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.
●●6:00: Music at
●●6:00: Music at Fieldcote Concert Series. Ensemble Vivant. Jazz-infused styles from Latin to ragtime to the Great American Songbook. Fieldcote Memorial Park and Museum, 64 Sulphur Springs, Ancaster. TBA. Free. ●●7:30: University of Waterloo Department of Music. Instrumental Chamber Ensembles. Conrad Grebel University College, 140 Westmount Rd. N., Waterloo. 519-885- 8220 x24226. Free. Post-concert reception. Monday July 24 ●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. Alexander Tselyakov, Piano, with Penderecki String Quartet. Bartók: Quintet for Piano and String Quartet; Chopin: Études Op.25. KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-1673. ; (st). ●●10:00: The Bicycle Opera Project. Sweat. La Nouvelle Scène Gilles Desjardins, 333 King Edward Ave., Ottawa. 613-234-6306. . Thursday July 27 ●●7:30: St. George’s Cathedral. Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge. Stephen Layton, conductor. St. George’s Cathedral (Kingston), 270 King St. E., Kingston. 613-548-4617. . Friday July 28 ●●7:30: The Bicycle Opera Project. Sweat. Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, 390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-533-2424. ; (faculty/staff); (st). Sunday July 30 ●●2:00: The Bicycle Opera Project. Sweat. Baxter Arts Centre, 3 Stanley St., Bloomfield. . PWYC. ●●6:30: Barrie Concert Band. Orillia Summer Concert. Rotary Aqua Theatre, Couchiching Beach Park, 140 Canice St., Orillia. 705-481- 1607. Also Jul 9 (Midland). Tuesday August 1 ●●7:00: The Bicycle Opera Project. Sweat. Trinity United Church (Cobourg), 284 Division St., Cobourg. 905-372-7911. ; (adv). Wednesday August 2 ●●12:00 noon: Midday Music with Shigeru. Norman Reintamm, Piano, Oleg Volkov, Cello and Alex Volkov, Violin. Piano trios by Brahms and Shostakovich. Hi-Way Pentecostal Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 705-726-1181. ; free(st). Friday August 4 ●●7:30: Festival of the Sound. Leonard Cohen & More. Patricia O’Callaghan, vocals; Maryem Tollar, vocals/qanun; Andrew Downing, double bass; Robert Kortgaard, piano; Christine Bougie, guitar. Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts, 2 Bay St., Parry Sound. 705-746-2410/1-866-364-0061. -. B. Concerts Beyond the GTA Search listings by genre online at thewholenote.com/ask-ludwig Tuesday August 8 ●●7:30: Festival of the Sound. Gino Quilico: Great Voices of Canada. A celebration of iconic Canadian singers such as Jon Vickers, Louis Quilico, Maureen Forrester, Teresa Stratas and others. Gino Quilico, baritone; Leslie Fagan, soprano; Dominic Boulianne, piano. Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts, 2 Bay St., Parry Sound. 705- 746-2410/1-866-364-0061. -. Wednesday August 9 ●●2:30: Seniors Serenade. Louis Lefaive, Piano. Jazz standards and original works. Grace United Church (Barrie), 350 Grove St. E., Barrie. 705-726-1181. Free. 3:30: tea and cookies . Thursday August 10 ●●3:30: Festival of the Sound. Music of World War II. Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor Op.67; R. Strauss: Metamorphosen. Gryphon Trio; Martin Beaver, Jennifer Orchard, violins; Graham Oppenheimer, Douglas Perry, violas; Yegor Dyachkov, Roman Borys, cellos; Joel Quarrington, double bass. Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts, 2 Bay St., Parry Sound. 705-746-2410/1- 866-364-0061. -. Wednesday August 16 ●●12:00 noon: Music at St. Andrew’s. Simon Irving, Prgan, and Janice Beninger, Piano. Popular music of the 30s to 50s. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (Barrie), 47 Owen St., Barrie. 705-726-1181. ; free(st). Friday August 18 ●●4:00: Choirs Ontario. Ontario Youth Choir. Featuring choral music from around the world and across the centuries, including many notable Canadian works. Elise Bradley, conductor. Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper St., Ottawa. 416-923- 1144. ; (sr/st). Also Aug 19 (Cobourg), 20 (Toronto). Saturday August 19 ●●7:30: Choirs Ontario. Ontario Youth Choir. Featuring choral music from around the world and across the centuries, including many notable Canadian works. Elise Bradley, conductor. Trinity United Church (Cobourg), 284 Division St., Cobourg. 