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Volume 14 - Issue 1 - September 2008

SUNDAY SEPT. 7BARRY GUY

SUNDAY SEPT. 7BARRY GUY I MAYA HOMBURGER / JEFF REILLYBaroque meets improvisation with this tri-national trio(Bass, UK I violin, CH I bass clarinet, CAN)2008/09SUNDAY SEPT. 28JOZEF VAN WISSEMA high-flying Dutchman marries Renaissance lute and free improvisationwith guests Colin Fisher & Brandon ValdiviaSATURDAY OCT. 4NUIT BLANCHE at the Music Gallery:Tasman Richardson's "Sports Bar" and the Bravo!FACT Picture ShowFRIDAY OCT. 17STEVEN SCHICKSolo percussionWorks by Xenakis, Lucier, Ferneyhough, Globokar & moreISA Festival of New MusicThat Travels the Spacewaysfeaturing:The Sun Ra Arkestra with danceby Coleman LemieuxStockhausen Memorial feat. Stephen DruryStefano ScodanibbioPramKlimekKeith Fullerton WhitmanSonic Liberation FrontAIMToronto OrchestraBECOME A MUSIC GALLERY MEMBER AND SAVEON TICKET PRICES! Email info@musicgallery.orgThe Music Gallery· 197 John St. · Toronto MsT 1X6416-204-1080 · www.musicgallery.orgB1lB Canilda Council Comell des Arts~ lor th~ Ar du Ornari;:,to rontoa rtsco u nc i I,\ 1,,,1 •;i• 1• nut•• 1,.,,iy .. ! lr,-,,:·1·,,,•1 _..,,., , ,,ISOCAf'-.1.s. I Canadian..,.. Hertl.ayePa!rlmolnecanadlcnFor the New Music Marathon, CONTACT first approached officetower-style atriums, once again simply wanting to play music wherethe people are. Unfortunately, in many instances the decision-makersin these office buildings could not understand the benefits in supportinga concert series like the one CONTACT was proposing. Fortunatelythe folks at Yonge-Dundas Square did."When the opportunity arose to partner with Yonge-DundasSquare, we jumped on it," begins Pergolesi . "The New Music Marathonwas initially modelled something like the "Bang on a Can Festival"in New York, so we're really not too innovative in terms ofform. What makes us special is that we're presenting highly experimentalmusic in a popular setting. It's a long-term investment.Through dumb luck, we fluke upon our listeners!"On September 20, CONT ACT presents its second annual serving ofthe Marathon. Pergolesi says he's "really excited about it. DigitalProwess are coming from Guelph to perform a unique orchestrationofRzewski's Coming Together, and also performing are solo noiseartist Ryan Clark (guitar and effects); Allison Cameron; Eve Egoyan(piano); and Kyle Brenders (solo sax)."Also on the list: 10 Media doing multimedia film/video/soundwork, Rob's Collision, featuring Rob Pillonen, and Mike Hansen(turntables) doing Stockhausen, Cage and others ... Tim Francom/Dean Pomeroy (percussion) doing Reich's Nagoya Marimbas, CON­TACT performing Philip Glass' Music in Similar Motion, and the LollipopPeople butchering Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.Throughout the day, as part of the Canadian Music Centre's "NewMusic in New Places" program, sound-artist/composer Darren Copelandwill lead a unique project called 3-Sided Square. It uses gatheredaudio footage from the live stage performances, and from interviewswith people in the Square. At 10-minute intervals between acts on thestage, the artist will broadcast a laptop improvisation of the audiothrough spatialized speakers in the Square."One of the biggest challenges is to be ambitious, doing such largescaleactivities in the middle of the city at such a young stage in theorganization's development. Doing things like this marathon is dependenton the grass-roots support of everybody in the arts community"says Pergolesi.Choosing the right repertoire has also been crucial for the group."Programming the right music for the right space is an art unto itself,"says Pergolesi. "For example, I'd never program Discreet Musicby Brian Eno in a public setting such as Yonge-Dundas, as its subtletywould be lost in the mix. However we did perform this piece atthe Downsview Subway Station during rush hour, and it worked beautifully,aligning more with Eno's philosophy."Last year in Yonge-Dundas Square, CONTACT received a standingovation for their performance of Two Pages by Philip Glass. "Anew audience applauding artsy fartsy music!" exclaims Pergolesi."That was an amazing memory, and I think a highly appropriate piecefor the setting. I think you need to remember that you 're not in theconcert hall, you're on a street corner. I'm not saying we need todumb it down, but there's suitable repertoire out there that can be anamazing entry point for new listeners."Where does CONTACT fit in? "We don't. We don't fit neatly intothe Toronto improvising crowd, the well-established new music presentercrowd, or the Toronto indie hipster crowd. We are more interestedin appealing to the crowd that also doesn't fit in, but movesamongst all these different crowds." The nice thing about CONT ACTis that the group is diverse enough to collaborate with a larger slice ofToronto's music community.They've also started to gain a bit of a reputation for presenting music-basedmulti-media events such as John Burke's Labyrinth Concertand the world premier of David Lang's music and film collaborationElevated. "Who else would present a drag queen doing contemporarymusic?" asks Pergolesi, in reference to CONTACT's presentation ofGareth Farr, in their 2006-2007 programming season.Don't miss this exciting all-day event.Richard Marsella is the Ontario Regional Director for the CanadianMusic Centre and composer for the modern music ensemble TheLollipop People.20WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM S EPTE M BE R 1 - O CTO BER 7 2008

