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Volume 21 Issue 7 - April 2016

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PRICELESS!<br />

Vol <strong>21</strong> No 7<br />

APRIL 1 – MAY 7, <strong>2016</strong><br />

Steve Reich<br />

Then and Now<br />

LISTINGS | FEATURES | RECORD REVIEWS


CELEBRATE SPRING WITH<br />

ZELENKA<br />

& BACH<br />

IVARS TAURINS<br />

DIRECTOR<br />

DOROTHEE MIELDS<br />

SOPRANO<br />

Apr 28 – May 1<br />

TRINITY-ST. PAUL’S CENTRE,<br />

JEANNE LAMON HALL (TSP)<br />

TAFELMUSIK BAROQUE ORCHESTRA AND CHAMBER CHOIR<br />

WITH WINNERS OF THE TAFELMUSIK VOCAL COMPETITION<br />

Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka’s exuberant<br />

and uplifting Missa Omnium Sanctorum is perfectly<br />

suited for the intimate setting of Trinity-St. Paul’s,<br />

especially when paired with Bach’s Wedding Cantata,<br />

as sung by the luminous German soprano Dorothee<br />

Mields. The remaining solo roles in the Zelenka<br />

mass will be sung by the winners of the inaugural<br />

Tafelmusik Vocal Competition: Kim Leeds,<br />

mezzo-soprano, Jacques-Olivier Chartier,<br />

tenor, and Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone.<br />

TALES OF<br />

TWO CITIES:<br />

THE LEIPZIG-DAMASCUS<br />

COFFEE HOUSE<br />

DIRECTED BY<br />

JEANNE LAMON<br />

PROGRAMME CREATOR<br />

ALISON MACKAY<br />

Marshall Pynkoski | Stage Direction<br />

Glenn Davidson | Production Designer<br />

Raha Javanfar | Projections Designer<br />

Maryem Tollar | Narrator & Vocalist<br />

Alon Nashman | Narrator<br />

May 19 – 22 KOERNER HALL (KH)<br />

May 24 TORONTO CENTRE FOR THE ARTS (TCA)<br />

It’s 1740, and coffee houses are the places to listen to music<br />

and share stories in Leipzig and Damascus. Experience<br />

the visual splendor, music, and contemporary tales of these<br />

historic locations, as presented in an entirely memorized<br />

programme by Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.<br />

TCA CONCERT SUPPORTED BY<br />

Margaret and Jim Fleck<br />

FREE for ticket holders: Public lectures with<br />

Alison Mackay, one hour before each performance<br />

SEASON PRESENTING SPONSOR<br />

TSP: 416.964.6337 KH: 416.408.0208 TCA: 1.855.985.2787 tafelmusik.org


MUST-SEE<br />

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CONDUCTOR<br />

(APR 6 & 8)<br />

CONCERTS<br />

Beethoven Piano Concerto 4<br />

Wed, Apr 6 at 8:00pm<br />

Fri, Apr 8 at 7:30pm<br />

Thomas Søndergård, conductor<br />

Francesco Piemontesi, piano<br />

Kati Agócs: Perpetual Summer<br />

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4<br />

Sibelius: Symphony No. 1<br />

Angela Hewitt Plays Bach<br />

Wed, Apr 13 at 8:00pm<br />

Thu, Apr 14 at 8:00pm<br />

Sat, Apr 16 at 7:30pm<br />

Peter Oundjian, conductor<br />

Angela Hewitt, leader & piano<br />

Bach: Piano Concerto in F Minor,<br />

BMV 1056 (APR 13 ONLY)<br />

Bach: Piano Concerto in D Minor,<br />

BMV 1052<br />

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8<br />

Mahler Symphony 1<br />

Thu, Apr 28 at 8:00pm<br />

Sat, Apr 30 at 8:00pm<br />

Matthias Pintscher, conductor<br />

Inon Barnatian, piano<br />

Matthias Pintscher: towards<br />

Osiris (CANADIAN PREMIÈRE)<br />

Mozart: Piano Concerto<br />

No. 24, K. 491<br />

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 “Titan”<br />

GET GREAT SEATS FROM ONLY $33.75<br />

ROY THOMSON HALL | 416.593.4828 | TSO.CA


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HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:<br />

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<strong>Volume</strong> <strong>21</strong> No 7 | <strong>April</strong> <strong>2016</strong><br />

FEATURES<br />

6. OPENER | In The Cracks Between The Stones | DAVID PERLMAN<br />

8. In Step With Time: Steve Reich, Then & Now | WENDALYN BARTLEY<br />

10. Vesnivka at 50 | LESLIE FERENC<br />

14. Monumental Milestones: Anticipating “Babi Yar” | DAVID PERLMAN<br />

67. REMEMBERING | Robin Engelman | ANDREW TIMAR<br />

68. HALFTONES HIGHLIGHTS | Peter Maxwell Davies’ Canada Connection | SARA CONSTANT<br />

66. WE ARE ALL MUSIC’S CHILDREN | Mireille Asselin | MJ BUELL<br />

84. ENDING | Return of The Littlest Oboe! | KAREN AGES<br />

86. CBC RADIO TWO: Coming of Age in the 1990s | DAVID JAEGER<br />

BEAT BY BEAT<br />

16. Early Music | DAVID PODGORSKI<br />

18. Jazz Stories | ORI DAGAN<br />

20. On Opera | CHRISTOPHER HOILE<br />

24. Classical & Beyond | PAUL ENNIS<br />

28. In with the New | WENDALYN BARTLEY<br />

30. Choral Scene | BRIAN CHANG<br />

32. Art of Song | HANS DE GROOT<br />

34 World View | ANDREW TIMAR<br />

36. Bandstand | JACK MacQUARRIE<br />

60. Mainly Clubs, Mostly Jazz! | BOB BEN<br />

Featuring a 1710 Pardessus<br />

de viole belonging to the unique<br />

Hart House Collection at<br />

the University of Toronto.<br />

Most of the works on this album<br />

are unpublished and few have<br />

been recorded.<br />

LISTINGS<br />

38. A | Concerts in the GTA<br />

54. B | Concerts Beyond the GTA<br />

57. C | Music Theatre<br />

59. D | In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz)<br />

62. E | The ETCeteras<br />

Mélisande Corriveau<br />

and eriC Milnes<br />

are two of the most accomplished<br />

period stylists of their generation.<br />

DISCOVERIES: RECORDINGS REVIEWED<br />

69. Editor’s Corner | DAVID OLDS<br />

71. Strings Attached | TERRY ROBBINS<br />

73. Keyed In | ALEX BARAN<br />

75. Vocal<br />

76. Classical & Beyond<br />

77. Modern & Contemporary<br />

79 Jazz & Improvised<br />

81. Pot Pourri<br />

81. Something in the Air | KEN WAXMAN<br />

83. Old Wine, New Bottles | BRUCE SURTEES<br />

Not to be missed !<br />

AvAilAble from<br />

<strong>April</strong> 8, <strong>2016</strong><br />

MORE<br />

6. Contact Information & Deadlines<br />

7. Index of Advertisers<br />

64. Classified Ads<br />

G R I G O R I A N . C O M<br />

Cover Photograph Jay Blakesberg


FOR OPENERS | DAVID PERLMAN<br />

In The Cracks Between The Stones<br />

In the cracks between the stones, new soil gathers and waits, just<br />

as in the interstices between clearly defined genres of music and<br />

canons of taste, new collaborations arise; musical preferences and<br />

practices morph and change.<br />

Between and around and beyond and outside of our temples of<br />

art, our cathedrals of culture, our venues custom-built for this or<br />

that, music creeps and seeps and sprouts and shouts in new and<br />

unexpected places.<br />

As the clearly defined lines between the “this” and the “that” start to<br />

erode – this is a proper concert, that is not; this is classical, that is jazz;<br />

