WE ARE ALL Music's CHILDREN April's Child .... "7here are rhree kinds l!f' people in rhe 1vorld: !hose 1hu1111uke 1hing1· happen. rhose 1\'ho 1rn1c h 1hi11gs happen, and rhose \'ho \'O/lller ... 11· ha1 hupprned ." "All 1n11sic i.1· e.ue/l/iallr disco ... " 13Y MASllA BUELL Identify this member of our music community, photo taken circa 1 946, for a chance to win tickets or a recording. If you think you might know who it is, send your best guess to musicschildren@thewholenote.com. The winner .will be selected hy random draw among entries received by April 1511'· March 's Child .... was Marshall Pynkoski Since founding Opt:ra Atdier in 1985. Mr. Pynkoski and co-director Jeann.:llc Zingg have won numerous awards and been acclaimed throughout Canada and abroad. collaborating with many of early music's most distinguished artists. Opera Atelier holds a unique place in the North America theatre community. producing opera. ballet and drama from the 17th and 18th centurie,. These productions draw upon the aesthetics and ideals of the period. featuring soloists of international acclaim, period ballet, original instru1m:JllS. elaborate stage decor. exquisite costumes and an imaginative energy that sets Opera Atelier apa11. Upcoming fc5r Opera Atelier is a double bill of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and Charpentier's Acteo11 playing at the Elgin Theatre Apri I 21-30'". It features Colin Ainsworth. Nathalie Paulin, Laura Pudwell. Jennie Such. Curtis Sullivan, Monica Whicher, and Artists of Atelier Ballet, with Taklmusik Baroque Orche tra and Chamber Choir (Jeanne Lamon, Music Director) under the baton of Opera Atefier Music DireGtor David Fallis. Visit www.operaatelier.com for more information. And Our Winners ... "/ 111n sure thm March:\' Child 11111sr be Marshall Pynkoski. With such a classic Bamq11e.figure and The qume from L11lly, ir ca11 'r be anyone else. Grem plwrol" Jennifer Enns Modolo and her guest, will attend opening night at Opera Atelier (Dido and Aeneas and Acteo11). "fr :1· Marshall! fr j11.\'f couldn't be anyone else ... " Ann Cooper Gay ad her guest will also attend. Congratulations Jennifer, and Ann! UNCLASSIFIED ADVERTISING AAA+ OPPORTUNITY FOR VOCALISTS & MUSICIANS with the Wyndham Regency Orchestra (www.wyndhamregency.com) and Toronto Starlight Orchestra (www.starlightorchestra.ca). Limited openings in trumpet, trombone, saxophone, strings and rhythm sections. Visit our websites and call Andrew today @ (416)712-2555. ACCOUNTING AND INCOME TAX SERVICE for small business and individuals, to save you time and money, customized to meet your needs. Norm Pulker, B. Math. CMA. 905-250-0309 or 905-830-2985. ACCOUNTING, BOOKKEEPING, INCOME TAX PREPARATION for small businesses and individuals. Experience in music industry. Get the best tax breaks' JC Accounting, janachvatal@gta.igs.net. Jana 416-444-2772. BARD - EARLY MUSIC DUO playing recorder and virginal available to provide background atmosphere for teas. receptions or other lunctions - greater Toronto area. For roles and info call 905- 722-5618 or email us at mhpape@interhop.net COPYIST AVAILABLE: full scores, orchestral parts, transpo!iilions (vocal. instrumental); good rates; prolessional results; phone or e-mail for info/rates. Attila (416)575-7397 takenotedme@hotmail.com COUNTERPOINT ORCHESTRA needs volunteer musicians. Monday evening rehearsals. Concerts: March 12 and June 4. All sections, esp. violins. Terry Kowalczuk 416-658-5359 or paul.t.willis@on.aibn.com DON'T QUIT MUSIC -Try one lesson lree: Extremely effective method unknown in America' · Piano or any other instrumenVvoice, any level - wonderful results instantly' Vladimir 416-321- 5627 bethebestinmusic@yahoo.com EAR TRAINING, MUSICIANSHIP. SIGHT-SING ING, THEORY. JAZZ THEORY. All levels, professionaVserious beginners. Art Levine, MA, ARCT. Host. "Art Music''. CBC. 30 years experience: RCM, UofT, York. 416-924-8613. www.artlevine.com; artlevine@sympatico.ca ELEGANT PIANO MUSIC lor special events. Beautiful improvisations of I.OOO classics, standards, light jazz. M.Mus. & ' 2,500 appearances. monakaspar@sympatico.ca 416-695-9983. HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO SING, thought you wouldn't or couldn't, or do you just want a place to play with the possibilities ol your voice. Small groups. 