Mario Bernardi

Mario Egidio Bernardi (born August 20, 1930 in Kirkland Lake , † June 2, 2013 in Toronto ) was a Canadian conductor and pianist.

Bernardi came to Italy at the age of six and studied organ and composition with Bruno Pasut at the Conservatorio Manzato in Treviso from 1938 to 1945 . In 1948 he continued his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto with Lubka Kolessa (piano) and Ettore Mazzoleni (conducting). In the summer of 1959 he took lessons from Erich Leinsdorf at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

He began his musical career as a pianist and performed in the 1950s a. a. with Lea Foli and Peggie Sampson in a Brahms concert, was a soloist in performances of the piano concerto by Barbara Pentland with the CBC Symphony Orchestra , the Pièce Concertante No. 1 by Jean Papineau-Couture with the National Festival Orchestra and the Concerto Fantasy by John Beckwith with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and has worked as a piano accompanist with Donald Bell , Maureen Forrester , Margo MacKinnon , Jean-Pierre Rampal , János Starker and others.

He began his career as a conductor in 1957 with the Canadian Opera Company with a performance of Hansel and Gretel and realized with her until the 1990s performances of operas by Bizet , Verdi , Nicolais , Leoncavallos , Mozart and others. In 1957 he conducted Mavor Moore's The Optimist for CBC television .

From 1963 Bernardi worked at Sadler's Wells in London, where he was musical director from 1966 to 1968. In 1968 he became chief conductor of the National Arts Center Orchestra (NACO), with which he premiered works by Murray Adaskin , Norma Beecroft , Robert Fleming , Harry Freedmans , Steven Gellmans , Barbara Pentlands , André Prévosts , Godfrey Ridouts , R. Murray Schafers , Gilles Tremblays and Charles Wilsons conducted. As a soloist he led performances of works by Mozart and Ravel from the piano.

In 1971 he became general music director of the National Art Center and artistic director of its Festival Canada (from 1978 Festival Ottawa ). In 1983 he succeeded John Eliot Gardiner as chief conductor of the CBC Vancouver Orchestra , which he directed until his death and with whom he performed primarily contemporary music. From 1983 to 1994 he also directed the Calgary Symphony Orchestra , which under his direction developed into an orchestra of national standing.

He was also a guest conductor at the Chicago Lyric Opera , the San Francisco Opera , the New York City Opera and the Houston Grand Opera , made his debut in 1984 with Handel's Rinaldo at the Metropolitan Opera , directed a performance of Aida at the English National Opera in 1986 and in 1987 a performance of Jules Massenet's Cendrillon at the Kennedy Center in Washington. From 1993 he worked again regularly with the NACO, with whom he performed works by Schafer and Alexina Louie , among others .

In 1972 Bernardi was named Companion of the Order of Canada , in 1981 he received the medal of the Canadian Music Council and in the following year the honorary diploma of the Canadian Conference of the Arts . In 1999 the Jean E. Chalmers Award and the National Arts Center Award followed , and in 2001 the Governor General's Performing Arts Award 2001. In 2009 Bernardi was appointed Ambassador of the Canadian Music Center . Bernardi was married to the singer Mona Kelly .

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personal data
SURNAME	Bernardi, Mario
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bernardi, Mario Egidio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Canadian conductor and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH	20th August 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kirkland Lake
DATE OF DEATH	2nd June 2013
Place of death	Toronto