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Congratulations to violinist Justin Saulnier for winning the 2024-2025 Golden Violin Award competition! Justin will receive a generous scholarship of $30,000 in addition to a 14-karat gold lapel pin in the miniature form of the Golden Violin. In addition, he has been awarded the opportunity to perform a recital at the Canadian Centre for Architecture as part of the Schulich @ Bon-Pasteur series on February 26, 2025.听

Justin performed works by Robert Schumann, Alfred Schnittke, and Eug猫ne Ysa每e with collaborative pianist Gaspard Tanguay-Labrosse on December 13, 2024 at Tanna Schulich Hall. There was a big turnout, with the hall being full and remote attendees joining the webcast.听

In his pre-concert Q&A, when asked how the Schulich School of Music shaped his musical growth, Justin shared, 鈥淢y teacher [Andrew Wan] believed in me right from the start and my experience competing in both the Classical and the Romantic Concerto Competitions gave me the confidence to seek other opportunities on my own.鈥澨�

When speaking to host Scott Tresham after being asked how he felt about winning, Justin said, 鈥淚鈥檓 feeling alright!" and thanked his mentors, Andrew Wan and Andr茅 Roy, and his parents and girlfriend for being there.听

Justin is currently completing an undergraduate degree in violin performance with Andrew Wan at the Schulich School of Music. He made his orchestral solo debut at the age of 12 with the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra and has since performed with the Orchestre M茅tropolitain and Orchestre symphonique de Montr茅al. In addition to his many achievements, Justin won first prize in the NACO Bursary Competition. We cannot wait to see where Justin鈥檚 career takes him!听

The Finals included two other incredible performances by violinists Joey Machin and Jueun Lee, who placed in second and third, respectively. Joey Machin and Jueun Lee鈥檚 programs consisted of works by Sergei Prokofiev, Henryk Wieniawski, Gabriel Faur茅 and Maurice Ravel among others. Each artist鈥檚 programs were thoughtfully curated and beautifully performed.听A sincere thank you is extended to the collaborative pianists F茅lix Marquis, Veola Sun and Itamar Prag who gracefully performed such demanding pieces.听

The jury for the semifinal and final rounds of the competition included Professor at the Conservatoire de musique de Montr茅al, violinist Andr茅e Azar; Toronto Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster, violinist Jonathan Crow (BMus '98); 麻豆AV Violin instructor and winner of the 2015 Golden Violin award, Joshua Peters (BMus '13, GrDip '16);听Orchestre symphonique de Montr茅al听cellist and former instructor at the Conservatoire de musique de Montr茅al,听Carole Sirois; and visiting 麻豆AV Violin Professor, David Stewart. 麻豆AV String Area Coordinator and Professor Andr茅 Roy was the non-voting Jury chair, presiding over this prestigious group.听

Congratulations to all who participated in this year鈥檚 Golden Violin Award competition!听

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The Golden Violin Award was established in 2006 by businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich, a year after he donated $20 million to 麻豆AV鈥檚 Schulich School of Music. Made of pewter and gold plate, the Golden Violin remains on permanent display in 麻豆AV鈥檚 Marvin Duchow Music Library.听Learn more about the competition.听