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Volume 11 Issue 4 - December 2005

  • Text
  • Toronto
  • December
  • Theatre
  • January
  • Jazz
  • Choir
  • Symphony
  • Musical
  • Orchestra
  • Ensemble

BAND Stand by Merlin

BAND Stand by Merlin Williams Holiday season is worth it, if only for the bands ... You can count on Christmas. Yes, every year it comes, the day after Halloween and it stretches on these days until the coming of the first credit card bill in January. It's a time of giving and receiving, a time of incessantly repeated medleys of "Holiday Favorites". I venture out to shop wearing eamzuffs on Monday mornings in the hopes of a) not being able to hear the horrible piped-in Christmas dreck and b) not having to spend too long in the store trying to find gifts. Don't get me wrong - I like Christmas, it's just that I like it to be just the Eve and the Day, without all of the lead up and wind down. There are some Christmas music events I like to get out to if possible though. The Annual Christmas Tuba Festival at Nathan Phillips Square is one of them. This year's is on Dec 7th starting at 12:30pm. I've played in it several times (yes, I can play tuba well enough to get by) and I've enjoyed it quite a bit. It's an amazing sound when sixty or seventy tuba players cut loose on a carol. You really should hear something like that at least once in your life. Unlike 32 The Canadian Band Associa- register. tion (Ontario) Chapter will present the second Annual Festival of Concert Bands to be held on Sato o most other heavy metal concerts, admission is free! There are about twenty other community band Christmas concerts scheduled this month, all of them listed here in The WholeNote. Have a look at the complete listings for all of the details. ooo·oooo·o·oho·oo·o o Presenting: True North Brass in concert "Canada's finest fivesome!" Come see True North Brass live: LI AND now we have comfy TNB shirts and athergreat gems! __,,! ~ - , ~ - II J r2 ']; ,JJ\ :. j -. (i ' (~fJ L .cd ' I for all details,_visit us at TrueNortnBrass.com or call (866) 509-0724 urday February 4th, 2006 in the auditorium of Crescent School, 2365 Bayview A venue. The event will feature performances of some of Ontario's finest community bands in competition. This event will run from lOam until 8pm. The focus will be to showcase the musical presentation of the bands and celebrate the great sounds of Concert Band Music. Each band will be adjudicated by a team of two highly qualified and respected music educators. Music industry displays will be available along with food and beverage concessions. A day pass at the door or in advance will be .00 for adults and . 00 for students and seniors. The Ontario Band Association is presenting the Annual Wind Conductors' Symposium on Saturday March 4th with guest clinician Colonel Timothy Foley of the United States Marine Band. Registration is before February 3rd, so get over to the OBA site (www.onband.ca) or call 905-479-2787 ext. 549 to The Hannaford Street Silver Band is presenting a concert on February 5th entitled "Bollywood Brass". The HSSB's guest ensemble for this unique event is the renowned world beat musical group, auto rickshaw Autorickshaw. This promises to be one of the most interesting combinations that Hannaford has put on stage, and I for one don't plan to miss it. I hope that all of you manage to get some enjoyment out of the holiday season, in whatever manner you choose to. If you're feeling bummed out by the whole thing and need a laugh, might I recommend a book? Check out "Hogfather" by the English writer Terry Pratchett. Look in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section of your bookstore. Best wishes until next year. Woodwind doubler Merlin Williams is an Artist/Clinician for Jupiter Music Canada. If you would like an upcoming band event to be featured in the Bandstand column, feel free to contact Merlin by e-mail, merlinwilliams@sympatico.ca or phone 416-803-0275. SWING SWING SWING TORONTO ALL-STAR BIG BAND and dazzling clarinetist EDDIE DANIELS in a swing-filled tribute to Benny Goodman! February 25, 2006 2 pm John Bassett Theatre, 255 Front St. W. Tickets (416) 366-7723 www.torontoallstarbigband.com Instruments & Accessories Sales - Rentals - Lease to Own ;~~HARKNETT Musical Services Ltd. MUSIC BOOKS BEST SELECTION OF POPULAR & EDUCATIONAL MUSIC Piano· Guitar · Instrumental Brass · Woodwind· Mid-Town Store String Instruments · Guitar Buy direct from the Distributor 416-423-9494 AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR: 943 Eglinton Ave. E. (W of Leslie) Armstrong, Artley, Besson, Benge (Next door to Robert Lowrey's Piano Experts) Boosey & Hawkes, Buffet, Conn Getzen, Jupiter, Keilworth, King Main Store Ibanez Guitars, Scher! & Ruth String Inst. www.harknettmusic.com 905-477-1141 2650 John Street Gust North of Steeles) WWW.THEWHOLENOTE,COM D ECE MB ER 1 2005 - FEBR UARY 7 2006

