What’s so Special about this Piano?

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Charles Richard Hamelin's piano

Many of you may have heard performances by the wonderful pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin, winner of our 2015 Career Development Award. At a reception following his 2017 WMCT concert he told us that this prize money was invaluable because it enabled him to buy his very first piano – that is after many years of study (at McGill, Yale and Montréal Conservatory) and having already embarked on a professional performing career. We tend to think of awards being spent on further education and lessons, which are of course necessary and expensive, but having a good quality instrument is also of paramount importance for any musician.

Charles’s beautiful piano is a Hamburg Steinway (Model A) built in 1911.  It was assembled in London, England, and subsequently found its way to the Quebec City area studio of Charles’s favourite piano technicians, Marcel Lapointe and Isabelle Gagnon, who beautifully refurbished it – apparently, it only took Charles a few minutes of playing to know this was “the one” for him. He says this piano has served him incredibly well over the past ten years and he doesn’t think he’ll ever change it for another one.

It is always gratifying for the WMCT to learn how its awards contribute in such meaningful ways to remarkable musical careers.

Annette Sanger

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WMCT 2025 Fellow performs at Toronto Summer Music

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Annette Sanger, Yoanna Haeun Jang, Sylvia Sarkus
Annette Sanger, Yoanna Haeun Jang, Sylvia Sarkus

On July 19 at 1 pm, the Toronto Summer Music (TSM) REGeneration concert Transfigured Night: Arensky and Schoenberg featured violinist Yoanna Haeun Jang, a 2025 TSM Academy Fellow partly supported by a Fellowship from the WMCT. Board members Sylvia Sarkus and Annette Sanger were delighted to attend and to meet Yoanna. She played beautifully in the Piano Trio no. 1, written in 1894 by the Russian composer of Romantic-style music, Anton Arensky. At just eighteen years of age, Yoanna demonstrated a superb command of her instrument and a deep musicality that belies her young age. Fortunately, she is a local girl so we may well have other opportunities to build on the connection with the WMCT. Watch for her soon in Festival Concerts on July 26 (Elgar), and 30 (Dvořák).

Photo: Lucky Tang

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Announcing our new Artistic Director

Leave a Comment / 129th Season, News / / , ,

New Artistic Director Named for WMCT’s Music in the Afternoon Concert Series

The Women’s Musical Club of Toronto (WMCT) is pleased to announce the appointment of Amy Hillis as the new Artistic Director of its signature concert series, Music in the Afternoon. Hillis will begin curating programming for the 2026–27 concert season, which will mark the organization’s remarkable 129th year.

A celebrated violinist, educator, and advocate for Canadian music, Amy Hillis brings to the WMCT a deep commitment to artistic excellence, innovation, and community engagement. She succeeds Simon Fryer, who has brought extraordinary chamber music artists to the Club since 2006, and whose final season—WMCT’s 128th—was recently announced.

“We are thrilled to welcome Amy Hillis as our new Artistic Director,” said Janet Murray, President of the WMCT. “Amy is a dynamic artist and a visionary thinker with a passion for chamber music and a strong connection to emerging Canadian talent. Her experience as a performer and her innovative approach to programming are an ideal match for the WMCT’s mission as we approach our 130th anniversary.”

Amy Hillis is known for her “rich, warm sound” and has been widely praised for challenging artistic norms and building community through music. As a soloist and collaborator, she has premiered numerous Canadian works and performed extensively across Canada and internationally. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at York University.

A Season of Musical Highlights

The upcoming 2025–26 season—Simon Fryer’s final as Artistic Director—features a compelling lineup of artists:

  • Oct 9, 2025 – Karoline Podolak, soprano
     “An award-winning Polish-Canadian soprano, who has followed a unique career path.”
  • Nov 13, 2025 – Maxwell Quartet
     “Fresh readings of Haydn and Beethoven, with striking arrangements of Scottish traditional folk music.”
  • March 5, 2026 – VC2 Cello Duo with Amy Hillis, violin
     Chamber music for strings by great composers, old and new.
  • April 2, 2026 – Stéphane Tétreault (cello), Denis Plante (bandoneon), Chloé Dumoulin (piano)
     A laureate of the CDA returns with a musical twist.
  • May 7, 2026 – Fierbois: Caitlin Broms-Jacobs (oboe), Madeline Hildebrand (piano)
     “Infectious enthusiasm and an unstuffy approach combined with sensitive and masterful playing.”

