Master Series Concerts & Tickets
Guest Artist Raymond Ko
Master Series 1, October 18, 2008Raymond Ko, A.R.C.T. Violin & Piano was born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where he is currently a fourth year biology student at the University of Saskatchewan. He began his studies on the violin at the age of seven with Professor Robert Klose and has performed abroad with collaborative pianist, Deborah Buck. Raymond has also studied piano extensively with Sheila Shinkewski and Bonnie Nicholson. At the age of 15, Raymond was awarded a rare double honour by achieving Royal Conservatory of Music Performer’s Diplomas in both Violin and Piano with top marks in the province. He has been featured as guest performer on many occasions and completed a CD with the Fireside Singers, along with performances for the Honorable Lynda Haverstock, former Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan. Since 1999, he has played in the violin sections of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra; and, in 2007, Raymond began adjudicating for the Saskatchewan Music Festivals Association.
In April 2007, he was named as one of Canada’s Top 20 Under 20 as well as being nominated for the 2007 Lieutenant Governor Award for Leadership in the Arts. Raymond also participated in and presented at the 2007 National Arts Centre Roundtable on the subject of “Music and Healing.”
Over the years, Raymond has amassed many awards in violin and piano performance, including several grants from the Saskatchewan Arts Board. Most notable was capturing first prize in the Strings Category at the 2005 National Music Festival, in Kamloops, BC, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major. A CD was produced of this award-winning performance. Raymond was also awarded first prize at the recent 2007 SMFA Concerto Competition and will be performing with the Regina and Saskatoon Symphonies in their upcoming 2008-09 season.
Raymond is a 2005 laureate of the $60,000 TD Canada Trust Scholarship for Community Leadership. While juggling a full load of classes at school, Raymond continues to be actively involved in his community. Since volunteering as a piano teacher for underprivileged and disenfranchised children at Radius Community Centre, Raymond was inspired to develop classes for children with special needs. Seeing that music therapy has been shown to have a positive influence in the treatment of autism, Raymond started a non-profit program offering classes through Autism Services, Saskatoon. The classes are offered weekly to autistic children and compose of 30 minute one-on-one sessions where the students learn the basics of music – simple rhythms and notation.
Raymond also enjoys performing in many community fundraisers. Organizations such as the Hope Cancer Centre, Saskatoon Hospitals, Saskatoon Symphony, Saskatoon Children’s Choir, Saskatoon Christian School, among others. Most notably, he has organized an annual benefit concert where he performs and showcases students of his Music Sensory Awakening Program to the public. Over the past three years, the concert has raised public awareness for Autism as a neural disorder as well as raising over $15,000.00 for Autism Services.