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Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

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.

BLUE PAGES

BLUE PAGES 2015/16 ●Arraymusic Arraymusic’s mission is to ignite and sustain a passion for contemporary Canadian musical art within an international, interdisciplinary context. We foster and advance exceptional contemporary music by supporting and collaborating with emerging, established and diverse creators across the arts’ disciplines (and territories), and by deeply engaging our audiences. Three inter-related programs define what Array does, why we do it and how we realize our goals: 1) Array’s Contemporary Music Program – Produces, Presents and Supports Who & What is Best in Contemporary Chamber Music; 2) Array’s Creative Music Hub – Utilizes Array’s Space to Foster a Thriving Contemporary Music and Art Scene; and 3) Array For All – Engages Diverse Audiences Through Innovative and Inclusive Programs. Each season, The Array Ensemble delivers brilliant concert performances of today’s boldest chamber music to audiences who have come to expect the realization of the highest performance standards. Arraymusic also extends additional support to three remarkable Resident Studio Groups. All year, The Array Space provides local and international creative music artists with an affordable facility for their rehearsals, workshops and concerts. Sandra Bell 416-532-3019 admin@arraymusic.com arraymusic.com ●Associates of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Members of the Associates of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (ATSO), a registered charitable organization, share a love of classical music and organize musical events featuring members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Our “Five Small Concerts” series presents affordable, world class chamber music, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra has been most supportive in our efforts to bring these concerts to the public. Dates for the 2016 “Five Small Concerts” (all Mondays at 7:30 p.m.) are: January 18, February 22, March 7, April 11 and May 16. The January concert will be held at Church of the Redeemer, Bloor and Avenue Rd, and the other 4 concerts at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor West. ATSO volunteers work on engaging musicians, publicizing concerts, and ensuring that all aspects of concerts run smoothly. If you would enjoy working with people who appreciate and promote an interest in classical music, become a member of the ATSO. Please phone 416-282-6636 for ticket and membership inquiries, or visit our website at associates-tso.org. 416-282-6636 associates-tso.org ●Attila Glatz Concert Productions “Salute to Vienna” New Year’s Concert: Celebrate with the ageless beauty of uplifting Viennese music in Toronto (Roy Thomson Hall, New Year’s Day, 2:30PM) and Hamilton (Hamilton Place, Sunday, Jan 3, 2:30PM)! Enjoy Strauss waltzes and sweeping melodies from Die Fledermaus and The Merry Widow, performed by European singers and full orchestra. Beautifully costumed dancers present Viennese waltzes at the threshold of 2016. In Hamilton, enjoy a complimentary Viennese Apple Strudel & Café Reception after the performance. Also co-produced with Roy Thomson Hall (New Year’s Eve, 7PM), “Bravissimo! Opera’s Greatest Hits” features a stellar cast of opera stars led by Italian conductor Francesco Lanzillotta and featuring Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin and mezzo soprano Krisztina Szabó as well as Italian tenor Stefano La Colla and baritone Lucio Gallo. The Opera Canada Chorus and Opera Canada Symphony perform favourite arias, choruses and duets that are as everlasting as the tradition of New Year’s Eve itself. Revel in centuries of opera highlights including La traviata, Magic Flute, Tosca, La bohème, Rigoletto, and