Self Composed

Such an intuitive technique has served her well. Pieces from Stréliski’s 2010 debut album, Pianoscope, have been featured in major films, including fellow Canadian Jean-Marc Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club and Demolition, as well as Vallée’s HBO series Big Little Lies. Her second album, 2018’s all-instrumental Inscape, went double platinum. Her third album, Néo-Romance, earned a coveted spot on the 2023 Polaris Music Prize Long List and won multiple awards, including Best Selling Album at the 2024 Gala de l’ADISQ and the Opus Klassik 2024 New Classic/Neo Classic album of the year. The album was conceived during a pivotal time in Stréliski’s life, when she moved to Rotterdam to be with her partner. There, she unearthed the depth of her French, Polish and Jewish heritage, which profoundly influenced the album’s creation. Despite the accolades, Stréliski remains focused on her audience: “I’m into bridging classical music to more popular audiences and reviving those emotions that have maybe been lost, because classical music has always been seen as elitist. There’s a big gap that’s been created.” Stréliski uses words like “minimalism,” “cinematic” and “emotional” to describe her music, which in part explains why her work crosses over into the pop world and beyond. (At the 2024 Festival d’été de Québec, for instance, she performed alongside acts like the Jonas Brothers, Mötley Crüe and Post Malone.)

Stréliski, who previously scored TV ads and documentary films, recently performed in front of nearly 100,000 fans internationally on a two-year Néo-Romance tour, which wrapped up in January 2025. She says she gains inspiration from playing at different venues in various countries and from a shared experience with her audience. But she appears just as satisfied with studio work. “It’s a very interesting [feeling] to do these enormous events and suddenly it stops,” says the Juno Award-winner, of post-tour life. “It’s a time to go back to basics, to the essence of who I am as an artist. It’s important, when you’re a creative person, to accept there will be moments of silence, moments of nothingness. And to embrace it and enjoy that process, as well.”

In a quest to reach a broad audience, Stréliski is philosophical about the power of neoclassicism. As she explains, “Instrumental music has this quality that you can listen to it in very different contexts. [People tell me] they listen on a loop and they live with the music. And I notice on stage that this music is mine, originally, but it doesn’t belong to me anymore. It belongs to everyone… Some people have very deep human experiences such as grief or birth, and so when I’m playing a song, these people are reliving their own memories.”

Stréliski’s talent is impacting a younger generation, as well. As one of the few women in neoclassical music, she shares that she has received letters from parents saying she’s a role model for their daughters who are playing piano or composing. Stréliski recalls an incident from her own childhood, which forced her into a leadership role. “We had to elect a school president, and I raised my hand because I thought that people wanted me to do so,” says Stréliski, who indeed landed the role. “You don’t position yourself as a leader. To me, it’s about listening to who is surrounding you, and then inspiring, and then yes, leading. You also need to fight as a leader—you need to fight for your cause.”