416-923-1144. ; (sr/st). Also Aug 18 (Ottawa), 20 (Toronto). Wednesday September 6 ●●12:00 noon: Midday Music with Shigeru. Chris Au, Piano. Works by Beethoven, Schumann and Scriabin. Hi-Way Pentecostal Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 705-726-1181. ; free(st). Beat by Beat | Music Theatre Redefined continued from page 20 Staying with the offerings at Luminato for a moment, King Arthur’s Night, (whose composer Veda Hille also co-created Onegin which continues until June 4 at the Berkeley Street Theatre), is a new take on the classic legend, commissioned by Luminato from British Columbia’s Neworld Theatre. This world premiere is co-created by Hille, Marchus Youseff, James Long and writer/co-creator Niall McNeil - an artist living with Down syndrome who grew up in the midst of BC’s Caravan Theatre. The production features a fully integrated professional cast, which includes actors from Burnaby, BC’s Down Syndrome Research Foundation, a live band and a 16-person choir: “An upside down world. A Betrayed Love. An unwanted child. Animals learning to walk and talk. A revolt by the subjugated masses. A kingdoms come undone. This isn’t the King Arthur you know.” Nearby on Front Street, the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre will house a custom-built performance space for two very different cross-genre productions to tell epic stories from two different cultures. Bearing is a world premiere dance-opera by internationally acclaimed theatre-maker Michael Greyeyes (Plains Cree), playwright/ director Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) and librettist Spy Denomme-Welch (Anishnaabe). It explores the legacy of Canada’s residential school system through music, dance, and spoken word, presented in three sections on a nearly bare stage with - in the words of the creators - “live music being integral to the audience’s understanding of the work,” and with music ranging from Bach to Vivier to new pieces composed for this Signal Theatre production. Actor and singer Marion Newman (Kwagiulth and Sto:lo) leads a company of actors, singers, and dancers, a custom built choir, and members of the National Youth Orchestra in what promises to be an unflinching yet poetic look at this difficult and enduring scar on Canada’s history. Until the Lions is a tantalizingly feminist dance/music theatre project drawn from Karthika Nair’s “Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata,” a collection of poems about the overlooked female characters in the Sanskrit epic. Director and (award-winning) choreographer Akram Khan, who spent two years as a performer in Peter Brook’s renowned international nine-hour version of the full Mahabharata, declares that “as in many myths, the female characters are often the unsung heroes, the figures of strength and imagination and endurance. It is their unsung stories in particular that still haunt me today.” His “Until the Lions” fuses traditional kathak with contemporary dance and live music (an original score) to explore the tale of one of the these women, the Princess Amba, who invokes the gods to seek revenge when her chances of love and marriage are stolen from her. The juxtaposition of these two new works in a custom built in-theround space should prove to be fascinating for the avid music theatre goer to see. How will the space affect the different productions and how will each make use of it, and to what effect? Worth a look as well for their promised pushing of genre boundaries are Vertical Influences, an ice-skating double bill by Montreal’s Le Patin Libra aiming to move skating into the theatrical arena (one piece being about bullying); Breakin’ Convention, an international festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre from Sadler’s Wells, London, and UK hip hop pioneer Jonzi D; and an award-winning production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya by the Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia which promises, in the style of theatre pioneer V. Meyerhold, a blend of words, music, mime and symbolism. Elsewhere in the City Soulpepper brings us Porgy and Bess in Concert (June 1-3 ) as well as the closing performances of their very successful run of “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf.” The National Ballet of Canada unveils their new production (and Canadian premiere, of John Neumeier’s A Streetcar Named Desire (June 3-10 using music and dance to reimagine Tennessee 62 | June 1, 2017 - September 7, 2017 thewholenote.com
