World Viewby Karen AgesSpring is finally here, and manymusical organizations present theirend of season concerts. Spring isalso the beginning of the music festivalseason, with more happeningthroughout the summer. One suchfestival already under way is SmallWorld Music's South Asian MusicFestival, which continues withfour more concerts this month. BollywoodFever comes to the LulaLounge on May 3; this showcaseof music and dance in the style ofBombay's huge movie industry isa fundraiser in support of the Monayr Asha Foundation's. workwith 'children in Bangladesh.May 6 (also at Luhi), Toronto'sEvergreen Club Gamelan Ensemble,Canada's only professionalgamelan dedicated· to the commissioningand performing of newworks, as well as traditional Indonesianmusic, presents "Sunda Songs- songs of love, loss, longing anddevotion. " The Gamelan memberswill be joined by guest singersMaryem Tollar (Canada's. premierArabic singer, fomierly of MazaMeze), Suba Sankaran (autorickshaw),and Jennifer Moore (MazaArnold Dreyblatt: Composer in ResidenceClassic Avant series • Music Gallery presentationConcert: Saturday May 5, 2007 ·• 8pm• //Workshop: Thursday May 3, 2007 •8pm • / ·• 'MG bosts Berlin-based composer/performerand American minimalistmaster • collaborating 'W~th Toronto'sAnne Bourne, cello; Rob Clutton,double bass; Nick Fraser, drums; JohnGz0wski, guitar; Kathleen Kajioko, violin;Scott Thomson, trnmboneMeze, Pirate Jenny). The songs,performed in English, include popularcompositions by Sundanesesongwriter Nano Suratno, "classical"Sundanese songs, and a newwork by Evergreen member MarkDuggan.May12 at Harbourfront' s EnwaveTheatre, Juno award winning vocalistKiran Ahluwalia, bestknown as a singer of ghazals (Indianand Pakistani love songs) andPunjabi folk songs, releases hernew CD Wanderlust. The albumis inspired by both ancient andmodern poetry, and features tennew original works including somePortuguese Fado recorded in Lisbon,Saharan African blues, jazzinfluenced pieces and more. Theconnecting theme is the subjectof desire and heartbreak."GhazaJs are hard to explain"says Kiran. "The majority of themare about romantic passion, and acommon theme is that there is alover and a beloved. The lover isforever yearning for the belovedand the beloved is forever unattainable."Fado deals similarly withron;iantic longings. Kiran will beVTO 007Three nights of out-rock, jazz and global soundsCo-presented with Rough Idea, in affiliation with FIMAVFestival pass: at Rotate This & SoundscapesSingle concert tickets: Sl 5 at Rotate This & Soundscapes; door p11ces: regular/ member+ scnior/ studentCor Fuhler's Corkestra (NL om-jazz feat. Ab Baars, Wilbe.rt de Joode)Tuesday May 15, 8pm@ Music GalleryFond of Tigers (.Vancouver avant-rock) +Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan (Toronto) = double bill!Friday May 18, 8pm @ .Music GalleryKoenjiHyakkei (JP jazz-prog-rock). Sunday ?\fay 20, 8pm @. Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen W.THE MUSIC GALLERY• 197 JOHN ST., TORONTO ON, MST 1X6. 416-204-1080 • WWW.MUSJCGALLERY.ORGTASA: tabla player Ravi Naimpally; John Gzowski (guitar, dobro, oud), ChrisGartner (bass), Ernie Tollar (flute, sax), Alan Hetherington (drums, percussion).joined in concert by her five-piece also the final concert for founder/ensemble, and guest qawalli singer music dire\:tor Glenda Crawford.Shahid Ali Khan. The last event Also on May 26, the Cantabilein the festival features Indian mu- Choirs of Kingston presents Earthsician Karsh Kale and guests who and Fire, with guests Kathy Armblendtabla and techno music, May strong and her Ottawa based Baobab18 at the Dragonfly (1279 Queen Youth Performers, and AkpolkliWest).Drum and Dance Society. FormerIn another Small World presenta- Torontonian Armstrong continuestion in col\aboration with Music her impassioned work irt the .musicAfrica, Ba Cissoko from Guinea- 'and dance of Ghana with both kidsConakry performs at the Lula and adults in Ottawa.Lounge May 11. Born into a musi- May . 27 the East York Choircal family (his father was one of the presents Spring Soul, which willfounders ofBallet Djoliba, the group include spirituals and African muthatexposed the world to the music sic, with guests Fule Badoe andof Guinea), he learned to play the Larry Graves, percussion, and Adkora,the 21-stringed African harp- woa Badoe, storyteller/dancer. Andlute as a teenager from his uncle. the Toronto Jewish Folk ChoirThe music of Cissoko and his group holds its 81 st spring concert on June. qlends tradition with Afro-pop, reg- 3, with guest performers, vocalistgae and hip-hop.David Wall and pianist MarilynAnd while ~e're on .the topic of Lerner. The concert pays tributeplucked instruments, the Chinese to the late Milton Barnes, in a suiteArtists' Society ·of Toronto and of excerpts from his music writtenBaroque Music Be8ide the Grange for the choir. Also featured is thepresent "Lute Legends - ancient airs Canadian premier of a work byfrom east and west", May 13 at Vladimir Heifetz, Di Lererin Mire:Church of St. George the Martyr Ghetto Cantata, about a schoolteach(the Music Gallery). The c;oncert