in explorations ranging from free improvisationand noise music to traditional blues andfolk, country andwestern and mainstreampop. Guitar inthe Space Age is adirect invocation ofthe music that firstinfluenced Frisell, theworld of electric guitarinstrumentals of thelate 1950s and 1960s, spanning country, rockand its own genre, surf music.Pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz extendsFrisell’s fondness for bending, reverberanttones, suggesting the period song that’s key tothis project may be one that’s not here: Santo& Johnny’s 1959 hit Sleepwalk. This is a sonicdreamscape, in which melodies like SurferGirl are slowed down and magnified, withsound so rich and dense that Sputnik-eranostalgia (pedal steel virtuoso Speedy West’sReflections from the Moon – almost C&W SunRa in its original form – and The Tornado’sTelstar) assumes cathedral-like dimension.Frisell both reimagines this music andrestores it, along the way touching on thefundamental synthesis of jazz and countryin pieces like Merle Travis’ Cannonball Ragand Jimmy Bryant’s Bryant’s Boogie as wellas invoking the broad sweep of the moralcompass of the times, from the Byrds’ ringingarrangement of Pete Seeger’s EcclesiastesfuelledTurn, Turn, Turn to Link Wray’sjuvenile delinquent anthem Rumble.Stuart BroomerPOT POURRIGreat Wall of ChinaCanadian BrassOpening Day ODR 7433Having listenedto recordings of theCanadian Brass formany years, I was surethat this CD wouldbe in the same styleas previous recordings.Not so. While ithas all of the performancepolish that is the hallmark of this group,there is a big difference. None of the musicis familiar. All 18 tracks are adaptations ofChinese music. First time through I simply satback and listened from beginning to end. In afew words: It is delightfully listenable.Since there are no program notes, I was ata bit of a loss as to where to start to obtaininformation on the selections. Taking thebull by the horns, I called both Howard Cable(who wrote nine of the eighteen adaptations)and Chuck Daellenbach, the founder andtubist of the group. The selections are called“adaptations” because the original materialwas received as recordings on originalChinese instruments which were thenadapted for performance in the brass quintet.As Daellenbach pointed out, just as theday-to-day life in China has evolved due toWestern influence, so has Chinese music.From soft melodies like The Moon RepresentsMy Heart which features the trombone ina jazz style and a very melodic tuba passageto Catching Butterflies While PickingTea with its definite Chinese flavour andamazing ending, or the lullaby-like sensitivityof Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon,it’s a new musical experience. In particular,Daellenbach’s sensitive melodic tuba is a joyrarely heard. This CD should be added to thelistening material for the classes of instrumentalmusic teachers to show students therange of subtleties and colours achievablewith brass instruments in the right hands.Jack MacQuarriePampa BluesTango BorealATMA ACD2 2706Bandoneonist/composer DenisPlante cunninglyequates the music ofPampa Blues with anaural musical journeyof a horse travellingnorth to south acrossthe Americas. Plante’stongue-in-cheek wit catches one’s attentionwith his opening liner notes sentence“Tango is dead.” Start to listen, and TangoBoreal begins to prove the statement wrong.Plante’s compositions are rooted in the tangotradition with touches of different stylesabounding. His performances with doublebassist Ian Simpson and guitarist DavidJacques gallop into an exciting treat of tightensemble playing, strong writing and heartwarminglyricism.The tracks are grounded in themes.Highlights are the great car-beeping-soundperformance of Ciudad (City), an extractfrom Piazzolla’s Noche de Tango, while twoof Plante’s own stylistically similar excitingworks pay homage to the Argentinian great.In contrast, Plante’s four works dedicated tohis family members are introspective and stirring.The trio plays with sensitivity to nuanceresulting in breathtaking musicality. I lovePlante’s idea of writing the world’s longestphrase for the bandoneon in his TangoRomance. The long phrase with no bellowchange is executed with agility and surprisingtonal control at the end of the line for boththe beautiful melody and the completelyextended bellows!The musicianship is superb. Thetonal expertise of Plante’s bandoneonis unmatched. Simpson drives the bassrhythm with colour and bounce. Jacques isequally great in both guitar lead