Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, a 25-year-old Canadian pianist from Canada at the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition, where he won first prize.Supplied
Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, born 24 years ago in Salmon Arm, B.C., just earned First Prize in the 21st edition of the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition. Performing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at St George’s Hall in Bradford, England, the Juilliard-trained phenom won over the jury with his version of Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
Afterward, he called his victory an “indescribable honour.”
The Leeds, as it is known, can be described as one of the world’s most distinguished music competitions. It was established in 1963, and takes place every three years. Izik-Dzurko, who in May became the first Canadian-born pianist to win the First Prize at the Concours musical international de Montréal, is the second Canadian to take home top honours from Leeds. Fellow British Columbian Jon Kimura Parker (whose cousin, Ian Parker, once taught Izik-Dzurko) won in 1984.
Izik-Dzurko, who in May became the first Canadian-born pianist to win the First Prize at the Concours musical international de Montréal, is the second Canadian to take home top honours from Leeds.Supplied
In addition to £30,000 ($54,000), the career-changing prize package includes concerto engagements with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and a debut at London’s Wigmore Hall. Up first, though, are two previously scheduled concerts at Edmonton’s Winspear Centre, where Izik-Dzurko will have at Rachmaninoff’s gnarly Piano Concerto No. 3. He will be accompanied by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni.
Izik-Dzurko’s ESO debut is one October concert calendar highlight in classical, opera and jazz.
Izik-Dzurko will be preforming two concerts at Edmonton’s Winspear Centre and play Rachmaninoff’s gnarly Piano Concerto No. 3. He will be accompanied by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni.Supplied
Canadian Opera Company: Verdi’s Nabucco
Things get biblical in Verdi’s rousing third opera, never before performed by the COC. The titular Nabucco is Nebuchadnezzar II, the fearsome Babylonian king who destroyed Jerusalem. A cast of more than 120 includes British baritone Roland Wood as the bad guy and American soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams as Abigaille, his supposed daughter and would-be queen. Oct. 4-25, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto
Pacific Opera Victoria: Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito
The two-act piece set in the Roman Empire involves Succession-style scheming. Mozart was commissioned to write it during what turned out to be the last year of his life, when he was already at work finishing the opera Die Zauberflöte. If the work historically hasn’t been highly regarded by critics, it has received love of late in the form of productions by the Los Angeles Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, both in 2019. Oct. 16, 18, 20 and 22, Royal Theatre, Victoria
Orchestre Métropolitain: Beethoven Marathon
Apparently, the superstar conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a fitness buff who drinks Gatorade in the wings. He’ll need his electrolytes for a string of four Beethoven programs, including two concerts in one day. Each is devoted to a particular theme – heroic, pastoral, fateful, choral – that relates to the works of the great German composer. Beethoven is not likely to roll over, and you can bet Nézet-Séguin won’t either. Oct. 17, 18 and 20, Montreal Symphony House
Monty Alexander: 80th Birthday Celebration Concert
The Jamaican-American jazz pianist was born on June 6, 1944, which is why he was named after Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, the commander of Allied ground forces during the Battle of Normandy. It’s also why he called his latest album D-Day. With it, he commemorates the invasion with 11 tracks of wartime standards and original compositions in a trio setting. Oct. 19, Koerner Hall, Toronto
Vancouver Recital Society: Tamara Stefanovich
A believer in Bach but a champion of contemporary works too, Tamara Stefanovich once undertook an extensive recital tour to celebrate Pierre Boulez. This month, the Belgrade-born pianist comes to Canada for a program deep in works by another French composer, Olivier Messiaen. Oct. 20, Vancouver Playhouse
Celebration of Phil Nimmons
“If not the father of modern jazz in Canada, he was at least a father figure to it,” jazz historian Mark Miller wrote of Phil Nimmons in The Miller Companion to Jazz in Canada. Musical offspring, friends, appreciators and family members will gather in appreciation of the composer, clarinetist and educator who died of natural causes on April 5. He was 100 years old. Oct. 23, Walter Hall, Toronto
Art of Time Ensemble: Sankofa: The Soldier’s Tale Retold
Igor Stravinsky’s 1918 theatrical work L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) is reimagined in a new libretto by Edmonton poet Titilope Sonuga. “Although this story is about a single soldier’s attempt to enlist in the First World War,” she has explained, “the broader exploration is about the enduring struggle against racism, discrimination and historical erasure.” Oct. 24-27, Harbourfront Centre Theatre, Toronto