Adrian Anantawan is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist. Anantawan, who began studying

at age nine, has performed with the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

Toronto Symphony Orchestra - Media Room
/ref> and at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

.State Department Launches Global Cultural Initiative
He is an alumnus of the

Etobicoke School of the Arts The Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) is a specialized public arts-academic high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in Etobicoke, it has been housed in the former Royal York Collegiate Institute facility since 1983. Founded on Septembe ...

in Canada, the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

in Philadelphia,

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and the

Harvard Graduate School of Education The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is the education school of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, it was the first school to grant the EdD degree and the first ...

. Growing up in the neighbourhood of Clarkson, in

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, he attended St. Christopher's Elementary School, and is a member of the St. Christopher's Church Parish. He is currently a member of the

Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her car ...

Foundation and is the Chair of Music at

Milton Academy Milton Academy (informally referred to as Milton) is a coeducational, co-educational, Independent school, independent, and College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts, educating students in g ...

and artistic director of Shelter Music Boston.

Biography

He was born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

to Thai dad and Hong Konger mom. Anantawan grew up in Toronto and began his violin training, at the age of nine, in

with violinist Peggy Hills, and later under violist Mark Childs in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. In 1999 and 2000, Anantawan earned positions with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, becoming one of its youngest members both years. Throughout his musical career, Anantawan has won many music awards and has received numerous recognitions. He has been profiled by CBC, CTV, YTV, CityTV, TVO, and many major newspapers and magazines.CBC - Music Around Us - Glenn Gould Studio
/ref>
/ref> In 2001, Anantawan received the Mississauga Arts Council Emerging Music Talent award and the YTV (Canada) Young Achiever award. In 2002, he received the Starling Award for promising young soloist from the

Meadowmount School of Music The Meadowmount School of Music, founded in 1944 by Ivan Galamian, is a 7-week summer school in the town of Lewis, Essex County, New York, Lewis (mailing address Westport, New York, Westport) in Upstate New York for young violinists, cellists, vio ...

, founded by

Ivan Galamian Ivan Alexander Galamian (; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including Itzhak Perlman and Kyung Wha Chung. Biography Galamian was born in ...

. In the same year, he won the International Rosemary Kennedy Award and debuted at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

, Washington D.C. In 2005, he received the CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award. 20060925 Adrian Anantawan and Amy Yang

In 2006, after enjoying a full merit scholarship, Anantawan graduated from the world-renowned

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. While there, he studied under

Ida Kavafian Ida Kavafian () (born October 29, 1952, in Istanbul) is an American classical violinist and violist. Biography Kavafian was born in Turkey to Armenian parents. She moved with her family to America in 1956, and began studying violin in Detroit ...

and Yumi Ninomiya Scott. In the summers of 2004, 2005 and 2006, he was awarded scholarships to the National Arts Center Young Artist Program and studied with

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

., where he now serves as an instructor in its pre-college division. Summer of 2006 and January 2007 also saw Anantawan with a full scholarship at the Perlman School of Music under

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

. Anantawan has been performing regularly since 2001. He soloed with orchestras throughout Canada and the US. He represented the Canada Cultural Showcase at the 2004

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

in Athens, Greece and at the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010. In November 2005, he debuted with the Toronto Symphony under the direction of

Peter Oundjian Peter Haig Oundjian (born 21 December 1955) is a Canadian-American violinist and conductor. Early life Peter Oundjian was born in Toronto, Ontario, the third of five children of Haig Aram Oundjian and his wife Joan Bertrand (Sanderson) Oundjian. ...

. In the spring of 2006, his recital at the

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; 25 September 19324 October 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was among the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian ...

Studio for CBC Radio 2 - "Music Around Us" was broadcast live nationally. In September 2006 he performed at the White House to help launch the President's Global Cultural Initiative. Anantawan has also performed for Pope John Paul II, Christopher Reeve and the Dalai Lama. In 2008, he completed his master's degree in music with a full scholarship at

under

. Anantawan was inducted into Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 2008, Toronto.

Disability activism

Anantawan was born without a right hand. He is an active member and spokesperson for the CHAMP (Child Amputee) Program of

The War Amps The War Amps is a Canadian registered nonprofit organization, established in 1918 with the purpose of assisting veteran amputees. Initially founded to serve war veterans with financial and advisory supports, the non-profit has since expanded thei ...

and Bloorview Kids Rehab Center in Toronto. He recently completed a project involving the use of adaptive musical instruments in classical performance, culminating in the world-premiere of the Virtual Music Instrument with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra.https://montrealgazette.com/news/Quadriplegic+debut+virtual+violin+Montreal+concert/5741337/story.html *Inducted into

Terry Fox Hall of Fame The Canadian Disability Hall of Fame (formerly the Terry Fox Hall of Fame), recognizes "outstanding Canadians who have made extraordinary contributions to enriching the quality of life for people with physical disabilities". It is run by the Canadi ...

, Toronto, 2008 *White House appearance in the presence of the First Lady to help launch the Global Cultural Initiative, sponsored by VSA arts, 2006 *Juno Nominee for Best Children Album "A Butterfly in Time", 2006 *National broadcast of TSO debut concert by CBC, January 1, 2006 *National broadcast of Glenn Gould Studio recital, Music around Us by CBC, 2006 *Nominee for Terry Fox Hall of Fame, 2005 *Galaxie Rising Star Award, CBC, 2005 *Starling Award for Most Promising Young Soloist, 2005 *Awarded the use of a 1698 Amati violin, 2004 – present *Gold, and Grand Awards, International Mercury Film Festival, 2003 (profile) *Gold, and Gold Special Jury's Awards, Worldfest, Houston, 2003 (profile) *VSA arts Rosemary Kennedy International Young Soloist Award, 2002 *Kids Hall of Fame Inductee, N.Y., 2001 *Young Achiever Award YTV (YAPS to the Max), 2001 *Mississauga Art Council Emerging Music Award, 2001 *Member of NYO of Canada, placed second in the nationwide audition, 2000 *One of the youngest violinists accepted by the NYO of Canada, 1999

Media coverage

*Has been profiled by newspapers such as ''Toronto Star'', ''The Globe and Mail'', ''National'', the ''Sun'', ''Mississauga News'', ''The Washington Post'', ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', ''South Mississippi News'', ''New Hampshire'', etc., 1999 – present *His profiles on television include: **Profile, Fairchild Television, Dec 2006 **One on One with Paula Todd, TVO, Jan/2006 **W5, Help & Hope CTV, March/2005 **PBA profile for the War Amps, all channels, 2002 – present **"Gift" Supper Gala, National News, CTV, CBC, City TV, Global, 2004 **"The Daily Planet" Discovery Channel, 2004 **Idea City 02, City TV, June/2002 **Moving On, CBC, 2001 **YAPS to the Max, YTV, 2000 *Special documentary entitled 'The Story Behind The Notes', premiered on The Documentary Channel, June 30/2008

References

External links

* Chris Clay,
Be fearless when making music Mississauga violinist tells students
, ''Mississauga News'', 5 December 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anantawan, Adrian Date of birth missing (living people) 1983 births Living people Musicians from Mississauga Canadian musicians of Chinese descent Canadian people of Thai descent Congenital amputees Canadian male classical violinists Canadian Disability Hall of Fame Yale School of Music alumni Curtis Institute of Music alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Canadian amputees Classical musicians with disabilities 21st-century Canadian classical violinists Canadian male violinists and fiddlers Etobicoke School of the Arts alumni