Student Scholarship, Bursary

A promising young concert artist, 12-year-old Brittany Wang is already receiving recognition for her musical maturity and exciting performances. She began her violin studies with Marko Dreher when she was 4 years old, and has since accumulated an impressive number of awards. She is also a student at The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists at The Royal Conservatory of Music.

In 2022 she won 1st place at the Kiwanis Music Festival of Guelph, was awarded a scholarship, and was chosen for the OMFA provincial finals. In 2023, she won the Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival competition and again was chosen for the finals, and she was the national winner of the Canadian Music Competition (CMC). In 2024 she won firsts at the Kiwanis Festivals in Guelph and Peel, and was chosen for the OMFA provincial finals for her home town of Mississauga. In 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026, she was accepted to and attended respectively the Harpa International Music Academy in Lakeside Chautauqua, Ohio, and the Vancouver Island Music Academy, where she won the concerto competition in 2025 and was a finalist in 2026. In 2025, she won 1st place at the Hamilton Music Festival (HMF), ARCT level, and represented the festival for the OMFA provincial final. In 2025, she was the Ontario winner at the CMC.

With the Cachinno String Quartet at the Burloak Academy of Chamber Music, Brittany won 1st place at the 2023 Unionville Music Competition.

The outstanding violin being used by Brittany Wang is a violin by J&A Gagliano of Naples c 1795 on extended loan through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and drawing.

Chien-Hsun Chiu is a Taiwanese classical trombonist based in Toronto. She began playing the trombone at age 8 in Taiwan and attended the Music Program at Tainan National University of the Arts High School before moving to Toronto in 2023. She graduated from Seneca College's Independent Songwriting and Performance (IPS) Program in 2026 and is currently studying Music at York University. She has served as Principal Trombonist with the Hart House Orchestra since 2024 and also performs with the Rosedale Symphony Orchestra. She works as a music instructor, teaching piano, brass instruments, and music theory. She is grateful to be a recipient of the 2026 Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra Student Scholarship and is excited to gain more orchestral experience with the EPO.

Isidora Kunovac is a violinist from Kitchener, Ontario, with a lifelong passion for music. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Wilfrid Laurier University, where she studied violin with renowned professors Julie Baumgartel and Jerzy Kaplanek.

To further her musical training, Isidora studied abroad during the summers of 2021 and 2022 with respected violin professors Ivan Otašević at the Academy of Arts in Banja Luka and Florijan Balaž at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. Today, Isidora is an active performer in the local music community. She plays with the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra and the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, and has also performed with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra. She was also a longtime member of the orchestra of the Serbian cultural association Oplenac.

In addition to performing, Isidora recently completed a two-year Suzuki Teacher Training program under Paule Barsalou. She currently teaches violin at Premiere School of the Arts.

Isidora looks forward to further studies in chamber music and welcomes opportunities to perform and collaborate with fellow musicians.

From the age of 5, Victoria Gilerovich has participated in numerous local and provincial music festivals, competitions, charity concerts and recitals, winning many awards, prizes and performance opportunities. She won the grand prize at the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition in 2024 and made her solo orchestral debut with the orchestra.

She has performed solos in the renowned Koerner Hall, Mazzoleni Concert Hall, and Temerty Theatre in Toronto. As a member of The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists for five years, she undertook intense music studies and performed regularly both as a soloist and as part of the Academy Orchestra, as well as with many ensembles from the Taylor Academy, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (2025-2026 season, performing at Roy Thomson Hall among other venues) and the University of Toronto. As a member of the Taylor Performance Academy Junior Chamber Orchestra, she played as concertmaster, 1st and 2nd violin, and viola, and was Assistant Concertmaster with Orchestra Toronto in 2025.

Victoria's dream is to become an accomplished violinist.

Vishwa Theivendirarajah is a grade 12 student at Martingrove Collegiate Institute and is both a long-time violin student of the Etobicoke Suzuki School of Music and piano student under Maria Dolnycky. He has been involved in several chamber and orchestral ensembles and is a budding composer. Outside of music Vishwa enjoys playing chess, watching sitcoms, and coding video games. He is excited to be a part of the EPO for a third year and is looking forward to learning from the other talented members in this community.