After the concert on December 7th, 2019




Emmanuelle Sievers

Violin

Violinist Emmanuelle (Ellie) Aika Sievers , a 17-year-old resident of Markham, Ontario, has received numerous accolades for her musicality and vibrant performances. Ellie’s recent honours include recipient of the 2019 Christine Shaw Scholarship, first place with honours in Diploma Strings at the 2018 Ontario Music Festivals Association Provincial Competition, and recipient of the 2018 Thomastik-Infeld Vienna Outstanding String Performer Award at MusicFest Canada.

In 2019, Ellie made her solo orchestral debut with the Canadian Sinfonietta, and was a featured performer in the Young Artists’ Showcase in Newmarket. She also participated in the 2019 National Youth Orchestra of Canada program, touring in Canada and Spain. In 2018, Ellie was chosen to participate in the Young Artists Summer Program at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Born in Japan, Ellie began playing violin at the age of 3 and soon developed a passion for performing music. In 2012, she was selected as one of ten children nationally in Japan to participate in a four-city Suzuki concert tour. Since age 9, Ellie has played in numerous string orchestras in Japan, the United States and Canada. Ellie was a member of the Kindred Spirits Orchestra from 2015-2019, serving as associate concertmaster in the 2018/19 season. She has been a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra since 2017, serving as co-concertmaster this season. Ellie studies violin under Wendy Seravalle-Smith in Thornhill, and is a senior student in the Arts Unionville Program at
Unionville High School in Markham.

Sunny Ritter

Piano

Sunny Ritter was born in Vienna, Austria and started taking piano lessons with Aya Kaukal, an accompanist at the Vienna State Opera Ballet. At six years old, Sunny won first prize at the Feurich Competition. At seven, she was invited to the studio of Vladimir Kharin at Vienna’s renowned Musikuniversität and went on to triumph at several prestigious international competitions including: the Steinway Piano Competition in Hamburg, Germany; the International Piano Competition Clavis in St. Petersburg, Russia; the Münchner Klavierpodium in Munich, Germany; prima la musica in Vienna, Austria; the 26th International Chopin Competition for Children and Youth in Szafarnia, Poland; and the Anton Rubinstein IPC in Düsseldorf, Germany.

As the youngest competitor and grand-prize winner of the Mihaela Ursuleasa IPC, Sunny made her orchestral début in Bucharest, Romania and shortly thereafter in Vienna, Austria. At eight years old, she gave her first solo-recital, kicking off the 2018-19 concert season for Doors Open for Music at Southminster in Ottawa, Canada.

She has performed solo-, duo-, and concerto repertoire at Austria’s Chopin Festival; at Klassiek op’t Amstelfeld in Amsterdam; at the Laieszhalle in Hamburg; at the Theatrul Odeon in Bucharest; at Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Mozarthaus, Palais Ferstl and at the magnificent Wiener Rathaus; and most recently at the Mazzoleni Concert Hall in Toronto. Since moving to Canada in September 2019, Sunny is thrilled to be studying with Michael Berkovsky at the Royal Conservatory’s Taylor Academy.

When she’s not playing piano, she can be found skating, swimming or film-making. As Junior Ambassador for Music Traveler, she directed and starred in Sunny Plays Hooky and is currently working on a new film called Homosapianists Facing Extinction.
Sunny loves the piano because it’s a kind of magic: These keys unlock hearts.

Evan Pyne

Violin

Evan Pyne started studying violin from the age of six, and had his concert debut at the age of eight at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.

Evan is the second prize winner of the 2018 “Noche en Madrid” music competition in Spain, and a first prize winner of the 2018 Canadian Music Competition in Montreal. In July 2019, Evan received third prize at the Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition in Budapest. He has appeared as a soloist with the Canadian Sinfonietta, the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. During the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Italy, Evan played in a master class with the renowned violinist Vadim Repin.

As a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, Evan Pyne has performed on some of the major stages in Canada, such as George Weston Recital Hall, Koerner Hall and Roy Thomson Hall.

He is currently a student at the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists in the class of Marie Berard.