Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

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BLUE PAGES 2015/16 an internationally high standard. Its repertoire spans eight centuries, and provides a balanced diet of choral delights to congregations young and old, Christians and non-Christians, and those whose ears hold an insatiable curiosity for music. The Cathedral’s majestic pipe organ can be heard in recitals each Tuesday at 1pm and Sunday at 4pm throughout the year. One of the world’s finest organists and improvisers, David Briggs is the Artist-in-Residence and can frequently be found thrilling audiences at St. James. Choral Eucharist is also celebrated at 9am each Sunday and sung by a burgeoning group of volunteers. If you are interested in committing to the musical life of this vibrant Cathedral community, please contact the Director of Music, Robert Busiakiewicz. Robert Busiakiewicz 416-364-7865 x224 dom@stjamescathedral.on.ca stjamescathedral.on.ca ● Chorus Niagara Chorus Niagara is the Niagara Region’s premier symphonic chorus. CN presents exciting, diverse, high calibre performance of choral classics, contemporary works, new commissions and littleknown treasures under the direction of Artistic Director Robert Cooper, C.M. The 2015-2016 Season of Celebration is big and bold! Superb guest soloists Brett Polegato, Leslie Ann Bradley, Lucia Cesaroni, Gregory Dahl, Jennifer Krabbe, Anita Krause, Adam Luther, Gregory Sirett, Maria Soulis, Asitha Tennekoon and David Trudgen, join Chorus Niagara for performances of Orff’s Carmina Burana, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Bruckner’s Te Deum and Finzi’s Ode for St. Cecilia. Innovative guest artists including TorQ Percussion Ensemble and the Bravura Baritones will help us to make our inaugural season in the new First Ontario Performing Arts Centre one to remember. In addition to our own ‘Power of 100’, we are thrilled to be joined by the McMaster University Choir, the Orpheus Choir of Toronto, the Chorus Niagara Children’s Choir and Choralis Camerata, as well as the Niagara Symphony Orchestra and the Talisker Players. Don’t miss this exciting Season of Celebration in Partridge Hall! Diana McAdorey 905-934-5575 cnadmin@becon.org chorusniagara.ca ● Christ Church Deer Park Music plays a very important part at this busy Anglican parish church. Music for services is led by the organist and choir director. The Choir of Christ Church Deer Park is an auditioned, mixedvoice choir that rehearses Thursday evenings and sings Sunday mornings and on special occasions from September to June. Christ Church has hosted its “Jazz Vespers” for over 15 years. At 4:30pm every second Sunday from September to June, this service offers a chance for reflection, prayers for our community and music by Toronto’s finest jazz musicians. With its Yonge St. location (at Heath St. near the St. Clair TTC station), fine acoustics, full modern facilities, flexible staging, Steinway grand piano, three manual tracker organ and seating for 450, Christ Church is an increasingly popular venue for concert presenters during the year. Matthew Otto 416-520-9211 x28 motto@christchurhdeerpark.org thereslifehere.org ● Church of St. Mary Magdalene Steeped in musical heritage and assisted by generous acoustics, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene offers a music programme strongly rooted in the tradition established by Healey Willan. Every Sunday at the 11am Solemn Mass the Gallery Choir sings a mass and motet from the west gallery while the Ritual Choir sings Gregorian chant from the east end. At the 9:30am Sung Mass the SMM Singers sing a motet and lead congregational singing. Membership is informal. One Sunday per month at 4:30pm the meditative Solemn Evensong and Benediction is sung, preceded by an organ recital at 4pm. Please check listings for details. For information, please contact Andrew Adair. Andrew Adair, director of music 416-531-7955 andrew.timothy.adair@gmail.com stmarymagdalene.ca ● Church of the Ascension The Ascension Choir is a medium-size choir that sings at the 10:30am Sunday service from the end of September through the end of June. Repertoire spans from Gregorian chant to the 20th century. Special services include a Family Remembrance in November featuring the Fauré Requiem as the music for the service, two Lessons and Carols services (first and last Sundays of Advent), our Christmas Pageant, a family-style Ash Wednesday and all of Holy Week. The Ascension Choir rehearses on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm. The Contemporary Choir is a small group of the congregation that participates in the Sunday service by performing some of the modern church music and sings in some of the other services with the Ascension Choir. The Contemporary Choir rehearses on Mondays at 7:30pm. Anyone wishing to join either choir please contact the church by phone or by email. Lawrence Green, director of music 416-444-8881 ascension@ca.inter.net ascensiontoronto.ca ● Contact Contemporary Music Praised by the Globe and Mail as “thought-provoking” and “highly entertaining”, and by the New York Times as “mesmerizing” Contact has premiered works by emerging and established Canadian and international composers and has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues and new music festivals. Contact is dedicated to nurturing and facilitating the creation, production and presentation of new music in all contexts, forms and variations – including interdisciplinary collaborations – as well as creating outreach opportunities that engage Canada’s diverse communities in order to enrich people’s experience with sound. To that end, in addition to concerts, recordings and touring, Contact hosts Music From Scratch, a summer workshop for youth, and Intersection, an interdisciplinary, multi-genre music festival presented in the heart of downtown Toronto that engages thousands of people with new music in one day. info@contactcontemporarymusic.ca contactcontemporarymusic.ca ● Continuum Contemporary Music Widely acclaimed for its inspired and innovative programming, Continuum presents contemporary chamber music by established and emerging composers from around the world. Continuum has performed across Canada and Europe, commissioned over 175 works, recorded CDs, generated interdisciplinary projects, and built an invaluable online archive of performance videos. Our 31st season is one of our most exciting yet. For “At the Seams” (September 19 at Harbourfront Centre Theatre), the 2014 Jules Léger Prize was presented to Thierry Tidrow and three world premieres were on the bill. We perform as part of SMCQ’s series celebrating John Rea (December 5, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), then tour British Columbia (April 21-May 6) with Ballet Kelowna. Two spring concerts feature UK-based Okeanos - contemporary music specialists who perform on traditional Japanese instruments: “Enliven the Ma” (May 24, Gallery 345) and “Japan:NEXT” (May 26, Mazzoleni Concert Hall, part of the 21C Music Festival), the latter featuring works by the next generation of acclaimed Japanese composers. Plus - an educational collaboration with the TDSB, New Music 101, and more. Ryan Scott, artistic director Josh Grossman, operations manager 416-924-4945 info@continuummusic.org continuummusic.org ● Counterpoint Community Orchestra Counterpoint Community Orchestra was formed in 1984 by gay and lesbian musicians. Together we provide fine music and create a deeper sense B6 | theWholeNote 2015/16 PRESENTER PROFILES

