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Volume 14 - Issue 6 - March 2009

BEAT BY BEAT: CHORAL

BEAT BY BEAT: CHORAL SCENEThe Passionate Voiceby mJ buellGonna rise, gonna rise up singingGonna raise the bucket from down in the wellAnd /feel like I'm just beginningCause I made that choice, to raise that voiceAnd that bucket's gonna rise, rise up singing(Quaker, traditional)Reasons for singing are probablyas many as all the colours in allthe windows of every windowedplace of worship in the world,real or imagined.And at the same time, maybethere is after all , only one fundamentalreason: to express a passionthat cannot be conveyed sowell in any other way . Sharedpassion is one of those things thatkeeps us feel fully alive, and fullyhuman.From start to finish the Marchlistings illustrate this diversitywithin a unified purpose - to"rise up singing" as a way ofsharing fear, hope, despair andjoy. As the days begin to get alittle longer perhaps you will feelmore like going out to hear someinspiring choral music, so rememberto be"alive" in themonth which precedes traditionalcelebrations of rebirth and harbingersof spring in the naturalworld.Using this column to try tomention individual offerings feelslike trying to describe all thefragments of those coloured windows:but there are kaleidoscopeclusters of inspiration that are revealedwhen you stand back a littleand look.Odes, Masses, Passions:these are perhaps our biggest,most organized, and most celebratedexpressions of passionatevoice, and this month we are offeredZelenka's Ode to St. Cecilia, Handel's St Cecilia Mass,Bach's St John Passion and his St.Matthew Passion , also his Massin B minor; Brahms' GermanRequiem , Hayden's Missa SanctiNicolai. At the more recent endof the spectrum, among the greatreasons for people to sing together,and waiting to be heard by themusically hungry , we have theopportunity to hear The Light inthe Wilderness , a jazz oratorio byDave Brubek, and Mass for Prisonersof Conscience written forand dedicated to Amnesty Internationalby John Burge.BOSLEYREAL ESTATEDOSLEY UAL [STATE LTD .. l:EALTOI!PETER MAHONSales Representative416-322-8000pmahon@trebnet. cornwww.petermahon.comThere is also a numberof choral concerts thismonth which draw on largerworks, presenting great oratoriochoruses, collectionsof coronation anthems, and"hymns for all times" .The choral listings thismonth are an extraordinaryreflection of who we are:based in part upon what wechoose to sing: Celtic music,music from Africa, musicfrom Asia .We are the choraltraditions of Wales, of Vesnivka.We sing music from the middleages and music written this 21 stcentury. Our concert titles reflectthe size of the subjects that inspireus compose and sing:""mystery, destruction and healing", "primavera", "midwintermagic", "songs for springtime","love , life, and loss".Please take time to look closelyat the details in the listings andthe choral advertisments: it 'sclear that we have reasons to singbeyond saving our own sanity and-~, · ~Watoto Children's Choir - March 19souls. We sing as much for othersas we do for ourselves: manyof this month's choral concertsare benefits, with proceeds goingto arts education programmesand music schools, AIDS education,shelters for homeless youthand homes for the aged, and hospices.In sobering times manywho cannot afford to give bigcash donations to good causes,need to rise up some other way.Lending our voices is one, beingthere to listen is another.NOTE: Our online listings cannow be searched by musical genre(e.g. Choral). Give it a try.16Noel EdisonCONDUCTORToronto Mendelssohn ChoirFestival Winds & BrassGOOD FRIDAY 10 APRIL 2009 7:30 PMPRE-CONCERT CHAT AT 6:45 PMST. PAUL'S BASILICA, 83 POWER ST.TICKETS (ADULTS)VOXTIX , GENERAL ADMISSIONwww.tmchoir.org 416 -598- 0422MassNo.2inEminorANTONBRUCKNERSacred muslec~ Middlefield Group£ d~~.~ .. ~!~!.~nee. spa et .... G~ij:::.:::Motets ANTON BRUCKNER SEASON SUPPORTERS .Grand symphonic sound will envelop your body and soul ~in the rich acoustics of St. Paul's Basilica. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ii fornello -,~. ~··;.

