Yolanda Bruno is an Ottawa-born violinist, praised for her “total control of her instrument with infinite variety in the sound palette” (La Presse). She’s won Grand Prizes at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition and the inaugural Isabel Overton Bader Violin Competition. She received the Canada Council for the Arts’ Virginia Parker Prize—the nation’s highest honour for young musicians. As a soloist, she’s performed with the Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Orchestra of the Americas, and London Mozart Players.
Yolanda has performed for the Queen at Buckingham Palace and recorded for the Australian heavy metal band Parkway Drive. Yet, her most memorable and rewarding musical experiences have happened in unexpected places—playing for children in a parking lot in South-East London, giving a concert in a high-security penitentiary, playing in parks, subways, hospitals. She believes deeply in the power of music to break down barriers of all kinds—personal, cultural, even political.
In 2021, Yolanda founded Music for Your Blues—a performance project offering free-of-charge, personalized, online concerts combining music and poetry. With the goal of improving wellness and connection during the period known as January Blues, Yolanda has offered more than 70 free performances for children, retirees, school classrooms, and community organizations. It’s all about helping people feel connected during an exceptionally isolating time of year.
The Wild Swans—Yolanda’s first CD, with pianist Isabelle David—was released in 2019. It features music by 11 women composers, spanning ten centuries, including several world premieres. Yolanda releases her second album in 2025—dedicated to the late Jeanne Lamon. On the record, Yolanda performs on Lamon’s 1759 Santo Serafin baroque violin and includes the premiere of Lamon’s original trio transcription of Bach’s iconic Ciaconna.
As a chamber musician, soloist, recording artist, orchestral player and teacher, Yolanda leads a varied musical life. She was Concertmaster at the Kingston Symphony Orchestra and Associate Concertmaster at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. She teaches chamber music at The Glenn Gould School and has served on faculty at the Eastern Music Festival and Le Domaine Forget.
Yolanda’s violin is an exquisite Venetian-made instrument made by Domenico Montagnana in 1737, on private loan from Groupe Canimex. She also performs Baroque violin on an 18th century French instrument made by Nicolas Lupot, on anonymous loan. She lives in Toronto with her partner, accordionist Michael Bridge. When the two are off-stage, they love to foster cats, dance salsa, and hike forest trails across Canada.
For Yolanda, music isn’t just a career. It’s a way of sharing an intense devotion to beauty and companionship with anyone who inhabits our increasingly fragile world, with anyone who cares to listen.
Lauded as “a wizard of the accordion,” Michael Bridge is internationally-renowned for his warm stage personality, stereotype-smashing versatility, and blazing virtuosity. Named one of CBC’s “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30”, he made his solo orchestral debut with the Boston Pops at 17 and gives over 100 concerts per year in Europe and the Americas. Encompassing the diversity of his live performances, his debut album, “Overture”, launched in 2018 and was named CBC Album of the Week.
More than a classical musician, Michael simply describes his repertoire as ‘concert music’ – encompassing baroque, classical, and contemporary works, along with a vast array of his own concert arrangements of folk and jazz music. Armed with both acoustic and digital accordions, all sounds emanating from the stage (up to the sound of a full orchestra) are played 100% live. Prolific in working with composers, Michael has given over 40 world premieres.
Equally adept performing with orchestras, playing an energetic outdoor festival, or giving a TED Talk, Michael is a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta’s Emerging Artist Medal, and winner of the University of Toronto Concerto Competition, the Canadian Digital Accordion Championships and the Calgary Stampede Talent Search.
On tour, Michael performs solo or with orchestra, and with his two ensembles – Bridge+Wolak and Ladom Ensemble. He has toured in Poland, France, Italy, the U.K., Ecuador, the USA and in every Canadian province.
Michael is pursuing doctoral studies in accordion performance at the University of Toronto, studying with Joseph Macerollo. He gives frequent guest lectures at universities and festivals on topics including The Music Business for Student, Performance and Speaking Skills, and Composing for Accordion. He has adjudicated accordion competitions in Canada and the USA.
Michael’s first accordion was purchased at a garage sale for $5 when he was five. Two decades later, he is active in many facets of the concert music scene, boldly redefining the perception of his traditional instrument.