melody andsupporting roles. Together they are keepingmore than just tango alive!Tiina KiikDelicate Paths – Music for ShōSarah Peebles; with Evan Parker, NilanPerera, Suba Sankaranunsounds 42U (unsounds.com)For some quarter century the TorontobasedAmerican composer, improviser andinstallation artistSarah Peebles hasconducted a musicallove affair with theshō, the Japanesemouth organ. Eversince studying itsfoundational repertoireembedded in themusic of the antique gagaku, performed bythe orchestra of the Japanese court, she hassought to explore the shō’s sonic strengths.She has particularly identified with its abilityto produce microtonal and psychoacousticeffects reifying sound, often unfoldingleisurely over time.There is yet another key element on thisalbum. Bees. Peebles’ installation art practiceexplores the lives of wild bees, pollinationecology and biodiversity, a branch ofBioArt. This concern not only explains someof the titles of the works here – i.e. ResinousFold – but it is also reflected in the synergisticrelationships between mouth organs and theresinous production of bees. Tropical stinglessbees secrete a resin which has been gatheredfrom wild nests for millennia and appliedto many human artifacts, including mouthorgans. The shō is no exception. You can viewa number of fascinating photos, of both beehabitats and the delicate shō reeds for whichtheir products are an essential ingredient, onthe web page for Delicate Paths hosted by the“unsounds” label.Peebles’ music employs both improvisationand composition, embracing acousticas well as digitally processed performance.While shō is clearly featured, the albuminvites other musicians into the musicmaking. On Delicate Paths she has includedthree star improvisers: a familiar reed instrument,a string, and a voice. Free jazz-rootedsaxophonist Evan Parker, prepared electricguitarist Nilan Perera and multi-genre vocalistSuba Sankaran join Peebles. They are cannychoices. Each effectively supports, contestsand offsets her shō’s melodic long tones andclusters, providing welcome musical tensions,cultural reframings, as well as textural andtimbral richness.Slipping the CD out of its handsome blacktrifold case I was delighted by its striking,subtly translucent honey-coloured appearance.Repeated listening revealed music ofrefinement, occasionally graced with a gentleaural sweetness, which in my imagination atleast, resonates with a key component of theshō’s inner workings.Andrew Timar82 | December 1 2014 - February 7, 2015 thewholenote.com
There’s evidently sufficient saxophonetalent in Canada now that we export it withsome regularity. Three émigré reed playershave recently released CDs of interest.Toronto-bornAndrew Rathbun hasspent the past decadeplaying and studyingin New York City,recently joining theJazz Studies departmentat WesternMichigan University.On Numbers & Letters (Steeplechase SCCD31781 steeplechase.dk), Rathbun is an adroitstylist on tenor and soprano, composingmemorably playful lines (the compositionshere are inspired by his two young children)and developing them with fleet, sometimesabstracted, sometimes effervescentlines. The interval leaps of Etude can suggestthe influence of the late Kenny Wheeler withwhom Rathbun has recorded, and there isa similar lyricism and facility in developingcomplex, ambiguous moods. Rathbun hasput together a superb band for the recording,building upward from the mobile, shiftingdrumming of Bill Stewart and the bass of JayAnderson to virtuosic pianist Phil Markowitz,the three creating ongoing stimulation forRathbun’s forays.Anna Webber isa young composer,flutist and saxophonistwho has alreadybecome a presencein forward-lookingcircles in Brooklynand Berlin. Her latestrecording, Simple (Skirl 027 skirlrecords.com), was composed during solitary dayson Bowen Island off the coast of her nativeBritish Columbia. While the music soundsinspired, you’ll listen in vain for mimetic seasounds and easy tranquility: Webber’s musicis complex, angular and sometimes downrightspiky; her inspirations funneled throughher own edgy sensibility and the creativeprocesses of her playing partners here,pianist Matt Mitchell and percussionist JohnHollenbeck. The results are episodic piecesthat are never less than structurally soundand loaded with sudden turns, whethercomposed or improvised. Webber’s tenorSTUART BROOMERsaxophone twists withcompound emotionthrough the taut 1994,while her flute weavesthrough Simplify,Simplify with scintillatingprecision.SaxophonistPeter Van Huffel has