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Christina Petrowska-Quilico

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Christina Petrowska Quilico
Petrowska Quilico in 1994
Born
Christina Petrowska

(1948-12-30) December 30, 1948 (age 75)
Spouses
Michel-Georges Brégent
(died 1993)
(m. 1993; died 2000)
Academic background
EducationBMUS, 1968, MSC, 1970, Juilliard School
Academic work
DisciplineMusic
InstitutionsYork University
Websitechristinapetrowskaquilico.com

Christina Petrowska Quilico CM OOnt FRSC (born December 30, 1948) is a Canadian pianist. She is a professor emerita, senior scholar at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2020 "For her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist and for championing Canadian music."[1] In 2021, she was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.[2] In 2022, she was appointed to the Order of Ontario for having "opened the ears of music lovers internationally through numerous classical and contemporary performances.... As a Professor of Musicology and Piano at York University, she has received esteemed research awards. As a benefactor, she established The Christina and Louis Quilico Award at the Ontario Arts Foundation and the Canadian Opera Company."[3] She was presented with the Ontario Arts Council's Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance, "recognizing talent and commitment to Canadian music",[4][5] in October 2023.

As well, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named her one of “Canada’s 25 best classical pianists”,[6] and inducted her into its “In Concert Hall of Fame”.[7]

Early life and education

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Petrowska Quilico was born on December 30, 1948, in Ottawa, Ontario.[8] Barely four months after turning 14, she made her performance debut at The Town Hall in New York City (May 4, 1963). She was attending the Juilliard School, where she went on to obtain her Bachelor of Music and Master's degree.[9]

Career

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After graduating from Juilliard, Petrowska Quilico went for post-graduate studies to Paris. She studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gyorgy Ligeti at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, and began teaching. She later taught at The Royal Conservatory of Music, Carleton University and University of Ottawa before joining the faculty of music at York University in 1987.[10] She is a leading performer of Canadian music, and her catalogue of 50-some discs includes many recordings of solo repertoire as well as chamber works and concertos[11] on the Canadian Music Centre's Centrediscs label. Her double album of the complete Glass Houses cycle by her late friend, composer Ann Southam, "remains Centrediscs' best-selling CD of all time".[12] As a duo with violinist Jacques Israelievitch, she recorded an album of Canadian music on Centrediscs and the Mozart violin and piano sonatas on the Fleur de Son label.[13] In 1992, astronaut Steve MacLean brought her recording of Alexina Louie's Star-Filled Night on his first mission to the Space Shuttle Columbia.[14] In 2006, on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis, MacLean took the recording of her as soloist in the world premiere performance of David Mott's piano concerto Eclipse.[15] A visual artist as well, she has created the covers for several of her CDs, notably Sound Visionaries,[16] and the Centrediscs CDs Worlds Apart[17] and Soundspinning.[18]

In 2007, Petrowska Quilico received the Friends of Canadian Music Award from the Canadian Music Centre and Canadian League of Composers.[14]

Following her 2020 appointment as a member of the Order of Canada,[1] in May 2021 she was a winner of the York University Research Awards,[19] and that September was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. The Order of Ontario was accorded her in 2022.[20] She also received a second York University Research Award in 2022,[21] her third in 2023 as one of two given Distinguished Honours,[22] and a fourth in 2024 for “Remarkable Artistic & Creative Accomplishments”.[23]

Personal life

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Petrowska-Quilico was married to composer Michel-Georges Brégent until he died in 1993. She subsequently remarried, to baritone Louis Quilico, CC. Following his death in 2000,[24] in his memory she created The Christina and Louis Quilico Award,[25] which is administered by the Ontario Arts Foundation and held every two years under the auspices of the Canadian Opera Company.

Selected discography

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Orchestral / Concertos / Small Ensembles

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Solo albums

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References

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  1. ^ a b General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor (November 26, 2020). "Governor General Announces 114 New Appointments to the Order of Canada". The Governor General of Canada.
  2. ^ "The RSC Presents the Class of 2021". The Royal Society of Canada. September 7, 2021.
  3. ^ "Backgrounder - The 2021 Appointees to the Order of Ontario". The 2021 Appointees to the Order of Ontario. King's Printer for Ontario. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico honoured with 2023 Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance".
  5. ^ Perlman, David (October 6, 2023). "Playing It Forward: Christina Petrowska Quilico". thewholenote.com (cover story).
  6. ^ "The 25 best Canadian classical pianists". cbc.ca/music.
  7. ^ "The In Concert Hall of Fame". cmccanada.org. 3 May 2021.
  8. ^ Hélène Plouffe; Sarah Church; Betty Nygaard King (September 19, 2011). "Christina Petrowska Quilico". thecanadianencyclopedia.org. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  9. ^ "Pop concert season opens". Corona Daily Independent. California. October 22, 1976.Free access icon
  10. ^ Perlman, David (October 2, 2011). "Busily Weaving a Musical Life - Christina Petrowska Quilico". thewholenote.com. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  11. ^ "Centrediscs".
  12. ^ "Glass Houses Complete Collection".
  13. ^ "Mozart Sonatas and Variations, for Violin and Piano, Volume 1". Fleur de Son Classics, Ltd.
  14. ^ a b "Christina Petrowska Quilico". ampd.yorku.ca. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  15. ^ "Steve MacLean taking York art and music into space". August 24, 2006.
  16. ^ "Sound Visionaries".
  17. ^ "Worlds Apart".
  18. ^ "Soundspinning".
  19. ^ "York University RESEARCH AWARD WINNERS May 2021" (PDF). York University.
  20. ^ "News Release - Ontario Celebrates 2021 Order of Ontario Appointees". Ontario Celebrates 2021 Order of Ontario Appointees. King's Printer for Ontario.
  21. ^ "York University Research Awards Celebration April 2022" (PDF). York University.
  22. ^ "2023 York University Research Awards Celebration". York University.
  23. ^ "2024 York University Research Awards Celebration". York University.
  24. ^ "Obituary, Louis Quilico, Baritone with a fine sense of Verdian style". The Guardian. England. July 24, 2000.Free access icon
  25. ^ "Christina and Louis Quilico Awards".
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