this is the performer, that is the audience; this is art, that is politics;<br />

this is music, that is noise – so too, opportunities for growth, new and<br />

hopeful, take root in the soil in the cracks between the stones.<br />

And as those cracks widen and expand, the stones themselves, the<br />

hard chunks of convention, of dictum and dictate and decorum, begin<br />

to fragment under the relentless, battering, grass-root pressure of the<br />

fact that art will always just happen to exist.<br />

Case in point #1: Is this a concert or a what?<br />

I wrote a note to David Goldbloom the other day. His day job is psychiatry,<br />

at College and Spadina, within the walls of what in the neighbourhood<br />

we still collectively refer to as “The Clarke.” He also plays<br />

the piano and for a while, many years ago, helped steer Off Centre<br />

Music Salons, pianists Inna Perkis and Boris Zarankin’s eclectic<br />

concert-cum-salon series, now entering its third decade. I last got in<br />

touch with Goldbloom in September 2005 in connection with a story I<br />

was writing about Off Centre Music Salon for the October 2005 issue,<br />

at the time of their tenth anniversary. Just prior to that, Goldbloom<br />

had helped bring about, and spoken at, an Off Centre event built<br />

around the theme of composers and their doctors – Mozart and<br />

Mesmer; Brahms and Billroth; Rachmaninov and Dahl.<br />

This time I wrote to him because I noticed he had just been<br />

announced as a speaker at this year’s “High Notes Gala for Mental<br />

Health” which takes place <strong>April</strong> 28 at the Richmond Hill Centre for<br />

the Performing Arts. It’s an event that’s hard to describe – a blend<br />

of speakers, professional and personal, and performers across a<br />

wide range of musical genres – think Luba Goy, Richard and Lauren<br />

Margison, Ron Korb and David Goldbloom and you start to get a sense<br />

of the range. And it’s not so much a fundraiser (although it is that)<br />

as part of the attempt to bring the conversation about creativity and<br />

mental illness out of the shadows. “What’s changed over the ten years<br />

since we last talked?” I asked.<br />

“I would say that we have come a long way and we have not come<br />

far enough” he replied. “When I spoke [at Off Centre] a decade ago,<br />

it was about long-dead composers and their long-dead therapists,<br />

knowledge that was already in the public domain. ‘High Notes for<br />

Mental Health’ is not an historical exegesis as much as a bold statement<br />

about problems facing every Canadian family now. It’s a conversation<br />

about the present, not the past, about those people close to<br />

us, not distant admired musicians. Today I would aim for the kind of<br />

personal disclosure that requires both courage and candour, that illustrates<br />

that people with talent and success – as well as those without<br />

– can be vulnerable to the impact of mental health problems and<br />

illnesses, without it necessarily eroding their identity or their gifts.<br />

The WholeNote <br />

VOLUME <strong>21</strong> NO 7| APRIL 1 - MAY 7, <strong>2016</strong><br />

Centre for Social Innovation<br />

720 Bathurst St., Suite 503, Toronto ON M5S 2R4<br />

PHONE 416-323-2232 | FAX 416-603-4791<br />

Publisher/Editor In Chief | David Perlman<br />

publisher@thewholenote.com<br />

Chairman of the Board | Allan Pulker<br />

directors@thewholenote.com<br />

EDITORIAL<br />

Managing Editor | Paul Ennis<br />

editorial@thewholenote.com<br />

Recordings Editor | David Olds<br />

discoveries@thewholenote.com<br />

Social Media Editor | Sara Constant<br />

editorial@thewholenote.com<br />

Listings Editor | John Sharpe<br />

listings@thewholenote.com<br />

Club Listings Editor | Bob Ben<br />

jazz@thewholenote.com<br />

SALES, MARKETING & MEMBERSHIP<br />

Concerts & Events/Membership | Karen Ages<br />

members@thewholenote.com<br />

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thom@thewholenote.com<br />

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adrienne@thewholenote.com<br />

Advertising/Production Support/Operations<br />

Jack Buell | adart@thewholenote.com<br />

Classified Ads | classad@thewholenote.com<br />

Website/Systems | Bryson Winchester<br />

systems@thewholenote.com<br />

Website/Systems Support | Kevin King<br />

kevin@thewholenote.com<br />

Circulation/Subscriptions | Chris Malcolm<br />

circulation@thewholenote.com<br />

SUBSCRIPTIONS<br />

$35 per year + HST (9 issues)<br />

THANKS TO THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS<br />

Beat Columnists<br />

Paul Ennis, Wendalyn Bartley, Brian Chang, David<br />

Podgorski, Hans de Groot, Andrew Timar, Ori<br />

Dagan, Jack MacQuarrie, Bob Ben, mJ buell,<br />

David Olds,<br />

Features<br />

David Perlman, Wendalyn Bartley, Leslie Ferenc,<br />

Andrew Timar, Karen Ages, Sara Constant, David<br />

Jaeger<br />

CD Reviewers<br />

Alex Baran, Bob Ben, Stuart Broomer, Raul Da<br />

Gama, Hans De Groot, Janos Gardonyi, Richard<br />

Haskell, Roger Knox, Jack Macquarrie, Ted<br />

Quinlan, Dr. Réa Beaumont, Terry Robbins, Adam<br />

Scime, Bruce Surtees, Robert Tomas, Ken<br />

Waxman, Dianne Wells, Elliot Wright<br />

Proofreading<br />

Vanessa Wells, Jennifer Liu,<br />

John Sharpe, Paul Ennis<br />

Listings<br />

John Sharpe, Bob Ben, Kevin King<br />

Tilly Kooyman, Ruth Atwood, Simone Desilets,<br />

Jennifer Liu, Katie White<br />

Circulation Team<br />

Abram Bergen, Beth Bartley / Mark Clifford, Bob<br />

Jerome, Dagmar Sullivan, Dave Taylor, Garry<br />

Page, Gero Hajek, Jack Buell, James Harris, John<br />

Dodington, Jeff Hogben, Jonathan Spencer, Lorna<br />

Nevison, Manuel Couto, Micah Herzog, Patrick<br />

Slimmon, Paul Ennis, Robert Faulkner, Sharon<br />

Clark, Tiffany Johnson, Tom Sepp, Vanita<br />

Butrsingkorn, Wende Bartley<br />

Layout & Design<br />

Bryson Winchester<br />

an Ontario government agency<br />

un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario<br />

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines<br />

Free Event Listings Deadline<br />

6pm Friday <strong>April</strong> 8<br />

Display Ad Reservations Deadline<br />

6pm Friday <strong>April</strong> 15<br />

Classifieds Deadline<br />

6pm Saturday <strong>April</strong> 23<br />

Advertising Materials Due<br />

6pm Monday <strong>April</strong> 18<br />

Publication Date<br />

Tuesday <strong>April</strong> 26 (Online)<br />

Thursday <strong>April</strong> 28 (Print)<br />

<strong>Volume</strong> <strong>21</strong> No 8 covers<br />

May 1 - June 7, <strong>2016</strong><br />

WholeNote Media Inc. accepts no responsibility or<br />

liability for claims made for any product or service<br />

reported on or advertised in this issue.<br />

Printed in Canada<br />

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thewholenote.com<br />

6 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


If any of the performers were to ask the audience to raise their hand<br />

if someone they know and care about has experienced some form of<br />

mental illness, every hand would be up in the air.”<br />

Case in point #2: The “Garage” is not a garage, it’s Galloway’s:<br />

I think it was six years ago that Jim Galloway and I, three times, took<br />

the freight elevator from just outsideThe WholeNote office on the fifth<br />

floor at 720 Bathurst Street down to the then-abandoned ground floor<br />

and surveyed the space, rife with potential, its high ceilings, exposed<br />

brick walls, old wooden pillars and beams. I remember how his eyes<br />

gleamed at the thought of what a jazz venue it might be, in the spirit<br />

of the Montreal Bistro and some of the other venues he loved and<br />

lamented in the 16 years he wrote his column for The WholeNote.<br />

The building at 720 Bathurst was between owners then, and for a few<br />

heady weeks, oh how we dreamed and schemed.<br />

Almost miraculously, after five years of ownership by the Centre for<br />

Social Innovation, that ground floor space still exists, with room for<br />

dreams and schemes and for a “wee big band” to play in, right in front<br />

of that selfsame freight elevator. So that, dear friends, is what will be<br />

happening <strong>April</strong> 14 from 7pm to 10. For one shining moment the back<br />