more. salutetovienna.com glatzconcerts.com ●Aurora Cultural Centre The Aurora Cultural Centre is an 1886 heritage building that began its life as the Aurora Public School. It has been transformed into a centre for the arts, culture and heritage. With a full roster of concerts, special events, gallery exhibitions and instructional programs, as well as a beautiful rental space, the Aurora Cultural Centre proudly showcases local, emerging and professional talent for our community to enjoy. Aurora Cultural Centre. Be Engaged. Be Inspired. Jane Taylor 905-713-1818 janetaylor@auroraculturalcentre.ca auroraculturalcentre.ca ● Bach Children’s Chorus and Bach Chamber Youth Choir BCC/BCYC is widely known and highly respected for its innovative programming, its education system, and the clear, lovely sound of its singers. Awards that the organization has received at both provincial and national levels have given it a high profile. Most recently, BCC won first place in the National Competition for Amateur Choirs sponsored by Choral Canada and CBC Music. Through its education practices, BCC/BCYC is setting a standard of musical literacy and education for community choirs. Founded in 1987 by artistic director Linda Beaupré, an award-winning conductor and clinician, BCC/BCYC is an organization of four choirs with singers aged six through university age: three treble choirs for ages 6–16 and a mixed-voice choir for boys with changed voices and girls aged 16 and up. All treble choirs rehearse weekly in east Scarborough and BCYC rehearses Sunday evenings at St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Danforth Ave. at Chester Station. BCYC performs music that ranges from classical to pop, jazz and broadway. Interested singers are welcome to drop by on a Sunday evening. Linda Beaupré, artistic director Eleanor Daley, accompanist Jane Greenwood, administrator 416-431-0790 bachchildrenschorus.ca ● Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts is a not-forprofit organization dedicated to defining the Niagara Region as an international destination for world-class music and innovative artistic performances of the highest calibre. Bravo Niagara! presents Canadian and international artists from James Ehnes to Molly Johnson in select wineries and venues in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Bravo Niagara! concerts are multi-sensory experiences and a “Symphony of the Senses” that combine world-class music, wine, culinary and visual arts with Niagara’s natural beauty, history and awe-inspiring wonders. In October 2015, Bravo Niagara! presents the inaugural North Star Festival: Voices of Freedom, endorsed by the UNESCO Slave Route Project, which will give voice to Niagara’s rich Black history as a terminus of the Underground Railroad through music and educational outreach initiatives with scholars from York, Duke, Niagara Universities and SUNY. Featured artists include Joe Sealy, Jumaane Smith, Harrison Kennedy, Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley, Dominic Mancuso and Chendy Leon, and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. The 2016 season includes intimate performances by Miloš Karadaglić, Emily Bear, the Dominic Mancuso Group, and more! Christine Mori, artistic director 289-868-9177 bravoniagaramusic@gmail.com bravoniagara.org ● Canadian Children’s Opera Company The Canadian Children’s Opera Company is one of only a few in the world in its category. It commissions, produces, records and tours new operas and choral music, with children as both the principal performers and main audience. The company also regularly collaborates with other leading arts organizations and prominent individual performers, conductors and directors. The company comprises six divisions plus an outreach arm (OPERAtion KIDS), involving 300 children and youth ages 3 to 19. Now in B4 | theWholeNote 2015/16 PRESENTER PROFILES

