Mary-Elizabeth Brown, Violinist

Violinist Mary-Elizabeth Brown presently holds concurrent posts as Concertmaster of Sinfonia Toronto and Associate Concertmaster of Orchestra London Canada, and from 2006-2009 led both the Britten-Pears Orchestra and Youth Orchestra of the Americans. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and l’Université de Montreal where she received the Prix d’Excellence en Interpretation in 2006. Her principal teachers include David Zafer, Mark Skazinetsky, Ilya Kaler and Vladimir Landsman. As a chamber musician, she received her formative training with members of the St. Lawrence, Brentano, Orford and Alban Berg Quartets as well as the Gryphon Trio and Laurence Lesser. In recent seasons, she has collaborated with distinguished colleagues at the Banff Summer Arts Festival, Festival Campos do Jordao (Brazil), Mozarteum Uruguay, The White House, Arts and Letters Club and the Aldeburgh Festival.   Equally at home as a soloist, she has earned accolades for her “ability to unfold bittersweet magic” (Rhein Main Presse) and “perfect command of her instrument” (Florsheim Zeitung). When she is not performing, Mary-Elizabeth is an advocate for music education both in Canada and abroad. She maintains an active studio of private students in London, Ontario, has taught in the Aldeburgh Young Musicians Program, the Neojiba Project (Salvador, Bahia, Brasil) and led the 2008 Sembrano Talentos project in Montevideo (in collaboration with Mozarteum Uruguay). Mary-Elizabeth gratefully acknowledges the support of the Banff Centre for the Arts’ Instrument Bank, the Canadian Aldeburgh Foundation, the Hazel Cryderman-Wees Foundation and the Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation.