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.
BLUE PAGES
BLUE PAGES 2018/19 SECTION I: PRESENTERS & PERFORMERS Ken Hall 416-366-0467 info@canadianchildrensopera.com www.canadianchildrensopera.com ●●Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre is the catalyst that connects you to the ever-evolving world of Canadian musical creation through performance, education and promotion. Join us for a series of concerts in the historic and beautiful Chalmer’s Performance Space. The 2018-2019 CMC Presents series has been curated by Toronto-based composer and winner of the 2011 CMC Emerging Composer Award Nick Storring. The season will include performances by cellist Elinor Frey, the Thin Edge New Music Collective, Alex Samaras, and more, highlighting Canadian musical creations. Tickets are only - and include a reception. Join us! Natasha Bood 416-961-6601 x202 nbood@musiccentre.ca www.musiccentre.ca ●●Canadian Opera Company Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company (COC) is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America, and maintains an international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation. The COC’s 2018/19 mainstage season includes: Eugene Onegin, Hadrian (world première), Elektra, Così fan tutte, La Bohème and Otello. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world. The company enjoys a loyal audience support-base and one of the highest attendance and subscription rates in North America. The COC is an active participant in the cultural community by presenting an annual series of free concerts and a wide array of education and outreach events, encouraging the creation of operatic works and fostering the training and development of young Canadian artists through its renowned Ensemble Studio program. A not-for-profit organization since 1950, the COC is considered one of the best opera companies in the world. Alexander Neef, general director Box Office: 416-363-8231 info@coc.ca www.coc.ca ●●Canadian Sinfonietta Founded in 1998, the Canadian Sinfonietta (CS) is a chamber orchestra led by artistic director and founder, Tak-Ng Lai, in partnership with concertmaster Joyce Lai. The orchestra is comprised of 14 to 25 professional musicians who perform as a large ensemble at the Glenn Gould Studio (250 Front St. W) and the Markham Free Methodist Church (22 Esna Park Dr., Markham), and as a small ensemble at the Heliconian Hall (35 Hazelton Ave). The mission of CS is to reintroduce live chamber music to the growing GTA communities, producing a new generation of concert-goers by presenting concerts that are traditional with a twist. The programs are innovative and often feature interdisciplinary artistic presentations, multicultural music and non-western instruments, and highlight diverse Canadian artists. CS is a community-conscious group and plays an active role, through partnership with local community organizations, in promoting the appreciation of music across various cultures; mentoring young artists, and using music as a language to engage and link people of all ages and status within the community. CS believes that “chamber music is for everyone.” Joyce Lai 647-813-8859 canadiansinfonietta@gmail.com www.canadiansinfonietta.com ●●Cantemus Singers Cantemus Singers was established in 2008 by our conductor, Michael Erdman, to help expand Toronto’s exposure to and appreciation of Renaissance and early Baroque secular vocal music. Our 12-voice a cappella ensemble focuses mainly on the interesting and evocative madrigals, lieder, chansons and villancicos of the 16th century. We also perform religious works, often the five-to-eight-part compositions less often heard by Toronto audiences. Our 2018/19 season begins November 24 and 25, as we perform Christmas music from Spain, including Flecha’s charming ensalada “La Bomba.” Our March program, “Fair Oriana” explores the cult of Queen Elizabeth, featuring works by Morley, Tallis and Byrd. In May, our spring concerts focus on the music of the German princely courts with works by di Lasso, Praetorius and Schütz. Performances are at Church of the Holy Trinity (10 Trinity Square – Eaton Centre) and at St. Aidan’s Anglican Church (70 Silver Birch Ave. at Queen St. E.). Check out our website for times. Michael Erdman, conductor 416-578-6602 cantemus.ca@gmail.com www.cantemus.ca ●●Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a volunteer community orchestra that has been based in Scarborough since 1986. The orchestra presents seven concerts each season including a subscription series of five concerts. Led by artistic director Norman Reintamm, this season we will bring to life some of the greatest musical masterpieces, such as Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, introduce you to some of Canada’s rising stars, including the YOU Dance Apprentices from the National Ballet of Canada, and present a variety of local area artists such as Robert Horvath and the Payadora Tango Ensemble. It is with great pleasure that we welcome back the YOU Dance Apprentices from the National Ballet of Canada for a thrilling evening of ballet as well as David Diston, tenor, and Cristina Pisani, soprano, the winners of the 2018 Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra Clifford Poole Vocal Competition. We will also perform the world premiere of a new work by young Estonian-Canadian composer Erik Kreem. Looking for an orchestra to play in? Send your inquiries to us at info@cathedralbluffs.com. Peggy Wong 416-879-5566 www.cathedralbluffs.com ●The ● Cellar Singers The Cellar Singers is a 40-voice mixed choir based in Orillia. For fifty years, the choir has delighted audiences in Simcoe and Muskoka with choral masterpieces grand and intimate. Under the direction of gifted choral specialist Mitchell Pady, the choir presents 4 main concerts each season. Rehearsals are open to all and are held Wednesday evenings, 7:15pm, at St. James Anglican Church, Orillia. Rebecca Campbell 708-718-4124 info@thecellarsingers.com www.thecellarsingers.com ●●Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto The plan to build a Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto was first started in 1988. CCC has been a multicultural hub for diverse ethnicity in Greater Toronto Area since it came into operation in 1998. Besides operating programs and classes to serve the diverse needs of the community, and events to enrich the cultural and artistic mosaic, in 2017 alone, the CCC’s broadbased programs and events impacted and benefited over 150,000 people from youth to senior and from local to international. 