Biography
Born in Southern Ontario, Bruce completed his initial musical studies with Damjana Bratuz and Anton Kuerti. Later he studied in the United States, England, Switzerland, and Italy, working with a number of celebrated musicians including Gyorgy Sebok, Louis Kentner, Fou Ts'Ong and Dario de Rosa.
In 1999, Bruce Vogt and the celebrated Japanese violist, Yumiko Yamamoto, were awarded the Kyoto Baroque Hall Award of Excellence and a substantial cash prize for the Best Concert of 1998. The Kyoto Daily spoke of their “wonderful sympathetic music making, exquisite technical polish.” Bruce and Yumiko later released a collaborative CD entitled Centre of Harmony: Music for Viola and Piano.
During a tour of Germany, Bruce’s performance was reviewed as “technical perfection paired with emotional expressiveness ... compositions from Mozart, Chopin, Liszt resounded with seldom-heard perfection ... What is apparent in his playing is the joy he takes in giving to others what he has so dazzlingly mastered” (Usinger Anzeiger, Altweilnau, Germany). Bruce continued to perform throughout Japan and Europe during 2005 to 2007. In the spring of 2008, he spent time touring in China and Japan.
Bruce Vogt's repertoire is extremely diverse, encompassing music from the sixteenth century to the present. He has consistently championed the music of contemporary composers, and has commissioned and premiered a number of new works by such Canadian luminaries as Murray Adaskin and Alfred Fisher. He is also an enthusiastic and dedicated performer on period instruments; his latest recording, released in the fall of 2003, features music of Robert Schumann performed on a restored 1864 Erard. His other recordings include two volumes of the music of Franz Liszt, which have established for him an enviable reputation as a Liszt interpreter. Two new recordings of the music of this composer are due out later in 2008.