Luba and Ireneus Zuk

Piano duo, brother and sister, formed in 1977. Playing four hands or two pianos, in recital or with orchestra, the duo has performed in Canada, in the USA, in Europe (tours in 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987) and in the Far East, and for radio broadcasts in Canada (CBC), Austria, and Poland. Offering a repertoire including known works and rarely performed pieces, the duo has actively promoted Canadian works, many of which they have premiered. Its 1982 European tour was entirely devoted to Canadian composers. Those who have written for them include George Fiala, Graham George, Bengt Hambraeus (a Canada Council commission), David Keane, and Donald Patriquin. The duo has also commissioned, with the help of the OAC, three works for piano, premiered in Montreal in 1989: Three Shades of Dark by Clifford Crawley, Mythologies by Gary Kulesha and In a Measure of Time by Ann Southam. In 1986 the Zuks made a Canadian tour, and performed in Paris as part of the International Year of Canadian Music. The duo was invited to participate at the 10th European conference of the European Piano Teachers Association held in London in 1988. Critics have underlined the duo's clean, precise, and well-balanced performances, and its determinedly personal, warm and passionate style.

Luba Zuk (b Lubaczow, Poland, 5 Apr 1930, naturalized Canadian 1957) first studied at McGill University with Helmut Blume, then at the CMM with Lubka Kolessa, at the Salzburg Mozarteum with Hans Leygraf and at the Banff SFA with Boris Roubakine. She began teaching at McGill University in 1955, and has pursued a career as recitalist in Canada, the USA, and in Europe, showing a marked preference for Ukranian music, many works of which she has premiered in North America.

Ireneus (Bohdan) Zuk (b Lubaczow, Poland, 5 Aug 1943, naturalized Canadian 1957) also studied at the CMM and at McGill University with Kolessa, in Salzburg with Friedrich Whuehrer and at Banff with Roubakine, as well as at the RCM with Kendall Taylor, at the Juilliard School with Sascha Gorodnitzki and at the Peabody Cons of Baltimore with Leon Fleischer. He began teaching at Queen's University in 1974 and has also performed in Canada, the USA, and in Europe, in recital and as a soloist with orchestras. His DMA thesis (Peabody Cons 1985) was entitled 'The Piano concerto in Canada (1900-1980): a bibliographic survey'.