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Volume 17 Issue 7 - April 2012

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

The BACH CHILDREN’S

The BACH CHILDREN’S CHORUSand the BACH CHAMBER YOUTH CHOIRThe Linda BACH Beaupré, CHILDREN’S Conductor Eleanor CHORUS Daley, Pianistand the BACH CHAMBER YOUTH CHOIRTHLinda 25 Beaupré, ConductorANNIVERSARYSEASONEleanor Daley, PianistIt takesIt takesa villagea villageSaturday, May 12, 2012 at 7:30pmSaturday,Toronto Centre for the ArtsGeorge Weston Recital HallMay 5040 Yonge 12, Street (north 2012 of Sheppard at Ave.)7:30pmToronto Centre for the Arts5040 Yonge Street (north of Sheppard Ave.)Company in Residence at the Toronto Centre for the Artsbachorus.orgTickets: and atthe Toronto Centre box office orTicketMaster at 1-855-985-2787bachorus.orgPhoto by Flickr user Sherri Lynn Wood. Used under Creative Commons licence.A CHORALCONCERTTickets: and at the Toronto Centre box officeor TicketMaster at 416.870.8000Graphic Design by David Kopulos www.davidkopulos.comPhoto by Flickr user Sherri Lynn Wood. Used under Creative Commons licence.Company in Residence atthe Toronto Centre for the ArtsCANARYALERT2012Are you a choir looking for new members orpublicity? A singer, amateur to professional, lookingto join a choir?The WholeNote annual Canary Pages is the placeto be! Published every May (and remaining onlineyear-round), the 2012 Canary Pages directory willpresent profiles of choirs Ontario-wide, catering toall ages and levels of ability.To find out more about having your choir listedin the upcoming Canary Pages, please contactcanary@thewholenote.com or 416-323-2232 x26.To see our current Canary Pages, read profiles orsearch choirs by category, please visitwww.thewholenote.com, click on “Directories,” then“Canary Pages.”Singers perform this work on April 21, and conductor MatthewLarkin steps into a composer’s role with his own Herbert settingsas well. The Larkin Singers, incidentally, is one of Toronto’s newerchoral ensembles worth checking out — it boasts strong singers verycommitted to choral work, and programs interesting music.Late composer Srul Irving Glick wrote many works for Canadianchoirs, and on April 29 the Elora Festival Singers present VisionsThrough Darkness, a work that they commissioned from Glick in1988. This composer had strong connections with choral ensembles,and it is good to see that his legacy continues to be fostered. Forthose who like to hear more of Glick’s music, a memorial concertdevoted to his work will take place at Holy Blossom Temple onApril 22. For information, see www.holyblossom.org.The Pax Christi Chorale celebrates its 25th anniversary seasonon May 6 with a rare performance of Elgar’s The Kingdom. A choirwith roots in the Canadian Mennonite choral tradition, the PaxChristi Chorale is a vital part of the local vocal scene, with solidprogramming and a commitment to generating new choral commissions.The Kingdom, just over a hundred years old, is a wonderfulexample of the grand, late romantic oratorio. The last time it wasperformed in Canada was over 25 years ago, and this concert is arare opportunity to hear this work performed live.In difficult economic times, it is tremendously important toremember that music lessons are a luxury that many familiescannot afford. All over Toronto, there are musicians giving theirtime and expertise to help another generation foster their creativityand discipline through music. Reaching Out Through Music is anorganization devoted to bringing music to the community of St.Jamestown in downtown Toronto. The choir of the Church of St.Simon-the-Apostle takes part in a fundraising concert for ROTM onApril 28. Find out more at www.reachingoutthroughmusic.org.Two other benefit concerts of note: on April 6 the CantabileChorale of York Region performs to raise funds for social servicesin York Region; April 12 the Guelph Youth Singers team up withLes Jeunes Chanteurs d’Acadie to raise money for Bracelet of Hopecharity, a group that provides medical care to HIV/AIDS patientsin Africa.The Tallis Choir performs “The Glory of the English Anthem” onMay 5. I will write about this concert in more detail next month.Two final notes regarding members of the Toronto choral community:choirmaster and organist Douglas Bodle has directed,coached and inspired several generations of singers in this city. Hecelebrates 40 years of directorship at St. Andrew’s PresbyterianChurch on April 27, with an archival CD launch and notable guestsoloists, some of them past members of the St. Andrew’s choir.Lastly, some tragic late-breaking news: Toronto choral director,organist and singer Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill passed away suddenlyand unexpectedly as this column was going to press. Bruce was awell-known and well-loved member of Toronto’s choral scene, andour thoughts are with his family and friends. Read a tribute to Bruceon page 63.Ben Stein is a Toronto tenor and theorbist.He can be contacted at choralscene@thewholenote.com.Visit his website at benjaminstein.ca.24 thewholenote.com April 1 – May 7, 2012

