ABOUT THE SHOW

In search of a classical Canadian musical identity that engages listeners from all backgrounds, the duo meagan&amy explores connections between several Canadian compositions and works from the traditional canon of classical repertoire. Their goal is to open a discussion with Canadian audiences about what it is that makes classical Canadian music, “Canadian”. Their program pairs Canadian composers including a recently commissioned piece by Jocelyn Morlock with well-known icons such as Mozart that influenced these contemporary composers. This is an opportunity to discover a shared musical heritage that, while inspired by composers of centuries past, continues to develop its own Canadian character. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Amy Hillis – Violin | Amy Hillis challenges artistic norms in order to build and cultivate community relationships inside and outside the concert hall. As a soloist, she has commissioned and premiered new Canadian works by Fjola Evans, Gabriel Dufour-Laperrière, Laurence Jobidon, Vincent Ho, Andrew Staniland, Jocelyn Morlock, Nicole Lizée, Carmen Braden, Randolph Peters and Jordan Pal. Amy has “a rich, warm sound and has mastered the violin with such ease, that it is impossible to ignore her passion in performance” (Ludwig Van Montréal). She is winner of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, an artistic residency at La Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, the McGill Concerto Competition, and the Sylva Gelber Foundation Music Award. A passionate chamber musician, she is a founding member and manager of the prairie-based Horizon String Quartet (HSQ). During seven different tours, the HSQ has performed over 200 interactive concerts for more than 10,000 young people in 100 different Canadian cities.  

 Amy is currently Assistant Professor and the Helen Carswell Chair in Community-Engaged Research in the Arts at York University. She holds a Doctor of Music in Violin Performance from McGill University, completed under the guidance of Axel Strauss and with the support of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). She completed her Master of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Ian Swensen and her Bachelor of Music at McGill University with Denise Lupien. While growing up in Regina, Amy studied with the concertmaster of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, Eduard Minevich. 

 Amy performs on the 1902 Enrico Rocca violin, on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. amyhillis.com 

Meagan Milatz, Piano | Canadian pianist Meagan Milatz is quickly emerging as one of the most sought-after collaborative artists in the country. She regularly shares the stage with top international musicians including Andrew Wan, concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; Stefan Dohr, Principal Horn of the Berlin Philharmonic; and cellist Matt Haimovitz with whom she was featured in two concerts in 2021 for the Ladies Morning Musical Club series in Montreal. Meagan’s chamber music experiences are far-reaching: in May 2022, she appeared in concert in Spain with Kai Gleusteen, concertmaster of the Orchestra del Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona, and in 2021 she was named pianist of Trio Fibonacci, a long-standing Montreal-based trio internationally recognized for its brilliant interpretations of the entire piano trio repertoire. Her duo “meagan&amy” with violinist Amy Hillis launched onto the scene with their debut album Roots in 2019 before embarking on a 50-concert, Canada-wide tour as winners of the first-ever Pan-Canadian Partnership Recital Tour offered by Jeunesses Musicales Canada, Debut Atlantic, and Prairie Debut. Meagan’s collaborative performances are regularly broadcast on CBC/Radio-Canada. 

Chosen as one of CBC’s “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30,” Meagan has appeared as a soloist alongside orchestras such as the Edmonton, Regina, Sherbrooke, and McGill Symphonies. She was top prize winner in the Shean Piano Competition, CFMTA National Piano Competition, and Canadian Music Competition as well as a recipient of a Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award. 

Meagan began her studies in Saskatchewan with Cherith Alexander and holds a Master’s degree from McGill University studying piano with Ilya Poletaev and fortepiano with Tom Beghin. She has also studied collaborative repertoire under the tutelage of Philip Chiu. Enthusiastic about helping the next generation of young musicians, she has been on faculty as a collaborative pianist at Domaine Forget and frequently coaches students at McGill. 

 Meagan lives in Montreal where she loves biking, visiting the city’s numerous libraries, and enjoying the occasional tasty pastry. 

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SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE!

Adults: $35 | Seniors: $32 | Students: $16