Hewitt, Angela, 1958- : Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, pianist Angela Hewitt started learning to play the piano at age 3 with her mother, secondary school music teacher Marion Hewitt. Exceptionally talented, Angela Hewitt gave her first recital at age 9 at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where she continued her training with pianists Earle Moss and Myrtle Guerrero. She completed her musical studies at the University of Ottawa under Jean-Paul Sévilla, earning a bachelor's degree of music in 1976.
From 1975 until 1985 when her international career took off, Hewitt won top prizes at music competitions including the Bach Competition in Washington, D.C. (1975), the Leipzig Competition (1976), the Schumann Competition in Zwickau. East Germany (1977), the Viotti International Competition in Vercelli, Italy (1978), the Casadesus International Competition in Cleveland (1979), the Dino Ciani Competition at La Scala in Milan (1980), and the International Bach Piano Competition in Toronto (1985). This last prize included a solo recording on the Deutsche Gramophon label. Following this critically acclaimed recording, she has been recognized as one of the greatest Bach performers of her time. In 2005 she completed a recording project of all Bach's major keyboard works for the United Kingdom label Hyperion.
Hewitt is also interested in the work of other composers, and is particularly fond of the music of Couperin, Beethoven, Schumann, Chabrier, Granados, Fauré, Ravel, Messiaen and Alexina Louie. She has performed with major orchestras (the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic in London, England, the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Japan, the San Francisco Symphony, and the orchestras of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and has been a guest performer at prestigious festivials including those at Edinburgh, Osaka, Prague and Hong Kong. In July 2005, she founded her own festival, the Trasimeno Music Festival, held annually in Magione, Umbria, Italy.
In 1995, the University of Ottawa paid tribute to Hewitt, awarding her an honorary doctorate. She received the Order of Canada in 2000 and the BBC Radio 3 Listeners' Award first prize in 2003.