Soundstreams will also sponsor an intriguing sounding lecture onJanuary 17, ”New Directions in Choral Music.” The event will exploreinnovations in the use of the voice in modern choral writing andperformance.In the meantime, check out the rest of the listings, enjoy the season,and remember that when it comes to music, no pleasure should bea guilty one. Still, I could be wrong. I’ll ponder it over some whiskeyand chocolate.Benjamin Stein is a Toronto tenor and lutenist.He can be contacted at choralscene@thewholenote.com.Visit his website at benjaminstein.ca.HANDEL’S MESSIAH QUICK PICKSNOTE: For details consult the concert listingscommencing page 36. Towns/cities in boldtype are in listings Section B: Beyond the GTA.!!Dec 1, 4:00: Toronto Classical Singers. Highlights.!!Dec 3, 7:30: Cathedral Church of St. James.Handel’s Messiah. Vicki St. Pierre, conductor;Cathedral Choir; Lesley Bouza, soprano; ChristinaStelmacovich, mezzo; Aaron Ferguson, tenor; andJames Westman, baritone; Talisker Players.!!Dec 6–7, 7:30: Bach Elgar Choir. Messiah. ByHandel. Full chorus and orchestra; JenniferTaverner, soprano; Michele Bogdanowicz, mezzo;Chris Fischer, tenor; Andrew Tees, bass; AlexCann, conductor. Hamilton.!!Dec 6, 8:00: Elmer Iseler Singers. Handel’sMessiah. Lydia Adams, conductor; AllisonAhrends, soprano; Laura Pudwell, mezzo; IsaiahBell, tenor; Doug MacNaughton, bass; PatriciaWright, organ; guests: Amadeus Choir.!!Dec 7, 7:30: Grand Philharmonic Choir ChamberSingers. Handel’s Messiah. Carla Huhtanen,soprano; Krisztina Szabo, mezzo-soprano; ZachFinkelstein, tenor; Tyler Duncan, baritone;Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony; Mark Vuorinen,conductor. Kitchener.!!Dec 7, 7:30: Arcady. A Baroque Messiah. RonaldBeckett, conductor. Vineland.!!Dec 8, 2:00: St. Anne’s Anglican Church.Selections.!!Dec 8, 2:30: Orchestra Kingston. Sing-AlongMessiah. Kingston.!!Dec 9, 7:30: Arcady/National Academy Orchestraof Canada. Handel’s Messiah. Boris Brott,conductor. Hamilton.!!Dec 10, 7:30: Arcady/National AcademyOrchestra of Canada. Handel’s Messiah. BorisBrott, conductor. Burlington.!!Dec 14, 4:00: Pax Christi Chorale. The Children’sMessiah. Selected arias and choruses!!Dec 14, 7:30: Kindred Spirits Orchestra. Handel’sGlorious Messiah (orchestrated by W. A. Mozart).Kristian Alexander, conductor; Jennifer Taverner,soprano; Laura McAlpine, mezzo; StephenHarland, tenor; Andrew Tees, bass-baritone;Village Voices (Joan Andrews, director).!!Dec 14–15, 8:00: Against the Grain Theatre. AtG’sMessiah. Jacqueline Woodley, soprano; KrisztinaSzabó, mezzo; Isaiah Bell, tenor; Geoffrey Sirett,baritone; Christopher Mokrzewski conductor;orchestra and choir.!!Dec 15, 3:00: Blessed Trinity Church. Selections!!Dec 15–16, 3:00: Peterborough Singers. Handel’sMessiah. Melody Thomas, soprano; EmmaMansell, mezzo-soprano; Chris Mayell, tenor;Tyler Fitzgerald, bass. Peterborough.!!Dec 15, 7:30: Arcady. A Baroque Messiah. RonaldBeckett, conductor. Brantford.!!Dec 17, 18, 20, 21; 8:00: Toronto SymphonyOrchestra. Handel’s Messiah. ChristopherWarren-Green, conductor and conductor; KlaraEk, soprano; Lawrence Zazzo, countertenor; JohnTessier, tenor; John Relyea, bass-baritone.Also Dec 1.!!Dec 18 ,19, 20, 21; 7:30, and Dec 22 (Massey Hall,sing-along mat): Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestraand Chamber Choir. Handel’s Messiah. EmmaKirkby, soprano; Laura Pudwell, mezzo; ColinBalzer, tenor; Tyler Duncan, baritone.!!Dec 18, 7:30: Toronto Choral Society/EastminsterUnited Church. Handel’s Messiah. TaliskerPlayers; William O’Meara, organist; GeoffreyButler, conductor.!!Dec 20, 7:00: Grand River Chorus. SingalongMessiah. Handel: Messiah. Richard Cunningham,artistic director; Taylor Webb, guest conductor(Hallelujah); Lesley Bouza, soprano; Sarah Hicks,mezzo; Joshua Wales, tenor; Jordan Stumpf,baritone. Brantford.!!Dec 21, 8:00: Aradia Ensemble. The DublinMessiah. Handel’s Dublin Messiah. KevinMallon, conductor; Leslie Fagan, soprano; MarionNewman, mezzo; Nils Brown, tenor; David Pike,bass.!!Dec 22, 8:00: Guelph Chamber Choir. Handel’sMessiah. Handel: Messiah. Gerald Neufeld,conductor; Agnes Zsigovics, soprano; DanielCabena, countertenor; Bud Roach, tenor; DanielLichti, bass; Musica Viva Orchestra on periodinstruments. Guelph.CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHTSUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 4:30PMA traditional candlelight choral presentation featuring choirs and musiciansof Yorkminster Park Baptist Church.NINE LESSONS & CAROLSSUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, 4:30PMFollowing the historic tradition of King’s College in Cambridge.FREE ADMISSIONDoors open at 3:30pm. Child care for children 5 years and under.Yorkminster Park Baptist Church1585 Yonge St., (1 block north of St. Clair Ave. | (416) 922-1167 | yorkminsterpark.com30 | December 1, 2013 – February 7, 2014 thewholenote.com