followed a similarpath from Kingston, Ontario to New Yorkand on to Berlin. On Bite My Blues (CleanFeed CF302CD cleanfeed-records.com), heleads his Berlin-based band Gorilla Maskin performances at Toronto venues EmmettRay and Tranzac, recorded during a 2013Canadian tour. While Van Huffel often worksin chamber-like textures, Gorilla Mask is avisceral band driven by pounding, industrialpolyrhythms and electronics providedby Roland Fidezius on electric bass andeffects and Rudi Fischerlehner on drums. VanHuffel uses the dense undergrowth and histruncated, machine-gun themes to propelfurious alto saxophone improvisations, spirallingacross registerswith blistering intensity,creating varied,complex lines. Withinthis assault, somefascinating changes ofpace that reveal VanHuffel’s specific roots:on the lyrical Broken Flower, his keeningsaxophone wail invokes Albert Ayler’s balladperformances, while Fast and Furious showsroots in Ornette Coleman.That saxophone emphasis continueswith two new releases on Toronto’s AddoRecords. Alto and soprano saxophonist TaraDavidson’s Duets (AJR026 addorecords.com) explores what may be the most challengingof improvising formats with six differentcollaborators. There are two pieces with eachpartner, one a Davidson composition, theother her collaborator’s. Davidson combinesforethought with an ability to work keenlyin the moment. What’s surprising is both thevariety of approaches and the sustained creativity.Interests in unusual modes link cellist/bassist Andrew Downing’s Kontrbas Semaisito pianist David Braid’s two-part Lele’s Tune,while Davidson’s duets with tenor saxophonistsMike Murley (her first saxophoneteacher) and Trevor Hogg possess subtleties ofharmony, timbre and line that suggest affinitieswith the fertile saxophone partnershipof Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. Turningfrom her usual alto, Davidson’s most lyricalmoments come on soprano saxophone,including the exchange of glassy, wispysounds with guitarist David Occhipinti on hisSilver Skates and the melodic effusion of ForGlenda with pianist Laila Biali.Eli Bennettis a 25-year-oldVancouver-raisedtenor saxophonistwho has been pilingup awards for severalyears while attendingToronto’s HumberCollege jazz program. He arrives with theendorsement of numerous senior saxophonists,including Chris Potter, Cory Weedsand the producer of his debut CD, KirkMacDonald. The enthusiasm is understandablegiven the general level of Breakthrough(Addo Records AJR024). His key influenceis apparently John Coltrane, evident in thebeautiful metallic tone and gauzy highs of thereflective Forever as well as a run-throughof Coltrane’s Giant Steps. It’s tempered byBennett’s enthusiasm for R&B-flavouredsoul jazz, bringing a quotient of funky licksand sonic grit to originals like Let’s Roll andthe highlight of the CD, the majestic andearthy title track, where all of his virtuescome together. He’s ably accompanied by anexcellent Toronto rhythm section of D’ArcyMyronuk on piano and Fender Rhodes, bassistJon Maharaj and drummer Fabio Ragnelli.Carol McCartney has been a vocalist toseek out since her2007 debut A Nightin Tunisia, declaringwith its title a devotionto jazz moredemanding thanmany singers will risk,stretching from standardsand ballads to the demands of bop. Thebreadth of her repertoire and the quality ofher soaring alto voice are evident on her latestCD, Be Cool (Moxy 014, carolmccartney.com)where she stretches from the Joni Mitchellcomposedtitle track to Duke Ellington’sTulip or Turnip and Wes Montgomery’s WestCoast Blues. She’s joined by stellar musicians,including guitarist Lorne Lofsky,drummer Terry Clarke, bassist Kieran Oversand tenor saxophonist Chris Robinson, withpianist Brian Dickinson and Rick Wilkinsproviding arrangements. McCartney’s scattingon Almost Twelve makes the bossa novaa standout.There’s always more music to DISCover online at thewholenote.comthewholenote.com December 1 2014 - February 7, 2015 | 83
After some doubt that we would be allowed to go to press, in respect to wide-ranging Ontario business closures relating to COVID-19, The WholeNote magazine for April 2020 is now on press, and print distribution – modified to respect community-wide closures and the need for appropriate distancing – starts Monday March 30. Meanwhile the full magazine is right here, digitally, so if you value us PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK AS WIDELY AS YOU CAN. It's the safest way for us to reach the widest possible audience at this time!