er in the Vilnius ghetto, and YidfeaturesWen Zhao, pipa, and dish songs.Lucas Harris, lute, who will alter- Last but not least, tabla playernate solos from their instruments' Ravi Naimpally's South Asian futraditionalrepertoire, and join fore- sion band Tasa performs at thees for a cross-cultural duo at the Gladstone Hotel on May 20. Theyprogram's finale.are currently working on theirAs you are aware, May is fourth CD. Performing with themWholeNote's "Canary Pages" at the Gladstone will be vocalistmonth, where we present a directo- Samidha Joglekar.ryofparticipatingchoirsfromacross In the listings: RCM, May 8,Ontario (16 pages following page World Music Showcase; COC,36). A few of those choirs have May 15, Richard Bradshaw Amconcertscoming up with "world music"themes. The Oakville Chil-phitheatre, World Music Chorus;Soundstreams Canada, Cooldren's Choir presents its annual fun-Drummings Festival: May 23,draising gala on May lO. The Latin American Rhythms; May 26,evening features international cuisine, Safa Ensemble, autorickshaw, anda silent auction, salsa dancing, belly others.dancing, djembe drumming and choralhighlights. Still with OakvilleChildcrens' Choir, their final concertof the season takes place May26; Fiesta! explores the music ofLatin and South America, with guestguitarist Johannes Linstead. This isKaren Ages is an oboist who hasalso been a member of severalworld music ensembles.She can be reached atworldmusic@thewholenote.com.16 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM MAY 1 - JUNE 7 2007
EARLY Musicby Frank NakashimaHighlights of myApril concert-goingIt was a busy concert-goingmonth forme.Bach's St. John Passion,performed byTafelmusik withLes VoixBaroques,on April 4, witheight excellent singers,plus an EvangeExultate Singers: Buxtehude's 300thlist (Charles Daniels), achieved a series (May 6), with.David Fallishighly emotional communication of directing Bach's Cantata #78 "Jesu,the story with clarity and refinement. der du meine See le. "Perhaps there were a few who might More info at www. geocitieshave missed the grandeur of larger . com/torontocham berchoirforces? It was recorded and broad- The Tafelmusik Chambercast on CBC radio on Good Friday. Choir ends its 25th anniversaryToronto Chamber Choir dem- season with Handel's magnificentonstrated a fine tonal blend, uniform oratorio, Solomon (May 10-13), thebalanced phrasing, and dynamic ex- great and wise king. Surely youpression, in .their performance of remember the arrival of the Queensacred motets by Monteverdi on of Sheba, and the famous story ofApril 6 (Good Friday). The featured Solomon's judgment?soloists followed with a trio, duet The Exultate Singers commemandquintet, also by Monteverdi. orate the 300th allniversary of theEveryone, choir and soloists, with dea~ of Buxtehude. According toorgan and theorbo accompaniment, the legend, Bach walked more thanjoined together for the rarely-heard 200 miles to meet Buxtehude! That'sCavalli Requiem.the same distance as eight BostonHouse of th ~ Devil: Music.from Marathons! Now is your chance tothe Italian Baroque, on April 14, hear his influence on Bach's musicfeatured various combinations of for yourself (May 11) and you don't· Tafelmusik musicians. Highlights have to walk 200 miles to get there.included Marini's Sonata in ecco This concert features Membra Jesufor 3 violins (only one of which Nastri by Buxtehude, Jesu, Meinewas on stage) and continua; Albi- ,CONTINUES NEXT PAGEnoni's Concerto for 2 oboes, op . .9 no. 12 featuring John Abberger ------------.and Marco Cera; also Vivaldi'sConcerto for 2 horns in F MajorRV 538. The featured work, Boccherini's Symphony in D minor,G. 506 "Nella casa de! diavolo"was wild, frothy and, yes, scary!And at the April 15th MusicallySpeaking event, you could havewitnessed how French style creptinto 16th century German keyboardmusic, brilliantly performed by BorysMedicky. His playing, uponthe Yves Beaupre two-manual harpsichord,was thoughtful and intuitive.Coming Up in MayFirst, a reminder of Andrew Parrottreturning to conduct TafelmusikOrchestra and Chamber Choir,plus the Artists of Opera Atelier, inthe Canadian premiere of the 1774French version of Gluck's Orpheusand Eurydice (May 2, 4, 5) and starringtenor Colin Ainsworth.And the Toronto ChamberChoir continues its Bach CantataBLUEBRIDGEFESTIVAL8-10 June 20073 Days 14 EventsMusic, Poetry & SongSutton, Lake Simcoe, Ontario·~www.bluebridgefestival.co~Presented by Ardeleana MusicBrenda Muller, Artistic DirectorTOWN OF @GEORGINAMUSIC·1NTHE''AFTERNOONKARINA GAUVIN, sopranoMARIE-NICOLE LEMIEUX, contraltoMICHAEL McMAHON, piano ~FEBRUARY 7, 2008 • 1:30 PMTHE BEAUX ARTS TRIAPRIL 10, 2008 • 1:30 PM· SHANNON MERCER,sopra2006 WMCT Career DevelopmeSTEPHEN PHILCOX, pianoXMARCH 6, 2008 • 1:3d PMsubscribe nowsubscriptions call 416-923-7052d Johnson Building, Mus.eum Subwayof the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Toronto through thento Arts Council is gratefully acknowledged.PRESENTED BYwmct!Clwmct.on.ca I www.wmct.on.ca I 416-923-7052MAY 1 - JU NE 7 2007 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM 17
