Michael Swan

Concertmaster

Supported by The Nasser Family.

Michael Swan was born in 1963 in Saskatoon. He began violin studies at age 5 with Dorothy Overholt, and also studied with Norma Lee Bisha, Mark Reedman and Robert Klose as he was growing up. In 1979, he was awarded the Gold Medal for the highest standing in Canada for Royal Conservatory of Toronto ARCT violin examinations.

Michael studied with Yuri Mazurkevich in the Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario, receiving the Hideo Saito Award for academic achievement in 1981 and 1982. Afterwards, he studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Aaron Rosand, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in 1984.

Since September 1984, Michael has been concertmaster of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Saskatoon Symphony Chamber Players. He has been a soloist with the orchestra a number of times in the Master Series and with the Chamber Orchestra. He performs solo recitals regularly, and has several compositions to his credit. He has been featured on CBC radio as a solo violinist and as a composer.

Michael Swan premiered ‘Exultation,’ a work for the full orchestra, as part of the SSO’s Masters Series in October 2010.