Wednesday, November 3, 2021
7:00 pm

44th E-Gré Competition Winner: Julien Siino, cello

Julien Siino, the talented winner of the 44th Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition in Strings.  Siino will perform a winner’s tour concert of innovative and exciting new works.

Julien Siino was awarded first prize while live streaming from Paris, France. He received the top cash prize of $6,000 as well as a cross-Canadian winner’s tour. Siino also received the prize for Best Performance of the 2021 commissioned piece, which was announced by Ian Cusson and comes with an additional cash prize of $1,000.

Programme:

Cusson*: La Pièta for solo cello (2020)

Lutoslawski (1913 – 1994): Sacher Variation for solo cello (1976)

Eckhardt-Gramatté* (1899 – 1974): Duo Concertante Cello and Piano E. 146 (1959)

1. Giocoso, molto ritmico
2. Cantabile e semplice
3. Vivo e molto preciso

Good* (1972 – ): Song of Longing (2017)

Britten (1913 – 1976): Sonata for Cello and Piano in C op. 65 (1961)

1. Dialogo
2. Scherzo-Pizzicato

III. Elegia

1. Marcia
2. Moto perpetuo

Ticket price:

General Admission. $15 Advance / $20 at the door
CMC Members and Arts Workers. $12 Advance / $15 at the door
Students. $10 anytime

Venue:

Canadian Music Centre
20 St. Joseph Street
Toronto, ON
M4Y 1J9
416-961-6601 x202

COVID-19 Safety Information:

The health and safety of our staff and all visitors continues to be of the utmost importance to us. As we begin to welcome audiences back to our venue, we are following the guidance provided by Ontario public health guidelines.

Please note the current Ontario Government proof of vaccination requirement. As of September 22, patrons must provide proof they are fully vaccinated along with identification.  This is a masked event with limited seating.

CMC staff will be onsite to welcome you, and we ask that you kindly follow their direction and guidance at all times.

 _________________________

Bios:

Canadian cellist Julien Siino obtained his bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance with Leslie Snider at the Quebec Conservatory of Music. He then continued his studies in Europe at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag (Holland Scholarship) and the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. His principal teachers have been Morag Northey, Leslie Snider, Michel Strauss, Jan-Ype Nota, Guillaume Paoletti and Bruno Cocset. He has won First Prize at various competitions, including the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Competition (Canada), the International Agustin Aponte Competition (Spain), the Canadian Music Competition, and the Petit Mozart Audi Sainte-Foy competition (Canada). As a soloist, chamber musician, and member of orchestras such as the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the Orchestra of the Americas, the Collegium Musicum Schloss Pommersfelden (Germany) and the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest (Netherlands), he has performed in great North American and European concerts halls. He is also regularly invited to perform with the Violons du Roy, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio-France, as well as the Paris National Opera and Dutch National Opera. He plays on a cello made in Paris by Auguste Sébastien Bernardel in 1838 with a bow by Victor François Fétique generously loaned to him by Canimex Inc. Having just completed artistic residencies at the Academy of the Paris National Opera and the Académie musicale Philippe Jaroussky, he is currently 2nd Solo Cellist at the Orchestre national de Montpellier (France).

Japanese pianist Chiharu Iinuma has been increasingly in high demand as a teacher, coach and ensemble pianist.  A founding member of the Ridge Trio, the Chamber Ensemble Bloomington and the Duo Gillham-Iinuma, for many years she was the studio pianist for Joseph Gingold, Janos Starker, Franco Gulli, Neli Shkolnikova, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Miriam Fried, Yuval Yaron, James Campbell and IU String Academy at Indiana University’s Jacobs School.  In 1993, she was invited to participate in the inaugural Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall in New York.  She has been heard on NHK and CBC radios over the years.  In recent years, she has played in concerts and festivals in Germany, Sweden, Scotland, China, Taiwan, Japan, as well as across U.S. and Canada collaborating with Arianna String Quartet, Pendereki String Quartet, Adrian Anantawan, Dale Barltrop, Ariel Barnes,  Rachel Barton-Pine, Martin Beaver, James Campbell, Timothy Chooi, Marc Coppey, Mark Fewer, David Gillham, Tom Landschoot, Blair Lofgren, Antonio Lysy, Johannes Moser, Philippe Muller, Christoph Schickedanz, Alan Stepansky, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Rafael Wallfisch, Rob Weir, Thomas Wiebe, Eric Wilson, Min-Ho Yeh, among others.

From 2001 to 2004, she was the Director of Accompanying at the University of Central Arkansas where the Duo Gillham-Iinuma was “Duo in Residence”.  Chiharu has served as a staff pianist and coach at institutes such as the Meadowmount School of Music, Indiana University Summer String Academy and currently at the Domaine Forget International Music and Dance Academy in Quebec, Canada, where she is also on a faculty for the Collaborative Piano Program.

She has recorded “Edvard Grieg: The Three Sonatas for Violin and Piano” with David Gillham for Centaur Records (CRC2873), and “Johannes Brahms: The Complete works for Violin and Piano” with Christoph Schickedanz also for Centaur Records (CRC3498).

Currently, she is on a piano faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music.