October/November 2024 containing our 30th annual presenter directory (25th under the Blue Pages name) is now available for viewing. Also first four instalments of ART OF THE ARC -- a concert curators' Q & A, with more to follow online and in print throughout the fall. Also View from Up Here parses the difference between a two lane highway and a two-way street; Choral Scene digs into singing and health; Music Theatre taps joy-fuelled offerings at London's Grand Theatre and elsewhere; In with the New looks at Letters to God; Classical and Beyond tackles a 212-listing 68 days; thirteen new recordings in our listening room and more.
BLUE PAGES
BLUE PAGES 2024/25 www.espritorchestra.com www.facebook.com/espritorchestra www.twitter.com/espritorchestra www.instagram.com/espritorchestra ● Estonian Museum Canada VEMU Estonian Museum Canada delivers cultural and educational programming. VEMU is a contemporary memory institution, welcoming all visitors to be inspired by Estonian culture, history and traditions. Its inclusive programming and innovative exhibitions encourage cross-cultural understanding and dialogue. We organize 50 to 70 events per year. These include conferences, seminars, lectures, exhibits (5 to 7 per year), workshops, book launches, film screenings, theatre shows, concerts (including the bi-annual Estonian Music Week festival). Estonian Music Week is back! The 2025 edition includes world-renowned artists, such as Vox Clamantis, Curly Strings, Estonian Voices and more. The festival takes place May 22 to 25, with festival passes going on sale December 2. Visit www.estonianmusicweek.ca to learn more. Be sure to join the mailing list for additional discounts on tickets. Piret Noorhani 416-925-9405 info@vemu.ca www.vemu.ca https://www.facebook.com/vemu.ca https://www.instagram.com/vemu.emc www.youtu.be/ HRuBfg1JuHg?si=51QlC6tzHIjG32RV ● Etobicoke Centennial Choir Etobicoke Centennial Choir (ECC) is an inclusive, SATB, auditioned community choir dedicated to celebrating the art and joy of choral singing. We offer performances of diverse repertoire, ranging from classical masterpieces to contemporary compositions and music from around the world. ECC offers a challenging and supportive choral experience guided by professional artists. Rehearsals are held every Tuesday, September to June, from 7:30pm to 9:45pm at Humber Valley United Church in Etobicoke. Some choral experience and the ability to read music are required. Our 2024/25 season will feature the unique Messe de minuit pour Noël by Marc-Antoine Charpentier with orchestral accompaniment, Will Todd’s acclaimed Mass in Blue, accompanied by a combo of piano, drums, bass and alto saxophone and a journey through Indian classical music, arranged for choir. With accompaniment of sitar, tabla, and harmonium, renowned flautist Hasheel Lodhia and a guest soprano will lead the ECC through the rhythms and echoes of South Asia. Jan Fralick 416-695-9034 janfralick@gmail.com www.etobcokecentennialchoir.ca www.facebook.com/ EtobicokeCentennialChoir www.twitter.com/CentennialChoir www.instagram.com/ etobicokecentennialchoir ●The Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra Join us on a curated tour of great music from masterworks, all the way to powerful new compositions. This season includes Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’, Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, works by Shostakovich, Estacio, Strauss, Rivet, Donkin and more. We are delighted to bring stellar soloists to our local stage: Michael Kim playing Mozart’s dramatic Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor; Erika Raum performs the romantic Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto; our own Gavin Warren playing Reitz’s Clarinet Concerto; and soaring soprano Jennifer Taverner closes the season on a high note with excerpts from Strauss, Estacio and Novello. At our Sunday matinee “Discovery” concert you won’t want to miss the unique narration of Prokofiev’s iconic Peter and the Wolf by guest artist Craig Doyle of CDH Live! To maximize access to great orchestral music, our prices remain unchanged since 2015. Subscribe for our best prices and put “Philharmonic Fridays” on your calendar as a regularly scheduled self-care event. See you at the symphony! Marisa Zubans 416-239-5665 info@eporchestra.ca www.eporchestra.ca www.facebook.com/eporchestra www.instagram.com/etobicokephil ● Flute Street