CFMTA Biennial National Piano Competition
The CFMTA offers a biennial National Piano Competition in odd-numbered years, in the same location as their convention. Each province/territory is eligible to send one competitor to compete for prizes totalling $15,000 in two levels of competition.
The competition is open to students studying with a Registered Music Teacher, at the under-graduate level or lower.
Competition to be held July 3 - 6, 2019 Winnipeg Manitoba
Fort Garry Hotel
222 Broadway
Winnipeg, Manitoba
For more information about the conference - please click here
Douglas Finch is a Canadian pianist and composer, known for his innovative and imaginative approach to performance, and for helping to revive the lost art of classical improvisation in concert.
He was born in Winnipeg, and had his initial musical training with his mother and later Winnifred Sim and Jean Broadfoot. He continued at the University of Western Ontario with William Aide and then at Juilliard, NY, with Beveridge Webster. After winning a Silver Medal at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels in 1978, he began to perform extensively throughout Canada, as well as devoting much of his time to composition, with a number of his works being broadcast on CBC Radio.
He settled in London, UK, in 1993 and soon afterwards co-founded The Continuum Ensemble with conductor Philip Headlam, premiering over 40 new works and recording for Avie and NMC (music by Errollyn Wallen and Roger Smalley). He has been artistic director of several acclaimed events in London, including 'In the MOMENT', a festival of dance and music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Greenwich in February 2009 that featured over 350 performers.
As a composer, he has written works for piano, chamber ensemble, orchestra and theatre as well as the soundtracks for four feature-length films by British director Jon Sanders, one of which - Late September (2009) - features him as a pianist/character in the film. His ‘Night Love Song - Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra’ was premièred by Rivka Golani and the Canadian Sinfonietta at the Glenn Gould Concert Hall, Toronto, November 24, 2012.
Douglas Finch is Professor of Piano and Composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and a regular guest teacher at Chetham’s School of Music, Chetham’s International Piano Summer School, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Described by the Winnipeg Free Press as a “consummate musician” who plays with “near-impossible fluidity” and “total physical involvement and passion,” Canadian pianist Scott Meek is a highly active and sought-after collaborative pianist, chamber musician, and teacher in Vancouver, British Columbia. His extensive repertoire of collaborative works includes over 80 complete concertos and over 70 complete sonatas.
Scott Meek’s solo career highlights include three national first prizes (in the Shean Competition, the Knigge Competition, and the FCMF National Music Festival), and top prizes in the Cincinnati World Piano Competition, the Corpus Christi International Competition, and the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. Meek has performed as soloist with the Edmonton, Toronto, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras, as well as with several orchestras in the USA.
In Greater Vancouver and on Vancouver Island, over fifteen different recital series have invited Scott Meek to perform as a chamber musician. Meek frequently plays in recitals as The Meeks Duo with his wife, pianist Clare Yuan, and with violin virtuoso Oleg Pokhanovski. With Pokhanovski, he has performed over five hours worth of music, consisting almost entirely of Pokhanovski’s original transcriptions for violin and piano.
Scott Meek’s childhood teacher in Winnipeg, Manitoba was Carole Pollard, a very active collaborative pianist and a strong influence on Meek’s current musical lifestyle. Meek attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, to earn his Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts (East Asian Studies) degrees, studying under Alvin Chow. At the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Scott Meek received his Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees, studying under the world-renowned pianist and founding member of the Beaux-Arts Trio, Menahem Pressler.
Dr. Christine Vanderkooy has performed as a soloist across Canada, as well as in the United States and Europe, including a recital tour of Europe funded by the SSHRC General Research Fund/President’s Fund. Her CD release, Schubert and Schumann, was recorded at the Banff Centre for the Arts with successful grant funding from the University of Regina, and promoted by Toronto publicist, Jane Harbury, with additional grant funding from Creative Saskatchewan. This recording features two important solo piano works from the romantic piano literature and has enjoyed critical acclaim including a cover story for Tempo magazine, as well as radio play on CBC Radio and stations across Canada and the U.S.
Dr. Vanderkooy’s research contributions as a writer and presenter include a conference presentation in Florence, Italy, and an invited presentation at the University of Arizona on the psychological and physiological aspects of Music Performance Anxiety, a presentation at the national convention of the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Associations on Beethoven’s pedaling in piano works, and a presentation at Bishop’s University on Russian piano music. By invitation, Dr. Vanderkooy has contributed an article for the Royal Conservatory of Music blog, designed a course for RCM’s use entitled “Piano Pedagogy: Gesture and Sound”, and travelled with the senior pedagogy team across Alberta as a presenter for the RCM Teacher Professional Development Seminars. A senior examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music, Dr. Vanderkooy also travels regularly to adjudicate music festivals and present masterclasses across Canada, and has served on juries for music competitions including the JUNO Awards.
Dr. Vanderkooy has taught at McGill University, University of Prince Edward Island, University of Windsor, and Lakehead University, and joined the music faculty at the University of Regina in 2007 where she has held the position of Associate Professor of Piano, and is pleased to have joined the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Education in 2017 as Associate Professor of Instrumental Music Pedagogy.