Eugene Plawutsky

Plawutsky, Eugene

Eugene Plawutsky. Pianist, conductor, teacher, b Montreal 11 Dec 1945; L MUS (McGill) 1966, B MUS (McGill) 1967, MA musicology (Toronto) 1971. He studied piano with Lubka Kolessa at McGill University and conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller in Victoria, BC (1964), Adrian Boult in Tanglewood, Mass (1966) and Jean Fournet in Hilversum, Netherlands (1968). He made his debut as a soloist and conductor with the MSO in 1965. He was assistant conductor and coach for the Stratford Festival (1967) and for the COC (1970-2), and conductor and coach for the University of Toronto Opera Division (1969-72). While conductor and pianist for the Co-Opera Theatre in Toronto (1977-8), he prepared the premieres of Harry Somers'Death of Enkidu and of Walter Buczynski'sNaked at the Opera, and conducted the latter. He was conductor for the JMC orchestra at the Orford Art Centre in 1980, and conductor in residence for the OJQ 1981-4, with which he premiered Jacques Hétu'sMirages. In 1989 he conducted the Honors Orchestra of the University of Wisconsin Summer Music Clinic. He began to teach and conduct ensembles at McGill University in 1972.

Plawutsky has frequently performed on CBC radio and TV, as pianist, conductor, and chamber musician. As a performer of contemporary music he has played as duo-pianist with Louis-Philippe Pelletier, and as a member of Gropus 7 (1978-81) and of the SMCQ Ensemble, participating in the premieres of works by Somers, Tremblay, Hawkins, and Prévost. In 1986 he began to tour Canada and the USA with violinist Martin Foster, performing the complete works of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Ives, as well as Brazilian music, including the North American premieres of works by Guarnieri, Nobre, Mignone, and Miguez. In 1988 he was awarded the Villa-Lobos Medal by the Brazilian government in recognition of his work promoting Brazilian classical music. In 1989 he recorded the LP Virtuoso Profile: Solo Performances on Nine Wind Instruments (Classicord GK-0080-1) with Jeanne Baxtresser (flute), David Carroll (bassoon), Gerald Danovitch (saxophone), Nona Gainsforth (french horn), Emilio Iacurto (clarinet), Margaret Morse (oboe), Stuart Taylor (trombone), James Thompson (trumpet) and Ellis Wean (tuba).