Early Music Vancouver Reveals Winners Of Emerging Early Music Artist Competition

Early Music Vancouver (EMV) announced the winners of its competition for emerging (age 30 and under) early music artists. Applicants were asked to create a short (3-5 minute) musical video based on what they thought the next generation of early music might look like and to include creative ways to present early music with a focus on issues that are important to them. The competition, which ran from Monday, May 1st to Monday, May 15th, attracted 18 video submissions from young artists across Europe and North America.

“It's been fascinating seeing what young artists have created based on the criteria for the submissions,” says Competition Coordinator, Julia Halbert. “The variety of the submissions was an eye opener and we are excited about the future of this initiative.”

The panel of distinguished judges included: Chloe Meyers – violinist, and Concert Master of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra; Marie Nadeau-Tremblay – violinist, EMV's 2022 Next Generation Artist, and Early Music America's 2023 Emerging Artist; and Ellen Torrie – soprano, and EMV's 2022 Next Generation Artist.

First prize goes to UK-born Emily Saville, a historical trombone player currently residing in Basel, Switzerland. She takes home a $500 cash prize and will be featured on EMV's website, social media platforms, and on EMV's interview series Intimate Conversations. In her winning submission, Ms. Saville stated, “I believe that the future of early music lies in it being integrated into music education at a much younger age. Some of the tools and approaches that are used in historical performance can be readily transferred into children's music lessons, increasing the creativity of the students, making the lessons more engaging, and making younger people more aware of early music as an avenue to explore.”

Matylda Adamus of Poland, now based in The Netherlands, captured second place. She takes home a $350 cash prize and will also be featured on EMV's website and social media platforms. “My project, Trascrizioni Concertanti, focuses on the repertoire from the beginning of the romantic époque and presents witty and sparkling pieces that we transcribed for our ensemble – Stauffer guitar and historical cello. In our repertoire choices, we like to focus on the potential that romantic guitar has, and yet, is not fully acknowledged in the concert programs nowadays. We think that in the future, the interest of performing later repertoire will continue to grow as well as the use of less popular instruments such as Stauffer guitar.” 

Canadian countertenor Ian Sabourin takes the third spot. In his submission he stated, “My goal is to blend Early Music with Electronic Music and thereby create EBM 'Electric Baroque Music,' like EDM 'Electric Dance Music.' It combines the traditional elegance and complexity of Baroque music with the modern energy and innovation of electronic music. By using modern production, arranging and composition techniques, I can make early music more accessible to the modern audience.” Third place prize includes a feature on EMV's website and social media platforms.