CONCERTNOTES: SEPTEMBER
CONCERTNOTES: SEPTEMBER 1998, continued from page 7 Joanna Das, theM-DO Kathak WORLD MUSIC Dance Company, the Toronto Tabla Ensemble and special guests, who will add their influences, making every performance unique. These 'performers are universally appealing and work at a highly professional level - well worth the trip to Brunswick and Bloor. PIANO With the Weston Recital Hall series just getting under way and Music Toronto's series beginning in October there is not the usual number of piano recitals, but what there is looks varied and interesting. Just announced: M-DO multicultural centre will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a Dance and Music Festival, September 17 to 20, at the Transac Club. Each concert will feature M-DO co-founders, Ritesh and Two of the will take place the evening of Saturday, September 12. The Russian-Canadian pianist, Ellen Annor-Adjei, will present an all Chopin recital at 7:30 at Humbercrest United Church, and att 8:00 American pianist, George Winston, will give a concert at the GeorgeWeston Recital Hall. On Sunday, September 13, Toronto fortepiano specialist, Sharon Burlacoff, will give a recital of music by Haydn and Beethoven. The fortepiano, which is the keyboard instrument for which they wrote, might be described as a piano in a Ellen Annor-Adjei harpsichord's body. This is the first of the Toronto -Early Music Centre's "Musically Speaking" series at the Royal Ontario Museum. (The Toronto Early Music . Centre will also hold its annual Early Music Fair at the Royal Ontario Museum on September 26, with performances by early music ensembles and displays of old musical instruments.) ConcertNotes continues, p.44
DETT CHORALE'S FLYI.NG START UNDER BLYDEN-TAYLOR'S BATON, continued from page 4 The paramount iml>ortance of excellent sight-reading skills is .underscored by the choir's hectic first month schedule. Rehearals begin in early September. On September 25 the Chorale will sing at the Mande/a and the Children event at the Skydome. Eight days later, on October 3, the 55th anniversary of Nathaniel Dett's death, they will give their official inaugural concert at Niagara Falls Collegiate Institute, the school from which Dett graduated in 1901. On October 5 they will be at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and October 7 will give their fltSt Toronto concert at the Glenn Gould Studio. NATHANIEL DETT Nathaniel Dett was born in Niagara Falls Ontario, which had a strong Black community brought there by the underground railroad. He showed an aptitude for music at an early age and after high school studied music in the U.S. at the University of Rochester and Oberlin College, receiving masters degrees from both institutions. He then taught music at the university level in the United States, including Hampton College in Virginia, and composed a considerable body of music, in which he used the melodies and rhythms of Black music. His work is better known in the United States, where his Canadian roots have· been overlooked or forgotten. He gave performances in the world's most prestigious centres, including Carnegie Hall and the Library of Congress, performed for two American presidents and was awarded an Honorary doctorate by Harvard University. BLYDEN-TAYLOR Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, the choir's conductor, is a native of Trinidad,' went to school in Barbados, and came to Canada in 1973 as the music director at. Oakwood Wesleyan Church. He has been the assistant music director at Humbercrest United and St. Paul's Anglican Churches as well as assistant conductor to Denise Narcisse-Mair of the Hart House· Chorus and to John Barnum of the' Orpheus Choir. In 1997 he was appointed conductor of the · Orpheus Choir, a post he still holds. He has been a choral consultant to the North York and Durham Boards of Education, assistant conductor of the Ontario Youth Choir and conductor of the youth choir at the Nova Scotia Choral Federation choir camp. He is also co-chair of the music committee of the Toronto Arts Council. ~ /~ the sound post Canadal.s String Slwp violins, violas, cellos & bows · expert repairs & rehairs strings & accessories ;'lt guaranteed lowest prices Canada's largest stock of string music fast mail order service all prices in CON $-Not a US$ price in the store!. 93 Grenville St., Toronto MSS 1B4 tel (416) .971-6990 fax (416) 597-9923 DISTINGUISIIED ARTISTS CONCERr-f SERIES ~WPOLJJ: of the ~~OPOLJ]: t/'~~"::~ M ETROPOLITAN COMMUNITY C HU RCII OF TORONTO l ~~~ \, L.~ ll5 Simpson Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4K lAl \, · ~ ~ ~J SUNDAY CONCERTS Oct. 25/98, William Doppmann, Pianist Nov. 15/98, Penderecki String Quartet Nov. 29/98, Vocal Quartet. Soprano: NathaHe M
