d ATORONTO,./ V tt::iSq_u~Larry BeckwithArtistic Direc:lorDerek Boyes&:~Nathalie LamurslereArtistic AssociatesTheatreFocus on opera 2From Wax Cylinders to HD Satellite Broadcasts:Live From The Met, 1901-2008BY PHIL EHRENSAFfOpera has been a pioneering adopter of new technologies since a late16th century circle ofltalian Renaissance intellectuals, inspired bythe revered "unities" of music and drama on the ancient Greekstage, invented the new art form . From the radical notion of sellingtickets on the open market rather than seeking aristocratic patronage,then using Early Modern Europe's new technologies to wow thesepaying audiences to the max, opera was music's original multimediaexperience.The Metropolitan Opera's new, worldwide High Definition satellitebroadcasts of live performances is only the latest turn in opera'songoing creative penchant for high tech. Take the first commercial"talkie" film: the 1927 premiere of Al Jolson' s The Jazz Singer,right? Wrong.The honour, in fact, goes to a 1907 U.K. filming ofGounod' s Faust, which spread across 22 reels. Likewise in 1937, avery new BBC television service demonstrated the potential of thismedium via a live broadcast of Pergolesi 's La Serva Padrona.Mark Schubin is the technological Merlin who gets the Met performancesup to the the satellites and back. He is also an enthusiastichistorian of cinema and television technology. His research is eloquenton the Met's vanguard operatic high tech role.It was 1901 , he tells me, when the Met pulled off the first recordingsof live opera performances via the new medium of wax cylinders.In 1931 live Saturday afternoon international broadcasts fromthe Met kicked off, becoming a staple for music lovers across theglobe. The Met also pioneered live stereo radio broadcasting in 1973.On the visual front, it organized its first live TV broadcasts in 1948,and, astonishingly, in 1952 pulled of the feat of a precursor of today'ssatellite transmissions - a live cine-cast to 27 theatres. No wonder,then, that when the new Metropolitan Opera House opened in 1966,thick, state-of-the-art television production cables were built into thewalls - infrastructure for the Met's live performance programmingfor the new PBS network. With great foresight, the cables were evenencased in grease, so as to be easily pulled out and replaced whenbetter technology's time came. Alas, when the digital era dawned,the grease had hardened into glue. The depasse cables are there untilthe Met's walls come down.Opera passe muraille. Was it only a few years ago that opera loversacross the planet were bemoaning the possible demise of the weeklyMet radio broadcast when longtime sponsor, poor little Texaco,pulled out? The new general manager of the Met, Peter Gelb, wasable to reverse that sad situation, and then some, with the HD cinemabroadcast initiative that kicked off in the autumn of 2006. Andthe present estimated audience of 100,000 people in sold-out cinematheatres across the globe is very likely just the beginning.Canada, as we shall see in a moment, has provided an especiallyenthusiastic market for the new HD broadcasts. Between a growingnumber ofCineplex venues from Quebec through British Columbia,and Empire venues in the Atlantic provinces, the proportion of Canadiancinema theatres participating in the Met HD broadcasts is considerablyhigher than what is already a hot market in the U.S.But first things being first, let's look at the large aesthetic claimsbeing made for the broadcasts:the Los Angeles Times' contentionArlene Mezzarollethat HD cinema opera is an entirely new art form; or (from the perspectiveof Lake Woe Begone, Minnesota, where nobody has everSanjay Talwar Andrew Mahonbeen known to exaggerate anything) Garrison Keillor's effulgent "aCavell WoodPeter Mahonlandmark triumph comparable to Caruso' s trip to Camden, NJ, in1904 to stick his head in a recording horn and sing 'Celeste Aida' sothat glorious voice could be heard in every town in America."Well, I decided to go to both the live and HD performances ofManon Lescaut, Peter Grimes and Tristan und Isolde to see for myself.And it has been a revelation.LIVE FROM TH E MET continues on page 5828 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM APRI L 1 - MA Y 7 2008
