Internationally celebrated violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou has left her mark in music history by being the first violinist ever to capture 3 Gold Medals with unanimous decisions at international violin competitions: Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud (France, 1999), Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition (Italy, 1999) and Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition (Spain, 1997). Most recently, Ms. Hou was also the first ever violinist to win the Canada Council for the Arts Instrument Bank Competition for a 2nd time, retaining the loan of the 1729 "ex-Heath" Guarneri del Gesu violin.

Many other awards and prizes include first place in the Canadian Music Competitions for 3 consecutive years, the Juilliard Dvorak C...