of community and diversity in downtown Toronto. People from all walks of life play with us and we welcome any person with a positive outlook toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and two-spirited people. Rehearsals are held Mondays at 8pm at the 519 Church Street Community Centre. Concert performances are at Saint Luke’s United Church, Sherbourne St. at Carlton, in Toronto. We welcome players, committee volunteers and volunteers for our board of directors. Player levels range from beginner to professional. We will help you grow musically. Come and join a fun group of people and make great music! Our programs for this year will feature symphonies by Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, plus Mozart’s Coronation Mass and many other works. As a registered charity for tax purposes we welcome donations. Holly Price 416-762-9257 info@ccorchestra.org ccorchestra.org ● DaCapo Chamber Choir The 24-voice DaCapo Chamber Choir was founded in 1998 in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, under the direction of Leonard Enns. The mission of the choir is to identify, study, rehearse and present outstanding choral chamber works of the recent past and to champion the music of Canadian and local composers. The 2015/16 season includes: “Winding Toward Peace” (November 14 and 15, featuring guitarist Kevin Ramessar), “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind” (March 5 and 6, an all-Shakespeare concert, to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, featuring pianist Heidi Wall) and “Into the Light” (May 28, featuring the Exultate Chamber Singers). The choir’s seventh annual NewWorks national choral composition competition will open in October, with the 2014 winning entry by composer David Archer being premiered at the March 2016 concert. For more information about the choir, its current season, NewWorks, or to purchase tickets online, please visit the choir’s website. Follow the choir on Facebook and Twitter @DaCapoChoir! Leonard Enns, director Sara Martin, manager 519-725-7549 info@dacapochamberchoir.ca dacapochamberchoir.ca ● Don Wright Faculty of Music The Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University in London, Ontario is situated in a research-intensive university on a campus that is inviting and striking. It is an environment that enables students to grow artistically and academically. Our students are among 700 of the brightest and most talented young artist scholars, who come to study in one of our many CONTACT CONTEMPORARY MUSIC undergraduate and graduate programs. With the faculty and staff, they are committed to excellence in creative and scholarly work. In our 2015-2016 season, we invite you to experience the incredible diversity of musical styles and genres our students and faculty have to offer. Most events are free of charge. We have traditional student ensemble performances (from choirs and opera, to jazz, percussion and early music), plus our signature Fridays @ 12:30 series. New this season, we are pleased to launch a new faculty concert series, plus research and community events, extraordinary guest artists from around the world, and innovative collaborations between student composers, performers, artists in residence, and our world-class faculty. Please join us! Rachel Condie, marketing and communications coordinator 519-661-3767 musicevents@uwo.ca music.uwo.ca ● Dr. Réa Beaumont Award-winning classical pianist, composer and conductor, Dr. Réa Beaumont is known for compelling performances and innovative programming. She has premiered more than 50 works in collaboration with Canada’s finest composers, including Barbara Pentland, Oskar Morawetz, R. Murray Schafer and Anton Kuerti, in addition to works commissioned for her by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Beaumont’s book Composer Barbara Pentland examines the composer’s life and works, and Dr. Beaumont was named “a world authority” in the field (CBC Radio 2). Her critically acclaimed solo CDs continue to be broadcast internationally. With studies at the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Eastman, SUNY New Paltz, Aaron Copland School of Music, and The Banff Centre, Dr. Beaumont has a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano and Conducting, Master of Music, Bachelor of Music in Music Education, and an Artist Diploma and ARCT Diploma in Piano Performance. She is a member of the CNMN, TNMA, CMC and SOCAN. Committed to social issues, Réa Beaumont has organized and participated in benefit concerts for the Food Bank, AIDS Foundation, Anorexia Nervosa prevention, and women composers. info@reabeaumont.com reabeaumont.com ● Eglinton St. George’s United Church Choir This non-auditioned 45-voice choir meets Thursday evenings for two hours and Sunday mornings for worship, preparing music ranging from renaissance motets to jazz songs and from chant to oratorio. Prior experience in choral singing is a requirement. Outreach and benefit concerts are regular fare. We work regularly with artists such as Brian Barlow, in addition to featuring our eight paid lead singers. Shawn Grenke 416 481 1141 esgunited.org/music ● Elmer Iseler Singers The illustrious 20-voice Elmer Iseler Singers, led by artistic director and conductor Lydia Adams, enters its 37th Anniversary Season in 2015/16. This fully-professional choral ensemble has built an enviable reputation through concerts, broadcasts and recordings throughout Canada, the United States and internationally, performing repertoire that spans 500 years with a special focus on Canadian composers. Touring is a major component of the Elmer Iseler Singers’ activities. In addition, they selfpresent a five-concert series in Toronto and are featured frequently at various concerts, workshops, symposiums and festivals. theWholeNote 2015/16 PRESENTER PROFILES | B7