Christina Petrowska Quilico is a Canadian

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. She is a professor emerita, senior scholar at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada. She was appointed to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2020 "For her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist and for championing Canadian music." In 2021, she was named a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Canada judges to have "made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life" ...

. In 2022, she was appointed to the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

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." She was presented with the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

Oskar Morawetz Oskar Morawetz, (January 17, 1917 – June 13, 2007) was a Canadian composer. Biography Morawetz was born in Světlá nad Sázavou, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic), into a Jewish family. He studied piano and theory in Prague and, follow ...

Award for Excellence in Music Performance, "recognizing talent and commitment to Canadian music", in October 2023. As well, the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

named her one of “Canada’s 25 best classical pianists”, and inducted her into its “In Concert Hall of Fame”.

Early life and education

Petrowska Quilico was born in 1948 in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. 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 The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, where she went on to obtain her

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

and

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Career

After graduating from Juilliard, Petrowska Quilico went for post-graduate studies to Paris. She studied with

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

and Gyorgy Ligeti at the

Darmstädter Ferienkurse Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Co ...

, and began teaching. She later taught at

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; ), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto C ...

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

and

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

before joining the faculty of music at

in 1987. 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 on the

Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its As ...

's Centrediscs label. Her double album of the complete Glass Houses cycle by her late friend, composer

Ann Southam Ann Southam, (4 February 1937 – 25 November 2010) was a Canadian electronic and classical music composer and music teacher. She is known for her minimalist, iterative, and lyrical style, for her long-term collaborations with dance choreograp ...

, "remains Centrediscs' best-selling CD of all time". As a duo with violinist

Jacques Israelievitch Jacques Israelievitch, CM (May 6, 1948 – September 5, 2015) was a French violinist, and one of Canada's foremost chamber musicians. Born in Cannes, France, at 11 years old he was the youngest graduate in the history of the Le Mans Conservatory ...

, she recorded an album of Canadian music on Centrediscs and the Mozart violin and piano sonatas on the Fleur de Son label. In 1992, astronaut Steve MacLean brought her recording of

Alexina Louie Alexina Diane Louie, (born 30 July 1949), is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music. She has composed for various instrumental and vocal combinations in a variety of genres. She has fulfilled a number of commissions, and her work ...

's Star-Filled Night on his first mission to the

Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the Columbia Rediviva, first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the Columbia (personification) ...

. In 2006, on board the

Space Shuttle Atlantis Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' (Orbiter Vehicle designation: OV‑104) is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. ''Atlantis'' was manufactured by the Rockw ...

, MacLean took the recording of her as soloist in the world premiere performance of David Mott's piano concerto Eclipse. A visual artist as well, she has created the covers for several of her CDs, notably Sound Visionaries, and the Centrediscs CDs Worlds Apart and Soundspinning. In 2007, Petrowska Quilico received the Friends of Canadian Music Award from the

and

Canadian League of Composers The Canadian League of Composers (CLC) is an organization formed in 1951 of Canadian composers primarily interested in raising awareness and acceptance of Canadian music. Its activities are overseen and directed by an executive, and by a National C ...

. Following her 2020 appointment as a member of the

, in May 2021 she was a winner of the York University Research Awards, and that September was named a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

. The

was accorded her in 2022. She also received a second York University Research Award in 2022, her third in 2023 as one of two given Distinguished Honours, and a fourth in 2024 for “Remarkable Artistic & Creative Accomplishments”.

Personal life

Petrowska-Quilico was married to composer Michel-Georges Brégent until his death in 1993. She subsequently remarried, to baritone

Louis Quilico Louis Quilico, (January 14, 1925 – July 15, 2000) was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often ...

, . Following his death in 2000, in his memory she created The Christina and Louis Quilico Award, which is administered by the

Ontario Arts Foundation The Ontario Arts Foundation is a non-governmental not for profit organization established in 1991 under the Ontario Corporations Act to encourage and facilitate private giving to the arts in Ontario, Canada. The group is distinct from the Ontari ...

and held every two years under the auspices of the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...

Selected discography

Orchestral / Concertos / Small Ensembles

* "Shadow & Light: Canadian Double Concertos" Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 31823. (2023) Larysa Kuzmenko: Skartaris, Alice Ho: Capriccio Ballo,

Christos Hatzis Christos Hatzis (; born 1953) is a Juno Award-winning Greek-Canadian composer. Many of his compositions are performed internationally, and he is a professor at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Early life and education Hatzis was bor ...

: Arabesque, with Marc Djokic, violin; Sinfonia Toronto, Nurhan Arman, conductor * "Tapestries" Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 17011. (2011) Heather Schmidt: Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Warren, conductor. Concerto nominated for

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

, Juno Awards of 2012#Classical Composition of the Year * "3 Concerti" Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 15610. (2010) Piano concerti by

Violet Archer Violet Louise Archer (24 April 191321 February 2000) was a Canadian composer, teacher, pianist, organist, and percussionist. Born Violet Balestreri in Montreal, Quebec, in 1913, her family changed their name to Archer in 1940. She died in Ottawa ...

, Larysa Kuzmenko, and

with the

CBC Vancouver Orchestra The CBC Radio Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Until the early 1980s the CBC had a number of orchestras located in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and ...

Sir John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Bach's church cantatas in liturgica ...

