Beat by Beat | World ViewSinging DragonsANDREW TIMARHere be dragons is an English translation of the Latin phrase“hic sunt dracones,” a notation gracing a few medieval manuscriptmaps and reflecting the wider period practice of drawingdragons, sea serpents and other mythological creatures to identifyregions of the unknown and fearful, dangerous or unexplored territories.Some researchers suggest the term may be related to the existenceof giant lizards called Komodo dragons indigenous to a few smallremote Indonesian islands – andwhich are still a tourist draw,in the region and beyond, aswhen in 2003 the first CanadianKomodo dragon was hatched atthe Toronto Zoo.Tales of such creatures,morphed by repeated telling intohybrid beasts, were common notonly throughout Asia but alsomuch of the world, acquiringcomplex and conflicting transculturalrap sheets over thecenturies. The great majority –although not all – of dragonsdepicted in European stories andiconography represent chaos andIrineu Nogueiraevil (think St. George and his confrontation with his alter beast). InChinese legend and lore, by contrast, they are generally consideredbeneficial and represent orderly government, potency, auspiciousness,strength and good luck for those worthy of it. The Emperor of Chinaoften used the mythical animal as a symbol of his imperial power;in a more philosophical vein the dragon represents the yang principlecomplementing the phoenix’s yin. In recent decades the term“descendants of the dragon” has become a self-identifying marker ofnational, ethnic identity among some Chinese, both in the Chinesehomelands and throughout the extensive diaspora.A case in point is the Sound of Dragon Music Festival making itsOntario debut in five Southern Ontario venues from May20 to 24.Its artistic director, Vancouver-based Lan Tung, explained in a recentphone conversation that the first characters calligraphed in the festival’sdescriptive Chinese title refer to dragons singing across the ocean.It’s a potent poetic metaphor for music deeply rooted in Chinese traditionbut expressed with a characteristic Canadian inclusive accent.Tung’s instrument the erhu, as well as others such as the pipa, zheng,sheng and ruan will share the spotlight with the violin, viola, cello,bass, flute and clarinet, enlivened with world percussion instruments.Together they perform scores by composers of several nationalities.Launched last year in Vancouver, the festival, Tung notes, “bringsa unique approach to preserving traditional [Chinese] music, whilepromoting creativity and innovation.” The festival’s core contingentis made up of members of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra(VICO), along with collaborating musicians from Taiwan and Toronto.VICO, founded in 2001, has been described as “the United Nationsof music” (CBC Radio) and “music that sounds like Vancouverlooks” (Georgia Straight). It’s a significant and I believe particularlyCanadian music development — a professional orchestra devoted tothe performance of newly created intercultural music. It was one ofthe first such ensembles in the world and is the only one of its kind inCanada, a testament to the spirit of cultural cooperation many of uslike to think exemplifies the best in Canadians.VICO’s core roster consists of 24 musicians, trained in many worldmusic traditions. Its mission is to “act as a forum for the creationof a new musical art form, one in which all of Canada’s residentcultures can take part….” It moreover “serves as a voice for Canadiancomposers and musicians of diverse backgrounds, and fosters thecreation of musical works that fuse and transcend cultural traditions.”To date VICO has commissioned and performed over 40 new works byCanadian composers.The Sound of Dragon Festival, Tung explains, aims “to intertwinediverse styles: ancient, folk and classical Chinese repertoire, as well ascontemporary Canadian compositions … and creative improvisation.”By presenting musicians from different ethnicities, nationalities, andmusical genres, it aspires to “re-define Chinese music and reflectCanada’s multicultural environment.”Each concert of the festival has a slightly different focus. It kicksoff May20 with a free concert at the Blue Barracks of the Fort YorkNational Historic Site where members of VICO, Taiwan’s Little GiantChinese Chamber Orchestra and the Toronto pipa virtuoso WenZhao perform traditional and contemporarymusic written for Chinese instruments,joined in the second set by guestplayers