combination ol instruments is limited, but these innovative artists have overcome this by commissioning new works each year by Canadian composers, and iilviting their musical "amici" to perform with them. Joining Amici in their 2004/05 season beginning October 15 are the Orion String Quartet, baritone Russell Braun, percussionist Beverley Johnston, violinists Scott St. John, Benjamin Bowman and Shane Kim, and violist Sharon Wei. AMICI, which is Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music, is praised for its exceptional ensemble playing, blending both classics and contemporary chamber music. This outstanding ensemble has given hundreds of performances throughout North America and abroad, and released seven CDs. Artistic Directors: Patricia Parr, piano; Joaquin Valdepeiias, clarinet; David Hetherington, cello Executive Director: Wendy Limbertie · Publicity Director: Anne Kear 73B Front Street East, Toronto, M5A 3Z4 416-368-8743 musicians@amiciensemble.com www.amiciensemble.com ANNEX SINGERS OF TORONTO Annex Singers welcomes additions to the choir - no auditions required. We meet weekly, Mondays at 7:30 pm at St. Thomas Anglican Church, 383 Huron Street and perform three concerts annually. No practices during June, July or August. In celebration of our 25th anniversary this year, we are basing our Christmas concert on an original work by director Lawrence Goudge called 'A Cycle of Solstice Songs'. We are thrilled to be able to try out this new work and we welcome new members. The Annex Singers is both a choir and a community - drop in for a rehearsal and find out for yourself. Director: Lawrence Goudge Publicity Cathleen Fillmore 416-532-9886 cathleen@speakersgold.com ANNO DOMIN! CHAMBER SINGERS Established in September 2000, the Anno Domini Chamber Singers is a chamber choir dedicated to artistic excellence through the performance of sacred choral music. We are an enthusiastic group ol 18 choristers coming lrom a variety ol backgrounds. We perform in concert 3 to 4 times per year as well as singing at charity concerts, weddings and at other events. This coming season, ADCS will be presenting three concerts: Christmas with Brass, December 10 and 11, 2004; Mozart Coronation Mass, April 8 and 9, 2005; and Lux Aeterna, June 24 and 25, 2005. (Dates and concert venues to be confirmed. Please call for information: 416-696-0093) We rehearse on Monday.evenings. II you are an experienced chorister with good sight-reading skills, a pas- 1 sion lor sacred music, and are looking for an intimate choral experience, please contact us for an audition. David Jafelice, Artistic Director davidjaf@sympatico.ca 416-696-0093 Catherine Anderson, General Manager cja!llusic@interlog.com 323 Glebemount Avenue, Toronto M4C 3V6 ARADIA ENSEMBLE The Aradia Ensemble is a Toronto-based period instrument and vocal ensemble who present a concert series at Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio. They have also toured internationally to New Zealand, Italy and the United States. Aradia has garnered worldwide recognition through the twenty or so CDs they have made for Naxos Records. Britain's BBC Magazine and The Gramophone have recently published feature articles about the ensemble. In recent years Aradia has forged an artistic partnership with Opera in Concert. Together they have performed Handel's Semele, Rameau's Gasior and Pol/ux and Handel's Rinaldo. The latter two were also recording projects. Past collaborations include performances with Isadora Duncan Dancers, Baroque Dance, Opera Anonymous and the Evergreen Gamelan Ensemble. They have made two music videos, and a movie sound track. This seas1>n the ensemble will perform a Christmas concert of Vivaldi's sacred music, Handel's Fireworks and Water Music in January, 2005 and Israel ih Egypl in May, 2005. Aradia will make a European tour in the spring of 2006. Music Director: Kevin Mallon 6 Castleview Avenue, Toronto M5R I Y9 416 461 3471 info@aradia.ca ARRAYMUSIC Currently in our 3rd season, Arraymusic exists to provide composers with an environment in which they are free to take risks, challenge themselves, and push the traditional boundaries of musical expression. Our core values focus on creativity and experimentation; multidisciplinary exploration; and the sharing, communication and outreach afforded by artistic exchange. In our 2004/5 season we present eight new works especially written lor the Arraymusic ensemble and repertoire from composers across Canada, Italy and The Netherlands. October 14, 2004 come hear Schiphol 2, a concert of chamber works by Dutch and Canadian composers with guest-artists lrom the Netherlands. December 4, 2004 we locus on composers as Improvisers and improvisers as composers featuring guest performer Lori Freedman. April 30, 2005 we invite guest conductor/ composer Giorgio Magnanensi to lead the Arraymusic ensemble in an evening ol challenging works from Canada and Italy. Our season finale, May 29 2005 is Future Lab, the Young