FEATURED: Music & Health writer Vivien Fellegi explores music, blindness & the plasticity of perception; David Jaeger digs into Gustavo Gimeno's plans for new music in his upcoming first season as music director at TSO; pianist James Rhodes, here for an early March recital, speaks his mind in a Q&A with Paul Ennis; and Lydia Perovic talks music and more with rising Turkish-Canadian mezzo Beste Kalender. Also, among our columns, Peggy Baker Dance Projects headlines Wende Bartley's In with the New; Steve Wallace's Jazz Notes rushes in definitionally where many fear to tread; ... and more.
Visions of 2020! Sampling from back to front for a change: in Rearview Mirror, Robert Harris on the Beethoven he loves (and loves to hate!); Errol Gay, a most musical life remembered; Luna Pearl Woolf in focus in recordings editor David Olds' "Editor's Corner" and in Jenny Parr's preview of "Jacqueline"; Speranza Scappucci explains how not to reinvent Rossini; The Indigo Project, where "each piece of cloth tells a story"; and, leading it all off, Jully Black makes a giant leap in "Caroline, or Change." And as always, much more. Now online in flip-through format here and on stands starting Thurs Jan 30.
Welcome to our December/January issue as we turn the annual calendar page, halfway through our season for the 25th time, juggling as always, secular stuff, the spirit of the season, new year resolve and winter journeys! Why is Mozart's Handel's Messiah's trumpet a trombone? Why when Laurie Anderson offers to fly you to the moon you should take her up on the invitation. Why messing with Winterreisse can (sometimes) be a very good thing! And a bumper crop of record reviews for your reading (and sometimes listening) pleasure. Available in flipthrough here right now, and on stands commencing Thursday Nov 28. See you on the other side!
On the slim chance you might not have already heard the news, Estonian Canadian composing giant Udo Kasemets was born the same year that Leo Thermin invented the theremin --1919. Which means this is the centenary year for both of them, and both are being celebrated in style, as Andrew Timar and MJ Buell respectively explain. And that's just a taste of a bustling November, with enough coverage of music of both the delectably substantial and delightfully silly on hand to satisfy one and all.
Long promised, Vivian Fellegi takes a look at Relaxed Performance practice and how it is bringing concert-going barriers down across the spectrum; Andrew Timar looks at curatorial changes afoot at the Music Gallery; David Jaeger investigates the trumpets of October; the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution (and the 20th Anniversary of our October Blue Pages Presenter profiles) in our Editor's Opener; the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir at 125; Tapestry at 40 and Against the Grain at 10; ringing in the changing season across our features and columns; all this and more, now available in Flip Through format here, and on the stands commencing this coming Friday September 27, 2019. Enjoy.
