“It’s a beloved summer tradition at CBC Music: our classical “30 under 30” list, celebrating the accomplishments of Canada’s hottest young classical musicians.
They’re winning big competitions and prizes, making exciting debuts, releasing new albums and graduating from top music schools — and we think they’re amazing.
Get acquainted with this year’s inductees into our classical “30 under 30” community, from oldest to youngest.
Tune in to CBC Music’s About Time on Monday, July 29, from noon to 3 p.m., for Tom Allen’s special “30 under 30″ edition of the show…”
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Liam Ritz, composer
Age: 28
From: Toronto via Hamilton, Ont.
Last September, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra opened its season with Liam Ritz’s Scherzo. “As a Hamilton native, I’ve had a lifelong love for this amazing organization and I’m incredibly fortunate that they’ve been so supportive of my artistic work throughout the years,” he says. It kicked off a busy season for this U of T grad: his work Three Inventions, for violin and cello, received its Japanese premiere in Osaka; his Four Folkless Songs, for harp and violin, were premiered in June during the National Youth Orchestra of Canada’s Chamberfest; and Duo Holz (Michael Murphy and Aysel Taghi-Zada) performed his newly commissioned piece From Earth, to Seeds, for violin and shō. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Michael Murphy in his typical role as a percussionist, however this was my first time writing a shō part for him — always an exciting challenge working with a new instrument!” Speaking of exciting challenges, Ritz has been selected as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s RBC affiliate composer for the next two seasons.
While it’s all highly impressive, Ritz is quick to add: “Hands down the most important thing that happened to me in the past year was marrying my wonderful husband, Dustin.” After honeymooning in France and Italy in May, they returned in time for Ritz to go to Brunswick, Maine, to participate in the Bowdoin International Music Festival’s composition program. He dreams of composing a large-scale concerto one day. That is, if he can find the mental space: “Any time not spent thinking about music is dedicated to thinking about food — cooking food, eating food, watching TV shows about food, and a personal favourite: thinking about your next meal while you’re still eating the current one. It’s almost a full-time job!
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Astrid Nakamura, violinist
Age: 24
From: Toronto
Earlier this summer, when Astrid Nakamura returned to Vermont for her third chamber music intensive at Yellow Barn, her case contained an exciting new instrument: the Eckhardt-Gramatté Joachim Georges Chanot I violin, on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts. “It really matches my style of playing and has a big personality,” she says. With degrees from the Royal Conservatory’s Phil and Eli Taylor Academy and McGill’s Schulich School of Music under her belt, Nakamura recently completed her master’s at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where a highlight was joining Dacamera‘s young artists fellowship program. “We do a mix of teaching in elementary schools and performing classical concerts around Houston,” she explains. “I love how the program breaks the cookie-cutter idea of a classical musician, and challenges me to think outside the box.”
In May, as a member of the Houston-based new music collective Musiqa, Nakamura travelled to Geneva, Switzerland, for the AI for Good Global Summit. “We had dancers from NobleMotion, scientists from the University of Houston Brain Center, and our quartet from Rice,” she describes. “The dancers used EEG caps to read their brain activity during the performance.”
Nakamura’s own brain is stimulated not only by music, but also fragrances. “Exploring scents is so interesting to me. I like finding strange notes — my favourites are vinyl and tomato leaf,” she says, adding that a dream project would be “creating an olfactory exhibit with a perfumer and merging music with smells.” We’re into it!
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