Gwen Hoebig
Concertmaster, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Recognized as one of Canada's most outstanding violinists, Gwen Hoebig is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York City. As a student she won every major Canadian music competition, and in 1981 was the top prizewinner at the Munich International Violin Competition. A champion of new music, she has given the Canadian premieres of violin concertos by S. C. Eckhardt-Gramatté, T. P. Carrabré, Randolph Peters, Gary Kulesha, Joan Tower, Christopher Rouse and Philip Glass, and as soloist with orchestra she has performed all the major violin concerti with orchestras across Canada, the United States and Europe. As a chamber musician she appears frequently in recital with her husband, pianist David Moroz, and is also a member of both the Hoebig/Moroz Trio and the Clearwater Quartet, which has recently been appointed Ensemble-in-Residence at the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba. She has performed at many of the country's foremost festivals including The Banff Arts Festival, Festival of the Sound at Parry Sound, Domaine Forget, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Festival Vancouver, Scotia Festival of Music, Stratford Summer Music Festival and the WSO’s New Music Festival.
Gwen Hoebig joined the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as Concertmaster in 1987, having been awarded the position as the unanimous choice of the audition committee. In 1993 she received the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation, and in 2012 was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal by the Government of Canada, both in recognition of her contribution to the Arts. She has always taken a great interest in the development of young musicians and maintains a private teaching studio in Winnipeg. As well as being an instructor at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music, she teaches regularly at the Mount Royal University in Calgary, where she is a member of the Extended Faculty. Founding Co-Artistic Director of The Morningside Music Bridge, an international summer program featuring the finest young violinists, violists, cellists, and pianists from around the world, she has mentored many of the world's leading young soloists and competition winners over the past 25 years. She has recently been appointed Board President of the Winnipeg Youth Orchestra and is helping guide the organization through steady financial and artistic growth.
