Announcing the Finalists in the WMC McLellan Competition 2026

After 12 superb performances at the McLellan Semi Finals on February 28, we congratulate the three finalists in the 2026 WMC McLellan Competition for Solo Performance with the WSO! In alphabetical order:

* Grace Budoloski, soprano

* Angela Suet Kee Ng, piano

* Shion Tamashiro, violin

Runners up are Juliana Moroz, cello, and Diana Rockwell, soprano.

The three finalists will perform with the WSO on Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 7:30 pm in Jubilee Hall (MBCI), Monica Chen conducting. They will share in awards totaling $20K!

Get your tickets here.

Grace Budoloski is a versatile singer and dancer from Winnipeg Manitoba, praised for her “crystal clear soprano” and “effortless coloratura”. (Opera Canada)

Among her recent credits are the role of Countess Adèle in Le Comte Ory (Manitoba Underground Opera), the title role in L’incoronazione di Poppea (Summer Opera Lyric Theatre), Gretel in Hansel and Gretel (Manitoba Underground Opera), soprano soloist for Zelenka’s Miserere Mass with the Victoria Symphony, Kaylee in The Prom! (Dry Cold Productions), and Meg Giry in Phantom of the Opera (Opera on the Avalon). A recipient of the Annamaria Bamji Award for Emerging Opera Singers (Pacific Opera Victoria),she will also be appearing with Manitoba Opera as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. Grace has a Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from the University of Victoria, and is completing an Artist Diploma under the tutelage of Tracy Dahl at the Desautels Faculty of Music in Winnipeg. She will be joining Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal in 2026/27.

Pianist Angela Suet Kee Ng was a Grand Prize winner in the Canadian Music Competition (2017), making her orchestral debut with the Orchestre de la Francophonie. She has performed at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall as part of the first prize winner ceremony for the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition (2017), and performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in their Chinese New Year Celebration (2023). Recently, Angela won multiple first prizes in the Ontario Music Festivals Association Provincial Competitions, and the University of Toronto Concerto Competition, performing Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 (2025).

Angela is in her fourth year of studies at the University of Toronto with Lydia Wong as the recipient of the Alice and Armen Matheson Entrance Scholarship. She is grateful to her past teachers Jamie Parker, David Moroz, Jane Petroni and Ludwig Lee.

Shion Tamashiro studied violin at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels, Belgium, before arriving in Winnipeg to study at the Desautels Faculty of Music under the tutelage of Oleg Pokhanovski. As a second-year undergraduate student, she is currently studying with Gwen Hoebig. Shion was a member of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra for four years. In recent years, she has been performing with Prairie Virtuosi, inviting orchestral performances accessible to the local community.

Her performance of Jean Sibelius’ violin concerto in the faculty’s 2025 Concerto Competition captured the top prize for its adventurous take on a piece that has been performed and recorded countless times over the years.