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8 years ago

Volume 7 Issue 10 - July/August 2002

  • Text
  • Festival
  • August
  • Theatre
  • Toronto
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  • Musical
  • Metropolitan
  • September
  • Symphony
  • Choir
  • Midst

CONCERT NOTES/HEAR & NOW

CONCERT NOTES/HEAR & NOW alongside leading international choirs an inspiration and something we don't and this was the case at almost every see much with Canadian.choirs. tum. Thestunningperfonnanceofthe Last month, in these pages, Huelgas Ensemble of Belgium was WholeNote's writer on contemporary matched by the elegant chanting of Les music, Paul Steenhuisen, bemoaned Chanteurs St. Coeur de Marie from the fact that contemporary choral mu­ Quebec City. The Renaissance stylings · sic seemed easy and uninspired and I of the Dunedin Consort were com- can see why he stated that. The simple plemented brilliantly by the knockout reason is that choirs across Canada - performance of Victoria, Monteverdi for the most part - do not take the time and Gibbons by the Vancouver Cham- to make 20th and 21st century music ber Choir. The Tafelmusik Cham- an integral part of their repertoire. I'm ber Choir owns the Bach motets and not speaking of John Tavener or Healey their perfonnance of all of them in one Willan, now, or even Benjamin Britten. concert was simply exquisite. I'm referring to Penderecki or The Winnipeg Singers gave a sn.m- Schoenberg or the more challenging ning performance of a recent piece by works of Murray Schafer or Friedrich Englishman James MacMillan and the Cerha. Newf~undland Symphony Youth If we learned anything in June, Choir and the Toronto Children's 2002, itwasthatmodemmusic - chal­ Chorus more than held their own in lenging as it is - lies at the heart of thecompanyofthesplendidSeveracek virtuosic choral singing and we can't , Children's Choir. afford to shy away from it. Let's hope International choir highlights iTiclude that choral conductors will take more the captivating Cannina Burana of the risks with repertoire in the coming years, Uppsalla University Choir and the taking the time to really learn unusual St. Petersburg Chamber Choir's new repertoire. If so, we owe it to Rachmaninoff Vespers, but the ·two choirs - as an audience - to support choirs that stole the Festival were the newchoralexpressionsandexperimen­ Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus and the tation. Arnold Schoenberg Choir, for the All the best to WholeNote-readers exact same reasons. Their absolute com- for a relaxing summer. See you in Sepmitment to modem choral music was . tember! ·~· """ { f CLAVIERS BAROQUES. L. Harpsichords Cl~vich:brds fo~tc;iP~k.qos ,. ''custom instruments, service,ren'tals; ·repairs and.kits r .! HEAR &NOW (New Music) by Paul Steenhuisen Swnmer afternoon - swnmer after- · noon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in th~ English language. Henry James (1843-1916) Concomitant with the end of the concert season proper, the rising mercury, and the hazy days of July, is both the slowing of concert activity and the movement toward alternative performance spaces. Outside, the Toronto Music Garden (located on the waterfront at 475 Queen's Quay West between Bathurst Street & Spadina Avenue) is the site of another Tamara Bernstein-curated series of free summer concerts. For complete information, visit www .harbourfront.ca. For new improvised music, check out percussionist Richard Sacks on July 28, at 3:00. On August 8d1, at the same location, Loti Freedman will present her 21st century improvised music for solo clarinet & bass clarinet. At the website M ~U Lori Freedman www.the-improvisor.com, Freedman playing is aptly described as "free as starling skittering through spring", a description as appropriate as ever for this vastly talented performer. Sunday August 11, the Madawaska Quartet will delve intO Stravinsky and Naocarrow, · and on the 29"', the Evergreen Club Gamelan continues its journey into traditional Indonesian & conteplporary Canadian music. Also out-of-doors, New Adventures in Sound Art presents a busy day of concerts August 17 at Toronto Island. At 12:30, you will discover Venus ·S I C Workshops for Teachers Music & Movement GALLERY 1NsT1Trn August 13 - 15 & 20 - 22 Computer -Assisted Music Aug 13 -15 Percussion & the Science of Sound Aug 20 - 22 Creative Movement Aug 13-15 . Modern Dance & Choreography Aug 20 - 22 Taught by artists. Designed to inform & inspire. Each course: 5.00. 10% discount if you register for two! Send deposit !o reserve your place to Barry Prophet Music Gallery lnstib,lte, 219 - 60 Atlantic Ave. Tor. M6K 1X9 For full details log on to www.musicgallery.org contact Barry Prophet at 416-588-2514 or bprophet@idirect.com IRIS: The Toronto Women's Chorus invites applications for the volunteer position of artistic director. IRIS is a small community chorus with a 2-concert season, plus community events . . For a position description please call Mary Lee at 416-461-4967 or see www.irischorus.org IRIS is a lesbian-positive chorus. We celebrate women's spirit through music. CALLING ALL COMPOSERS! The Exultate Chamber Singers are excited to announce their Canadian choral composition competition! The winning work will be performed May 9, 2003, with the Rachmaninoff Vespers. Deadline: ·February 14, 2003. Prize: - ,000 Cdn. Requirements: - Sacred, a cappella - 3-6 minutes in length - For mixed adult voices FOR MORE INFORMATION AND ENTRY FORMS, CALL 416-971-9229 OR VISIT WWW.EXULTATE.ON:CA. 14

