ELLIOT SLOSS
Cellist
Elliot Sloss started playing the cello when he was four years old, and in the 15 years since, his love for his cello and music has taken him many places.
Elliot attends the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studies with Peter Wiley and Gary Hoffman. Previously, he studied with Paul Widner and Joe Johnson at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada where he participated in the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists for many years.
Elliot is a three-time 1st place winner in the national round for strings in the Canadian Music Competition. Most recently, he won in the 15-18 year old Chamber Music category, performing Schulhoff’s Duo for Violin and Cello with his friend and musical duet partner, Duncan McDougall.
Elliot won three concerto competitions in 2019. He won the North York Music Festival Competition and performed with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra. He won the Taylor Academy Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition.
He has attended many summer music festivals in Canada, the United States, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. He has played in many ensembles, and one of his favourite chamber performances was playing Mendelssohn’s String Octet.
Elliot plays on a 1706 Giuseppe Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’ cello made in Cremona, and a 1925 Victor Fetique bow made in Paris.
ELLIOT PERFORMS BACH
Bach Suite No. 1 in G Major
ADRIEL SLOSS
Violinist & Co-Founder
Born in Toronto, 17 year old Adriel Sloss began playing the violin at the age of four. He joined the Taylor Academy for Young Artists at the Royal Conservatory of Music when he was nine, where he is currently studying with Kelly Parkins-Lindstrom and Jonathan Crow. Alongside being an avid soloist, Adriel is also a highly experienced chamber musician. In the summer of 2022, Adriel’s string quartet was invited to be a part of the Banff International String Quartet Competition Youth Program which he thoroughly enjoyed. More recently, he was selected to perform in a masterclass for Midori Goto. Adriel has also worked with artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Martin Beaver, Timothy Chooi, Jinjoo Cho, Peter Oundjian, Erin Keefe, Callum Smart, and many others. On three occasions he has placed first in the National Round of the Canadian Music Competition. In addition, Adriel has been invited to participate in music programs across the world, including countries such as Canada, U.S.A., Netherlands, and Switzerland.
In addition to these teachers, he has learned from numerous practice coaches over the years. He can say without hesitation that he much prefer working with a coach than practising with a parent! Within the past year, he has enjoyed coaching other younger students who play the violin.
You can check out a sample of me playing the violin below.
ADRIEL PERFORMS SAINT-SAËNS
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
IMOGEN SLOSS
Violinist & Co-Founder
My name is Imogen and I am a 22 year old violinist. I started asking my parents to play the violin when I was 3, and they finally gave in to my wishes when I was 5. I was probably a rare young child in that I actually enjoyed practising, and was quite disciplined about practicing on a regular basis. Given that I had two younger brothers, I became skilled at focusing through noise and chaos. Although I was keen to practice, I wasn’t always effective practicing by myself. I probably made the same mistake as many young musicians of thinking that improvement just required repetition and speed.
When I was 10, I first had the opportunity to work with a practice coach. I learned strategies of practising that helped me even when I was on my own, and I started to make better use of my practice time. When I was 13, I was accepted into the Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists at the Royal Conservatory. There I studied with Marie Berard and Sarah Fraser Raff, and I participated in many ensembles, orchestras and theory classes. In high school, I attended Claude Watson School for the Arts, where I was a violin major. In high school, I completed my ARCT in Violin Performance. When I was in grade ten, I went to the Ontario Music Festivals Association Provincial Competition and I came in first place.
Music has opened the door to many cool opportunities for me. During my adolescence, I participated in many summer music programs including the Indiana Summer String Academy, Astona in Switzerland, and the Peter de Grote Festival in the Netherlands. I have had the joy of playing in many church services, and seniors’ services through Suite Melody Care. I was one of several violinists to play in a Piano Guys concert. Finally, I was Elliot Page’s violin double in the Netflix Series The Umbrella Academy. For this, I performed the violin while being filmed, and I coached Elliot on how to 'play' the violin.
I benefited from various violin teachers, mentors and coaches, and so a few years ago, I started coaching young violin students. I did this by working regularly with individual children, and by coaching younger string students in schools through my Arts program. In addition to the violin, I enjoy writing, hiking, and canoeing.