We are pleased to play even a small role in helping to launch the exceptional talents of our Young Musicians Extraordinaire. In 2023, two incredible string players return to our stage. 

With a string of accomplishments and awards to her name, cellist Luka Coetzee is increasingly recognized both in Canada and internationally. Her 2020 CD was acclaimed by Fanfare Magazine as “sublime, with an interpretative grasp …. playing of rare quality.” 

Violinist Jacques Forestier has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world, studied with Itzhak Perlman and is one of CBC’s hot young 30 Canadian Classical Musicians under 30 (2021). 

 We are deeply grateful to our travel sponsor Century 21 for supporting this showcase of our 2022/23 Young Musicians Extraordinaire.

 

 

 

Recognizing extraordinary talent

Praise

“Sublime, with an interpretative grasp… playing of rare quality.”

 

Fanfare Magazine on Luka Coetzee

In an effort to keep our audience members as safe as possible, we will be hosting this concert in accordance with our COVID-19 policy.

Luka Coetzee, cello

Luka Coetzee, cello

Acclaimed by Fanfare Magazine as “tonally, technically, and musically superb,” Canadian cellist Luka Coetzee (b. 2004) made her solo debut at age eleven with the Calgary Civic Symphony.

In 2022, Luka won first place at the Pablo Casals International Awards. That same year, she also received the Frans Helmerson Promotional Award at the Kronberg Academy and performed as soloist with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. She took second place as well as the special prize of the jury at the Eighth Dotzauer International Competition for Young Cellists. In the same month, Luka performed with the National Philharmonic Orchestra as the first prize winner of the Ninth Johansen International Strings Competition in Washington, DC.

As a member of the LGT Young Soloists, Luka has performed in numerous concert halls around the world including Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Berlin Philharmonie, the Tonhalle in Zurich, Victoria Hall in Singapore, the Rheingau Musik Festival, and at the Woordfees Festival in Stellenbosch, South Africa. In January 2020 Luka recorded and premiered a new arrangement of the Beethoven A major Cello Sonata on NAXOS at the Teldex Studio in Berlin. She has also worked with distinguished guest artists and string quartets including Frans Helmerson, Claudio Bohorquez, Danjulo Ishizaka, Johannes Moser, Hans Jorgen Jensen, Laurence Lesser, the Calidore String Quartet, and the Schumann Quartet.

At the age of one, Luka had her first cello lesson with Christine Bootland. Her previous mentors include John Kadz, Johanne Perron, and Horacio Contreras. Luka also started playing piano at the age of three and finished the Royal Conservatory of Music ARCT diploma piano exam with First Class Honours under the instruction of Derek Chiu. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in cello performance at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.

Jacques Forestier, violin

Jacques Forestier, violin

Born into a family of musicians, fifteen-year-old Jacques Forestier began playing the violin at the age of two and has since delighted audiences across North America, Europe, and Asia with his passion for music and love of performing. Jacques has won many awards and scholarships, including:

  • Silver Medalist and Bach Prize Winner at the Stulberg International String Competition, 2022
  • First Prize at the International Shean Strings Competition 2021
  • First prize at the Canadian Music Competition National Finals in Gatineau, Quebec
  • First prize at the biennual Young Artists Competition in Lethbridge (2018), resulting in a performance of Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto with the Lethbridge Symphony (2019-2020 season)
  • Winner of the ‘Best Canadian Work Interpretation Prize’ and third prize at the 2019 OSM Manulife Competition in Montreal, Canada
  • Toured Asia with the LGT Young Soloists, May 2019
  • The only Canadian to quality to participate in the 2018 Menuhin International Competition in Geneva, Switzerland 
  • Recipient of the Winspear Fund Scholarship, 2016 and 2017
  • Performed in the Winner’s Recital of the American Protégé International Competition at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall in March 2015.

Presently studying with Patinka Kopec and William Vander Sloot at Mount Royal University, Jacques is also a student of Itzhak Perlman, Li Lin, and Catherine Cho of the Perlman Music Program. He was invited by Pinchas Zukerman to attend the Young Artists Program at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and accepted on full scholarship to the Morningside Musicbridge program in Boston, MA, and Warsaw, Poland. Jacques was a student-artist at the Biennial Starling-Delay Symposium at the Juilliard School in New York.

Learn more

lukacoetzee.com
Suzanne Ruberg Gordon

Suzanne Ruberg-Gordon, collaborative pianist

Quoted by the Chronicle Herald as “a superb musician,” Swedish-born pianist Susanne Ruberg-Gordon is a highly regarded chamber musician and collaborative artist. She has performed with artists such as Andres Cardenes, Andres Diaz, Ron Leonard, and Nikki Chooi. She is the pianist and core member of the Juno-nominated contemporary classical music trio, Land’s End Ensemble. Ms. Ruberg-Gordon has been on faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory since 1991 where she is the coordinator of Collaborative Pianists. She has also been a Collaborative Artist for the acclaimed Morningside Music Bridge program in Canada, China and Poland since 2001.

Program

Savour an afternoon of exquisite music curated from across the classical spectrum. 

Selections

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Violin Sonata No. 20 in C Major K.303
I. Adagio – Allegro molto – Adagio – Allegro molto
II. Tempo di Menuetto

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Violin Sonata in E Flat Major Op. 18
I. Allegro, ma non troppo

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)
Suite for Solo Cello
I. Preludio

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Adagio and Allegro Op. 70

Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908)
Zigeunerweisen Op. 20

Intermission

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Albumblatt ‘Romanze’

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Cello Sonata in C Major Op. 65
I. Dialogo. Allegro
II. Scherzo-Pizzicato. Allegretto
III. Elegia. Lento
IV. Marcio. Energico
V. Moto perpetuo. Presto

Franz Waxman (1906-1967)
Carmen Fantasie

We thank collaborative pianist Susanne Ruberg-Gordon for supporting this performance.