Vol 1 of our 25th season is now here! And speaking of 25, that's how many films in the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival editor Paul Ennis, in our Eighth Annual TIFF TIPS, has chosen to highlight for their particular musical interest.
Also inside: Rob Harris looks through the Rear View Mirror at past and present prognostications about the imminent death of classical music; Mysterious Barricades and Systemic Barriers are Lydia Perović's preoccupations in Art of Song; Andrew Timar reflects on the evolving priorities of the Polaris Prize; and elsewhere, it's chocks away as yet another season creaks or roars (depending on the beat) into motion. Welcome back.
What a range of stuff! A profile of Liz Upchurch, the COC ensemble studio's vocal mentor extraordinaire; a backgrounder on win-win faith/arts centre partnerships and ways of exploring the possibilities; an interview with St. Petersburg-based Eifman Ballet's Boris Eifman; Ana Sokolovic's violin concert Evta finally coming to town; a Love Letter to YouTube, and much more. Plus our 17th annual Canary Pages Choral directory if all you want to do is sing! sing! sing!
Arraymusic, the Music Gallery and Native Women in the Arts join for a mini-festival celebrating the work of composer, performer and installation artist Raven Chacon; Music and Health looks at the role of Healing Arts Ontario in supporting concerts in care facilities; Kingston-based composer Marjan Mozetich's life and work are celebrated in film; "Forest Bathing" recontextualizes Schumann, Shostakovich and Hindemith; in Judy Loman's hands, the harp can sing; Mahler's Resurrection bursts the bounds of symphonic form; Ed Bickert, guitar master remembered. All this and more in our April issue, now online in flip-through here, and on stands commencing Friday March 29.
Something Old, Something New! The Ide(a)s of March are Upon Us! Rob Harris's Rear View Mirror looks forward to a tonal revival; Tafelmusik expands their chronological envelope in two directions, Esprit makes wave after wave; Pax Christi's new oratorio by Barbara Croall catches the attention of our choral and new music columnists; and summer music education is our special focus, right when warm days are once again possible to imagine. All this and more in our March 2019 edition, available in flipthrough here, and on the stands starting Thursday Feb 28.
In this issue: A prize that brings lustre to its laureates (and a laureate who brings lustre to the prize); Edwin Huizinga on the journey of Opera Atelier's "The Angel Speaks" from Versailles to the ROM; Danny Driver on playing piano in the moment; Remembering Neil Crory (a different kind of genius)' Year of the Boar, Indigeneity and Opera; all this and more in Volume 24 #5. Online in flip through, HERE and on the stands commencing Thursday Jan 31.
When is a trumpet like a motorcycle in a dressage event? How many Brunhilde's does it take to change an Elektra? Just two of the many questions you've been dying to ask, to which you will find answers in a 24th annual combined December/January issue – in which our 11 beat columnists sift through what's on offer in the upcoming holiday month, and what they're already circling in their calendars for 2019. Oh, and features too: a klezmer violinist breathing new life into a very old film; two New Music festivals in January, 200 metres apart; a Music & Health story on the restorative powers of a grassroots exercise in collective music-making; even a good reason to go to Winnipeg in the dead of winter. All this and more in Vol 24 No 4, now available in flipthrough format here.
Reluctant arranger! National Ballet Orchestra percussionist Kris Maddigan on creating the JUNO and BAFTA award-winning smash hit Cuphead video game soundtrack; Evergreen by name and by nature, quintessentially Canadian gamelan (Andrew Timar explains); violinist Angèle Dubeau on 20 years and 60 million streams; two children’s choirs where this month remembrance and living history must intersect. And much more, online in our kiosk now, and on the street commencing Thursday November 1.
Presenters, start your engines! With TIFF and "back-to-work" out of the way, the regular concert season rumbles to life, and, if our Editor's Opener can be trusted, "Seeking Synergies" seems to be the name of the game. Denise Williams' constantly evolving "Walk Together Children" touching down at the Toronto Centre for the Arts; the second annual Festival of Arabic Music and Arts expanding its range; a lesson in Jazz Survival with Steve Wallace; the 150 presenter and performer profiles in our 19th annual Blue Pages directory... this is an issue that is definitely more than the sum of its parts.
