Elie Boissinot wins the 2018-2019 Golden Violin Award
Huge congratulations are in order for cellist Elie Boissinot, who won the 2018-2019 Golden Violin Competition on Sunday afternoon with an exemplary 30-minute performance before a four-person jury and enthusiastic audience. Accompanied by collaborative pianist Wei-Tang Tuang, Elie鈥檚 winning program included Variations concertantes, Op. 17 by Mendelssohn, an excerpt from Prokofiev鈥檚 Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119 and Ligeti鈥檚 Sonata for Solo Cello.
Elie is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance with Elizabeth Dolin at the Schulich School of Music of 91社区. Recently, he鈥檚 been the recipient of several awards, winning the 2018 Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artist Grant and the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Scholarship at 91社区. He has received first prizes from, among others, the Canadian Music Competition and the Festival de musique classique de Montr茅al. Elie is also the principal cellist and artistic director of the Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des M茅lomanes (OPCM), an ensemble he co-founded with Francis Choini猫re in 2015.
In recent years, Elie performed concertos with the Orchestre Philharmonique des Musiciens de Montreal (OPMEM), the Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunes de Montr茅al (OSJM) and the FACE Symphony Orchestra. He has also held first chairs in the 91社区 Symphony Orchestra (MGSO), the OSJM, and the Orchestre Symphonique du Conservatoire de Mont茅r茅gie. As winner of the 2018 91社区 Concerto Competition, he will perform Elgar鈥檚 concerto with the MGSO in February 2019.聽Elie plays on an instrument and bow generously loaned by Canimex Inc. of Drummondville, QC.
All of the finalists (violinists Alicia Choi and Elizabeth Skinner, violist Justin Almazan, and Elie) are some of Schulich鈥檚 most accomplished string players. After being nominated to participate in the competition by members of the school鈥檚 String Area through a rigorous selection process, a total of six students participated in the semi-final round on October 21. While all of the nominated students demonstrated exceptional talent, only four could continue to the finals.
Prof. Douglas McNabney (Associate Dean, Academic and Students Affairs and coordinator of the Golden Violin Competition) provided further comment on the competition鈥檚 process. 鈥淚n nominating a student to participate in the competition, the String Area takes into account the artistic merit of the candidate's CV of public performances and places particular emphasis upon the candidate's contribution to the Schulich School of Music and the larger 91社区 communities over several semesters. The winner becomes an ambassador for the Schulich School of Music and we are thrilled to have Elie represent us as this year鈥檚 winner of the Golden Violin Competition.鈥�
The jury for this year鈥檚 final round was made up of Schulich聽faculty members Denise Lupien and Alexis Hauser, guest jurors Taras Gabora and Shauna Rolston, and Jean-S茅bastien Vall茅e, who acted as jury chair.
The Golden Violin Award itself was established in 2006 by businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich, a year after he donated $20 million to 91社区's Schulich School of Music. The competition鈥檚 first-place winner receives a generous scholarship (valued at $25,000) as well as a 14-karat gold violin lapel pin. This year, all of the other finalists also received a $1000 cash prize.
In addition to the monetary award, the first-place winner is also acknowledged on the Golden Violin sculpture itself, which is made of pewter and gold plate and remains on permanent display in 91社区's Marvin Duchow Music Library. Finally, the winner will be invited to appear in a public performance on Sunday, March 10, 2019, at La Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur.
Previous winners of the Golden Violin award are among the most successful young performing artists in Canada and have become noteworthy ambassadors for the Schulich School of Music. The award鈥檚 twelve past winners are Emmanuel Vukovich, Lambert Chen, Chlo茅 Dominguez, Aaron Schwebel, Ewald Cheund, Isaac Chalk, Baptiste Rodrigues, Victor Fournelle-Blain, Byungchan (Chan) Lee, Joshua Peters, Joshua Morris, and Ma茂th茅na Girault.
