Rising Stars Concert

Rising Stars Biographies

Susanne Ruberg-Gordon

Quoted by the Chronicle Herald as “A superb musician”, Swedish-born pianist Susanne Ruberg-Gordon is a highly regarded and sought after chamber-musician and collaborative pianist.

She is recognized for her artistry, nuance, interpretation and curiosity, and has performed in Canada, the US, China and UAE with artists such as Dame Evelyn Glennie, Andras Diaz, Ron Leonard, Ian Swensen, James Campbell, Desmond Hoebig, John Kimura Parker, Josh Jones,, Arnold Choi, Nikki Chooi and Sydney Lee.

Susanne is the pianist and core member of the Juno nominated Land’s End Ensemble in Calgary, a piano-trio that is dedicated to excellence in performance and recording of Canadian and International new music, and to enriching collaborations with eminent composers and artists. www.landsendensemble.ca

As a passionate educator and adjudicator, Susanne is on faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory Academy and Advanced Performance Programs where she teaches Piano, Chamber Music and is the Artistic Facilitator of Collaborative Pianists. She also teaches at the Valhalla Summer School of Music.

Her piano students have pursued University degrees and careers in music and her chamber music coaching have seen her students win Regional and Provincial level music competitions as well as being recommended to the National level competition for CMC.

Susanne has produced and hosted the Rising Stars program in Canmore, Alberta which has for over 20 years presented some of Canada’s finest young classical artists such as Jan Lisiecki, Timothy Chooi, Nikki Chooi, Luka Coetzee, Kevin Chen, Arlen Hlusko and Anna Stube to name a few at the early beginnings of their careers.

Since 2001, she has been a Collaborative Artist for the prestigious and acclaimed Morningside Music Bridge program in Canada, China, Poland and the US. www.mmb.international “This was only one work of many in which Ms. Ruberg-Gordon achieved the finest balance acting as both the core sound and the glue of Land’s End Ensemble, absolutely ideal playing all night” - Calgary Herald “Everything the composer could wish for” - Calgary Herald

Jacques Forestier

Hailed by the Violin Channel as “a real poet with emotional maturity far beyond his young years”, Canadian violinist Jacques Forestier has quickly garnered international attention after winning the 2024 Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover, Germany at age 19. A CBC Music “top 30 under 30” musician and “Violin Channel Artist”, Jacques has performed with orchestras including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Western Michigan Symphony, among others.

In 2026 Jacques looks forward to his first full season which includes débuts with the philharmonics of Bremen, Dresden, and Duisburg. Potsdam, Neuss & Württembergisches Heilbronn chamber orchestras, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra (Wroclaw), Staatskapelle Badisches Karlsruhe, a number of reappearances with the NDR Radiophilharmonie as well as opening the 2025/2026 season with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and their new music director.

Jacques will make débuts at important venues and festivals such as the Cologne Philharmonie, Heidelberg Fruhling, The Library of Congress (DC), The Musicus Society Hong Kong, Festspiel Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Ottawa Chamberfest, Impromptu Classical Concerts (Key West, FL) among others across North America, Europe, and Asia to be announced.

He has appeared at important festivals including Chamberfest Cleveland and West, the Perlman, Gstaad Menuhin, and Victoria Summer festivals, Edmonton Chamber Music Society, Music Toronto, and Music From Angel Fire.

The Warner Classics label will be releasing Jacques’ début album in summer 2026 with pianist Boris Kusnezow.

An Efrem Zimbalist Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Jacques is a student of Shmuel Ashkenasi and Pamela Frank and previously studied with Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program. He has won top prizes at a number of important international competitions including the Stulberg, Klein, Johansen, OSM Manulife, and Shean. Jacques is grateful for the support of the Edmonton Community Foundation and the Anne Burrows Foundation for their generosity in supporting his growth as a musician.

Jacques plays on a G.B. Guadagnini (c. 1765 Parma) violin on generous loan from the Fritz Behrens Foundation and is currently under the management of Sonia Simmenauer under her Zukunfts.musik initiative of Impresariat Simmenauer.

Visit Jacques Forestier's Website

Vasylisa Nikolenko

Vasylisa Nikolenko ia 16-year-old pianistfrom Dnipro, Ukraine

who moved to Alberta in 2019. She began studying piano at the age of five, coming from a non-musical family. She has

studied with Ukrainian teacher Natalia Klymenko since 2014 andSusanne Ruberg-Gordon since 2023.

Vasylisa is a member of the Senior Academy Program at the Mount Royal Conservatory in Calgary, where she regularly performs in masterclasses and for visiting guest artists. She is a two-time winner of the Alberta Music Festival (2024 and

2025) in the Grade 10/ARCT category. In all-Ukrainian competitions, she earned the Grand Prix at the “Neygaus”

competition in Kropyvnytskyi and Second Prize at the “Obriyi Classiky”

Competition in Kyiv.

Outside of music, Vasylisa enjoys painting, astronomy, and spending time outdoors.

Justin Kang

Cellist and pianist Justin Kang (16) studies cello with Jamie Kellogg and piano with Snezana Krstic. He currently serves as principal cellist of his high school orchestra and has been a

member of the Phoenix Youth Symphony for five years, most recently serving as associate principal for the 2024–2025 season.

Justin’s accomplishments in both cello and piano, across solo and ensemble categories, are extensive. He has earned top prizes at numerous competitions, including the Enkor International

Music Competition, Charleston International Music Competition, Opus National Music Competition, American Music Talent Competition, Steinway/Avanti Future Stars Competition,

MTNA Competitions, Arizona International Music Competition, ASTA Solo Competitions, Arizona Musicfest Competitions, Arizona Cello Society Solo Competitions, and AMEA Solo & Ensemble, among many others.

In 2024, he was selected as a fellow of From the Top’s Learning

and Media Lab and received the organization’s the Tim Banker Talent Development Award. As the grand prize winner of the 64th Phoenix Youth Symphony Young Musicians Concerto Competition in 2024, Justin made his solo debut with the Phoenix Symphony, performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The following season, he was awarded the Clotilde Otranto 2nd Prize and returned to perform Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Phoenix Symphony in spring 2025.

Justin’s festival experience includes serving as principal cellist with the 2024 Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artist Orchestra and the 2023 YOLA National Orchestra under the

direction of Gustavo Dudamel. He has also participated in the 2025 Bowdoin International Music Festival and the 2025 Montecito International Music Festival.

He has performed in masterclasses for renowned musicians such as Steven Isserlis, Robert deMaine, Ko Iwasaki, Edward Arron, Aviram Reichert, Sean Chen, Douglas Humpherys,

Pavlina Dokovska, Alan Chow, Elizabeth Pridonoff, and Yuri Kot.

Beyond performing, Justin is deeply committed to community engagement. In 2020, he co-founded Bridge to Music, a student-led nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting communities through music and supporting those in need, where he currently serves as president.

He also volunteers as a radio host for Heart and Seoul Gospel Ministries. At school, Justin mentors underclassmen and is an active member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society. In his free

time, he enjoys music production and playing volleyball.

Jayden Yoneyama

Jayden Yoneyama, 14, originally from Guam Micronesia Island), is currently living in Phoenix, Arizona. He is in the 9th grade at Arizona School for the Arts and started learning the violin at the age of five.

Jayden debuted with the orchestra as a soloist in 2024 and he is currently learning the violin from Steven Moeckel who is teaching at Northern Arizona University.