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 ●●Nocturnes in the City 18 years ago Nocturnes in the City started as a five-concert series at Prague Restaurant at Masaryktown in Scarborough. It was a great success from the beginning and five years later, the classical concerts were moved to a downtown location. Many Czech and Slovak artists have performed in last 17 years to mainly Czech-Canadian audiences: Singers Eva Urbanová, Zdeněk Plech, Gustáv Beláček, Eva Blahová; pianists Antonín Kubálek, Karolina Kubálek, Jan Novotný, Boris Krajny, and Martin Karlíček; violinists Ivan Ženatý and Bohuslav Matoušek; famous quartets (the Panocha, Zemlinsky, Pražák and Kocian); not to forget clarinetists Joaquin Valdepeñas and Peter Stoll, and jazz musicians, George Grosman, Drew Jurecka , Emil Viklický and others. This season marks 100 years from the birth of Czechoslovakia in 1918 and will be celebrated by a special concert on October 28 when the Zemlinsky Quartet with pianist Slávka Vernerová- Pěchočová present two Antonin Dvořák string quartets and one piano quintet. One week before - October 21, the same pianist will present in solo recital works by three Czech composing giants – Dvořák, Smetana and Janáček. There will be two jazz concerts in the beautiful ambience of Prague Restaurant. Reasonably priced, excellent productions. Milos Krajny 416-481-7294 mkrajn1057@rogers.com www.nocturnesinthecity.com ●●Oakville Chamber Orchestra The OCO exists to enhance the quality of life for all Oakville residents by providing high quality, meaningful chamber music experiences. We do so by offering high value, accessible concerts and outreach programs to a diverse audience. We provide professional development for promising, high potential musicians, including our core musicians and participants in our annual Youth Concert Competition, to grow and train in a healthy, creative environment. Bethany D. Reed 905-483-6787 mail@oakvillerchamber.org www.oakvillechamber.org ●●Oakville Choir for Children & Youth (formerly known as The Oakville Children’s Choir) The Oakville Choir for Children & Youth holds fast to its mission of providing world-class choral, musical and performance training to young people in Halton, where it has become a comprehensive music education program for over 250 auditioned choristers ranging in age from four through 25 years. The OC presents three to four self-produced concerts annually for the community, each featuring all levels of choir plus a guest artist. In addition, the choir performs at workshops, provides guest appearances at community functions, collaborates with other choirs and arts groups in Ontario, and tours internationally. Theory, musicianship, vocal coaching and workshops with professional artists are all components of the choral program. Competitions and touring also add to the choristers’ experience, as well as the choir’s wide range of repertoire, diverse concert programming and its high standard of performance. The OC gives back to its community by developing youth, partnering with other groups, bringing music to seniors and hospitals, offering bursaries to families in need, supporting other charities, participating in community events, providing educational outreach initiatives, and encouraging volunteering. Katherine Hamilton 905-337-7104 info@oakvillechildrenschoir.org www.oakvillechoir.org ●●Off Centre Music Salon Now in its 24th season, Off Centre Music Salon began as an attempt to find the magical, inclusive atmosphere of the Viennese and Parisian salons of the 19th century. At a time when the concert hall experience had become almost clinical in its austerity, we felt the need, more than ever, to go back to a time when music was intimately shared, when concerts told a story and created personal connections for audience and performer alike. “The moment is supreme.” Schubert’s words. Not ours. And yet ones that have always – for better or for worse – governed the spontaneous and free spirit of Off Centre. This season, we turn those words on their head. A season of supreme moments. Groundbreaking Musical Moments. We journey from the tumult and exuberance of 1889, to the intricately woven song cycles of Schubert himself; from the intimacy of an overheard epistolary conversation between composers, to Russia, where the artist contemplates the astonishing and harrowing ages and stages of life. This fall, we welcome you back to our “home” at Toronto’s Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre – to do just that. To find those magical connections. To celebrate the supreme