Sunny Ritter (15) is currently the youngest undergraduate student at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg in the studio of Pietro De Maria. Alfred Brendel, Pierre Laurent Aimard, Angela Hewitt, and Dr. Michael and Coral Berkovsky, have also given roots and wings to her playing through their mentoring and masterclasses.
Since her first gold medal at five years old, Sunny has triumphed at more than thirty live competitions in Canada, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Romania, Poland, Spain and the US. At the Steinway International Piano Competition in Hamburg, Germany, she swept up First Prize and all special prizes. As the Grand Prize winner of the Mihaela Ursuleasa International Piano Competition in Bucharest, she received 5000 Euros and made her orchestral début at eight years old. The following year, Sunny began competing above her own age level and garnered top prize in the senior categories of international competitions like the Concorso Amigdala in Italy and the Kiwanis Festival, where she broke the record set by Glenn Gould as the youngest top prizewinner. Further distinctions include First Prizes at the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Concours OMNI and the Paris International Music Competition, as well as the Goldene Note for Austria’s most promising young piano-virtuoso, which led to her starring in an episode of the ORF prime-time TV show, Stars & Talente. This summer, she was honoured to be the youngest “hot Canadian musician” named on the CBC’s esteemed “30 under 30” list.
Recent engagements include concerts at Montreal’s Place des Arts, Toronto’s Meridian Hall, and four concerts in the Golden Hall of the Wiener Musikverein. After winning the Junior Division of Classicalia Global Televised Music Competition, Sunny had her début at the Grand Hall of the Wiener Konzerthaus, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with her own cadenza. This concert, which featured Sunny alongside Sheléa, Juliana Grigoryan, and other icons of the music world, was broadcast on PBS television as “The New Divas—Live in Vienna.” Highlights of the 2024/2025 season include a solo-recital at the Teatro Politeama Garibaldi in Palermo, Sicily, and a return engagement with Sinfonia Toronto.
Sunny regularly presents solo recitals for humanitarian organizations and was recently recognized in one of Austria’s leading newspapers and interviewed on Radio Klassik Wien for her benefit-concert series, Grundbärsorgung (The Bear Essentials). This initiative aimed to welcome every refugee child arriving in Vienna with a teddy-bear. She also had the honour of playing at Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, in celebration of Victoria Mars’ $11 Million gift to the global “Pathways to Peace” initiative.
For Sunny, music is a force for peace and every concert empowers us to mend and transcend our differences. Her mission as a musician is to wage war against war through music’s healing power. She loves the piano because it’s a kind of magic: these keys unlock hearts.
© Sunny Ritter