from Toronto’s creative musicscene to collectively explore and improvisewith multiple combinations of Chinese,Western and other instruments.May 21, as part of Small World’s “AsianMusic Series,” the Sound of DragonFestival takes the Small World MusicCentre stage, presenting an intimateevening with musicians from the LittleGiant Chinese Chamber Orchestra andVICO, joined by Wen Zhao, pipa soloist.The concert finale features the Torontopremiere of Vancouver composer JohnOliver’s Eagle Flies to Mountain, a workwhich animates notions of the four elements (earth, air, water, fire)through musical combinations, and which also invokes the essentialcomplementary duality of the ancient concept of yin and yang.The following day, May 22, the festival moves north of Steeles Ave.to the Flato Markham Theatre. Free Chinese instrument workshopsin the afternoon will be followed by an evening concert featuring a12-member chamber orchestra conducted by the Taiwanese maestroChih-Sheng Chen. The orchestra, consisting of VICO core instrumentalistsaugmented by musicians from Taiwan and Toronto, willperform Lan Tung’s 2014 signature work Sound of Dragon, a livelyblend of the well-known Chinese piece Crazy Snake Dance infusedwith North African rhythms and sprinkled with improvised solos.Saturday May 23, the festival shifts to the Aeolian Hall in Londonpresented in a concert by Sunfest, formally known as the LondonCommittee for Cross-Cultural Arts Inc. Members of VICO and LittleGiant Chinese Chamber Orchestra join forces once again to presenta program of Chinese folk music arrangements and commissionedCanadian works, including “Indian, klezmer, Persian, Chinese andTaiwanese,” and no doubt Euro-North American essential features too.May 24 the Sound of Dragon Festival completes its Southern Ontariotour with a concert at The Jazz Room, Huether Hotel in Waterloo,produced by Neruda Arts, K-W’s world music presenter.Meden Glas: May 2 Toronto’s Meden Glas releases its debut albumBalkan Mixologies at the Music Gallery. The group is directed byethnomusicologist Irene Markoff, a specialist in Balkan and Turkishvocal styles and the bağlama (long-necked lute). Members of itsexpanded group and Bulgaria’s virtuoso kaval (end-blown flute)player Nikola Gaidarov will join the core quintet. Together theypresent a journey into the vocal styles, intricate rhythms and instrumentalmusic of Croatia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey,Sardinia, Russia, as well as that of the Kurds and Roma. They promisean “adventure that will bend your ears and get the evening kickingwith your dancing feet!” I’m in.Footsteps of Babur: May 8 the Aga Khan Museum in conjunctionwith the Aga Khan Trust for Cultural Music Initiative present“Footsteps of Babur,” referring to Babur, the founder of the MughalEmpire, and the legendary lavishness of 16th-century Mughal courtlife in which music of many kinds and from many regions andperformance genres played a prominent role. Musicians Homayun20 | May 1 - June 7, 2015 thewholenote.com
CAROLINE TABAHSakhi (Afghan rubab), Salar Nader (tabla) and Rahul Sharma (Indiansantoor) evoke the light refined music that filled the palace roomsof Mughal India and Afghanistan in centuries past. Sharma is theson of the important Northern Indian santoor player ShivkumarSharma, often credited as the man who established his instrument inHindustani classical music performance.Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project: Also May 8, “Jayme Stone’s LomaxProject,” also the title of their delightful new album takes theKoerner Hall stage. Two-time JUNO-winning banjoist, composerand band leader Stone has distilled and reinterpreted songs made bythe American ethnomusicologist and folklorist Lomax, along withhis distinguished instrumental and vocal collaborators. Lomax isjustly celebrated for his field recordings conducted over the 50 yearsstraddling the middle of the 20th century. The project revives forour century the voices and spirit of that era’s rural Americana. Wehear stirring renditions of sea chanties, fiddle tunes, work songs,moving Georgia Sea Islands African-American a cappella singing andAppalachian ballads. It’s an important roots revival album, and audiencescan expect Stone at the core of his tight ensemble at KoernerHall adding deft touches of his musically nuanced, never superfluous,banjo playing.Asian Heritage Month at the TPL: May is Asian Heritage Monthin Toronto. As in previous years the Toronto Public Library is celebratingit