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Beat by Beat | Art of SongBACHTO THE FUTUREFROM JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH TO ROB CARLIOWEN SOUND AND LEITH, ONTARIO. SEPTEMBER 20 - 22, 2013BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAYsweetwatermusic.caMINUS 20 DESIGNSWEETWATERMUSIC FESTIVALMARK FEWER ARTISTIC DIRECTORTwo YoungCompaniesHans De GrootThere is, in ontario, a number of companies which have longhistories: the Toronto Choral Society was founded in 1845, theToronto Mendelssohn Choir in 1894, the Bach-Elgar Choir ofHamilton in 1905, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1922, theCanadian Opera Company in 1950, the National Ballet of Canada in1951. But there are, in Toronto and Southern Ontario, other morerecently founded companies.One such company is Capella Intima, founded and directed byBud Roach. Roach decided to start this ensemble in 2008 and theinitial performances were in 2009. Before Roach became a tenor, hewas a professional oboist; he was a member of a number of orchestrasincluding the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the BuffaloPhilharmonic. In his high school years he had been a rather weakbaritone who conked out when confronted by a high F, so he putthoughts of singing aside in favour of the oboe. But in 2005, afterhaving left the orchestral world, he discovered that he had highnotes after all and from then on he has concentrated on singing.He managed to persuade Lydia Adams to allow him to sing in theAmadeus Choir’s performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Adams musthave liked what she heard and, soon after, Roach became a memberof the Elmer Iseler Singers. We have also been able to hear him inappearances with ensembles such as the Toronto Consort and theAradia Ensemble. He now enjoys an active solo career. At the Fringeconcerts in last June’s Boston Early Music Festival he performedexcerpts from the third volume of arias by Alessandro Grandi (1626),accompanying himself on the baroque guitar. These performances arenow also available on CD (on the Opera Omnia label).Capella Intima specializes in the performance of 17th-centuryItalian sacred works, sung one to a part with a small instrumentalensemble. Last spring it gave three performances of the oratorioGiuseppe, which may or may not be by Luigi Rossi. This SeptemberCapella Intima will perform music by Chiara Margarita Cozzolani(September 21 in Hamilton at McNeil Baptist Church; September 28in Toronto in the Great Hall at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Bloor St.;both at 3pm) in a program titled “Celestial Sirens” which the ensemblefirst presented in 2010 and has since performed at the New HamburgLive Festival and, most recently, at the Bach Festival of Canada inExeter. (Another concert, also titled “Celestial Sirens” and featuringmusic by Cozzolani and others, was given by the Toronto Consortin May 2011.) It is only in recent years that the music composed by17th-century cloistered Milanese nuns, like Cozzolani, has been giventhe attention it deserves by both musicologists and performers. I ammyself greatly looking forward to this concert.The other comparatively new company is the Toronto MasqueTheatre, directed by Larry Beckwith, now entering its tenth anniversaryyear. When I first knew Beckwith, he was primarily a tenor (hewas a member of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir). As time went by, hebecame more interested in playing the baroque violin and performingchamber music. Before founding the Toronto Masque Theatre, he wasa member of the Arbor Oak Trio along with Stephanie Martin, harpsichord,and Todd Gilman, viola da gamba (replaced by Mary-KatherineFinch after Gilman left Toronto). The Trio did not confine itself tochamber music but also staged several 17th- and 18th-century operas,including Love in a Village by Thomas Arne and John Gay’s balladopera, The Beggar’s Opera. (I played the Beggar in the latter. Can I callit the title role?)Literary historians tend to define “masque” rather narrowly and see20 | September 1 – October 7, 2013 thewholenote.com