Volume 31 Issue 2 - November & December 2025

Hildegard: Snider is

Hildegard: Snider is currently working on a new orchestral ballet, acollaboration between the New World Symphony and the Miami CityBallet. She is also preparing to launch a new orchestral album, scheduledfor release in the coming months. But most of her attention is onthe world premiere of her first opera with LA Opera, inspired by thelife of Hildegard von Bingen.“Hildegard’s connection to nature, spirituality, and music has alwaysfascinated me,” she explains. “I first encountered her because, likeme, she experienced chronic migraine. I was inspired by how shelived such an expansive creative life despite those limitations, and as awoman in the Middle Ages, with so little power.”Snider wrote both the music and the libretto, blending historicalresearch with her own imaginative interpretation. “I wanted toexplore how she lived her authentic truth in an oppressive environment,”she says. “Her relationship with Richardis von Stade, anothernun, rubbed against religious norms. I was curious about how shenavigated that. What she buried, what she revealed, and how thatshaped her visions and philosophy.”She hopes the opera resonates today. “Given the current climate—threats to women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, so much cultural repression,her story feels urgent. It’s about finding ways to live one’s truthin the face of power structures that want to silence it.”Meanwhile, Mass for the Endangered continues to travel widely,resonating with audiences moved by its fusion of ecological urgencyand spiritual form. For Snider, the work is like a prayer to the Earthitself, a musical act of devotion and a plea for the world’s fragilebeauty to endure.And while Soundstreams brings Snider’s work to Toronto audiences,other presenters are also offering programs that explore time, memory,and our shared human experience in strikingly different ways.Arraymusic:On November 22, Arraymusic makes a welcome return to a moreactive concert presence with Future, Past, They Disappear, a programcurated by composer Bruce A. Russell. The title, borrowed from theEarth, Wind & Fire song That’s the Way of the World, gestures towardthe way music can suspend us in time, holding the past and presentin the same breath. The concert brings together works by HannahIshizaki, Angélica Negrón, Rebecca Bruton, and the late Ann Southam,inviting listeners to linger in that delicate space where memory, pres-New Music Concerts:ence, and sound converge.RCM_WHOLENOTE-1/2 Horiz_Nov/Dec25.qxp_Layout 1 2025-10-17 3:58 PM Page 1Earlier in the month, on November 9, New Music Concerts invitesaudiences to step into a world where time itself becomes elastic.Mystery of Clock,co-produced withUniversity of TorontoFaculty of Music, is builtaround the interplayof violinist Mark Fewerand percussionist AiyunHuang, who weavemusic, theatre, andlight in a poetic meditationon love, memory,and the elusivenature of shared time.Structured as a seriesof evocative scenes,the work explores howMark Fewer and Aiyun Huangour experience of timeshifts—how rhythms fall in and out of sync, how intimacy stretchesor contracts a moment, how memory lingers long after it’s gone. Theevening features mostly contemporary works, with one by J.S. Bach,bringing past and present into resonant dialogue.Arraymusic returns on December 18 with Playscape Emporium, aprogram that pushes the boundaries of theatrical chamber music. TheRay Chen,violin, withChelsea Wang,pianoWED., NOV. 19, 7PMKOERNER HALLWorks by Tartini, Saint-Saëns, Bach,Bazzini, Dvořák, and Saraste.TICKETS START AT Generous support provided fromThe Michael and Sonja Koerner Fundfor Classical ProgrammingIsabel Bayrakdarian:Ancestral Songs,Prayers, and Lullabieswith special guest Kevork MouradSAT., NOV. 22, 8PM KOERNER HALLThe Armenian Canadian soprano isaccompanied by Kevork Mourad's livedrawing to create a unique harmonizationof music and art.TICKETS START AT Generously sponsored by Alexanian FlooringGenerous support provided fromthe Michael and Sonja Koerner Fundfor Classical ProgrammingTony Siqi Yun,pianoSUNDAY, NOV. 23, 3PM KOERNER HALLWorks by Bach, Schumann, Liszt,and BrahmsTICKETS START AT Series generously supported byMichael Foulkes &Linda BrennanGenerous additional support provided fromThe Michael and Sonja Koerner Fundfor Classical ProgrammingTICKETS & SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 RCMUSIC.COM/PERFORMANCEPRESENTING PERFORMANCE PARTNER12 | November & December 2025 thewholenote.com

take action” – evoking the ecstaticflight of ravens over sea and sand,while Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s ax(constellation from METAXIS)contrasts swirling sonic intensitywith moments of stillness. Twoworks by Ben Nobuto bookendthe festival: a reprise of the trickstermeditation Serenity 2.0 in thisopening concert, and his playful,large-scale Hallelujah Sim scoredfor 72 voices, orchestra and electronics,the title work in Edge ofYour Seat’s April 23 final concert.Duo Chichoriumevening opens with Frederic Rzewski’s Fall of the Empire, performedby Duo Cichorium, who weave in costuming, props, and lighting toheighten its satirical edge. A premiere by Domenic Clarke follows,combining viola, percussion, and electronics in an intimate reflectionon life and death. The concert closes with Raymond Luedeke’sGarbage Delight, performed by the Toronto Saxophone Quintet andTrevor Flemings, offering a humorous and whimsical finish.Esprit Orchestra:Esprit Orchestra launches the second iteration of its four-concertEdge of Your Seat International Festival on November 30,with aconcert titled Tour de Force. It includes a new commissioned work byChris Goddard, titled a brace, a round, a bracing sound celebratingthe ensemble’s fearless spirit, alongside the sweeping overture to TheTempest by Thomas Adès. Gabriella Smith’s Tumblebird Contrailsepitomizes her response to the climate crisis as “an opportunity toBen Nobuto,Manchester CollectiveContinuum Contemporary Music:Moving into December, ContinuumContemporary Music brings together an expanded ensemble for anevening on December 6, curated by artistic producer and violinistRoan Ma, joined by guest artist Stef Van Vynckt. At the heart of theprogram is Marcos Balter’s Violin Concerto, a work that exploresfluid interplay between soloist and ensemble. A new piece by JessicaAckerley for violin and harp, inspired by the connections andcomplexities of friendship, adds a fresh Canadian voice. The concertalso includes works by Anna Höstman, Toshio Hosokawa, and HaotianYu — a program that promises a subtle balance of lyricism, ritual, andsonic exploration.Taken together, these four concerts mark a fitting beginning to the2025–26 season, pointing toward a year alive with new sounds andexpansive listening, a season that looks forward and invites us along.Wendalyn Bartley is a Toronto-based composer and electro-vocalsound artist. sounddreaming@gmail.com2526UNIQUELYCultivating and regeneratingnew music for chamberensemble, choir & opera.Mass for theEndangeredEstonianPhilharmonicChamber ChoirArvo Pärt at 90SUBSCRIBE& SAVE UPTO 40%!Quatuor Bozzini:With Strings AttachedLove SongsIn Terra PaxSUBSCRIBE TODAYsoundstreams.cathewholenote.com November & December 2025 | 13