DON BANKS MUSIC AWARDS
Founded in 2011
FINALIST COMPETITION
April 29, 2023 @ 7:00 p.m
Congratulations to all 21 applicants who were involved with the DBMA 2023.
Each of you has worked hard and shared outstanding performances
for the auditions and for the final concert. Thank you for participating.
The performances at the DBMA 2023 competition on April 29 were outstanding.
Thank you all for sharing your talent.
We are grateful for our esteemed adjudicators who had a difficult desicion selecting the
scholarship winners as the standard of performance was at such a high level.
The DBMA 2023 scholarship winners are:
Tamryn Sharma
Andrew Timokhov
Kevin Wang
Kaylin Woolley
Daniel Lu
Link to the April 29, 2023 competition:
https://youtube.com/live/a_lK3csNVng?feature=share
The program for the competition is available by clicking the button below.
ABOUT US
ABOUT THE AWARDS
The Don Banks Music Awards (DBMA) are music scholarships awarded annually to selected finalists. The competition is open to young musicians ranging in age from 10 to 18 years, who are attending elementary or secondary school, and who live or take music lessons in the area of Etobicoke, Ontario.
ABOUT DON BANKS
The late Mr. Don Banks was a former Etobicoke school principal and a member of Islington United Church, who believed in nurturing the musical studies of young people. Mr. Banks established the initial endowment for these scholarships.
FORMAT OF THE AWARDS
Traditionally, the Don Banks Music Awards are decided and announced at a gala spring concert wherein winning finalists compete. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards were paused in 2020. The Don Banks Music Awards took place as a completely virtual event in 2021 and 2022. In each of those years, approximately 35 local music students in the areas of strings, piano, voice and winds submitted applications and audition videos. An average of 12 finalists competed for multiple scholarships at the gala concert. Both virtual events were highly successful and enjoyed by everyone who attended.
In 2023, the Don Banks Music Awards competition will have video auditions and an in person competition in the sanctuary of Islington United Church.
ADJUDICATORS 2023
Luke Welch & Joanne Yesol Choi
are our esteemed adjudicators for 2023.
LUKE WELCH
Award-winning Canadian pianist Luke Welch was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and grew up nearby in Mississauga. In addition to his performance commitments, he has also been highly sought after as an interdisciplinary collaborative pianist. He has worked closely with a number of renowned international academies. Welch’s recordings have received critical acclaim. In addition to his published writing in the Globe and Mail, he was named the 2018 recipient of the Harry Jerome Arts Award - distinguished with national recognition by the Black Business and Professional Association. Welch has taught in both Canada and Europe, and was appointed to the Faculty of Piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music Oscar Peterson Program in 2022.
JOANNE YESOL CHOI
Korean-Canadian cellist Joanne Yesol Choi, is an avid chamber musician, teacher, and founding member of the critically acclaimed, Dior Quartet. Joanne has performed on stages across North America, the U.K, and Germany. As a teacher, Joanne currently coaches and teaches students at the Phil and Eli Taylor Academy. She is also an Instructor at the Oscar Peterson School of Music, another institution at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Joanne was included in the 2023 CBC 30 Under 30 Canadian Musicians list. She completed her Bachelors and Masters Degree at Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music. Joanne returned to continue her studies as a Fellow in the Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency Program in Fall 2021.