in various ways, including free music performances givenby select musicians from Toronto’s Asian music diaspora. May 16 at1pm the Richview, Etobicoke branch presents Andrew Timar (yesthat’s me moonlighting as a musician) and dancer Keiko Ninomiyain a program of “Southeast Asian Dance and Music Fusion” setwithin a North American aesthetic. North York Central Library’sAuditorium’s stage will be particularly musically active this month.May 21 “The Music of China” takes to its intimate stage with a programof “regional, contemporary, and Western music.” For “An Afternoonof Persian Music” on May 23 the polished Shiraz Ensemble performsmusic from the Persian Qajar dynasty, plus works by the importantcomposer and santur player Farāmarz Pāyvar (1933—2009), as well asimprovisations.Pedram Khavarzamini and Shawn Mativetsky: May 16 PedramKhavarzamini and Shawn Mativetsky headline at the Music Galleryin a program titled “East Meets Further East.” The concert’s goal isto highlight Iran and India’s deep drumming traditions. MontrealerMativetsky, performing with bassist George Koller, is an accomplishedtabla performer and educator, an exponent of the Benares gharanaand disciple of theShawn Mativetskytabla maestro PanditSharda Sahai (1935—2011). Mativetskyteaches tabla andpercussion at McGillUniversity and is apassionate advocate oftabla in contemporarymusic of many genres.Khavarzamini, whowas among the mostsought-after tombakteachers and playersin Teheran when hewas a resident there,will perform with tarvirtuoso Araz Salek. Hehas co-authored severalbooks on the drum’stechnique and repertoire. In the early 2000s he was invited to jointhe Greek music innovator Ross Daly’s group Labyrinth and movedto Europe to pursue his music career. He has toured the world withmusicians such as Dhruba Ghosh, Dariush Talai, Vassilis Stavrakakis,and others. Last year he relocated to Toronto, a move which is ourcity’s and our country’s gain. These two outstanding Canadian drummerswill explore much of the range of their respective instrumentsand rhythmic vocabularies, culminating in a collective performance.Lulaworld Festival: The Lulaworld Festival is celebrating its tenthanniversary, and this year it’s a whopper. More than two dozenconcerts, family workshops, Brazilian parade and other events at theLula Lounge and environs between May 27 and June 6 work the theme“Celebrating the Music and Dance of the Americas!” Presented by LulaMusic and Arts Centre, it’s billed as the summer’s Toronto 2015 PANAM Games pre-party, guaranteed to “get Toronto dancing to the musicof the Americas.” Even if you don’t dance in public, you can expecta healthy serving of Toronto’s finest world, jazz and Latin musicians,often collaborating with international guest artists on Lula’s intimatestage. With a festival on such a vast scale, I can only hint at the musical– and dance – wealth to be discovered.May 27, the festival’s opening night, Toronto’s leading Braziliandance company Dance Migration is joined by guest Sao Paolo-basedpercussionist Alysson Bruno and Irineu Nogueira.May 30 the Lula All Stars release their new CD. The group of musicianswith roots from across the Americas plays at Lula Lounge’sweekly live salsa series, co-led by Sean Bellaviti and Luis Orbegoso.Saturday, June 6, the Lulaworld stage at the Dundas West Fest willbe chockablock with Latin jazz, salsa, Jamaican ska, Afro-Caribbeanjazz, Spanish rock and pop, Canada’s biggest participatory Braziliandrumming parade and “family-friendly workshops.” Best of all,it’s all free.Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer. Hecan be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com.Celebrating New TraditionsFiddler on the RoofValérie MilotA Lot of Hot AirsStewart GoodyearLa traviataImprov All-StarsMarie-Josée LordMusic from the Sistine ChapelJazz Fringe FestivalThe Good LoveliesJane BunnettMAZand more…705-653-5508 1-877-883-5777WWW.WESTBEN.CAthewholenote.com May 1 - June 7, 2015 | 21
Choral Scene: Uncharted territory: three choirs finding paths forward; Music Theatre: Loose Tea on the boil with Alaina Viau’s Dead Reckoning; In with the New: what happens to soundart when climate change meets COVID-19; Call to action: diversity, accountability, and reform in post-secondary jazz studies; 9th Annual TIFF Tips: a filmfest like no other; Remembering: Leon Fleisher; DISCoveries: a NY state of mind; 25th anniversary stroll-through; and more.
Online in flip through here, and on stands commencing Tues SEP 1.
