Volume 12 - Issue 9 - June 2007

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On Operaby Christopher Haileand Culture in the first post-apartheid government, but was dismissedwithin a year following allegations of corruption. The Mandelas divorcedin 1996.For the opera, Cape Town-born Toronto filmmaker and librettistWarren Wilensky has created a montage of moving images that playacross multiple screens. On stage a choir, orchestra and soloists performthe music of Bongani Ndodana-Breen, whose score blends a richcacophony of Xhosa rhythms, Cape Town jazz, Township jive andanti-apartheid street chants. Born in Queenstown, South Africa, composerand conductor, Ndodana-Breen, is currently the director of theToronto-based new music group Musica Nair/Ensemble Noir. Thoughonly thirty-two, Ndodana-Breen has already written three operas, twosymphonies, a vespers, a mass, and an African Kaddish among manyother works. The role of Winnie will be sung by mezzo-soprano ChantelleGrant. Performances run June 8-9 at the Isabel Bader Theatre.Winnie Mandela herself will attend the gala preview on June 5.Constantinople. Left to right: Maryem Toller, the Gryphon Trio,and Patricia 0 'Callaghan seen here in the November 2004Toronto mounting of Hatzis' monumental work.On June 1 the first-ever Luminaro Festival opens in Toronto andruns to June 10. The interdisciplinary Festival comprises over 100events from the realms of music, dance, film, the visual arts, literatureand theatre. The point of the festival is to encourage audiencesto explore various art forms and their interactions; here are threeevents that will appeal to opera lovers wanting to launch into things.First is a remount of Christos Hatzis' multimedia performancepiece Constantinople. At the same time there is the world premiereof the "digital opera" The Passion of Winnie (Pan One) by composerBongani Ndodana-Breen and librettist Warren Wilensky. And forone night only there is a grand gathering of ten Canadian opera starsfor a combined recital entitled Luna.Constantinople is described as "a multimedia music theatre work formezzo-soprano, Middle Eastern singer (alto), violin, violoncello, pianoand electronic audiovisual media". The work complete with its full theatricalcomponent was first seen in Toronto in 2004. Constantinople is, ofcourse, the former name for the city now called Istanbul and was itselfthe new name for the old city of Byzantium. In Hatzis' work Constantinoplebecomes a symbol for cultural convergence and diversity, a place,according to the programme notes, "where East and West, Islam andChristianity, monophony and polyphony, improvisation and pre-compositionalcontrol, coexist peacefully, creatively challenging and complementingeach other without stepping on each other's toes" .As befits a subject with more than 2600 years of multicultural history,the nine-movement work combines a wide range of styles - fromByzantine and Serbian Easter chants to Balkan dances, Cretan folksong, tangos, jazz, and pop. Lighting, choreography and projectionsof both cinematic and computer-generated images by Jacques Collin,long associated with Robert Lepage, create the theatrical componentfollowing a script developed by Hatzis and well-known Canadianplaywright John Murrell. The performances will feature the GryphonTrio, who commissioned the work, and singers Maryem Toller andPatricia O'Callaghan. Performances run June 7-9 at the St. LawrenceCentre.The focus of The Passion of Winnie (Pan One) is Winnie Mandela,from whose perspective we experience South Africa'sjourney fromapartheid to freedom in a narrative that unfolds through film and music.Winnie Mandela, of course, is the controversial ex-wife of former SouthAfrican president and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela.During her husband's long imprisonment (1962-1990), she emergedas a leading opponent of white minority rule in South Africa and wasexiled to a town in the Orange Free State. Her image was damaged