Virginia Parker Prize
Naomi Woo
Photo: Christa Holka
Current Winner
Naomi Woo
Naomi Woo is a prominent young Canadian conductor and pianist, recognized as a rising star on the Canadian classical music scene by CBC Radio, ARTV, and Flare magazine. Currently Assistant Conductor for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, she is a finalist for the position of Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de l’Estuaire, and a member of Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership program and the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal’s inaugural conducting academy.
Following debuts with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Regina Symphony Orchestra, and the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra in 2021–22, this season will see her debut with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, The Orchestra NOW (New York), the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and at LSO St. Luke’s with the ensemble Tangram Sound. On the opera stage, she conducts the Canadian premiere of Du Yun’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Angel’s Bone” in Vancouver, Ellis Ludwig-Leone’s “The Night Falls in New York City,” and assists at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Naomi Woo holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She has also studied mathematics, philosophy, and music at Yale College, the Yale School of Music, and the Université de Montréal.
What is this prize?
The Virginia Parker Prize is awarded to a musician, instrumentalist or classical music conductor under the age of 32 who demonstrates outstanding talent, musicianship and artistic excellence and who makes a valuable contribution to artistic life in Canada and internationally.
Who created this prize?
This prize was established by the late Virginia Parker in 1982 and is funded by an annual gift from the Virginia Parker Foundation.
For more information
virginiaparker-prizes@canadacouncil.ca
1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 4086
Deadline
Annual
Prize amount
$25,000
By application
Updated guidelines will be posted 2 months prior to the deadline. Submit your application to virginiaparker-prizes@canadacouncil.ca.
We are committed to equity in all our activities, including the administration of our prizes and awards.
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