Following the Goldberg trail from Gould to Lang Lang; Measha Brueggergosman and Edwin Huizinga on face to face collaboration in strange times; diggings into dance as FFDN keeps live alive; "Classical unicorn?" - Luke Welch reflects on life as a Black classical pianist; Debashis Sinha's adventures in sound art; choral lessons from Skagit Valley; and the 21st annual WholeNote Blue Pages (part 1 of 3) in print and online. Here now. And, yes, still in print, with distribution starting Thursday October 1.
Alanis Obomsawin's art of life; fifteen Exquisite Departures; UnCovered re(dis)covered; jazz in the kitchen; three takes on managing record releases in times of plague; baroque for babies; presenter directory (blue pages) part two; and, here at the WholeNote, work in progress on four brick walls (or is it five?). All this and more available in flipthrough HERE, and in print Tuesday Nov 3.
In this issue: Beautiful Exceptions, Sing-Alone Messiahs, Livingston’s Vocal Pleasures, Chamber Beethoven, Online Opera (Plexiglass & All), Playlist for the Winter of our Discontent, The Oud & the Fuzz, Who is Alex Trebek? All this and more available in flipthrough HERE, and in print Friday December 4.
July/August issue is now available in flipthrough HERE, bringing to a close 25 seasons of doing what we do (and plan to continue doing), and on stands early in the week of July 5. Not the usual bucolic parade of music in the summer sun, but lots, we hope, to pass the time: links to online and virtual music; a full slate of record reviews; plenty new in the Listening Room; and a full slate of stories – the future of opera, the plight of small venues, the challenge facing orchestras, the barriers to resumption of choral life, the challenges of isolation for real-time music; the steps some festivals are taking to keep the spirit and substance of what they do alive. And intersecting with all of it, responses to the urgent call for anti-racist action and systemic change.
"COVID's Metamorphoses"? "There's Always Time (Until Suddenly There Isn't)"? "The Writing on the Wall"? It's hard to know WHAT to call this latest chapter in the extraordinary story we are all of a sudden characters in. By whatever name we call it, the MAY/JUNE combined issue of The WholeNote is now available, HERE in flip through format, in print commencing Wednesday May 6, and, in fully interactive form, online at thewholenote.com. Our 18th Annual Choral Canary Pages, scheduled for publication in print and flip through in September is already well underway with the first 50 choirs home to roost and more being added every week online. Community Voices, our cover story, brings to you the thoughts of 30 musical community members, all going through what we are going through (and with many more to come as the feature gets amplified online over the course of the coming months). And our regular writers bring their personal thoughts to the mix. Finally, a full-fledged DISCoveries review section offers cues and clues to recorded music for your solitary solace!
After some doubt that we would be allowed to go to press, in respect to wide-ranging Ontario business closures relating to COVID-19, The WholeNote magazine for April 2020 is now on press, and print distribution – modified to respect community-wide closures and the need for appropriate distancing – starts Monday March 30. Meanwhile the full magazine is right here, digitally, so if you value us PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK AS WIDELY AS YOU CAN. It's the safest way for us to reach the widest possible audience at this time!
FEATURED: Music & Health writer Vivien Fellegi explores music, blindness & the plasticity of perception; David Jaeger digs into Gustavo Gimeno's plans for new music in his upcoming first season as music director at TSO; pianist James Rhodes, here for an early March recital, speaks his mind in a Q&A with Paul Ennis; and Lydia Perovic talks music and more with rising Turkish-Canadian mezzo Beste Kalender. Also, among our columns, Peggy Baker Dance Projects headlines Wende Bartley's In with the New; Steve Wallace's Jazz Notes rushes in definitionally where many fear to tread; ... and more.
Visions of 2020! Sampling from back to front for a change: in Rearview Mirror, Robert Harris on the Beethoven he loves (and loves to hate!); Errol Gay, a most musical life remembered; Luna Pearl Woolf in focus in recordings editor David Olds' "Editor's Corner" and in Jenny Parr's preview of "Jacqueline"; Speranza Scappucci explains how not to reinvent Rossini; The Indigo Project, where "each piece of cloth tells a story"; and, leading it all off, Jully Black makes a giant leap in "Caroline, or Change." And as always, much more. Now online in flip-through format here and on stands starting Thurs Jan 30.
