2026 Adjudicators

Award-winning violinist and educator, Jillian Yang pursues a music career as a performer and educator. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music in Performance and Literature from Western University, where she studied under Professor Annette-Barbara Vogel, and an ARCT diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Jillian currently serves as Principal Second Violin of the Summerhill Orchestra in Toronto.

She has won awards at the Maritsa Brookes Concerto Competition and the London Music Scholarship Competition and has appeared as a soloist with the Western University Symphony Orchestra. She was also a two-time finalist at Vancouver International Music Competition. Her performance career has taken her across North America and Europe, including collaborations with the National Academy Orchestra, London Symphonia, National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Magisterra Soloists, and Accademia Europea Dell’Opera in Italy.

With more than a decade of teaching experience, Jillian is an Advanced Specialist with the Royal Conservatory of Music and has taught at institutions such as Western University, the Canadian Youth Chamber Orchestra, and Forest City Strings School Summer Camp. Her students have achieved outstanding results in RCM examinations and local competitions, with five performed at Carnegie Hall in 2024.

In 2025, Jillian served as an adjudicator for the Ontario Music Festivals Association (OMFA) in Kitchener-Waterloo, recognizing exceptional young musicians from across the province. Currently based in North York and Newmarket, Ontario, she continues to inspire the next generation of performers through her teaching and artistry.