Eliciting HistoryThrough Musicsimone desiletsOf course we know we are not the only ones to stand aghastat the magnitude of the heavens, to question our role in thescheme of things, to revel in our youth, be lovestruck anddevious and wicked, to worship ourCreator. Medieval Man did all thistoo; but how to fathom the point ofview of ancient cultures from ourvantage point, so far removed fromtheirs? Much of the knowledge andthought existing in the Middle Ageshas filtered down to the presentday through music; and we’re veryfortunate that people of tremendousscholarship and talent are continuingto bring this music to life. Three ofthis month’s concerts give fascinating insights into several aspects ofthe music and philosophy of medieval times.First to appear, inviting us to enter a deeply devotional realmexpressed in music both ancient and modern, is Anonymous 4, thetruly remarkable women’s vocal quartet, who celebrate their 25thanniversary with the concert program “Anthology 25” at KoernerHall on April 11. Renowned for both their historical scholarship andthe sheer liquid silver beauty of their vocal blend, they’re currentlytouring a program that in a way sums up the work they’ve doneover the past quarter century, for it presents offerings from 20 (ifI counted right) of their recordings — including everything from12th-century chant and polyphony to 15th-century carols to earlyAmerican folk hymns to recently composed works, and more. Theyresearch, write about and perform their music with such meticulousness,yet with such joy; it’s no wonder they’ve developed a huge andenthusiastic audience over a quarter century.As in the present day, when we are increasingly awestruck by thevastness of the cosmos, so in medieval times people sought explanationsto questions arising from the phenomena they observed. Theyfound answers in ancient philosophy, in which music and astronomywere closely linked — the harmonious proportions of sound werebelieved to echo the harmonious movements of the planets and stars.Anonymous 4.Metaphors based on astronomypermeated medieval religious andphilosophical expression. Some ofthe wealth of music that reflects this,including music by Dunstable (theEnglish composer, astronomer andmathematician) and Landini (theblind Italian composer, philosopherand astrologist) will be presentedby Sine Nomine Ensemble in theirconcert, “Music of the Spheres:The stars moving in concert,”which takes place on April 27 at St. Thomas’s Church.In the collection of 13th- and 14th-century songs known as theCarmina Burana — the Songs of Benediktbeuren — we’re showna colourful diversity of medieval life. These are lyrical poems inLatin, medieval German and French, some 300 in all, gatheredprobably by wandering scholars. Some celebrate springtime andlove, or gambling and drinking; some are satirical or moralistic, orKevin MallonPerformsaradia enSeMble Director Kevin Mallonwith special guests darbaziThe Grainof The2:30pM Sunday april 1StSchubert’s Die Freundevon SalamankaToronto Chamber Orchestra &opera in Concertwww.operainconcert.com8pM Friday april 27thHandel’s Giulio CesareThirteen Strings, Ottawawww.thirteenstrings.caVoice8:00pM May 5thGesualdo and Monteverdi madrigals, Georgiantraditional repertoire and a new work by Kevin MallonGlenn Gould Studio | 250 Front St. West | Tickets - Roy Thomson Box Office | 416-872-4255 | www.aradia.caApril 1 – May 7, 2012thewholenote.com 25

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