Emerging Artist: Cole Knutson

Cole Knutson is a versatile musician who has appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC, National Arts Centre, and in recital throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. He has received masterclasses from artists such as Helmut Deutsch, Julius Drake, Elly Ameling, Robert Holl, Roger Vignoles, Andreas Schmidt, Michael McMahon, Tobias Truniger, and Wolfram Rieger and is an Oxford Lieder and Leeds Lieder Young Artist.

Recent and upcoming engagements include participating in Graham Johnson’s prestigious Song-Guild, recitals in Milton Court Concert Hall and St. John’s Smith Square, projects curated by Iain Burnside, Tobias Truniger, and Eugene Asti, performances at LSO St. Luke’s, Postgraduate Opera Scenes at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and performances at the 2020 Oxford Lieder Festival.

Prizes include the English Song Prize at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and winner of the 2020 Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform with duo partner, Joël Terrin. In 2017, Cole was awarded Second Prize at the National Music Festival of Canada following his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of twenty. He is now completing his studies on full scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama under Julius Drake and Eugene Asti in the Artist Masters in Piano Accompaniment Course. He is a laureate of the 2017 and 2018 Franz Schubert Institut in Baden bei Wien, Austria. His artistic endeavours have received continuous support through the Saskatchewan Arts Board, the Art Song Foundation of Canada, and is grateful towards the Guildhall Trust for their support.

Engagements cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic include a Pre-LSO Performance Platform on the Barbican Mainstage, Leeds Lieder Young Artist Programme, performances at Royaumont Summer Academy in celebration of the bicentennial death of Camille Saint-Saëns, and a summer music festival curated by Cole in his hometown of North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada.