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Appointments
Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) announced on Sept. 3 that the Finnish conductor John Storgårds will become the NAC Orchestra’s eighth music director, beginning in the 2026–27 season. Storgårds debuted with the NAC Orchestra in 2013 and has served as its principal guest conductor since 2015.
Calgary Opera announced Tara Laberge as the new manager of its McPhee Artist Development Program for young artists beginning Sept. 1. Laberge is a multidisciplinary artist who has performed professionally across opera, oratorio, musical theatre, and film/television at venues spanning Canada and the U.S. As a soprano soloist, she has performed with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Calgary Opera Chorus.
Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen recently announced three positions he will begin in the coming seasons: creative director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, creativity and innovation chair of Philharmonie de Paris, and principal conductor of Orchestre de Paris. This follows his 2024 resignation as music director of the San Francisco Symphony as a result of his falling out with the board over his artistic plans and their cost.
On Sept. 2, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra announced Grammy Award-winning conductor Karen Kamensek as its principal guest conductor, a newly-created role. In addition to leading the orchestra for a few concerts each season, Kamensek will work behind the scenes in an artistic advisory capacity. In the upcoming 2025-26 season, she will lead September concerts with violinist Gil Shaham as well as Verdi’s Requiem in March.
On Sept. 10, the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School (GGS) announced the appointment of Jonathan Crow as director of the Temerty Orchestral Program and member of the violin faculty commencing in September 2026.
Competitions
On Aug. 29, Canadian-Brazilian mezzo-soprano Camila Montefusco won third prize in the women’s opera category at France’s 37th annual Concours International de Chant de Marmande. She is a current member of Opéra de Montréal’s Atelier lyrique young-artist program.
The Poiesis Quartet from Cincinnati, U.S.A., was awarded the grand prize at the 15th triennial Banff International String Quartet Competition on Aug. 31. Sarah Ying Ma on violin, Max Ball on violin, Jasper de Boor on viola and Drew Dansby on cello, won one of the biggest prizes in chamber music valued at $500,000.
The OSM Competition has announced semifinalists in its 2025 competition dedicated to voice. Baritones Jamal Al Titi and Korin Thomas-Smith; sopranos Bridget Esler, Natasha Henry and Gabrielle Turgeon; mezzo-sopranos Alex Hetherington, Justine Ledoux and Daria Tereshchenko; tenor Angelo Moretti and countertenor Ian Sabourin will compete in a semifinal round beginning Nov. 10 with a grand finale on Nov. 15 at Maison symphonique de Montréal.
The National Capital Opera Society announced the 2025 finalists of the National Capital Opera Competition. A jury of John Avey, Cara Gilbertson and Sandra Graham selected the finalists: baritone Jamal Al Titi, countertenor Nicholas Burns, sopranos Hannah Crawford and Karoline Podolak, and mezzo-sopranos Kcenia Koutorjevski and Rachael McAuley. The competition takes place on Oct. 18 at Rideau Park United Church in Ottawa.
After a gap year, the Canadian Music Competition made a comeback with the 2025 edition, held at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Que. Held last July, the National Finals celebrated the excellence and discovery of emerging talents from across the country. The four grand prize winners will perform with various orchestras in 2025-26.
Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) recently announced the jury for its 2026 edition devoted to violin. Montreal native Lucie Robert, a professor of violin at the Manhattan School of Music since 1988, will act as jury president. The other jurists are Ju-Young Baek, the youngest violin professor to be appointed in the history of Seoul National University; Glenn Dicterow, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for 34 years; Simin Ganatra, first violinist of the two-time Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet; renowned educator Yuzuko Horigome; French violinist Régis Pasquier; Canadian violinist and violist Barry Shiffman, and Pavel Vernikov, artistic director of the Sion Festival in Switzerland.
Announcements
On Aug. 12, Orchestre Philharmonique du Québec (OPQ) announced that Executive Director Véronique Bugeaud would leave her position on Aug. 29. Bugeaud had been with OPQ for just over one year, taking over the position from Jean-Marc Léveillé. Previously, she worked with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal for seven years, focusing on sponsorship development.
Her departure from OPQ was shared on the orchestra’s social-media channels as well as Bugeaud’s personal LinkedIn, where she posted, “After an exciting and challenging time at the OPQ, filled with wonderful encounters, I will be turning the page on my chapter as executive director…”
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