Christina Petrowska Quilico

I was honoured to have this opportunity to talk to the pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico about her extraordinary life in music and the arts. She shared wonderful and moving stories about Ann Southam, Louis Quilico,  Pierre Boulez, Jacques Isrealievitch, and her legendary teacher Rosina Lhévinne. 

I was really struck by Christina’s open-minded attitude throughout her long career to learning new music, culminating in almost 70 brilliant and powerful albums so far; it’s  amazing to learn that most of her recordings are recorded live, in one take.  Christina also shared how meaningful it is to her to be a mother and grandmother, as well as respected academic; she’s Professor Emerita and Senior Scholar at York University in Toronto. Among many honours, she has been appointed to the Order of Canada, and the Royal Society of Canada.  

  Her curiosity and creative energy seem limitless; she’s a poet and visual artist,  she’s studied Ancient Egyptian culture, and she lives her life spiked with humour and a down-to-earth attitude.  We are also including excerpts from several of Christina’s albums and performances including music by Mozart, Art Tatum, Ann Southam, Meredith Monk and David Jaeger. The podcast, video and transcript all linked.