Mario Bernardi, (20 August 1930 – 2 June 2013) was a Canadian conductor and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

.Mario Bernardi
at

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. He conducted 75 different operas and over 450 other works with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Biography

Bernardi was born in

Kirkland Lake Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The 2016 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 7,981. The community name was based on a nearby lake which in turn was named after Winnifre ...

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, and spent his first six years in Canada. After his family moved to Italy, Bernardi studied piano, organ, and composition with at the Manzato Conservatory at Treviso and took his examinations at Italy's Venice Conservatory. After graduating in 1945, his family returned to Canada where he finished his studies at

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He then was a concert pianist. In 1957 he conducted the Canadian Opera Company, and in 1963 was coach and assistant conductor at the Sadler's Wells Opera Company (now the English National Opera). In 1968 he became the founding conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, and also became the music director in 1971. He then led the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra from 1984 until 1992. From 1983 until 2006 he was the principal conductor of the CBC Radio Orchestra. He then retired from full-time work, although he continued to perform with numerous orchestras as an occasional guest conductor; he was named NACO's conductor laureate in 1997. He has made several dozen recordings for

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, the CBC's in-house label, among others. He died on 2 June 2013 in Toronto."NAC Orchestra founding conductor Mario Bernardi dies"

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, 3 June 2013.

Personal life

Bernardi worked until age 80, when he had a serious stroke and moved to a care home. He continued to play piano until he lost sufficient finger dexterity. Bernardi was married, with one daughter and two grandsons.

Honours

* He has honorary degrees from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

, University of Windsor, University of Ottawa,

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

, Lakehead University and

Laurentian University Laurentian University (french: Université Laurentienne), officially the Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Lau ...

. * 1972: He was made a Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. * 1982: Received the Diplôme d'Honneur from the Canadian Conference of the Arts * 1999: Bernardi received the National Arts Centre Award, a companion award of the

Governor General's Performing Arts Awards A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. * 2001: He received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. * 2006: He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

Biography

Personal life

Honours

References

Further reading