half of the space, whimsically called “The Garage” because of its large<br />

rollup door, will become “Galloway’s” as the “Wee Big Band” under<br />

the direction of Martin Loomer makes the building ring with music in<br />

memory of Jim.<br />

Join us! (Invite details are on page 18.)<br />

Case in point #3: Salon West Meets the 18th Century<br />

I found myself ever so slightly out of my comfort zone the other<br />

day, attending a gathering of something called Salon West, in a little<br />

rooftop solarium, with seating for around 25 people, on the fifth floor<br />

of the Spoke Club at Portland and King. Salon West bills itself as “a<br />

forum for much-needed dialogue on the arts and public policy in<br />

Toronto,” with the goal of “creating positive change through the arts”<br />

and inspiring “actionable solutions to the issues facing our great city.”<br />

Guests on this particular day (March 23) were both from Tafelmusik<br />

- violinist Julia Wedman - and the orchestra’s recently appointed<br />

managing director, William Norris, described in the Salon West<br />

program note as being “dedicated to pushing the boundaries of a<br />

traditionally conservative art form to attract new audiences.”<br />

It was a fascinating encounter. As readers of last November’s magazine<br />

may recall, Norris, from his description of his previous role with<br />

London’s Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, is already firmly<br />

committed to finding new ways of taking this music that he is clearly<br />

passionate about to new audiences, on their own turf. And he has<br />

strong views too about how some of the more rigid aspects of concert<br />

etiquette impose on how we listen to music constraints that the<br />

composers of that music would themselves have been uncomfortable<br />

with. “The music tells you when to applaud and not to,” for example,<br />

is a tenet with interesting implications. Just think of the cracks in<br />

decorum that might result if it were applied without qualification to<br />

our town’s typical concert halls!<br />

Wedman’s contribution was to interweave brief moments of music<br />

and musical treatise (Telemann, Mattheson) with detailed information<br />

about the unique characteristics of her baroque-style bow and instrument,<br />

before concluding with two movements from Bach’s Sei Solo<br />

Sonatas and Partitas. It was an object lesson in everything, from technical<br />

and intellectual skill to visceral and emotional commitment, that<br />

this music demands of its practitioners.<br />

I left with a spring in my step – with the image in my mind of<br />

a solution already well under way, rather than some burdensome<br />

problem to be gnawed over; 25 to 30 people sat and stood, listening as<br />

one to unamplified Bach in a rooftop room at twilight, oblivious to the<br />

noise of the building’s mechanical plant and the dull roar from dining<br />

and meeting rooms below.<br />

Happy reading! There are many more musical moments inside!<br />

publisher@thewholenote.com<br />

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS<br />

5 at the First Chamber Players 56<br />

Adam Sherkin 41, 51<br />

Adi Braun 49<br />

Annex Singers 52<br />

ArtsMedia 64<br />

Associates of the TSO 16, 43<br />

ATMA 5, 69<br />

Aurora Cultural Centre 44, 52<br />

Blythwood Winds 41<br />

Canadian Children’s Opera Company 22<br />

Canadian Opera Company 13, 43, 49, 57<br />

Canadian Sinfonietta 48<br />

Castle Frank House of Melody 47<br />

Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra 45<br />

Christ Church Deer Park Jazz Vespers 61<br />

Church of the Holy Trinity 41<br />

Claude Watson Secondary Arts Program 46, 51, 65<br />

Eglinton St. George’s United Church 45<br />

Elmer Iseler Singers 31<br />

Fanshawe Chorus London 56<br />

Festival of the Sound 20<br />

First Ontario Performing Arts Centre 55<br />

Grace Church on-the-Hill 42<br />

Greater Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra 44<br />

Hannaford Street Silver Band 25, 45<br />

High Notes Inc. 35<br />

Horizon Tax 64<br />

I Furiosi 47<br />

Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts 4, 54, 55<br />

Ken Page Memorial Trust / The WholeNote 18<br />

Kindred Spirits Orchestra 53<br />

Lawrence Park Community Church 52, 65<br />

Li Delun Music Foundation 53, 63<br />

LizPR 64<br />

Long & McQuade 14<br />

Manning + Ulster Refugee Project 44<br />

MasterPerforming 64<br />

Masterworks of Oakville Chorus & Orchestra 53<br />

Mississauga Festival Choir 52<br />

Mississauga Symphony 50<br />

Mooredale Concerts 45<br />

Music at Metropolitan 41, 50<br />

Music at St. Andrews’s / Embassy of Austria 46<br />

Music Toronto 9, 23, 40, 43<br />

Musicians in Ordinary 47<br />

Musikay 44<br />

Naxos 71, 72<br />

New Music Concerts 40, 48<br />

Oakham House Choir 50<br />

Off Centre Music Salon 33<br />

Opera Atelier 41<br />

Orchestra Toronto 48<br />

Orpheus Choir 30<br />

Pasquale Bros. 62<br />

Pavlo / Hejaz Entertainment 46<br />

Pax Christi Chorale 11<br />

Peterborough Symphony 57<br />

Remenyi House of Music 15<br />

Rhodes Piano 64<br />

Rich Brown 72<br />

Royal Canadian College of Organists 47<br />

Royal Conservatory 39, 45, 85, 87<br />

Saluki Music 64<br />

Scarborough Philharmonic 26<br />

Show One Productions 27<br />

Sine Nomine 49<br />

SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival 19<br />

Soundstreams 29<br />

Southern Ontario Chapter Hymn Society 63<br />

St. James Cathedral 37, 49<br />

St. Jude’s Celebration of the Arts 42<br />

St. Olave’s Church 45<br />

St. Philip’s Jazz Vespers 61<br />

Steinway Piano Gallery 12<br />

Syrinx Concerts 26, 40, 51<br />

Tafelmusik 2, 38, 40, 49, 88<br />

Talisker Players 51<br />

Toronto Children’s Chorus 52<br />

Toronto Consort 17, 52<br />

Toronto Downtown Jazz 19<br />

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir 31<br />

Toronto Operetta Theatre <strong>21</strong><br />

Toronto Symphony Orchestra 3, 43, 49<br />

Toronto Summer Music Festival and Academy 63<br />

Toy Piano Composers 38<br />

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre 65<br />

U of T Faculty of Music 27, 42<br />

Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga 48<br />

Universal Music Canada 69<br />

Village Voices 53<br />

VOCA Chorus of Toronto 53<br />

Westben Arts Festival Theatre 22<br />

Women’s Musical Club of Toronto 51<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 7


