Symposium Biographies | Wilfrid Laurier University

James Anagnoson

Keynote Speaker

James Anagnoson, Dean of The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School, is one of Canada's best-known pianists and pedagogues. He has been on the piano faculty of The GGS since its formation in 1997 and has also taught at the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario.

Mr. Anagnoson’s students have won prizes in International Competitions such as the Gina Bachauer, the Maria Canals, the International Franz Liszt, the Dublin International Competitions, and Germany's International ARD Competition for Duos, and repeatedly are prizewinners in Canada’s National Competitions such as the Canadian Music Competition and the Toronto Symphony Competition. He has given master classes in various parts of Europe, North America, and Asia, and he has been a juror for competitions such as the Dublin International Piano Competition, the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, the Canadian Chopin Competition, Japan’s PTNA Competition, Canada’s JUNO Awards, the Marbella International Piano Competition, the Prix d'Europe, the International e-Competition, and the Canadian International Piano Competition.

In 1976, James Anagnoson began performing with Canadian pianist Leslie Kinton, and since that time the duo Anagnoson & Kinton have gone on to give "outstanding concerts...with formidable precision and panache" - to quote the New York Times - across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia, receiving unanimous acclaim from both audiences and critics.

Anagnoson & Kinton's numerous recordings are heard regularly on America's National Public Radio and various European Radio networks and continue to be a mainstay of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's arts programming. Their release of the Schubert f – Fantasy and other classical works on the Opening Day label was chosen by New York’s WQXR as a weekly feature. Reviews of their previous recordings include “…this is a singular performance of great lucidity and power, flawlessly integrated” from Fanfare Magazine and “…performances by both soloists and orchestra are virtuoso and exciting…” from the American Record Review.

In addition to their more than 1500 concert appearances around the world, which have included concerto appearances with Canada's leading orchestras, the duo has performed for the BBC, Czech National Radio, Hong Kong Radio, Hilversum Radio in Holland, and Radio Suisse Romande. Some recital highlights include appearances in London’s Wigmore Hall, Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall and the Royal Conservatory’s Koerner Hall, as well as appearances in Poznan, Poland, St Petersburg, Russia, Martinu Hall in Prague, and at the Shanghai International Festival.

Anagnoson and Kinton have commissioned, premiered and recorded many original works for two pianos, piano four hands, and two pianos and orchestra. They also commissioned and gave the Canadian Premiere of Ray Luedeke’s Into the Labyrinth, a work for two pianos and narrator, in collaboration with the internationally renowned actor Colin Fox.

Their interest in the works of Stravinsky led to their performing the North American premiere of Stravinsky’s two piano version of his Dumbarton Oaks Concerto, a work they later recorded on a CD that includes their performances of the Francis Poulenc and Roger Matton two piano concertos. They have also performed Stravinsky’s four hand version of Petrouchka and The Rite of Spring numerous times, both in concert and onstage in collaboration with innovative choreographers of dance companies such as Ballet BC.

Mr Anagnoson has over the years also found time for various chamber music collaborations with colleagues in universities and festivals. Performance highlights include Beethoven Cello Sonatas with cellist Tom Wiebe and Schubert's and Die Schoene Mullerin with Kevin MacMillan at Western University, the Dvorak E Flat + Piano Quartet with members of the Gryphon Trio and various Poulenc Songs with soprano Rosemarie Landry at the Festival of the Sound, and Schuman's Fantasiestucke Opus 73 with bassoonist Frank Morelli at the Royal Conservatory.

James Anagnoson has been heard nationally on the CBC radio as a guest host on This Is My Music and The Arts Tonight, and as a piano commentator for both the Esther Honens International Piano Competition and the CBC Young Performer's Competition.

Mr. Anagnoson received his Master's degree from The Juilliard School, and his Bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music, which he attended on scholarship. His most influential mentor was the American pianist Eugene List, and he was also strongly influenced by his post graduate work with Claude Frank and Karl Ulrich Schnabel.

In May of 2019 Anagnoson & Kinton were awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Vincent Ho

Workshop and Masterclass Clinician: Canadian Music

Vincent Ho is a multi-award winning composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and theatre music. His works have been described as “brilliant and compelling” by The New York Times and hailed for their profound expressiveness and textural beauty, leaving audiences talking about them with great enthusiasm. His many awards and recognitions have included four Juno Award nominations, Harvard University’s Fromm Music Commission, The Canada Council for the Arts’ “Robert Fleming Prize”, ASCAP’s “Morton Gould Young Composer Award”, four SOCAN Young Composers Awards, and CBC Radio’s Audience Choice Award (2009 Young Composers’ Competition).

During the period of 2007-2014, Dr. Ho has served as the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s composer-in-residence and had presented a number of large-scale works that have generated much excitement and critical praise. His Arctic Symphony has been described “as a beautiful work that evokes the Far North in a very special way” (John Corigliano), and “a mature and atmospheric work that firmly establishes Ho among North American composers of note” (Winnipeg Free Press). His percussion concerto, titled The Shaman, composed for Dame Evelyn Glennie was hailed as a triumph, receiving unanimous acclaim and declared by critics as “Spectacular” (The New York Classical Review), “A powerhouse work” (The Winnipeg Free Press), and “Rocking/mesmerizing…downright gorgeous” (The Pittsburgh Gazette). His second concerto for Glennie titled From Darkness To Light, Ho’s musical response to the cancer illness, was lauded as “a lasting masterpiece of sensitivity and perception” (Winnipeg Free Press). His cello concerto, City Suite, composed for Canadian cellist Shauna Rolston, has received similar praise with critics calling it “Thrilling” (Windsor Star) and “Overflowing with striking ideas…The most successful piece heard at this year’s Festival” (Classical Voice America).

Born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1975, Vincent Ho began his musical training through Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music where he earned his Associate Diploma in Piano Performance. He gained his Bachelor of Music from the University of Calgary, his Master of Music from the University of Toronto, and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California. His mentors have included Allan Bell, David Eagle, Christos Hatzis, Walter Buczynski, and Stephen Hartke. In 1997, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Schola Cantorum Summer Composition Program in Paris, where he received further training in analysis, composition, counterpoint, and harmony, supervised by David Diamond, Philip Lasser, and Narcis Bonet.

In his free time, he enjoys running, reading, traveling, dancing, hiking, playing chess, and learning the keyboard works of Bach, Beethoven, Ravel, and Ligeti (among many others). He is also an enthusiast of old-time radio shows, photography, crime noir, Zen art, jazz, Jimi Hendrix, graphic novels, and Stanley Kubrick films.

Dr. Ho has taught at the University of Calgary and currently serves as Artistic Director to Land’s End Ensemble. His works are published and managed by Promethean Editions Ltd and Theodore Presser Company.

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