The Collingwood Music Festival typically conjures visions of warm July skies and bucolic settings outside the city. The Festival returns for a holiday concert that features American-Canadian baritone Gino Quilico.
Quilico returns to Collingwood after his acclaimed performance at the sold-out finale for the 2024 Festival in July 2024. He’ll be performing pieces from his album Secrets of Christmas, first released in 2015 with three duets he’d recorded with his father Louis Quilico. The album contains a mix of holiday classics both modern and traditional
The warm ambience of the First Presbyterian Church in Collingwood is the setting for a matinee concert on December 15.
Baritone Gino Quilico
Gino Quilico is one of the opera world’s most recognized baritones. Over a career that spans more than four decades, he’s sung more than 30 roles at renowned opera houses all over the globe, including the Paris Opera, New York’s Met Opera, La Scala in Milan, and the Vienna Staatsoper, among many others. He’s worked with a who’s who of conductors over his career, including everyone from Herbert Von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein to Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Gino has created a legacy of more than 30 recordings so far. He won a Grammy Award for his role as Chorèbe in a recording of Berlioz’s Les Troyens with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1995. Among many other accolades and awards, he counts a certified Gold (50,000 copies) disc award for his 2003 album Christmas (Novem), and he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his achievements and contribution to Canadian music in 1993.
The Concert
Pianist Christopher Burton will accompany Quilico. Burton is the Director of Music at Thornbury’s Grace United Church, a position he’s held for six years. Christopher earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at University of Ottawa, followed by a Master of Music in Piano Performance from McGill University, and a Doctorate in Musical Arts in Piano Accompaniment and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music. He also plays the violin, and performed as a violinist in Smokey Robinson’s backup orchestra.
Mezzo-soprano Viera Zmiyiwsky will perform Ukrainian folk songs and holiday favourites, accompanied by pianist (and CMF Founder and Artistic Director) Daniel Vnukowski.
Viera Zmiyiwsky is a violinist as well as a vocalist, and works in both classical and contemporary repertoire, as well as owning her own event business. Viera earned a Bachelor of Music in Performance from University of Toronto in voice, and studied violin at the University of Indiana. She has performed across North America and Europe.
Viera Zmiyiwsky will join Quilico for a rendition of The Prayer, the song made famous by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion.
Vnukowski will also act as Master of Ceremonies for the event.
- Find concert details and tickets [HERE].
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