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Volume 28 Issue 2 | November 1 - December 13, 2022

  • Text
  • Thewholenotecom
  • Ensemble
  • Arts
  • Quartet
  • Choir
  • Orchestra
  • Musical
  • Symphony
  • December
  • November
  • Toronto
Available now for your online "flip-through" reading pleasure, The WholeNote Volume 28 no.2. For Openers, my uncle had a barn; then: Trichy Sankaran at 80; the return of the professional chamber choir; what makes music theatre more than just theatre; how to fit three violin concerti into one concert; and more.

REMEMBERING Remembering

REMEMBERING Remembering GEOFF NUTTALL, violinist St. Lawrence String Quartet in 1992: Lesley Robertson, viola; Geoff Nuttall, violin 1; Marina Hoover, cello and Barry Shiffman, violin 2 “We want to connect to the simple idea that music can be powerful. Our goal is to make people gasp at the right moment, and feel sad at that right time. That’s a basic concept, but it keeps us going. We don’t want people to go away and say ‘They were really in tune.’ That’s the kiss of death. We want people to talk about how the music made them feel.” Geoff Nuttall, quoted in The WholeNote, September 2010 The Canadian musical community was deeply saddened to learn of the death on October 19 of Geoff Nuttall, co-founder and first violin of the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Music TORONTO’s artistic producer, Jennifer Taylor – whose email and phone have been flooded with audience members mourning him – responded to The WholeNote’s invitation to expand on the 30-year relationship between the SLSQ and Music TORONTO: “I adopted the St. Lawrence Quartet for the 1992 season when they were emerging from student life into a career and before they won Banff,” Taylor wrote. “I made them Music TORONTO’s first ever ensemble-in-residence with a three-concert series in which they could program what they wanted to play, often with senior guests they wanted to play with. From there we settled into what became a 30-year relationship; after our residency ended they returned to our stage annually. We looked forward to their interest in repertoire; we lived with them through their changes of personnel; we watched as the stage door opened to see what Geoff Nuttall had done with his hair that year. The SLSQ shared many new works with us, and their love of Haydn. They were always themselves, a unique, exuberant, technically proficient quartet. We loved them; we enjoyed them.” “Geoff Nuttall was a great violinist,” she continued. “He chose St Lawrence Quartet in 2022: Christopher Costanza, cello, Lesley Robertson, viola, Owen Dalby, violin, Geoff Nuttall, violin chamber music and he drew others, musicians and audiences, to him. He couldn’t sit still; some of our audience hated that – but they came, they just looked away. When we did some digital concerts during COVID, I noticed that Geoff kept looking out into the house – the empty house – while playing; he knew we were there. He was always communicating – his joy in the music, his understanding, his sheer delight in sharing what he had discovered. Geoff’s death at just 56 is a great loss. It is some small consolation that we live in a digital age and we can hear him and see him in a wealth of recorded performances.” Co-founder and former member of the SLSQ, Barry Shiffman, now associate dean of the Glenn Gould School and director of the Banff Centre, told CBC Music that “Geoff had an ability that is so rare, the ability to make the listener feel what he is feeling. It sounds so simple, yet it is everything. There’s no security blanket, just a brilliant, electric personality that transmits the feelings directly. I remember hearing him when we were both teenagers, and he had that gift then. It was a way of making music I had never known and it changed me. Sitting beside him for thousands of concerts and countless hours of rehearsals has been one of the great gifts of my life.” Paul Ennis MARCO BORGGREVE 70 | November 1 - December 13, 2022 thewholenote.com

KOERNER HALL 2022.23 Concert Season Fazil Say SUN., NOV. 6, 3PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only World-renowned Turkish-born German-trained pianist Fazıl Say’s artistry stretches from chamber music to jazz. Supported by The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programming ARC Ensemble SUN., NOV. 13, 2PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Tickets start at only ARC Ensemble (Artists of The Royal Conservatory) performs chamber music by Robert Müller Hartmann at this special concert. Supported by The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programming Taylor Academy Showcase Concert SAT., NOV. 19, 2022 4:30PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Free (ticket required) The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists presents concerts by the leading young classical musicians in Canada. Hear the stars of tomorrow! Supported by The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programming Tania Miller conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra FRI., NOV. 25, 8PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only Tania Miller conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in a performance of Silvestrov, Beethoven, and Shostakovich Supported by The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programming Tigran Hamasyan Trio and Majd Sekkar Quartet SAT., NOV. 19, 8PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan “has found a way to keep improvisation fresh and lyrical.” (The Guardian) Syrian Canadian clarinetist, instructor, and composer Majd Sekkar and his quartet mix and transcend jazz, Middle Eastern, and other musical styles. Supported by The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programming Kronos Quartet KRONOS QUARTET and SAM GREEN: A THOUSAND THOUGHTS A live documentary with the Kronos Quartet Written and directed by Sam Green and Joe Bini TUES., DEC 6, 8PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only Presented in partnership with the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema KRONOS QUARTET with STUDENTS FROM THE GLENN GOULD SCHOOL: FIFTY FORWARD FRI., DEC. 8, 8PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Tickets start at only Supported by The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programming KRONOS QUARTET with very special guest TANYA TAGAQ: MUSIC FOR CHANGE FRI., DEC 9, 8PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY Supported by The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programming TICKETS & SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 RCMUSIC.COM/PERFORMANCE 273 BLOOR STREET WEST 237 (BLOOR ST. STREET & AVENUE WEST RD.) (BLOOR TORONTO ST. & AVENUE RD.) TORONTO

Volumes 26-29 (2020- )

Volumes 21-25 (2015-2020)

Volumes 16-20 (2010-2015)

Volumes 11-15 (2004-2010)

Volumes 6 - 10 (2000 - 2006)

Volumes 1-5 (1994-2000)