, conductor; the

Toronto Symphony The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the ...

with Jukka Pekka Saraste, conductor; and the

National Arts Centre Orchestra The National Arts Centre Orchestra (NAC Orchestra) is a Canadian orchestra based in Ottawa, Ontario. The NAC Orchestra's primary concert venue is Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre. Since its inception, the Orchestra has commissioned more ...

, Alex Pauk, conductor. Kuzmenko concerto nominated for

, Juno Awards of 2011#Classical Composition of the Year * David Mott "Eclipse" Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 12707. (2007) Piano concerto with the World Chamber Ensemble, Mark Chambers, conductor. Also, solo piano music. * "Mozart Sonatas and Variations for Piano and Violin Volumes 1 & 2" Fleur de Son/

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

, FDS58034 & FDS58040. (2016, 2017) With

, violin.

American Record Guide The ''American Record Guide'' (''ARG'') is a classical music magazine. It has reviewed classical music recordings since 1935. History and profile The magazine was founded by Peter Hugh Reed in May 1935 as the ''American Music Lover''. It chan ...

Critic's Choice (Vol. 2), 2018 * "Vocal Gems (live from New York)", with

, baritone, Welspringe (2003)

* "Mr. Rigoletto: My Life in Music"

Analekta Analekta is Canada's largest independent classical music recording label. The label, which takes its name from the Greek word ''analekta'' ("a collection of the finest works"), was founded in 1988 by the Canadian music industry manager and entrep ...

, FL 2 3143. (2000) Baritone

performs Italian and French opera arias with various orchestras and art songs with Petrowska Quilico as pianist.

Solo albums

* "Games of the Night Wind" Navona Records, NV6630 (2024) World premiere recording of 12 Nocturnes by

David Jaeger David Jaeger (born 9 November 1947) is an American born Canadian composer, music producer, radio producer, and performer. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, he is best known for his composit ...

; and night-inspired works by Henryk Gorecki,

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Tōru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Es ...

, and

Alexander Tansman Alexander Tansman (, French: Alexandre Tansman; 12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of neoclassicism, associated with ...

. * "Blaze" Centrediscs, CMCCD 31323. (2023) Solo piano works by Alice Ho * "Vintage Americana" Navona Records, NV6384. (2021) Works by

Lowell Liebermann Lowell Liebermann (born February 22, 1961, in New York City) is an American composer, pianist and conductor. Life and career At the age of sixteen, Liebermann performed at Carnegie Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, op. 1. He studied at the Juilliar ...

, David Del Tredici,

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. From 1977 up to his eventual death, he lived mainly in Be ...

Mario Davidovsky Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...

and Paul Huebner * "Retro Americana" Navona Records, NV6361. (2021) Works by

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher, teacher Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 2022.C ...

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

, Bill Westcott,

Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordi ...

and

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever. From early in his career, fellow musicians acclaimed Tatum's technical ability as extraordinary. Tatum a ...

* "Sound Visionaries" Navona Records, NV6358. (2021)

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

: Preludes Book 2;

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

: 7 of the Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus;

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

: first and third sonatas *

"Soundspinning" Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 26018. (2018) Early works * "Global Sirens" Fleur de Son/Naxos, FDS 58046. (2018) Rare works by women composers from around the world * "Worlds Apart" Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 23717. (2017) 2-CD set, comprising "Classics with a Twist": Works by

John Rea (composer) John Rea (born 1944) is a Montreal-based composer who won the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in both 1981 and 1992. He obtained his bachelor's degree at Wayne State University (1967), his Master of Music degree at the University of To ...

, Steven Gellman and Peter Paul Koprowski; and "Worlds Apart": Works by David Jaeger, Diana MacIntosh, Micheline Coulombe Saint Marcoux, Patrick Cardy and Michel-Georges Brégent *

"Glass Houses Vol. 1 & 2" Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 22215: the complete 15 Glass Houses, comprising "Glass Houses Volume 2" Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 20114. (2014); and "Glass Houses Revisited" 9 revised Glass Houses. Centrediscs, CD-CMCCD 16511. (2011) Nominated for

, Juno Awards of 2012#Classical Composition of the Year *

Ernesto Nazareth Ernesto Júlio de Nazareth (March 20, 1863 – February 1, 1934) was a Brazilian composer and pianist, especially noted for his creative maxixe and choro compositions. Influenced by a diverse set of dance rhythms including the polka, the habanera ...

"Tangos Brasileiros" Marquis Classics, MAR81519. (2013) Two CD set * Constantine Caravassilis "Visions: The Complete Books of Rhapsodies and Fantasias" Centrediscs, CMCCD 18613. (2013) A two CD set, with cover and booklet art by Christina Petrowska Quilico *

"Pond Life" Centrediscs, CMCCD 14109. (2009) A 2-CD set * "Canadian Composers Portraits: Ann Southam" Centrediscs, CMCCD 10505. (2005) A 3-CD set of the cycle Rivers. * Michel-Georges Brégent "16 PORTRAITS" Centrediscs, CMCCD 10805. (2005) A 2-CD set of the Romantic Etudes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrowska Quilico, Christina 1948 births Living people The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Academic staff of The Royal Conservatory of Music Juilliard School alumni Musicians from Ottawa 21st-century Canadian classical pianists Academic staff of York University Canadian women classical pianists Members of the Order of Canada Musicians from Toronto 21st-century Canadian women pianists 20th-century Canadian pianists