Artists 2011-2012

Jelena Milojevic, Accordion

photo: Gordan Dumka

Jelena Milojevic is one of today’s foremost female accordion performers. Born and raised in Croatia, she began studying classical accordion at Ivan Matetic-Ronjgov Music School, and later furthered her studies at the Music Academy in Pula. But destiny, and her Serbian roots, led her to one of the most famous accordion centres in the world: the city of Kragujevac (Serbia). It was there that she received her Bachelor and Master degrees in Accordion Performance and Education. While a student at the Music Academy, she collaborated with some of the world’s leading accordion pedagogues and performers, including: Alexander Skliarov, Yuri Shishkin, Peter Soave, James Crabb, Denis Modrusan, Owen Murray, Mika Väyrynen, and Radomir Tomic.

As a versatile musician with an extensive performance history, she has appeared on concert stages in Europe (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Ukraine, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Serbia), Canada, and the USA. Her debut concert at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) was the first solo accordion recital in the last 30 years in this prestigious venue. Her performances have been acclaimed as “an explosion of cosmic sensuality,” and she has been praised for her “brilliant virtuosity.”

While studying, she won 9 international accordion competitions as a soloist and chamber musician, including highly acclaimed contests in Pula (Croatia) and Castelfidardo (Italy). Her greatest success was winning one of the biggest international competitions for accordion artists, the 2003 Trophée Mondial de l’Accordéon, in Italy.

In the summer of 2007, Jelena and her family moved to Vancouver, Canada. While there, she taught at Vancouver Community College, and performed around the West Coast to promote the accordion. It was during this time that she discovered the amazing accordion community in beautiful Victoria, BC, where she currently lives. Jelena teaches accordion at Camosun College in Victoria and strives to put the accordion on the map as a recognized classical instrument. Jelena Milojevic has just released her debut CD The Art of Accordion, which honours some of the world’s most recognized accordion composers.

Justine Pelletier, piano

photo : Paul Labelle

Canadian pianist Justine Pelletier has been featured as a soloist with the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Francophonie, and La Sinfonia de Lanaudière, and her solo recitals have often been broadcast on national television and radio programs, such as the CBC’s Rising Stars series. She has appeared at the Lanaudière Festival in Joliette and at ChamberFest in New York, and has collaborated with such Canadian artists as the Cecilia String Quartet, violist Jean-Philippe Tremblay and pianists Jean Saulnier and Jimmy Brière.

She has won prizes from the Jeunesses Musicales of Canada Foundation (Université de Montréal), the Canadian National Music Festival, and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Prix d’Europe competitions. Under full scholarship, she has participated in summer festivals in Orford, at the Banff Centre (Canada), in Stuttgart (Germany), and in Enghien (Belgium). She is a graduate of the Université de Montreal—awarded both a Bachelor of Music degree and a DESS (Diplôme d’études supérieures spécialisées)—, where she studied with Jean Saulnier and Marc Durand. She is currently a graduate student at The Juilliard School in New York where she is completing her Master's degree as a student of Julian Martin. She is the recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture, which enabled her to work with renowned Bach scholar David Schulenberg on performance issues related to the interpretation of J.S. Bach's music, resulting in her own scholarly document, Tempo Issues in the Performance of Bach’s Sarabande in the Sixth Partita.

In the last two years, she has developed an interest, and is actively engaged, in developing her role as an artist-citizen, using the power of art to educate and engage communities. After participating in a seminar on Teaching Artistry at The Juilliard School, she has developed a passion for educational projects and outreach through music. In keeping with this line of thought, she is working with a group of fellow Juilliard students to inaugurate an innovative performance series in Lincoln Center’s at65 Café.

Cecilia String Quartet

photo : Melissa Sung

Members of group: Min-Jeong Koh, violin / Sarah Nematallah, violin / Caitlin Boyle, alto / Rachel Desoer, cello

The Cecilia String Quartet (CSQ) is one of Canada's most exciting young ensembles today. Winner of the prestigious Banff competition in 2010, competing with nine of the world’s finest emerging string quartets, 2nd Prizewinners at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and prizewinners at the Concours international de Quatuor à cordes de Bordeaux 2010, they are currently the Resident String Quartet at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. In 2009, the CSQ was simultaneously in residence at the JMC House and at McGill University's Schulich School of Music, where the members each received their graduate diplomas under the guidance of André Roy.

The CSQ has performed in cities across North America and in Europe. They also toured Ontario, Québec and British Columbia with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada on their Desjardins Concert Series. Highly interested in musical exploration and innovation, the CSQ embarked on the large scale project 'BLiM' (Breathing Life into Music), a month long residency in France generously supported by ProQuartet and the Centres Culturels de Rencontre Association in France and Europe (ACCR). The project culminated in the performance of two quartets by Théodore Dubois that were lost for the past century, as well as a new piece written for them by American composer Liam Wade. They kicked off 2010 with a new large-scale project at the Banff Center for the Arts, involving collaborations with Common Sense Composers Collective and the Afiara String Quartet, and culminating in the premiere of four brand new quartets written for them.

Members of the CSQ have attended the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, the Juilliard School of Music in New York, the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the Hochschule fur Musik und Theatre Munchen in Munich, Germany. Min-Jeong Koh currently plays on the ca. 1767 Joannes Baptista Guadagnini violin on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts and would like to thank the anonymous donor and the Canada Council for the Arts for their generous support.

www.ceciliastringquartet.com

Carmen by Bizet

Illustration: L'idéographe

Tempted by Opera… Give in to Carmen!

This year, JMC offers you a guaranteed success, Carmen by Georges Bizet. This opera—which premiered in Paris in March 1875—is based on the novel Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. Today, it remains one of the most frequently performed French operas in the world. The beautiful bohemian girl will share her theory of love, joyfully captivating you with her charms and cheekiness. Come meet some of the country’s finest emerging artists in this wonderful production with costumes, lighting, and original stage direction.