The Red Violin film concert ^2024-2025

Conductor Dina Gilbert has received critical acclaim for her energy, presence on the podium, and the breadth of her repertoire. Currently Principal Conductor of the Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal and Music Director of the Kamloops Symphony, she is well known for her dynamic personality and audacious programming.

A frequent guest conductor of leading Canadian orchestras, Dina has also conducted the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the national orchestras of Lyon, Pays de la Loire, and Metz, as well as on tour in Japan with the Sinfonia Varsovia. She has conducted several Hip-Hop Symphonic programs in France featuring renowned artists such as IAM, MC Solaar, and Bigflo & Oli.

Dina has reached thousands of children in Canada with her interactive Conducting 101 workshops and is a musical collaborator on the Radio-Canada program Il restera toujours la culture. Awarded the 2017 Opus Prize for “Discovery of the Year,” Dina Gilbert served as Assistant Conductor of the OSM from 2013 to 2016.

Canadian-born violinist Lara St John is described as “something of a phenomenon” by The Strad and as a “high-powered soloist” by The New York Times. She has performed as a soloist with major symphony orchestras around the world and given recitals in concert halls from New York and Lima to Berlin and Beijing. Her recording Mozart won a JUNO Award in 2011, and in 2014 her album Schubert was chosen as one of “the best CDs of spring” by Der Tagesspiegel. She began playing the violin at the age of 2, first appearing as a soloist with orchestra at 4, making her European debut at 10, and entering the Curtis Institute at 13. In 2021 Lara St John was invested with the Order of Canada for service to society and innovations that “ignite our imaginations.” She owns and performs on the 1779 “ex-Salabue” Guadagnini