October 4, highlights
October 4, highlights his Suite for Solo Guitar, and the final concert on October 25 brings cellist Sybil Shanahan together with Battenberg and Danbrook for a celebratory close to the trilogy. Tracing Hollow Traces: Andile Khumalo segue into the second set. After all, as Gilliam noted in our interview, these improvisations can turn into one long piece, or several shorter ones, depending on the moment. That’s the appeal and magic of this way of creating music together. Music in Unexpected Places The Tranzac: Another newer voice in Toronto’s music landscape is Slow Rise Music, a concert series founded in 2021 by vocalist and curator McKenzie Warriner together with composer-performer Tristan Zaba. Their aim is to connect the city’s vocal and experimental music communities, encouraging unlikely encounters and adventurous collaborations. On September 27 and 28, their concert Collideo-Scope will feature singer Samantha Selci alongside an ensemble of saxophone, tape loops, electric guitar, jazz piano, bass, and drums. Adding a physical dimension to this mix will be martial artist Alex Machete, offering another chance to experience the interplay of sound and movement. The venue is the Tranzac Club, an essential hub for Toronto’s ever-expanding range of music and performance. The concert will also be available via livestream. Danforth Mennonite: Continuing the theme of intimate venues where new music flourishes, Mark Battenberg Music offers a series of concerts celebrating the arrival of autumn. A composer, guitarist, and community builder, Battenberg is devoted to creating shared spaces where meditative, elemental-themed music invites reflection and connection. This season he presents his Autumn Trilogy of Music in three parts at Danforth Mennonite Church. The first, on September 20, features Battenberg on guitar with Debbie Danbrook on shakuhachi flute performing his original compositions. Part Two, on Kitchener-Waterloo: Hopping over to the Kitchener-Waterloo area, The Douglas Haas Legacy Concerts are a longstanding series of midday performances held at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. For decades, the series has presented a range of artists and ensembles in an intimate, community-oriented setting. On September 24, three compositions by Carol Ann Weaver will be featured. Weaver has been especially active recently in her musical support for Ukraine, and her piece Sounds For Ukraine honours the suffering of its people while offering hope and courage. It’s both a lament and prayer for healing. Kalahari Kaleidoscope, inspired by the vast desert landscapes of southern Africa, layers field recordings with instrumental sounds to evoke the desert’s fragile ecosystems. The same concert will be presented on September 23 at 1st United in Waterloo. Another concert taking place in the region, presented by the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society at the Keffer Memorial Chapel (Waterloo) on October 4, features Turkwaz: a Torontobased vocal quartet that blends music from the Middle East, Turkey, Greece and the Balkans. Members Maryem Hassan Tollar, Jayne Brown, Sophia Grigoriadis, and Brenna MacCrimmon are well-loved performers on the Toronto scene, often performing at the Tranzac Club and the Drom Taberna. Together, they bring both a deep love of these traditions and a gift for reimagining them with unexpected, inventive interpretations. At St. George’s Grange Park (for many years the home of the Music Gallery) the music of South Africa plays a prominent role at an upcoming New Music Concert event there on October 4, featuring the work of composer Andile Khumalo. Khumalo’s music is shaped by his passion for two distinct musical worlds: the spectral aesthetics of the concert tradition and the vibrant musical heritage of his South African homeland. The program includes several works from his recent album Tracing Hollow Traces, among them the title track for clarinet. The piece explores his fascination and passion for sonic colour through extended techniques such as multiphonics, trills and slap-tongue. ISO[R], for piano, flute, and cello, pushes each instrument to extremes to create bold sonic relationships, while Wade Through Water, for clarinet and piano, reflects his gift for weaving diverse influences into a single voice. By bringing these worlds together, Khumalo seeks unity rather than contrast, inviting listeners to make a connection with the sound world itself beyond labels or genres. From Toronto to Kitchener-Waterloo, this fall’s programs promise unique collaborations in unusual venues open to offering music that thrives on risk and discovery. Wendalyn Bartley is a Toronto-based composer and electro-vocal sound artist. sounddreaming@gmail.com Elmer Iseler Singers 47 th TORONTO CONCERT SEASON NEW! EARLY BIRD OFFER Subscribe before SEP 30 416-217-0537 elmeriselersingers.com This Moment to Shine! Lydia Adams, C.M., Conductor and Artistic Director Sun. NOV 02, 2025 A Portrait in Song The Music of Eleanor Daley Fri. DEC 12, 2025 Handel’s Messiah With special guests Amadeus Choir and VIVA Chamber Singers Sun. APR 12, 2026 The Earth Sings Luminous choral sounds celebrating the earth 14 | September & October 2025 thewholenote.com
MUSIC THEATRE Ben Carlson (centre) and the Octet company DAVE MALLOY’S OCTET COMES TO CROW’S An interview with music director Ryan deSouza JENNIFER PARR After the phenomenal success of Dave Malloy’s musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 this summer, Crow’s Theatre is joining forces again with the Musical Stage Company, and this time also with Soulpepper, to produce another Malloy musical: Octet, this September. While Comet was an electropop thrilling large-cast operatic mix of philosophy and love inspired by Tolstoy’s iconic 19th century Russian novel War and Peace, Octet is a chamber choir musical, exploring the lives of eight people of different ages and backgrounds who come together in a support group to try to solve their respective addictions to the internet. It’s funny, eerie and moving. It is also sung a cappella - no instruments at all but the eight voices. Fascinated by the contrast between the shows, especially with many of the same creative team involved, I approached music director Ryan deSouza, whom I’d met back in 2023 while we were both at Crow’s Theatre: I was stage managing The Master Plan and he was rehearsing Comet. Here is an abridged version of our wide-ranging chat on Thursday Sept 4, 2025. Music director Ryan deSouza (right) and members of the Octet cast in rehearsal WN: I became obsessed with Comet, watching it come together like that, I have to say. RdS: We were slightly obsessed with it, too. For everybody involved it has been such a special adventure. As Evan Buliung [Pierre in Comet] said, every 10 to 15 years, if you’re lucky, you get a show that changes your approach to theatre, that changes how you feel about what you do, and you know it’s something you’re going to hang onto for a long time. The audience felt it too. I know some people who saw it 20, 30 times at both Crow’s and the Royal Alex. Comet did something different from most other musicals, it was entertaining for certain, but also dropped in some thoughts and some big picture discussions to really challenge the audience to take it in a different way. PHOTOS: DAHLIA KATZ AN EVENING WITH STEVE BELL & MALCOLM GUITE Join us for a rare and unforgettable night of music, poetry, and story as acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter Steve Bell takes the stage with renowned English poet Malcolm Guite. MONDAY, OCTOBER 27 2025 | 7:30 P.M. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Toronto TICKETS: .00 ON SALE NOW! stevebell.com/event/toronto-on-the-bell-the-bard/ thewholenote.com September & October 2025 | 15