byspeeches endorsing the lynching of opponents and by her conviction forkidnapping and being an accessory to assault. She was a Minster of ArtsLuna takes place on June 8 at Roy Thomson Hall. For one performanceonly, ten of Canada's greatest opera stars plus rising stars of thenext generation join forces with conductor Giordano Bellincampi andmembers of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in an evening of operaticensembles and arias all on the theme of night. The soloists includesopranos Isabel Bayrakdarian, Joni Henson, Adrianne Pieczonka andSondra Radvanovsky, tenors Joseph Kaiser and Richard Margison,baritones Peter Barrett and Russell Braun, bass baritone Robert Pomakovand bass Robert Gleadow.Before the Luminaro Festival begins in Toronto, opera-lovers shouldnote that for the third year in a row, Orchestra London will present afully staged opera at the 839-seat Grand Theatre. This year it is Mozart'sDon Giovanni with Gregory Dahl in the title role, Terry Hodgesas Leporello and Frederique Vezina as Donna Elvira. The productionfrom Pacific Opera Victoria is directed by Glynis Leyshon andconducted by Timothy Vernon, and runs May 23 to June 2.Thursday June 14, 2007Music Gallery Summer BBQ.fi·al11ri1~~:Tim HeckerPhill Niblock with Katherine LiberovskayaKanaka with Paradigm Brass EnsemblePor ,\\';tilt 1nc.:c.:1s Cl:tss il: .\\ :mt sc.:ric.:~ • .\lu:. ir:tssSaturday June 23, 2007The Ramifications of Kyung-ah Shin
WE ARE ALL Music's CHILDRENby mJbuellJUNE's ChildEngland, circa 1964Note the irrepressible energy andhumour, even while conductinghimself in gentlemanly fashion .This Canadian born little boy inhis grammar school blazeralready reflects the words thatlater friends and colleagues willknow him to live by, neverputting off what can best bedone immediately."Do it now!"Think you might know who June's child is? Send your best guessto musicschildren@thewholenote.com. (Anecdotes are welcome!)Winners will be selected by random draw among correct entriesreceived by June 15th, 2007.MA Y's Child .•.was Maestro Boris Brott.See page 48 for photos, his reflections on amusical childhood, and a Music's ChildrenBONUS photo too!CONGRATULATIONS TO OURWINNERS!and keep up the good guessing!TICKETS! RECORDINGS!Dorith Cooper will enjoy a season's passto the Brott Summer Music Festival,celebrating their 20th season May 7 toAugust 23, 2007, with performances inHamilton, Burlington, Toronto and Muskoka.Caroline Bonner and a fortunate companion, will be guests ofthe Brott Festival for their August 23rd gala celebration - theevening includes Boris Brott conducting a performance of Mahler'sSymphony of a Thousand featuring the National AcademyOrchestra and the Brott Festival Choir with soloists Leslie Fagan,Shannon Mercer, Pamela MacDonald, Mia Lennox Williams,John Tiranno, Alain Coulombe, and Alexander Dobson.Mahler's epic masterpiece is a rarely-heard massive tour-deforce. This grand finale to the Brott Festival's 20th anniversary isdedicated to the nearly 1,000 students the NAO has graduated todate.A pair of tickets goes to Alena Pascual for Goodyear PlaysGershwin, featuring Stewart Goodyear, piano, Boris Brott and theNAO (Rhapsody In Blue, Piano Concerto in F, An American InParis); July 4, 7:30 pm; Dofasco Centre for the Arts, Hamilton.Alena also gets GERSHWIN! A recording of best loved Gershwincompositions played by William Tritt with the HamiltonPhilharmonic conducted by Boris Brott.Music's Children gratefully acknowledges the generous assistance ofthe Brott Summer Music Festival, Mary Pat Elliott, and LeanneWright.Are you hoarding a treasured old photo? Know someone whosephotograph should appear on this page?musicschildren@thewho lenote. comMusic's CHILDREN CONTINUES ON PAGE 48index of advertisersSUPPORT THE ADVERTISERSwho keep WholeNote ticking!ACROBAT Music 52ADI BRAUN 46ALL THE KING's VOICES 17AMADEUS CHOIR 50ANALEKTA 69ASSOCIATES OF THE TSO 31ATMA CLASSIQUE 5BATA SHOE MUSEUM 33BLUE BRJDGE FESTNAL 63BRASS CONSPIRACY 29BROTT