​ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: SEBASTIAN SALLANS

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QSCM's artistic director, violinist Sebastian Sallans is a well known musical figure in the Quinte area. Growing up in  Madoc township,  and spending summers and holidays with  his grandparents in Prince Edward County, Sebastian brings a personal understanding of the Quinte Region  and a heartfelt desire to share beautiful music with all.

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Sebastian  graduated B.Mus,Performance Violin from University of Toronto in 2014. Since then he has earned a reputation as a sensitive and  accomplished ensemble musician, performing as soloist, concert master / assistant concert master and orchestral musician with orchestras across the GTA, Ontario, and Quebec, including the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, the North-Bay Symphony Orchestra (Principle 2nd / the l’Orchestre symphonique régional Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the Niagara Symphony Orchestra.  His is a founding member of the 6ix Quartet, and the piano duo, Driveshaft with pianist Todd Yaniw. A versatile multi-genre musician, his solo performance credits include appearances  in the GTA, across the Quinte Region, and master class studio recitals in Salzburg, Austria. Sebastian is drawn to the music of our time, studying and programming  works by contemporary composers including Ontario's Patricia Moorehead, Andy Slade and, from Quebed, Jacques Marchand as well as the traditional repertoire of the classical violinist.  Possessed of a highly personable stage presence and known for his deeply effective communicative style in performance, Sebastian enacts his commitment to promoting classical music both from the stage and as Artistic Director of the Quinte Society for Chamber Music. Sebastian studied under Mark Skazinetsky (TSO), Jonathan Crowe (TSO) Karoli Sziladi (NACO), Michael Frischenschlager (Salzburg Mozarteum), Andrew Wan (OSM)  and Victor Dernovski  (l'Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse) and continues to pursue advanced instruction.  He also enjoys fiddle music, learning his tunes as a child  from his grandfather,  BIll Sallans and Ottawa Valley legend, Bruce Wilson. 
 

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RESIDENT PIANIST: Dr. Todd Yaniw

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QSCM 's Resident Pianist,  Todd Yaniw  is a Canadian artist praised for his “atmospheric contrast of poetry and power … a hair-raising performance”.  Early in 2019, Mr. Yaniw will perform works of Schubert and Dvorak with Trio Arkel; in May he will perform Christos Hatzis' Arabesque with violinist Andréa Tyniec and Sinfonia Toronto, conducted by Nurhan Arman. He recently performed his first concert with ARC Ensemble  [Artists of the Royal Conservatory] in a special performance at the Juno Awards.  Since his debut with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at age 13, Mr. Yaniw has performed frequently in Alberta and Ontario; at festivals and venues including the Banff Centre for Music, Edmonton’s Winspear Centre for Music, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Toronto’s Arts & Letters Club, the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, and Koerner Hall. Mr. Yaniw has performed with the symphony orchestras of Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, and Guelph. Mr. Yaniw toured the Canadian maritime provinces as a soloist in February 2013, under the auspices of Debut Atlantic.  Todd has been interviewed and broadcast on several occasions on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [CBC], and Toronto’s Classical 96.3 FM.  In December 2012, Todd recorded a one-hour program for the CBC as part of its NEXT series, a radio program that promotes talent on the rise.  Internationally, Todd has performed at the Monte Carlo Opera House in Monaco, the Jamaica School of Music in Kingston, Jamaica, several concert halls in China and Italy, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. James’s Piccadilly in London England, and the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York.  Yaniw’s debut CD, “Todd Yaniw: Scriabin, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Chopin” was released on the Chestnut Hall Music label in September 2006.

 

Todd’s extensive prize list includes Winner of the Roy Thomson Hall First Prize at the 2005 Toronto Symphony Volunteer Committee’s TD National Piano Competition; two-time national winner of the Canadian Music Competition, as well as silver medalist at the Eastman International Piano Competition.  Mr. Yaniw has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, and was a recipient of the 2010 and 2012 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Awards.

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Todd Yaniw was born in Edmonton, Alberta and his teachers include Michael Massey, Dr. James Parker, Professor James Anagnoson (The Glenn Gould School), and Dr. Jon Kimura Parker (Rice University). Mr. Yaniw completed his doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked with Dr. Anton Nel.