Voice: Allison Arends
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Junior Piano: Liz Craig
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Senior Piano: Coral Solomon
“Young Canadian pianist Coral Solomon demonstrated a remarkable maturity of interpretation, musicality and sensibility which proved a great talent and an intelligent and original approach”- (Libertatea, Bucharest Romania)
Israeli born pianist, Coral Solomon has been praised for her “distinct sensibility” and “original view” (Radio Romania Musical), and has performed numerous solo recitals throughout Canada, USA, Italy, France, Spain, Romania, and Israel. She has appeared as soloist with over a dozen orchestras across Canada, Italy, and Romania- where she performed with the state philharmonic orchestras of Sibiu, Timisoara, Brasov, Bacau, Arad, Tergu Mures, Ploiesti, Ramnicu Valcea, among others. Upon her 3rd collaboration with the Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, she debuted a piano concerto transcription of Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme by Corelli. The work was written and dedicated to her by conductor emeritus of New Jersey Plainfield Symphony, Sabin Pautza, who also conducted the premiere. Coral regularly performs in her community as soloist with orchestra, in solo performances, as well as chamber collaborations. Some of this season’s performances included: Saint Saens Piano Concerto No 2 with the York Chamber Strings (sharing the stage with her 9 year old student who debuted a full Bach concerto), violin and piano concert as part of Music Niagara Festival with violinist Emma Meinreiken, a home recital featuring concert pianist Ilya Itin where they included some 4-hand pieces in the program (and a 8-hand piece joined by Michael and recent graduating piano students). Coral remained active in streamed performance projects during the pandemic including presenting a solo recital for the Princess Margaret Hospital Concert Series, a collaborative recital for the Klein Competition at the California Music Centre with violinist Julia Mirzoev, and as soloist with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra performing the Chopin Piano Concerto in E minor. Prior to the pandemic, she had roles in diverse projects including serving as artistic director for the first Canadian edition of the George Enescu International Festival (originating in Romania, where it is one of the largest classical music festivals in the world) and performing in the Festival’s opening concert with the concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Crow; working with Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchett, as her piano coach for the TV series: “Mrs. America”; and appearing as the piano soloist in Toronto’s internationally acclaimed Fall for Dance North Festival that took place in the Meridian Hall (formally known as the Sony Centre). Coral is grateful for the support of Beethoven Society of Pianists - Greater Toronto Chapter which has kindly sponsored partial performance expenses in many of the local venues these past years. Devoted to her community’s musical education scene, Coral is frequently invited to adjudicate competitions and lead masterclasses. She currently maintains a full-time private studio at her home in Thornhill where her students regularly take part in performances and place highly in competitions and exams. She is also the director of the Berkovsky-Solomon Academy of Music (BSAM) founded by her and her husband, Michael Berkovsky, which offers additional piano and theory instructors in several locations across the Greater Toronto Area as well as online. Through her program, she supports and tries to expose students to different social and career platforms in our music community. She often is involved with organizing several events each term including masterclasses, concerts, and other educational events. Her Academy partnered with the wonderful Arts Access Fund which financially assists need-based families through covering a portion of their music lesson tuition. Coral has also collaborated with running other educational projects, such as serving as a founding director and advisor for the Avenue Road Music and Performance Academy as they launched their new music program in the summer of 2022. She was invited to join the RCM College of Examiners and has become an Examiner in 2022. Coral looks forward to becoming a certified Smart Start instructor so she can introduce more beautiful babies and toddlers to the world of music. After moving with her family to Toronto in 2004, Coral was a student at the Young Artist Performance Academy of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Prizewinner of several competitions, Coral was interviewed by numerous North American and European television channels and has participated in intensive international summer festivals such as the Pianofest in the Hamptons (Long Island, NY), the Morningside Music Bridge Institute (Calgary), and the Toronto Summer Music Institute. Coral has completed her undergraduate degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music and her Master’s degree at Boston University, under the tutelage of Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Pavel Nersessian respectively. During her studies in the United States, she was a recipient of the generous Canada Council for the Arts’ Musician Grant. Coral is currently pursuing her Doctoral of Music degree in piano performance at the University of Toronto with Enrico Elisi, on full scholarship. She lives in Thornhill, ON with her husband and two young children who enjoy frequently singing, dancing, and banging at the piano all together as a family. I |