In Step With Time<br />

Steve Reich, Then & Now<br />

WENDALYN BARTLEY<br />

KEVIN LEIGHTON<br />

Then: My first experience<br />

of meeting the<br />

renowned American<br />

composer Steve Reich<br />

was in a master class he gave<br />

for composition students at the<br />

University of Toronto’s Faculty of<br />

Music. It was early in 1976 and he<br />

was in town as the guest of New<br />

Music Concerts who presented<br />

performances of his music<br />

during both an afternoon and<br />

evening concert. In the master<br />

class, I remember sitting spellbound<br />

as I listened to him speak<br />

about his musical ideas that<br />

challenged all I was being taught<br />

in school.<br />

This was at a time when the<br />

serialist aesthetic dominated<br />

the new music world. Hearing<br />

about this radical new approach<br />

was a breath of badly needed fresh<br />

air. He spoke about the importance of being able to hear and perceive<br />

the shifts and changes as they occurred in the music, and about how,<br />

for this to work, the process needed to be gradual – a musical process<br />

that resembled setting a swing in motion and watching it come to rest.<br />

It made complete sense to me.<br />

To back up his words, he asked if anyone in the room would be up<br />

for joining him in playing his piece Piano Phase to demonstrate his<br />

phasing technique, the process he had developed to create this slowly<br />

evolving musical structure. Composer and pianist Henry Kucharzyk,<br />

at the time a student at the faculty, immediately volunteered. I<br />

remember Reich’s surprise that anyone even knew the piece and his<br />

being completely astonished at Kucharzyk’s skill in playing a work<br />

that requires intense focus to perform the shifting rhythmic patterns.<br />

A few days later at the NMC afternoon concert, Piano Phase was<br />

performed again on marimbas by Russell Hartenberger and Bob<br />

Becker, longtime members of the Steve Reich and Musicians ensemble.<br />

The afternoon program also included Clapping Music, Music for Pieces<br />

of Wood and Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ, and the<br />

evening concert culminated with one of Reich’s favourite pieces, the<br />

hour-long Drumming. I remember too the instantaneous and roaring<br />

standing ovation this piece received, a rare occurrence at a new<br />

music concert.<br />

When I recently contacted New Music Concerts to access the<br />

programs from those concerts, I was told that they had marked the<br />

first time Reich’s music had been performed by anyone other than<br />

members of his own ensemble. This was only possible because of the<br />

presence of Hartenberger and Becker. Both at the time were teaching<br />

percussion at U of T and York, and were members of the Torontobased<br />

Nexus percussion ensemble. In a recent phone conversation,<br />

Hartenberger told me that to make the concert happen, he gathered<br />

together musicians from other members of Nexus, some of his<br />

students, and other Toronto-based musicians he knew. Just how<br />

significant a moment in time was this concert? “Steve was wary of<br />

other people playing his music,” Hartenberger said. “But he knew that<br />

Bob and I knew the music and were able to coach, so there was some<br />

trust there that it would be the way it was supposed to be. He allowed<br />

us to do it, but it was quite a while before anyone outside the group<br />

played those pieces.”<br />

Nexus Then: (from left), Russell Hartenberger,<br />

John Wyre, Michael Craden, Bob Becker.<br />

Hartenberger first met Reich<br />

in 1971 when he was a graduate<br />

student at Wesleyan University and<br />

was invited to join the Drumming<br />

rehearsals; Reich needed percussionists<br />

to help him develop the<br />

ideas for this work. The rehearsal<br />

and composition process were interwoven<br />

and it took weekly rehearsals<br />

over the course of several months<br />

before the piece was finished. “Steve<br />

would demonstrate the new parts<br />

each week, we would play and learn<br />

that part, and then tag it onto what<br />

we had learned the week before.” At<br />

the time there wasn’t a really clear<br />

score, so in order to perform the<br />

piece it was necessary to learn from<br />

someone who had already played<br />

it and could coach performers on<br />

what was supposed to happen. Thus<br />

the difficulty in anyone outside of the<br />

members of Reich’s ensemble being<br />

able to perform not only Drumming, but most of his music written up<br />

to that point, particularly the pieces with multiple performers.<br />

As I dug further into the story of Reich’s music in Toronto, the<br />

impact of the 1976 concerts became even more evident. At least two<br />

of Hartenberger’s percussion students who performed there went on<br />

to become members of the Arraymusic Ensemble, which Kucharzyk<br />

himself joined in 1976 as pianist, later becoming artistic director<br />

from 1982-88. It was under Kucharzyk’s tenure that Array began<br />

performing some of Reich’s music, including the larger pieces Sextet<br />

and Six Pianos. In 1988, Arraymusic’s clarinetist Robert W. Stevenson<br />

performed New York Counterpoint, one of Reich’s pieces in which a<br />

solo performer plays against multiple recordings of the same instrument.<br />

Rather than using the prepared tape available from Boosey &<br />

Hawkes, Stevenson recorded his own tracks and his performance of<br />

the piece became part of<br />

Array’s touring repertoire<br />

throughout Canada and<br />

Europe in the late 80s and<br />

early 90s. In 1991, it was<br />

released on Arraymusic’s CD,<br />

Chroma.<br />

Now it is <strong>2016</strong>, 40<br />

years later, and<br />

Reich is returning<br />

to Toronto amidst<br />

a plethora of events that<br />

Soundstreams has organized<br />

to celebrate his 80th<br />

birthday. The momentous visit<br />

will culminate in a concert<br />

at Massey Hall on <strong>April</strong> 14.<br />

Coincidentally, the concert<br />

will open with a performance<br />

of Clapping Music, the<br />

same piece that began the<br />

1976 afternoon concert, and<br />

performed by the same two<br />

8 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Music TORONTO<br />

musicians – Reich and Hartenberger. Armed with all these stories of the<br />

impression Reich’s 1976 visit in Toronto had made on me and on others, I<br />

was mildly surprised and a bit disconcerted, when I spoke to him recently<br />

on the DUO phone, to TURGEON<br />

realize that he had only the vaguest memories of that<br />

particular trip (which of course makes sense given the number of times<br />

he has toured around the world).<br />

Once we got past my expectation that he would be able to provide<br />

his own memories of that 1976 concert, to counterpoint my own, we<br />

launched into a conversation about the two main pieces that will be<br />

performed on <strong>April</strong> 14 – Music for 18 Musicians and Tehillim, which<br />

to his knowledge have not been performed on the same program<br />

before. I was sure I had heard Music for 18 Musicians before somewhere<br />

in Toronto, I told him, although neither of these works<br />

appeared on any of the concert programs for New Music concerts,<br />

Arraymusic or Soundstreams (which has presented two previous<br />

concerts of his music). Later I asked Hartenberger about this, and he<br />

confirmed that “about 10 to 15 years ago,” he performed the work at<br />

the MacMillan Theatre with a group of U of T students who worked for<br />

an entire semester to learn the piece. (The actual date, it turns out, was<br />

<strong>April</strong> 5 at 8 pm<br />

January <strong>21</strong>, 2005.)<br />

Rather than digging up anecdotes from memory’s scrapbook, the<br />

conversation Reich and I embarked upon focused on the steps his<br />

compositional ideas and discoveries have taken over time and how<br />

the explorations of one piece or series of works led quite organically<br />

to the next phase. In order to illustrate how the composing of Music<br />

for 18 Musicians in 1976 marked a turning point in his compositional<br />

Music TORONTO<br />

<strong>April</strong> 14 at 8 pm<br />

approach, he backtracked even further, explaining talk about how all<br />

the music that had preceded it was based around a basic rhythm or<br />

melodic pattern. ARTEMIS<br />

He illustrated this by tapping out the rhythmic basis<br />

of Drumming saying: “That’s Drumming, and everything else is elaboration<br />

– pitch,<br />

QUARTET<br />

timbre, and canonic placement. The entire hour of<br />

music comes from that tiny little module.” The shift that happened in<br />

the composing of Music for 18 Musicians came when he sat down at<br />

the piano and made up a series of harmonies, “admittedly something<br />

composers have been doing for thousands of years, but I hadn’t been.”<br />

His goal up to that point, he said, had been to keep the harmony<br />

and timbre the same, and have rhythm be what moved the music<br />

forward. He stressed that what made these earlier pieces work with<br />

their interlocking patterns and resultant complex counterpoint was<br />

“to have identical instruments playing against each other. That’s an<br />

acoustic necessity.” In the four sections that make up Drumming, the<br />

first three parts are for multiples of the same instrument (8 bongos,<br />

then 3 marimbas, then 3 glockenspiels), but in the last part all the<br />

instruments are mixed together. This was for him the big breakthrough<br />

that led directly into Music for 18 Musicians and the use of a<br />

mixed instrumental ensemble. He admits<br />

that although this was a step forward for<br />

Steve Reich (London, 2013)<br />

him and at the time resulted in a very<br />

new piece, it was also simultaneously<br />

one step back into traditional western<br />

ways of making music.<br />

The work is scored for a large ensemble<br />

made up of a combination of clarinets,<br />

violin, cello, marimbas, xylophones,<br />

vibraphone, four pianos and<br />

four women’s voices. Harmonically, it is<br />

based on a series of 11 chords that unfold<br />

over an hour with the cues of when to<br />

move forward to the next section coming<br />

from the vibraphone player. “The excitement<br />

for me” Reich said “was in using<br />

mixed orchestration for the first time,<br />

because I’ve been doing it ever since. The<br />

tension of going from one way of writing<br />

to another way is embodied in that piece.<br />

That makes it very unique.”<br />

The other work on the <strong>April</strong> 14<br />

program is Tehillim, composed in 1981.<br />

This work marks another break from<br />

DUO TURGEON<br />

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thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 9


