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Ottawa, 10 September 1997 - The Canada Council for the Arts is pleased to announce that Lara St. John, from London, Ontario, and Judy Kang, from Edmonton, are the winners of the competition for the loan of two Stradivarius violins from the Canada Council for the Arts' Musical Instrument Bank. The two violinists were presented with their instruments by Donna Scott, Chairman of the Canada Council, today at a news conference and reception held in The Great Hall of the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto.

In congratulating the winners, Donna Scott also paid tribute to the members of the competition jury for their skill and hard work, and thanked the anonymous donor who loaned the two magnificent violins to the Musical Instrument Bank. "I am very proud that the Canada Council for the Arts has been given the privilege of administering the loan of these exceptional instruments, and I am very glad that these two gifted young Canadian violinists will have the opportunity to use them as they further what promise to be brilliant concert careers."

The two instruments, the 1689 Baumgartner Stradivarius (awarded to Judy Kang) and the 1702 Lyall Stradivarius (awarded to Lara St. John), together with a 1729 Guarneri del Gesù, were sold earlier this year by the University of Western Ontario to a US business person. The purchaser, who does not wish to be identified, has generously offered to loan the instruments to the Council's Musical Instrument Bank for a two-year period. The competition for the third violin will be held at a later date as it is currently undergoing restoration.

In his letter of congratulations to the winners, the donor said, "When I purchased the violins from the University of Western Ontario this spring, I had many reasons for wanting to take them from the vault where they had lain "asleep" and unplayed for years. My friend, Norm Hathaway, who loves violins and music as much as I do, convinced me that my investment would reap wonderful dividends by "awakening" these instruments, putting them in the talented hands of Canadian violinists and allowing the Canadian public to hear them once again."

The competition jury comprised Montreal cellist Denis Brott, who holds the Canada Council's 1706 Brott-Turner Tecchler cello and was a key figure in getting the Instrument Bank started; Angèle Dubeau, an internationally acclaimed violinist who has her own Stradivarius; and Jacques Israelievitch, concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Jury members selected the two winners from among five finalists, and determined which violin was best suited to each of the two musicians. In its decision, the jury had the following remarks about Lara St. John: "Today we have heard one of the great violinists of our times. Inspirational!" In its comments on Judy Kang, the jury stated: "This is a highly talented young violinist who is already showing artistic potential of a very high level."

Lara St. John

Lara St. John was born in London, Ontario in 1971. She made her solo debut with orchestra at the age of four with the Windsor Symphony, and her European debut in 1981 with the Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon. She was the Grand National winner of the Canadian Music Competition in 1980, and also won the Philadelphia Orchestra Competition, the Concours Nerini in Paris, the Sylva Gelber Prize in 1991, and the Minnesota Orchestra Competition in 1995.

She attended the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, studying under Arnold Steinhardt and Felix Galimir, and has also studied at the Moscow Conservatory, the Guildhall School in London. She holds an Artists Diploma from the New England Conservatory.

Ms. St. John has performed as a soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony and the Hungarian Philharmonic, among others. She has given recitals around the world, including Canada, Costa Rica, England, France, Russia, South America and the United States.

Her debut CD, Bach Works for Violin Solo, was a best-seller and received critical acclaim.

Judy Kang

Judy Kang was born in Toronto in 1979, and began to study violin at age four. At age eleven, she was accepted on full scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Music under the direction of Aaron Rosand. She is currently enrolled at the Juilliard School in the Master's program under Robert Mann.

Judy has won many awards, including the Canadian Music Competition, first-place winner of the Canadian National Shean Strings Competition and most recently, grand prize winner of the CBC Radio National Competition for Young Performers.

Since her solo debut at age 4, Judy has received accolades for her numerous performances with the Toronto Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the CBC Montreal Chamber Orchestra, among others. She is a frequent solo recitalist and chamber musician, and many of her performances have been broadcast on Canadian, U.S. and international radio and television.

Competitions for the loan of instruments from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank are held as instruments become available, upon their acquisition or at the end of a loan period.

The Musical Instrument Bank of the Canada Council was created in 1987 as a means of acquiring quality instruments to be used by established or gifted young musicians to help further their international careers as soloists or members of a chamber ensemble. The first instrument acquired by the Instrument Bank was the Brott-Turner-Tecchler cello, on loan to Denis Brott for the duration of his career. The 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stradivarius, the Bank's second acquisition, was donated by Leon Weinstein to the Ontario Heritage Foundation, then transferred to the Council's Musical Instrument Bank in 1988. James Ehnes, a violinist from Brandon, Manitoba, was the winner of the 1994 and 1997 competitions for the three-year loan of the Windsor-Weinstein Stradivarius.

The Canada Council for the Arts, in addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts in Canada, administers more than 70 prizes, awards and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering and communications technologies. Music awards include the prestigious Glenn Gould Prize, the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, the Healey Willan Prize, and theVirginia P. Moore Award. Other noteworthy prizes administered by the Council are the Canada Council Molson Prizes, the Governor General's Literary Awards, the Killam Memorial Prizes and the Killam Research Fellowships.

For more information about these awards, including nomination procedures, contact Carol Bream, Director of Endowments and Awards, at (613) 566-4414, or 1-800-263-5588, ext. 5041. E-mail: carol.bream@canadacouncil.ca.

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