Anna Tkatchenko | Staff Writer
Featured image: York Music Professor Christina Petrowska Quilico explains what it means to be a pianist, performer, and educator. | Courtesy of Bo Huang
On February 8, one of York’s Music professors, Christina Petrowska Quilico, performed a mini-concert at the Tribute Communities Recital Hall called Global Sirens. The pianist combined musical works of female composers, from the turn of the century to today.
“I chose to perform works that have been quite neglected. Women composers have had difficult times in making their voices heard. My concert shows a very small sampling of the wonderful pieces written from the turn of the century to the present,” says Quilico.
Her interest in music flourished at an early age. She hoped to practice and perform more, enabling her to receive a scholarship from The Juilliard School in New York at the age of 14.
Quilico expressed her talents as a pianist and composer, premiering close to 200 works, which included performing with orchestras and solo composers, and has performed in over 35 concerts to date. Her discography includes more than 50 CDs, four of which have earned JUNO Award nominations. On top of this, she still acknowledges her humble beginnings of piano lessons and ballet recitals.
“I began piano because my brother was having trouble with reading the music, actually finding middle C. I was four and my parents thought ballet was more appropriate for a girl. However, they heard me at the piano helping my brother, and sent me for lessons.
“I continued because I loved music, and it was part of my experience in ballet and art. However, I still continued with academic subjects such as literature, economics, sociology, history, and others of the like. I feel it is important to have a wide background of knowledge,” she says.
“My teaching style evolved from my experience in performing, as well as the excellent teachers that coached me. I played with orchestra for the first time in Toronto when I was 10, and then made my debut with orchestra in New York at 14, after winning a competition.
“My long career and discography have given me the background to teach York students performing skills, as well as repertoire and performance practice in piano pedagogy and literature courses.
“As I perform so frequently in high-profile concerts—such as my latest Toronto Symphony appearances—I can teach students the reality and business of the concert world.”
Additionally, Quilico encourages her students to pursue music along with their other passions. She reveals a number of her students have succeeded as lawyers, doctors, conductors, and many other professions not necessarily related to music, while still incorporating and enjoying music in their lives.
Before Global Sirens opened, the audience was asked not to applaud until after the final act. As the concert unfolded, the continuous melodious stream of masterpieces from German, French, Italian, American, Russian, Australian, African, and Canadian female musicians began to play.
On the styles of music presented, “there are many styles of composition in my concert program: from romantic and lyrical writing, to twelve-tone, quirky, and ragtime,” the pianist says.
As a note to all who watched, Quilico expresses: “I hope that the concert inspires everyone to listen to more women composers of the past and present.”
