Cheryl Duvall is multifaceted pianist with a penchant for musical risk taking and adventure. Equally comfortable in many different musical roles, she regularly appears as a soloist, collaborative pianist, adjudicator, teacher, producer and panelist and has toured and performed throughout Canada, Europe, Argentina and the U.S. Cheryl’s strong affinity for boundary-pushing and innovative music making led her along with friend and violinist, Ilana Waniuk to co-found the Toronto-based Thin Edge New Music Collective, “One of Toronto hottest and bravest new music collectives” (Michael Vincent – Musical Toronto), now in their sixth season. In her role as Co-Artistic Director of TENMC, she has been at the helm of many large scale collaborative projects, including “Raging Against the Machine”, a collaborative concert, touring and recording project with Montreal-based Ensemble Paramirabo, and “Balancing on the Edge”, a radical collaboration integrating new music with new circus practices into a unique and thought-provoking production. Under the leadership of both Ilana and Cheryl, TENMC has commissioned and premiered over 50 new works for chamber ensemble to date with 15 more slated for their upcoming season and have garnered an exceptional international reputation through tours to Italy, Switzerland, Argentina and across Canada.
As a person who is constantly inspired with collaboration and community building within the arts, Cheryl regularly works with many arts organizations, instrumentalists and vocalists across Canada, including Essential Opera, soprano Maureen Batt, and American violinist Andrew Sords. She is also the collaborative pianist for the internationally renowned Oakville Choir for Children & Youth, to which she has toured and competed internationally with gold standings as well as recorded numerous albums of choral repertoire.
Recently, she was shortlisted as the finalist for the 2016 F.M. Hunter Artist Awards in Music through the Ontario Arts Council and Foundation and in 2009, she was awarded a SSHRC grant for her pedagogical research. Besides performing, she maintains a full private piano studio, adjudicates piano competitions across Canada and appears as a guest speaker in university classroom and festival panels. Cheryl completed an Honours Bachelor of Music, majoring in Piano Performance and Theory and a Diploma of Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University as well as a Master’s of Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Toronto. Her main teachers and influences include Guy Few, Chris Foley, Midori Koga, Carmen Piazzinni, Nina Tichman, Henri-Paul Sicsic, and Anya Alexeyev.
