The winner of the 2018-19 Ottawa Symphony Orchestra – Senécal Mozart Prize is soprano Elizabeth Polese.
The Toronto native was selected by a panel of judges including Canadian soprano Nathalie Paulin, Ottawa Symphony Concertmaster Mary-Elizabeth Brown, and Ottawa Symphony Music Director Alain Trudel. Her victory was announced in a media release.
Polese will receive $2,500 and will perform Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate; K.165, on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. This will be the OSO’s first concert in its new digs in the Carleton Performance Space inside the Dominion-Chalmers United Church building.
Polese is graduate of the University of Toronto, where she studied with Canadian soprano Mary Morrison. Polese has a BA and Master’s in Voice Performance. She currently lives in Montreal where she is a member of the young artist ensemble at Opéra de Montréal, l’Atelier Lyrique for the 2018-19 season.
The Jan. 21 concert will include the University of Ottawa Orchestra performing Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 with members of the OSO. The will be the first performance on the fully expanded new stage inside Dom-Chalm. There will be more than 100 musicians on this new stage.
The Sénecal – Mozart Prize is named for Nicole Senécal, who is a life-long fan of classical music. It is awarded each year to a young musician.