its 48th season, the CCOC is led by Artistic Director Dean Burry, Managing Director Ken Hall, and Music Director Teri Dunn. The CCOC’s 2015/16 mainstage opera is a revisit of their acclaimed 2004 premiere production of The Hobbit (June 9 to 12, 2016), by Dean Burry. Other highlights of this season include their “Winter Celebrations” on November 28, the release of their 6th commercial recording, Lullabies, and plans to open a CCOC North program in Richmond Hill. If you are interested in auditioning for the CCOC, call or download an application form from their website. Ken Hall 416-366-0467 info@canadianchildrensopera.com canadianchildrensopera.com ● Canadian Opera Company Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company (COC) is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America, and maintains an international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation. The COC’s 2015/2016 mainstage season is: La Traviata, Pyramus and Thisbe, The Marriage of Figaro, Siegfried, Carmen and Maometto II. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world. The company enjoys a loyal audience support-base and one of the highest attendance and subscription rates in North America. The COC is an active participant in the cultural community by presenting an annual series of free concerts and a wide array of education and outreach events, encouraging the creation of operatic works and fostering the training and development of young Canadian artists through its renowned Ensemble Studio program. A not-for-profit organization since 1950, the COC is considered one of the best opera companies in the world. Alexander Neef, general director Administration: 416-363-6671 Box Office: 416-363-8231 info@coc.ca coc.ca ● Canadian Sinfonietta The Canadian Sinfonietta is a professional chamber orchestra led by father-daughter duo, artistic director and founder Tak-Ng Lai and concertmaster Joyce Lai. The orchestra’s mission is to build a new generation of concert goers by presenting concerts that focus on innovative programming and interdisciplinary artistic presentations that highlight diverse Canadian artists. The orchestra is devoted to producing concerts that appeal to audiences outside of the usual classical concert going sphere and reaching a more culturally diverse audience, both in Toronto and in the growing communities outside the GTA. CANADIAN SINFONIETTA The Canadian Sinfonietta is passionate about promoting youth outreach and invites young musicians to participate in concerts through the Youth Mentorship Program and in the Canadian Sinfonietta Youth Orchestra. In addition to 3 season concerts at the Glenn Gould Studio, the orchestra is partnering once again with Les AMIS Concerts to put on four “Wine and Cheese Concerts” at the Heliconian Hall featuring various musicians from the Canadian Sinfonietta and Les Amis. canadiansinfonietta.com ● Cantemus Singers Cantemus Singers was established in 2008 by our conductor, Michael Erdman, to help expand Toronto’s exposure to and appreciation of Renaissance and early Baroque secular vocal music. Our 12-voice a cappella ensemble focuses mainly on the evocative madrigals and chansons of the 16th century. We also perform religious works, often the 5 to 8 part compositions less often heard by Toronto audiences. Our 2015-2016 season begins Dec. 5/6, as we perform Christmas music from the 16th century Habsburg courts in Spain and Austria, including Flecha’s ensalada “La Negrina”. On March 19/20, “Sweet Kisses/Baci Soavi” explores love’s joy and pain as conveyed in the madrigals of the masters of expression – Marenzio, Monteverdi and Gesualdo. On June 11/12, “Fair is the Rose”, celebrates the evolution of vocal music from the end of Elizabeth’s reign into the Jacobean period, with music by Gibbons, Tomkins and Dowland. Benjamin Stein joins us on lute. Performances at Church of the Holy Trinity (10 Trinity Square – Eaton Centre) and St. Aidan’s Anglican Church (70 Silver Birch Ave. at Queen St. E.). Check out website for times. Michael Erdman, conductor 416-578-6602 cantemus.ca@gmail.com cantemus.ca ● Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has been one of Toronto’s premier community orchestras since 1985. CBSO concerts take place in the state-of-the-art P.C. Ho Theatre in the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, 5183 Sheppard Ave. E. Under the baton of maestro Norman Reintamm, the CBSO will present a thrilling and unique seven-concert season including five subscription series concerts. This season, the CBSO is pleased to present internationally acclaimed performers, including 2015 JUNO Award-nominees Sultans of String and world-renowned pianist Arthur Ozolins. In addition, we are delighted to collaborate again with Tryptych Concert & Opera, the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus Concert Choir, the Redeemer University College Concert Choir and the Rosemary Galloway Quartet. Visit our website for details about our season. The Orchestra is noted for facilitating performance opportunities for young musicians, and always welcomes new members. If you’re interested in joining the CBSO, please contact us by email. Norman Reintamm, artistic director / principal conductor Ines Pagliari, concertmaster Peggy Wong, orchestra manager Box Office: 416-879-5566 cbsoboxoffice@gmail.com info@cathedralbluffs.com cathedralbluffs.com ● Cathedral Church of St. James The Cathedral Church of St. James houses one of Canada’s most precious hidden musical gems. Uniquely within the city of Toronto, the fully professional 18-voice Cathedral Choir sings as part of the Anglican worship at Eucharist (11am), and Evensong (4:30pm) each Sunday to theWholeNote 2015/16 PRESENTER PROFILES | B5

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