Peter Haig Oundjian is a Canadian-American violinist and conductor.
Steven Sam Staryk, OC is a Canadian violin virtuoso. He had a distinguished solo career and was concertmaster of several major orchestras, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Staryk was offered the concertmaster position with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra but chose to pursue solo work at that time. He appeared frequently as soloist in violin concertos with these orchestras. Staryk also had an extensive and awarded teaching career.
Jacques Israelievitch, CM was a French violinist, and one of Canada's foremost chamber musicians.
Walter Prystawski, CM is a Canadian classical violinist, conductor and teacher. For many years he was the concertmaster of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.
Robert Crawford Lipsett Jr. is an American violin teacher in Los Angeles, California. He holds the Jascha Heifetz Distinguished Violin Chair at the Colburn School. He also serves on the faculty at the Aspen School of Music and previously taught at the USC Thornton School of Music. He has given master classes at major schools around the world.
Glenn Dicterow is an American violinist and former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He is on the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music where he holds the Jascha Heifetz Chair in violin as well as serving as a faculty artist at the Music Academy of the West.
The Symphony Six were a group of Canadian musicians under contract to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) who were denied entry to the United States for a concert tour in November 1951. Coming at the height of the McCarthy era in the US, the six musicians – Ruth Budd, Dirk Keetbaas, William Kuinka, Abe Mannheim, John Moskalyk, and Steven Staryk – were denied visas on the suspicion of being involved in communist activities. The TSO sent other musicians in their place and completed its tour. The six musicians resumed playing with the orchestra upon its return to Canada.
David Zafer was a Canadian violinist and pedagogue. He was born in London, England, and moved to Canada in 1947.
Andrew Dawes was a Canadian violinist. He was known for his performances with the Orford String Quartet.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) was a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario that was active during the first two decades of the 20th century under the leadership of conductor and pianist Frank Welsman. It was the first professional orchestra that existed for any notable length in the city of Toronto. After 13 seasons of performance, the orchestra folded in 1918 because of problems related to World War I. The current Toronto Symphony Orchestra is unrelated to this one.
Donald Heins was a Canadian violinist, violist, conductor, organist, composer, and music educator of English birth. He notably founded the first professional orchestra in Ottawa, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, in 1902, serving as its director until 1927. He also served in a variety of positions with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1927 to 1949, including concertmaster, principal violist, and assistant conductor.
Albert Pratz was a Canadian violinist, conductor, composer, and music educator. He was awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967. His compositional output was modest and consists of only instrumental works. Some of his compositions, such as Melanie Waltz (1956) and A Tango (1957), were recorded by the CBC Symphony Orchestra; of which he was concertmaster from 1953 to 1961. He worked in the same capacity for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1966 to 1969, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1970 to 1979. He was also active as a teacher, both privately and at a number of universities, and made recordings as both a violinist and conductor.
Federico Agostini is an Italian violinist renowned as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher.
Dennis Kim is a Canadian violinist born in Seoul, South Korea. He currently serves as the Concertmaster of the Pacific Symphony in Orange County.
The New Orford String Quartet is a Canadian string quartet formed in July 2009. It is one of Canada's premiere chamber ensembles. The name honours the Orford Arts Centre in the province of Quebec, where the ensemble gave its first public concert, and the original Orford String Quartet that was formed in June 1965 and active until July 1991.
Ross Monroe Winter is an American violinist and teacher. He is currently assistant professor of violin at the University of Central Florida. In 2020, he served as associate concertmaster at Florida’s Venice Symphony.
The Orford String Quartet was a Canadian string quartet active from 1965 through 1991. They came to be the leading string quartet in Canada, and were well-known internationally.
William Preucil is an American violinist. During a musical career spanning several decades, he served as concertmaster for four major American orchestras, most notably the Cleveland Orchestra from 1995, until he was dismissed in 2018. He also played with the Cleveland Quartet, which won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance in 1997. He was a longtime member of the faculty at Cleveland Institute of Music until his resignation in 2018, following allegations of sexual misconduct.
Kerson Leong is a Canadian violinist. He has been described by Jonathan Crow, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, as “not just one of Canada’s greatest violinists but 'one of the greatest violinists, period.'”
Joseph Nicholas Anthony Macerollo, OC is a Canadian classical accordionist, music educator and author. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013 for his achievements as a musician, educator and promoter of the free bass accordion on the concert hall stage.
