Lute, Pipa, OudSilk Road SiblingsDAVID PERLMANT “How about the pipa in the middleand the two gentlemen on either side,”suggests lutenist McKenna.Bassam is in the middle, Terry is to hisright and Wen is to his left.” (The voicecomes from behind me, about four rows- and ear on the proceedings.) “That waythe oud, which is the instrument fromwhich the other two descended, is in the– the lute to the west, the pipa to the east.” the instruments siblings on the coverof The WholeNote. (And the TorontoConsort’s own press release calls themcan do it, so can we.“They [Bassam, Terry, and Wen] eachAndalusia – in Cordoba – in the 9th century. Wen chose a womanthe favourite of the Yuan dynasty emperor of the time. And Terry-common roots but they have gone quite distinctive paths. The oudwithout frets can do all the quarter tones, and the pipa has this spe-lute decided to go polyphonic, something unique to Western music.” presented by each of our featured players in turn. And then after thesomething for each instrument. There will be a group that has todo with night, and a group that has to do with birds, and groups ofpieces, in every one of the cultures, that have to do with the instrumentitself.”The Toronto Consort presents Lutefest, May 7 and8, featuring (left to right) Basham Bishara (oud),Wen Zhao (pipa), and Terry McKenna (lute).There is some gentle ribbing from the stage (“Now he tells us!”)The WholeNotemancewill unfold. Strange as it seems to me – the performance isprofessional musicians all, accustomed to being able to concentratestill a way down the road.Bassam Bishara for example, has twoCoptic hymns concert is April 23,” hesays, “at St. Mary and St. Joseph Copticis about the melody of old Coptic hymnsarranged in a new orchestration andchoral arrangement, and accompaniedby 10 musicians: double bass, cello,viola, four violins, nay, and qanoun.performance with Arabesque DanceCompany at Ryerson Theatre at 8:00pm.Conference.” He also has a possible gigwith world-music band Sultans of Stringcoming up in May, but the details ofthat are even fuzzier than the TorontoConsort performance.Terry McKenna is not to be outdone.will be heavily engaged at the Stratfordguitars for Kiss Me Kate and Evitaam also contributing to a fundraiseron Sunday May 3 in the town of Ayre.director for my wife’s theatre school,Their productions of As You Like It andMuch Ado About Nothing programme of Baroque, Romantic and Modern rep for violins andguitars which we will present on July 15 at Tamara Bernstein’sHistorical Romance.’ And, immediately after, the Toronto ConsortMariners’ programme.”Of the three, Wen Zhao seems to have her sights most square-the difference between my solos in this project and those from thethe fall she will renew her association with Trinity-St. Paul’s otherfor the Galileo Project, touring in Asia in October. This will be myPHOTO AIR’LETH AODHFIN8 THEWHOLENOTE.COMMay 1 - June 7, 2010
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