Volume 24 Issue 2 - October 2018

an Ontario government

an Ontario government agency The WholeNote VOLUME 24 NO 2 |OCTOBER 2018 Centre for Social Innovation 720 Bathurst St., Suite 503, Toronto ON M5S 2R4 PHONE 416-323-2232 | FAX 416-603-4791 Publisher/Editor in Chief | David Perlman publisher@thewholenote.com Chairman of the Board | Allan Pulker directors@thewholenote.com EDITORIAL Managing Editor | Paul Ennis editorial@thewholenote.com Recordings Editor | David Olds discoveries@thewholenote.com Digital Media Editor | Sara Constant editorial@thewholenote.com Social Media Editor | Danial Jazaeri Listings Editor | John Sharpe listings@thewholenote.com jazz@thewholenote.com SALES, MARKETING & MEMBERSHIP Concert & Event Advertising / Membership | Karen Ages members@thewholenote.com Advertising Art /Production Support / Operations Jack Buell | adart@thewholenote.com Classified Ads | classad@thewholenote.com Website/Systems Support | Kevin King systems@thewholenote.com Circulation/Subscriptions | Chris Malcolm circulation@thewholenote.com SUBSCRIPTIONS per year + HST (9 issues)* *international subscriptions: additional postage applies THANKS TO THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS Beat Columnists Wendalyn Bartley, Brian Chang, Paul Ennis, Christopher Hoile, Jack MacQuarrie, Jennifer Parr, Lydia Perović, Colin Story, Andrew Timar, Steve Wallace, Matthew Whitfield Features Elizabeth Abraham, Paul Ennis, Robert Harris, David Jaeger, William Littler, David Perlman, Andrew Timar CD Reviewers Alex Baran, Stuart Broomer, Max Christie, Raul da Gama, Janos Gardonyi, Tiina Kiik, Roger Knox, Pamela Margles, Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, David Olds, Ted Parkinson, Ivana Popovic, Allan Pulker, Terry Robbins, Michael Schulman, Michael Schwartz, Andrew Scott, Colin Story, Bruce Surtees, Andrew Timar, Ken Waxman, Dianne Wells. Proofreading Sara Constant, Paul Ennis, Danial Jazaeri, John Sharpe Listings Team Ruth Atwood, Gary Heard, Tilly Kooyman, John Sharpe, Colin Story, Katie White Design Team Kevin King, Susan Sinclair Circulation Team Lori Sandra Aginian, Wende Bartley, Beth Bartley / Mark Clifford, Jack Buell, Sharon Clark, Manuel Couto, Paul Ennis, Robert Faulkner, Terry Gaeeni, Gero Hajek, James Harris, Micah Herzog, Jeff Hogben, Bob Jerome, Chris Malcolm, Luna Walker- Malcolm, Sheila McCoy, Lorna Nevison, Garry Page, Andrew Schaefer, Tom Sepp, Dagmar Sullivan, Julia Tait, Dave Taylor, Randy Weir BEAT BY BEAT 21 Classical & Beyond | PAUL ENNIS 23 On Opera | CHRISTOPHER HOILE 26 Art of Song | LYDIA PEROVIĆ 28 Choral Scene | BRIAN CHANG 32 World View | ANDREW TIMAR 34 In with the New | WENDALYN BARTLEY 36 Early Music | MATTHEW WHITFIELD 38 Jazz Notes | STEVE WALLACE 40 Music Theatre | JENNIFER PARR 41 Bandstand | JACK MACQUARRIE 58 Mainly Clubs, Mostly Jazz | COLIN STORY LISTINGS 43 A | Concerts in the GTA 53 B | Concerts Beyond the GTA 56 C | Music Theatre 57 D | In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz) 60 E | The ETCeteras DISCOVERIES: RECORDINGS REVIEWED 65 Editor’s Corner | DAVID OLDS 67 Strings Attached | TERRY ROBBINS 69 Keyed In | ALEX BARAN 70 Vocal 71 Classical and Beyond 73 Modern and Contemporary 75 Jazz and Improvised Music 77 Pot Pourri 78 Something in the Air | KEN WAXMAN 79 Old Wine, New Bottles | BRUCE SURTEES MORE 6 Contact Information 7 Upcoming dates and deadlines 62 Classified Ads SPECIAL SECTION B1 – B28 THE BLUE PAGES The WholeNote’s 19th Annual Directory of Music Makers (begins right after page 42) B1-B28 un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario an Ontario government agency un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario 6 | October 2018 thewholenote.com