SUMMER FESTIVAL 63CANADA TRUST TORONTOJAZZ FESTIVAL 13CANCLONE SERVICES 52CHRIST CHURCH ANGLICANSTOUFFVILLE 5 2CHRIST CHURCH DEER p ARKJAZZ VESPERS 2 3CHURCH OF THE HOLY FAMILY 50CLASSICAL 96.3 FM 53COLLINGWOOD Music FESTIVAL 64COLOURS OF Music FESTIVAL 8COMMINGLE 34CONTACT CONTEMPORARY Music 34CosMo Music 19ELGAR AT Sr. JAMES' CATHEDRAL 32ETOBICOKE CENTENNIAL CHOIR 49FESTIVAL DE LANAUDIERE 70FESTIVAL OF THE SOUND 65FESTIVAL WIND ORCHESTRA 33FRANK HORVAT CD RELEASE 57GEORGE HEINL 20GRAND PHILHARMONIC CHOIR 50GROUP OF TWENTY-SEVEN 16HARKNETT MUSICAL SERVICES 19HELICONIAN CLUB 51HIGH PARK CHOIRS OF TORONTO 17JS.WooDSWORTH HOMESTEAD,"APPLEWOOD" 19JAzzFM91 41JUBILATE SINGERS 30, 50KOFFLER SCHOOL OF Music 31LINUS ENTERTAINMENT 14LIVE@THECOURTHOUSE 43LoNG & McQuADE 16MARGARET MAYE/SINGERS ON STAGE 8MARKHAM THEATRE 4METROPOLITAN UNITED CHURCH 48MIKROKOSMOS 52MISSISSAUGA CHORAL SOCIETY 49MONTREAL BAROQUE FESTIVAL 69Music AT PORT MILFORD 68Music GALLERY 24Music IN THE ORCHARD 26Music MONDAYS 28Music ON THE HILL 28Music TORONTO 7NADINA MACKIE JACKSON 55NEW Music CONCERTS 27No STRINGS THEATRE 48OLD MILL INN AND SPA 45OPERA BY REQUEST 52OPERA-IS 46OTTAWA INTERNATIONALCHAMBER Music FESTIVAL 72PASQUALE BROS. 51PAX CHRISTI CHORALE 49PERIMETER INSTITUTE 71PETER MAHON 18PIANO & KEYBOARD CENTRE 15PIANO GALLERY, THE 21RAAG MALA Music SocIETY 33RCM COMMUNITY SCHOOL 46REMENYI 13RIVERDALE YOUTH SINGERS 28ROBERT LOWREY's PIANO EXPERTS 9SOUND Posr 22SOUTHERN 0NTARJO CHAMBERMusic INSTITUTE 66Sr. RosE OF LIMA 29SrEvE's Music 18STRATFORD SUMMER Music 67SULTANS OF STRING 57SUNFEST 69T AFELMUSIK 2TORONTO CHAMBER CHOIR 50TORONTO GILBERT ANDSULLIVAN SOCIETY 30TORONTO HELICONIAN CLUB 32TORONTO JEWISH FOLK CHOIR 27TORONTO MENDELSSOHN CHOIR 12TORONTO Music GARDEN 26TORONTO SUMMER MusicFESTIVAL AND ACADEMY 6TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 3UXBRJDGE CHAMBER CHOIR 36VICTORIA SCHOLARS 31VOCAL ART FORUM 48WHOLENOTE BOOKS AND CDs 59WHOLENOTE CLASSIFIEDS 53WHOLENOTE MARKETPLACE 47 , 51WHOLENOTE:FESTIVALS A LA CARTE 10, 11WHOLENOTE:FESTIVAL PROFILES 62WHOLENOTE:WHo's READING n? 12WINDERMERE STRING QUARTET 33WOMEN'S MUSICAL CLUB OFTORONTO 15WholeNote MarketPl(lcePlease visit WholeNote MarketPlaceon pages 47 and 51.JUNE 1 - J ULY 7 2007 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM 25
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Page 7 and 8: Seeing the soundMulti-media present
Page 9: ROBERT LOWREY'SPIANO EXPERTS~---30T
Page 12 and 13: TORONTO MENDELSSOHN CHOIRiiThis mon
Page 15 and 16: I . 0. Musical Diaryby Colin Eatock
Page 17 and 18: Choral SceneTHERE'S NOTHING LIKE a
Page 19 and 20: was too young to join the musicians
Page 21 and 22: EARLY Musicby Frank NakashimaOpera
Page 23: LUMINATO NEWToronto's inaugural Lum
Page 27 and 28: menting Cellar, 55 Mill St., Distil
Page 29 and 30: Lenten Winter Festivals (Venice, Sw
Page 31 and 32: Ctr). 416·5984521 x304. Donation,
Page 33 and 34: Gala ticket-holders. Roy Thomson Ha
Page 35 and 36: CONCERT LISTINGSBeyond the GT AIn t
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Page 39 and 40: July4 Holly Cole. Michael K aeshamm
Page 41 and 42: Sharon Temple National Historic Sit
Page 43 and 44: Jazz Festival. The downstairs islar
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Page 47 and 48: VIP tickets: 416-536-6468 x27, $160
Page 49 and 50: MUSICAL LIFE (1)West Coast 18-year-
Page 51 and 52: chamber choir of 24. Gerald Fagan i
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Page 57 and 58: CLASSICAL AND BEYONDMozart - Comple
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Page 61 and 62: Sir John Barbirollisuccessively hel
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Page 65 and 66: made the Kincardine Summer MusicFes
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Page 69 and 70: ANALEKTA-~isnvAL25 JUIN 2007www.mon
Page 72: 10 0 + CONCERTSOTTAWAJULY 21-Al!JGU

Volume 12 - Issue 9 - June 2007

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