Williams’ famous play, focusing on exploring themes of memory and loss. The ballet has a new first act, set to romantic music by Sergei Prokofiev and picks up the familiar story in the second act to more jarring, fragmentary music by Alfred Schnittke. On a lighter note, the Gerald Isaac studio presents a short run (June 29-July 2) of Sweet Will. This time-bending musical transforms the Bard’s most iconic works into a new story “rife with song and sass that strikes a powerful synthesis between old and new.” The exhilarating musical hodgepodge originally from 1985 is dressed up this time in spectacular Steampunk style, with Tony Award-winning Lance Mulcahy’s original book enhanced by a new script, and is under the direction and choreography of Stratford alum and Canadian theatre great Gerald Isaac and musical direction of Dora Award-winning Bob Ashley. See their Sweet Will Facebook page for more information or universe.com for tickets. A bit further afield The Stratford Festival, underway from mid-April, is getting into full swing with two musicals onstage: the wonderful Broadway classic Guys and Dolls directed by Donna Feore, with Ben Carlson as Sky and Alexis Gordon as Sarah Brown; and the perennial G & S favourite H.M.S. Pinafore directed by Lezlie Wade. For one day only, on June 24, at 2:00 pm., you can also catch Stratford Company member and Tony-Award winning singer and actor Brent Carver in concert with The Art of Time Ensemble at the Avon Theatre in a program of songs by Charles Aznavour, Leonard Cohen, Kander and Ebb, Elton John, Jacques Brel, Noël Coward and others, arranged especially for this concert by a selection of the best composers and arrangers in Canada. At the Shaw Festival, Me and My Girl continues its run until October 15. The sparkling and fun British musical about whether a These music theatre listings contain a wide range of music theatre types including opera, operetta, musicals and other performance genres where music and drama combine. Listings in this section are sorted alphabetically by presenter. ●●4th Line Theatre. Bombers: Reaping the Whirlwind. Music by Justin Hiscox, written by David S. Craig. 4th Line Theatre, 779 Zion Line, Millbrook. 705-932-4445. ; (st). Opens Jul 4, 6:00pm. Runs to Jul 29. Tues- Sat(6:00pm). Note: also Jul 24, 6:00pm. ●●Angelwalk Theatre. Everybody’s Got A Story: A Celebration of Canadian Women in Music. Lyric Theatre, Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge St. 416-901-2299. . Opens Jun 15, 8:00pm. Runs to Jun 17. ●●Arcady. Ruth. Music by Ronald Beckett, libretto by Roger Bayley. Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts, 88 Dalhousie Street., Brantford. 1-800-265-0710. -. Jun 23, 7:30pm. ●●Brott Music Festival. PopOpera. Works by Verdi, Mozart, Rossini, Tchaikovsky. BrottOpera Cast; National Academy Orchestra; Boris Brott, conductor. McIntyre Performing Arts Centre, Mohawk College, 135 Fennell Ave. W., Hamilton. 905-525-7664. ; (sr); (Brott35); (st). Jul 6, 7:30pm. ●●Brott Music Festival. Carmen. Music by Georges Bizet, libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. BrottOpera Cast; National Academy Orchestra; Boris Brott, conductor. McIntyre Performing Arts Centre, Mohawk College, 135 Fennell Ave. W., Hamilton. 905-525-7664. ; (sr); (Brott35); (st). Jul 13, 7:30pm. ●●Civic Light Opera Company. Brigadoon. Music by Frederick Loewe, lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner. Zion Cultural Centre, 1650 Finch Ave. E. 416-755-1717. . Opens May 31, 7:00pm. Runs to Jun 11. Days and times vary. Visit civiclightoperacompany.com for details. ●●Dancyn Productions. The 2nd Biennial Dancyn Cabaret. The Dancyn Theatre, 681 Dnipro Blvd., Oshawa. 289-988-2040. . Jun 12, 7:30pm. ●●Dancyn Productions. Mamma Mia! Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and some songs with Stig Anderson. Book by Catherine Johnson. Regent Theatre, 50 King St. E., Oshawa. 905-721-3399. -. Opens Jul 5, 7:30pm. Runs to Jul 30. Wed- Sat(7:30pm), Sat-Sun(1:30pm). ●●Drayton Entertainment. Marathon of Hope: The Musical. Music and lyrics by John Connolly, book by Peter Colley. Dunfield Theatre Cambridge, 46 Grand Ave. S., Cambridge. 1-855-372-9866. -. Opens May 15, 10:30am. Runs to June 4. Days and times vary. Visit draytonentertainment.com for details. ●●Drayton Entertainment. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Music C. Music Theatre Cockney man can give up his old life – and love - to join the upper class, was famously a hit in London’s West End starring Emma Thomson in full tap dancing mode in the 1980s; in the 1930s, when it premiered, it was so successful that its hit song and dance “The Lambeth Walk” was so popular across Europe during the Munich Crisis that an article in The Times of October 18, 1938, quoted a contemporary poet: “While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances – to The Lambeth Walk.” Summer Stock Ontario’s long Summer Stock Season has also begun with many performances around the province featuring both new Canadian and traditional Broadway musicals. The WWII theme continues at the 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook with David S. Craig’s musical Bombers: Reaping the Whirlwind, a new play with music danger and romance about Canadian bomber crews “as they struggle to win the war.” The new Canadian musical about Terry Fox, Marathon of Hope by John Connolly and Peter Colley, plays at the Dunfield Theatre in Cambridge, as well as the King’s Wharf Theatre in Penetanguishene. Broadway musical favourites Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat are coming to the Drayton Festival Theatre, and Huron Country Playhouse, and Thoroughly Modern Millie comes along at the beginning of July to the St Jacob’s Country Playhouse. Mezzo Marion Newman in Bearing. For more details on Summer Stock shows see our own listings and helpful websites summertheatre.ca, or summerfunguide.ca. Toronto-based “lifelong theatre person” Jennifer (Jenny) Parr works as a director, fight director, stage manager and coach, and is equally crazy about movies and musicals. by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice. Drayton Festival Theatre, 33 Wellington St. S., Drayton. 1-855-372-9866. -. Opens May 17, 10:30am. Runs to Jun 4. Days and times vary. Visit draytonentertainment.com for details. ●●Drayton Entertainment. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice. Huron County Playhouse, RR1, 70689 B Line, South Huron. 1-855-372-9866. -. Opens Jun 7, 10:30am. Runs to Jun 24. Days and times vary. Visit draytonentertainment. com for details. ●●Drayton Entertainment. Marathon of Hope: The Musical. Music and lyrics by John Connolly, book by Peter Colley. King’s Wharf Theatre, 97 Jury Dr., Penetanguishene. 1-855- 372-9866. -. Opens Jun 7, 7:30pm. Runs to Jun 17. Days and times vary. Visit draytonentertainment.com for details. ●●Drayton Entertainment. Million Dollar Quartet. Features music of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. King’s Wharf Theatre, 97 Jury Dr., Penetanguishene. 1-855-372-9866. -. Opens Jun 21, 7:30pm. Runs to Jul 15. Tues/Wed/ Thurs/Sat(2:00pm), Wed-Sat(7:30pm). Also Jun 25, 2:00pm. ●●Drayton Entertainment. All Shook Up. Features songs of Elvis Presley. Huron Country Playhouse, RR1, 70689 B Line, South Huron. 1-855-372-9866. -. Opens Jun 28, 2:00pm. Runs to Jul 16. Days and times vary. Visit draytonentertainment.com for details. ●●Drayton Entertainment. Thoroughly Modern Millie. Music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan. St. Jacobs Country Playhouse, 40 Benjamin Rd. E., Waterloo. 1-855- 372-9866. -. Opens Jul 5, 7:30pm. Runs to Jul 23. Tues-Thurs/Sat/Sun(2:00pm), Thurs-Sat(7:30pm). ●●Drayton Entertainment. Million Dollar Quartet. Features music of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. Huron County Playhouse, RR1, 70689 B Line, South Huron. 1-855-372-9866. -. Opens Jul 19, 2:00pm. Runs to Aug 5. Wed- Sun(2:00pm), Wed/Thurs/Sat(7:30pm). Also Aug 1, 2:00pm. ●●Drayton Entertainment. Lucky Stiff. Music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics and book by Lynn Ahrens. Huron Country Playhouse II, RR1, 70689 B Line, South Huron. 1-855-372-9866. -. Opens Jul 20, 2:00pm. Runs to Aug 5. Wed-Sun(2:00pm), Wed/Thurs/Sat(7:30pm). Note: extra show Aug 1, 2:00pm. ●●Drayton Entertainment. Million Dollar Quartet. Features music of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. Drayton Festival Theatre, 33 Wellington St. S., Drayton. 1-855-372-9866. -. Opens Aug 9, 2:00pm. Runs to Sep 2. Wed/Thurs/ Sat/Sun(2:00pm), Wed-Sat(7:30pm). Also Aug 29, 2:00pm. LIZ BEDDALL thewholenote.com June 1, 2017 - September 7, 2017 | 63
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!).
