The October 11 Soundstreams event offers a veritable smorgasbordof performers, drawn from a wide range of sources specifically for thisevent. Among them: David Fallis and Joaquin Valdepeñas, conductors;Ryan Scott, percussion; Shannon Mercer, soprano; Julie Ranti, flute;Choir 21; the Gryphon Trio; and NEXUS, in works by Frehner, Llugdar,Pärt; Fuhong Shi and Schafer. Cherney’s presence as artistic directorwill be almost entirely behind the scenes, evidenced in the carefulshaping of the event.October 14, at the Esprit concert, the surprise will not be in theplayers, the vast majority of whom are the backbone of the orchestra,appearing year in, year out in almost every Esprit event. Pauk willlead from the front, on the conductor’s podium and the overallthrust will be much more strongly large scale, as befits Canada’s onlyorchestra solely dedicated to the commissioning and performanceof new orchestral works. Schafer’s new work for the concert is titledWolf Returns, and will feature along with the orchestra a chorusdrawn from participants over the years in Schafer’s annual summerHaliburton wilderness project, And Wolf Shall Inherit the Moon.Works by Esprit perennial composers John Rea, Alexina Louie,Iannis Xenakis and Colin McPhee will round out the event, andSchafer himself will be there in the lobby for the official launch,and signing, of his newly released memoir, My Life On Earthand Elsewhere.All too briefly: the above barely scratches the surface of anextraordinarily rich month of music which also includes the following,each in its way worthy of an article all on its own (and all referencedin our listings so that you can begin supplying for yourself the missingdetails in this hasty list):!!October 25 4:00 to October 28 1:30: Jackman HumanitiesInstitute, University of Toronto. Future of Cage: Credo. A spectacularconference to mark the 100th birthday of composer John Cage,featuring performances, panel discussions, keynote addresses,lectures and installations. “This interdisciplinary conference is both acelebration of John Cage, 100 years after his birth, and an opportunityto explore Cage’s influence on music, writing, performance andcritical scholarship,” says their press release. “Fundamental to thedevelopment of innovations in performance art, contemporary music,graphic notation, audience reception and theories of social practice,Cage remains one of the most, if not the most, influential figures in20th- and 21st-century art and performance. Such a legacy necessarilyresonates beyond any single artistic or historical trajectory, and “TheFuture of Cage: Credo” will explore not only Cage’s output, bothartistic and philosophical, but its after-effects through a variety offields, genres and modes of presentation.”!!Monday October 22 8:00: Continuum Contemporary Music.Finding Voice. “Another season of musical and extra musicalexploration: influential works reconceived, new works on their way tobeing influential, revelatory performances, discussion among friendsnew and old” starts with a concert featuring, at its outset, an old friendof ther ensemble, Dutch composer Martijn Voorvelt and rivettingmezzo soprano Marion Newman. “Finding Voice” is a concert of vocalmusic about the voice and about communicating. It is also abouthistory, the past given contemporary voice.”!!Friday October 12 to Friday October 19: Music Gallery. X AvantNew Music Festival VII: Expanding Circuits. Fortunately fellowcolumnist Andrew Timar has turned some of his erudite attention tothis event, in World Music on page 28 and the Music Gallery’s ownwebsite gives a very detailed overview of a boundary-testing eventthat goes from strength to strength every year.!!Friday October 19 8:00: Arraymusic. The Poets. A mix of wordsand music by poets and members of Arraymusic. Fides Krucker,mezzo; Phoebe Tsang, violin; Lydia Munchinsky, cello; Stephen Clarke,piano; Nilan Perera, guitar; Rick Sacks, percussion. and Ideas Studio,980 O’Connor Dr., 416-778-7535. ; (workshop and eveningconcert, see listings section A, Oct.13 at 8:00).David Perlman has been writing this column for the past seasonand a bit and is willing to entertain the notion that it’s someoneelse’s turn. He can be reached at publisher@thewholenote.com.16 thewholenote.com October 1 – November 7, 2012
Beat by Beat | Classical & BeyondReasons toCelebrateSHARNA SEARLEThese days, with so much to bring us down — the lousy economy,rampant shootings, political turmoil, crushing poverty,grave threats to the environment, the possibility (even the remotestone) that Mitt Romney might win the upcoming U.S. presidentialrace or, closer to home, that certain mayors might get re-elected fora second term — who isn’t looking for a reason to lift the spirits andcelebrate something ... anything. Any excuse for a party, right?Fortunately for us, in October and early November there’s some serious(and eclectic) celebrating going on by several orchestras: fromthe CAST (Chinese Artist Society of Toronto) Philomusica Orchestra’scommemoration of the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong’s accessionto China, and the Korean Canadian Symphony Orchestra’s celebrationof its 25th anniversary, to the Ontario Philharmonic’s recognitionof violinist Shlomo Mintz’s 50 years on stage, and the curiouslynamedMedical Musical Group Chorale and Symphony Orchestra’sacknowledgment of “200 years of peace and friendship” with an“American-Canadian Friendship Concert.” I did say eclectic.At the other end of the musical spectrum, the art of the solo pianois being celebrated by a number of presenters, covering the gamutfrom Bach to John Cage (who’s also being celebrated in honour of the100th anniversary of his birth, well-noted in last month’s issue). You’llfind those listed below in the Quick Picks.All in all, there’s some pretty compelling and unusual music makingthis month to take your mind off the woes of the world, if only forthe length of a concert. Let the celebrations begin!A BANNER MONTH FOR ANNIVERSARIES15 years: 1997 marked the year of HongKong’s accession to China (after 156years under British rule) and its establishmentas a “Special AdministrativeRegion.” The Chinese Artist Society ofToronto (CAST) and the Multi-Culture& Folk Arts Association of Canada arehonouring the 15th anniversary of thishistoric juncture with a concert onOctober 28 at the Richmond Hill Centrefor the Performing Arts. On the variedprogram: Schumann’s Piano Concertoin A Minor; Mozart’s (unfinished)Concerto for Violin and Piano in DMajor K.anh.56 (315f); Chinese musicRachel Cheung.for violin and piano; narration withmusic arranged from songs that evoke images of Hong Kong; and aviolin ensemble of 100 children performing popular Hong Kong songs.The concert features 20-year-old Hong Kong pianist Rachel Cheung,making her Canadian debut. Also performing are well-known localsoloists (with Hong Kong connections) Conrad Chow, violin, and KaKit Tam, piano, and the CAST Philomusica Orchestra. Erhei Liang,who wears many hats including one as president of CAST, another ascomposer-in-residence of the Hong Kong City Choir and yet anotheras an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, conducts. Theevening gets underway at 7:30pm.25 years: On its website, the Korean Canadian Symphony Orchestrastates that its mission is “to present the highest quality classicalmusic to our audience, many of whom are not regular concert-October 1 – November 7, 2012 thewholenote.com 17
