The gifted young Canadian conductor Karl Hirzer can’t remember a time when he didn’t want to be a musician.

Karl grew up in Vancouver, BC, in a household filled with music. His parents had Glenn Gould and Louis Armstrong on the CD player; he and his mother sang along with Irish folk songs on the radio (and he’d let her know if she hit a wrong note).

He was “composing” at the family’s upright piano at age four. Formal piano lessons began at six. At twelve he started playing guitar in heavy metal bands and dreamed of becoming a rock star, while simultaneously perfecting Chopin Études and Beethoven Sonatas. He earned his ARCT at seventeen.

Today he can be found on the podium internationally, having led orchestras from Vancouver to Boston, from the Gstaad Festival to educational programs in Warsaw. He is the 2022 recipient of the Heinz Unger Award, presented biennially by the Ontario Arts Council to Canada’s most promising emerging conductor, and in 2023 completed a seven-year tenure as Associate Conductor with the Calgary Philharmonic.

Karl was a prodigious pianist and studied to become a soloist at the University of Victoria before getting his master’s at McGill University in Montreal.

He got his first taste of conducting an orchestra during his undergrad and basked in the wondrous experience of sharing his musical ideas with a big band of musicians and an audience, through simple gestures. Imagine – hundreds of people in the concert hall, each having a unique experience of a shared moment, something communal and intimate at the same time, forging a personal relationship with a composer who may be long dead – or sitting in the front row.

He believes music plays an essential role in our lives.It touches us viscerally, even though we can’t really explain why or how.

Karl is especially committed to exploring music by living composers and believes that modern music defines what the classical idiom is today. He’s also heavily invested in bringing music to young audiences, helping them discover a sound world that’s completely captivating. His contributions to the arts, community and education were recognized with his inclusion in Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 under 40 list for 2022.

He continues to perform as an instrumentalist and also composes his own music, blending genres while mixing acoustic and electronic instruments. His debut album of original material, Relaxer Distractor, was released in the fall of 2023.