Métis-Canadian musician Cole Knutson is celebrated for his “mastery of the art of playing with lightness and finesse, his sensitivity of touch and intensity” (Olyrix, Paris). Growing up in Saskatchewan, Canada, Cole completed his undergraduate studies in classical saxophone performance with Allen Harrington. He then earned a Master’s Degree in Piano Accompaniment Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London on a full scholarship, studying under Julius Drake and Eugene Asti. While at Guildhall, he played for the studio of Yvonne Kenny and regularly worked with Professor Rudolf Piernay. Additionally, Cole served as a staff accompanist, performing in lessons, classes, masterclasses, and school performances. Currently, Cole is based in Berlin and Canada, continuing his studies with Professor Wolfram Rieger at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler.

As an active recitalist, Cole has performed in prestigious venues such as the Großer of the Konzerthaus Berlin, Heidelberger Frühling's Liedfestival, Carnegie Hall, the Pierre Boulez Saal as part of the Schubert Woche, Wigmore Hall, LSO St. Luke’s, the Barbican, Montréal’s Salle Bourgie, Paris’ Salle Cortot & Musée d'Orsay, and the Oxford Lieder Festival. He frequently performs across Europe and North America, has premiered several new works, and has been featured on the BBC, CBC, Radio France, Deutschlandradio Kultur, rbbKultur, and Radio Swiss Classic.

Awarding-winning performances include the 2024 DAAD Preis at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, Sonderpreis Interpretation Auftragswerk at the 2024 Felix Mendelssohn Wettbewerb, the Kattenburg Concours de Voix in Lausanne, the 2022 Kathleen Ferrier Awards at Wigmore Hall, and accompanist at the 2022 finals of the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) at Wigmore Hall. He also received awards at the Concours Musical International de Montréal and the International Mozart Competition in 2022. In 2021, Cole won the London Song Festival Competition & the Delius Society Prize with French-Canadian mezzo-soprano, Anika France-Forget. Other honors include the 2020 English Song Prize at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the 2020 Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform, and the HWE and WL Tovery Scholarship.

This season, Cole enjoys a residency at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and was selected as a scholar at the Académie Orsay-Royaumont in France. He is the artistic ambassador for Creative Kids Saskatchewan, a charity providing arts funding to children in his home province. In 2023, Cole participated in SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, led by Renée Fleming. In fall 2022, he became a scholar at the Liedzentrum Liedakademie in collaboration with Heidelberger Frühling and the Pierre Boulez Saal, under the guidance of Thomas Hampson.

Cole is a two-time recipient of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Awards and has been supported by The Art Song Foundation of Canada, where he has also been published. He is a laureate of the 2017 and 2018 Franz Schubert Institut in Baden bei Wien, Austria, and was part of the last class offered by the founder, the late-Deen Larsen. As a classical saxophonist, Cole was awarded Second Prize at the 2017 National Music Festival of Canada and made his Carnegie Hall debut at age twenty. He served as principal saxophonist of the National Youth Band of Canada for half a decade.

His artistic endeavors have been continuously supported by Métis Nations Saskatchewan, the Gabriel Dumont Institute, SK Arts, the Guildhall Trust, the Art Song Foundation of Canada, The Sylva Gelber Music Foundation, and Der Freunde und Förderer der Hochschule für Musik Berlin.

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