Flute Street, now in its second decade, is a homogeneous, seven-octave, full range chamber ensemble comprised exclusively of flutists who perform on nine different sizes of flutes from the tiny piccolo to through to the largest flute – the very rare, and Canada’s only, double contrabass flute. With two additional contrabass flutes, the unique contr’alto and several bass and alto flutes there is an unexpected depth and beautiful richness achieved in Flute Street’s sound. Audiences delight in the varied programming which includes renaissance and baroque repertoire, pop tunes, a few symphonic transcriptions, folk songs, jazz standards, solo features with international and local guest artists, and in particular, original and contemporary flute choir compositions – many of which have been Canadian or world premieres. Under the artistic direction of founder, Nancy Nourse, and conducted by Isaac Page, Flute Street is pleased to present its 11th anniversary season at the Church of St. Peter and St. Simon-the-Apostle. Sunday, October 27, 2024, 4pm - “Beyond the Night Sky” Sunday, December 15, 2024, 4pm - “Christmas on Flute Street” Spring 2025 - TBA Nancy Nourse 416-485-8262 noursewind@sympatico.ca www.flutestreet.ca www.facebook.com/flutestreettoronto ●The Hannaford Street Silver Band The Hannaford Street Silver Band is Canada’s award-winning professional brass band and resident company of Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. Its mission is to honour the traditions of this art form and place it in a contemporary context with a unique, Canadian point-of-view. We actively facilitate innovative creative projects and collaborate with the best of Canada’s diverse artists. Our 2024/25 season features brass repertoire gems, paired with new music played with the verve and virtuosity you expect from the Hannaford Band: “Brassology” on October 27 features Brandon Ridenour with guest conductor Patrick Sheridan; “A Holiday Serenade” is on Saturday, December 7 at the George Weston Recital Hall with the Amadeus Choir and Bach Children’s Chorus; “War and Art ” on Sunday, March 23 features Sarah Slean, and our season concludes on Sunday, May 11 with “Beyond Brass” – a collaboration with Michael Bridge, accordion and Ed Hanely, table with guest conductor Jean-Michele Malouf. The HSSB demonstrates its commitment to youth, outreach and education by running the Hannaford Youth Program. This vibrant program is a fantastic opportunity for brass and percussion players ages 7 to 24 to participate in. Raymond Tizzard 647-309-6350 ray@hssb.ca www.hssb.ca www.facebook.com/ HannafordStreetSilverBand www.x.com/hannafordband www.instagram.com/hannafordband www.youtube.com/user/ TheHSSBChannel ● Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts is home to the performing arts at Queen’s University and a hub for vibrant artistic study, creation, and exhibition in Kingston, Ontario. We prioritize diverse arts presentation, engagement, and innovation, quality facility management, and support for arts education and exposure. We are an accelerator for artistic development and an incubator for new technologies and multi-disciplinary creation. 56 | October & November2024 thewholenote.com
Gordon E. Smith 613-533-2424 IsabelBoxOffice@queensu.ca www.queensu.ca/theisabel www.facebook.com/queensuisabel www.instagram.com/queensuisabel ● Jubilate Singers The Jubilate Singers, founded in 1969, are a mixed-voice, auditioned, community choir directed by Isabel Bernaus. The choir specializes in eclectic international music and takes pride in singing in the original languages - everything from Arabic to Zulu.The choir also collaborates with a variety of other musicians and performing groups. Last season the choir performed an all- Spanish program of Latin American music with Sikuris St. Lawrence and the North American premiere of Aharon Harlap’s Requiem with the York Chamber Ensemble. The up-coming season features a collaboration with the Wychwood Clarinet Choir in the fall. The winter concert theme will be ‘Dance’. The choir will perform songs from international dance music accompanied by ethnic dancers. In the spring the choir will present some concerts outside the GTA with Denise Williams, exploring the musical traditions from the African, Jewish and Muslim Diaspora. The Jubilate Singers rehearse on Tuesday evenings, September through June, in the City of Toronto. Each year the choir