Solo performance, chamber music, and collaboration with orchestra are all essential for concert pianists. These elements are therefore integral to Honens’ search for the Complete Artist.
For the 2021 Honens International Piano Competition, Semifinalists perform solo works and collaborate with a violinist. Finalists perform with a string quintet, a soprano, and with orchestra. The choice of collaborating musicians allows for both a meaningful musical partnership and a mentorship opportunity for all Competition pianists.
Semifinals
Martin Beaver
Violin
Canadian violinist Martin Beaver was first violin of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet from 2002 until its final season in 2013. As such, he appeared to critical and public acclaim on the major stages of the world including New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. Concerto and recital appearances have taken him to North and South America, Europe, and Asia with orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège (Belgium), the Montreal Symphony, and the Sapporo Symphony (Japan), and with conductors including Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Gilbert Varga, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Chamber music collaborations include eminent artists such as Leon Fleisher, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, Sabine Meyer, and Yefim Bronfman. Beaver is a founding member of the Montrose Trio with pianist Jon Kimura Parker and cellist Clive Greensmith.
Beaver’s teachers include Victor Danchenko, Josef Gingold, and Henryk Szeryng. A laureate of the Queen Elisabeth, Montreal, and Indianapolis Competitions, he has subsequently served on juries of major international violin and chamber music competitions including the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium) and the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition (Japan). A devoted educator, Beaver has conducted masterclasses on five continents. He has held teaching positions at the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto); the University of British Columbia; Peabody Conservatory, and NYU (US). More recently, he was Artist in Residence at the Yale School of Music (US). He currently serves as Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Colburn Conservatory of Music and Colburn Music Academy in Los Angeles.
Finals I
Erin Wall
Soprano
Soprano Erin Wall is acclaimed for her musicality and versatility, with an extensive opera and concert repertoire that spans three centuries from Mozart and Beethoven to Britten and Strauss. She has sung leading roles in the world’s great opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera (US), La Scala (Italy), the Vienna Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, and appears in concert with leading symphony orchestras and conductors worldwide. Recent career highlights include the title role in Strauss’ Arabella and Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Metropolitan Opera, a highly acclaimed debut as Clémence in L’amour de loin with the Canadian Opera Company in 2012, the title role in Thaïs at the Edinburgh Festival, and the 50th Anniversary performance of Britten’s War Requiem with the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra led by Andris Nelsons at Coventry Cathedral. Wall has recently sung Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Symphony under Haitink and Vienna Philharmonic under Thielemann, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Hessischer Rundfunk under Paavo Järvi, Houston Symphony under Eschenbach, and NHK Philharmonic under Dutoit. Wall’s discography includes Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with the Melbourne Symphony, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Berlin Staatskapelle conducted by Boulez and the GRAMMY™ winning recording of the same work with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas. She has recorded Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the San Francisco and Montréal symphonies, and sings Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte on DVD, recorded live at Aix-en-Provence (France).
Viano String Quartet
Praised for their “huge range of dynamics, massive sound and spontaneity” (American Record Guide), the Viano String Quartet won First Prize at the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition and top prizes at the Osaka (Japan) and Wigmore Hall (UK) International Chamber Music Competitions, where they also received the Haydn Prize and Sidney Griller Award.
Formed in 2015 at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, where they are Ensemble-in-Residence through the 2020 / 2021 season, the Quartet has performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall (UK); Segerstrom Center for the Arts, SOKA Performing Arts Center, and the Cerritos Center for Performing Arts (US). The Viano String Quartet has performed with world-class musicians such as pianists Emanuel Ax and Elisso Virsaladze, violist Paul Coletti, and violinist Martin Beaver. During the 2019 / 2020 season, the Quartet performs on three continents, making debuts in Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, New York, and Vancouver.
Finals II
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is a pillar of Calgary’s vibrant arts community and since 1955, has grown to be one of Canada’s most celebrated live music ensembles. Each Season, the CPO presents classical masterworks, pop favourites, bold collaborations, and cutting-edge new works. Led by Music Director Rune Bergmann, the CPO consistently attracts world renowned guest artists and dynamic conductors. The Orchestra welcomes over 100,000 visitors annually and, in 2017, launched its live-stream initiative—an immersive, digital concert experience for audiences around the world.