BEAT BY BEAT: WORLD VIEWSilk Road Stops in Torontoby Karen AgesPick of the month:The Silk Road was a series of traderoutes linking ancient China to theMediterranean and Europe. Not onlywere silks transported along theseroads, but also ideas, technologiesand cultures, linking East and West.The Silk Road Ensemble, a petproject of world-renowned cellistYo-Yo Ma, seeks to do the same, inmusic.Made up of around sixty or somusicians, composers, artists andstorytellers from around the world,the ensemble, now celebrating itstenth anniversary, performs in variousconfigurations, transcendingWu Manmusical genres. The ensemble'smission is "to connect the world's neighborhoods by bringing togetherartists and audiences around the globe". "Every time I open a newspaper"writes Yo-Yo Ma, "I am reminded that we live in a worldwhere we can no longer afford not to know our neighbours."Among the Silk Road Ensemble's instruments is the Chinese pipa,a 2000-year-old pear shaped lute, played by virtuoso Wu Man. Shehas performed as soloist with many of the world's great orchestras,and has an extensive discography, including several recordings withthe Kronos Quartet. In addition to performing with Silk Road attheir Roy Thomson Hall concerts on March 19 and 20 (they're presentingtwo different programs), she'll also be the soloist in theCanadian premiere of Tan Dun's Pipa Concerto with the TorontoSymphony, as part of the New Creations Festival, March 7.Around the GTA:Irish vocal/instrumental group Dervish performs at the Rose Theatrein Brampton on March 5; The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centrepresents its Spring Festival March 7 and 8, featuring traditionalJapanese music and dance; The Toronto Classical Turkish MusicEnsemble presents a concert March 7 at the Noor Cultural Centre;U of T's Faculty of Music presents its annual end-of-term concertfeaturing student world music ensembles, March 14 at MacMillanTheatre and March 19 in Walter Hall; All Saints Kingsway AnglicanChurch welcomes the Watoto Children's Choir of Africa, March,19; the Ashkenaz Foundation presents Jaffa Road, a middle-eastern/Jewish/jazzensemble in a CD release concert at the LulaLounge March 25; Heliconian Hall is host to a concert of Georgianand Balkan vocal music, with Machari, Megobrebi and Kundzuli,March 27; The Music Gallery presents The Attar Project, featuringviolinist Parmela Attariwala and tabla player Shawn Mativesky, incontemporary works influenced by Indian music; the Victoria CollegeChorus presents a concert of Celtic music and folk songs fromAfrica and Asia, April 5 at the Isabel Bader Theatre.And beyond ...McMaster University presents Nagata Shachu, Japanese taikodrumming ensemble; Peterborough's Showplace Performance Centrepresents Celtic Blaze, with fiddler Stephanie Cadman and her band;and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society presents theOrchid Ensemble, in arrangements of traditional Chinese music andnewly commissioned works, on traditional instruments.•~~ UNIVERSITY OF TORONTOw FACULTY oF MUSICMarch/April HighlightsOpera: Ravel Double BillL'enfant et les sortileges and L'heure espagnole. Sandra Horst,conductor, Michael Patrick Albano, director. 3/5, 6, 7 - 7:30 p.m.3/8 - 2:30 p.m. MacMillan Theatre. (*)Gryphon Trio with Robert KapilowAcclaimed composer/conductor Robert Kapilow presents his engagingcommentary on Beethoven's Archduke Trio, with a performance by theGryphon Trio. 3/9- 7:30 p.m. Walter Hall. (*)Lecture: Kay Kaufman ShelemayTitle: Traveling Music: Mulatu Astatke and the Genesis of Ethio-Jazz.3/19 - 12:1 O p.m. Walter Hall. FreeEarth, Water, Wind and FireTenor Darryl Edwards and pianist Elizabeth Upchurch present avocal recital with music by Mozart, Britten, Luedeke and others.3/20 - 7:30 p.m. Walter Hall. (*)U of T Wind EnsembleGillian MacKay conducts Schwantner's and the mountains risingnowhere, Floren! Schmitt's Dionysiaques, Op. 62, and other works.3/21 - 7:30 p.m. MacMillan Theatre. $14 ( O*)Edith Wiens Voice Master Class3/23 -12:10 p.m. Walter Hall. 3/24 -12:10 p.m. Torel Room. FreeTafelmusik Baroque OrchestraA free concert by the Faculty's Baroque Orchestra-in-Residence.3/25 - 12:10 p.m. Walter Hall. FreeU of T Wind SymphonyJeffrey Reynolds conducts works by Bernstein, Fergal Caroll,Robert Russell Bennett, Jack Stamp and Adam Garb.3/27 - 7:30 p.m. MacMillan Theatre. $14 (*)Toronto Wind Quintet with guestsFeaturing Rota's Petite Offrande Musicale, FranQaix's Oivertissement,Janacek's Mladi and Hindemith's Septet3/30 - 7:30 p.m. Walter Hall. (*)Maria SchneiderGrammy Award-winning composer and Roger D. Moore DistinguishedVisitor in Composition. Lecture: 4/2 - 12:10 p.m. Walter Hall. Free.Concert with the U of T Jazz Orchestras: 4/4 - 7:30 p.m.MacMillan Theatre. $14 (*)U of T Symphony OrchestraDebussy Prelude ii l'apres-midi d'un faune, Elgar Enigma Variations,and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5. lvars Taurins, conductor.4/9 - 7:30 p.m. MacMillan Theatre. ( O*)·senior/student price in bracketsBOX OFFICE: 416.978.3744Walter Hall and MacMillan Theatre are located in the Edward JohnsonBuilding, 80 Queen 's Park (Museum subway stop).www.music.utoronto.caMARCH 1 - APRIL 7 2009 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM 17

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