Isabella Perron — Voice
Isabella Perron is 9-year-old. She has won many first and second prizes in music competitions in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada in both piano and violin. Along with several other young artists, she also sang with Ariane Moffatt in La Cour des Grands, a program hosted by Gregory Charles on TVA in 2008. In the same year, as both violinist and singer, she was heard in many concerts in the United States. Judges describe her as a complete young musician, possessing an astonishing musical maturity, spirit and intensity with sincere musicality and great stage presence.

Isabella will perform Ave Maria by Schubert and a great Édith Piaf classic – Non, je ne regrette rien.

Warren Zhang — Erhu
Nine-year-old Warren Zhang has been playing the erhu since the age of four. He was trained by his father, Shi Gen Zhang, who was formerly director of the Guangzhou Acrobatic Troup of China Orchestra. Warren performed at Montreal’s Monument National as guest soloist for the Chinese New Year show in January 2009, on which occasion he received enthusiastic applause before he had even finished playing and a five-minute standing ovation at the end. At a school performance for senior officials from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and the School Board, he again received a standing ovation from the entire audience.

In his return to our I Musici celebration of youth, he will play Galloping in the Boundless Grassland by Wang Guoton and a folk piece called Flowers and Youth by Wang Luobin (1936-1996), a composer known as the father of a style of song typical to the north west of China.

Mathilde Noblet — Flute
Born in Paris, 15-year-old Mathilde Noblet has lived in Montréal since 1997. She is registered in the music program at Pierre-Laporte and is now in her 9th year of flute studies. During her 5 years at the secondary school level, Mathilde took part in many competitions. She won first prize at the Concours solistes et petits ensembles de Victoriaville (2008-2009) and this year won the Yamaha prize for excellence. Last spring, she played with the Orchestre à Vent Prestige Québec (OVPQ) and three months ago, Mathilde became a member of the Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunes de Montréal (OSJM).

For the Tudor Hall concert she has chosen the first movement of the Concerto for Flute in B major by Quantz.

Nicholas Kerr-Barr — Clarinet
Nicholas Kerr-Barr, 15-year-old plays both clarinet and saxophone and for several years has been a member of the family quartet. He is from Cowansville and is presently studying at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. For the past two years, Nicholas has been first clarinet with the Orchestre des jeunes de Sherbrooke under the direction of Julien Proulx, well known to I Musici fans as a guest conductor in the Piccoli Musici series. Nicholas won first place in the Concours solistes et petits ensembles de Victoriaville as well as the Canadian Music Competition (winds category). Last summer, Nicholas participated in the Galaxy of Rising Stars at the Orford Festival.

Nicholas will play a movement from the Concerto for Clarinet No 1 by Weber.

Ember-Leah Reed — Violin
Ember-Leah started violin at the age of 4 years. She was a gold medal winner at the Festival de musique classique chinoise and the Montreal International Music Festival in 2009. This year Ember-Leah participated in the finals of the Canadian Music Competition held at the Salle Claude-Champagne where she won 3rd place. The 8-year-old violinist also studies voice, her other passion. Recently, she gave a recital at the basilique-cathédrale Sainte Cécile de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. Ember-Leah lives in Hudson, Quebec.

The soloist will play the first movement of the Concerto for Violin in A minor by Vivaldi.

Michael Golod — Voice
Michael Golod, 14-year-old, has studied voice for six years. In 2008 he made his début at the National Arts Centre interpreting The Boy by Mendelssohn. A resident of Ontario, he has won numerous prizes (piano and voice) at the Kiwanis Music Festival in Ottawa and was a finalist in the Canadian Music Competition from 2005 to 2007 on piano. Michael gave a solo recital with pianist Matthew Larking during a tour in England in the summer of 2009 and last September he played the Genie in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with Opera Lyra conducted by Pinchas Zucherman in Ottawa.

With I Musici, he will perform the aria Voi che sapete, from the Noce di Figaro, by Mozart and On Wings of Song by Mendelssohn.

To view a live performance on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGWbN28sTBE

Jacqueline Chen — Violin
Jacqueline started the violin at the age of 5 years. A year later, she continued her studies with Xu Zhi, a violin teacher whose students have won many music prizes in Canada. She won the Gold Medal in the International Music Competition in Montreal and in the Chinese Classical Music Competition (7 years old age group). She received a mark of 99% from Andrew Dawes, well known violinist and judge, in the Canadian Music Competition. Jacqueline, 7-year-old, was born in Vancouver and now lives in Montréal.

Jacqueline will play an extract from the Concerto for Violin No 3 by de Seitz.

To view a live performance on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYISh-e9Gdg

Stéphane Tétreault — chef invité
Stéphane, 16-year-old, began playing the cello at the age of 7. In 2007, he was awarded 1st prize in the Standard Life-Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition. In 2008, being the youngest participant, he placed in the top 20 at the Geneva International Cello Competition in Switzerland and was also a semi-finalist at the Stulberg International String Competition in Michigan. In 2009, Stéphane was a semi-finalist at the Johannsen International String Competition in Washington DC. Since 2005, Stéphane has performed as an invited soloist with numerous orchestras and worked under the direction of maestros Yuli Turovsky, Kent Nagano, Michael Tilson Thomas, Marc David Jacques Marchand and Boris Brott. He is currently a student of maestro Yuli Turovsky with whom he studies cello and conducting.

To view Stéphane's live cello performances on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/capricciomusic