 Born in Toronto, Jurgen Petrenko has Bachelor and Master of Music
degrees from the University of Toronto, studying organ with Douglas Bodle and John Tuttle,
and conducting with Victor Feldbrill. For almost 18 years he worked for CBC Radio Music,
as producer of programs including Choral Concert, Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, the
Opera Quiz, Critic’s Choice, Take Five, and most recently as executive producer of
Music and Company. He has also presented over 400 weekly "Organ Thursday"
features.
Jurgen is
the co-founder and artistic director of the 100-voice Toronto Classical
Singers, and has conducted dozens of major choral/orchestral works. He has
adjudicated for the University of Toronto, the Elora Festival Young
Performers’ Competition, and the CBC Choral Competition, and teaches a seminar on oratorio
performance for graduate v oice majors at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory
of Music in Toronto. He is also in demand as an organ accompanist, and has recorded a
number of CDs with choirs conducted by Noel Edison. Jurgen can be heard weekly as the
titular organist of St.
John’s Anglican Church in Elora, Ontario, and served as accompanist for
that choir’s 2005 residences in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, St George’s
Chapel, Windsor Castle, and Canterbury Cathedral. Since September 2008, Jurgen has been the General Manager of the prestigious Elora
Festival.
Jurgen is an accomplished sailor, and is proud to
have earned his black belt in karate. He enjoys cooking, fine wines, computer games,
Victorian novels, and working on his farm near Elora, where he lives with his wife
Emily, their dog, and three horses.
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