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Volume 12 - Issue 10 - July/August 2007

  • Text
  • Festival
  • Chart
  • Jazz
  • August
  • Toronto
  • Musical
  • Theatre
  • September
  • Concerts
  • Choir

World ViewBefore

World ViewBefore launching into my "what'son in world music during the summer"bit, I'd like to bring to yourattention a new Canadian MusicCentre initiative. The CMC, whicharchives music by Canadian composers,has recently added a newcomponent to its website. ComposerPortraits: Influences of ManyMusics features multi-media profilesfor forty first-generation Canadiancomposers. Represented are associatecomposers from South Africa,China, Japan, Taiwan, Egypt, CentralAmerica, and various parts ofEurope. Through the use of soundclips, score samples and interviews,viewers gain a sense of the impactthat multiculturalism has had on Canadiancontemporary classical music.In addition, the website also featuresa downloadable teacher's guideand a World Instrument Gallery withdescriptions of non-western musicalinstruments increasingly used by Canadiancomposers. Visitwww.musiccentre.ca.Summer is a time for breakingaway from our usual routines. I'llbe heading to Ottawa and Montrealto visit friends and family, will takein some of the concerts at the OttawaChamber Music Festival, headto Kingston to play with the Symphonyin their annual Fort Henryconcerts July 20 & 21 (I've donethis for several years now and amalways amazed by the perfect timingof the live cannons in the 1812 Overture- the fireworks are pretty spectaculartoo!).Then in August I'll once againleave civilization behind for a weekin the Haliburton Forest as a participantin Murray Schafer's "And WolfShall Inherit the Moon", the epilogueto his Patria cycle of large-scale,site-specific works , of which thisyear's production, "The Princess ofthe Stars" is the prologue. "Princess"runs August 28 to September 3 atthe Haliburton Forest & Wildlifeby Karen AgesThe Toronto Choral Society's2007-2008 SeasonReserve; start time is 4 am!www.patriamusic.ca).At the Festivals ....But back to the topic at hand ... Manysummer music festivals are now programmingworld music into their lineupof performers, or are world-musicthemed themselves. See our SummerFestivals listings for details.Here's a summery summary.The Brott Music Festivalpresents a concert of Jewish musicon August 7, and Chinese music onAugust 19. The Canadian OpenOld Time Fiddle Championshipfeatures concerts August 9-11. TheCollingwood Music Festivalpresents a concert of Chinese andTibetan music August 2. The FergusScottish Festival and HighlandGames takes place August 10-12.Festival of the Sound presentsmusic of China, Cameroon and Afghanistan,August 5. The NiagaraInternational Chamber MusicFestival features an Azerbaijani FolkEnsemble, August 14. The OttawaInternational Chamber MusicFestival presents a workshop onChinese music July 24, music ofIsrael July 25, a Musical Passagefrom West to East (Gryphon Triowith Arabic musicians) on July 27,Music of the Middle East July 31,Classical music of India (TrichySankaran) and autorickshaw August2, and Sunda Songs with the EvergreenClub Gamelan and guest vocalistsAugust 3. Stratford SummerMusic presents a series of noonhourconcerts on a floating stage inthe Avon river: BargeMusic featuresThe Langley Ukulele Ensemble,Cajun group Swamperella, Gin LaneTrio (Celtic music), The McDades(Celtic/jazz), and the Fergus PipeBand; Sunfest 07: A Celebrationof World Cultures takes place July5 - 8 in London Ont; and the ZimbabweanArts Festival runs July26 - 28 in Peterborough.In Town .....If getting out of the city isnot an option for you, don't -worry: Toronto's 19th annu­(see al Afrofest, a celebration ofAfrican music and culture,takes place at Queen's Park,July 7 and 8. Featured aredozens of traditional and contemporarystyle performinggroups: Lura, rising star fromCape Verde; Nawal, "TheVoice of the Comoros";Guinea's Katenen Dioubate; andmany other international and localgroups, on three different stages.The official launch of Afrofesttakes place July 5 with a concert byMalian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate'sSymmetric Orchestra, at HarbourfrontCentre (visit www.harbourfrontcentre.com for info onthis and many other world musicevents throughout the summer).Running concurrently with Afrofest,Small World Music presentsSummerworld, a series of concertsJuly 5 - 12, mostly at Lula Lounge.Performers include Folklore Urbano(Colombia/US), HendrickMeurkens & Toronto Samba JazzConnection (Brazil/US/Canada),Wax Poetic with Rhymestone & DJMedicineman (US/Canada), Sambasunda(Indonesia), Nya Soleil(African guitar), Telmary (Cuba/Canada). For details, see our dailylistings and www.smallworldmusic.com.And remember to check out Harbourfront's Music Garden onThursday evenings and most Sundayafternoons. This series of freeconcerts running till September 16features many world music offerings:July 5, Arun Narayan (sarangi),Nitin Mitta (tabla) and AkshayKalle (tanpura) perform classicalNorth Indian ragas; July 26, PirouzY ousefian and Farzad Yousefianperform classical Persian music; July29, Adrienne Cooper (voice) andMarilyn Lerner (piano) present contemporaryYiddish songs; August16, the Kiyoshi Nagata Ensemblepresents Japanese taiko drummingRaquy Dan=iger with liron Pe/edwith bamboo flutes and shamisen;and August 30, Esmerelda EnriqueSpanish Dance company performsflamenco with Montreal singer Jose­Luis Perez.Always wanted to learn MiddleEastern drumming? Keep July 22open, as David Buchbinder (FlyingBulgar Klezmer Band) presents Raquy& the Cavemen, along withbellydance performers. A non-musicianfriend of mine first saw NewYork based dumbek player RaquyDanziger give a workshop at theAshkenaz festival a few years ago,and was so inspired she purchasedRaquy's dumbek course on DVD,becoming quite proficient! The workshopbegins at 6pm, and the performanceis at 9, at the Tranzac, onBrunswick St.The Flying Bulgars also play traditionalYiddish tunes and originalrepertoire at the Markham Jazz Festivalon August 19.The "Mbira Queen of Zimbabwe"(African "thumb piano"), StellaRambisai Chiwesi and the EarthquakeBand perform July 21 in Peterborough,and July 22 in Toronto.And the Bata Shoe Museumpresents a lecture and performanceon the Peking Opera tradition of"Nan Dan" (a man playing a women'srole), July 24. There's more inthe listings, but I'm out of space.Have a great summer, and see youin September.Karen Ages is a freelance oboist who hasalso been a member of several worldmusic ensembles. She can be reached atworldmusic@thewholenote.com.Sing With the Toronto Choral Society!join Toronto's Community Choir to perform great choral repertoireand explore the musical traditions of the city's cultural mosaic.Highlights of the 2007 /2008 season will include the following:November 10: Annual Remembrance Day TributeDecember 12: Charpentier's Messe de Minuit pour Noel and Poulenc'.s GloliaMay, 2008: Bruckner'.s Te DeumRehearsals begin Wednesday, September 5.www.torontochoralsociety.org For more information, visit our website or call 416-410-350916 WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM J ULY 1 - SEPTEMBER 7 2007

