Alumni
Many prominent musicians attended The Royal Conservatory's classes and lessons, or took Royal Conservatory music examinations, and have gone on to worldwide acclaim and success. Past students include:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Mariko Anraku | Associate principal harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, recording artist with EMI Classics. |
| Jane Archibald | Soprano |
| Randy Bachman | Guitarist, founding member of The Guess Who and BTO (Bachman-Turner Overdrive), Officer of the Order of Canada |
| Rob Baker | Guitarist and songwriter, The Tragically Hip |
| Emilie-Claire Barlow | Jazz singer and musician |
| Isabel Bayrakdarian | Juno Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated soprano. |
| Martin Beaver | Violinist, member of the Tokyo String Quartet. |
| Marie Berard | Member of Grammy Award-nominated ARC Ensemble. |
| Mario Bernardi | Founding Conductor of Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra. |
| Laila Biali | Award-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist. |
| Russell Braun | Operatic lyric baritone. |
| Jaycelyn Brown | Pianist, member of Juno Award-winning band Said the Whale. |
| Measha Brueggergosman | Juno Award-winning soprano. |
| Andrew Burashko | Artistic Director of Art of Time Ensemble. |
| Howard Cable | Conductor and composer. Arranged original theme for Hockey Night in Canada. |
| Cecilia String Quartet | Winners of 2011 Banff International String Quartet Competition |
| Bruce Cockburn | Juno Award-winning Folk rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, inducted in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and an Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Jonathan Crow | Violinist, Concertmaster with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. |
| George Crum | A renowned conductor and coach. Studied at RCM 1943-7 and later became first chorus master. |
| John Estacio | Juno Award-nominated composer. |
| Bob Ezrin | Juno Award-winning record producer, inducted into Canadian Music Hall of Fame. |
| Mark Fewer | Violinist, Artistic Director of City of Halifax's Scotia Festival of Music. |
| Bernard Fitch | Tenor, member of Metropolitan Opera. |
| David Foster | Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award/Grammy Award-winning musician, producer and composer and Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| George Gao | A Chinese-born erhu player and composer. |
| Wallis Giunta | Opera Singer, Mezzo Soprano. |
| Glenn Gould | One of the best-known and most celebrated pianists of the 20th century. |
| Robert Goulet | Grammy Award and Tony Award-winning singer and actor. |
| Lawrence Gowan | Pianist, award-winning solo performer and member of Styx. |
| Gryphon Trio | Roman Borys, Jamie Parker, alumni. |
| Emily Haines | Singer and songwriter, Metric. |
| Jeff Healey | Juno Award-winning jazz guitarist and singer. |
| Angela Hewitt | Classical pianist, Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Reza Jacobs | Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning composer. |
| Carolyn Dawn Johnson | Multiple Juno Award-winning singer and songwriter. |
| Eli Kassner | Founder of the Guitar Society of Toronto and world-renowned guitar teacher. |
| Dennis Kim | Concertmaster of Finnish National Opera. |
| Helen Kim | Assistant Concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra. |
| Leslie Kinton | Member of acclaimed piano duo Anagnoson and Kinton. |
| Norbert Kraft | Accomplished classical guitarist who made major contributions to The Royal Conservatory's guitar repertoire. |
| Diana Krall | Grammy Award and Juno Award-winning jazz singer and pianist, Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Chantal Kreviazuk | Juno Award-winning singer, songwriter and pianist. |
| Julian Kuerti | Assistant Conductor, Boston Symphony Orchestra. |
| Gordon Lightfoot | Singer and songwriter, Companion of the Order of Canada. |
| Jens Lindemann | Echo Klassik Award-winning and Grammy and Juno Award-nominated trumpeter. |
| Peter Longworth | Classical pianist. |
| Alexina Louie | Juno Award-winning composer and pianist. |
| David Louie | Member of Grammy Award-nominated ARC Ensemble. |
| Malcolm Lowe | Concertmaster of Boston Symphony Orchestra, faculty at Tanglewood Music Center. |
| Amanda Marshall | Juno Award-nominated singer and songwriter. |
| Lois Marshall | Soprano, Companion of the Order of Canada. |
| Carrie-Ann Matheson | Assistant Conductor and Vocal Coach at Metropolitan Opera. |
| Loreena McKennitt | Juno Award-winning singer, pianist and composer, Member of the Order of Canada. |
| Sarah McLachlan | Multiple Grammy and Juno Award-winning singer and songwriter, Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Geoffrey Moull | Canadian conductor and pianist, Principal Conductor of the Bielefeld Opera in Germany, Music Director of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Director of Orchestras at the University of Western Ontario |
| Kent Nagano | Conductor and Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera |
| Alexandra Newland | Member of Metropolitan Opera chorus. |
| Phil Nimmons | Founding member of the Canadian League of Composers; Director Emeritus of Jazz Studies at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto. |
| Sir Roger Norrington | Principal Conductor of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. |
| Bryant Olender | Genie Award-nominated musician and Musical Director for Michael Bublé. |
| Simone Osborne | Soprano, member of Canadian Opera Company Ensemble. |
