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2018 Scholarship Winners


On Saturday, May 12, 2018, the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg held its annual scholarship auditions in the Eva Clare Hall, at the University of Manitoba. The day was filled with many commendable performances from all 20 young Manitoba artists! The WMC congratulates the following winners:

  1. WMC Scholarship $3,000 – Paul Williamson– Piano

  2. WMC Scholarship $2,500 – Juliana Moroz – Cello

  3. Madeleine Gauvin Scholarship $2,000 – Christina Thanisch-Smith – Soprano

  4. Holtby Scholarship – $1,500 – Alexander Moroz – Viola

  5. Phyllis Ilavsky Scholarship - $1,500 - Jammie Lee - Piano

  6. Berythe Birse Scholarship – $1000 – David Liam Roberts – Cello

The WMC scholarship program has been a feature of the Women’s Musical Club mandate since 1915. Hundreds of young musicians have won these scholarships over the years, and many have gone on to achieve international acclaim. The names of the winners and the amounts of the awards are listed in a brochure which is updated yearly. This year's six winners will perform and receive their scholarship cheques at the annual WMC Scholarship Winners’ Recital that will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 30th, 2018 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The public is invited to attend and be treated to an afternoon of amazing music from these talented Manitoban performers! Single tickets are available online or at the door.  Call 204-944-9431 for a subscription.  Tickets $25; Under 30 - $15; Students $5.


From Left to right - December 30th 2018 Paul Williamson, Juliana Moroz, Christina Thanisch-Smith, Alexander Moroz, Jammie Lee and David Liam Roberts.What a recital it was! An incredible group of young, talented and passionate Manitoba artists who performed in front of a full house at the Muriel Richardson Auditorium at the WAG! Bravo to all!



Included in CBC Music’s 2017 edition of “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30,” pianist Paul Williamson is emerging as one of Canada’s most versatile young artists. In competitions, he has received first place in the piano category of the 2014 Canadian National Music Festival and first place as well as three semifinal awards at the 2017 Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Association national piano competition. In addition, Paul is a winner of the University of Manitoba’s annual concerto competition, t he Lawrence Genser Scholarship Competition (for the most outstanding undergraduate performer), and the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg Scholarship Competition.

In recital, Paul has performed for the Valley Concert Society, Virtuosi Recital Series, Concerts Café Classico, and the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg among others. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra, and the Fraser Valley Symphony Orchestra.

A graduate of the University of Manitoba, Paul currently studies at the Colburn School in the studio of Fabio Bidini. His previous musical influences include David Moroz and Darryl Friesen. Paul is grateful for the support of the Manitoba Arts Council.



Juliana Moroz began playing the cello at the age of three. A student of Yuri Hooker, she has participated in masterclasses with Richard Aaron, Colin Carr, Desmond Hoebig, Hans Jensen, John Kadz, Brian Manker, and Johanne Perron. A consistent prizewinner in local and provincial music festivals, she has attended the Aspen Summer Festival, Morningside Music Bridge Program, Orford Arts Festival and Rosamunde Summer Festival. She has performed as soloist with both the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Winnipeg Youth Orchestra. She also enjoys performing chamber music, especially with her family as the JAGD quartet.



Born in Fredericton and raised in Winnipeg, Christina is currently completing her BMus (Perf.) under the tutelage of Monica Huisman at the University of Manitoba. This past year, Christina won the MRMTA Senior Recital Competition and Holtby Scholarship, was a finalist in both the Desautels Lawrence Genser Competition and the Winnipeg Music Festival’s Rose Bowl, and, as a winner of the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg’s Annual Scholarship Auditions, received the Madeline Gauvin Scholarship. Christina also sang the role of Mariane in Opera NUOVA’s production of Tartuffe (Canadian premiere)and attended Wendy Nielsen’s Vocal Techniques Workshop in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, in July. This February, Christina is looking forward to singing the role of Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) in the University of Manitoba Opera Theatre’s annual Opera Excepts Showcase.



Winner of the Women’s Musical Club Holtby scholarship, Alexander (Sasha) Moroz is currently a student at the University of Ottawa studying with Michael vanderSloot. Before leaving for Ottawa, he studied in Winnipeg with Daniel Scholz. A consistent prizewinner in local and provincial competitions, Sasha has performed as soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He has also toured Canada from coast to coast as a member of the National Youth Orchestra, and has attended and performed in summer programmes around the world.



Jammie Lee is a high school senior from Brandon, Manitoba. Developing an early interest in piano, Jammie was enrolled in the prestigious Musical Academy for gifted children at the Seoul Arts Centre, studying with Dr. Seo Jung Won. After immigrating to Canada, he studied with Dr. Kyung Kim for 5 years and is currently with Dr. Lawrence Jones. He was the second prize winner in the international ENKOR Competition 2018 in the age category 16 to 20 years – being the only Canadian prize winner. He won third place at the 2016 Canadian National Music Festival and was the only recipient of a special award for the most outstanding performance. He was the youngest winner ever of the Western Financial Group Tudor Bowl in the 2015 Brandon Festival of the Arts. He has placed second nationally in his age category in the National Finals of the 2010 Canadian Music Competition.

Jammie has worked with pianists JaninaFialkowska, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and Jon Kimura Parker.


Canadian cellist David Liam Roberts swept the 1st prize in the strings category and the Grand Award at the 2018 National Music Festival of Canada. A student of Hans Jensen and Andrés Díaz, David Liam studies at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he holds the full-tuition Andrea & Robert Chisholm scholarship. David Liam was also awarded the 2nd Prize in the 2018 WMC McLellan Competition after a performance of the Dvorák Cello Concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. As a Global Development Associate of the Back to BACH Project, he is passionate about educational outreach work for children and has pioneered this project in Canada since 2016. He plays a cello that was made for him by Garth Lee in 2017.

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