6 - . Johanne, 416-461-8425. MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE! Personalized lessons -ALL age groups: oboe, flute, clarinet, recorder, beginning piano. Erica Rao B.Ed 416-445-3370 ericarao@yahoo.com MUSIC FOR ALL OCCASIONS! Small ensembles, Dance Band, Big Band; Cocktail Hour, Dinner music, Concerts, Shows; Classical, Contemporary. Dixieland, Traditional and Smooth Jazz I )SL Musical Productions 905-276-3373. NEW EAST-END UNITARIAN CONGREGA TION requires music director to play piano. Sundays, schedule musical guests, direct choir. Position appropriate for graduate student. NUUC is liberaVeclectic seeking variety in music/spiritu· ality. For inlo call Rita 416-267-4513 The PERFORMING EDGE Performance enhancement training in tension management. concentration, goal setting, imagery. Individualized to meet your performance situation. Kate f. Hays, practising clinical and performing arts psychology. 416-961-0487, www.theperformingedge.com PIANO AVAILABLE lor teaching or lor practis· ing in downtown studio, annex area, close to University of Toronto. The Kaleidoscopic Place - 416-964-3308. PIANO, CffiCKERING GRAND 6' 5", recently restored, beautifully rich bass. $10,999, call (416)720-9116. PROFESSIONAL DRUMMER AVAILABLE - over 30 years experience. Experienced playing ALL styles (jazz, Latin, pop, rock, etc.) plus cabaret shows and musical theatre. Excellent sight-reader. Coll Marty Namaro @ 416-439-9518. ROB CARROLL Jazz and classical guitar instruction, theory, ear training 416-977- 3531, www.robcarroll.rsmrecords.com SIMONE TUCCI PIANO TUNER-TECHNI - CIAN - Complete Piano Care Service. Allilioted with The Royal Conservatory ol Music piano service staff. Registered with O.G.P.T. Servicing Toronto and GTA areas. Call: 416-993-6332 TROMBONISTS WANTED. Wyndham Regency Orchestra (www. wyndhamregency.com). Phone 416-712-2555. TRUMPETERS WANTED. Wyndham Regency Orchestra (www.wyndhamregency.com). Phone 416-712-2555. TRUMPET PLAYER looking to lorm or join Brass Quintet downtown Toronto. Please call 416-967-3587 fred.henderson@gmail.com VIOLIN, VOICE & PIANO TEACHERS wanted lor reputable music school. Pls lax resume: 905· 709-3607. WANTED: SINGERS interested in joining a small Toronto-based (mostly) a cappella choir. Some choral experience helpful. Performs 2-3 times yearly. Call 416-805-9000 for inlo. Reader.v beware! Our music communiry does nor consist only of per . limning 11111sicians! Wmch this column for conducrors, composers, instru- 111e111111akers and more! Know someone whose photograph should appear in this space? Please send your suggestions along to musicschildren@thewholenote.com) 7i WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM APRIL 1 - MAY 7 2005
m DISCCliil!I VOCAL AND OPERA TIC fantasias, a pavan and galliard. A wonderful portrait of a most interesting time. Dianne Wells A. Scarlatti - Disperato Amore Matthew White; Les Voix Baroques Analekta AN 2 9904 The Origin of Fire - Music and Visions of Hildegard von Bingen Anonymous4 Harmonia Mundi HMU 807327 While some scientists suggest that the 12th- century German abbess and mystic Hildegard von Bingen's visions of heavenly light were ail effect of frequent migraine, the experience of her sublime music, panicularly performed by this angelic ensemble. is surely enough to move even the most 'rational' mind toward an appreciation of the mystical. This second recording of Hildegard's music by Anonymous 4 pays tribute to her visions, music and writings on the Holy Spirit, manifested as tire and light. To hymns and antiphons such as 0 ignee spiritus and 0 quam mirabilis est composed by Hildegard the ensemble has added some of her visionary prose on the themes of creation, wisdom, the lifegiving spirit and love, setting these texts to recitation tones from medieval German sources. In addition, well-known hymns and sequences that Hildegard' s convent would have sung such as Veni creator spiritus and Beata nobis gaudia are included for their association with Pentecost, the church's celebration of the Holy Spirit descending as tongues of flame on Jesus' disciples. Recorded at the chapel of the Christian Brothers retreat in Napa CA, this is Anonymous 4's last scheduled project for the Harmonia Mundi label, and after 18 years together, they