Sebastian Gonzalez Mora

Sebastian Gonzalez Mora is a 24-year-old Colombian Canadian violist. He began his musical journey at age 10 on the violin and later started learning the viola. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal in Jocelyne Bastien’s studio, Sebastian is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at McGill University under the guidance of Victor Fournelle-Blain and André Roy.

Winner of the Pirastro prize for an Outstanding Young Talent at the 2021 edition of the Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition in the Czech Republic, Sebastian is also a grand prize winner of the Chœur de la Montagne Competition (2018 and 2021) and the 2018 MDA-Quebec Competition, and the second prize winner of the Lanaudière Festival Concerto Competition (2019). In addition, Sebastian is often heard as a soloist at the Montée des Arts, a concert hall for which he was artist-in-residence for the 2019–2020 season.

After being a regular substitute violist with several orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Métropolitain, Sebastian recently won a full-time position as a section violist at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

An avid chamber musician, Sebastian has shared the stage with renowned musicians such as Giora Schmidt, Brian Hong, Astrid Schween, Valérie Milot, and Denis Brott. He is a member of Musica Camerata Montreal, of Allegra Chamber Music Society, and has also taken part in the Manchester Music Festival as a fellow, and later as an invited Rising Star. Furthermore, he is a regular violist at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival.

The violist is also a founding member of the Vatra Quartet, winner of the Grand Prize at the Sherbrooke Competition (2022) as well as first prizes in chamber music at the Canadian Music Competition (2021) and the Classical Competition (2022).

Sebastian plays a Francesco Presbler viola (1700-1730) and a Roger François Lotte bow, courtesy of Canimex Inc. of Drummondville (QC), Canada.