moments. Boris Zarankin and Inna Perkis 416-466-6323 tickets@offcentremusic.com www.offcentremusic.com ●●Opera Atelier Opera Atelier is a world leader in the rediscovery and revitalization of period opera and ballet, particularly works from the Baroque era. Through their historically informed productions, founding co-artistic directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg seek to provide a thrilling theatrical experience for modern audiences. Opera Atelier presents a two-opera season in Toronto, and tours internationally. The company is dedicated to the education of youth and young artists, and offers a robust slate of education, enrichment and outreach opportunities. Opera Atelier’s 2018-2019 season brings art to life with two rare and exceptional creations. We open with a French Baroque double-bill of Charpentier’s Actéon and Rameau’s Pygmalion (October 25 to November 3, 2018) at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre. This production will then tour to Chicago’s Harris Theater and the Royal Opera House at the Palace of Versailles. The season continues in spring 2019 with Opera Atelier’s award-winning production of Mozart’s Idomeneo, featuring Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman’s return to the opera stage in Toronto. Visit our website for more information. Alexandra Skoczylas 416-703-3767 www.operaatelier.com ●●Opera For All Opera For All is an inclusive and accessible community opera choir for seasoned choristers and complete beginners. From its origin in 2016 at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, we have evolved into a not-for-profit organization. Everyone is welcome! Regardless of experience. Led by Spanish conductor, Maestro Álvaro Lozano Gutiérrez (also a renowned baritone), you will learn and sing popular opera choruses and perform on stage. No auditions. No experience or note-reading required. We provide the resources for home practice: vocal tracks, diction tapes, lyric sheets and translations. Why Opera For All? Because opera is an art-form that most people don’t get to enjoy. Aside from opera appreciation courses and live-streamed performances from the Met, we don’t see choirs dedicated to opera repertoire in our communities. That’s why there is Opera For All. A safe space to sing and have fun. And meet really nice people too. About Álvaro: Alvaro began studying piano at 10, then violin and trumpet. He was working as an accompanist for opera singers when the vocal coach said he had a good voice and should study opera. He went on to a 12-year career, in lead roles, in 42 operas before earning a Masters in conducting. Elizabeth Abraham 416-315-0049 contact@operaforall.ca www.operaforall.ca ●●Opera York In our 22nd season and continuing our residency as the professional opera company at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Arts, Opera York offers two exciting productions for our main stage with the Opera York Chorus and Orchestra. Our season opens with great Canadian singers in a traditional production of Puccini’s La Boheme, with B16 | theWholeNote 2018/19 PRESENTER PROFILES
music director Denis Mastromonaco and stage director Penny Cookson. Opera York’s second half of the season is led by music director Geoffrey Butler, in the full production of Mozart’s classic Don Giovanni. Opera York continues to provide affordable and accessible lectures, operatic concerts for seniors and educational programming. November 2 and 4, 2018: Puccini’s La Boheme, Richmond Hill Centre for the Arts. March 1 and 3, 2019: Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Richmond Hill Centre for the Arts. Tickets 905-787-8811. www.rhcentre.ca Philip Trow 905-763-7853 info@operayork.com www.operayork.com ●●Oriana Women’s Choir Oriana Women’s Choir is an auditioned ensemble of 30 amateur female singers with a long history of performance at a high artistic standard. Led by artistic director Mitchell Pady since 2011, Oriana explores the possibilities in choral music for the female voice, collaborating with a diverse range of artists to push the boundaries of typical expectations for women’s choir performances. We foster the creation of Canadian choral music, regularly commissioning works from Canadian composers for women’s voices. Oriana presents a three-concert series in November, February and May, at Grace Church on-the-Hill. 2018/19 repertoire includes Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols paired with Susa’s Carols and Lullabies, the Canadian premiere of David Lang’s Love Fail, and an exploration of the compositional