011 OperaThe season beckonsby Christopher HaileA scene from War and Peace, English National Opera, 2001. TheCOC mounts War and Peace in October 2008THOSE WITH A TASTE for opera off the beaten track are in for an excitingopera season in 2008-09. Famous operas that have rarely or neverbeen staged in Toronto will make their appearance along withseveral world premieres. (Traditionalists, despair not, however,because these rarities are balanced by a healthy dose of the tried andtrue.The most anticipated works of the season are two COC premieres-Prokofiev's epic War and Peace (1945) and Dvorak's mostpopular opera Rusalka (1901). After Wagner's Ring cycle, War andPeace, based on Tolstoy's novel, is the most massive work the COChas ever mounted. It is over four hours long and features over 60named roles . The enormous cast includes such Canadians as RussellBraun as Prince Andrei, Judith Forst, Jean Stilwell and Gregory Dahlas well as familiar foreign guests like Mikhail Agafonov and LaryssaKostiuk. Tim Albery, who directed this production for the ENO, alsodirects here. The work runs October 10 to November 1, 2008.Rusalka takes us from the realm of history to fantasy. MichaelSchade sings the role of the Prince who falls in love with the waternymphof the title sung by Julie Makerov, who must make a terriblesacrifice for her love of a mortal. Richard Bradshaw had promisedNicholas Goldschmidt that the COC would perform the work to honourhim and, though both masters have passed away, the COC has notforgotten the promise. Rusalka runs January 31 to February 23, 2009.Were these two operas less rare, the COC's productions of Verdi'sSimon Boccanegra (April 11 to May 7, 2009) and Britten's A MidsummerNight's Dream (May 5-23, 2009) would steal the limelight. Thefirst has not been staged here since 1979 and the second receives itsmain stage premiere.The COC season is filled out with such favourites as Mozart's DonGiovanni (Oct. 5-31, 2008) with Brett Polegato in the title role,Beethoven's Fidelio (January 24-February 24, 2009) with AdriannePieczonka as Leonore, Puccini's La Boheme (April 17-May 24,2009) and a COC Ensemble Studio production of Mozart's Cosifantutte (June 15-21 , 2009).Moving on from the COC, Toronto will witness at least threeworld premieres in the coming season. In February 2009, Queen ofPuddings will unveil Ines, the latest opera by James Rolfe to a librettoby Paul Bentley. This will be a retelling of the tale of Ines de Castro(1325-55) updated to Toronto of the 1960s and influenced by Portuguesefacto. On March 28-29 Opera in Concert and the Esprit Orchestrapresent Kamouraska by Charles Wilson, a complete reworkingof his 1975 opera based on the novel by Anne Hebert. Then June9-14, Soundstreams presents The Children's Crusade by R. MurrayopeRa BR1efsSeptember 26 - 28, 2008in the ERNEST BALMER STUDIO at Tapestry55 Mill St. Bldg. 58. Studio 315. Distillery DistrictTICKETS ON SALE September 4. 200841 6.537 .6066 / t,:,ti·,_rn I I I Or sut,scribe to our entire seasonColl 416.537.6066 ~.221All,1.1 r ,c.111r't"·-:: ~\C t:i !! F.lt ·ll1 1;'.ip •, .. : •o\ lr•onl'...: !,;, r.i, .li'-:,1,;,_•r.D t·. ',o:•t,tapestrynewopera.comSEPTEMBER 1 - O CTOBER 7 2008 WWW. TH EWHOLENOTE.COM 21

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