WE ARE All Music's CHILDRENby mJBuellAPRIL's Child ..."Tea wi JI be served - but I'd ratherhave a scotch and soda!"This Briton who followed his heartto a Canadian life rooted incollaboration and our own songs,will never lose his connection toBritten.Think you know who APRIL'schild is? Send your best guess tomusicschildren@thewholenote.comBe sure to send us your mailingaddress, just in case your name isdrawn!Winners will be selected byrandom draw among correctreplies received by April 15 2008.MARCH's Child ... waspianist and composer Ruth Watson HendersonRuth Watson Henderson has an international reputation as one ofCanada s leading composers and as an admired pianist and organist.For her lifetime in music, Ruth has been paid many great tributes bythe music community, receiving numerous awards and a fellowship.Honoring her 60th and 70th birthdays, several fine choirs performedentire concerts of her compositions including the Elmer lseler Singers,the Toronto Children s Chorus and the Oriana Women s Choir of Toronto.Currently the music director at Kingsway-Lambton UnitedChurch in Toronto, and in regular demand to accompany many fineensembles, Ruth is a member of SOCAN, the Canadian Music Centre,the Canadian League of Composers and the Association of CanadianWomen Composers.Earliest nmsica/ memory?In 1936, I accompanied my dad when he sang a song ("When the Bells inthe Lighthouse Ring Ding Dong") at a special church program.Other nmsicians in your family?My mother was an organist and choir director in several Toronto churches.My dad sang in her choirs but was not a professional musician. He did,however, like organ music, and built a pipe organ in our home when I wasgrowing up, so that he could come home and listen to my mother play Bachon the organ for him in the evenings.At the time the picture was taken ...First experiences of making nmsic?Mother started me at the piano before I was 2.At 5 I went to the RCM for lessons withViggo Kihl: the emphasis was all on my developmentas a pianist. I composed 9 short pianopieces when I was 4, but did not continue towrite until much later in life. I was not inspiredto write music seriously until I worked withElmer lseler and the Festival Singers.The point at which you began to think ofyourself as a nmsician?I always knew music was the focal point ofmy life. I looked forward to expressingmyself through music in whatever opportunities came along. Those opportunities weremore limited for awhile when my 4 childrenwere young, but I grew increasingly activeagain as they grew older.Do you remember ever thinking youwould do anything else?Photo circa 1952, at Pinner Park At the beginning of high school I gave up myJunior School,Middlesex,England. piano lessons so I would have more time forschool, closed the piano unti I the end ofSept., then called Alberto Guerrero (my teacher)back to say I couldn't possibly go on withoutplaying. He calmly said he knew I wouldbe back.Face to face with little Ruth in that photo, is there anything you wouldlike to say or ask?Music is a joy that will always be with you in some form. No one can takeaway your love of music. Do you know how lucky you are to be surroundedby music?!!Tickets & Recordings!!CONGRATULATIONSIDOURWINNERSKimber Jonah and Mary