Composers' Workshop final Concert premiering works written over a month-long residency with Arraymusic ensemble members. Please join us for this exciting new season of music! Artistic Director: Allison Cameron General Manager: Sandra Bell 60 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 218, Toronto, M6K IX9 416-532-3019 info@arraymusic.com www.arraymusic.com ARTS RICHMOND HILL Arts Richmond Hill was founded in 1968 as a community based Arts Council whose mandate is the advancement of arts and culture through promotion, awareness and education. It is our goal to create an "Integrated Living Arts Community" with associate liaisons with all members ol the public, and to perpetuate arts and culture within our community for the next geheralion. We organize Music Festival. Festival ol Lights, Heritage Village Day and Concert Series. In addition, we sponsor special projects such as Arts in Education, Studio Tour and partnering workshops with Opera York. We provide the Roy Clifton Bursary to graduates of Richmond Hill publicly funded High Schools each year. President: Agnes Chan Wong 10266 Yonge Street, Suite 20 I. Richmond Hill, L4C 3B7 905-508-0789 Fax: 905-508-2893 artsrichmondhill@lycos.com www.artsrichmondhill.com ASSOCIATES OF THE TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. The Associates of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra are people who share a love of classical music and, organize events that showcase the talents of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSY O). The Associates sponsor the "Five Small Concerts" chamber music series at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre in downtown Toronto. Concerts begin in January and run through May. Performances are wide ranging in scope and feature members of the TSO. Members of the TSYO perform one of the five concerts. In addition to our concerts, members gather monthly in an informal .social setting to enjoy performances by invited guests, either established professional musicians or young classical musicians who enjoy performing to small audiences. The Associates host an annual special event to raise funds in support ol the Five Small Concerts. Past events have featured celebrities such as TSO Concert Master Jacques lsraelievitch, Tenor Mark DuBois and Pianist Stewart Goodyear. The N ovember 14, 2004 headliner is "The Gryphon Trio" headed by renowned pianist Jamie Parker, cellist Roman Borys and violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon. Music Program Chairs: Raymond Chan, Linda Fischer 900 Yonge Street, Suite 1404; Toronto, M4W 3P5 416-482-6452 (Betty Glave) Raymond.chan@rogers.com B BACH CHILDREN'S CHORUS AND BACH CHAMBER YOUTH CHOIR The Bach Children's Chorus totals 200 singers, aged 6 and up in lour choirs (three treble choirs and one 4 WhDlllDtl MEMBERS' PROFILES 2004-2005
DA(HILDRE IJ ORUS mixed-voice youth choir.) They have developed a reputation throughout Toronto for their beautiful, musical sound and professional approach. The Bach Chamber Youth Choir is a choir for boys with changed voices and girls aged 16 and older. The choirs of the BCC perform two concerts per season al the Toronto Centre for the Arts and appear regularly as a guest choir for many Toronto events. Each choir regularly participates in weekend excursions involving festivals, workshops and concerts with other youth choirs and world-renowned clinicians. Choir III was the 2004 winner of the CBC National Choral Competition, children's choir category. Travel plans for this season include trips to Montreal, Quebec and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In November 2004, the Choir will release its fourth CD, a recording featuring performances by all four choirs. Previously released CDs are Land of Tomorrow, Here's To Song and Outside the Snow is Falling. Founder and Music.Director: Linda Beaupre BACH CONSORT Administrator: Jane Greenwood 23 Mossbank Drive, Toronto, ON M 1 G 2C 1 416-431-0790 Fax: 416-431-7554 · bachchildrenschorus@bellnel.ca www.bachorus..org Founded a decade ago, Toronto's Bach Consort explores the riches of J.S. Bach through his numerous secular and religious cantatas. The group - comprising some of Canada's finest instrumentalists, vocal soloists and choristers - gathers two or three limes a year to perform concerts in aid of charily. All musicians donate their time and talent. The Bach Consort returns to Eglinton St. George's United Church n Friday, November 26 to present the splendid Christmas Oratorio. The fourth annual concert/dinner event begins at 6:30PM, and features soprano Monica Whicher; contralto Elizabeth Turnbull; Michael Colvin and Colin Ainsworth (tenors), and Gary Relyea (bass) with celebrated conductor Nicholas McGegan. Over the last decade, the Bach Consort has raised over SIS0,000 for various charities (Camphill Village Ontario, L'Arche Daybreak, Out of the Cold at St. Andrew's Church, Settlement House Music and Arts School, Music at St. John's, Delisle Youth Services, Share the Warmth, Beads of. Hope Campaign and Habitat for Humanity). and has recorded two CDs. More Bach Consort performance. taking place in May 2005, will be announced shortly. BACH ELGAR CHOIR Contact: Tim Dawson 416 693-5304 timojo58@hotmail.com The Bach Elgar Choir is now the premiere symphonic, oratorio chorus in the Hamilton region, and is the second oldest choral organization in Canada. Our repertoire spans an eclectic mix of music. Our present conduc\or. Ian Sadler, is professor of Music at Laurentian University in Sudbury. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Dathe- , dral Singers al Ontario. Ian holds degrees in Musicology and Education, with_organ degrees from Trioity College of Music and the Royal College of Organists, London, England. He has performed as organist across North America and Europe. This season we are celebrating our IOO'h anniversary with 4 concerts: Verdi's Requiem on Nov. 6, 2004, Handel's Messiah on Dec. 11, 2004, Boob's St. Matthew Passion on March 12, 2005, ending th season with the IOO'h Anniversary Gala on May 28, 2005, featuring a commissioned work by Ruth Watson Henderson. Tickets are and for seniors and students. Children under 12 free (some restrictions apply). Artistic Director: Ian Sadler Accompanist: lmre Olah Chairman: David Dull Administrator: Irena Lytwyn 86 Homewood Ave Hamilton, LBP 2M4 905 527-5995 Fax: 905 527-0555 bachelgar@sympalico.ca www.bachelgar.com BELL' ARTE SINGERS Mark in your calendar today another great season with the Bell'Arte Singers. Sunday, December 12, 2004, in A Christmas Masque, Bell'Arte, directed by Dr. Lee Willingham, joins forces with the Toronto Masque Theatre under the direction of Larry Beckwith in a musical tribute to the festive season, from the l 7th century to the present day. This matinee-only performance is at Eastminster United Church. Then chase away the winter blues with A Midwinter Celebration I Saturday February 26, 2005, featuring Haydn's Little Organ Mass; Mozart's Te'Deum and Dvorak's Mass in D, accompanied by the critically acclaimed organist, Ian Sadler at Christ Church Deer Park Anglican. Bell' Arte completes the season at Christ Church Deer Park with A Canadian Spring Rhapsody, Saturday, May 14, 2005 featuring seasonal works that evoke the majestic musical geography of Canada. The concert features some al Canada's finest composers including Healey Willan, Ruth Watson Henderson, Iman! Raminsh, and more. Subscribe to our email newsletter, by sending your request to marketing@bellartesingers.com or call 416- 699-5879 for concert information and group rates. Artistic Director: Dr. Lee Willingham 39 Osborne Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4E 3AB CALVIN CHOIR 416-699-5879 Fax: 416-462-3262 info@bellartesingers.com www.bellartesingers.com c The 33 voices of Calvin Choir, conducted by Stephanie Martin, sing masterpieces of sacred music every Sunday morning at the 11 am service and are heard regularly on CBC2 and CJRT. The group is comprised of church members as well as young professional musicians and students, all of whom share a deep commitment and love for the choral literature. They have made two recordings: Wassail land Reformation and Renais- WhDlllDtl MEMBERS' PROFILES 2004-2005 5 sance: Psalms, Motets and Dances. In addition, this award-winning c.hoir has loured Ontario, Newfoundland and Scotland. The 2002 Scotland tour included performances in Glasgow, Ohan and Edinburgh and a particularly moving concert in the ancient Abbey of Iona. Calvin Choir sings primarily 20'h century church music and renaissance polyphony, with a healthy smattering of baroque, romantic, chant and folk music including TTBB repertoire for men's voices, and SSA settings for women. Their 2003 season included a concert with The Choir of Christ Church Deer Park Anglican in a celebration of the English Anthem. Visitors are welcome at Calvin on Sundays, and at their web site. Calvin Presbyterian Church 26 Delisle Avenue Tel. 416-923-9030 Web site: www.calvinpc.com CANADIAN CHILDREN1S OPERA CHORUS Welcome to the magical world . of opera and children! The CCOC has been commissioning and producing exciting opera experiences for children for over 35 years. Our conductors include Ann Cooper Gay, Teodora Georgieva and Bronwen Low. Drama coaches William Walker and Joanne Mitchell complete the artistic team. The 2004-5 season features a Winter Concert with guests Colin Ainsworth and Peter McGillivray on November 28 at the Glenn Gould Studio. Our Spring opera production is Dido and Aeneas at Harbourfront Theatre in early May. Special guest appearances include a performance with Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi (October 30). a tribute to John Rutter with Chorus Niagara and the Orpheus Choir (November 5/6), "The Great Toronto Carol Sing" with the Hannaford Street Silver Ban·d (SI. James Cathedral, December 14), "Happy Birthday Erich Kunzel!" with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (April 19&20) and a newly commissioned work. 