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of CCC, and our Toronto Piano & Violin Competition 2019 will take place from February 21 to February 28, 2019, bringing into focus our ongoing work to provide a platform to discover and recognize talent, to highlight musical growth and experience, to provide inspiration for people of all nationalities and cultures, and to bring Toronto and Canada onto the World Stage. Check cccmusicfestival.com for more information. Cindy Guo 416-292-9293 ext-229 info@cccgt.org www.cccgt.org B6 | theWholeNote 2018/19 PRESENTER PROFILES
●●Chorus Niagara Worth the drive to Niagara! Chorus Niagara, The Power of 100, is Niagara’s premier 100-voice ensemble. Conducted by artistic director Robert Cooper, Chorus Niagara has been entertaining and enlightening audiences for over 55 years. Chorus Niagara performs traditional choral masterpieces, modern and seldom-heard works, as well as new commissions, and provides a showcase for emerging Canadian talent. Attracting singers of all ages with the Chorus Niagara Children’s Choir (CNCC conductor Amanda Nelli), Side-by- Side High School Chorale, and Robert Cooper Choral Scholars program, and nurturing emerging talent with our new Apprentice Conductor program, CN provides opportunities for everyone to experience the joy of live choral performance. Our thrilling 56th season begins with a humanist requiem, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem; followed by festive favourite and choral classic, Handel’s Messiah. Chorus Niagara will then perform King David, “the best oratorio you’ve never heard!” and wrap up the season performing the live choral soundtrack to the enchanting 1924 silent film, Peter Pan. All concerts are performed at the stunning new FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in revitalized downtown St.Catharines. Experience The Power of 100! Diana McAdorey 905-934-5575 diana_mcadorey@yahoo.ca www.chorusniagara.org ●●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 416-920-5211 x28 motto@christchurchdeerpark.org www.thereslifehere.org CHORUS NIAGARA ●● Church of St. Mary Magdalene Steeped in musical heritage and assisted by a generous acoustic, St. Mary Magdalene offers a music program 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 the Gregorian propers from the east end. Both choirs rehearse on Thursdays. At the 9:30am Sung Mass, the SMM Singers sing a motet and lead congregational singing. Membership is informal: rehearsals are at 9:00am directly before the service; regular attendance is not mandatory. One Sunday per month at 4:30pm, the meditative Solemn Evensong and Benediction is sung, preceded by an organ recital at 4:00pm. For information, please contact the director of music, Andrew Adair. Andrew Adair 416-531-7955 andrew.timothy.adair@gmail.com www.stmarymagdalene.ca ●●Confluence (formerly Toronto Masque Theatre) Confluence is a new interdisciplinary, crosscultural multimedia project that continues the warm and wide-ranging programming of Toronto Masque Theatre with many new twists. Confluence – “an act or process of merging” – will be a company of diverse creative artists dedicated to intimate, thought-provoking, entertaining and moving presentations with a focus on: • Cabarets curated by a wide cross-section of Toronto’s leading musicians; • Anniversary programs celebrating important figures in music; • Salons and lectures on a wide variety of musical topics; • Commissions of new works by Canadian creative artists; • Special programs of rarely-performed sacred and spiritual music; • The launch of a new podcast series, entitled “Confluence: The Podcast” on and about music to be housed on the brand-new Confluence website (activated on September 16). Artistic producer Larry Beckwith has been ably assisted in planning this new mandate by a whole host of outstanding and diverse figures from Toronto’s amazing music scene. The launch of Confluence was on Sunday, September 16, featuring performances by Suba Sankaran, Andrew Forde, Cole Alvis, Patricia O’Callaghan and many more. The season continues with five more programs. Larry Beckwith 416-410-4561 larrybeckwith@sympatico.ca www.confluenceconcerts.ca ●●Cor Unum Ensemble Cor Unum Ensemble (kɔr unum: one heart) is one of Toronto’s newest early music ensembles, comprised of emerging professionals interested in vocal and instrumental collaboration within the early music repertoire. Founded in 2016 by Joel Allison and artistic director Ruth Denton, CUE performed its début concert to a full house at Trinity College Chapel, performing J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion with guest artistic director Adrian Butterfield. Our second season included a “choose-your-own-adventure” story-telling concert called “The Choice,” a concert of early Italian instrumental and vocal music, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. We are frequent guest artists in the Hamilton Hammer Baroque series and also present private house concerts. CUE strives to create performance opportunities for young artists passionate about early music, and foster growth as individual artists. Our process is intentionally collaborative, valuing the collective experience our artists possess, theWholeNote 2018/19 PRESENTER PROFILES | B7
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!).