Welcome to our December/January issue as we turn the annual calendar page, halfway through our season for the 25th time, juggling as always, secular stuff, the spirit of the season, new year resolve and winter journeys! Why is Mozart's Handel's Messiah's trumpet a trombone? Why when Laurie Anderson offers to fly you to the moon you should take her up on the invitation. Why messing with Winterreisse can (sometimes) be a very good thing! And a bumper crop of record reviews for your reading (and sometimes listening) pleasure. Available in flipthrough here right now, and on stands commencing Thursday Nov 28. See you on the other side!
On the slim chance you might not have already heard the news, Estonian Canadian composing giant Udo Kasemets was born the same year that Leo Thermin invented the theremin --1919. Which means this is the centenary year for both of them, and both are being celebrated in style, as Andrew Timar and MJ Buell respectively explain. And that's just a taste of a bustling November, with enough coverage of music of both the delectably substantial and delightfully silly on hand to satisfy one and all.
Long promised, Vivian Fellegi takes a look at Relaxed Performance practice and how it is bringing concert-going barriers down across the spectrum; Andrew Timar looks at curatorial changes afoot at the Music Gallery; David Jaeger investigates the trumpets of October; the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution (and the 20th Anniversary of our October Blue Pages Presenter profiles) in our Editor's Opener; the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir at 125; Tapestry at 40 and Against the Grain at 10; ringing in the changing season across our features and columns; all this and more, now available in Flip Through format here, and on the stands commencing this coming Friday September 27, 2019. Enjoy.
Vol 1 of our 25th season is now here! And speaking of 25, that's how many films in the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival editor Paul Ennis, in our Eighth Annual TIFF TIPS, has chosen to highlight for their particular musical interest.
Also inside: Rob Harris looks through the Rear View Mirror at past and present prognostications about the imminent death of classical music; Mysterious Barricades and Systemic Barriers are Lydia Perović's preoccupations in Art of Song; Andrew Timar reflects on the evolving priorities of the Polaris Prize; and elsewhere, it's chocks away as yet another season creaks or roars (depending on the beat) into motion. Welcome back.
What a range of stuff! A profile of Liz Upchurch, the COC ensemble studio's vocal mentor extraordinaire; a backgrounder on win-win faith/arts centre partnerships and ways of exploring the possibilities; an interview with St. Petersburg-based Eifman Ballet's Boris Eifman; Ana Sokolovic's violin concert Evta finally coming to town; a Love Letter to YouTube, and much more. Plus our 17th annual Canary Pages Choral directory if all you want to do is sing! sing! sing!
Arraymusic, the Music Gallery and Native Women in the Arts join for a mini-festival celebrating the work of composer, performer and installation artist Raven Chacon; Music and Health looks at the role of Healing Arts Ontario in supporting concerts in care facilities; Kingston-based composer Marjan Mozetich's life and work are celebrated in film; "Forest Bathing" recontextualizes Schumann, Shostakovich and Hindemith; in Judy Loman's hands, the harp can sing; Mahler's Resurrection bursts the bounds of symphonic form; Ed Bickert, guitar master remembered. All this and more in our April issue, now online in flip-through here, and on stands commencing Friday March 29.
Something Old, Something New! The Ide(a)s of March are Upon Us! Rob Harris's Rear View Mirror looks forward to a tonal revival; Tafelmusik expands their chronological envelope in two directions, Esprit makes wave after wave; Pax Christi's new oratorio by Barbara Croall catches the attention of our choral and new music columnists; and summer music education is our special focus, right when warm days are once again possible to imagine. All this and more in our March 2019 edition, available in flipthrough here, and on the stands starting Thursday Feb 28.
In this issue: A prize that brings lustre to its laureates (and a laureate who brings lustre to the prize); Edwin Huizinga on the journey of Opera Atelier's "The Angel Speaks" from Versailles to the ROM; Danny Driver on playing piano in the moment; Remembering Neil Crory (a different kind of genius)' Year of the Boar, Indigeneity and Opera; all this and more in Volume 24 #5. Online in flip through, HERE and on the stands commencing Thursday Jan 31.
