Sinfonia Toronto Concert - Virtuoso! April 4, 2008

Conductor Nurhan Arman will conduct Sinfonia Toronto on a Masterpiece Series concert on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 8 pm at Grace Church on-the-Hill (300 Lonsdale Road).

The concert titled ‘Virtuoso!’ will feature the brilliant Canadian pianist and composer Heather Schmidt. Ms. Schmidt will perform Bach’s Piano Concerto in F minor as well as her own Piano Concerto No. 3.

The orchestra will perform Tchaikovsk’s own favourite work the Serenade for Strings.
Heather Schmidt has emerged as one of the most gifted virtuoso concert pianists and one of the finest composers of her generation. She has been described by the press as "poised and utterly musical", "a musical talent without match", "a great artist", and "as much a pianist in the professional sense as she is a composer".
Heather began piano lessons at age four and made her first public appearance at age six. She started composing at the age of 5 and came to attention of the distinguished Canadian composer, Allan Bell, with whom she studied at the University of Calgary. She completed her studies at Indiana State University and at Juilliard in New York City.
Heather is in great demand for solo piano recital and concerto engagements throughout Canada and abroad. Recent and upcoming solo and concerto performances include major recitals in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Chicago, New York and Dallas, and appearances with the Manitoba Chamber and Montreal Chamber Orchestras, Orchestra London, the Hamilton and Calgary Philharmonic orchestras, and the Windsor, Edmonton, Newfoundland, Red Deer Symphony, Kingston and Aguascalientes (Mexico) Symphony orchestras.
Heather is also recognized as a highly successful composer, a combination reminiscent of such illustrious composer-pianist predecessors as Buxteude, Schumann, Liszt and Rachmaninoff. Her many prestigious awards in composition include a Juno nomination in “Best Classical Composition”, prize winner of the Polytech Choir’s 100th Anniversary Composition Competition (Finland, 2003), three consecutive BMI Awards, SOCAN Composer Awards, a Fleck Fellow from the Banff Centre, the Zwilich Prize in the International League of Women Composers Competition, the Dean’s Composition Prize at Indiana University and the 1994 Robert Fleming Prize from Canada Council. She has received commissions from sources such as the CBC, Canada Council, the Alberta Foundation, Westdeutsches Rundfunk in Germany, the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center, the New York State Council for the Arts, the Harvard Musical Association, and the Ester Honens Foundation.
There will be a free post-concert reception, giving audience members a chance to meet the orchestra members, guest-conductor and soloist.

Tickets are $40 adult, $32 senior, $12 student (16-29) and can be purchased from 416-499-0403 or online with a $5 online only discount at www.sinfoniatoronto.com

Official Website: http://www.sinfoniatoronto.com