The 2021-2022 Golden Violin Award is coming soon, with new prizes!
The Golden Violin Award was established in 2006 by businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich, a year after he donated $20 million to McGill’s Schulich School of Music. His unflagging support of our musicians has, through this award, seen nearly $400,000 given to top Schulich string players. For last year’s 15th edition, the winning prize increased from $25,000 to $30,000, and for this year’s 16th edition the Schulich Foundation has made another substantial investment in our young artists’ futures.
In addition to the $30,000 scholarship for the winner, the finalists who place second and third will each receive $15,000 and $5,000 respectively. This generous contribution towards the lives of our students will have lasting and meaningful impact. We are grateful for the continued encouragement offered to our students by the Schulich Family and look forward to celebrating the achievements of our finalists.
The Golden Violin Award Semifinal takes place on Friday, December 17 beginning at 7:00 pm, and the Final is on Sunday, December 19 at 2:00 pm, with the prize ceremony and winner announcement following jury deliberation. Both events will be webcast live from Pollack Hall, and we look forward to welcoming back audiences to our concert hall to cheer on the finalists in person.
The 2021-2021 Golden Violin Award semifinalists are violinists Julia Mirzoev, Astrid Nakamura, Samuele Parrini, Frédéric Pouliot, Kiarra Saito-Beckman, and Zoey Dabin Yang. These string players were selected from an amazing field of preliminary applicants. Find out more about them here.
The jury is comprised of Schulich School of Music faculty members Marcelle Mallette, Richard Roberts, and Victor Fournelle-Blain (Final), and external panelists Guillaume Sutre (Semifinal), Fred Sherry, and Mayumi Seiler — and is chaired by Schulich professor Matt Haimovitz.
For the Semifinal, candidates will present a varied program of 30 minutes of music of their choice, which must include repertoire from the Classical period. Join us in person or online to hear the remarkable playing of these six Schulich string players!
Learn more about the Golden Violin Award here.