FOR OPENERS | DAVID PERLMAN WHO STOLE MY TITLE? Speaking as an editor, sometimes it’s coming up with a title for a story that’s the biggest problem. Interestingly, it’s sometimes even more of a problem when the story is a good one, because there’s all the extra pressure of doing justice to a great piece of writing. Or feeling guilty about reducing something nuanced to a clever phrase. Speaking as a writer, sometimes coming up with a clever title for a story (especially before it’s written, when the pressure of deadlines is mounting) is just what the doctor ordered in order to get the droughtstricken creative juices flowing again. And here I know, from bitter experience, what I’m talking about. And then there’s that other situation, like today, when having lulled myself into the false sense of security of having a great title, I realize that it’s gone, already used for something else in this issue of the magazine. And right on the cover, which went to press yesterday, so I can’t even pull rank and change the title of the other story instead. SEEKING SYNERGIES That’s what I wanted to call this Opener. The phrase must have snuck into my writer’s mind while I was editing Andrew Timar’s feature story in this issue on this year’s FAMA (Festival of Arabian Music and Art). In that story it is used to discuss the process whereby the Canadian Arabic Orchestra is going about building awareness of the festival’s cultural scope in the musical community at large. But, as a phrase, it could apply equally well to the issue’s cover story. Or to librettist Daniel MacIvor’s account (in Chris Hoile’s On Opera column) of figuring out a working relationship with Rufus Wainwright, composer of the COC-commissioned Hadrian, soon to be unveiled. It’s all a bit like talking to people discovering The WholeNote for the first time, after walking by it for years, or even decades. “Now that I’ve noticed it,” they say “I see it everywhere.” Same with the “Synergies” thing. Look for it as a thread in the conversation (in Lydia Perović’s Art of Song column) when mezzo Simone McIntosh describes the circuitous route she took en route to getting a first opportunity to perform Messiaen’s “black pearl” Harawi song cycle. Or in Wende Bartley’s In with the New column this month, first in the description of how the Music Gallery’s David Dacks invited Bear Witness from A Tribe Called Red to curate this year’s X Avant festival and then, beyond that, in the energy that Bear Witness applied to the curatorial process itself. Seek and you shall find synergy-seeking everywhere! Composer Linda Bouchard’s pilgrimage to Bennington, Vermont to study with the formidable Henry Brant; Soundstreams’ invitation to the Shanghai New Music Week; Nurhan Arman’s description of acquiring and adapting repertoire to the string orchestra format Sinfonia Toronto has made uniquely their own over nearly two decades on the local musical front; TSO concertmaster Jonathan Crow’s response to the announcement of the hiring of Gustavo Gimeno as the TSO’s new music director (in Classical and Beyond)… the list goes on. Much like the word “tragic,” so tragically debased in its usage that it has entirely lost its particularity, “synergy,” loosely used, is not worth much. In the sense of an interaction producing a combined effect greater than the sum of the effects that could be separately achieved by the interacting agents, it’s a useful idea. And it’s a great thing to read about, or to witness, or to be part of when it happens. It can happen in music-making at any time. Enjoy the issue. It’s a real labour of love at this time of year, given the extra work of pulling together the performer and presenter profiles in the Blue Pages at the centre of this magazine without compromising on our coverage of all the other stuff. And speaking of the Blue Pages, I highly recommend giving it at least a fast read, cover to cover. You will stumble across old musical friends. You’ll for sure have things catch your eye that you never knew about. And besides, what is more satisfying than reading something where the combined effect – the sense of community you’ll get – is greater than the sum of its constituent parts? There’s got to be a word for that. publisher@thewholenote.com Upcoming Dates & Deadlines for our November 2018 edition Free Event Listings Deadline Midnight, Monday October 8 Display Ad Reservations Deadline 6pm Monday October 15 Advertising Materials Due 6pm Wednesday October 17 Classifieds Deadline 6 pm Friday October 26 Publication Date Tuesday October 30 (online) Thursday November 1 (print edition) Volume 24 No 3 “NOVEMBER 2018” will list events November 1 through December 7, 2018 WholeNote Media Inc. accepts no responsibility or liability for claims made for any product or service reported on or advertised in this issue. Printed in Canada Couto Printing & Publishing Services Circulation Statement SEPTEMBER 2018 30,000 printed & distributed Canadian Publication Product Sales Agreement 1263846 ISSN 14888-8785 WHOLENOTE Publications Mail Agreement #40026682 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: WholeNote Media Inc. Centre for Social Innovation 503–720 Bathurst Street Toronto ON M5S 2R4 COPYRIGHT © 2018 WHOLENOTE MEDIA INC thewholenote.com thewholenote.com October 2018 | 7