A self-described new music explorer, Canadian pianist Everett Hopfner is celebrated for his passionate and inventive performances. With his dynamic approach to multi-disciplinary pieces incorporating electronic media, improvisation, movement and speech, Everett has been praised as “a surreal performer who gives flesh and life to music.” (Il Cittadino di Lodi).

Everett has toured across Canada as winner of the 36th Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, where he was commended by the jury as “an actor, a poet, a true artist” and “a figure of the future.” Graduate studies in Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart led to tours around Europe with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and broadcasts on Hessischer Rundfunk. Everett has been presented by Cluster New Music + Interactive Arts Festival in Winnipeg, IMATRONIC piano+ in Karlsruhe, 50 Jahre Fluxus in Wiesbaden, and Lachenmann Perspektiven in Stuttgart.

An eager collaborator, Everett is involved in a broad spectrum of activity from traditional chamber music settings to interactive installations. Residencies at the Banff Centre and Casalmaggiore International Music Festival have placed Everett in a diverse community of creative artists expanding musical horizons in Canada and Europe.

His mentors include Megumi Masaki, Catherine Vickers, and Nicolas Hodges, and his projects have been supported by grants from the Manitoba Arts Council.

Everett is a committed educator: he maintains a private studio at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Conservatory of Music and serves as a collaborative pianist at Brandon University, where he has also delivered courses in keyboard literature, music history and ensemble performance. He loves sharing his enthusiasm, imagination and constructive pedagogical approach with musicians of all levels in workshops, festivals and masterclasses.