Bronwyn Schuman - Co Winner University Doctoral Level
Bronwyn Schuman is currently pursuing her Doctor of Music in Collaborative Piano at McGill University. Her doctoral research is in music education, primarily in the fields of play-based and collaborative learning. In 2020, she graduated with her Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from The Juilliard School in New York City. A two-time winner of Juilliard’s Honors Recital in Alice Tully Hall, Bronwyn has also performed in Juilliard’s Sonatenabend and Liederabend series, Lincoln Center’s Focus Festival, and on WQXR’s live broadcast, Midday Masterpieces. Before Juilliard, Bronwyn completed her BMus at Ambrose University in Calgary, where she also completed her BA in English. She has participated in and held apprenticeships at music festivals in Vienna, Los Angeles, Calgary, Toronto, Maine, and Oregon. Bronwyn has taught music in one-to-one and group settings for fourteen years, and her current studio holds students of all skill levels, aged 5 to 75!
Olivia Adams - Co Winner University Doctoral Level
Olivia Adams is a pianist, researcher and educator in Ottawa,ON where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Music Research examining piano literature through the lens of Critical Disability Studies. She holds a MA Music & Gender Studies and a B.Mus. in Performance. Olivia is the author of Loud and Clear: A Guide to Levelled Piano Music by Women Composers in the 20th and 21st Centuries and hosts the SSO's Podcast Loud and Clear.
Rebekah Dennis - Winner University Graduate Level
Rebekah Dennis is a piano and clarinet teacher currently pursuing a master's degree in music education at McGill University. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and a minor in psychology from Chapman University. Additionally, Rebekah is a 2022-2023 cohort member of the Global Leaders Institute, an arts entrepreneurship program for musicians seeking to grow creative enterprises that are grounded in sustainable impact and community development. She has maintained a private teaching studio for over four years and has previously taught with Harmony Project and Bach to Rock Music School. Rebekah is passionate about community music pedagogy, and her current research is aimed at increasing accessibility to music instruction that centers people’s emotional and social wellbeing.
Graeme Dyck - Winner University Undergraduate Level
Graeme Dyck is a composer, musician, and developing scholar born in Saskatoon. His work in composition and sound engages with fragmentation, sensory exploration, and sonic modes of thinking, often aiming to create interdisciplinary connections with philosophy, mathematics, and natural science. In his scholarly work, Graeme aims to cross disciplinary boundaries and investigate topics both in and outside music with a range of methodologies. Following degrees in music and mathematics and a certificate in jazz at the University of Saskatchewan, Graeme will continue with graduate studies in music, aiming to reinforce both compositional and scholarly skills.
Alex Ketchum - Winner High School Level
My name is Alex Ketchum, and I am a 17 year old guitarist. I live in Yellowknife, NT. When I first began playing guitar at the age of 13, I focused on classic rock, blues, and metal, but I’ve developed a passion for jazz and classical music and I am now hoping to study jazz guitar at the post-secondary level. Throughout my high school years, I’ve tried to be as musically active as I can, by performing, composing jazz and classical works, teaching guitar to younger students, and playing in various ensembles, such as my high school choir, concert band, and my very own five-piece metal band called Quantum Haze.