2026 Virtual Adjudicators

Canadian violinist Michelle Zapf-Belanger is a performer and music teacher based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She has been a violinist in the Thunder Bay Symphony since 2008, and is heavily involved in activism for classical musician’s health, wellness, and labour rights. She represents the TBSO as their delegate to the Organization for Canadian Symphonic Musicians and is a member of the board of the American Federation of Musicians Local 591.

Ms. Zapf-Belanger is tightly involved in her community and dedicated to growing and nurturing young string players, both in Thunder Bay and nationally. She teaches violin, viola and music theory out of her home studio. She conducts the Thunder Bay Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Junior Strings and the Thunder Bay Stringlings. She is a proud member of the College of Examiners of the Royal Conservatory of Music, and travels all over Canada to evaluate string players at every level, in exams and local music festivals. She is also a member of the Suzuki Music Canada’s Advisory Board.

Ms. Zapf-Belanger is a classical music advocate and history enthusiast who loves to inspire members of the public to take interest in the genre. She is also an enthusiastic chamber musician, and performs frequently with local concert series and with her husband, fellow violinist Thomas Cosbey. She curates special interactive events at the Thunder Bay Museum which pair string quartets and a lecture to give deeper context to the museum’s exhibits, which has introduced audiences to the music of Erwin Schulhoff, Murray Schaffer, and Matthew Whittall, among others.

Born in Montréal, Ms. Zapf-Bélanger grew up in Toronto, and is a graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts and the Young Artist’s Performance Academy at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She holds a Performance Diploma from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto.

Ms. Zapf-Belanger plays on a beautiful English violin from the workshops of W. E. Hill & Sons, made in 1911. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gardening, and performing with her amateur heels dancing troupe.