donates free tickets to settlement houses, seniors’ centres and other community organizations for people who would not otherwise be able to attend cultural events. Pat Keating 416-485-1988 info@jubilatesingers.ca www.jubilatesingers.ca www.facebook.com/ JubilateSingersChoir www.instagram.com/ jubilatesingers-toronto ● Kindred Spirits Orchestra The Kindred Spirits Orchestra (KSO) is a critically acclaimed, award-winning, auditioned-based civic orchestra, performing at the Meridian Arts Centre (George Weston Recital Hall), and the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, as well as at the Flato Markham Theatre, and the Cornell Recital Hall. In addition to performing concerts, the KSO offers several educational, community outreach, professional development and international cultural exchange programmes. In 2021, the KSO became the first orchestra in Canada to migrate to an environmentally conscious business operations, implement a digital music library, and replace paper-based music parts with iPad Pro tablets, made available to all musicians. The 2024/25 concert season under the direction of maestro Kristian Alexander includes Bruckner‘s Symphony No. 6, Verdi‘s Messa ETOBICOKE CENTENNIAL CHOIR da Requiem, Shostakovich‘s Symphony No. 7, Debussy‘s La mer, and Scriabin‘s Poem of Ecstasy, as well as a world premiere of a Concerto for Piano Trio and String Orchestra by Gary Kulesha. Featured ensembles are the Gryphon trio, Orpheus and Resound choirs, as well as cellist Winona Zelenka, pianists Michael Berkovsky and Dmitri Levkovich, and violinist Heng-Han Hou. Jobert Sevilleno 905-604-8339 gm@ksorchestra.ca https://www.ksorchestra.ca http://www.facebook.com/ pages/Kindred-Spirits- Orchestra/250778850797 http://twitter.com/KSOrchestra https://www.instagram. com/ksorchestra https://youtu.be/2IF_YkyDpNU ● Li Delun Music Foundation The Li Delun Music Foundation was established in 2002 in Toronto as a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of cultural exchange between the East and the West through musical events. Named after the renowned Chinese conductor Li Delun, who founded the first symphony orchestra in the People’s Republic of China, the foundation is now well-known in the community as a presenter of high-quality musical events such as recitals by acclaimed prizewinners, and the annual “East-Meets-West New Years Concert” at the George Weston Recital Hall. Aside from forming the Toronto Festival Orchestra, which gives talented young aspiring musicians a chance to work alongside seasoned professionals, the foundation also provides a platform for young upand-coming soloists to play on the concert hall stage, accompanied by a professional orchestra in front of a live appreciative audience. The Li Delun Music Foundation has also held masterclasses and workshops, led by internationally-acclaimed artists, including Lang Lang, Sa Chen, Haochen Zhang, Bruce Liu, professor Lee Kum-Sing, et cetera. Rosalind Zhang 647-281-8768 rosy@lidelun.org www.lidelun.org www.facebook.com/LiDelunMusic ● Metropolitan United Church Accepting, affirming and welcoming to everyone, Metropolitan United Church at Queen and Church Streets has a 200-year history of presenting great sacred music in the heart of Toronto. Under the leadership of Minister of Music Jonathan Oldengarm, our ensembles include the Adult, Children’s (director Michael Denomme), and Handbell Choirs, the Metropolitan Silver Band (est. 1934, and directed by Fran Harvey), and the Great Heart youth ensemble (director Ben Stein). Our collection of instruments includes Canada’s largest pipe organ, installed in 1930 by Casavant Frères of Quebec; the 54-bell Massey/Drury Carillon (Elisa Tersigni, Carillonist; a portative organ (by Becker of Hamburg); a Hubbard harpsichord; and Steinway and Yamaha grand pianos. In addition to great music every Sunday morning, our beautiful neo-gothic sanctuary hosts two concert series including Music at Met and Noon at Met (Thursdays at 12pm, from September to November, and February to June). Our Christmas Lessons and Carols service and Good Friday evening Choral Concert are particular annual highlights for many Torontonians. Visit us in person, go to our website and/or YouTube channel. Jonathan Oldengarm 416-363-0331, x226 jonathano@metunited.org www.metunited.org www.facebook.com/MetUnited www.instagram.com/ metropolitanunitedto thewholenote.com October & November2024 | 57