Like the shadow of Fafner, the giantturned-dragon, one opera looms over all the rest for the next two months in Toronto. That is " Gotterdammerung", the final installment in the firstever Canadian Ring Cycle. Yet, before that mammoth opera arrives at the end of January, there are quite a number of varied works of music theatre to entertain those especially who like to stray off the beaten track. On Sunday, December 4, Opera in Concert presents Camille Saint-Saens' s bestknown opera "Samson et Dalila" (1877). The opera includes the famous Bacchanal and the Dalila' s well - known aria of seduction "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix". The opera stars Gabrielle Prata, Keith Klassen and Luc Lalonde with Nathalie Doucet-Lalkens as music director and pianist. Three works in December mine a vein of fantasy. The first and most seasonal is the world premiere of "A Dickens of a Christmas" presented by the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus on December 10 and 11 . "Dickens" is a musical adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" by Errol Gay to a libretto by Michael Albano. Baritone Mark Pedrotti, the sole adult cast member, plays Scrooge. Next the COC Ensemble Studio celebrates its 25th anniversary with Mozart's "The Magic Flute" on December 16, 18 and 20 . The work will be presented in the English translation of famed musicologist Andrew Porter, who will also direct. The bad news is that even though the opera will be presented at the 815- seat MacMillan Theatre on the U. of T . campus, it is already sold out. There is a waiting list. As the second offering in its expanded 2005-06 season, Opera York presents the Engelbert Humperdinck favourite "Hansel and Gretel " on December 26, 28 and 30. Former COC Ensemble member Andrew Tees will both direct and On OPERA by Christopher Hoile New work for a new year" Mezz.o Fides Krucker and dancer Dan Wild in TPM's "Yours to Break" sing the role of the Father. Mary Lou Fallis of "Primadonna" fame will play the Mother. Alain Trudel will conduct the Opera York Orchestra. Performances take place at the new St. Elizabeth Performing Arts Centre in Vaughan. For further information see www .operayork.com. Finishing off the old year and ringing in the new is Toronto Operetta Theatre's production of "Wiener Blut" by Johann Strauss, Jr. , running from December 28, 2005 to January 8, 2006. Literally translated as "Viennese Blood" or figuratively as "Vienna Love" or "Vienna Life", the operetta was constructed by Ado! f Muller, Jr., from some of Strauss's bestknown melodies when it became apparent that Strauss himself, who died before the premiere in 1899, was too infirm to do so. The production stars Jackalyn Short, Katerina Tchoubar, Carla Huhtanen, Mark DuBois and Sean Watson. Guillermo Silva-Marin directs and Kevin Mallon will conduct. For more information see www.torontoperetta.com. The new year begins appropriately enough with new work. From January 5-29, Theatre Passe Muraille presents "Yours to Break" , "an erotic opera/dance ere- ~l \: a Canadian Children's Opera Chorus ANN COOPER GAY, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR (7)'."""",1 . ;L,/~d~ la Music by Errol Gay Libretto by Michael Patrick ~lban·o ,} r Conductor: ANN COOPER GAY ~ ' . I Director: MICHAEL PATRICK ALBANO (" Set/Costume Designer: PATRICK KROBOTH ) l Lighting Designer: RE~EE.BRO,DE 1 ,:.,) '':{; , Fealuring_ t~.e CCOC C~amb~r :nsemj>le I)" ~. J. ,~~ .,,~(,, 1-f.)··~·Rff' ~ 1 - 1 ~.t ~ :.r'. · ..-, .4~ ~··,., .' 5~~ 1~ J ":"'-,1'-, t;c::t. .-. ·~ ( . L_'":f ... ..;,~1 r :l' SCHOOL PERFORMANCES: \,() ~ December 8 & 9, 2005 10:00 am & 1 :OO pm ... ###COLUMNCONTENT###~ ~~ PUBLIC PERFORMANCES: "l'" ~~~ December 10 & 11, 2005 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm ~~ Harbourfront Centre Theatre, BOX OFFICE 416.973.4000 or more information visit us at: www.canadianchildrensopera.com Commissioned by Douglas L. Ludwig, Karen J. Rice & Family ! / - 2006 COURSES What to listen for in German and French Opera A winter weekend seminar "Gotterdammerung" In Quest of Operatic Dons The Five Key Themes of Wagner's Ring 2006 TOURS Barcelona - Madrid - Seville - Lisbon Berlin - Dresden - Prague - Vienna Vienna - Ludwig's Castles - Munich 5'h Annual Verdi's Italy Chautauqua and Glimmerglass lo 1011 t

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