what Reich had been doing up to this point, both rhythmically and<br />

in his treatment of the voice. Previously, his rhythmic patterns were<br />

created by dividing up triple metres in various ways, and vocally he<br />

had relied on using vocalise – syllables or vocal sounds rather than<br />

text. “For the first time since I was a student, I decided I was going to<br />

set words, like the normal use of the human voice.” While working,<br />

he began chanting the original Hebrew words of Psalm 19 over and<br />

over until “suddenly a melody popped into my head, while at the<br />

same time this rhythm popped into my head – one, two; one, two,<br />

three; one, two; one, two, three.” Wondering what was happening, “I<br />

suddenly realized it was the unconscious dredging up of my previous<br />

knowledge from years ago of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and Bartok’s<br />

Bulgarian rhythms, which was basically the use of fast changing<br />

metres. And somehow, and who knows how, the Hebrew text attached<br />

itself to those rhythms.”<br />

As he continued to work on the piece, with each of the remaining<br />

three movements built upon the texts of different psalms, he realized<br />

that this process wasn’t going away. Rather it ended up staying<br />

not only for the entire piece but became the basis for The Desert Music<br />

(composed in 1983) and continues to appear in many other instrumental<br />

works to this day. “It became a spontaneous discovery of<br />

another musical language through the setting of the Hebrew text.”<br />

This story of progressive and transformative discovery has been<br />

the hallmark of Reich’s compositional career, going back to his initial<br />

explorations, in the mid-1960s, of what would happen sonically when<br />

playing back a series of tape loops with the same recorded fragment<br />

and listening as they gradually moved out of sync or phase with each<br />

other. The ensuing musical structure manifests itself inhis pieces It’s<br />

Gonna Rain and Come Out, and forms the foundation of how his<br />

musical aesthetic itself has slowly morphed and changed throughout<br />

the years. It’s as if his own musical ideas and discoveries were having<br />

and continue to have a conversation amongst themselves, as became<br />

evident when we talked about his recent compositions.<br />

In 2013, for example, he wrote Quartet for the Colin Currie Group,<br />

a UK virtuosic percussion ensemble devoted to playing Reich’s music.<br />

By deciding to score the piece for two vibraphones and two pianos, he<br />

was using the same core instrumentation that has been the foundation<br />

for many of his previous pieces. What’s distinctive about Quartet,<br />

though, is that it changes key more frequently than in any other piece.<br />

“Harmonically, it’s all over the map, just the opposite of what you’d<br />

associate with me, especially in the early pieces. When I first finished<br />

it, I thought it was a mess, but when I heard it, I found it interesting<br />

and the performers loved it.” Two years later, in 2015, Reich composed<br />

Pulse, scored for a small group of strings and winds, piano and electric<br />

bass. “The pulse is constant, creating a very hypnotic work with<br />

static harmonic changes and just the kind of thing you’d think I would<br />

have written 20 to 30 years ago. Maybe I wrote it in reaction to the<br />

previous piece (Quartet). Sometimes that happens.”<br />

Currently, he is working on a co-commission from The Royal Ballet<br />

in London and Ensemble Signal, based in New York. Titled Runner,<br />

the piece will be premiered on November 10 at the Royal Opera House<br />

in London’s Covent Garden with choreography by Wayne McGregor.<br />

What distinguishes this piece is the incremental changes in rhythmic<br />

values, despite the fact that the tempo doesn’t change. This musical<br />

progression of different note durations reflects the idea that runners<br />

have to pace themselves.<br />

What intrigued me in listening to Reich speak about his music<br />

some 40 years later was how, even though in the early days his music<br />

offered a radically different approach to music making, he remains,<br />

now as he was then, almost bemused by how the evolutionary process<br />

of his musical explorations continually brings him back to the pillars<br />

of western musical tradition and more normal ways of composing.<br />

And as we, the audiences of Toronto, gear up for his <strong>April</strong> visit, we<br />

can look forward, now as we did then, to the way the magnetic pulse<br />

of the sound weaves its own magic within our ears, as once again we<br />

engage, step by step, with the timeless music of Steve Reich.<br />

The WholeNote’s regular new music columnist, Wendalyn Bartley,<br />

is a Toronto-based composer and electro-vocal sound artist.<br />

Vesnivka at 50<br />

LESLIE FERENC<br />

It’s Tuesday evening and Vesnivka is rehearsing for an upcoming<br />

concert – perhaps the most important in the Toronto choir’s history.<br />

It’s been 50 years since conductor and artistic director Halyna<br />

Kvitka Kondracki founded Vesnivka and the Ukrainian women’s<br />

choir is preparing for its golden anniversary performance. This<br />

month’s concert at Glenn Gould Studio <strong>April</strong> 17 features the works of<br />

contemporary composers commissioned by Vesnivka over the past<br />

five decades.<br />

I’m excited to sit in on a rehearsal and race across Trinity Bellwoods<br />

Park before making my way down the stairs into the basement of St.<br />

Nicholas Ukrainian School where Vesnivka has practised since day<br />

one. As I enter the hall, the memories begin flooding in.<br />

I was one of the young girls who attended Saturday school at St.<br />

Nick’s where Kondracki established Vesnivka in 1965. From humble<br />

beginnings as an after-school music program to an internationally<br />

acclaimed choir renowned for musical excellence, Vesnivka has<br />

become a leading voice of Ukrainian choral music worldwide, transcending<br />

language barriers and entertaining diverse audiences at<br />

home and abroad.<br />

I was 13 when I joined Vesnivka; I sang in the alto section for more<br />

than 30 years. During that time, the choir performed across Canada,<br />

the eastern United States, South America, Europe and Great Britain on<br />

some of the most prestigious concert stages in the world. Singing at<br />

Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Royal Albert Hall in London and<br />

at a Papal mass next to the magnificent Renaissance altar at St. Peter’s<br />

Basilica in Rome were unforgettable experiences that came with bragging<br />

rights.<br />

A whirlwind seven-city tour of Ukraine in 1991 was life-changing.<br />

From as far back as I remember, my parents had talked about their<br />

beloved homeland and I soaked up its history and culture vicariously.<br />

Stepping onto Ukrainian soil for the first time and walking in the footsteps<br />

of my ancestors was almost surreal. I discovered where I’d come<br />

from and who I was.<br />

The experience was unmatched and I was thrilled to share it with<br />

my choir sisters. We embraced our heritage and the people who<br />

opened their hearts to us. At times we were so moved by their generosity<br />

of spirit, we cried on stage.<br />

There were also tears of joy. Travelling across that vast country on a<br />

bus with 50 of my best friends was so much fun. We’d spontaneously<br />

break out in song or laugh our heads off after someone grabbed the<br />

microphone to tell jokes over the public address system, all the while<br />

sharing goodies like cake, home-baked bread and roast chicken that<br />

had been passed on by relatives after a concert. As the miles rolled<br />

on, we’d chat and get to know one another better. Each tour – across<br />

Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Holland,<br />

Poland and so many others – made our musical family stronger.<br />

For Myroslava Diakun, Vesnivka nourished her passion for singing.<br />

“I grew up in a family that loved music and special occasions at our<br />

house always included singing, usually in three-part harmony,” she<br />

tells me. “Fast forward 50 years and I’m still singing in Vesnivka<br />

with lifelong friends that I met in the choir who have become my<br />

extended family.”<br />

And the songs that brought us together in our youth keep us<br />

connected in adulthood. When “the girls” get together for birthdays,<br />

weddings of our children, christenings and even celebrations of lives<br />

lived, we sing. I join in from the pews when Vesnivka sings the liturgy<br />

at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church on Queen St. West.<br />