In this issue: The WholeNote's 7th Annual TIFF TIPS guide to festival films with musical clout; soprano Erin Wall in conversation with Art of Song columnist Lydia Perovic, about more than the art of song; a summer's worth of recordings reviewed; Toronto Chamber Choir at 50 (is a few close friends all it takes?); and much more, as the 2018/19 season gets under way.
PLANTING NOT PAVING! In this JUNE / JULY /AUGUST combined issue: Farewell interviews with TSO's Peter Oundjian and Stratford Summer Music's John Miller, along with "going places" chats with Luminato's Josephine Ridge, TD Jazz's Josh Grossman and Charm of Finches' Terry Lim. ) Plus a summer's worth of fruitful festival inquiry, in the city and on the road, in a feast of stories and our annual GREEN PAGES summer Directory.
In this issue: our sixteenth annual Choral Canary Pages; coverage of 21C, Estonian Music Week and the 3rd Toronto Bach Festival (three festivals that aren’t waiting for summer!); and features galore: “Final Finales” for Larry Beckwith’s Toronto Masque Theatre and for David Fallis as artistic director of Toronto Consort; four conductors on the challenges of choral conducting; operatic Hockey Noir; violinist Stephen Sitarski’s perspective on addressing depression; remembering bandleader, composer and saxophonist Paul Cram. These and other stories, in our May 2018 edition of the magazine.
In this issue: we talk with jazz pianist Thompson Egbo-Egbo about growing up in Toronto, building a musical career, and being adaptive to change; pianist Eve Egoyan prepares for her upcoming Luminato project and for the next stage in her long-term collaborative relationship with Spanish-German composer Maria de Alvear; jazz violinist Aline Homzy, halfway through preparing for a concert featuring standout women bandleaders, talks about social equity in the world of improvised music; and the local choral community celebrates the life and work of choral conductor Elmer Iseler, 20 years after his passing.
In this issue: Canadian Stage, Tapestry Opera and Vancouver Opera collaborate to take Gogol’s short story The Overcoat to the operatic stage; Montreal-based Sam Shalabi brings his ensemble Land of Kush, and his newest composition, to Toronto; Five Canadian composers, each with a different CBC connection, are nominated for JUNOs; and The WholeNote team presents its annual Summer Music Education Directory, a directory of summer music camps, programs and courses across the province and beyond.
In this issue: composer Nicole Lizée talks about her love for analogue equipment, and the music that “glitching” evokes; Richard Rose, artistic director at the Tarragon Theatre, gives us insights into their a rock-and-roll Hamlet, now entering production; Toronto prepares for a mini-revival of Schoenberg’s music, with three upcoming shows at New Music Concerts; and the local music theatre community remembers and celebrates the life and work of Mi’kmaq playwright and performer Cathy Elliott . These and other stories, in our double-issue December/January edition of the magazine.
In this issue: conversations (of one kind or another) galore! Daniela Nardi on taking the reins at "best-kept secret" venue, 918 Bathurst; composer Jeff Ryan on his "Afghanistan" Requiem for a Generation" partnership with war poet, Susan Steele; lutenist Ben Stein on seventeenth century jazz; collaborative pianist Philip Chiu on going solo; Barbara Hannigan on her upcoming Viennese "Second School" recital at Koerner; Tina Pearson on Pauline Oliveros; and as always a whole lot more!
In this issue: several local artists reflect on the memory of composer Claude Vivier, as they prepare to perform his music; Vancouver gets ready to host international festival ISCM World New Music Days, which is coming to Canada for the second time since its inception in 1923; one of the founders of Artword Artbar, one of Hamilton’s staple music venues, on the eve of the 5th annual Steel City Jazz Festival, muses on keeping urban music venues alive; and a conversation with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, as he prepares for an ambitious recital in Toronto. These and other stories, in our October 2017 issue of the magazine.