About the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto

Founded in 1898, the WMCT began as a supportive space for women to perform classical music privately. Over time, it evolved into one of Canada’s oldest and most respected musical institutions, known for presenting emerging and world-class talent, supporting Canadian composers and upcoming artists, and awarding major prizes like the triennial $25,000 Career Development Award. Early artists to grace its stage include Marian Anderson and Glenn Gould.

About Music in the Afternoon

“The WMCT’s Music in the Afternoon concert series features a vibrant blend of distinguished international performers and exceptional emerging artists in chamber music. Each season highlights Canadian excellence, introduces audiences to rising stars, and champions new work through commissions and premières—including regular appearances by recipients of the prestigious Career Development Award.”

For more information, please visit wmct.on.ca.

Media Contact:
Jennifer Petrilli
jpetrilli@wmct.on.ca

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Catching up with a Scholarship Winner

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“A long-forgotten violin, a 300-year-old cello: The strange tales behind 5 rare musical instruments on Toronto stages.” by Joshua Chong, Toronto Star

Tiffany Yeung, 2024 WMCT Scholarship Winner, performing on a violin made by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in 1869.

“From a family knick-knack that turned out to be a valuable French violin, to a rare, five-string baroque cello, these instruments have stories to share. 

Every musical instrument has a unique story, each with a distinct personality. Some, centuries old, have been passed down numerous times, from one generation of musicians to the next. Here are the weird and absurd stories behind five instruments that can be heard on stages across Toronto. 

For years, this violin sat on Greg Cook’s bookshelf. He had inherited it after his maternal grandfather died. But no one in his family thought it was anything more than a knick-knack. 

It wasn’t until the instrument’s neck broke, and Cook brought it in for repairs that he and his family discovered that the family heirloom wasn’t just any old violin; it was one crafted by the prolific French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume at the peak of his career in 1869. 

In 2009, following this discovery, Cook and his wife donated the instrument to the Canada Council for the Arts. It’s currently on a three-year loan to Tiffany Yeung, a student at the Royal Conservatory of Music who won the violin through the council’s Musical Instrument Bank competition.  The violin’s two-piece back is made of maple, while its front is crafted of spruce, finished with a reddish-brown varnish. “It’s a very warm, rich and very sweet sound,” described Yeung. “And paired with this (Vuillaume model) bow, the violin is just incredibly smooth.”’

From the article by Joshua Chong, May 12, 2025

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High school students gain inspiration from a WMCT-sponsored workshop with Midori Marsh

2 Comments / Career Development Award, Outreach / / ,

On Monday, April 14 room 130 at the Faculty of Music, U of T, was alive with the sound of music – a group of high school students from RH King Academy in Scarborough attended a workshop by the WMCT’s most recent Career Development Award winner, soprano Midori Marsh, who performed her sisterhood-themed concert for Music in the Afternoon on April 3. Like the concert, the workshop was a truly magical occasion!

Several students had the opportunity to perform solo and showcase their amazing vocal and acting talents while receiving a wealth of constructive feedback from Midori, whom they clearly loved! Her suggestions for improvements included working on breathing techniques, refining facial expressions, relaxing the head and neck, and maintaining one’s presence through to the end of a song even if one has stopped singing. For the students it was their first time performing with a piano accompanist (the amazing Andrew Ball) and they clearly felt this was a very special occasion while still feeling completely comfortable and supported both by their peers and by Midori. The students felt honoured and privileged to be working with a professional singer, and Midori relished the opportunity to inspire and encourage young musicians with whom she had a great rapport.

Warmest thanks to everyone – the students, their teacher Heather Shaw, Midori and Andrew, and WMCT volunteers and donors who all made this wonderful musical gathering possible.

Annette Sanger
CDA Chair

Students perform at a workshop led by soprano Midori Marsh.
Students perform at a workshop led by soprano Midori Marsh.
Soprano Midori Marsh leads a workshop with high school students.
Students perform at a workshop led by soprano Midori Marsh.
Students perform at a workshop led by soprano Midori Marsh.
Soprano Midori Marsh with students from RH King Academy in Scarborough.

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In Memoriam: Fred Feuerriegel

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Friedrich-Wilhelm Feuerriegel was the technical virtuoso behind the History of Concerts and Performers of the WMCT. First issued as a photocopied booklet in 1997 for the Club’s 100th anniversary, this indexed and searchable guide now resides on the WMCT website, updated at the end of each season.
Fred used his computer skills to organize the research originally accumulated by his wife Hanna, a former WMCT President, establishing a standard format for musical works, then inputting many thousands of entries, to create an unparalleled chronicle of a Toronto institution. With Hanna he attended WMCT concerts regularly, up to the last concert of 2024.

Read more of the story of the Feuerriegels and a published Obituary.

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