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Volume 20 Issue 7 - April 2015

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  • April
  • Toronto
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particularly unpromising

particularly unpromising or promising, depending on your bent. Onething it won’t be, though, is painful to the ear; I Furiosi is known forputting together amusing musical miscellanies that never take thingstoo seriously. Given the title, it’s likely to include a few selectionsto appease your organological fetish, and the group will throw in apop tease here and there. I Furiosi will be presenting Instruments ofTorture along with lutenist Lucas Harris on Friday April 10 at 8pm.17th-Century Avant Garde: There’s one more chamber concertfeaturing Tafelmusik violinists going on this month - the groupMusicians in Ordinary, probably the hardest-working instrumentalgroup in Toronto, will be presenting a concert featuring Chris Verretteand Patricia Ahearn along with their core duo of soprano HallieFishel and lutenist John Edwards. This particular concert, entitled InStile Moderno, features the music of Renaissance Italy’s avant-gardists.Claudio Monteverdi broke more than a few conventions of traditionalstyle and perceptions of good taste when he began publishingmadrigals and instrumental music as a court composer in Mantua.The musical establishment of the day was outraged, but Monteverdi’smusical revolution eventually made him the most famous composerof his day. It’s also interesting to note that he didn’t do it alone - themaster had a few followers in his circle who either tried to imitatehis style or were just sick of the last two hundred years of tediousRenaissance polyphony. Salamone Rossi was one such disciple, andhe didn’t do too badly either: although he never enjoyed Monteverdi’slevel of fame, he’s still the most famous (and the most talented) Jewishclassical composer before Mendelssohn.The Musicians will be dedicating a concert to the music of the aforementionedtwo audacious Italians along with some of their Mantuan“modern style” contemporaries. You can check them out at HeliconianHall on May 2 at 8pm.David Podgorski is a Toronto-based harpsichordist, musicteacher and a founding member of Rezonance. He canbe contacted at earlymusic@thewholenote.com.Beat by Beat | Choral SceneParry’s Judith,Tavener’s MuseIwonder if we’ll ever overcome our tendency to judge people bytheir musical taste? When I see social media memes that make loftypronouncements about the Power of Music (common elements:sunset; a violin bow; Mozart; a rose on a grand piano), I know whatI’m in for when I get to the comments section: predictable complaintsabout today’s lousy songs; the ignorant new generation; hip hop;Taylor Swift; heavy metal, etc.I have no problem with honest snobbery, I just wish snobs wouldbe consistent. If your musical preferences are elevated ones, you can’tstop there – Benjamin Britten and cheeseburgers don’t mix. Yourtastes in literature, dance, film, visual art, clothes, food and architectureneed to be on the same haute plateau. If you’ve achieved that,congratulations, your superb acumen is beautifully integrated intoevery aspect of your life. Unfortunately, you’re probably insufferable.More likely, you don’t actually exist.Here’s the key – snobbery works best in opposition. It’s not enoughto like something – what are you, eight? To be a true aesthete youhave to hate something as well. Our love of Sondheim’s tart rhymesis made keener by our dismissal of Lloyd Webber’s sugary melodichooks. Our veneration of Bach requires a good sneer at the burgherswho preferred Telemann for the prestigious post at the LeipzigThomaskirche. We hone our love of Hank Williams by sharpening ourdisdain for Clint Black. Louis Armstrong vs. Wynton Marsalis? I Can’tEven, as the status updates say.BENJAMIN STEINBACH CHILDREN’S CHORUSBACH CHAMBER YOUTH CHOIRLinda Beaupré, ConductorEleanor Daley, PianistSing it high!Sing it low!SATURDAY MAY 9, 2015 AT 7:30PM and at the Toronto Centre box officeor TicketMaster at 1-855-985-2787 (ARTS)Toronto Centre for the Arts 5040 Yonge StreetPhoto by Flickr user Mat SimpsonUsed under Creative Commons licenceDesign by David Kopulos www.davidkopulos.comfacebook.com/BCCandBCYC bachchildrenschorus.ca22 | April 1 - May 7, 2015 thewholenote.com

CHOIR & ORGAN CONCERTSEMILY DINGStephanie Martin conducts the Pax Christi Chorale (February 2014)Lovers of choral music yield to no one in their readiness to indulgein a good love it/hate it status fest. But there are elements of choralculture that mitigate this unfortunate tendency and may make us alittle more tolerant than say, indie-rock fans or free improv obsessives.For one thing, there is a strong amateur aspect to choral music, inboth the modern and ancient sense. We usually love what makes usfeel good, and the modernist asceticism that produced so much defiantlylistener-unfriendly music in the last century made less headwayin choral circles than, say, orchestral ones. For another, the kind ofsinging that takes place in liturgical settings, or even plain old groupsingalongs, has had its influence on choral composers. And finally,FREE ADMISSIONROYTHOMSON.COMMCHOIRORGANthewholenote.com April 1 - May 7, 2015 | 23

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