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Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

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.

BLUE PAGES

BLUE PAGES 2015/16 their vocal skills under the expert leadership of Artistic Director Mervin William Fick. The 2015/16 season includes collaborations with community, arts and charitable organizations, such as a community-based concert in support of the Mississauga Compass Food Bank and the TSO’s “Messiah for the City” benefit concert for the Toronto United Way. The chorus participates in National Culture Days and Open Doors Mississauga. MCS Chorus also offers two youth-based arts education programs: a live in-school performance for grades three to eight and a Choral Scholars program for high-school students. MCS Chorus provides many opportunities for singers to enhance their vocal skills through in-rehearsal coaching, concert performances and participation in community events. Marilyn Mason 905-278-7059 info@mcschorus.ca mcschorus.ca ● Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre The MNjcc is a vibrant community centre at Bloor and Spadina, rooted in Jewish values and open to all. We provide social, cultural, educational, fitness, aquatic and recreational programming for every age and stage of life. We host concerts, theatre, film screenings and studies, gallery exhibitions, literary events, pottery and music. Over 400 people study music in our building every week! Our vibrant choral program includes the Community Choir, Open (non-auditioned) Community Choir and Daytime Choir. Instrumentalists enjoy our Adult Klezmer Ensemble and children’s Suzuki music program and summer camp. The Summer Institute: Singers Edition presents a fullweek adult camp to build vocal and choral skills with some of Toronto’s best instructors. We offer talks on music and opera appreciation lectures throughout the year. Home to the Al Green Theatre, a state-of-the-art venue with a grand piano, full stage and film screen, the MNjcc is perfect for arts and corporate events. We host many festivals and seasons, including the Toronto Jewish Film Society subscription series. Harriet Wichin 416-924-6211 x0 music@mnjcc.org mnjcc.org ● Mississauga Children’s Choir The Mississauga Children’s Choir is an auditioned choir under the artistic direction of Dr. Glenda Crawford. MCC is dedicated to providing young singers with an exceptional musical experience through excellence in performance, education, touring and service to the community. Entering its 36th season, the Mississauga Children’s Choir has evolved to meet the best interests of the varied ages and backgrounds of our choristers. Our five graded choirs: Training Choir, Junior Choir, Main Choir, Concert Choir and Boys Choir, provide all choristers with an opportunity to improve their musical education and skills, both as individuals and as an ensemble, while enjoying the company of similarly minded youth. Each season the MCC performs two major concerts in Mississauga’s renowned Living Arts Centre and is invited to perform at many prestigious events throughout the community. Caroline Suri, Interim Managing Director 905-624-9704 info@mississaugachildrenschoir.com mississaugachildrenschoir.com ● Mississauga Festival Choir Mississauga Festival Choir is a 130-voice adult non-auditioned community choir dedicated to excellence in choral performance with varied repertoire for all ages. A small auditioned chamber choir (MFCC) performs separately. Our mission is to be a “community choir that enriches lives through music by way of performance, education and outreach.” MFC, under the direction of David Ambrose since 2005, performs each season at the Living Arts Centre and other venues in Mississauga. MFC’s 2015/16 season consists of four exciting concerts: “A Celtic Christmas” featuring the exhilarating Cape Breton-based family