have decided to stop touring and focus instead on individual projects. We can only be thankful that this group has graced the world with fifteen outstanding recordings with the purest of sound. Dianne Wells Busnois - Missa 0 Crux lignum Orlando Consort Harmonia Mundi HMU 907333 Arm 1 - MAY 7 2005 The 15th-century composer Antoine Busnois has become a big name in the musicological and early music performance worlds in recent years, and deservedly so. A composer of brilliance, deep expression and occasional eccentricity, he spent part of his working life in the service of the Duke of Burgundy and Maximilian I. His music was celebrated across Europe and particularly in the major Italian centres of Ferrara, Florence and Naples, and the famous theorist Tinctoris described him as one of 'the most outstanding and most famous professors of the art of music.' This CD offers a collection of several of his pieces, representing almost every form in which he composed: mass, Latin motet, virelai, rondeau and ballade, and combinative songs with double texts. Also included are three other pieces attributed to him, including the motet Gaude Caelestis Domina which opens the disc in suitably celebratory fashion. The mass for four voices which forms the centrepiece of this program is a true gem, with its particularly stunning Kyrie, Agnus Dei, and Benedictus, which opens with some astonishing two-part melismas. Other favourites of mine are the motet lncomprehensibilia fir me, with its gently austere opening, and the energetic chansons. As for the Orlando Consort, they have been champions of the music of Busnois for over 15 years and are the perfect ensemble to do him justice. They perform this repertoire with the beautifully balanced sound and exquisite sense of ensemble for which they are celebrated, giving artistic flesh and blood to this remarkable music. The disc is a delight. Alison Melville William Byrd - Consort Songs Emma Kirkby; Fretwork Harmonia Mundi HMU 907383 The four and five-voice textures of William Byrd's masses are mirrored in the lesser-known repertoire presented on this recording: Though composed for solo voice, the texture is kept intact with the accompaniment of viol ensemble. In fact. the interweaving nature of this instrumentation fairly intrudes into the vocal line at times. Nevertheless, it is intriguing in its painting of his world and concerns of love, community and religious leanings. As a devout catholic tolerated by Elizabeth I, he naturally demonstrates a deep reflective· viewpoint concerning his position. From philosophical musings on the impermanence of wealth and status illustrated in The noble famous Queen (Mary Queen of Scots) to an ode to a little dog treated most unfairly, Byrd demonstrates a sensitive and reflective nature brought sweetly and most artfully to life by one of the best voices in early music: Emma Kirkby, whose deft and informed realiza'tion of the serious and the playful brings the text to life. The famed ensemble Fretwork skillfully handles the accompaniments as well as purely instrumental 6-part Lockridge H.F. I I: *Authorized Dealer of: Exposure, Klipsch, Living Voice, NAD, PSB, Raysonic, Studiolab and Tannoy. *Extensive CD, SACD and DVD Collection *Buy and Sell Used CD, LP & High-End Audio Equipment *Now Featuring: Tanney Prestige Series Kensington Loudspeakers, only pair in GTA! Les Voix Baroques is to be commended for the choice of repertoire 'on the(r new CD "Disperato Amore". Matthew White's voice is perfectly suited to the motets and cantatas of Alessandro Scarlatti which are presented on this disc, and the theme of desperate love is illustrated beautifully with the sacred and secular pieces. The three cantatas on the recording were transposed to tit the counter-tenor range (having been composed originally for soprano) and the choice of keys creates a truly stunning sound in the ensemble. The instrumentalists (Chloe Meyers and Chantal Remillard, violin; Helene Plouffe, violin and viola; Amanda Keesmaat, cello; Nicolas Lessard, violone; Alexander Weimann, organ and harpsichord; Sylvain Bergeron, lute and theorbo; Matthew Jennejohn, recorder and ., ., c :.c -0 0 N l 16th Ave ... ., ., ., Cl c -0 ., ·c: -e u "' 0 --' $: I 71
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!).
