About:

Ilana Waniuk is a versatile violinist and contemporary chamber music addict with interests ranging from classical music and improvisation to visual arts. Described as a musician who has the “... rare ability to translate her intellectual insights into performance energy.” (Ontario Arts Foundation Jury), Ilana has held multiple artistic residencies at the Banff centre for the Arts, Avaloch Farms Music Institute and Le Pantographe in Moutier, Switzerland, as well as been a guest artist in residence at the SoundSCAPE festival of contemporary music in Italy, Wilfrid Laurier University’s Inaugural New Music Festival and  Waterloo Region Contemporary Music Sessions.  Ilana has participated in the Bang On A Can Summer Music Festival at Mass MoCA, and been a fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival New Music Workshop.

Along with pianist Cheryl Duvall, Ilana is a founding member and co-artistic director of Tkarón:to (Toronto) -based contemporary music ensemble/presenter  Thin Edge New Music Collective (TENMC) now in its twelfth season and Balancing on the Edge (multidisciplinary production melding circus arts with new music). TENMC was the 2020 winner of the Canadian League of Composers/Canadian Music Centre Friends of Canadian Music award and has commissioned over 80 chamber works since its inception in 2011. Ilana is also a founding member of in^set, a flexible trio with Teresa Díaz de Cossio (flute) and David Aguila (trumpet) dedicated to creation, improvisation and experimentation. Ilana has performed on concert stages across the U.S., Canada, Italy, Argentina, Poland, Japan, Germany, Greece, Mexico and Iceland.

Ilana has toured Cape Breton and Ontario as part of the Bicycle Opera Project, performed at contemporary music festivals including the California Festival in San Diego, Neofonía: Festival de Música Ensenada in Mexico, Suoni per Il Popolo in Montreal, the University of Calgary’s Happening Festival of New Music and Media, Open Ears in Kitchener/Waterloo and the Royal Conservatory’s 21C festival in Toronto as well as with the Madawaska String Quartet, Adam Rudolph’s Go Organic Orchestra, Elliott Sharp, Mark Dresser, Essential Opera, Toy Piano Composers Ensemble, Mississauga Chamber Music Society, NUMUS’ Perimeter Players, NOISE (San Diego New Music), Chicago's Ensemble Dal Niente, and been a curator for The Music Gallery’s Emergents Series.

She received a Graduate Performers Certificate from Northern Illinois University studying with Blaise Magniere, and Marie Wang of the Avalon String Quartet where she was a winner of the 2009 concerto competition and a recipient of the Dutton String Fellowship. Ilana completed her Master’s degree in performance at the University of Ottawa studying with David Stewart, and received her undergraduate degree in performance and a diploma in chamber music from Wilfrid Laurier University where she studied with Jeremy Bell and Jerzy Kaplanek of the Penderecki String Quartet.  Ilana earned a doctorate in contemporary performance from the University of California San Diego in 2024.

Ilana was a winner of the 2014 Orford String Quartet Award and can be heard on several recent recordings including Thin Edge New Music Collective’s ‘Dark Flower’ (Redshift Records) and ‘field studies, Chamber Music of Emilie Cecilia LeBel’ (2023). Her performance of LeBel’s ‘further migration’ for solo violin was praised by Peter Margasak for “producing a stunning range of sound and texture” (Best Contemporary Classical: May 2023). ‘Dark Flower’ has made its way to Bandcamp's Best Contemporary Classical Music of 2023, and The Wire’s prestigious Adventures in New Music's top 10 list of 2023. The album has also caught the attention of various radio stations and media outlets, including CBC Radio, BBC Radio 3, WPPM, WRUU, and Musica Kaleidoscopea, amongst others. Ilana can also be heard on Australian composer Nicole Murphy's 'Stolen' (Elm City Records), ‘Hymns of Heaven and Earth’ (music of Peter Togni) on Centerdiscs, Toy Piano Composers self titled release (Redshift Records)and ‘Raging Against the Machine’ (Redshift Records) a collaborative recording project between TENMC and Montreal’s Ensemble Paramirabo.

Most recently, Ilana is the curator/producer/performer behind ‘Filaments’, an evolving collaborative concert program dedicated to commissioning/developing new works for violin, electronics and multi-media developed with generous support from the SOCAN Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Music Centre, Ontario Arts Council and Arraymusic.