Yolanda Bruno is one of the hottest young musicians in Canada (CBC Music says so!) She’s won a slew of awards and competitions, has performed as a soloist all over Europe and North America and joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2019.
Yet her most memorable musical experiences have happened in unexpected places - playing for children in a parking lot in South-East London, giving a concert in a high-security penitentiary, playing in parks, subways, hospitals.
She believes deeply in the power of music to break down barriers of all kinds—personal, cultural, even political.
Yolanda grew up in Ottawa and music was part of life before she was even born. Her mom went into labour while playing a concert, and became Yolanda’s first, and probably most important, teacher.
After studies at McGill and the Guildhall School in London, she returned to Canada and launched a whirlwind professional career full of musical adventures. She masterminded a Kickstarter campaign with pianist Isabelle David to cover the costs of their first CD, “The Wild Swans”. It features music by 11 women composers, spanning ten centuries, including several world premieres.
During the pandemic, she gave over 50 free performances as part of a project she calls “Music for Your Blues”. Children, retirees, folks in classrooms and seniors’ centres joined her for on-line concerts combining music with stories and poetry. It was all about helping people feel connected during an exceptionally isolating time.
For Yolanda, music isn’t just a career. It’s a way of sharing an intense devotion to beauty and companionship with anyone who inhabits our increasingly fragile world, with anyone who cares to listen.
She performs on a 1737 Domenico Montagnana violin on generous loan from Groupe Canimex Inc. in Drummondville, Quebec.