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.
CANARY PAGES
CANARY PAGES theWholeNote 2016/17 CANARY PAGES DIRECTORY ●Toronto ● Summer Music Community Chamber Choir The Chamber Choir with Matthias Maute is a chance to refresh vocal skills and study the great works of choral literature in the intimacy of a chamber vocal ensemble. Spend a fun-filled week rehearsing works including Tchaikovsky’s Hymn of the Cherubim, Monteverdi’s Hor che’l ciel, Brahms’ 7 Lieder für gemischten Chor, and Bach’s Missa in g minor BWV 235 with acclaimed choral conductor, virtuoso recorder player and composer, Matthias Maute. Dates: July 30 to August 4, 2018. Must be over 18 years of age. Tuition includes a ticket to all TSM Festival Concerts July 30 to August 4, daily lunch and coffee. Cost: 0 plus HST. Apply now: www. torontosummermusic.com/community-academy/ JENNIFER MAK 647-430-5699 x111 jennifer@torontosummermusic.com www.torontosummermusic.com ●Toronto ● Welsh Male Voice Choir Calling All Male Singers! The Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir (TWMVC) is growing and is seeking more members … If you are a male singer (you don’t have to be Welsh) who has always wanted to sing in a choir or rekindle your singing spirit from the past, drop in to one of our Wednesday night rehearsals at Dewi Sant United Church, 33 Melrose Ave., Toronto. We perform not only in Canada, but the USA and in the UK … We perform a wide variety of traditional and contemporary music. For more information, please go to our website. ALAN SADEGURSKY 647-389-8084 alansadegursky@yahoo.ca www.welshchoir.ca ●●Univox Choir Univox is a mixed-voice SATB community choir for young adults that is part of the larger Vox Choirs organization. The organization holds relationshipbuilding, social responsibility and musical excellence as its core principles. No audition is required for membership but most choristers have previous choral experience or some musical proficiency. Our season runs September to June and rehearsals take place Tuesdays, 5:45pm to 8pm, at New Horizons/ Dovercourt Baptist Church. Regular attendance is expected. Selected repertoire spans five centuries, including choral classics, contemporary works and popular music, ranging from Gabriel Fauré to Daft Punk. To join the choir visit: http://voxchoirs.org/ join/ MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR 416-568-3802 membership.univox@voxchoirs.org www.voxchoirs.org ●The ● Upper Canada Chordsmen Chorus Experience the joy of singing four-part a cappella harmony, in the company of your newest male friends while supporting our local community through various altruistic, artistic and musical events. We are a men’s a cappella chorus totally dedicated to pursuing excellence in entertaining our audiences, and strive to exceed expectations. We are based in Newmarket and Sharon Ontario, serving York Region and surrounding communities. Guests are welcome at weekly rehearsals. Membership includes The Chordsmen at the level of the local chapter, The Ontario District Barbershop as well the international organization of The Barbershop Harmony Society. Opportunities for performing, quartetting, workshops and competitions abound. RENE FRAPPIER 416-526-3142 Info@uccchorus.com www.uccchorus.com ●●Upper Canada Choristers The Upper Canada Choristers is a mixed-voice community choir with a diverse membership that interweaves fun with the commitment to musical excellence and vibrant community service. Performances feature collaborations with international choirs, local children’s choirs, and professional instrumentalists and singers. Cantemos is an auditioned a cappella latin ensemble within UCC. Led by artistic director, Laurie Evan Fraser, the choirs perform three diverse choral programs annually. Weekly rehearsals for the Main Choir are Monday evenings from 7:30 to 9:30pm at Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. Cantemos rehearses on Saturday mornings from 10:30am to 12:30pm at 2 Romar Cres. The choirs sing up to 20 concerts annually in a variety of community venues. LAURIE EVAN FRASER, CONDUCTOR/ ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 416-256-0510 info@uppercanadachoristers.org www.uppercanadachoristers.org ●●Uxbridge Chamber Choir The Uxbridge Chamber Choir is an amateur SATB choir under the direction of founding conductor Tom Baker. Since 1983, the choir has brought unique performances of the great choral masterpieces, from the Renaissance to modernity, to the rural community of Uxbridge and surrounding area. Together our enthusiastic singers develop and express their musical talents, often collaborating with local professional vocalists and instrumentalists. Recent performances include Beethoven’s Mass in C, Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass, Mozart’s Requiem, Monteverdi’s Vespers, Bach’s St. John Passion and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Faure’s Requiem and Durufle’s Requiem. Membership is by a non-threatening screening process at the first rehearsal. Rehearsals are Monday nights, September to May in Uxbridge. MARGARET CUNNINGHAM 905-642-2096 uxbridgechamberchoir@gmail.com www.uxbridgechamberchoir.ca ●●Vesnivka Choir Vesnivka Choir was established in 1965 by founding artistic director Halyna Kvitka Kondracki. This award-winning women’s ensemble has delighted audiences around the world with its rich repertoire of Ukrainian liturgical, classical, contemporary and traditional folk music. The choir’s regular concert season comprises three major concerts, one of which is its ever-popular annual Christmas concert. Vesnivka, together with its partner the Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber Choir (TUMCC), is often accompanied by professional soloists and chamber ensembles of area musicians. Vesnivka also sings at Christmas and Easter Liturgies. Singers are welcome; rehearsals are held on Tuesdays, 7:15pm to 9:15pm (4 Bellwoods Ave., Toronto). Male singers are welcome to join TUMCC; rehearsals held on Mondays, 7:30pm to 9pm (2445 Bloor St. W., Toronto). NYKOLA PARZEI 416-246-9880 nykola@vesnivka.com www.vesnivka.com ●●Victoria College Choir The Victoria College Choir has been a fixture of the Vic community since the move to Toronto from Cobourg in 1892. Though it has seen many different forms and incarnations over the past century, musical life at Vic has been consistently dominated by the chorus. The present Vic Chorus was established in 1991 as a non-audition, community wide chamber choir open to students, faculty, alumni, and staff. Our concerts are held regularly in the gothic setting of the Victoria College Chapel. Often involving various guest artists, these concerts present a wide range of choral musical selections, from classical to contemporary, global, operetta and more! We rehearse in the Goldring Student Building at Victoria College on Tuesdays starting at 5:15pm. TAYLOR SULLIVAN 416-585-4521 t.sullivan.vicchorus@gmail.com www.vicchorus.com ●●Victoria Scholars Men’s Choral Ensemble A past winner of the Canada Council Healey Willan Grand Prize in the the CBC Radio National Competition for Amateur Choirs and one of Canada’s finest male choral ensembles, the Victoria Scholars Men’s Choral Ensemble treats audiences to a wide range of music, from Medieval plainchant and works from the Baroque, Renaissance and Romantic eras through to contemporary and newly commissioned works from some of Canada’s best-known composers. Along with an annual three-concert series in Toronto, the Scholars have toured nationally and internationally, perform regularly with international C16
vocal soloists and arts organizations, and have released five acclaimed recordings, including, most recently, in January 2016, Songs of Love. If you are an experienced musician with excellent sight reading abilities and would like to join us for the upcoming season, please contact us today. JERZY CICHOCKI 416-761-7776 info@victoriascholars.ca www.victoriascholars.ca ●●Village Voices Village Voices, a diverse, mixed-voice 70-voice community choir based in Markham, enters its 30th season in September 2018. Directed by Oksana Vignan, the choir presents two major concerts annually and sings at seniors’ residences and special community events, performing repertoire from the great standard classics to contemporary music. Village Voices has collaborated with other Ontario choirs and as guest artists of instrumental ensembles such as the Markham Concert Band and the Kindred Spirits Orchestra. The choir’s musical skills are honed regularly through special workshops with outstanding choral musicians. Features of the choir’s May 12, 2018 concert, “Celebrate Love,” include a medley from Les Miserables, along with