Biography

Originally from Nova Scotia, Toronto-based pianist Dakota Scott-Digout has been heard across North America and Europe as both a collaborator and soloist, gaining praise particularly for his performances of chamber music and art song. Dakota serves on the artistic team of the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the VOCA Chorus of Toronto, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, and enjoys frequent collaborations with the Elmer Isler Singers and Chroma Vocal Ensemble. Recent projects have included an ongoing collaboration with Echo Chamber Toronto in their production A World Transformed, which intertwines art song and chamber music with dance and story-telling. Additionally, Dakota has been a featured artist in many festivals and concert series across Canada, most recently Festival of the Sound, Toronto Summer Music, Luminato Festival, and Debut Atlantic.

 

Dakota holds degrees in piano performance from Université de Montréal and Mount Allison University. Currently, he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto where he was named the 2020 winner of the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Prize in Accompanying, awarded to the top collaborative pianist at the Faculty of Music. He has further refined his skills at the Orford Music Academy, Barachois Summer Music Festival, Musique sur Mer with pianist Susan Manoff, and was an Art of Song Fellow as part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival. His principal teachers have included Stephen Runge, Jimmy Brière, and Steven Philcox. Dakota is highly sought after in Toronto as a collaborative pianist, clinician, and serves as a pianist for voice performance classes at the University of Toronto.