30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30, 2025 edition

It's a summer tradition at CBC Music: our annual classical "30 under 30" list, celebrating the achievements of Canada's emerging classical musicians.

They're winning big prizes, graduating from top music schools, writing bold new works, making exciting debuts — and we think they're amazing.

Scroll down to get acquainted with this year's inductees into our classical "30 under 30" community, from oldest to youngest.

Tune in to CBC Music's About Time on Monday, July 28, from noon to 3 p.m. (12:30 to 3:30 p.m. NT), for Tom Allen's special "30 under 30" edition of the show.

And if there's a rising classical music star you'd like us to know about, tell us about them on X via @CBCclassical using the hashtag #CBC30under30.

Benoit Gauthier, conductor

Age: 29
From: Baie-Comeau, Que.

Benoit Gauthier is the 2024 recipient of the $20,000 Jean-Marie Beaudet Award in Orchestra Conducting from the Canada Council for the Arts. It's recognition not only for his work with l'Orchestre symphonique de la Côte-Nord (OSCN), which he founded in 2012 (when he was 16!) to bring symphonic music to his hometown, but also the strides he's made at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where he graduated in May. He conducted the Curtis Symphony at Lincoln Centre's David Geffen Hall last November, part of a program shared with his mentor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In June, he took part in the National Arts Centre Orchestra's mentorship program. Gauthier credits the ancient Chinese practice of qigong with helping him "cultivate the inner awareness" necessary to conduct, and when he's not studying new scores, he swims, cooks and reads. Next season, he and his OSCN will tour Healing Requiem by Innu composer, pianist and poet Alexis Vollant.

Kady Evanyshyn, mezzo-soprano

Age: 29
Hometown: Winnipeg

Kady Evanyshyn has been an ensemble member at Staatsoper Hamburg since 2022. Her 2024-25 season featured many different productions, including Bizet's Carmen and Verdi's Falstaff. She also made her role debut as Cherubino in Opernhaus Zürich's production of Le nozze di Figaro — "a huge personal and professional step in my career, and a huge milestone to celebrate," she says. Highlights of her upcoming season include a new production of Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri, singing the title role of Hänsel in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, and debuting at the historic Teatro la Fenice in Venice. When she's not onstage, Kady finds time for her weekly Dungeons & Dragons group. "We've been meeting online every week since 2020. They keep me sane between all the crazy show days!"

Alex Halliday, bass-baritone

Age: 29
From: St. John's

The 2025-26 season will be huge for Alex Halliday. He'll make his debut with not one, not two, but three Canadian opera companies: He'll sing the role of Angelotti in Pacific Opera Victoria's Tosca in February; Colline in Vancouver Opera's La bohème in April; and Fafner in Edmonton Opera's Siegfried next June. Last November, he won the $3,000 third prize (ex aequo) in the latter company's Rumbold Vocal Prize. ("That entire week was unforgettable," he recalls.) And before those debuts, Halliday will return to the Canadian Opera Company in September to sing the Duke in Roméo et Juliette. It's a busy time, but he's got a terrific support system that includes his wife, Loren Graziano, whom he married on July 27, and his dog, Milos, "the singular most powerful force of therapy outside of communicating with your most trusted person."

Justine Ledoux, mezzo-soprano

Age: 29
From: Montreal

On July 26, Justine Ledoux sang the role of Serena Joy in the Banff Centre's production of Poul Ruders' The Handmaid's Tale — "one of those roles that grabs you by the gut," she says. As a returning member of l'Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal, she has a busy year ahead, including roles in Janáček's Jenůfa and Britten's The Turn of the Screw as well as covering the Carmen of Rihab Chaieb (her idol) next May. She won the $5,000 third prize and the $1,000 Prix Claire-Charbonneau-Clerk at the Prix d'Europe Competition in June. Last December, she got engaged to her longtime boyfriend, tenor Thomas Viñals. "The proposal may have been dramatic and involved a few high notes," she concedes. "It also involved our very loved Siamese cat, Gaston."

Aaron Paris, producer, composer, violinist

Age: 29
Hometown: Toronto

Who gets the call when pop superstars need strings on their newest song? Aaron Paris. His collaborations with Ariana Grande, PartyNextDoor, Kali Uchis and more have led to six Grammy nominations, and a nomination for producer of the year at the 2025 Juno Awards. Paris is the founder of Strings from Paris, a collective of classically trained musicians dedicated to "breaking down the barriers of the classical world and pushing the boundaries of string composition and recording." Their performances and arrangements have garnered millions of views across social media. In February 2025, Paris was the music director for Charlotte Day Wilson's Red Bull Symphonic performance. He brought together Wilson's band, a team of orchestrators, and members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. "This was an amazing and challenging experience," says Paris. "I'm super proud of what we put together; it was a magical night." He recently released his debut orchestral album, LotusLand, which has been followed by a synth version, and a Pokemon-inspired video game.

Emma Fekete, soprano

Age: 29
From: Val-d'Or, Que.

Last summer, Emma Fekete made her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, singing Ynold in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande — a milestone that she says, "ended up shaping my perspective on where I see myself growing as an artist." That artistic growth will continue in December at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, where she'll sing Suzanne in a new Laurent Pelly production of Offenbach's Robinson Crusoé. ("A dream come true," she says.) Closer to home, in October, she'll be the featured soloist for a concert of French baroque music with Arion Baroque Orchestra at Montreal's Bourgie Hall. And next March, in Geneva, Fekete will sing Berthe in Meyerbeer's Le Prophète with the Geneva Chamber Orchestra. "I have fallen utterly and completely in love with Meyerbeer's music," she admits. Almost as much as she loves the Montreal Canadiens.

Henry Kennedy, conductor

Age: 28
Hometown: New Glasgow, N.S., via Ludlow, England

Henry Kennedy began his tenure as the National Arts Centre Orchestra's inaugural resident conductor in September 2024. "Working with NACO has brought home what really inspires me," he reflects. "Having the opportunity to work with musicians of the very highest calibre on a daily basis is so motivating." Kennedy recently joined the orchestra on its tour of Japan and South Korea. One of the most powerful moments of that tour was leading a workshop with the Heart to Heart Orchestra — South Korea's first disability arts orchestra: "Experiencing the joy and euphoria music can bring alongside these incredible musicians will stay with me for the rest of my life." Another recent highlight was conducting a production of Tosca in Lucca, Italy — Puccini's hometown. Kennedy loves working in Italy whenever he gets the chance, and he says that's because "the cuisine is unparalleled, the history is extraordinary, and the pace of life is beautiful!"

Meijun Chen, conductor, clarinettist

Age: 28
From: Edmonton

"I feel incredibly fortunate to have turned my passion into a career," says Meijun Chen, clarinettist, conductor and director of concert winds at the University of British Columbia's School of Music. Earlier this summer, Chen completed her doctorate in wind band conducting at the University of Alberta — the first woman to do so. Last summer, she received a scholarship to attend the UCLA Wind Band Conducting Workshop, and was selected as a Domaine Forget conducting fellow, where she worked with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Kensho Watanabe. In December, she'll be in Chicago, doing a presentation at the Midwest Clinic with pipa virtuoso Gao Hong on the cultural and musical intersections between Chinese and Western traditions. "A tremendous honour to share my work at one of the most internationally renowned conferences."

Tim Beattie, guitarist

Age: 28
From: Barrie, Ont.

Tim Beattie currently lives in Scotland, where he's been teaching guitar and chamber music at the University of St. Andrews since 2021. But he also gets around: this past year, he took part in Residenze Erranti, an artistic research residency in Italy; in April, he toured Ontario and Saskatchewan with Quartet Malamatina; in May, he performed (onstage, in costume) in the Canadian Opera Company's production of Berg's Wozzeck; and in July, he was on the Isle of Islay, playing Richard Vaughan's Malt Concerto for two guitars and chamber orchestra — "a joyful, slightly tipsy celebration of the island itself." Guitar legend Leo Brouwer is writing a piece for Beattie's forthcoming debut album ("Which still doesn't feel entirely real," he says). Fans in Ontario can attend his recitals in Barrie (Nov. 14), St. Catharines (Nov. 15) and Toronto (Nov. 16.)

Justin Lapierre, composer

Age: 27
Hometown: Cambridge, Ont.

Justin Lapierre isn't afraid to write about big ideas. His latest oratorio, The Gatherers, was premiered in May and June 2025 with back-to-back concerts in Kitchener and Guelph, Ont. The work — featuring multiple soloists, a choir, and a chamber orchestra — draws from both the Voyager Golden Record and the Epic of Gilgamesh and "weaves together two parallel narratives: an ancient story, in which humans attempt to dominate nature, and a modern story where humanity is forced to reckon with nature's power, as told through wildfire alerts, voice mails, and fragments of T.S. Eliot," Lapierre explains. The Gatherers contains familiar melodies including "Shall We Gather at the River" and Allegri's Miserere, binding the two worlds together and offering "a meditation on the environmental legacy we leave behind," he says. Lapierre one day hopes to write a full-length opera that will continue and expand on his streak of large, ambitious works. He admits that he has a few ideas of what that might be, but is keeping it under wraps for now.

Emma Pennell, soprano, poet

Age: 27
From: South River, Ont., via Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland)

Hearing Leontyne Price's recording of the aria "Vissi d'arte" from Puccini's Tosca was life-changing for Emma Pennell: "It wasn't just a beautiful performance, it felt like prayer, like protest, like a woman laying her soul bare." The same could be said of Pennell's debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, which took place in May when the Mi'kmaw soprano performed Ana Sokolovic's You Can Die Properly Now, dedicated to children who never returned home from residential schools, and sung in Mi'kmaq — "a moment of cultural power and poetic healing." On July 26, Pennell sang the role of Ofglen in Poul Ruders' The Handmaid's Tale at the Banff Centre. "Banff reminds me why I sing: to honour beauty, to tell stories, and to connect to something greater than myself." This fall, as the recipient of the 2025 RBC Emerging Artist Award ($25,000), Pennell will join the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio, having won second prize in the 2024 Centre Stage Competition. "I've crossed huge goals off my bucket list, and somehow managed to keep my lipstick off my teeth."

Elisabeta Cojocaru, pianist

Age: 26
From: Mississauga, Ont.

This fall, Elisabeta Cojocaru will join the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio. "I'm excited — and mildly terrified, in a good way — to work with the incredible coaches and artists at the COC," she says. "It feels like the beginning of something big." She's currently moving to Toronto from Montreal, where she's been writing her doctoral thesis on Romanian art song and taking part in the McGill/Université de Montréal Vocal Arts Residency. "We covered everything from French to German diction, and explored the depths of Schubert's phrasing all the way to the emotional chaos of Puccini," she describes. "It was intense and beautiful, and it reminded me how much I love being in the trenches with singers and building something together." None of it would be possible without her father, who bought her a keyboard when she was seven and taught her how to play her first song. "That tiny moment changed everything."

Chris Clarke, harpist

Age: 26
From: Windsor, Ont.

Since graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2020, Chris Clarke has been based in London, England, where they completed a master of performance degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and embarked on a life as a freelance musician. "The real world is scary," they point out, but Clarke is undeterred: They recently teamed up with composer Charlotte Glyn-Woods to create small room arts, which presents concerts in intimate spaces around London. "Think salon concerts, but instead of Schubert at a piano, it's new-age electronic saxophone or experimental DJ sets." In June, Clarke performed a recital of Canadian works as part of Classical:Next's curated concert at the inaugural SXSW London Festival. In August, they'll join the Rothko Collective for a concert at the Arran International Festival of Chamber Music and Song.

Alexander Straus-Fausto, organist

Age: 25
From: Battersea via Kitchener, Ont.

When he was only 19, Alexander Straus-Fausto was appointed titular organist of Église du Très-Saint-Nom-de-Jésus in Montreal, home to Canada's third largest organ. He has since earned degrees from McGill University, Yale University, and most recently, the Eastman School of Music, and embarked on a career as a concert organist. Earlier this year, he performed at La Madeleine in Paris (Gabriel Fauré and Camille Saint-Saëns were both organists there), and St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London. He also acquired a home pipe organ, thanks to the generosity of his grandparents. Straus-Fausto's dream is to give a memorized organ performance of the orchestral accompaniment to a complete opera, such as Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer or Parsifal. His musical tastes are surprisingly wide-ranging: "Most people don't know that I like to listen to country music for fun," he admits. "I'm a country boy at heart."

Kai Kubota-Enright, composer

Age: 25
Hometown: Langley, B.C.

Kai Kubota-Enright won the $18,000 first prize in the 2025 Graham Sommer Competition for Young Composers for her work spatial communication of dripstone. The year 2025 also marked her graduation from the University of Southern California with a master's degree in composition. She's currently planning to move to New York City, and looking forward to the immediate period of open schedules and the chaos and spontaneity that a new move allows. When asked where else she would like to go, she mentioned returning to Japan because of the influence it has on her music. "I draw a lot on formative sonic experiences in temples in my musical esthetic," she says, "and it really made me appreciate in a foundational way the power of music as ritual."

Hannah Corbett, violinist

Age: 24
From: Maple, Ont.

In March, Hannah Corbett was concertmaster for Michael Tilson Thomas's final concert at the helm of the New World Symphony, where she's been a violin fellow since May 2024. "I will never forget the feeling of joy, gratitude and inspiration I experienced onstage," she says. Earlier this summer, Corbett was at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego playing in its All-Star Orchestra, comprising concertmasters and principal players from across North America. From there, she went to Massachusetts as a fellow at this summer's Tanglewood Music Centre, where she was concertmaster for a performance of The Rite of Spring led by Thomas Adès. Other recent highlights include playing Brahms's Clarinet Quintet alongside living legends at the Manchester Music Festival, and subbing with the Philadelphia Orchestra. "After spending the year in a beach town, it felt like stepping into another dimension," she describes. "In that instant, I remembered how much I thrive in a big city."

Sophie van der Sloot, cellist

Age: 23
From: Montreal, via Ottawa

When Sophie van der Sloot got the opportunity to join the cello section of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) for the 2023-24 season, she decided to take a gap year from Juilliard, where she'd been working on her undergraduate degree. "[But] when my gap year came to an end, I felt the urge to finish what I had started," she says. This spring, after a remote graduation recital, she got her Juilliard degree, while continuing to play with the OSM, where she was recently named second assistant cellist. Completing the trifecta, her beloved Edmonton Oilers made the Stanley Cup finals. It's been a big year! She's looking forward to playing chamber music with some of her OSM colleagues in November and April at Montreal's Bourgie Hall, and she's got a fabulous new instrument: a 1790 Antonio & Joseph Gagliano cello from Naples, on loan from Canimex.

Athena Deng, pianist

Age: 22
From: Vancouver

On April 5, Athena Deng gave her graduation recital at the Oberlin Conservatory, which paired two contrasting works: Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, and to tame the moon, a suite by Võ Hà Hạnh Nhân for prepared piano, electronics and VOID (an instrument designed by the composer). "It was both a chance to revisit something familiar through a different lens, and be very hands-on in exploring the possibilities of the piano beyond its keyboard," reflects Deng. DJing is a recent passion: "DJing live forces you to think on your feet: What textures might mesh well with this track? Do the rhythms and harmonies line up? What kind of atmosphere am I trying to achieve with my selections?" As second prize winner in the senior division of the 2025 Canadian Chopin Competition, Deng will travel to Warsaw in October as a contestant in the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. We like her chances.

Malena Lorenson, bass trombonist

Age: 22
From: Red Deer, Alta.

Later this summer, Malena Lorenson will be in Switzerland, taking part in the contemporary music academy at the Lucerne Music Festival. When that's over, she'll remain in Switzerland to begin her "dream" master's degree at the Hochschule der Künste Bern. "I love the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, but I am very excited to explore the Swiss Alps this year!" After winning second prize at the 2024 OSM Competition last November, she was invited back for the OSM's Mon Beau Concerto family series in February, when she played a movement from John Williams's Tuba Concerto (on bass trombone) five mornings in a row. She'll perform the complete concerto with the Red Deer Symphony on Oct. 18. Lorenson recently graduated from the Montreal Conservatory, where she and three other students formed Les Francobones, a trombone quartet that won first prize (quartets) at the recent International Trombone Festival (ITF) in London, Ont. Lorenson also took first prize in the ITF's Donald Yaxley Bass Trombone Competition.

