$30
or 4 shows for $100
This performance will take place at St. Andrew’s United Church in partnership with Debut Atlantic
Toronto-born pianist Jonathan Mak has appeared as a soloist with orchestras and at major festivals across North America and Europe. Recent concerto engagements include Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, Kingston Symphony Orchestra, and the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra. Having made his orchestral debut at the age of four, he has also performed with ensembles including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra.
Jonathan is the winner of the inaugural 2024 Concours international de musique de Sorel-Tracy and the Grand Prize at the 2023 Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition, as well as the Grand Prize at the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition with Trio Menil. Additional honours include prizes at the Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition (Slovenia), the Maj Lind International Piano Competition (Finland), and the OSM Competition.
Named one of CBC Music’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30,” Jonathan is a recipient of the Michael Measures Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award, and the Walter Prystawski Prize.
He has appeared at festivals including Bravo! Vail, Festival of the Sound, Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Edinburgh International Festival. Jonathan is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker. He holds degrees from Yale University and the Cleveland Institute of Music and is a 2025–2026 Rebanks Fellow at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory.
Concert Description:
The Enchanted Night is a journey into the mysterious worlds that emerge when night falls and imagination begins to wander. From the quiet stillness of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata to the shifting dreamscapes of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, the music unfolds like fragments of memory, reverie, and fantasy. These works invite us into realms where the boundaries between reality and imagination dissolve, and where the mind drifts freely between wonder and unease.
As the night deepens, the atmosphere grows more vivid and dramatic. In the legendary tale of Erlkönig, the listener is drawn into a supernatural ride through darkness, where fear, illusion, and fate intertwine. Even the most virtuosic moments carry an undercurrent of storytelling and transformation, reflecting the Romantic fascination with myth, legend, and the unseen.
The program concludes with Brahms’ Third Piano Sonata, a youthful and passionate work. The slow movement yearns reminisces about love under the moonlight, while a familiar fate motif obsessively persists within the other movements.
The Enchanted Night is a reflection on the power of imagination. Dreams, stories, and music allow us to glimpse worlds both beautiful and haunting, hidden just beyond the edge of night.
