Dakota Perez was born in Dallas, Texas but has lived in Calgary for most of his life. Most recently, he was selected as a winner of the 2024 RBC Concerto Competition, and performed the first movement of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.He made his orchestral debut with the Calgary Civic Symphony in 2021 as a winner of the
Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition, performing the first movement of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 1. For two years (2021-22 and 2023-24), Dakota has been in the Calgary Pro Musica Dick Matthew’s Young Artists Development Program.

Dakota has studied with Katrina Thompson-Fost, Dr. Karen Gerelus, Dr. Lana Henchell, and was a student in the Academy for Young Artists at the Mount Royal University Conservatory. He received his ARCT in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music at the age of 16. He recently graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of
Music in Piano Performance in the studio of Dr. Jani Parsons and will begin a Master of Music in Piano Performance in the Fall, studying with HieYon Choi at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. During his time in Calgary, he has found value in teaching music theory and most of all, his collaborative work and the opportunities and community that it provides.

Dakota Perez was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

BoKun Liu is a pianist from Vancouver, Canada. He is currently studying under Jerome Lowenthal and Soyeon Kate Lee at the Juilliard School in New York.

BoKun Liu debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York at 11 years old. He has since won various international competitions and festivals in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. He has
been awarded more than 17 first international prizes including the D - Competition (Russia), Frederic Chopin (Romania), Great Masters (Spain) and Oakridge Park (Canada) International
piano competitions. In 2022, BoKun was named one of “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” by CBC Music. He has been awarded the “Canadian Young Artist Standard of Excellence” Award by Steinway and Sons.

BoKun Liu has participated in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Gary Graffman, Jonathan Biss, Antonio Pompa - Baldi, Alexander Kobrin, and others.

BoKun is an active member of the community. He co-founded a Vancouver based non-profit that helps the homeless. BoKun is a Gluck performance fellow at Juilliard, and performs in hospitals, senior centers, and schools.

BoKun (Brayden) Liu was generously supported by the Michael Davies Scholarship Endowment Fund.

Pianist Antonina Suhanova has performed on international stages since 2000, in venues like the Steinway Hall in New York, the Wiener Saal in Salzburg, the Wigmore Hall and the Barbican Hall in London. From 2012 to 2018 she acquired First Class Bachelor of Music, Master of Performance and Artist Diploma degrees, all with distinction, under the tutelage of the British pianist Ronan O’Hora at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. During her studies, Antonina participated in numerous masterclasses of such world-renowned pianists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Idil Biret, Steven Osborne, Matti Raekallio, Richard Goode, Robert Levin and Yefim Bronfman.

Antonina has appeared as a soloist with the “Moscow Virtuosi” Chamber Orchestra, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra and other collectives, collaborating with such distinguished conductors as Andris Nelsons and Vladimir Spivakov. 

She has performed at renowned festivals in the United Kingdom, USA, Brazil, China, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Russia. Antonina is a recipient of the Hattori Foundation Senior Award, Help Musicians UK awards, the Drake Calleja Trust award, the William Brown prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition (2017) and a nominee for the International German Piano Award 2018. 

In 2018, her solo debut at the Wigmore Hall was broadcasted live on BBC Radio 3. In 2020 as the Musicians’ Company prize winner Antonina made her solo debut at the Southbank Centre, Purcell Room. In 2022 she became grant holder of Oleg Prokofiev Trust and was invited to perform at the Rio Piano Festival in Brazil. Since September 2022 Antonina joined the faculty of the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 

Antonina Suhanova was generously supported by the Sir Mark Turner Memorial Scholarships Endowment. 

First prize winner of the 2023 edition of the Auguste-Descarries competition, Antoine Rivard-Landry is a pianist from Montreal known for his expressivity, on-stage charisma and confidence. He made his international debut in 2018 with the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra. Antoine was recently a finalist at the Orford Music Award, at the Université de Montréal concerto competition and at the 2022 edition of the Stepping Stone. He has studied with Robert McDonald at the Juilliard School of Music and in Montreal with Jean Saulnier and Richard Raymond.

At 12 years old, Antoine headlines his first concert with the Orchestre Métropolitain. He also performed with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières and the Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal. He performed at the Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur, the Espace Kin and the Orford on the Road concert series. He recently made his Place des Arts debuts as a Promusica guest artist. He also takes part in many chamber music ensembles alongside artists such as countertenor and flautist Hugo Perina, mezzo soprano Mélissa Zerbib and drag queen Miss Badessa.

Antoine Rivard-Landry was generously supported by the Heather Edwards Artist Award.

Alona Milner is an Israeli born pianist, an alumnus of the McGill-UdeM piano Vocal residency program supported by the Azrieli Foundation in Montreal, Canada. In September 2024, she will start a Doctor of Music degree at the University of Montreal. Graduated (M.Mus) Cum Laude and Dean’s list from the Buchmann Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv University under the guidance of Prof. Tomer Lev. She was an “Excellent Musician” at the IDF.

Working intensively with singers, Alona played the piano at the performance of La Cenerentola by Rossini in a live performance of opera McGill under Giovanni Reggioli. Alona played her recent recital called "La Valse" in Villecroze and Draguignan, (France), and in Tel Aviv in 2023. She played a recital at the Israeli embassy in Paris in 2022.

Alona is a recipient of the Polonsky foundation scholarship to the Aspen Music Festival and school in 2022, studied with Prof. Hung-Kuan Chen (Julliard). She received the Sir Jack Lyons Scholarship for the Arts to study in Banff the art of piano program. She was invited to the Edwin Fischer Summer Academy in Potsdam with Prof. Klaus Hellwig (UdK).

She has been supported by the American Israel Cultural Foundation since 2014 and is a top excelling grant recipient in 2022-2024. She is supported by the Ronen Foundation since 2019.

Alona recently received a generous grant from Villecroze music academy for her project "Dance the Waltz".

Alona Milner was generously supported by the Sir Jack Lyons Scholarship for the Arts.