group the Barra MacNeils on their annual Christmas tour; MFC’s annual choral “Festival of Friends” features numerous local choirs in solo and massed repertoire ; Mississauga Festival Chamber Choir performs music for spring in “Spring Serenade”; in May, Canada’s Primadonna Mary Lou Fallis and accompanist Peter Tiefenbach join MFC to bring Mississauga their hilarious version of the history of choral music, from the caveman to today in “Choralia Canadiana”. Rehearsals are 7:30pm Monday evenings at Cawthra Seniors’ Centre. For more information about the choir, please visit our website or send us an email. Susan Ritchie info@mississaugafestivalchoir.com mfchoir.com ● Mississauga Symphony Orchestra Since 1972, the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra has offered the community entertaining and increasingly sophisticated programs from the classic and popular repertoires performed to the highest artistic standards. The MSO has continued to serve its original mandate to provide performance opportunities and personal development to talented amateurs, while it has combined the strands of excellence and education by assisting young professional performers and composers through solo performance opportunities, commissions and mentoring. Ryan Tobin 905-306-6000 info@mississaugasymphony.ca mississaugasymphony.ca ● Mooredale Concerts Mooredale Concerts celebrates its 27th season! Remarkable Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear performs Legendary Piano Variations – Bach’s Goldberg and Beethoven’s Diabelli. Victoria, B.C. young legends on violin - Nikki & Timothy Chooi – perform works by Saint-Saëns, Schumann and Prokofiev. Rare and exquisite vocal quintet, Calmus Ensemble from Leipzig, sing carols from around the world. The “quartet’s quartet,” U.K.’s London Haydn are joined by Eric Hoeprich, clarinet to perform Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major. The Canadian debut of Denmark’s Ensemble MidtVest features piano chamber works by Schubert, Brahms, and Nielsen. Lastly, the Afiara String Quartet, joined by principal bass titan Joel Quarrington, perform Dvorak’s String Quintet No. 2 in G Major. 2015/16 six-concert subscriptions for “Toronto’s Best Bargain for Great Music!” are only 0, 0 for seniors and for those under 30. All concerts at Walter Hall, UofT at 3:15pm. Five of the featured concerts above are presented as one-hour, interactive “Music and Truffles” performances for young people aged 6 to11, Sundays from 1:15pm to 2:15pm. Adults are welcome! Subscriptions are and include a chocolate truffle for everyone. Christina A. Cavanagh 416-922-3714 x103 marketing@mooredaleconcerts.com mooredaleconcerts.com ● Mozart Project The Mozart Project is a nationally recognized, charitable organization inspired by the universality, accessibility, diversity and beauty of Mozart’s vast repertoire. Toronto is the home chapter where a range of activities and initiatives are planned; in time, local chapters will be established in regions across the country. The purpose of the Mozart Project is to engage audiences in innovative concerts of music by Mozart and related repertoire; to provide learning and performance opportunities to children, young musicians and emerging artists; and to build connections within and between communities through the unifying and universal qualities of Mozart’s music. In our second season, our planned activities include: the Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition, with guest adjudicator Nathalie Paulin on Saturday, November 14, 2015; a fundraising recital, featuring the Toronto Mozart Players with soprano, Nathalie Paulin; the Toronto Mozart Composition Competition; and a concert by the Toronto Mozart Players on March 20, 2016. Lawrence Peddie 416-996-5331 lawrence.peddie@mozartproject.ca mozartproject.ca B14 | theWholeNote 2015/16 PRESENTER PROFILES

