CURRENT PERFORMANCE
Toni is a core member of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Jonathan Darlington and is an extra violinist with the Vancouver Symphony. In the recording studio, she works in film and television, and has recorded for John Denver, Bryan Adams, and Michael Buble as well as performed live shows with artists including Smokey Robinson, David Foster, Josh Grobin, Il Divo, and Pavarotti. Discography includes The Spirit Emerges performiing the Mark Armanini Concerto for Violin.
ORCHESTRAL AFFILIATIONS
Toni has acted concertmaster for the Handel Society Orchestra and Sinfonia, concertmaster of the Kamloops Symphony and principal second Violin of the Fryskorkest, the Netherlands. She has also toured with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Orchestra and performed with the Vancouver and Victoria Symphonies, and with the American Sinfonietta at the Bellingham Festival.
CURRENT TEACHING
Toni is a private violin instructor at the Vancouver Community College and operates a private violin studio. Toni is active as an adjudicator for competitions and music festivals throughout British Columbia and Alberta. She produces solos violin recitals and VIOLINPOWER! lecture/concerts which showcase outstanding talent performing throughout the greater Vancouver area.
STUDIES
Toni completed her studies with Jean-Jacques Kantorow at the Rotterdam Conservatorium in the Netherlands, where she also performed in masterclasses with Ivry Gitlis and Henryk Szerynk.
Toni completed her Bachelor of Music with Gerald Stanick at the University of British Columbia, and worked towards her degree with David Zafer at the University of Toronto and Yuri Mazurkevitch at the University of Western Ontario.
Toni's Summer studies in Europe included two summers in Nice at CIFM (Centre International de Formation Musicale) under Jean-Jacques Kantorow, and at Johannassen International Summer Festival in Victoria British Columbia with Jean-Jacques Kantorow. Toni performed with the National Youth Orchestra under Georg Tintner and studied at the Courtenay Youth Music Camp under Taras Gabora. As professional development, Toni spent one summer under the wing of Dr. Lise Elson, auditing private lessons, masterclasses and performances at The Mont Royal College in Calgary, and as a professional performer was coached in chamber music by Andrew Dawes who remains mentor and friend.
EARLY CAREER PERFORMANCE
NEW MUSIC
In 1986 Toni returned to Vancouver from the Netherlands and became immersed in the new music scene.She was involved with the Pro Musica composers collective and was a member of Critical Band with Arne Eigenfeldt and Dennis Burke. She founded and directed Violinworks new music ensemble from 1989 to 1992, premering works and performing at Sonic Boom and the Hear and Now series and performed for the innaugural concert at the Glass Slipper. In October 1994 she premiered and recorded the Mark Armanini Concerto for Violin with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in the Czech Republic. Her performance at the Hear and Now Series prompted Michael Azjenstadt to say “Toni Stanick...was able to mesmerize the audience with her mastery of the violin.....an electrifying violinist who champions new music.”
DANCE COLLABORATIONS
In the dance scene, Toni performed in Eigenfeltd/Bennathan collaborations and composed and recorded music for Katherine Labelle. Toni co-wrote the score for Serge Bennathan's La Beaute du Diable and performed onstage with the dancers to to critical acclaim. Michael Scott said, “The score is exceptionally strong, a taut collaboration between violinist Toni Stanick and Russell Shumsky that gives real atmosphere to the proceedings. It begins with double-stopping violin chords reminiscent of Astor Piazolla's Five Tangos and their steaming claustrophobic tread...again and again the music concentrates the drama, when Stanick wields Arvo Part-style arpeggios for instance” and critic Max Wyman, states a “ravishing violin solo”. Toronto's Dancemakers with Bennathan at the helm, toured La Beaute across Canada and to Cannes for the International Fetival de Danse.
EARLY CAREER TEACHING
PACIFIC CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY
Toni founded and directed the Pacific ChamberMusic Society from 1991 to 2002, which produced an annual chamber music summer workshop with a roster of gifted students, including Eol Lee (cello)Jaewon Bang (violin) Caitlin Tully (violin) and Ryan Karchut (violin).
Toni is certified in the Suzuki Method, and taught Suzuki at the Vancouver Academy for many years. She taught at the Pacific Chamber Music Camp and Marrowstone Festival.
CONDUCTOR SURREY JUNIOR STRINGS
From 1987 to 1991 Toni conducted the Surrey Junior Strings to critical notice. Cynthia Ashton of the Surrey Leader wrote, “the Surrey Junior Strings took the stage under conductor Toni Stanick, but there was nothing junior about this program...Mozart, Handel, Bach, and Paganini all found a place on the musical agenda and all were played with considereable expertise” and the following year, Cynthia Ashton said,“Under the baton of conductor Toni Stanick, the junior strings played Haydn's Symphony No, 88 which was given a brisk classical interpretation..Schubert's Tragic Symphony made a soothing contrast, while all players were alert to the challenging fast tempo of the William Tell. Their performance showed why the Surrey Junior Strings placed first in their class at Kiwanis Festival in Vancouver.”