In this issue: a look at why musicians experience stage fright, and how to combat it; an inside look at the second Kensington Market Jazz Festival, which zeros in on one of Toronto’s true ‘music villages’; an in-depth interview with Elisa Citterio, new music director of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; and The WholeNote’s guide to TIFF, with suggestions for the 20 most musical films at this year’s festival. These and other stories, in our September 2017 issue of the magazine!
CBC Radio's Lost Horizon; Pinocchio as Po-Mo Operatic Poster Boy; Meet the Curators (Crow, Bernstein, Ridge); a Global Music Orchestra is born; and festivals, festivals, festivals in our 13th annual summer music Green Pages. All this and more in our three-month June-through August summer special issue, now available in flipthrough HERE and on the stands commencing Thursday June 1.
From science fact in "Integral Man: Music and the Movies," to science fiction in the editor's opener; from World Fiddle Day at the Aga Khan Museum to three Canadians at the Cliburn; from wanting to sashay across the 401 to Chamberfest in Montreal to exploring the Continuum of Jumblies Theatre's 20-year commitment to the Community Play (there's a pun in there somewhere!).
In this issue: Our podcast ramps up with interviews in March with fight director Jenny Parr, countertenor Daniel Taylor, and baritone Russell Braun; two views of composer John Beckwith at 90; how music’s connection to memory can assist with the care of patients with Alzheimer’s; musical celebrations in film and jazz, at National Canadian Film Day and Jazz Day; and a preview of Louis Riel, which opens this month at the COC. These and other stories, in our April 2017 issue of the magazine!
On our cover: Owen Pallett's musical palette on display at New Creations. Spring brings thoughts of summer music education! (It's never too late.). For Marc-Andre Hamelin the score is king. Ella at 100 has the tributes happening. All; this and more.
In this issue: an interview with composer/vocalist Jeremy Dutcher, on his upcoming debut album and unique compositional voice; a conversation with Boston Symphony hornist James Sommerville, as as the BSO gets ready to come to his hometown; Stuart Hamilton, fondly remembered; and an inside look at Hugh’s Room, as it enters a complicated chapter in the story of its life in the complex fabric of our musical city. These and other stories, as we celebrate the past and look forward to the rest of 2016/17, the first glimpses of 2017/18, and beyond!
In this issue: a conversation with pianist Stewart Goodyear, in advance of his upcoming show at Koerner Hall; a preview of the annual New Year’s phenomenon that is Bravissimo!/Salute to Vienna; an inside look at music performance in Toronto’s health-care centres; and a reflection on the incredible life and lasting influence of the late Pauline Oliveros. These and more, in a special December/January combined issue!
In this issue: David Jaeger and Alex Pauk’s most memorable R. Murray Schafer collabs, in this month’s installment of Jaeger’s CBC Radio Two: The Living Legacy; an interview with flutist Claire Chase, who brings new music and mindset to Toronto this month; an investigation into the strange coincidence of three simultaneous Mendelssohn Elijahs this Nov 5; and of course, our annual Blue Pages, a who’s who of southern Ontario’s live music scene- a community as prolific and multifaceted as ever. These and more, as we move full-force into the 2016/17 concert season- all aboard!
Music lover's TIFF (our fifth annual guide to the Toronto International Film Festival); Aix Marks the Spot (how Brexit could impact on operatic co-production); The Unstoppable Howard Cable (an affectionate memoir of a late chapter in the life of of a great Canadian arranger; Kensington Jazz Story (the newest kid on the festival block flexes its muscles). These stories and much more as we say a lingering goodbye to summer and turn to the task, for the 22nd season, of covering the live and recorded music that make Southern Ontario tick.
