30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30, 2024 edition

29 July 2024

https://www.cbc.ca/music/30-under-30-canadian-classical-musicians-hot-2024-1.7248546

Emad Zolfaghari, violist
Age: 19
From: Oakville, Ont.

The past 15 months have been epic for Emad Zolfaghari: on June 22, he won the $15,000 first prize and the audience prize at the Primrose International Viola Competition, held at the Colburn School in L.A. Earlier in the year, he was one of two students from the Curtis Institute of Music selected for the 2024 edition of Curtis on Tour, a seven-city American concert tour during which he played string sextets alongside Curtis faculty and alumni. "I learned so much about touring professionally, and had lots of fun," he recalls. He also won the $13,000 first prize at the 2023 Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco, setting up a solo performance with the Santa Cruz Symphony in January 2025. A month before the Klein Competition, he performed as soloist with l'Orchestre Métropolitain and Yannick-Nézet-Séguin. "An experience I will never forget!"

To keep himself grounded, Zolfaghari looks to his father. "He immigrated to Canada from Iran when he was 20 with absolutely nothing and worked extremely hard to provide my siblings and me with a better life," he reflects. "He always reminds me to stay humble, work hard, be grateful and never forget where I came from."

So far this summer, Zolfaghari has already been in Ohio for Cleveland Chamberfest, and Calgary for Chamberfest West. Fortunately, there's still time for his annual family hang at his grandmother's cottage in Sainte-Justine, Que., where he'll swim, go fishing and four-wheeling, and — most importantly — sleep in. "These weeks in the summer are magical."