inspiration to create music for women’s voices. We look forward to welcoming you to the concerts in our 47th season! Choir manager info@orianachoir.com www.orianachoir.com ●●Orpheus Choir of Toronto Orpheus’ vision is to celebrate the transformational power of choral music as an agent of social change and a passionate medium of artistic expression. The 65-voice choir, under artistic director Robert Cooper, champions the new and unusual in choral performance, commissioning and introducing new works and performing overlooked masterpieces. Regularly working directly with living composers and singing a wide range of repertoire styles in concerts with high production value, Orpheus has introduced audiences to many fascinating and accessible works from the current generation of leading composers. Orpheus supports young emerging vocal talent through its highly respected Sidgwick Scholars Program and our newer Vocal Apprentice Program for high school singers. Winners of the 2018 Choral Canada Award for Outstanding Innovation, Orpheus continues to move audiences with an “expect something different” experience! In 18/19, the OPERA ATELIER Choir presents an “Orpheus Cinema” production, providing a choral soundtrack to the 1924 silent film classic, Peter Pan; performs A Child’s Christmas in Wales with Stratford star Geraint Wyn Davies; celebrates women in the choral art in “Raising Her Voice,” and leaves programming to the audience in “Orpheus By Request.” Lisa Griffiths 416-530-4428 lisa.griffiths@orpheuschoirtoronto.com www.orpheuschoirtoronto.com ●●Pax Christi Chorale Hailed by critics and audiences alike as one of Canada’s finest oratorio choirs, Pax Christi Chorale delivers stirring performances with great polish and total conviction. Under the artistic direction of David Bowser, the award-winning choir aspires to build on its strengths and accomplishments to achieve new levels of performance and audience engagement. Collaborations with outstanding guest artists and partners give audiences and performers a deep appreciation for choral masterworks and new Canadian music. The organization includes the 100-voice chorale, chamber choir, and a choral scholarship program. Rehearsals are on Monday nights in North York. Auditions are held in May and August. Pax Christi Chorale champions great choral music among a diverse community. We have an inclusive philosophy and welcome audience members, choristers, and volunteers from all backgrounds and walks of life. 2018-19 Season Highlights: “Slavic Devotion” on Saturday, October 27, 2018, 7:30pm. and Sunday, October 28, 2018, 3:00pm at Grace Church on-the-Hill “England’s Golden Age” on Sunday, December 16, 2018, 3:00pm at Grace Church on-the-Hill Miziwe... (Everywhere...) on Sunday, March 31, 2019 at Koerner Hall Helen Nestor 647-345-7743 boxoffice@paxchristichorale.org www.paxchristichorale.org ●●Penthelia Singers Founded in 1997, Penthelia Singers has earned a reputation for presenting high quality, innovative concerts of choral repertoire in a multitude of styles and languages. A vibrant ensemble of women, we are committed to excellence in performing culturally diverse and musically sophisticated repertoire spanning the renaissance to the 21st century. The choir seeks opportunities to collaborate with special guest artists such as Suba Sankaran (world music), Raigelee Alorut (Inuit throat singing) and Steve Mancuso (Brazilian capoeira) to workshop different styles of music, as well as work with many talented instrumentalists who support our performances. Penthelia Singers is a welcoming group of women committed to high standards of music-making, diversity, community outreach and enjoyment through the learning process. Alice Malach 416-579-7464 alice_malach@hotmail.com www.penthelia.com ●The ● Peterborough Singers The Peterborough Singers is an auditioned 100- voice community choir of adults and youth which attracts both members and audience from Peterborough, the Kawarthas, Northumberland and locations along the lakeshore. Last season we celebrated our 25th anniversary under the energetic and creative leadership of founder and music director Sydney Birrell. Concerts this season are “Yuletide Cheer,” Handel’s Messiah, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with Fauré’s Requiem, and the February concert “Soul II.” Our February concert is always devoted to popular music, something outside the box of regular classical theWholeNote 2018/19 PRESENTER PROFILES | B17
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.
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!).