It's combined June/July/August summer issue time with, we hope, enough between the covers to keep you dipping into it all through the coming lazy, hazy days. From Jazz Vans racing round "The Island" delivering pop-up brass breakouts at the roadside, to Bach flute ambushes strolling "The Grove, " to dozens of reasons to stay in the city. May yours be a summer where you find undiscovered musical treasures, and, better still, when, unexpectedly, the music finds you.
INSIDE: The Canaries Are Here! 116 choirs to choose from, so take the plunge! The Nylons hit the road after one last SING! Fling. Jazz writer Steve Wallace wonders "Watts Goode" rather than "what's new?" Paul Ennis has the musical picks of the HotDocs crop. David Jaeger's CBC Radio continues golden for a little while yet. Douglas McNabney is Music's Child. Leipzig meets Damascus in Alison Mackay's fertile imagination. And "C" is for KRONOS in Wende Bartley's koverage of the third annual 21C Festival. All this and as usual much much more. Enjoy.
From 30 camp profiles to spark thoughts of being your summer musical best, to testing LUDWIG as you while away the rest of so-called winter; from Scottish Opera and the Danish Midtvest, to a first Toronto recital appearance by violin superstar Maxim Vengerov; from musings on New Creations and new creation, to the boy who made a habit of crying Beowulf; it's a month of merry meetings and rousing recordings reviewed, all here to discover in The WholeNote.
2016 is off to a flying start! We chronicle the Artful Times of Andrew Burashko, the violistic versatility of Teng Li, the ageless ebullience of jazz pianist Gene DiNovi and the ninetieth birthday of trumpeter Johnny Cowell. Jaeger remembers Boulez; Waxman recalls Bley's influence, and Olds finds Bowie haunting Editor's Corner. Oh, and did we mention there's all that music? Hello (and goodbye) to the February blues, and here's to swinging through the musical vines of the Year of the Monkey.
What's a vinyl renaissance? What happens when Handel's Messiah runs afoul of the rumba rhythm setting on a (gasp!) Hammond organ? What work does Marc-Andre Hamelin say he would be content to have on every recital program he plays? What are Steve Wallace's favourite fifty Christmas recordings? Why is violinist Daniel Hope celebrating Yehudi Menuhin's 100th birthday at Koerner Hall January 28? Answers to all these questions (and a whole lot more) in the Dec/Jan issue of The WholeNote.
"Come" seems to be the verb that knits this month's issue together. Sondra Radvanovsky comes to Koerner, William Norris comes to Tafel as their new GM, opera comes to Canadian Stage; and (a long time coming!) Jane Bunnett's musicianship and mentorship are honoured with the Premier's award for excellence; plus David Jaeger's ongoing series on the golden years of CBC Radio Two, Andrew Timar on hybridity, a bumper crop of record reviews and much much more. Come on in!
Vol 21 No 2 is now available for your viewing pleasure, and it's a bumper crop, right at the harvest moon. First ever Canadian opera on the Four Seasons Centre main stage gets double coverage with Wende Bartley interviewing Pyramus and Thisbe composer Barbara Monk Feldman and Chris Hoile connecting with director Christopher Alden; Paul Ennis digs into the musical mind of pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and pianist Eve Egoyan is "On the Record" in conversation with publisher David Perlman ahead of the Oct release concert for her tenth recording. And at the heart of it all the 16th edition of our annual BLUE PAGES directory of presenters profile the season now well and truly under way.
Paul Ennis's annual TIFF TIPS (27 festival films of potential particular musical interest); Wu Man, Yo-Yo Ma and Jeffrey Beecher on the Silk Road; David Jaeger on CBC Radio Music in the days it was committed to commissioning; the LISTENING ROOM continues to grow on line; DISCoveries is back, bigger than ever; and Mary Lou Fallis says Trinity-St. Paul's is Just the Spot (especially this coming Sept 25!).
