"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!
The idea was to appeal
The idea was to appeal to new audiences and audiences aged under 35, not by changing the music we play but by changing how we were presenting it, giving it a different surround. So by putting music in other genres before and after it, and having the classical music presented from the stage, by changing the lighting, by having people bring drinks in, encouraging social media, photography, that kind of thing. And it’s been a huge success. From a one-off event it’s now a real part of what the orchestra does, usually between four and ten events a year – four William Norris large-scale and chamber events, say, plus chamber events in pubs as part of the London season. Is there also a strategy at OAE of using, say, orchestra section leads for chamber concerts, for outreach into schools, for example? They do a lot of education work. In fact it’s quite interesting because the education work is led by Cherry [Forbes] who used to play in the orchestra as well, so she had a dual role, something like Charlotte [Nediger] at Tafelmusik, bridging the orchestra/office’s two different worlds. But they do a huge amount of work in schools with children of all ages, and all sorts of public education. One of the real successes of recent years has been what they call OAE Tots, concerts for children under under five years old. Its amazing the kind of rapt attention you can get from children under five if you’ve got the right material. Brought by grandparents? Grandparents or parents, yeah, or ... The grandparent/grandchild dynamic particularly interests me – bypassing the generation between. If you can set it up so you take away the stress for the adults in question of worrying that the children have to behave in a particular way. Yes. And it’s amazing because we’re still using core bits of the baroque repertoire but we might put words to them or actions to them that engage children and at the end there’s a good chance for the children to come right up close to the instruments. I want to go back for a second to something you said earlier about OAE as a player-driven ensemble. It put me in mind of the Vienna Philharmonic which is a player-run association – I don’t think it’s even incorporated. But they decide which conductors to invite, as guests, to lead them. In their case, though, they are also all employees of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra on negotiated leave. So there isn’t the worry of “who’s going to pay the bills?” So in the case of OAE, who does pay the bills? That’s interesting because the other unique thing about OAE is that it was founded with no government money, no public money; it was all individual donors. Obviously in the U.K. there are lots of ensembles funded at arms length by the Arts Council, and now the OAE does get money from the government, but it was a difficult decision to take at the time because they prided themselves on their independence and not being answerable to a government body. Even so, it’s still a very small part of it, less than ten percent. The rest is individual donors, ticket income; but also lots of it – it’s a different model to here – lots of the income comes from touring; touring in Europe is a major part of an orchestra’s income. And recordings? Less so these days because, sadly, now recordings are more things you invest in. In terms of arts council funding, a lot of what happens around here is that, until you are well established, you’re compelled to undertake new projects to apply for funding, so new funds entail taking on new work that overextends the same little band of workers. Yes, that’s a familiar problem. In a way OAE has been quite lucky. In terms of core funding from the arts council we’ve been able able to demonstrate the quality of what we do, and that’s been fine. Certainly if you want to go to trusts and foundations, they want something new, so when the Night Shift was started ... I wouldn’t say it was easy but certainly it was slightly easier to find money, and now that it’s a core part of what the orchestra does it’s less easy to find money for something that is just continuing, although actually what made that project successful was keeping at it and developing it, refining it, and building that brand with the right audience. How does the fact that the orchestra performs exclusively on period instruments affect how the orchestra can collaborate with other musicians, in something like Night Shift, for example? They can’t really, in fact. So what usually happens is the OAE orchestral bit of the evening is usually a stand-alone thing and the music, say, in the bar happens separately to that so we don’t have problems with things like pitch. Having said that, we have done collaborations, say with London Sinfonietta, which is contemporary music; we’ve recently had a new commission written for both orchestras which actually used the difference in pitch as something within the composition. So we have done collaborations like that, and that’s something I would be interested to do here as well I think. One of the interesting things about Tafelmusik, in the same way as a symphony orchestra in town does, is that it helps stabilize the life of the core players. So they are able engage in all kinds of interesting other musical stuff at times the orchestra isn’t playing. Does OAE have enough critical mass to enable its players to do the same kind of thing? I think it’s slightly different. It does a degree – I mean there are 100 concerts a year - but membership is more fluid than Tafelmusik is; that’s also just how the European music scene is – everyone has portfolio careers, and plays in other orchestras in London, or teaches, or even plays with other orchestras outside London or even Europe, a lot of the time, so it’s a slightly different environment. But one of the great things, or possibly unique, about Tafelmusik in terms of period instrument orchestras is to have such a stable core of musicians. It’s really unusual and I think a great bonus. And of course it develops into a two-way street; for example, [Tafelmusik violinists] Aisslinn Nosky and Julia Wedman came to Tafelmusik from I Furiosi; I think I was there the first time that Jeanne Lamon and Christina Mahler came to hear I Furiosi on their home turf, and things went from there, evidently to mutual advantage. In London I guess it’s just that there are so many ensembles there is no one ensemble which is that binding element, because there’re just too many. But it’s interesting what a musician was saying to me earlier about Tafelmusik and that having that stability is that it encourages risk in a way because the musicians are secure in their position and there’s not the feeling with each job that you’re being assessed and might not get booked again. You have that security that allows you to try things out which you might not have the opportunity to do otherwise. And does OAE also have an associated choir? Yes we do – the Choir of the Enlightenment, you’ll be surprised to hear it’s called! A fantastic choir and they do seven projects a year with the orchestra. It’s on somewhat more of a loose basis than the choir here which is much more part of the core of what the orchestra is all about. I also wanted to ask you a bit about audiences. Tafelmusik has always had a hardcore band of purists in its Birkenstock brigade, I guess you could once have called them – you know, people who emphatically draw “thus far but no further” lines in terms of musical taste. “Early Mozart is fine,” for example. Has OAE gone through a similar kind of challenge in terms of audience horizons? I guess I would have had to be with them ten years before I arrived to know that; interestingly, these days it’s actually the earlier boundary that 12 | Nov 1 - Dec 7, 2015 thewholenote.com
