Left to Right (Danielle Green, Justin Saulnier)

Left to Right (Tiffany Yeung, Juliana Moroz)     

    Astrid Nakamura

This year’s finalists are:

Danielle Greene: Native of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Danielle is currently a tenured member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra violin section. Danielle has performed with many ensembles across the country, including the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Calgary Philharmonic, l’Orchestre de l’Agora, Tafelmusik, National Arts Centre Orchestra,Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. Danielle holds degrees from the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory. Her primary teachers include Jonathan Crow, Barry Shiffman, Erika Raum, and Teng Li. Danielle was winner of the University of Toronto Concerto Competition, and two-time winner of the Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition. In 2022, Ms. Greene won 2nd prize at the Orford Award Competition, and her quartet was invited to the Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition in London, England.

Juliana Moroz: Named to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “30 under 30” in 2021, Winnipeg cellist Juliana Moroz is increasingly recognized as a rising young artist in North America. After receiving her Bachelor’s in Music degree from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, she is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Music at Rice University with Brinton Averil Smith. Noted performances and awards include her solo debut with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at age 15, a 2020 winner at the Women’s Musical Club’s McLellan Competition for solo performance with the Winnipeg Symphony, and the 2017 Aikins Memorial Trophy at the Winnipeg Music Festival, the Festival’s highest prize for instrumental performance. Juliana has attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Morningside Music Bridge Program, Orford Arts Festival, Rome Chamber Music Festival, and was a participant in the inaugural Josef Gingold Chamber Music Festival in Miami, Florida. An avid chamber musician, Juliana has performed with acclaimed chamber musicians’ violinists Amy Schwartz-Moretti and Robert McDuffie, pianist Orion Weiss, and violist of the Emerson Quartet, Lawrence Dutton. Her former teachers are Yuri Hooker and Andrea Bell. She loves to play with her family as a member of the JAGD Quartet and baking desserts, especially macarons.

Astrid Nakamura: Originally from Toronto, Astrid Nakamura maintains an expansive performing career as a chamber, solo, and orchestral violinist. With sustained roles in a diverse array of ensembles and organizations, she is dedicated to collaborating with the leading musicians and composers of our time. Most recently, Astrid was invited to perform in Geneva at the U.N.’s AI For Good Global Summit in May. Devoted to her community in Houston, she regularly instructs education outreach at public schools, and has performed a variety of multidisciplinary concerts in partnership with organizations such as the MD Anderson Cancer Center, NobleMotion Dance, and the University of Houston BRAIN Center. Astrid is currently pursuing her master’s degree with Kathleen Winkler at Rice University on full scholarship from the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation. She plays on the c.1830 ’Eckhardt-Gramatte, Joachim’ Georges ChanotI violin, generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.

Justin Saulnier: Justin Saulnier is an 18-year-old Canadian violinist. He made his orchestral solo debut at age 12 with the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra and has since performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Canada’s National Arts Center Orchestra, The Pembroke Symphony Orchestra and the Ottawa Youth Orchestra. He has also been invited to play with the Orchestre Metropolitain under the baton of Yannick NezetSeguin this spring. Justin has received many awards, notably the first prize in the NACO Bursary Competition, second prize in the Concours OSM, the grand prize in the Orchestre Metropolitain OMNI Competition, and the OMFA’s provincial competition. Justin has also enjoyed being concertmaster in the Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra, and the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra, among others. He is pursuing his undergraduate degree at McGill
University with Andrew Wan. Justin plays on a 1680 Ruggeri violin from Cremona, generously loaned to him by Canimex.

Tiffany Yeung: Named one of CBC Music’s “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30,” Tiffany Yeung made her debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in Roy Thomson Hall at the age of 13. She was the winner of the 2023 Canada Council for the Arts Michael Measures Prize and the recipient of the commissioned work prize at the 2023 OSM Competition. She has won top prizes at the Shean Strings Competition, the Remember Enescu International Violin Competition, and the Vancouver International Music Competition. Tiffany is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree under Min-Jeong Koh and Erika Raum at the Glenn Gould School, after beginning her studies at the New England Conservatory with Miriam Fried as a Dean’s Scholar. She performs on the 1869 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin with Vuillaume model bow, on loan by the Canada Council for the Arts Musical instrument bank.

More details, including ticket pricing, on the 2024 Competition available at this link: https://www.e-gre.ca/