superb, contemporary worksby Ola Gjeilo, Olaf Christensen and Kim Andre Arnesen. The 2018-2019 season will end with a May concert celebrating our 30th anniversary. ELLEN DOWSWELL 905-763-4172 info@villagevoiceschoir.com www.villagevoices.ca ●●VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto VIVA!’s six choirs include three children’s choirs for ages four to 16; the Everyone Can Sing Choir for teens and adults with disabilities; an SATB Community Choir providing singing opportunity for adult beginners and retirees; and an SATB adult chamber choir. Diverse programming features age-appropriate choral training through instruction in vocal technique, private vocal instruction and music theory. VIVA!’s TD Bank Group Inclusion Program offers support for people with disabilities and transgendered singers who are finding their voices. Singers from the Main Chorus and Chamber Choir may choose to perform with VIVA! in the National Ballet of Canada’s Nutcracker. VIVA!’s staff of fine musicians and the members of the Choral Mentoring and Leadership Program deliver authentic music-making in a supportive, singercentred choral community. SUSAN SUCHARD 416-788-8482 info@vivayouthsingers.com www.vivayouthsingers.com ●●VOCA Chorus of Toronto The VOCA Chorus of Toronto is a dynamic, auditioned ensemble that performs eclectic repertoire (including premieres of arrangements by our artistic director) in collaboration with some of Canada’s finest artists. Each season consists of two major concerts, a cabaret fundraiser, two retreats (including one with guest clinician) and community performances. Rehearsals are Monday evenings at Eastminster United Church, 310 Danforth Ave., Toronto. On Saturday, May 5, 7:30pm at Eastminster, we present “Dreamsongs,” featuring the Canadian premiere of Dreamweaver by worldrenowned composer, Ola Gjeilo, along with a Toronto premiere of his SATB setting of Song of the Universal, and works by Sirett, Daley and others. Director: Jenny Crober. Accompanist: Elizabeth Acker. Guests: Ellen McAteer, soprano; Jason Fowler, guitar; VOCA Chamber Strings orchestra. JENNY CROBER 416-463-8225 crober.best@gmail.com www.vocachorus.ca ●●Voices Chamber Choir Entering into the choir’s 23rd season, Voices has firmly established itself as one of Toronto finest chamber choirs, and it has received awards and recognition from across Canada. As part of next season, the choir will perform Healey Willan’s The Mystery of Bethlehem at our Christmas concert in commemoration of Dr. Willan’s death in 1968, and Theodore Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ as part of our Lenten presentation. The choir will close out next season with a concert featuring Handel’s Coronation Anthems and music by Haydn. Voices rehearses on Wednesday evenings from 7:30pm to 10pm at St. Thomas’s Church, 383 Huron St., Toronto. Auditions are available throughout the year. RON CHEUNG 416-519-0528 voiceschamberchoir@yahoo.ca www.voiceschoir.com ●●Wayne Gilpin Singers Beautiful melodies, rocking sax solos, edgy new jazz arrangements of Handel’s Messiah– if any of this appeals to you, read on. The Waterloo-based Wayne Gilpin Singers is an auditioned (a singerfriendly audition, we promise!) chamber choir that sings a wide variety of music, including contemporary Christian, gospel, show tunes, spirituals and more. Resident composer/accompanist Andrew Gilpin pens unique arrangements for an ever-expanding Jazz Messiah, an annual event that twins Handel’s beautiful melodies with modern rhythms and musical styles. Also featured in concert are talented guest artists on bass, drums and saxophone, providing an unforgettable musical experience for both audience and choir. WAYNE GILPIN 1-800-867-3281 wayne@gilpin.ca ●●West Toronto Community Choir We are a small community choir serving Roncesvalles, Parkdale, the Junction and other surrounding communities. Rehearsals are Monday evenings 7pm to 8:45pm and take place at Roncesvalles United Church. Music is a mix of folk tunes and secular classical, with a few pop favourites thrown in. Our vibe is fun and social, with a focus on community engagement and low-pressure musicmaking. We have a mix of seasoned choristers and novices. Reasonable schedule and a small fee. TAYLOR STRANDE 647-388-3604 westtorontocommunitychoir@gmail.com VESNIVKA CHOIR theWholeNote 2018/19 CANARY PAGES DIRECTORY C17
