Concert with Young Artists in Tribute to Glenn Gould

Nineteen-year-old pianist Marika Bournaki is an exciting young artist with an extraordinarily engaging musicianship. Recent engagements have included a National Arts Centre performance in Ottawa on the Debut Series of recitals, as well as the Konzert Accordate series, in Aachen, Germany. Marika performed a sold-out fundraising recital for the Glenn Gould Foundation at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, in New York. Marika is currently studying at the Juilliard School.

Their Excellencies were pleased to present, in collaboration with the Glenn Gould Foundation, an evening concert entitled, Young Artists Inspired by Glenn Gould. This exclusive concert featured eight emerging musicians from Canada and abroad who performed at Rideau Hall, on December 3, 2010. A photo with the artist and the Executive Director of The Glenn Gould Foundation Brian Levine (right to His Excellency) was taken beside the piano that once belonged to Glenn Gould and was donated to Rideau Hall in 1983.

Executive Director of The Glenn Gould Foundation Brian Levine delivered a speech before the concert. The mandate of the Glenn Gould Foundation is to honour Glenn Gould’s spirit and legacy by celebrating brilliance, promoting creativity and transforming lives through the power of music and the arts with the Foundation's signature activities, including the Glenn Gould Prize.

Miguel Ángel Cegarra is 11 years old and is a member of the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela (El Sistema), whose founder, Dr. José Antonio Abreu, was awarded the Eighth Glenn Gould Prize (2008). Miguel has been a soloist since he was eight years old and recently performed under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, in Haydn’s Concerto in C Major for cello and orchestra. He has also studied in master classes with Yo-Yo Ma and Philippe Mueller, among others.

Hailed by critics for her “voice of satin purity,” mezzo Wallis Giunta’s season includes second lady in Die Zauberflöte (Canadian Opera Company), and Messiah (The Regina Symphony). A graduate of the Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory, Wallis was recently awarded a Canada Council for the Arts grant, and was the winner of the Ottawa Choral Society New Discoveries Auditions.

Mehdi Bilal Ghazi attended the Montréal Conservatory of Music and currently studies with Canadian pianist André Laplante. Mehdi has won numerous prizes since coming to Canada in 2006, including the Young Professional prize from La Montée des Arts; first prize at the Festival de musique classique du Bas-Richelieu; and first prize at the Canadian Musical Competition (chamber music category). Mehdi has also worked with such notable musicians as Anton Kuerti and Emanuel Ax.