2019 Adjudicators

Kristan Toczko

Harp

As one of Canada’s premier harpists, Kristan Toczko is recognized for her radiant tone, expressive music making and scintillating virtuosity. A first place winner of the prestigious OSM Standard Life Competition, Kristan has also been named a CBC Radio-Canada Young Artist, and featured as a soloist in nation-wide broadcast.

Performing numerous concerti, Kristan has been featured with the Vancouver Symphony, l’Orchestre Francophonie and Bathurst Chamber Music Festival. Kristan has also been a featured artist with several festivals including the Ottawa ChamberFest, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Kincardine Summer Music Festival, Indian River Festival and Rio Harp Festival in Brazil, and has been an invited artist at the Banff Centre numerous summers. She has also performed with several orchestras internationally, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Thunder Bay Symphony, Windsor Symphony, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Symphony New Brunswick, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Jalisco Philharmonia and Beijing Symphony.

She has also participated in summer festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, Orchestra of the Americas, Scotia Festival and Lucerne Festival Academy. Kristan has performed with esteemed artists such as Measha Brueggergosman, Peter Oundjian, Matthias Pintscher, Sir Simon Rattle and Barbara Hannigan, and has played in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the KKL Luzern Concert Hall and Roy Thomson Hall. Kristan has also been seen sharing the stage with acclaimed artists such as Sarah Brightman, Josh Groban, Evanescence and Johnny Reid.

As a chamber musician, she is a founding member of harp duo “Duo Novus.” They have held an artist residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute, have commissioned several new works, and have toured internationally with the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Kristan Toczko holds degrees from McGill University and Yale University, where she was awarded first prize in both schools’ concerto competitions. She is currently based in Sudbury with her husband, teaching and performing throughout Canada.