The WholeNote FOR
The WholeNote FOR OPENERS VOLUME 29 NO 1 SEPTEMBER 2023 IN THIS EDITION STORIES AND INTERVIEWS Wendalyn Bartley, MJ Buell, Paul Ennis, David Perlman, Andrew Scott, Sharna Searle, Colin Story CD Reviewers Stuart Broomer, Max Christie, Stephanie Conn, Sam Dickinson, Daniel Foley, Raul da Gama, Janos Gardonyi, Richard Haskell, Tiina Kiik, Kati Kiilaspea, Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, Cheryl Ockrant, David Olds, Ivana Popovic, Cathy Riches, Terry Robbins, Michael Schulman, Andrew Scott, Adam Sherkin, Bruce Surtees, Andrew Timar, Yoshi Maclear Wall, Ken Waxman, Matthew Whitfield Proofreading Paul Ennis, John Sharpe Listings Team John Sharpe, Gary Heard, Colin Story Design Team Kevin King, Susan Sinclair Circulation Team Jack Buell, Bruno Difilippo, Carl Finkle, Vito Gallucci, Josh Gershateer, James Harris, Bob Jerome, Marianela Lopez, Chris Malcolm, Sheila McCoy, Lorna Nevison, Janet O’Brien, and Tom Sepp UPCOMING DATES AND DEADLINES Weekly Online Listings Updates 6pm every Tuesday for weekend posting Volume 29 No. 2, October & November Will be published Friday, September 22 (digital) Tuesday, September 26 (print) Print edition listings deadline 6pm Tuesday, September 5 Print advertising, reservation deadline 6pm Tuesday, September 12 Web advertising can be booked at any time VOLUME 29 will include six print editions: September 2023 (Aug 29); October & November (Sept 26); December & January (Nov 28); February & March (Jan 30); April & May (Mar 26); Summer (May 28) Printed in Canada Couto Printing & Publishing Services Circulation Statement - May 30, 2023 9000 printed & distributed Canadian Publication Product Sales Agreement 1263846 ISSN 14888-8785 WHOLENOTE Publications Mail Agreement #40026682 WholeNote Media Inc. accepts no responsibility or liability for claims made for any product or service reported on or advertised in this issue. INTERSECTIONS “Intersection” jumped out at me as a singularly good word with which to launch this first issue of our 29th season of doing what we do. “Crossroads” came to mind, so did “Turning Point”, and a few others, across the full spectrum from dire to hopeful. One thing I like particularly about the word is how normal, mundane even, it often is. Intersections are, after all, not places where worlds are supposed to collide. To the contrary, they are places where avoiding collisions is one’s primary social responsibility, whether one is attempting to proceed straight ahead, or signalling a change of direction. Don’t misunderstand though. It is not a word condemned to the mundane. In fact, in some contexts it has a certain delicious terror to it – a frisson – knowing that you have just doubled your chances of an unforeseen encounter, or have the option of changing direction yourself. It’s this latter sense that Intersection Music & Arts Festival (IMAF) taps into for its annual marathon concert event on the Saturday before Labour Day. The idea is to put a wide range of non-mainstream music and art in some place where everyone happening to go by will run into stuff they would never have thought of watching or listening to. Or might even have crossed the street to avoid, if they’d seen it coming. Obviously it takes major intersectionality to ensure a gratifying volume of random encounters of this kind: fortunately there is no place in the city more majorly intersectional than Yonge-Dundas Square, the festival’s home since Contact Contemporary Music presented its first all-day “Toronto New Music Marathon” there in 2007. (The “Intersection” name came along three years later.) This year the Saturday before Labour Day falls on September 2. And, as we have been, more often than not from the get-go, WholeNote will be there, sharing a booth somewhere along the margins of the event. The printing gods being kind, we will be waving copies of this first issue of what is promising to be, for us, a significantly intersectional 29th year of doing what we do. Oops, there’s that frisson again. At the start of this, I said that “Intersection” had jumped out at me while searching for some unifying theme to this. Twice, actually. The other instance is a concert I write about elsewhere in the issue which is described as being “at the intersection of Music & Dance”. Think of “Music & Dance” as being a physical somewhere – like Yonge & Dundas (or 34th & Vine, for that matter). Followers of different arts arrive at the same intersection by different routes; drawn by what they knew they liked, and end up transformed by something they would never have thought of watching or listening to. Nice thought. David Perlman can be reached at publisher@thewholenote.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT For thousands of years before European settlement, T’karonto (The Meeting Place) was part of the traditional territory of many Nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit River, the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and remains their home to this day, as it now is for many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples. This Meeting Place lies within the territory governed by the Sewatokwa’tshera’t (Dish with One Spoon) treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee – a Treaty which bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and Peoples, and all newcomers are invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship, respect and reconciliation. We are grateful to live and work here, helping spread the word about the healing power of music in this place. COPYRIGHT © 2023 WHOLENOTE MEDIA INC 8 | September 2023 thewholenote.com
KOERNER HALL 2023.24 CONCERT SEASON Commemorate Truth & Reconciliation: Julian Taylor, Andrew McAnsh, Zoey Roy, and more FRI., SEPT. 29, 8PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY Indigenous artists gather to honour those affected by residential schools and offer hope for the future. Curated by Denise Bolduc and Mervon Mehta, the night is hosted by spoken word artist Zoey Roy and includes testimony, traditional drum and dance, a world premiere by Juno Award nominated composer Andrew Balfour, and special guests Julian Taylor, Andrew McAnsh, and more. Mahani Teave, piano SUN., OCT. 1, 3PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY The only professional classical musician on her native Easter Island, award-winning pianist and pioneering artist Mahani Teave will perform works by Bach, Liszt, Chopin, and more at her Koerner Hall debut. Series generously supported by Michael Foulkes & Linda Brennan and an anonymous donor Concert generously supported by Eileen Mercier & Chuck Hantho Generous support provided from The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programming Augustin Hadelich, violin, with Orion Weiss, piano FRI., OCT. 13, 8PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY Grammy Award-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich and “brilliant pianist” (The New York Times) Orion Weiss will perform two traditional sonatas, a minimalist piece written in the 80s, and other exciting works. Generous support provided from The Michael and Sonja Koerner Fund for Classical Programmin Steven Page with Craig Northey, Kevin Fox, and special guest Tom Wilson SAT. , SEPT. 30, 8PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY The former Barenaked Ladies frontman turned solo performer brings some friends to perform literate, catchy songs about love and life. Earl Lee conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Kyung Ah Oh, violin FRI., OCT. 6, 8PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY Renowned Korean-Canadian cellist, conductor, and RCM alumnus Earl Lee will lead the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and violinist Kyung Ah Oh (winner of The Robert W. and G Ann Corcoran Concerto Competition) in a program of works by Ravel, Prokofiev, and Strauss. Part of the Temerty Orchestral Program Omar Kamal FRI., OCT. 20, 7:30PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY Performing with a Toronto all-star big band and strings, Palestinian singer, composer, and producer Omar Kamal brings together a stunning repertoire of emotional hits for one enchanting evening of standards. The evening is dedicated to the memory of Tony Bennett. TICKETS & SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 RCMUSIC.COM/PERFORMANCE 237 BLOOR STREET WEST (BLOOR ST. & AVENUE RD.) TORONTO
