Connor O'Kane

Recognized as one of Ontario’s most versatile emerging artists, Connor O’Kane is a highly sought-after pianist, conductor, chamber musician, vocal coach, and teacher.

Since his concerto debut with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in 2014 under the baton of Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, he has appeared as a recitalist in the United States, France, and across Canada. A laureate of major competitions and festivals, he was awarded the Canimex Second Prize and top award for piano at the 2022 CMC Stepping Stone. In recent seasons he has appeared as a guest artist at Chateau Windrush, Ottawa Chamberfest, St. Andrews Toronto, Brock University, Western University, and the University of Waterloo. 

A passionate collaborative musician with a special affinity for opera, Connor has enjoyed success as a répétiteur, continuo player, vocal coach, conductor, and music director. In 2024 he conducted productions at Western University (Albert Herring) and Toronto City Opera (Carmen), before joining the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music as music director of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges and Debussy’s Progidal Son. He previously spent five years as assistant conductor of opera at Western University, in addition to répétiteur/continuo work at the National Arts Centre, Banff Centre, the University of Ottawa, and Wilfrid Laurier University. His 2025 credits include Die Zauberflöte at the Glenn Gould School and The Tender Land at Toronto City Opera. Connor has had the privilege of working with some of the leading opera directors in Canada, including Joel Ivany, Anna Theodosakis, Theodore Baerg, Stephen Carr, Allison Grant, Mabel Wonnacott, and the late Michael Cavanagh. He has worked with conductors Alexander Shelley, Tyrone Paterson, and Alain Trudel, and as an assistant to Simone Luti and Jennifer Tung. 

Connor’s chamber music collaborations are richly varied. In the 2024-25 season he joined forces with pianist Ryan Baxter to present a series of recitals featuring four-hands piano sonatas by Australian composers Carl Vine and Stuart Greenbaum, which represented the Canadian premiere of both works. A champion of Canadian and contemporary music, he is currently pursuing a comprehensive Canadian art-song recording project with renowned soprano Natalie Image. Together they completed a residency at the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver in 2024, generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. Connor is also a duo partner of acclaimed mezzo Hillary Tufford, who share a passion for challenging the conventions of the traditional art-song recital. 

Connor holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Western University. For his research on the piano transcriptions of Sergei Prokofiev, he was awarded the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, having previously held a Canada Graduate Scholarship for his research on Ferruccio Busoni. Connor studied piano with Stéphan Sylvestre, David Jalbert, Heather Taves, and Joan Walker, with additional training at the Conservatoire de Lyon in the studio of Manuel Schweizer. A passionate teacher, Connor maintains an active private studio of dedicated piano students. He has presented pedagogical lectures across Southern Ontario, and appears regularly as an adjudicator at regional music festivals.