Christina Petrowska Quilico winner of 2007 CMC/CLC Friends of Canadian Music Award

Christina Petrowska Quilico winner of

2007 CMC/CLC Friends of Canadian Music Award

May 29, 2008 (Toronto) ��� The Canadian Music Centre and the Canadian League of Composers are pleased to announce Christina Petrowska Quilico as the recipient of the 2007 Friends of Canadian Music Award. This annual $1,000 award is a joint venture between the CLC and the CMC, honouring those who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to Canadian composers and their music. This award will be presented at a reception on Saturday, June 7, 2008 at Toronto's Music Gallery ��� immediately following the Penderecki String Quartet's presentation of Intra/Introspections: Piacentini & Gentile.

A National jury (comprised of composers Keith Hamel, Melissa Hui and Christien Ledroit) recognized Christina Petrowska Quilico for her dedication to Canadian contemporary classical music as well as her unwavering support of this country's composing community. Throughout her exceptional performing and recording career Chrisina Petrowska Quilico has had a profound impact on Canada's classical music community from coast to coast to coast.

Born in Ottawa, Canada, Christina Petrowska Quilico was a child prodigy. She made her concert debut at ten years of age. A short time later, she was offered a scholarship to The Juilliard School where she studied under Rosina Lh��vinne, Jeaneane Dowis and Irwin Freundlich. At fourteen, she won the High School of the Performing Arts Concerto Competition, a prize she shared with fellow student Murray Perahia, and made her New York City debut at the Town Hall.

After graduation, she studied in Europe, first at the Sorbonne in Paris and later in Darmstadt and Berlin under the tutelage of composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gy��rgy Ligeti. In 1971, she married her first husband, the avant-garde French-Canadian composer Michel-Georges Br��gent. From 1962 to 1980, Petrowska Quilico lived in New York City, where she performed extensively as a soloist and in collaboration with her husband.

In the late 80s, she returned to Canada where she became the recitalist of choice for many Canadian composers including, Glenn Buhr, Chris Paul Harman, Christos Hatzis, Larysa Kuzmenko, Alexina Louie, Heather Schmidt and Ann Southam. She debuted close to twenty piano concerti and solo works and toured extensively through North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Christina Petrowska Quilico has recorded 20 CDs as a soloist and four CDs in partnership with her second husband, the late Metropolitan Opera baritone, Louis Quilico. In 1992, her CD Virtuoso Piano Music of Our Time traveled into space with Canadian astronaut Steve Maclean and debuted aboard the Space Shuttle Colombia. Maclean reprised his role as music director to the stars by taking Eclipse, featuring Christina on piano, on his most recent trip. Recent recordings include Canadian Composers Portraits: Ann Southam and 16 Portraits: Michel-Georges Br��gent.

Christina Petrowska Quilico has written three books, Mr. Rigoletto: In Conversation With Louis Quilico, Opera Illustrated: An Artistic Odyssey and Go Away Sisyphus, a volume of poetry. She is also a competitive ballroom dancer and appears in the short film, Tango Amore. Currently, Petrowska lives in Toronto where she is a Professor of Piano and Musicology at York University.

Established in 1959, the Canadian Music Centre exists to stimulate the awareness, appreciation and performance of Canadian music, making the music of its Associate Composers available through its music libraries and through various promotional and outreach activities. The CMC is Canada's primary information resource, producer, distributor of concert music and sound recordings.

Founded in 1951, the Canadian League of Composers is the voice of Canada's professional composers. Through advocacy, communications, and partnerships, it seeks to uphold and nurture an environment where composers' work is sought after, heard, and valued.