When I’m feeling nostalgic, I pull out my collection of Vesnivka’s<br />

recordings. This latest release, 50 Seasons of Song, is a compilation of<br />

the “best recordings” of Vesnivka in celebration of the 50th anniversary.<br />

The songs from the early years feature a pure and clean sound<br />

with orchestral arrangements by Canadian composer and two-time<br />

Gemini Award-winner Eric Robertson. There are songs that celebrate<br />

the strength and spirit of Ukrainian women as well as compositions<br />

10 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


an Ontario government agency<br />

Halyna Kvitka Kondracki<br />

by I.B. Vesolowskyj, featuring his popular dance songs of the 40s and<br />

50s with Vesnivka accompanied by Toronto’s Burya Band.<br />

Fittingly in this anniversary year, last month, Vesnivka launched<br />

the first phase of its e-Library of Ukrainian Choral Music. The project<br />

represents a significant milestone for Vesnivka in its mandate of<br />

promoting Ukrainian choral music, says e-Library manager and longtime<br />

Vesnivka member Lesia Komorowsky. “Vesnivka has an impressive<br />

repertoire of Ukrainian classical, folk, contemporary and sacred<br />

music in its archives which it wants to share with singers around the<br />

world – thus leaving a musical legacy for generations to come.”<br />

The e-Library gives users access to this music online, the ability to<br />

download the sheet music in either the original Ukrainian or transliterated<br />

form for performance. Music lovers can explore it at vesnivka.<br />

com and clicking on the e-Library link.<br />

While I haven’t been in the choir for many years, it feels as if I’ve<br />

never left as I walk into the room where old friends welcome me.<br />

“Does this mean you’re coming back to the choir?” they ask before I<br />

take a seat in the back row and wait for the rehearsal to begin.<br />

Aside from the padded chairs and music stands, little has changed<br />

in the hall. It’s still buzzing with energy as it always did before<br />

a concert.<br />

While there are many new faces, there are also familiar ones.<br />

Olenka Wasley, the longest-standing member of the choir, joined in<br />

1965 and hasn’t missed a season yet. “Quite often commitments such<br />

as school, work, family responsibilities or health matters have affected<br />

the membership of many, but I pride myself on being able to manage<br />

all of these and still be an active member,” she says.<br />

Wasley recalls being impressed by Kondracki’s enthusiasm, creativity<br />

and dedication. That hasn’t changed either.<br />

“We all marvelled at her talents,” Wasley tells me, adding that<br />

Vesnivka has been a big part of her life and that of her family which<br />

has supported her every step of the way, knowing how much she loves<br />

singing in the choir. “I would encourage young women to come out<br />

and join Vesnivka and celebrate music through song,” she says.<br />

I’m hoping The Nightingale, (arrangement by Borys Lystopad<br />

based on a traditional Ukrainian folk song), will be part of the evening’s<br />

practice. Its haunting melody, sung a cappella, transports me to<br />

Llangollen, Wales and the 1993 International Eisteddfodd as the judges<br />

announce that Vesnivka’s performance of The Nightingale placed first<br />

in the folk category at the prestigious choral competition. I remember<br />

leaping out of my seat and jumping for joy. It’s how athletes must feel<br />

winning Olympic gold.<br />

While I loved the concerts, participation in music festivals and<br />

competitions opened up the world of international choral music and<br />

opportunities to meet people who love to sing as much as I do.<br />

It was also amazing to bring home the awards – whether it was from<br />

a CBC Choral Competition or the Choral Olympics in Linz, Austria.<br />

Not bad for amateurs.<br />

As the choir warms up, I slip into the adjoining music room<br />

where the walls are covered with photographs, concert posters,<br />

PaxChristiChorale.org<br />

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thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 11


certificates, awards and<br />

mementos. They tell<br />

the story of Vesnivka’s<br />

history beginning<br />

with Kondracki who<br />

was studying at the<br />

University of Toronto’s<br />

Faculty of Music<br />

when she established<br />

Vesnivka to share her<br />

rich musical heritage. It<br />

wasn’t easy and some<br />

said a youth choir<br />

wouldn’t last. Tenacious<br />

and determined,<br />

Kondracki would prove<br />

them wrong.<br />

Encouraged by her<br />

father Bohdan Zorych,<br />

who had conducted his<br />

own choir in Ukraine,<br />

Kondracki was inspired<br />

by the beautiful music she<br />

sang growing up.<br />

“There is nothing to compare to the pure joy of singing – of using<br />

that fabulous instrument within us to express our passion for life and<br />

love of our Ukrainian culture,” she says. “This gift is a treasure that<br />

gains greater value when shared with others.”<br />

Back in the 60s, few had heard of Ukraine or knew that Mykola<br />

Leontovych, who composed the internationally renowned Carol<br />

of the Bells, was Ukrainian. Over the years, Vesnivka has helped<br />

put Ukrainian choral music on the map attracting culturally<br />

diverse audiences.<br />

Even a lack of Ukrainian music for girls’ voices didn’t keep her<br />

from her métier. When<br />

she couldn’t find suitable<br />

music, Kondracki<br />

rewrote arrangements<br />

from male choir TB<br />

scores to SSA. In 1968,<br />

she commissioned<br />

Ukrainian composer<br />

Andrij Hnatyshyn, living<br />

in Austria, to write an<br />

Eastern Rite Byzantine<br />

mass for Vesnivka in<br />

three- and four-part<br />

harmony which is the<br />

foundation of the choir’s<br />

sacred repertoire. Some<br />

sections are still part<br />

of the liturgy the choir<br />

sings at St. Nicholas.<br />

Kondracki also searched<br />

archives in Ukraine for<br />

original folk songs and<br />

classical music expanding<br />

Vesnivka’s repertoire. She made connections with contemporary<br />

composers there and at home and continues to commission new<br />

works to broaden Vesnivka’s musical horizons bringing new music to<br />

audiences and showcasing talented composers.<br />

“Vesnivka owes a great deal of its success to the incredible talent and<br />

creativity of composers who have given us such wonderful works to<br />

perform over the years,” says Kondracki.<br />

Ukrainian-Canadian composers such as Roman Hurko, whose<br />

Liturgy No.4 (Vesnivka) launched the choir’s anniversary season<br />

last fall, as well as Zenia Kushpeta, Larysa Kuzmenko and Zenoby<br />

Lawryshyn will be featured at this month’s concert.<br />

Kondracki continues to blaze new trails for Vesnivka by collaborating<br />

with ensembles such as the Elmer Iseler Singers, conducted by<br />

Lydia Adams, the Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber Choir, Roman<br />

Borys, cellist with the Gryphon Trio, and violinist Halyna Dziuryn –<br />

guest artists at the gala concert.<br />

Looking ahead, Vesnivka has been invited to the Ottawa<br />

International Chamber Music Festival this summer. Next year,<br />

Vesnivka will be on stage at Koerner Hall with Orpheus Choir of<br />

Toronto as well as other artists and musicians for a marquee concert<br />

celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday and the 125th anniversary<br />

of Ukrainian settlement in Canada. It will showcase the works of<br />

Canadian composers John Estacio (The Houses Stand Not Far Apart)<br />

and Larysa Kuzmenko (The Golden Harvest).<br />

When Robert Cooper, artistic director of Chorus Niagara and<br />

Orpheus Choir of Toronto, took on the project, Kondracki was the<br />

first person he called. They were introduced back in the 80s while<br />

Cooper was a producer of choral music at the CBC Radio and headed<br />

up the national choral competitions. “Vesnivka always won,” (in the<br />

multicultural category) says Cooper who is also artistic director of<br />

Opera in Concert Chorus and Ontario Male Chorus. Cooper worked<br />

with Kondracki in 2006 when Vesnivka joined more than 250<br />

Canadian singers and musicians onstage at Roy Thomson Hall for<br />

“Chernobyl 20,” commemorating the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor<br />

disaster in Ukraine.<br />

“I’m very aware of Kvitka’s good work,” Cooper continues noting<br />

under Kondracki’s leadership that Vesnivka has maintained “a very<br />

high order of choral sophistication…I enjoy working with Kvitka who<br />

is very authentic, very serious about her music, is an expert when it<br />

comes to Ukrainian choral music and makes things happen.”<br />

While the future is exciting, the focus this evening is on the 50th<br />

anniversary program. I settle into my seat as Kondracki raises her<br />

arms and Vesnivka begins to rehearse. The room fills with the glorious<br />

sound of music. I close my eyes and let my spirit soar.<br />

Vesnivka on tour in St. John’s, Newfoundland; Halyna Kvitka Kondracki (top, centre)<br />

Leslie Ferenc is a member of the Vesnivka<br />

50th anniversary committee.<br />

12 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


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CONVERSATIONS AT THE WHOLENOTE<br />

Monumental Milestones:<br />

Anticipating “Babi Yar”<br />

STERLING BECKWITH HAS BEEN WAITING A LONG TIME FOR<br />

THIS SYMPHONY TO BE PERFORMED HERE. NOT JUST FOR IT TO<br />

BE DONE, BUT TO BE DONE RIGHT. DAVID PERLMAN EXPLAINS<br />

Publishing monthly as we do, it<br />

has to be said that it’s not every<br />

March that we would prepare<br />

for the <strong>April</strong> issue a story about<br />

a concert that won’t take place until<br />

mid-May (May 13 and 15, to be precise).<br />

But Sterling Beckwith, York University<br />

professor emeritus, and founding chair<br />

of the music department there, is a man<br />

on a mission. And, as he explains, he has<br />

been waiting a long time, not just for this<br />

performance, by the Toronto Symphony<br />

Orchestra conducted by Andrey Boreyko,<br />

of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony<br />

No.13 “Babi Yar,” to be performed here,<br />

but for it to be done right.<br />

“It’s an amazing work and I have<br />

been nervously and excitedly awaiting<br />

Andrey Boreyko<br />

this performance all year, since I heard about it, in fact,” says Beckwith. “But I am still<br />

wondering whether it’s going to live up to expectations – not the music itself or the orchestra,<br />

they are marvellous, but wondering if, and how, it can really connect with our audience. It’s<br />

not enough just for it to be done. It deserves to be done right.”<br />

Parsing what “done right” means to Beckwith in this case is a rigorous exercise. It means, for<br />

one thing, assertive outreach to the communities that should be there to witness it, because<br />

it is part of their collective history. It means rising adequately to the challenge of assembling<br />

an adequate chorus of authentically Russian-sounding basses (“the bass soloist’s cheering<br />

section” as Beckwith describes them), so that they are sonically on the same page as Bolshoitrained<br />

bass soloist Petr Migunov. It means ensuring that the TSO, and all concerned, understand<br />

the historical importance of using Yevtushenko’s original uncensored texts. It means<br />

program notes that address what the monumental work meant in its own time (no easy task,<br />

in a part of the world where people’s histories often lie buried at different depths in the same<br />

piece of land). And perhaps the greatest challenge of all, it means trying to figure out how<br />

to enable “our audience,” most of whom will not understand the language being sung, to<br />

immerse themselves fully in a work of art whose universal truths are so completely grounded<br />

in the particular.<br />

So let’s back up a bit, shall we? Fortunately there’s a good starting point for all this in<br />

The WholeNote itself – a review written by columnist Bruce Surtees in October 2014 of a<br />

Praga SACD release of a recording of the very first performance of this work. Here’s what<br />

Surtees wrote:<br />

On December 18, 1962, defying admonitions from Premier Khrushchev and the Soviet<br />

Presidium, the first performance of Shostakovich’s Thirteenth Symphony was given<br />

in Moscow and dutifully ignored by the press. The composer had set five of Yevgeny<br />

Yevtushenko’s poems, including the recently published Babi Yar, the subject of which was<br />

anti-Semitism and the well-documented, wholesale massacre of Jews in Kiev by the Nazis<br />

in WWII. Further performances were banned until Yevtushenko altered the text, which he<br />

did, but not before December 20 when there was a repeat performance with the original<br />

text…with Kirill Kondrashin conducting the Moscow Philharmonic, two choirs and Vitaly<br />

Gromadsky, bass and speaker…More than a performance, this is a declamation. I know of<br />

no other recorded performance to come even remotely close to the intensity and impact of<br />

this significant and valuable document.<br />

“It’s a piece I’ve had a hankering to be connected to ever since then,” Beckwith explains. “I<br />

was an exchange research scholar in the Soviet Union, way back in the 60s. In fact I arrived a<br />

month after the first performance of this symphony. It was in Moscow on December 18, 1962,<br />

and I arrived in January of 63. As part of the official academic exchange, since my topic had to<br />

do with Russian choral culture, I was attached to the choral department of the then Leningrad,<br />

now St. Petersburg, Conservatory and I soon found out that the choir of the school was looking<br />

forward to participating in the Leningrad premiere of the work – one of the most unusual<br />

SUSSANNE DIESNER<br />

14 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


choral works ever, written entirely for Russian basses and being a bass myself I was assured<br />

that I would be asked to join the chorus! It was tremendous, unexpected, the highlight of my<br />

stay in the Soviet Union.<br />

“Except unfortunately the performance never took place.”<br />

In Beckwith’s view the fact of the work falling into instant disfavour and the resultant<br />

censorship was all about the words, not the music. “Of course it was all about the poem in<br />

this case, not the music. Although I suspect musical censorship in Russia at least, and probably<br />

elsewhere, is usually about the words. In this case, of course the words are the music. The<br />

music exists only powerfully to project the words.”<br />

As Beckwith explains it, the spark for the work was Shostakovich reading Yevgeny<br />

Yevtushenko’s recently published poem Babi Yar. “It starts with this very powerful statement,<br />

‘On Babi Yar, there are no monuments’.”<br />

The “no monuments” remained true until 1976, Beckwith says, but not for want of trying.<br />

“It’s not true that no attempts were made,” he says. But there was no agreement as to what<br />

exactly should be said.<br />

From that one poem, and then others by Yevtushenko, “at some point Shostakovich went<br />

on to say why don’t I make this into a larger work, which at some point he decided to call<br />

a symphony.”<br />

“If not a symphony, what would you call it?” I ask.<br />

“I would call it a civic oratorio,” he says “although even that…a cantata, maybe…or something<br />

like that. It’s for a powerful, male, no-nonsense singer to deliver the text backed up by<br />

a cheering section. The choir is really his support – his cheering section. Occasionally taking<br />

part in some of the events being recounted they become participants briefly. But most of the<br />

time commenting, echoing or reinforcing what the singer is saying. The whole idea is to say<br />

this is ‘the people’ talking through the singer.”<br />

It’s important to Beckwith to convey that even though that poem was the spark for the<br />

work, it was only the springboard. There are in fact five movements, each based on a separate<br />

poem, and each encapsulating a different facet of life in the Soviet Union so recently out of the<br />