| Owen Pallett | Polaris Music Prize-winning violinist and composer. |
| Jon Kimura Parker | Award-winning pianist, faculty at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Richard Reed Parry | Guitarist and composer, member of Grammy and Juno Award-winning Arcade Fire. |
| Ryan Peake | Guitarist, Nickelback. |
| Annelisa Pedersen | Executive Director of Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. |
| Oscar Peterson | Grammy and Juno Award-winning pianist and composer, Companion of the Order of Canada. |
| Adrianne Pieczonka | Juno Award-nominated soprano, Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Kalan Porter | Singer and songwriter. |
| Tegan and Sara Quin | Juno Award-nominated singers, songwriters, and pianists. |
| Erika Raum | Member of Grammy Award-nominated ARC Ensemble. |
| Gary Rideout | Tenor. |
| Doug Riley | Composer and pianist, AKA Dr. Music. |
| R. Murray Schafer | Composer and Educator, recipient of Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. |
| Paul Shaffer | Musical Director for Late Show with David Letterman, 2006 inductee to Canada's Walk of Fame, and Member of the Order of Canada. |
| Barry Shiffman | Dean of The Royal Conservatory's Young Artists Academy. |
| Sarah Slean | Singer and songwriter. |
| St. Lawrence Quartet | String quartet and one of Canada's premiere chamber ensembles founded in 1989. Current alumni: Geoff Nuttall, Lesley Robertson. Past alumni: Marina Hoover, Barry Shiffman |
| Teresa Stratas | Grammy Award-winning soprano, former member of the Metropolitan Opera and Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Shania Twain | Award-winning singer and songwriter, Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Jon Vickers | Renowned tenor with the Metropolitan Opera, Companion of the Order of Canada. |
| Rafael Villanueva | Associate Director of Dominican National Symphonic Orchestra. |
| Andrew Wan | Concertmaster, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. |
| Dianne Werner | Pianist, member of Grammy Award-nominated ARC Ensemble. |
| Monica Whicher | Soprano, Royal Conservatory faculty. |
| Wesley Williams AKA Maestro Fresh Wes | Juno Award-winning musician and actor. |
Many prominent Canadians attended The Royal Conservatory's classes and lessons, or took Royal Conservatory music examinations, and have gone on to great success in their fields. Past students include:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Barbara Gowdy | Scotiabank Giller Prize, Governor General's Award, and Man Booker Prize nominee. |
| Tomson Highway | Award-winning author and playwright. |
| Dr. Vincent Lam | Emergency physician on faculty at University of Toronto, Giller Prize-winning author. |
| Ann-Marie MacDonald | Commonwealth Writers' Prize and Governor General's Award-winning author. |
| Ian Ihnatowycz | Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acuity Investment Management. |
| Kim Cattrall | Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actor. |
| Norman Jewison | Multiple Academy Award-nominated film director, Companion of the Order of Canada. |
| Kristin Kreuk | Actor. |
| Sandra Oh | Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actor. |
| Gordon Pinsent | Actor, Companion of the Order of Canada, Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada. |
| Sarah Polley | Academy Award-nominated and multiple Genie Award and Gemini Award-winning actor, writer and director. |
| Ryan Reynolds | Film actor. |
| Jeanne Beker | Television personality and newspaper columnist. |
| Denise Donlon | Former Executive Director of CBC. |
| Ivan Fecan | Former head of Bell Media (formerly CTVglobemedia). |
| Norman Jewison | Oscar-nominated film director, producer and actor known for In the Heat of the Night and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. |
| Ben Mulroney | Television host. |
| George Stroumboulopoulos | Multiple Gemini Award-winning broadcaster. |
| Dr. Richard Hegele | Chief of Pathology at Toronto's Sick Kids Hospital and Departmental Chair of Pathology at the University of Toronto. |
| Dr. Robert Hegele | Endocrinologist, Director of the Blackburn Cardiovascular Genetics Lab at Robarts Research Institute and London Regional Genomics Centre. |
| Dr. Terry Tam | Attending ER physician at Saanich Peninsula Hospital, and Concertmaster of Victoria Symphony. |
| Dr. Marta Witer | Doctor of Optometry, past president of the Vision Institute of Canada. |
| Dr. Samuel Wong | Eye surgeon, conductor, over 35 performances with New York Philharmonic. |
| The Hon. Madam Justice Rosalie Abella | Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. |
| The Right Hon. Kim Campbell | 19th Prime Minister of Canada. |
| Aline Chrétien | Wife of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Now chairs RCM's National Advisory Board. |
| The Right Hon. Adrienne Clarkson | Governor General of Canada 1999–2005 and previously a host, writer and producer of several programs on CBC Television. |
| The Right Hon. Stephen Harper | 22nd Prime Minister of Canada. |
| The Hon. Bob Rae | Former Premier of Ontario. |
| Mitchell Sharp | Former Canadian Minister of Finance. |
| Sean Morley AKA Val Venis | Multiple WWF Championship-winning professional wrestler. |
| Scott Niedermayer | Championship-winning NHL defenceman. |
| Angela Elster | Vice President, Academic at The Royal Conservatory and accomplished musical educator. |
| Peter Simon | President of The Royal Conservatory since 1991 who began his musical education as a student of Boris Berlin. |
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