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Volume 16 Issue 7 - April 2011

  • Text
  • April
  • Toronto
  • Symphony
  • Jazz
  • Orchestra
  • Organ
  • Violin
  • Recording
  • Arts
  • Vocal

student matinee on May

student matinee on May 4), with what Beckwith calls an “amazingcast”: Lawrence Wiliford, Shannon Mercer, Teri Dunn, PeterMcGillivray, Alex Dobson; the whole production is directed byMarie-Nathalie Lacoursière. You won’t be disappointed if you go.Feast of BachBach wrote some of his greatest works for the Christian feast days ofGood Friday and Easter Sunday which are approaching.You can hear the Mass in B Minor twice this month: On April 3,the Elora Festival Singers, conducted by Noel Edison, presents itin Guelph; on April 10, the Georgetown Bach Chorale with musicdirector Ron Greidanus, gives a period performance of the work inGeorgetown. The St. Matthew Passion (for me the most profoundlytouching of all Bach’s music), will be performed on April 15, 16 and17 in Oakville, with Masterworks of Oakville Chorus and Orchestraand their conductor Charles Demuynck. The St. John Passion canbe heard on April 22, with the Grand Philharmonic Choir underdirector Mark Vuorinen in Kitchener.On April 3 in the Royal Conxervatory’s Koerner Hall, reveredpianist Leon Fleisher presents Bach from the standpoint of his ownlong life as an artist. He’ll play “Sheep May Safely Graze” fromCantata No. 208; , “On the Departure of aMost Beloved Brother”; and “Chaconne for the Left Hand” from theViolin Partita in D Minor, among other works.Some Others, In Brief One of the world’s premier male voice choirs, currentlytouring, makes one Canadian stop at Toronto’s Grace Church onthe-Hill.Christ Church Cathedral Choir of Oxford England presentsdirector), Tallis, Gibbons, Bach, Purcell and Handel. Toronto Early Music Centre’s Musically Speaking seriespresents A Modern Troubadour. Benjamin Stein sings and playson lute and theorbo: baroque and renaissance songs from France,England and Italy, and his own theorbo transcription of a Bachcello suite. Vesuvius Ensemble presents I canti a Maria: Music for theMadonna, celebrating (with voice, baroque and renaissance guitars,chitarrone, hurdy-gurdy, percussion and rustic Neopolitan instruments)a rich folk heritage: ancient dances, rhythms, feasts, processionsand pilgrimages which recall seasonal traditions repeated today. Grace, passion and elegance characterize The MusiciansIn Ordinary’s À Sa Lyre: musical settings of 16th century Frenchpoetry and dances for lute from the country that would invent ballet. “Greenness” is the overriding theme of Sine Nominelife’s rising is celebrated with music from medieval times. The Toronto Consort has among its members acontingent of wonderful female singers. Their beautiful sound andvirtuosity are displayed in Songs of the Celestial Sirens, a programof music by and for women from 17th century Italy. Never a group to be left behind in the dust, I FuriosiBaroque Ensemble presents Baroqueback Mountain. With music byHandel, Geminiani and Rosenmueller, they urge you to “Park yourhorses outside, remove your Stetsons, sit back and enjoy the view.” Coronation Anthemsfor the coronation of King George II and Queen Caroline in 1727.Their power to enthrall has never waned, nor has their popularity;you can hear them performed by The Tallis Choir under its directorPeter Mahon, with guest artists The Talisker Players. Saints and Sinners mingle in this pair of concerts byCantemus Singers, with some saucy English, French and Germansongs from the 16th century, balanced by Palestrina’s Missa PapaeMarcelli and motets by Byrd, Hassler and Clemens non Papa. Classical Music Consort’s second annual Springtimebrings to light some of Handel’s rarely performedworks in six concerts at Trinity and Victoria College Chapels. Simone Desilets is a long-time contributor to The WholeNote incontacted at earlymusic@thewholenote.com.18 thewholenote.comApril 1 - May 7, 2011

PHOTO Beat by Beat / Classical & BeyondDreams AbundantOne of the more unusual concerts this month is “SamanthaChang and Friends” on April 16. Flutist, Samantha Chang,of “musician-as-entrepreneur,” which is, in my opinion, what youhave to be if you want to be a musician. Chang has a head start onmany. “I see myself as someone who truly wants to take somethingcommerce student at U of T, which gave me a lot of insights into theyears, and you learn a lot by interacting with the bankers!”Most musicians, whenthey do a solo concert select avenue like the Heliconian Hallor Gallery 345, venues witha capacity of about 85. Youdon’t need a large audiencefocus on the music withoutingthe hall. The venue forChang’s concert? KoernerHall, with a capacity of justover 1,100. “If you have adream,” she says, “you haveto dream big!” What’s more,in a typical solo recital thereare at most only a few otherALLAN PULKERFlutist Samantha Chang.musicians – a collaborativepianist, of course, and occasionallya small ensemble. In Chang’s upcoming concert there are 16a singer, an oboist, a harpist and even a drummer!Having put on a few concerts myself, I had to ask how she hasbalanced the artistic and the management components. “I admit,”she says, “I am … sleep deprived … [but] I wouldn’t do any of this ifI didn’t enjoy it. As a musician, I often feel like I am always at work:my ears are constantly listening, and my brain is churning.” Babette’s Feast of a concert: “I like to be entertained at a concert,and I hope to do the same for the audience when I am on stage bypresenting … diverse programs and performers.” With a view totwo works for violin that will be played by Conrad Chow, theDebussy violin sonata and the Canadian premiere of Songs by Bruce Broughton. (I mentioned Broughton’s name in lastmonth’s column in connection with the Scarborough Philharmonic’sApril 2 concert at which his Triptych for Violin and ChamberOrchestra will be premiered by the same Conrad Chow).Another original on the program will be a Rumba by Chicklives in Toronto and will be among the performers.There is more to Chang than business smarts and good program-all through high school. In her third year of commerce studies atuniversity, she realized that this what she really wanted to do withher life. She began to take lessons again, holding down a number ofpart-time jobs to pay for them. After graduating, having respondedBennett, she auditioned for a number of English music schools andwas accepted by them all. (Some of you may remember a concertshe gave, with an orchestra, at the George Weston Recital Hall a fewyears back. A video of that concert was her audition!)DARREN SIGESMUND’SSTRANDS IIW/ NEW YORK'S MARK FELDMAN (VIOLIN)& GARY VERSACE (PIANO & ACCORDION)PREMIERE OF NEW JAZZ WORKS BY 2010JUNO NOMINEE AND GALAXIE RISING STARCOMPOSER/TROMBONIST DARREN SIGESMUNDWEDNESDAYAPRIL 27, 2011 / 8:00PMAL GREEN THEATREMILES NADAL JCC / 750 SPADINA AVE (AT BLOOR ST.)BOX OFFICE 416.924.6211 ext 0www.algreentheatre.cawww.darrensigesmund.caTHIS CONCERT IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS.cosmoCanada’s Bechstein Selection CentreYoung Chang Piano GalleryWorld Class Repairsto all musical instruments10 Via Renzo Drive, Richmond Hill(east side of Leslie St., just north of Major Mackenzie Dr.)905.770.52221.800.463.3000cosmomusic.caApril 1 - May 7, 2011 thewholenote.com 19

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