EARLY Musicby Frank NakashimaWhat would summer be without a wild and wonderful world of theseries of free outdoor concerts in 17th century composer-virtuoso.the beautiful setting of the Toronto The centerpiece of this program isMusic Garden? Taking place on the world premiere ofa new choremostThursday evenings and Sun- ography by Canadian dance artist,day afternoons from June 24 to Sep- Julia Sasso, commissioned by Hartember16, several of these pro- bourfront Centre for the Musicgrams below will appeal to early Garden, to the music of Heinrichmusic lovers.Biber's Passacaglia for solo violin,The Windermere String Quartet from Biber's Mystery Sonatas (Au­(violinists Rona Goldensher and gust 2). The following week, Lin­Genevieve Gilardeau, violist Antho- da Melsted presents an encore pernyRapoport, and cellist Laura formance of Biber's Passacaglia,Jones) perform Schubert's Quar- again with Sasso's choreography.tettsatz, Danzi's Quartet in B-Flat This time, inspired by the preced­Major, and two movements from ing performance, bass clarinetist ex­Beethoven's Quartet in F major on traordinaire Lori Freedman willperiod instruments (July 12). Mean- improvise in the spirit ofBiber, withwhile, another string quartet, com- improvisational dance accompaniprisedof violinists Linda Melsted ment by Julia Sasso (August 9).and Julie Baumgartel, violist Dav- August 12, more strings: thisid Rose and cellist Shane Neill, and time the Rosetta String Trio (vioalsousing period instruments, linist Abby Karr, violist Sarah Darpresentsthe program Flights of ling and cellist Kate Bennett Hay­Fancy: String Quartets Do the nes) making their Toronto debutFugue (July 19) in which they ii- with music from the 16th to the 21stlustrate how the fugue is reborn and centuries, from 3-part Renaissanceadapted in Mozart's Quartet in G fantasies to Gyorgy Kurtag's onmajorK. 387 and Beethoven's going composition, Signs, GamesQuartet Op. 59 No. 3. Then, they and Messages, along with vibrantcompare these with excerpts from string trios by Beethoven and Gide­Bach' s Art of the Fugue. on Klein. It will be especially inter-In the newly-formed ensemble, esting to hear this trio perform ear­Folia, baroque violinist Linda Mel- ly music on modern instruments.sted is joined by harpsichordist The award-winning young me­Boris Medicky, and cellist Shane dieval quartet from Montreal, En­Neill, to introduce listeners to the semble La Rota, also making itsMusic at Metropolitan 2007-2008Noon at Met Free organ recitals on Thursdays at 12:15 resume on Sept. 13Phantoms of the Organ Friday, Oct. 26 10:00 pmHallowe'en concert to benefit students in the RCCOAll the Things You Are Friday, November 16 7:30 pmwith Tim Elliott, Malcolm Sinclair, and friendsCarols United Sunday, December 9 7:00 pmCandlelight Carol Service Sunday, December 16 7:00 pmFebruary Follies! Saturday, Feb. 9 7:30 pmThe Metropolitan Choir and friendsGood Friday, March 21 7:30 pm J. S. Bach's St. John Passionon Bach's 323rd birthdayMetropoltian Festival Choir, orchestra, soloists including Eric Shaw,Stephen Hegedus, Lorna MacDonald, Christina Stelmacovich,Dillon Parmer, Daniel LichtiORGANIX 08 Gala Opening Friday, May 2 7:30 pmwith Patricia Wright, organist, and string ensembleASEE BELOW FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATIONMetropolitan United Churchr/ \~ 56 Queen Street East at Church Street, TorontoMETROPl.ITAN 416-363-0331 ext. 26 www.metunited.orgToronto debut August 19 with acolourful program of Spanish songsin praise of the Virgin Mary, bringslively dances and rousing pilgrims'songs from the 13th century Cantigasde Santa Maria (August 19).Sarah Barnes (voice); Tobie Miller(recorder, hurdy gurdy and voice),Esteban LaRotta (lute, harp, voice)and Emilie Brule (medieval fiddle).You should note that they will alsobe performing the following day(Monday, August 20), at noonhour,in the Music Mondays seriesat the Church of the Holy Trinity,behind the Eaton Centre.This season of Music Gardenpresentations also includes somenon-Western "early" traditionalmusic with sarangi virtuosa ArunaNarayan performing North Indianragas (July 5), and classical Persianmusic performed by PirouzYousefian, santur, and FarzadYousefian, percussion (July 26).You should note that these concertsabove are outdoors and areheld "weather permitting" (call 416-973-4000 if you're wondering .... ).Out of Town: At the CollingwoodFestival, the Skye Consort (fromMontreal) originally formed to"bring an art-music aesthetic to thefolk genre," turns around to givesome early art music and some oldfolk music a modern treatment,without regard for historical or musicologicalconstraints (July 13).And speaking of consorts, TheToronto Consort reprise their TheDa Vinci Codex program in the OttawaInternational Chamber MusicFestival (July 28). Acknowledgedas one of the greatest intellectualsof all time, Leonardo da Vinci wasequally renowned as a performingmusician. This program is a fascinatinglook at his musical world.Also, earlier that same day (July28), countertenor Daniel Taylor andthe Theatre of Early Music performan Ottawa program "influenced" byBach, choreographed by JamesKudelka for Quebec dance artistsLaurence Lemieux. Still at Ottawa,in a program entitled Four Centuriesof Bach, Tafelmusik oboistJohn Abberger leads a quartet ofmusicians through the unusual repertoireof Sweden and Denmark, includingcomposers Johan HelmichRoman and Dietrich Buxtehude(July 31).The Festival de Lanaudiere presentsthe young brilliant baroque flutist,Mika Putterman, accompanied byOlivier Fortin (July 30) in a programofBoismortier, Blavet, Rousseau,Platti, Telemann, and Bach.Later (August 2), Fortin is joinedby soprano Tracy Smith Bessette,and Ensemble Masques for musicof Monteverdi, Castello, Mazzochi,Purcell, Locke, Couperin, Rosenmullerand, of course, Bach.Frank T. Nakashima ifranknak@interlog.com) is the President qftheToronto Early Music Centre, a non-profitcharitable organization which promotesthe appreciation of historically-informedpeiformances of early music.Singers WantedAll Voices2007 -2008 Concert SeriesRemembrance Day Requiems.\ l\laLint:c ))lTftlT1na11n: ,,( Rc1.1uicn1s by ~l(1zar1 :11H.I l,.aun:\·ith Orchcsra and SoloistsSunday, Novcn1bcr 11, 2007 at 4pm(Location TBA)Joy To The WorldCan )b frorn \l, >tCL'~l< >Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 8pmWillowdale United ChurchSpring, The Sweet SpringSong=-- of rhc S1;a:-;011 f1.:atu1in~ rht..: n1usic

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