When is a trumpet like a motorcycle in a dressage event? How many Brunhilde's does it take to change an Elektra? Just two of the many questions you've been dying to ask, to which you will find answers in a 24th annual combined December/January issue – in which our 11 beat columnists sift through what's on offer in the upcoming holiday month, and what they're already circling in their calendars for 2019. Oh, and features too: a klezmer violinist breathing new life into a very old film; two New Music festivals in January, 200 metres apart; a Music & Health story on the restorative powers of a grassroots exercise in collective music-making; even a good reason to go to Winnipeg in the dead of winter. All this and more in Vol 24 No 4, now available in flipthrough format here.
Reluctant arranger! National Ballet Orchestra percussionist Kris Maddigan on creating the JUNO and BAFTA award-winning smash hit Cuphead video game soundtrack; Evergreen by name and by nature, quintessentially Canadian gamelan (Andrew Timar explains); violinist Angèle Dubeau on 20 years and 60 million streams; two children’s choirs where this month remembrance and living history must intersect. And much more, online in our kiosk now, and on the street commencing Thursday November 1.
Presenters, start your engines! With TIFF and "back-to-work" out of the way, the regular concert season rumbles to life, and, if our Editor's Opener can be trusted, "Seeking Synergies" seems to be the name of the game. Denise Williams' constantly evolving "Walk Together Children" touching down at the Toronto Centre for the Arts; the second annual Festival of Arabic Music and Arts expanding its range; a lesson in Jazz Survival with Steve Wallace; the 150 presenter and performer profiles in our 19th annual Blue Pages directory... this is an issue that is definitely more than the sum of its parts.
In this issue: The WholeNote's 7th Annual TIFF TIPS guide to festival films with musical clout; soprano Erin Wall in conversation with Art of Song columnist Lydia Perovic, about more than the art of song; a summer's worth of recordings reviewed; Toronto Chamber Choir at 50 (is a few close friends all it takes?); and much more, as the 2018/19 season gets under way.
PLANTING NOT PAVING! In this JUNE / JULY /AUGUST combined issue: Farewell interviews with TSO's Peter Oundjian and Stratford Summer Music's John Miller, along with "going places" chats with Luminato's Josephine Ridge, TD Jazz's Josh Grossman and Charm of Finches' Terry Lim. ) Plus a summer's worth of fruitful festival inquiry, in the city and on the road, in a feast of stories and our annual GREEN PAGES summer Directory.
In this issue: our sixteenth annual Choral Canary Pages; coverage of 21C, Estonian Music Week and the 3rd Toronto Bach Festival (three festivals that aren’t waiting for summer!); and features galore: “Final Finales” for Larry Beckwith’s Toronto Masque Theatre and for David Fallis as artistic director of Toronto Consort; four conductors on the challenges of choral conducting; operatic Hockey Noir; violinist Stephen Sitarski’s perspective on addressing depression; remembering bandleader, composer and saxophonist Paul Cram. These and other stories, in our May 2018 edition of the magazine.
In this issue: we talk with jazz pianist Thompson Egbo-Egbo about growing up in Toronto, building a musical career, and being adaptive to change; pianist Eve Egoyan prepares for her upcoming Luminato project and for the next stage in her long-term collaborative relationship with Spanish-German composer Maria de Alvear; jazz violinist Aline Homzy, halfway through preparing for a concert featuring standout women bandleaders, talks about social equity in the world of improvised music; and the local choral community celebrates the life and work of choral conductor Elmer Iseler, 20 years after his passing.
In this issue: Canadian Stage, Tapestry Opera and Vancouver Opera collaborate to take Gogol’s short story The Overcoat to the operatic stage; Montreal-based Sam Shalabi brings his ensemble Land of Kush, and his newest composition, to Toronto; Five Canadian composers, each with a different CBC connection, are nominated for JUNOs; and The WholeNote team presents its annual Summer Music Education Directory, a directory of summer music camps, programs and courses across the province and beyond.
In this issue: composer Nicole Lizée talks about her love for analogue equipment, and the music that “glitching” evokes; Richard Rose, artistic director at the Tarragon Theatre, gives us insights into their a rock-and-roll Hamlet, now entering production; Toronto prepares for a mini-revival of Schoenberg’s music, with three upcoming shows at New Music Concerts; and the local music theatre community remembers and celebrates the life and work of Mi’kmaq playwright and performer Cathy Elliott . These and other stories, in our double-issue December/January edition of the magazine.
