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Volume 16 Issue 9 - June 2011

  • Text
  • Jazz
  • Toronto
  • Festival
  • Concerts
  • Musical
  • Summerfestivals
  • Symphony
  • Orchestra
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  • Trio

ut when you hear it you

ut when you hear it you feel as if you have heard it before butthen forgot. Unlike Rachmaninoff, his music is hard to follow onWhile it unfolds very logically it requires an effort on the part ofthe listener. To me Rachmaninoff’s appeal is more immediate butMedtner’s is more lasting.”MUSIC MONDAYSIn an editorial in the Mayissue of The WholeNoteDavid Perlman observed thatone of the biggest changes tooccur in the Toronto musicyears has been the emergenceof a summer music seasonin Toronto. I remember morethan once commenting in theJune or July issues on the migrationof musicians to smalltowns and rural areas, whichcame alive with the sound ofmusic while the music almoststopped in the city.I say “almost” becausea series of weekly concertsbeginning in late May andcontinuing until Labour Dayall through that time. Theniversaryseason, is Music Mondays. The visionary behind the serieswas Margot Linken, the administrator (a position she still holds) atartistic director of the series was the organist and harpsichordist,Paul Jenkins, who moved on to other things and was replaced by theseries’ current director, Sue Crowe Connolly.The venue, the venerable Holy Trinity Church, an heirloom froma Toronto now long gone is almost as much a part of the performanceas the roster of excellent performers that Ms. Crowe Connollyassembles for the series. Sheltered from Yonge and Dundas Streetsby the Eaton Centre, it stands like an oasis of memories of thingspast. This impression becomes all the more intense when you goinside and are enveloped by the smell of the aging pine interior, thelight mellowed by the stained glass windows and a silence that canremind you of an almost forgotten quiet place inside yourself. Whenyou at the same time, as if it had always been there and always willbe there. We don’t know how lucky we are that this beautiful building,this beautiful idea, was saved from the wrecker’s ball – but thatis another story.Besides providing a weekly concert Music Mondays has providedHoly Trinity: Sheltered from Yonge and Dundas Streets by theEaton Centre, it stands like an oasis of memories of things past.opportunities for emerging artists such as Autorickshaw andout that its fame has crossed the Atlantic and requests to performcome regularly from abroad. Among these have been the PolokwaneChoral Society from South Africa, Italian early music singer andfrom Germany and Henri Ormieres from France, and GermanFrench horn player, ManfredDippmann.To mark the anniversary,Music Mondays has extendedits season to the end ofSeptember and will also hosta celebrative reception afterits June 6 concert. I hope tosee some of you there!BROTT FESTIVAL IN JUNEAnother musical visionary inour midst is Boris Brott. Inresponse to the lack of culturalactivity in the Hamiltonarea way back in 1988 heSummer Festival, which waseleven days long. This yearthe festival begins in Juneand ends in August. The verynext year, with support fromthe Ministry of Labour Brottthe Brott Music Festival. The orchestra gave the festival somethingmost summer festivals don’t have, a resident symphony orchestra,and additionally provided what amounted to an apprenticeship programmefor young orchestral musicians. What a stroke of brilliance!The 2011 Brott Festival begins in Burlington with four performancesby the National Academy Orchestra on June 11, 18, 25 and 30with an impressive array of soloists and conductors.MUSIC AT SHARONStarted in 2007, the current incarnation of the Music at Sharonconcert series is a relative newcomer to the early summer musicseries will probably already have taken place, but four othersremain – June 5, 12, 19 and 26.Needless to say, there are many other wonderful performanceswaiting to be discovered in our listings. I hope you get out to someof them.serves as Chairman of The WholeNote’s board of directors. Hecan be contacted at classicalbeyond@thewholenote.com.ORI DAGAN12 thewholenote.comJune 1 – July 7, 2011

The What ofBaroqueSIMONE DESILETSTAFELMUSIK BAROQUE SUMMER INSTITUTEWhat makes a musician a “baroque” musician? The answerto this question has evolved dramatically over the years, asconsideration of how baroque music should be played movesfrom presenting it from a completely modern standpoint, to awarenessof a sound more “informed” by the stylistic elements present inbaroque times.One of the world’s premiere baroque music training programmesis right in our midst: The Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute,which takes place every June in Toronto, is about to begin its tenthseason. As TBSI music director, Jeanne Lamon, writes on the website,the Institute is dedicated to developing the period performers ofthe future. With an impressively comprehensive programme of studythe world.There’s a component for instrumentalists, with in-depth studyof their instrument in a variety of solo, chamber and orchestral settings,and for players new to period instruments, an introduction tobaroque instruments, their technique and repertoire. There is even abows available for loan.There’s a component for singers, offering study in solo, choral,ensemble and operatic repertoire; Opera Atelier’s Marshall Pynkoskileads workshops in scenes from baroque operas, focusing on gestureand deportment and their relation to music and text in the 17th and18th centuries.There’s a component for conductors and directors, too – aself-directed study for the most part – during which participants areencouraged to audit vocal and instrumental masterclasses, sit in onorchestra, choir and chamber ensemble rehearsals and attend operaworkshops, lectures, demonstrations and concerts.There are classes in baroque dance, led by Opera Atelier’sJeannette Lajeunesse Zingg; continuo classes for keyboard playersTafelmusik librarian, Charlotte Nediger, on sources and editions.There are private lessons, lectures and workshops on a range oftopics. There is even an international exchange programme withJeune Orchestre Atlantique, a European training orchestra specializingin classical and romantic repertoire on period instruments anddirected by Philippe Herreweghe.But wait! Why not let the voices of some who have studied at theGARY BEECHYJune 1 – July 7, 2011 thewholenote.com 13

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