'The Ugly Duckling', by composer James Rolfe, Canada Musicools 2005 Festival (June). For further details on concerts, recordings and auditions for prospective choristers, please visit our website. Artistic Director: Ann Cooper Gay 227 Front St. E Toronto M5E JES 416-366-0467 fax 416-366-9204 I info@canadianchildrensopera.com www.canadianchildrensopera.com CANADIAN MUSIC CENTRE (CMC) The CMG exists to stimulate awareness, appreciation, and performance of Canadian music by making the music al over 620 Associate Composers available and accessible. As Canada's primary place to find scores, parts and recordings al Canadian composition, the CMG houses a 20,000 +-piece collection, available through its lending libraries. The CMG continues to digitize and expand this collection. The CMG produces recordings on its own label, Centrediscs; more than 700 CD titles feature its Associate Composers and other Canadian independent artists. Other core services extend to on-demand score printing & binding, and repertoire consultation. The CMG also engages in several outreach projects. including the Professional Readings Project, Composer Companions, and New Music in New Places. The CMG \s accessible through its website and live regional centres (Vancouver, Calgary .. Toronto. Mon CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Choral Scene: Uncharted territory: three choirs finding paths forward; Music Theatre: Loose Tea on the boil with Alaina Viau’s Dead Reckoning; In with the New: what happens to soundart when climate change meets COVID-19; Call to action: diversity, accountability, and reform in post-secondary jazz studies; 9th Annual TIFF Tips: a filmfest like no other; Remembering: Leon Fleisher; DISCoveries: a NY state of mind; 25th anniversary stroll-through; and more.
Online in flip through here, and on stands commencing Tues SEP 1.
Following the Goldberg trail from Gould to Lang Lang; Measha Brueggergosman and Edwin Huizinga on face to face collaboration in strange times; diggings into dance as FFDN keeps live alive; "Classical unicorn?" - Luke Welch reflects on life as a Black classical pianist; Debashis Sinha's adventures in sound art; choral lessons from Skagit Valley; and the 21st annual WholeNote Blue Pages (part 1 of 3) in print and online. Here now. And, yes, still in print, with distribution starting Thursday October 1.
Alanis Obomsawin's art of life; fifteen Exquisite Departures; UnCovered re(dis)covered; jazz in the kitchen; three takes on managing record releases in times of plague; baroque for babies; presenter directory (blue pages) part two; and, here at the WholeNote, work in progress on four brick walls (or is it five?). All this and more available in flipthrough HERE, and in print Tuesday Nov 3.
In this issue: Beautiful Exceptions, Sing-Alone Messiahs, Livingston’s Vocal Pleasures, Chamber Beethoven, Online Opera (Plexiglass & All), Playlist for the Winter of our Discontent, The Oud & the Fuzz, Who is Alex Trebek? All this and more available in flipthrough HERE, and in print Friday December 4.
July/August issue is now available in flipthrough HERE, bringing to a close 25 seasons of doing what we do (and plan to continue doing), and on stands early in the week of July 5. Not the usual bucolic parade of music in the summer sun, but lots, we hope, to pass the time: links to online and virtual music; a full slate of record reviews; plenty new in the Listening Room; and a full slate of stories – the future of opera, the plight of small venues, the challenge facing orchestras, the barriers to resumption of choral life, the challenges of isolation for real-time music; the steps some festivals are taking to keep the spirit and substance of what they do alive. And intersecting with all of it, responses to the urgent call for anti-racist action and systemic change.
"COVID's Metamorphoses"? "There's Always Time (Until Suddenly There Isn't)"? "The Writing on the Wall"? It's hard to know WHAT to call this latest chapter in the extraordinary story we are all of a sudden characters in. By whatever name we call it, the MAY/JUNE combined issue of The WholeNote is now available, HERE in flip through format, in print commencing Wednesday May 6, and, in fully interactive form, online at thewholenote.com. Our 18th Annual Choral Canary Pages, scheduled for publication in print and flip through in September is already well underway with the first 50 choirs home to roost and more being added every week online. Community Voices, our cover story, brings to you the thoughts of 30 musical community members, all going through what we are going through (and with many more to come as the feature gets amplified online over the course of the coming months). And our regular writers bring their personal thoughts to the mix. Finally, a full-fledged DISCoveries review section offers cues and clues to recorded music for your solitary solace!
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!).