Ann MacKenzie each win a pair of tickets for the AmadeusChoir's concert For the Beauty of the Earth (May 3), conducted by Lydia Adams,premiering the winning composition in the Ruth Watson Henderson Choral Competition.Ruth will accompany the choir in a set of her own pieces called, "The Magicof God's World." The concert will also include works by John Rutter and R. MurraySchafer. Guest: the Bach Children's Chorus, Linda Beaupre director. LauraAdlersand Frances Cooper will each receive a wonderful CD- Sing all ye joyful: Music ofRuth Watson Henderson, Elmer lseler Singers, Lydia Adams, Conductor CBCRecordsMVCD 1167.Musics Children gratefully acknowledges the generous and good-humouredparticipation of Anne Kear. the Amadeus Choir, Jessie lseler, the Elmer /selerSingers, and Jim Tennyson.There was always music going on in our home. Friends often came by toplay and sing. I had not started kindergarten and had Jots of time to spend at Know someone whose photo should appear in this contest?the piano.Contact us at musicschildren@thewholenote.comindex of advertisersACADEMY CONCERT S ERJES 38 CHRJST C HURCH D EER PARK 25, 37 LoNG & M CQ UADE 16 PETER M AHON 18 TALLIS CHOIR 45A CADIA UNIVERSITY 49 CONTINUUM CONTEMFORARY M USIC 39 M ARJORJE SPARKS VOICE STUDIO 55 RCM COMMUNITY SCHOOL 53 TORONTO A u-STAR B 1G BAND 20A CROBAT M USIC 57 COSMO M usic 21 M IKROKOSMOS 58 RCM GLENN G OULD SCHOOL 31 T ORONTO ClASSICAL SINGERS 45A DI B RAUN 52 EGLINTON ST. GEORGE'S M ISSISSAUGA C HORAL SOCIETY 44 REACHING OITT THROUGH Music 43 TORONTO CONSORT 32ALDEBURGH CONNECTION 34, 42 UNITED CHURCH 46 M OOREDALE CONCERTS 33 R£MENYI H OUSE OF M USIC 15 TORONTO MASQUE THEATRE 28ALEXANDER )ACOBCHUK 45 ELORA FESTIVAL SINGERS 48 M USEUM OF C HILDHOOD 34 ROEL OlA Y I NVESTMENT A DVISOR 57 TORONTO M ENDELSSOHN CHOIR 43ALEXANDER SINGERS & Pu. YERS 43 EMPIRE THEATRESIDIGJSCREEN 27 M USIC GAUERY 22 ROY THOMSON H AU 4 T ORONTO OPERETTA THEATRE 26Au THE KING'S VOICES 41 ENSEMBLE TRYPTYCH M USIC P AD 58 ROY AL YORK ROAD LJ NITED TORONTO PHILHARMONIA 34AMADEUS CHOIR 44 CHAMEER CHOIR 36 M USIC TORONTO 13, 30, 34, 42 CHURCH 57 TORONTO SCHOOL OF MUSIC 38AMERICAN SOUND C OMPANY 67 ESPRJT O RCHESTRA 2 NEW M USIC CONCERTS 22, 35 SCARBOROUGH B EL CANTO CHOIR 18 T ORONTO SINFONIETTA 53A MICI 33 ETOBICOKE PHILHARMONIC N o STRJNGS THEATRE SHOW ONE 19 TORONTO SYMPHONY O RCHESTRAAMOROSO 51 ORCHESTRA 40 PRODUCTIONS 54 SINE NOMINE 41 6, 71, 72A NALEKTA 65 GEORGE H EINL 16 NUMUS 47 SINFONIA T ORONTO 3 1 T ORONTO Y OUTH WIND ORCHESTRAANNEX SINGERS 35 GEORGETOWN BACH CHORALE 48 OLD MILL I NN AND SPA 25 SINGING Our 56 9, 41ART OF JAZZ 69 GLENVIEIV J'RESBYTERIAN CHURCH 39 OPERA ATELIER 19 SOUND POST 16 U OF T FACULTY OF M USIC 31ASSOCIATES OF THE TSO 40 H ANNAFORD ST. SILVER BAND OPERA By REQUEST 27 SOUNDAXIS 23, 24 ULYSSEAN SOCIETY OF TORONTO 57ATMA ClASSIQUE 5 21, 35 OPERA IS 26 SOUNDSTREAMS CANADA 17 VIA SALZBURG 40B ACH CHILDREN'S C HORUS 46 H ARKNETT MUSICAL SERVICES 20 0RGANIX 7 ST. CLEMENT'S ANGLICAN CHURCH 36 VILlAGE VOICES 46B ELL' A RTE SINGERS 44 H ELICONIAN H ALL 57 ORPHEUS CHOIR 46 Sr. ) AMES' CATHEDRAL 37, 56 VoxwORKS 42CANADIAN O PERA COMPANY 27 JUBILATE SINGERS 32 0SHAIVA D URHAM STEPHEN SA TORY 41 WHOLENOTE ClASSIFIEDS 57CANADIAN SINFONIETTA 32 KALEID CHORAL FESTIVAL 53 SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 49 STEVE 'S M usic STORE 20 WHOLENOTE MARKETPlACE 59CANCLONE SERVICES 58 L' ATELIER GRIGORIAN 63 PASQUALE BROS. 57 SYRINX 33, 45 W OMEN'S M USICAL CLUB 14CATHEDRAL BLUFFS SYMPHONY 39 LIVING ARTS CENTRE 9 PAX CHRISTI CHORALE 41 T AFELMUSIK ] l , ] 2 W ORLDS OF Music 52APRIL 1 - M AY 7 2008 WWW. TH EWHO LENOTE.COM 29
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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!).