CHORAL SceneCONTINUEDphenom Peter Dijkstra. I cameaway from our midsummer Sundayafternoon performance quiteshaken by the sense of somethingtruly rare and special having occurred.It "rocked my world." Ofhis many talents, I was quite takenby Dijkstra's keen ear, knowledgeof the inner workings of the voice,command of at least seven languagesby my count, unerring sense ofrhythm, and devotion to the "composer'swishes" as indicated byeven the smallest marking in thescore. Above all, though, I wasstruck by this young man's disarmingmaturity. He built strongmusical relationships with all of usin a very short time and the resultwas a remarkably intimate, warm,nuanced, and principled performance.For me, unforgettable.Which brings me more or lessup to the present day, and an unusuallyvaried and busy choral/vocalSeptember in Toronto.I often wax nostalgic for thewonderful Niki Goldschmidt Joyof Singing festivals of 1989, 1993and 2002. One of the highlightsof 1993 was the Russian male choirAkafist, who gave several stunningperformances of repertoire seldomheard in these parts. Well, Aka fistis touring southern Ontario extensivelythis month, so there is noexcuse to miss them. They'll be inr!YcI'~ m
Sept 27 and 28: The Toronto Symphonyare into Beethoven in a bigway this month, culminating witha performance of the mighty Symphony#9, conducted by PeterOundjian and featuring four outstandingyoung singers (MeashaBrueggergosman, Susan Platts,Michael Colvin, and Brett Polegato)and the Toronto MendelssohnChoir.Sept 30: We go from the sublimeto the ridiculous as somethingcalled Play! A Video Game Symphonytakes the stage of the HummingbirdCentre. "Performed byfull orchestra and choir," screamsthe breathless publicity, "PLAY!features award-winning music froma catalogue of blockbuster videogame titles. Outstanding graphicson large screens above the orchestraaccompany the scores, highlightingmemorable moments from thevideo games."October 1: The male quintetAlawyn gives its inaugural performanceat the George IgnatieffTheatre. Led by Kevin Komisaruk,the concert features secular vocalmusic by a host of the great Renaissancecomposers. For more information,visit their handsomewebsite at www.alawyn.comOctober 4: Lastly, if you can't geta ticket to an opera, you can atleast get into the lobby of the newopera house as the Canadian Children'sOpera Chorus gives one ofthe first public performances in theRichard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.Show time is 5 :30pm and theevent, though free, is ticketed.JEAN ASHWORTH BARTLEpg 50ADVERTISING SECTION: CHORAL OPPORTUNITIESA nc.,,, a... .t1 ned
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