
Amrit Gupta is from Portland, Oregon. He graduated with his bachelor's from University of Oregon in 2018 and is pursuing a Masters in performance at McGill. Amrit has been a member of several orchestras and chamber groups in the Pacific northwest.
Rebecca Barron:
Rebecca Barron is a graduate student at the McGill University Schulich School of Music. She is currently a candidate to earn her Masters degree in Horn Performance in May 2020 as a student of Nadia Côté. She began studying piano at the age of 8 and horn at the age of 10. She studied with Patrice Malatestinic at Skidmore College while in high school and played with the Empire State Youth Orchestra. While she was with ESYO, she toured in China and South Korea.
Rebecca holds a bachelor’s degree from the Boston University College of Fine Arts where she studied with Eric Ruske. While an Undergraduate, she also took lessons with Rachel Childers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and spent a semester in London at the Royal College of Music (lessons with Nigel Black, Jeff Bryant, and John Ryan.) Last summer she spent two weeks in Powell River at the PRISMA Music Festival before returning to Montreal for a six-week tour with the Orchestre de la Francophonie. She has also played at the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs.
Katrina Dunkle:
Katrina Dunkle is an undergraduate horn performance student at the Schulich School of Music, studying with Catherine Turner. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she began playing violin at the age of 4 and horn at the age of 12. This summer, Katrina will be touring Germany and Croatia with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. In the summer of 2018, she attended Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC. She was previously a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra.