Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg names this year’s scholarship winners

Not unlike with sports, scholarships and competitions are the lifeblood of classical musicians, especially in their career’s first years.

Winnipeg has a a few of note, one of which is the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg’s annual scholarship, which has just sounded the trumpets for this year’s winners. Together, they take home in $11,500 in prize money.

“The WMC has a long history of supporting young musicians in their pursuit of a performance career,” board member Millie Hildebrand tells the Free Press.

“Our scholarships go a long way, not only in assisting them financially, but in lending them confidence that they are on the right path.”

On Sunday at 7 p.m. at St. Andrew’s River Heights United Church, the six winners — Ari Hooker, Simon Proulx, Taylor Burns, Liane Nadurak, Shion Tamashiro and Kyle Briscoe — perform the repertoire that earned them the recognition. Tickets are $5-$40 at wmcwpg.ca.

While still early-career, many of the winners’ names are familiar to local music lovers.

Up-and-coming pianist and composer Hooker, son of the celebrated Manitoba cellist Yuri Hooker, has performed his music with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society. In his fourth year at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music, the precocious musician wins the WCM’s top scholarship this year at $3,000.

Clarinettist Simon Proulx wins the second biggest prize at $2,500. Named one of CBC Music’s 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 (2022), Proulx is currently pursuing a master’s of music in performance at McGill University.

The third biggest prize goes to Taylor Burns, who takes home the $2,000 Madeleine Gauvin Scholarship. The soprano, originally from Kingston, Ont., was twice named runner-up to the Winnipeg Music Festival’s Rose Bowl and recently completed her master’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Manitoba.

Founded in 1894, the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg is the city’s oldest continuously operating musical organization.

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