In this issue: conversations (of one kind or another) galore! Daniela Nardi on taking the reins at "best-kept secret" venue, 918 Bathurst; composer Jeff Ryan on his "Afghanistan" Requiem for a Generation" partnership with war poet, Susan Steele; lutenist Ben Stein on seventeenth century jazz; collaborative pianist Philip Chiu on going solo; Barbara Hannigan on her upcoming Viennese "Second School" recital at Koerner; Tina Pearson on Pauline Oliveros; and as always a whole lot more!
In this issue: several local artists reflect on the memory of composer Claude Vivier, as they prepare to perform his music; Vancouver gets ready to host international festival ISCM World New Music Days, which is coming to Canada for the second time since its inception in 1923; one of the founders of Artword Artbar, one of Hamilton’s staple music venues, on the eve of the 5th annual Steel City Jazz Festival, muses on keeping urban music venues alive; and a conversation with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, as he prepares for an ambitious recital in Toronto. These and other stories, in our October 2017 issue of the magazine.
In this issue: a look at why musicians experience stage fright, and how to combat it; an inside look at the second Kensington Market Jazz Festival, which zeros in on one of Toronto’s true ‘music villages’; an in-depth interview with Elisa Citterio, new music director of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; and The WholeNote’s guide to TIFF, with suggestions for the 20 most musical films at this year’s festival. These and other stories, in our September 2017 issue of the magazine!
CBC Radio's Lost Horizon; Pinocchio as Po-Mo Operatic Poster Boy; Meet the Curators (Crow, Bernstein, Ridge); a Global Music Orchestra is born; and festivals, festivals, festivals in our 13th annual summer music Green Pages. All this and more in our three-month June-through August summer special issue, now available in flipthrough HERE and on the stands commencing Thursday June 1.
From science fact in "Integral Man: Music and the Movies," to science fiction in the editor's opener; from World Fiddle Day at the Aga Khan Museum to three Canadians at the Cliburn; from wanting to sashay across the 401 to Chamberfest in Montreal to exploring the Continuum of Jumblies Theatre's 20-year commitment to the Community Play (there's a pun in there somewhere!).
In this issue: Our podcast ramps up with interviews in March with fight director Jenny Parr, countertenor Daniel Taylor, and baritone Russell Braun; two views of composer John Beckwith at 90; how music’s connection to memory can assist with the care of patients with Alzheimer’s; musical celebrations in film and jazz, at National Canadian Film Day and Jazz Day; and a preview of Louis Riel, which opens this month at the COC. These and other stories, in our April 2017 issue of the magazine!
On our cover: Owen Pallett's musical palette on display at New Creations. Spring brings thoughts of summer music education! (It's never too late.). For Marc-Andre Hamelin the score is king. Ella at 100 has the tributes happening. All; this and more.
In this issue: an interview with composer/vocalist Jeremy Dutcher, on his upcoming debut album and unique compositional voice; a conversation with Boston Symphony hornist James Sommerville, as as the BSO gets ready to come to his hometown; Stuart Hamilton, fondly remembered; and an inside look at Hugh’s Room, as it enters a complicated chapter in the story of its life in the complex fabric of our musical city. These and other stories, as we celebrate the past and look forward to the rest of 2016/17, the first glimpses of 2017/18, and beyond!
In this issue: a conversation with pianist Stewart Goodyear, in advance of his upcoming show at Koerner Hall; a preview of the annual New Year’s phenomenon that is Bravissimo!/Salute to Vienna; an inside look at music performance in Toronto’s health-care centres; and a reflection on the incredible life and lasting influence of the late Pauline Oliveros. These and more, in a special December/January combined issue!
In this issue: David Jaeger and Alex Pauk’s most memorable R. Murray Schafer collabs, in this month’s installment of Jaeger’s CBC Radio Two: The Living Legacy; an interview with flutist Claire Chase, who brings new music and mindset to Toronto this month; an investigation into the strange coincidence of three simultaneous Mendelssohn Elijahs this Nov 5; and of course, our annual Blue Pages, a who’s who of southern Ontario’s live music scene- a community as prolific and multifaceted as ever. These and more, as we move full-force into the 2016/17 concert season- all aboard!
