09/28/2025
Composer Michelle Green Willner recently posted to FB: “A huge congrats to violinist Matthew Hakkarainen who recently joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as Associate Concertmaster! So very proud of him and his talent!! Matthew and I collaborated on the Composers Conference commission of Kochavim/Stars and I‘m very excited about our continued collaboration based on a series of paintings featuring stars. Please view Kochavim/Stars on YT: https://youtu.be/-JUzj07trrE?si=myH47xRBE-NHyEYL
A native of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Matthew completed his musical studies at the Curtis Institute of Music (B.M. ‘22) and the Juilliard School (M.M. ‘24), where he studied with Pamela Frank, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Ronald Copes. He is an alumnus of the Rebanks Fellowship Program (‘25) at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School. His additional mentors have included Barry Shiffman, Charles Castleman, Mauricio F**s, and Borislava Iltcheva, as well as his earliest teachers, Huifang Chen and Maree Sawhney.”
What wonderful news! Congratulations Matthew & best wishes on this marvelous new musical chapter of your life, and thank you Michelle for your spectacular piece and for sharing this splendid news! The Conference's 80th Anniversary Community Commissions continue to reward our field in so many different ways, and we are happy to share any news about the ongoing life of your Community Commission projects – send your stories our way!
