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Volume 17 Issue 7 - April 2012

  • Text
  • April
  • Toronto
  • Arts
  • Jazz
  • Theatre
  • Chorus
  • Singers
  • Choir
  • Vocal
  • Musical

system and timbral

system and timbral aesthetic utterly at odds with what most peopleunderstand to be a standard choral sound. Aradia’s conductor, KevinMallon, has composed a new work that will blend these ensemblestogether, uniting these apparently irreconcilable musical elements.Aradia presents a full-length version of the same concert May 5 atGlenn Gould Studio.Two upcoming music festivals also explore varied vocal techniques.Contemporary music organization NUMUS is based out ofWaterloo, and is pretty consistently ignored by Toronto music critics.This is a shame, because its programming is easily the match ofany Toronto new music organization. NUMUS presents the ElementChoir on May 5, with “new works for improvisational choir”. Thisalone ought to draw an intrigued audience, because improvisation,rare in classical circles, is almost unheard of in a choral context.Read more about NUMUS at www.numus.on.ca.NUMUS is in part the creation of composer Glen Buhr, whoseworks bring an agreeable touch of humour to a contemporary musicscene that is often whimsy-challenged. In a more sombre mood,however, is his Ritchot Mass, which was dedicated to Canadianswho lost their homes in the 1997 flood of theRed River Valley in Manitoba. Hamilton’s JohnLaing Singers will perform this work, andothers in “Dreams and Dances” on April 28.The other vocal festival that lovers of vocalmusic really should not miss this month isSING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival atHarbourfront Centre from Friday April 13 toSunday April 15.This festival, curated with Harbourfront’scustomarily polyvalent approach to programming,is a kind of snapshot of the diversity ofvocal styles available to singers. The weekendwill combine performances with workshops andmasterclasses, the majority of which will befree of charge. The Canadian choirs participatingare Elmer Iseler Singers, Lachan JewishChamber, Choir, the Allegria Choir, Darbaziand Cantores Celestes; jazz and pop vocalensembles Countermeasure and the Nylons willbe there as well. Guest groups will include therenowned Swingle Singers and the New YorkVoices, among others. For a schedule of theweekend’s events, see www.torontovocalartsfestival.com.Moving beyond the column’s theme to otherinteresting concerts: although the phrase “artsand science” is commonly heard in universitycurricula, in reality these two areas are oftenstratified. British writer C.P. Snow coined theterm “the two solitudes” in reference to theisolation that he saw between arts and sciencestudies in both academia and general culture.His thesis, briefly, was that artists needed tounderstand more about science, if for no otherreason than to understand the profound effectthat science has had on culture in the past century.Bridging the gap between these solitudes, at least for the durationof a concert program, is “Music of the Spheres: A Fusion of Music,Art and Science.” This April 21 concert commemorates the 20th anniversaryof Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar’s spaceflight. Theconcert features conductor Lydia Adams’ two principal ensembles,the Amadeus Choir and the Elmer Iseler Singers. For the occasion,Adams has composed music to a text by Bondar entitled, Light inthe Darkness – The Earth Sings. Another Canadian piece on theprogram is Jason Jestadt’s And Yet it Moves, presumably a referenceto the defiant (although likely mythical) quote from astronomerGalileo Galilei, after being forced to recant his assertion that theearth moved around the sun.The inventive poetry of English clergyman George Herbert (1593–1633) has attracted many choral composers. Religious in themeand intent, Herbert’s work is introspective and intense, avoidingthe dual traps of unreflective piety and facile celebration that oftencharacterize sacred lyrics. Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songsis one of the best known settings of Herbert’s poetry. The LarkinThe Last Nightof the PROMSAT ST. JAMES CATHEDRALPETER MAHONSales Representative416-322-8000pmahon@trebnet.comwww.petermahon.com22 thewholenote.com April 1 – May 7, 2012

a rtistic director Roger BergsThe John Laing Singers presentDreams and Danceswith special guestsPenderecki String Quartet & Andrei Streliaev, piano/organfeaturing Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music,Glenn Buhr’s Richot Mass, a tango by Piazzolla, andthe world premiere of In the Eerie Play of Moonlightby Oakville’s Hunter Coblentz• Saturday, April 28, 7:30 pmCentral Presbyterian Church,165 Charlton Avenue West, Hamilton• Sunday, April 29, 3:30 pmSt. Aidan’s Anglican Church,318 Queen Mary Drive, OakvilleThe John Laing Singers gratefully acknowledge the support of:Buy tickets online atwww.johnlaingsingers.comor call 905-628-5238.Adults: in advance, at the doorStudents: Hamilton’s Community Partnership Programfor CultureThe Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agencyof the Government of OntarioApril 1 – May 7, 2012thewholenote.com 23

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