Top Canadian orchestra to mentor rising Fil-Canadian violinist

Isabel del Mundo Lago, whose parents are from Cavite and Pasig, will join the oldest opera orchestra in Canada. RICHMOND NEWS

TORONTO — The prestigious Canadian Opera Company (COC) Orchestra Academy named Filipino Canadian violinist Isabel del Mundo Lago as one of the five student musicians who will train and perform for the national orchestra this year.

Lago, 20, is a full tuition scholar of The Michael and Sonja Koerner Scholarships at The Glenn Gould School where she is a third-year student. She passed the Toronto auditions for the 7th annual COC intensive training program scheduled from January 16 to February 8, 2020.

Her COC stint will feature three weeks of mentorship and practical experience at the world-renowned oldest opera orchestra in Canada established in 1977.

Lago and her fellow 2020 COC Orchestra Academy class members will be paired with mentors from the COC Orchestra, learning from them in a one-on-one capacity.

The 2020 mentors are: Marie Bérard and Dominique Laplante, first violin; Aaron Schwebel, second violin; Catherine Gray, viola; Paul Widner, cello; and Tony Flynt, bass.

Lago has performed as a concert soloist with the Fraser Valley Symphony and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. She played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in the 21C Music Festival and was Concertmaster for the GGS Opera’s orchestra in 2019.

Among her competition triumphs were first prize in the Canadian Repertoire class in the BC Performing Arts Provincials and first place in the Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Vancouver festivals.

She has participated in the National Arts Centre Young Artist Program, San Diego Conservatory’s International Youth Symphony Program, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestral Academy in Germany.

Lago’s parents are Rita del Mundo of Imus in Cavite and Philip Lago of Pasig in Manila.