Local Graduate Wins!

There are some very excited people in SD83! Congratulations to Jaeden Izik-Dzurko who won the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition on Saturday, September 21.

Salmon Arm Secondary grad and international pianist, Jaeden was one of only five finalists in the competition. Jaeden won first place and the Dame Fanny Waterman Gold Medal, a cash prize of £30,000, concerto engagements with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (including a reprisal of their winning performance at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music on Sunday 22 September), Wigmore Hall debut and recitals across the UK, international tours with Steinway Prize Winner Concerts Network and Global Music Network, and more.

Jaeden is a former Bastion, Shuswap Middle School, Jackson, and Sullivan student who was actively involved in Band and Jazz Band. His newly-retired mother, Patricia, a teacher in SD83, was in Leeds to see the semi-final performance that advanced him to the finals. Unretired dad David, a music teacher at Jackson Secondary, remained home to help develop the next generation of great Shuswap musicians!

This amazing achievement encapsulates SD83’s Career Development priority in the District’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan: to empower each student to succeed in their chosen career or community pathway.

Celebrated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2021 as one of “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30,” Jaeden is earning a reputation as a promising young artist. Recognized by audiences, conductors, composers, and critics alike for the exceptional communicative power and thoughtfulness of his interpretations, “…he projects a distinctive musical personality that imbues even the most routine passagework with character and individuality” (Calgary Herald).

Jaeden has performed alongside the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, the Kamloops Symphony, the Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya, the Lions Gate Sinfonia, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE, and the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla. His playing has been broadcast on CBC Radio’s In Concert, WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase and APM’s Performance Today.

An experienced recitalist, Jaeden has appeared in such venues as Wigmore Hall in London, Salle Cortot in Paris, and the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid. His October 2022 debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall drew a rave review from New York Concert Review: “…one of the most refined tonal palettes I have ever heard, combined with a polished close-to-the-keys technique, and a certain basic humility in the service of the music.”

Jaeden earned his Bachelor of Music degree at The Juilliard School with Yoheved Kaplinsky and his Master of Music degree at the University of British Columbia with Corey Hamm. He is also a former student of Ian Parker. He currently studies with Jacob Leuschner at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and Benedetto Lupo at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

The five finalists in the Leeds competition were from around the world. Along with Jaeden (Canada), they are Kai-Min Chang (Taiwan), Junyan Chen (China), Khanh Nhi Luong (Vietnam) and Julian Trevelyan (United Kingdom).

These competitors performed concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under their Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan on Friday, September 20 and Saturday, 21 (Jaeden competed on the 21st). For the first time, the Finals of the competition was held outside of Leeds due to renovations at the Leeds Town Hall. The host venue for the Finals was the historic St George’s Hall in Bradford, known for its excellent ‘shoebox’ acoustic, and coincides with Bradford’s status as the ‘UK City of Culture in 2025’.

All information about the Finals can be found on the Leeds Competition website. 

Congratulations Jaeden!