● Music at Metropolitan Music at Metropolitan presents a variety of concerts at Metropolitan United Church, featuring Metropolitan’s choir, soloists and guest artists. This season features German organist Stefan Engels in recital on Friday, November 6; Bach’s Cantata #78, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody with Laura Pudwell, and the Brahms Requiem on Good Friday, March 25; and the second Marg and Jim Norquay Celebration concert featuring baritone Clare Frazer on May 1. The annual “Hallowe’en Phantoms of the Organ” is on October 30 at 9 pm. Noon at Met concerts – free recitals featuring the organ and other instrumentalists/vocalists – are held every Thursday at 12:15pm. Our special Christmas events include the “Deck the Halls” downtown carol sing with the Metropolitan Silver Band and organ on December 6, and our “Candlelight Carol Service” on December 20. Metropolitan houses the largest pipe organ in Canada and the oldest tuned carillon in North America. Please contact us for a concert brochure or for more information. Patricia Wright 416-363-0331 x26 patriciaw@metunited.org metunited.org ●The Music Gallery Named the number 1 experimental music venue in Toronto by BlogTO, The Music Gallery, “Toronto’s Centre for Creative Music”, is a centre for promoting and presenting innovation and experimentation in all forms of music, and for encouraging cross-pollination between genres, disciplines and audiences. The Music Gallery occupies a valued position within Toronto’s musical ecology that allows them to present, encourage and promote leading-edge contemporary music, and for the last 39 years, they have welcomed diverse audiences to explore and engage with this music through approximately 50 live concerts each season. musicgallery.org ● Music TORONTO A legacy organization in Toronto’s classical music scene, Music TORONTO presents the world’s best chamber ensembles and pianists. “Toronto’s outstanding chamber music recital series” The Ottawa Citizen “an embarrassment of riches” The Toronto Star “consistently phenomenal” musicaltoronto.org Music TORONTO’s 44th season includes a truly international quartet series – France’s Quatuor Ebène; Spain’s Cuarteto Casals, Poland’s Apollon Musagète and Germany’s Artemis. New Music Concerts joins us to invite New York’s JACK Quartet. Not to be missed are our local favourites – the Cecilia and St. Lawrence Quartets, and the Gryphon Trio. NAGATA SHACHU And then there are pianists: young British sensation Benjamin Grosvenor; the always surprising Peter Jablonski; the legendary Marc-André Hamelin; Scotland’s pride Steven Osborne; and the mesmerizing Duo Turgeon. Our Discovery Series (tickets just $21.50) features younger Canadian artists: rising opera star Andriana Chuchman gives her only recital this season; the Annex Quartet come downtown; and Montreal’s collectif9 brings rock-style charisma to classical music. Accomplished, eclectic, always interesting: Music TORONTO concerts challenge and delight. Chamber music for the 21st century – traditional, transformative. You can’t afford to miss music this good! music-toronto.com ● Musicians In Ordinary Named after the singers and lutenists who performed in the most intimate quarters of the Stuart monarchs’ palace, The Musicians In Ordinary for the Lutes and Voices dedicate themselves to the performance of early solo song and vocal chamber music. Led by Hallie Fishel, soprano and John Edwards, lutenist, the ensemble has been a fixture on the Toronto early music scene for over 10 years, and also performs across North America, at universities and museums and is Ensemblein Residence at St. Michael’s College. Audiences delight in the liveliness of their innovative concerts and the infectious passion of the performers for putting their repertoire in cultural context. This season, MIO’s Principal’s Music Series at St. Michael’s College presents “Music for Anne Boleyn”, Lassus’ Prophetiae Sybillarum and Hebrew music by Salamone Rossi. Their Heliconian Hall series commemorates the anniversary of the death of Shakespeare with readings from his plays, contemporary ayres and consort music led by Christopher Verrette (including the complete Dowland Lachrimae Pavans) as well as the annual New Year’s Day Baroque concert. John Edwards 416 535-9956 edwards.john@sympatico.ca musiciansinordinary.ca ● Nagata Shachu Nagata Shachu, based in Toronto, has enthralled audiences with mesmerizing and heart-pounding performances of the Japanese drum (taiko) since forming in 1998. We have toured widely throughout Canada, the US and Italy, performing in theatres, concert halls and major music festivals. While rooted in the folk drumming traditions of Japan, our ensemble’s principal aim is to rejuvenate this ancient art form by producing innovative and exciting music that seeks to create a new voice for the taiko. Featuring an arsenal of taiko (including the massive O-daiko drum), bamboo flutes, the threestringed shamisen and an array of gongs, cymbals, shakers and wood blocks, Nagata Shachu will take you on a musical journey beyond all borders! taiko@nagatashachu.com nagatashachu.com ● Nathaniel Dett Chorale The Nathaniel Dett Chorale is an SATB professional choir of more than 20 voices based in Toronto and dedicated to performing Afrocentric music of all genres, including classical, spiritual, gospel, jazz, folk and blues. Founded by artistic director D. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor in 1998 and named after internationally renowned African- Canadian composer R. Nathaniel Dett, the chorale is Canada’s premier performer of Afrocentric composers and a touchstone for the education of audiences and communities regarding the full spectrum of Afrocentric choral music. The mission of the chorale is to build bridges of understanding, appreciation and acceptance between theWholeNote 2015/16 PRESENTER PROFILES | B15

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