2026 Adjudicators

Prizewinner in the 2022 CMC Stepping Stone, Connor O'Kane is a highly sought-after pianist, conductor, chamber musician, vocal coach, and teacher. Following his concerto debut with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in 2014 under the baton of Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, he has appeared as a recitalist in the United States, France, and across Canada. He is regularly invited to perform in such concert series as the Canadian Opera Company's Vocal Series, Sundays at Chateau Windrush, Ottawa Chamberfest, and The Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival.

Connor is currently on faculty at Western University as a piano professor and at Wilfrid Laurier University as a coach-accompanist, having previously worked at the Glenn Gould School as an opera conductor and music director. He studied piano with Stéphan Sylvestre as a SSHRC doctoral fellow at Western University, following earlier studies with David Jalbert, Heather Taves, Manuel Schweizer, and Joan Walker. Connor maintains an active private studio in Kitchener-Waterloo, and is frequently invited to serve as an adjudicator at provincial and local festivals, such as the Ontario Music Festivals Association, Kitchener-Waterloo Kiwanis Music Festival, Pickering Rotary Music Festival, and the Guelph Kiwanis Music Festival.