When Christina Petrowska Quilico was just 14 years old the New York Times described her as a "Promethean talent." She was in New York to study at the Juilliard School, and shared top prize with Murray Perahia in a piano competition at the High School of the Performing Arts.
Her famous piano teacher Rosina Lhevinne was notoriously strict but, says Petrowska Quilico, showed a softer side when young Christina brought along some of her mother's borscht.
Petrowska Quilico studied modern music in Europe with twentieth century titans Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gyorgy Ligeti and Pierre Boulez, who honed her innate love and understanding of contemporary music.
Christina Petrowska Quilico has worked directly with many composers including her first husband Michel-Georges Bregent. The late Ann Southam wrote many of her piano pieces with Petrowska Quilico in mind, and she recently accompanied dancers in the premiere of a new ballet choreographed to Southam's Rivers.
Modern music clearly appeals to Christina Petrowska Quilico, but her repertoire spans four centuries. Several of her 26 CDs have received Juno nominations, and two of them flew in space together with Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean.
Christina Petrowska Quilico is also a published author and poet. Her book Opera Illustrated: An Artistic Odyssey brought her together with renowned baritone Louis Quilico. In 2000, after his death, she established the Christina and Louis Quilico Award to help promising young singers.
Christina Petrowska Quilico is a professor at York University in Toronto. She has two adult daughters, and she is the host of This Is My Music on Saturday, June 2nd on CBC Radio 2, 10:05 a.m. to noon ET, 11:05 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. AT.
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