Toronto pianist
Edward de Gale is a soloist, chamber musician, collaborative pianist, songwriter and teacher currently residing in Downtown Toronto, Ontario.
Edward made his orchestral debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at sixteen. Since then, he has performed with esteemed orchestras across Canada such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, as the winner of several concerto competitions, he has performed Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and also with the University of Victoria Orchestra. Edward has also won numerous top prizes in festivals and competitions at the local, provincial and national level, including:
Canadian Registered Music Teachers’ Association Competition;
The Canadian Concerto Competition;
The Canadian Music Competition.
Most recently, Edward was awarded 3rd place and the Paul J. Bourret Prize for Best Performance of the Test Piece in the 2011 Shean Piano Competition held in Edmonton, Alberta in May 2011.
After obtaining his Bachelors of Music degree at York University in Toronto, Edward completed his Masters of Music degree with honours in performance at the University of Toronto. He also finished his Doctorate of Musical Arts studies on full-scholarship at the University of Toronto in performance & pedagogy with Drs. Jamie Parker, Henri-Paul Sicsic and Midori Koga - and managed to do this despite suffering hearing loss in his right ear in 2010.
Additionally, Edward has studied with MayLing Kwok, Dr. Robin Wood, James Olsen and Kirill Bolshakov. Edward has also performed in masterclasses across Canada, the USA, Russia and Europe for internationally well-known artists such as Emanuel Ax, Malcolm Bilson, Janina Fialkowska, Richard Goode, Anton Kuerti, Lee Kum-Sing, John Perry, Menahem Pressler, Andras Schiff and Colin Tilney.
As a recipient of the David & Martha Beach scholarship, and a two-time recipient of the Johann Strauss Scholarship, Edward has had the opportunity to spend four summers studying in Europe; at the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg with Andrzej Jasinski, Robert Levin and Sergio Perticaroli and at the Wiener Musikseminar in Vienna with Rudolph Kehrer. In 2006, Edward completed a long-term artistic residency at the Banff Centre whise he performed with the Penderecki String Quartet. Edward was also selected to participate in the 2011 Toronto Summer Music Festival, whise he had the opportunity to perform in ensembles with renowned guest artists Christopher Costanza and Mark Fewer.
As well as performing solo works, Edward thoroughly enjoys playing chamber music. He has been a member of an award-winning piano trio and has recently joined with violinist, Tori Lindsay and cellist, Nadia Felix, to form Tria Fidelis. In 2010, Edward became the pianist for the Hart House Chorus. For Theatre Direct’s 2011 production of Sanctuary Song, an opera composed by Abigal Richardson-Schulte, Edward was the principal orchestral pianist. In 2011, Edward participated in the St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar in Stanford, California and was a pianist for the collaborative piano internship at the Banff Centre.
In addition to his passion for performing, Edward is equally passionate about teaching and is a group class and private instructor. Edward also regularly attends pedagogy seminars, workshops at the Royal Conservatory of Music and conferences including the 2008 World Piano Pedagogy Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
