March 9, 2024 – 1 pm, 3 pm, 5 pm and 7:30 pm
Small Arms Inspection Building – 1352 Lakeshore Rd E, Mississauga
PWYW
Pianofest – a full day celebration of the piano, featuring hour long recitals by some of Canada’s preeminent pianists
Luke Welch, Cheryl Duvall, Dr. Katherine Dowling and Dr. Younggun Kim
Musicians
Luke Welch
Award-winning Canadian pianist Luke Welch was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and grew up nearby in Mississauga. He played his first public performance at age seven, and his early private piano teachers include Kyzysztof Jedrysik, Catherine Kuzeljevich, and John-Paul Bracey. He later graduated from Western University in Canada with Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and completed additional graduate studies in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Welch has also participated in the classes of Jean-Bernard Pommier, Cecile Ousset, Dang Thai Son, Stephane Lemelin, André Laplante. He has performed extensively on the international stage including appearances in Canada, United States of America, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and New Zealand.
Highlight performances include recitals at Beethoven Haus in Bonn, Germany, St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and Castletown House in Ireland. He has also appeared at St. Andrew’s-on-the-Terrace in Wellington (New Zealand), Music Mondays in Toronto, the American Cathedral in Paris, Waalse Kerk in Breda (Netherlands), and Geelvinck Muziek Museum in Zutphen (Netherlands).
Welch made his debut as soloist with Durham Chamber Orchestra in Toronto and has since collaborated with a number of orchestras including the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Mumbles Symphony Orchestra, Winchmore String Orchestra, Greenway Strings, York Chamber Ensemble, and Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra.
In addition to his performance commitments, he has also been highly sought after as an interdisciplinary collaborative pianist. He has worked closely with a number of renowned international academies and companies including Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Dans Ateliers, Holland Dance Festival, Codarts Rotterdam Conservatory, Royal Conservatory of the Hague, Dutch National Ballet, and National Ballet of Canada.
Welch’s recordings have international received critical acclaim, and his performances have been broadcast on CBC Radio, WQXR-FM in New York, WXXI in Rochester, KING-FM in Seattle, and Radio Classique. His most recent album, ‘Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Piano Works’ has also been featured as CBC In Concert’s Album of the Week.
In addition to his published writing in the Globe and Mail (including ‘Life as Black Classical Pianist’, and ‘Black sopranos Othalie Graham, Audrey Dubois Harris and Measha Brueggergosman on inclusion and Black Lives Matter‘), La Scena Musicale Magazine, and WholeNote Magazine, he was named the 2018 recipient of the Harry Jerome Arts Award – distinguished with national recognition by the Black Business and Professional Association.
Welch has taught in both Canada and Europe, and was appointed to the Faculty of Piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music Oscar Peterson Program in 2022.
Dr. Katherine Dowling
Bio 2023
Praised by the New York Times for her “crystalline performances, gestural expressiveness, and careful attention to color”, and by the Boston Globe for her “effortless incisiveness”, award- winning “tour-de- force” (OpusKlassiek, Berkshire Eagle) pianist Katherine Dowling performs across North America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician.
Katherine is familiar to audiences as an artist-in-residence at the Orlando Festival (Netherlands) and a resident fellow of the Avaloch Farm Music Institute (USA); as a multi-year fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, a New Fromm Fellow, a Britten-Pears Young Artist, an International Musicians’ Seminar at Prussia Cove artist; through extensive involvement and numerous positions at The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity; and through multiple national tours under the auspices of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. She treasures her many collaborative relationships, most especially recital partner Catherine Cosbey (Cavani String Quartet), with whom she is co-director of the Regina Chamber Music Festival. As a soloist, and as a member of the chamber ensemble Gruppo Montebello, Katherine appears on eight critically-acclaimed recordings on the Etcetera label. Her performances have been broadcast on the CBC (Canada), Radio-Canada, BBC (United Kingdom), and National Radio 4 (Netherlands). Recent highlights include joining Angela Hewitt and Silvie Cheng in W.A. Mozart’s Triple Concerto at Ottawa Chamberfest; her Vienna recital debut; several tours with violinist Kerry DuWors for Prairie Debut; a recording of the piano works of Alice Ping-Yee Ho (Canada Council for the Arts, Explore and Create); and appearing with the Regina Symphony Orchestra in Florence Price’s Piano Concerto.
In addition to her performing activities, Katherine is Assistant Professor of Classical Piano Performance at York University, having formerly served as Assistant Professor of Piano Performance at the University of Regina. She is also on faculty at The Phil and Eli Taylor Academy for Young Artists (Royal Conservatory of Music); duo526 Sonata Seminar (Indiana University Jacobs School of Music); and the European Summer Course for Chamber Music (Netherlands). She has served on the jury for the National Finals of the Canadian Music Competition, enjoys adjudicating at both the regional and provincial levels, and teaches masterclasses and workshops across Canada every season. She credits her own teacher, celebrated American pianist Gilbert Kalish, and conductors Henk Guittart and Oliver Knussen, as the major influences in her musical life. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance) degree from Stony Brook University (New York).
Younggun Kim
Younggun Kim is a pianist known for his blazing technical capacity and a lush sound supported by a natural phrasing sense (Timothy Gilligan, New York Concert Review), who has performed across North America and Europe. He is active as soloist and chamber musician, and he teaches at the Queen’s University and the University of Toronto. Younggun has also been closely involved with the Health Arts Society since 2011, playing in their concert series for those who may find it difficult to visit conventional venues.
His recent performances include a solo appearance with Toronto Korean-Canadian Choir/Orchestra playing Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, solo recital as a part of Faculty Artist Series at Queen’s University, concert appearances in South Korea, and an appearance with the esteemed Isabel Quartet performing Robert Schumann’s Quintet. His upcoming performances include a concerto appearance with Niagara Symphony, recitals in South Korea, and a recital with Sophie Dervaux who is a member of the Vienna Philharmonic.
Younggun is the winner of various prizes including San Antonio International Competition, Concours International de Piano Francis Poulenc, and Doctor of Musical Arts Recital Competition at the University of Toronto. Upon completion of the doctoral degree, Younggun was chosen as the recipient of the Tecumseh Sherman Rogers Graduating Award, which is the largest award offered by the Faculty of Music.
He is a Toronto-based Canadian from South Korea. After changing his career path in his early twenties from French literature to music, Younggun finished his undergraduate degree at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Master’s Degree at Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the University of Toronto. He studied with renowned artists such as Boris Slutsky, and the late Marietta Orlov.