Improv for Centre Islarxl Ferry Dock (lslarxl side), with John Adams & Erin Donavan, performers. At2:00, a mini outdoors Octaphonic Concert features music by Bartley & Freedman, with Lori Freedman on bass clarinet and Wende Bartley as composer/performer. An hour later you will find Baudouin Oosterlynck (variaJions du silence), listed as being for "Sound Installation & solo Harpsichord - or sonata for two instruments of silence, in live performance." Last, at 4:30 there will be a Full outdoor Octaphonic Co~rt. diffusing music by Payre, Bartley, Lerner, Lillios, Eagle & Dhomont. All concerts free. SIGN WA \-ES - Phase One takes place indoors, at the Art System Gallery (327 Spadina Ave., 2nd floor), and features two works - "The I Project," by Nicholas Longstaff, and "Paths," by David Eagle, I pm to 8 pm July 2-6. "The I Project," by Nicholas Lon'gstaff, is an immersive and interactive audiovisual installation explor - ing the concepts of actual and presented identity. A rectangular room with deep crimson walls adorned with 22 mirrors, a translucent video projection screen arxl several speakers will be the setting for an interactive journey that will juxtapose a collage of video images against a quiet melange of rhythmic monologues and sound events triggered by the participant. David Eagle's Paths is a sound installation and performance that immerses the listener within a texture of moving s0unds - sounds from the environment, imagined sounds, inc strurnental sounds, voices and sp©ken words. They are always moving, following different paths, being transformed along the way, and transforming the listener in the process. Eagle asks the question of where a circle begins. In the installation, eight speakers are arranged in a circle around the listeners. And like a circle, (and unlike most compositions) Paths does not have a clear beginning, middle, or end. The passage of time and music is experienced differently and the expectations of both the listener and the creator are not as conventionally goAfdirected. When we walk along a path and listen - for instance, in the mountains or a forest - we do not expect a contrived climax to arrive, rather we experience and immerse ourselves ill the environment. This is the way to ·experience a sound installation, to listen openly and without expectation, to listen both spatially and temporally. Paths is an interactive work for an interpreter performing on a laptop computer with a sound diffusion system that together make up the musical instrument. The performer uses a visu~ alization map to create sonic gestures arxl textures, many of them using chaoc.e and aleatoric techniques. Gallery visitors will enter the room and are encouraged to ask questions and talk with the composer/performer who is really part of the installation. As in a sound walk, they listen, explore, stay still or walk around as the sounds are processed, transformed arid diffused live. Eagle goes on to write that ."Since the formality of a concert is not present during a soum installation, listerers may become less inhibited and able to focus their attention through passages of longer spans of time. There is a quality of openress in the experience, similar to listening to an improvisation. The audience can inspire the performer's work and can also provide sounds that may be used in the piece." New Music Concerts and the Gardiner Musewn continue their Mu~ sic Speaks concerts, with a Raymond Luedeke composition for clarinet & per- HEAR & NOW:NEW MUSIC etission, along with a discussion & performance of selections from other contemporary repertoire (July 14). August 25, accordionist Joseph Macerollo will play arxl discuss selections from the repertoire, along with contemporary playing techniques. Further afield, August 22 8 pm, the Southern Ontario Youth Winds play music by Weinzweig, Kulesha, Ridout, Chatman, Francis & Milhaud under the directionofAlexEddington,conductor (Kew Beach United Church, 140 WinevaAve.). Andthosetravellingto Parry Sound shoulrl be sure to catch the Festival of the Sound (www. festivalofthesound.on.ca), which contains new music events July 25 tO 27. Festival Hall will reverberate with the Discovery Ensemble's Open Rehearsal (July 25, 2:30), then a 7:00 rehearsal with music by Andrew Staniland, ably conducted by Gary Kulesha. A similar schedule on the two following days will reveal music by Richardson and Ogborn. Then, well before I wake on August I, at 10:30am, · James Campbell and Beverly Johnston will give one of their invariably excellent performances, of music by Grainger, Louie & Chan. See full festival list~ ings for complete information. (Almost) never a dull moment in the fast-paced world of new music! I'll be back in September; enjoy an endless summer. · Really good food that ~ just happens to ~~ @ be vegetarian! fJt' Before your concert join us for. dinner. Pay-by-weight delicious, healthy buffet to save you time & money. French cou~try kitchen atmosphere and serene ambience. licensed for wiue and b.eer. Open daily. 200/o off on your first visit with ad . 655 Bay St. (enter off Elm) (416) 596-9364 toronto.com/lecommensal We are a 10-minute w"alk from many theatres. Inquire about .00 parking for dinner & show. ~~ tfie souna post Canada's String Shop violins, violas, cellos & bows expert repairs & rehairs strings & accessories at guaranteed lowest prices Canada's largest stockof string music fast mail order service all prices in CDN $-Not a US$ price in the store! 93 Grenville St., Toronto M5$ 1B4 tel 416-971-6990 fax 416-597-9923 Canada's foremost Violin Specialists 201 Church Street Toronto, On. MSB 1Y7 email GHCL@idirect.com www.georgeheinl.com Gary A Toronto's Center for Clarinets and Oboes SALES * REPAIR * \ ~g Woodwinds Ltd. ' 720 Bathurst St.. Suite 502 (Just south of Bio.or) 6-535-6000 Warranty Repair Depot Used instruments bought & sold. July 1 - Se pt e mb ~ r 7 2002 · www.thewholenote.com 15

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