Samuel Lauzon-Schnittka, pianist

Age: 22
From: Montreal

In June, at the Prix d'Europe competition, Samuel Lauzon-Schnittka won the $50,000 first prize, which he'll put toward higher studies in Germany. It will also give him the opportunity to play a concerto with l'Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de Montréal in the coming season. A student at the Montreal Conservatory, Lauzon-Schnittka will play Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 with his school's orchestra next February, a prospect that makes him "shiver with excitement." On Sept. 6, he'll perform music by women composers of the Parisian Belle Époch with violinist Amellie Gendron. He recently started teaching piano at his former high school, Collège Regina Assumpta. "On my first day of work, a shy 12-year-old student took a seat at the piano where I had sat for the first time 10 years prior," he marvels. He's lowkey obsessed with Granados's Goyescas ("a true summit of the piano repertoire"), and every other Sunday, he performs at seniors' residences ("this project is one of the closest to my heart"). Offstage, he plays table tennis, watches Danish and Swedish movies, and reads the works of Victor Hugo.

Danial Sheibani, composer

Age: 21
Hometown: Richmond Hill, Ont.

Danial Sheibani was commissioned by the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYOC) to compose his piece Out of Thin Air. That piece premiered in 2024, was toured across the country, has been broadcast on CBC Music's In Concert, and received a SOCAN Young Composer Award. Since then, Sheibani has been busy with all kinds of musical projects: his first string quartet was recently premiered by the Rhythm Method at the Lake George Music Festival, and he has written a new work for violin and piano that will be premiered and toured by the Maier Duo during the 2025-26 season. He also has two albums in the works that lean toward the rock and pop worlds. The first is with his band Ash Lake, a group he formed with other University of Toronto composition students. He describes it as "a post-rock band blending electronica and orchestral textures with the heavier sound worlds found in genres such as shoegaze and metalcore." His second album is a solo project full of psychedelic pop, with nods to David Bowie and Björk. Look for those releases near the end of the year.

Ari Hooker, pianist, composer

Age: 21
From: Winnipeg

Last September, as winner of the 2024 Aikins Memorial Trophy, Ari Hooker made his solo debut with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO), performing the first movement of his own Piano Concerto No. 1. One month later, he was back onstage with the WSO to play Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. "These performances were made even more meaningful by the fact that I got to perform alongside my dad, Yuri Hooker, who's been principal cellist of the WSO for 25 years," he explains. Ari recently won the $3,000 first prize at the Women's Musical Club of Winnipeg's scholarship competition. In August, his Piano Quartet will receive its premiere at the Rosamunde Summer Music Academy's 2025 festival. He'll be a soloist with the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra next season, and he dreams of one day composing a video game score.

Luka Coetzee, cellist

Age: 20
Hometown: Calgary

After becoming the youngest person to win first prize at the 2023 International Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki, Finland, Luka Coetzee is on the rise. She has performed concertos with the Pilsen Philharmonic, Lahti Symphony, Oulu Symphony, and the Montpellier Opera Orchestra within the last year. She has also performed her own transcription of Vivaldi's Winter at the Berlin Philharmonie and Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Coetzee says that Finland has become one of her favourite places to visit: "I've come to deeply appreciate how much the people value and support artists." She returns in October to perform Elgar's Cello Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Osmo Vänksä. Canadian audiences can look forward to seeing her perform Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in January, as well as a recital with pianist Jon Kimura Parker at Toronto's Koerner Hall in February.

Sunny Wu, saxophonist

Age: 19
From: Port Moody, B.C.

"I am still in awe," says Sunny Wu of his April 2025 performance of Jacques Ibert's Concertino da camera for alto saxophone with the UBC Symphony Orchestra — his reward for winning the 2025 UBC Concerto Competition. Inspired by Japanese saxophonist Kenta Saito, Wu is on a mission "to convince the classical world that the saxophone belongs and is here to stay," despite being a bit envious of clarinettists' control in the lower register: "the ability to emerge out of nothing, and fade into nothing." Wu was principal alto saxophone for the National Youth Band of Canada's April 2024 tour of Nova Scotia, before returning to his hometown of Guangzhou, China, for the first time in six years. "[It] made me incredibly grateful and humbled by the personal growth I've undergone since coming to Canada."

Jason Xu, saxophonist

Age: 19
From: North York, Ont.

Jason Xu has spent the past two months in Shanghai, China, paying an overdue visit to his grandparents. "They're getting older, and I want to enjoy every moment with them," he says. They'll be proud of their grandson, who won the $20,000 first prize at the 2024 OSM Competition — the first saxophonist to do so in the competition's 85-year history. As a result, he'll give a recital titled La Voix du Sax in November where he'll "make the saxophone sing, just like an opera singer," he says. And he'll be the soloist for Frank Martin's Ballade with the OSM in May 2026. To unwind, Xu plays pool — "something that's stress-free and even stress-relieving for me because I don't play it professionally!"