Music lover's TIFF (our fifth annual guide to the Toronto International Film Festival); Aix Marks the Spot (how Brexit could impact on operatic co-production); The Unstoppable Howard Cable (an affectionate memoir of a late chapter in the life of of a great Canadian arranger; Kensington Jazz Story (the newest kid on the festival block flexes its muscles). These stories and much more as we say a lingering goodbye to summer and turn to the task, for the 22nd season, of covering the live and recorded music that make Southern Ontario tick.
It's combined June/July/August summer issue time with, we hope, enough between the covers to keep you dipping into it all through the coming lazy, hazy days. From Jazz Vans racing round "The Island" delivering pop-up brass breakouts at the roadside, to Bach flute ambushes strolling "The Grove, " to dozens of reasons to stay in the city. May yours be a summer where you find undiscovered musical treasures, and, better still, when, unexpectedly, the music finds you.
INSIDE: The Canaries Are Here! 116 choirs to choose from, so take the plunge! The Nylons hit the road after one last SING! Fling. Jazz writer Steve Wallace wonders "Watts Goode" rather than "what's new?" Paul Ennis has the musical picks of the HotDocs crop. David Jaeger's CBC Radio continues golden for a little while yet. Douglas McNabney is Music's Child. Leipzig meets Damascus in Alison Mackay's fertile imagination. And "C" is for KRONOS in Wende Bartley's koverage of the third annual 21C Festival. All this and as usual much much more. Enjoy.
From 30 camp profiles to spark thoughts of being your summer musical best, to testing LUDWIG as you while away the rest of so-called winter; from Scottish Opera and the Danish Midtvest, to a first Toronto recital appearance by violin superstar Maxim Vengerov; from musings on New Creations and new creation, to the boy who made a habit of crying Beowulf; it's a month of merry meetings and rousing recordings reviewed, all here to discover in The WholeNote.
2016 is off to a flying start! We chronicle the Artful Times of Andrew Burashko, the violistic versatility of Teng Li, the ageless ebullience of jazz pianist Gene DiNovi and the ninetieth birthday of trumpeter Johnny Cowell. Jaeger remembers Boulez; Waxman recalls Bley's influence, and Olds finds Bowie haunting Editor's Corner. Oh, and did we mention there's all that music? Hello (and goodbye) to the February blues, and here's to swinging through the musical vines of the Year of the Monkey.
What's a vinyl renaissance? What happens when Handel's Messiah runs afoul of the rumba rhythm setting on a (gasp!) Hammond organ? What work does Marc-Andre Hamelin say he would be content to have on every recital program he plays? What are Steve Wallace's favourite fifty Christmas recordings? Why is violinist Daniel Hope celebrating Yehudi Menuhin's 100th birthday at Koerner Hall January 28? Answers to all these questions (and a whole lot more) in the Dec/Jan issue of The WholeNote.
"Come" seems to be the verb that knits this month's issue together. Sondra Radvanovsky comes to Koerner, William Norris comes to Tafel as their new GM, opera comes to Canadian Stage; and (a long time coming!) Jane Bunnett's musicianship and mentorship are honoured with the Premier's award for excellence; plus David Jaeger's ongoing series on the golden years of CBC Radio Two, Andrew Timar on hybridity, a bumper crop of record reviews and much much more. Come on in!
Vol 21 No 2 is now available for your viewing pleasure, and it's a bumper crop, right at the harvest moon. First ever Canadian opera on the Four Seasons Centre main stage gets double coverage with Wende Bartley interviewing Pyramus and Thisbe composer Barbara Monk Feldman and Chris Hoile connecting with director Christopher Alden; Paul Ennis digs into the musical mind of pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and pianist Eve Egoyan is "On the Record" in conversation with publisher David Perlman ahead of the Oct release concert for her tenth recording. And at the heart of it all the 16th edition of our annual BLUE PAGES directory of presenters profile the season now well and truly under way.
Paul Ennis's annual TIFF TIPS (27 festival films of potential particular musical interest); Wu Man, Yo-Yo Ma and Jeffrey Beecher on the Silk Road; David Jaeger on CBC Radio Music in the days it was committed to commissioning; the LISTENING ROOM continues to grow on line; DISCoveries is back, bigger than ever; and Mary Lou Fallis says Trinity-St. Paul's is Just the Spot (especially this coming Sept 25!).