has been the debate. It was only quite recently that we did Monteverdi for the first time, five years ago was our Vespers. My understanding though has been that it has been quite an organic process, trying new things. Obviously there’s a point at which you can go no further or there would be no point in playing a period instrument, but there are huge amounts of repertoire to explore. And in terms of pushback on changes in concert etiquette? Well I think the point is we haven’t stopped doing anything, we have just added to what we are doing. We still do concerts that start at seven o’clock and last two hours with an interval, as you would expect. There might be one or two things about it you might find a bit different, but it’s still a standard concert, maybe with talks before or after. But then, the same evening there might be a Night Shift concert at 10pm for a completely different audience and a couple of days afterward a toddlers concert, and there might also be a study day taking up a Sunday. We try to tailor things for different audiences so even the aficionados can come to study events and really get in depth with things. With concerts do you live with the late-19th-century ethos of not applauding during works even though the custom postdates most of the music? You can’t regulate the audience. But do you try? And do people try to glare others into silence? Well, personally I really like it if the audience claps between movements because a) it means we’ve got a different audience in and b) it means there’s been a spontaneous enjoyment of something and people have shown that. There was a really nice instance of that recently at the Night Shift. We were playing in a night club so it was great for the setting. We were doing some Purcell and there was a particularly elaborate passage for the violins and people kind of clapped over like they would in a jazz bar and that was a lovely moment because it was a completely spontaneous moment. It was great. And probably closer to the original effect. Exactly. I am sure it would have happened back in the day when the music was played. And so I am all for spontaneous shows of appreciation. I am all for it being the responsibility of the host to tell the guests out loud what the house rules are. Indeed. Yes. And, really, often the composer gets what they want. I mean it’s a much later example but in the Tchaikovsky Sixth I am pretty sure Tchaikovsky expected people to applaud at the end of the penultimate movement because it’s such an explosive ending. Funny you should mention that. We had a fantastic Tchaikovsky Sixth here a season or so ago at the TSO, with a lot of young people in the audience. [Conductor] Peter Oundjian came onstage and talked about the structure of the work - the thing you just mentioned - that after the third movement you are probably going to want to break out in applause at that point as if it were the end. So go right ahead and applaud when you feel like it, because the rule about not doing so came a decade or so after this symphony was written. And of course the payoff was absolutely magical, including silence at the end of the work. Yes indeed! And to have the last movement, the despair of it, emerge from applause is way more effective than if everyone was sitting in “Gosh, I can’t clap now” silence. I never quite understand that thing where clapping is frowned upon but coughing and sneezing is absolutely fine. So I’d rather have people evidently enjoying themselves than awkward silence. So how did you find Tafelmusik, or how did they find you? Was there some kind of Aha! moment for you at some point? Or did you know the orchestra already? I knew the orchestra a little bit because in the last few years it’s really raised its profile in the industry because of things like the Galileo Project which was such a different thing for an orchestra to be doing. And actually two people sent me the job listing, two friends of mine, and said, you should look at this. And after the second person said it and someone posted it on Facebook, so it was clearly very social media-age-related, I thought okay I’ll look at it. And I was looking for a new challenge; so it was a chance, really, a lovely chance. I said I wouldn’t pin you down to sweeping generalizations about Toronto so early in your stay, but that was 15 minutes ago. So generalize! I’m enjoying it so far. I’ve seen it in all seasons. I was here for job interviews in January and February which was my first experience of sub-minus 20 weather; I was here in the summer which was much more pleasant. And I enjoyed the fantastic weather over the Thanksgiving weekend. (It’s very British of me to talk about the weather, all the time.) But I’m enjoying getting to know it. I have been surprised at how much is happening musically. One of the things about London is you can feel overwhelmed by how much is going on and you end up seeing nothing. Actually I think I could end up feeling the same in Toronto because there is so much happening – conflicting events I want to go and see. I want to dip my toe into the musical scene as much as possible, and also musical theatre and so on. And everyone has talked about Toronto being a city of neighbourhoods so I am enjoying getting to know those as well. So I’m enjoying it so far, apart from the streetcar system which almost made me late for work this morning. We look forward to working lots with you, keeping the scene looking as overwhelming as possible. Well, your listings certainly do that! Tafelmusik has been part of what we cover since our very first issue 20 years ago and it’s been absolutely fascinating to watch the organization maintain itself and thrive by the way it manages change. We look forward to the next chapter. As do I. thewholenote.com Nov 1 - Dec 7, 2015 | 13
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!).