Audrey Morris, harpist

Age: 19
From: Ottawa

In April, Audrey Morris won the $9,000 top prize at the National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition. "[It] has inspired me to push myself and showcase what the harp is capable of doing," she says. She was a member of the Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra for its Carnegie Hall debut in May 2024. "We were in New York City for a few days and I had a lot of fun exploring with my friends," she remembers. In May, she was in Los Angeles, performing in the American Harp Society National Competition. (L.A. may be in her future, too, if she fulfils her dream of playing film music.) Morris was a member of this year's NYOC, and she'll return to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto this fall to resume her studies with Judy Loman, whom she describes as "a giving and down-to-Earth teacher."

Sky Yang, composer, erhu and suona player

Age: 18
From: Thornhill, Ont.

"One of the best things about being a musician is that I'm able to share every facet of my musical identity — including my traditional Chinese heritage," says Sky Yang, who's been a member of the Toronto Chinese Orchestra for more than 10 years. "I also recently performed the suona with the Canadian Chinese Orchestra at their end-of-year concert." Parallel to his skill on the suona and erhu, Yang is getting noticed as a composer. Last November, he was selected as one of four composers to participate in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's Explore the Score Reading Session. "It was surreal to have my piece Hourglass read by the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall and have guest composer John Adams give feedback on my work." He was also a composer fellow with the Hamilton Philharmonic for the 2024-25 season. He'll begin his undergraduate degree in composition at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia this fall.

Austin Webster-Perks, violinist

Age: 17
From: Halifax

In April, Austin Webster-Perks won first prize (ex aequo) in the advanced division of the Victoria BCN International Violin Competition in Barcelona, Spain. As part of his prize, he performed in a masterclass for his idol, Maxim Vengerov. He also retains fond memories of Barcelona's architecture, weather, art galleries and food: "I don't think I have ever eaten as much." Last October, he was invited to play Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto with the Massapequa Philharmonic Orchestra in Long Island. "I love the sound of an orchestra, but being able to collaborate with one is a whole other ball game," he says. Webster-Perks was enrolled in Juilliard's pre-college program from 2022-25, and is going to take a gap year that will include travelling to China in September for the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition. One day, he'd like to beat his father at chess and learn to sing like Frank Sinatra.

Matty Angus, clarinettist

Age: 17
From: Victoria

"The best thing about being a musician is having an outlet to express myself in myriad ways," muses Matty Angus, who began playing clarinet in 2020 and hasn't looked back. In July, he won the grand prize (junior division) at the Silverstein Clarinet Contest — the most recent of many lucrative victories. As winner of the 2024 Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, he made his solo orchestral debut in April, playing the first movement of Weber's Clarinet Concerto. "I expected to feel intense nerves, but instead I experienced one of the calmest, most connected performances." Next season, he'll perform the complete concerto with the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra, as winner of the 19th Jenny & Norman Nelson Concerto Competition. This summer, Angus has been touring with the NYOC as one of its youngest members. None of this would be possible without his mentors and the "quiet discipline, unshakable conviction, and sense of purpose and precision" that his mother brings to his life.

Valerie Lin, percussionist

Age: 14
From: Burnaby, B.C.

"I would like more people to know that percussion isn't just about rhythms and loud drums," says Valerie Lin. "It can be beautiful and melodic, like the marimba." She'll do her part to fulfil that mission next season, when she plays Emmanuel Séjourné's Concerto for Marimba and Strings with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) — the result of her first prize at the VSO School of Music's Future of Excellence Competition. Lin draws her inspiration from Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying. "She seems to enjoy every match she plays," Lin explains. "It reminds me that when you love what you do, it becomes easier to face challenges" — a mindset that likely helped Lin train the puppy she adopted last November. "Life with a tail-wagging buddy is wonderful but training her is a lot," she admits. Lin attended a music camp in Taiwan in early July — "a chance for me to meet other young percussionists and improve my skills," she says, adding, "music doesn't need a language. We listen and feel it in our own way."