30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30, 2022 edition
Victoria Wong, pianist
Age: 25
From: Richmond Hill, Ont.
Last October, Victoria Wong was one of 87 pianists who advanced to the main stage of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition, part of a dominant Canadian contingent. “Playing in the National Philharmonic in Warsaw was a stunning experience,” she recalls. “The hall is absolutely gorgeous and huge, and I was performing not only for the hundreds sitting in the audience, but also for the thousands tuning in online. Playing Chopin’s music in the capital of his home country was very special.” Fun fact: the competition’s practice rooms were located in one of the tallest buildings in Warsaw. “I saw the entire city as I practised on one of the highest floors, at different times of the day — the sunset view was magical,” she says.
Wong is currently working toward a master’s degree at the Juilliard School in New York, where her peers are a constant source of inspiration: “Their artistic personalities, how they approach problems or ideas, what they aspire to, and their unique backgrounds.” She gave a solo recital at the school’s Morse Hall in April and performed chamber music there in May. This summer, she’s in Santa Barbara, Calif., as one of six piano fellows at Music Academy of the West.
Wong reflects fondly on her high-school years, commuting from Richmond Hill to downtown Toronto to attend classes and lessons at the RCM’s Taylor Academy. “I would often listen to Sviatoslav Richter’s recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 during long car rides. It’s so powerful and emotional — like seeing a dramatic story unfold.” When she’s not pouring her creativity into piano music, Wong picks up a paint brush (“I really like playing with colours”) and tries her hand at composition.
Jonathan Mak, pianist
Age: 25
From: Thornhill, Ont.
In recent months, life has been a whirlwind for Jonathan Mak. In May, he was in Ireland to take part in the Dublin International Piano Competition, where he reached the semifinal. In June, he was one of 30 pianists selected for the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. In July, he was an academy fellow at the Toronto Summer Music Festival, and this fall, he’s heading to Houston to begin doctoral studies at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker. And yet, Mak does appreciate sitting still: “Last summer, I went to Blue Hill, Maine, to participate in the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival,” he says. “In the midst of the pandemic, it was a special moment to have those seven weeks closed off from the rest of the world, like a safe haven.”
He heaps praise on his teachers: Yale University’s Boris Slutsky (“so inspiring and quick with his ideas”), the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Daniel Shapiro (“always patient and nurturing”) and his first piano teacher, Aster Lai. “On my third birthday, she gave me a trial lesson — and took me under her wing,” he remembers. “Mrs. Lai is like a second mother to me, she watched me grow up and was always there for me.”
A Toronto Raptors fan, Mak went to Philadelphia in March to watch them take on (and defeat) the 76ers. Drake’s mixtape So far Gone had a big impact on him, and Mak has never shaken a secret desire to play the French horn. “I think they have some of the best parts in the larger romantic orchestral repertoire,” he says. “I love it when the composer asks for the entire horn section to put their bells up.”