Beat by Beat | World ViewA Holly JollyLiminal HaikuYes,’tis the season, though it’s sometimes a cold one forworld music lovers. I’ll put my cards on the table for you, dearreader. It doesn’t take much 6/8 time early music to put meinto the Christmas spirit, and just a few bars of a polished SalvationArmy brass band to warm my chilledNoël heart. I’m a sucker for Yuletidecarols, period instrument performancesof baroque staples by Bach, etal, grand chorales and church organmusic. I may join the tenor section ofa sing-along Messiah yet once morethis year, the one with Ivars Taurinsconducting, re-enacting moody “HerrHandel” warts, waistcoat and all. It’san interactive event which combinesseveral of those seasonal pleasuresI don’t feel obliged to feel guiltyabout at all.I wish I could say that about theTimar family holiday tradition. Fordecades we’ve feasted and thendecorated the dessert table withsuper-rich confections. Make noANDREW TIMARFatoumata Diamwara.mistake though; these are serious symbols of conspicuous abundance.Other kids had Christmas lights twinkling publicly on frostyfront porches; we had tortes, truffles, candies and pastries shared inthe warmth of family. Imagine homemade all-nut tortes garnishedwith spiked whipped cream and flavoured buttercream in thick layers.And heaping plates of all-butter shortbreads, artisanal boozy mascarponetruffles and raspberry Linzer squares, all toasted with Tokay andbubbly — but I digress from my main musical point...My problem: none of the music performance sites I mentioned aregenerally considered or marketed as “world music,” my beat at TheWholeNote. Thus I can’t discuss that sort of musicking here. What I dofeel free to discuss however is the wealth of music originating fromthe second, third and hybrid worlds being performed in our midst,some of it even tied thematically to the season.World cultures for millennia have marked the frighteningly longdarkest night and looked forward to any sign of the return of the light.Lux Aeterna is a theme not only in the Latin liturgy and its musicbut in rituals around the world. As I write this, late fall’s first whiteflakes swirl from above in shifting clouds, magically dusting our worldwith lacy crystals of water. It puts me in the mood to engage in haiku,another season-specific activity. This Japanese poetic form, like worldmusic itself is an imported notion, an admirable platform from whichto succinctly reflect on this liminal season:Longest night, coldestday; Solstice sings fa-la-la —winter pine boughs cheer.Picks: December 3 the Nathaniel Dett Chorale presents a concertdeftly merging European, African American and Caribbean hybridmusical worlds thematically evoking the season. “An IndigoChristmas: Songs to the Black Virgin” at St. Timothy’s AnglicanChurch, promises Christmas music with a “distinct Afrocentric vibe.”The Chorale has presented this program before and released a stirringCD titled An Indigo Christmas – Live! in 2004. The notes admirablysum up the music as an “age-old story of expectation,hope, redemption and freedom wrapped up in the promise ofAmanda Martinez.Bassekou Kouyate.a newborn child.” The concertoffers arrangements of spiritualsand carols, “some with anAfrican shout, a Caribbean twist,a jazz treatment, or a gospelblast of hope and joy.”Two days earlier, onDecember 1 at Koerner Hall,the 2012 Canadian FolkMusic Award-winning Sultansof String release their new CD,Symphony! in a concert presentedby Royal Conservatory and SmallWorld Music. The album was recordedwith the Cathedral Bluffs SymphonyOrchestra conducted by NormanReintamm. Toronto’s Sultans of String wasco-founded in 2004 by the well-knownsix-string violinist Chris McKhool and flamencoguitarist Kevin Laliberté. They arejoined by Eddie Paton, guitar, bassist Drew Birston, Roger Travassoson percussion and the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. Expecta fast-paced instrumental concert mashing up elements of Arabic folk,Spanish flamenco, French Manouche Gypsy jazz, Cuban rhythms, allsupported by lush pops orchestral arrangements.In the last issue of The WholeNote my colleague Wendalyn Bartleywrote about the December 4 and 5 Continuum ContemporaryMusic production of Nuyamł-ił Kulhulmx/Singing the Earth at theWychwood Theatre. Is this world music? My excuse for revisitingit here is that the composer of the work, Bella Coola-native AnnaHöstman (winner of the 2013 Toronto Emerging Composer Award),incorporates multi-ethnic human texts and musical materials as wellas the natural soundscape of the B.C. geography into this fascinatingCANADIAN CHORAL CELEBRATIONA celebration of 60 years of choral singing in Canada, featuring theElmer Iseler Singers, Vancouver Chamber Choir and Pro Coro Canadaand a world premiere from R. Murray Schafer.February 2, 2014 at 3:00 pmKoerner Hall,TELUS Centrefor the Performing ArtsFor tickets call 416-408-0208or visit soundstreams.caBlackthewholenote.com December 1, 2013 – February 7, 2014 | 31