Stalinist doghouse.<br />

“The second movement is Humour – humour after the Holocaust, now there’s the opera<br />

composer’s sense of timing! Then there’s At the Store, anchored in the realities of postwar life,<br />

particularly women’s life; then there’s Fears, the poem that Shostakovich asked Yevtushenko<br />

to write for the emerging work. ‘Fears are dying in Russia’ it says, and catalogues them<br />

(although it goes on to list some that are a little newer, perhaps blunting the idea that they are<br />

all dying.”<br />

“And the fifth?” I ask.<br />

“The fifth, Career, is wonderful capstone about careerism” he says. “About the great careers<br />

of men of science and daring who risk all, including opprobrium, persecution etc. to stick to<br />

their guns, Galileo for example. And they are contrasted with the apparatchiks and sellouts,<br />

careerists who flourished through the Stalin era, and just as completely today in Moscow…and<br />

Washington, I dare say, and, who knows, just maybe even in Toronto.”<br />

As for Beckwith’s checklist of what “done right” will mean, there’s room for cautious optimism<br />

on some fronts. The Elmer Iseler Singers and Amadeus Choir bass sections are the core<br />

of the bass cohort, with Beckwith and Iseler/Amadeus conductor Lydia Adams working closely<br />

together, using Beckwith’s system of transcription (another lifelong passion of his) to enable<br />

English speakers to get the sound of the Russian words right. “She reached out to me,” he says,<br />

“which was great, or I would have been after her to do it!”<br />

Recruitment of other singers is under way, although it remains to be seen whether<br />

Beckwith’s healing vision of a bass cohort made up of singers from the Russian, Ukrainian and<br />

Jewish communities can be realized. All concerned are now aware of the nuances of which<br />

texts get used. And as for enabling “our audience,” most of whom will not understand the<br />

language being sung,<br />

to immerse themselves<br />

fully in a work of art<br />

whose universal truths<br />

are so completely<br />

grounded in the<br />

particular, well we will<br />

all have our part to<br />

play in that as the next<br />

six weeks unfold.<br />

David Perlman can be<br />

reached at<br />

publisher@<br />

thewholenote.com<br />

Sterling Beckwith in conversation<br />

with David Perlman<br />

WATCH FOR THIS COMPLETE VIDEOTAPED CONVERSATION AT<br />

THEWHOLENOTE.COM UNDER NEW MEDIA, COMING IN MID APRIL<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 15


Beat by Beat | Early Music<br />

Scilla, Zelenka<br />

and Scaramella<br />

DAVID PODGORSKI<br />

Count Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von<br />

Wallsee und Melz, by the grace of God both spiritual and<br />

temporal ruler of the city of Salzburg, had ambitious plans for<br />

his new city. Although an unpopular choice with other church officials,<br />

as his election on the 13th ballot would indicate, Colloredo had<br />

no intention of currying favour with the common people either. His<br />

intentions were loftier. He wanted reform.<br />

Reform, in any age, means not worrying over the popularity of<br />

your policies, and a certain optimism that you’ll be appreciated for<br />

them later. For the archbishop, a well-educated eighteenth-century<br />

modernizer and would-be statesman, this also meant embracing the<br />

ideals of the new Enlightenment. The religious superstition that still<br />

clung to Catholicism after a millenium was to be officially suppressed.<br />

No more pilgrimages, and worshipping relics was frowned upon.<br />

There were to be no more religious processions through the streets,<br />

no kitschy decorations hung in churches and no lengthy orchestral<br />

musical interludes during the Mass. Colloredo’s new modern church<br />

was to shed medieval superstition for the new ideals of reason and<br />

science – and if this meant he could save himself a bit of work, and a<br />

bit of money, along the way, then so much the better.<br />

For the 16-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Colloredo’s reform,<br />

especially the part that involved budget cuts, was an unmitigated<br />

disaster. As the prince-archbishop’s new concertmaster, less music<br />

in church (call it cuts to arts funding) meant fewer commissions, and<br />

therefore less money, for composers like him. Furthermore, as what<br />

we might today refer to as an emerging artist, there was less opportunity<br />

for the young Mozart to distinguish himself by writing largescale<br />

works that could get him a better appointment in the future. So<br />

faced with fewer opportunities Mozart did what artists typically do<br />

– he left to find work elsewhere. In this case, Mozart left for Milan to<br />

write an opera.<br />

The result of Mozart’s journey to Milan was Lucio Silla, an opera<br />

seria based on the story of Julius Caesar’s predecessor (and Rome’s<br />

first dictator) Lucius Sulla. As a career move, the idea of putting on<br />

an opera in Milan circa 1772 seemed like a bit of a sure thing. This<br />

was the third opera the teenage wunderkind would be writing for<br />

the Milanese stage and he would be working with a capable librettist,<br />

the Teatro Ducale’s new appointment, Giovanni di Gamerra. Mozart<br />

also had a few months to devote to the project, more than enough<br />

time for a hyper-prolific composer who had already written some 25<br />

symphonies, seven operas, and four piano concertos. Success, it would<br />

seem, was guaranteed.<br />

Sadly, Lucio Silla didn’t go over quite as Mozart planned, and it<br />

Lucio Silla (Salzburg 2013)<br />

wasn’t his fault, either. The lead tenor fell ill and his replacement<br />

couldn’t handle the part, so many of the best arias in the opera had to<br />

be rewritten or cut out entirely. The other singers were late arriving<br />

in the city and had to begin rehearsing behind schedule. Not only did<br />

they bomb in the premiere, but the opera was considerably longer in<br />

performance than during rehearsal – imagine, if you will, a poorly<br />

sung opera that seems to never end, and you’ll probably have some<br />

idea of how the premiere went. Lucio Silla would be the last opera<br />

written by Mozart for an Italian audience, and after a catastrophic run<br />

the chastened young composer crawled back to Salzburg and the archbishop,<br />

a failure at 16.<br />

I think it’s safe to say that Opera Atelier’s Canadian premiere of<br />

Lucio Silla will raise the admittedly low bar set by its initial premiere.<br />

But they will likely do a lot better than that! Atelier’s artistic directors,<br />

Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg played a significant<br />

role in the show’s triumphant return to Milan at La Scala last year,<br />

under the baton of Marc Minkowski, and an even more extensive role<br />

in the triumphant production of the opera in Salzburg two years prior<br />

to that (including the participation of the Atelier Ballet in the Salzburg<br />

run). Now they get to bring the opera, in their very own production,<br />

to Toronto audiences from <strong>April</strong> 7 to 16 at the Elgin Theatre, including<br />

the stars of of the Salzburg and La Scala runs (Kresimir Spicer and<br />

Inga Kalna). Unlike Mozart’s Milanese collaborators, Opera Atelier<br />

never fails to put on a great show, and this is a Canadian premiere that<br />

is long overdue! If you see one concert this month, make it this one.<br />

The Orlando Consort, with over 25 recordings to their name, doesn’t<br />

come to town very often (although as a soloist their tenor, Charles<br />

Daniels, is well known to Tafelmusik audiences, and a welcome<br />

guest), but any chance to hear them live is certainly welcome. The<br />

medieval-themed a cappella vocal group is known for their imaginative<br />

concert programming as well as some exceptional singing. Their<br />

latest project is certainly as imaginative as choral concerts get; they’ve<br />

devised a program of music known to have been extant in France<br />

during the lifetime of Joan of Arc and used it to score a compilation<br />

MATTHIAS BAUS<br />

THE ASSOCIATES OF THE<br />

TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA<br />

Monday, <strong>April</strong> 11, <strong>2016</strong>, 7:30 p.m.<br />

BOW, BRUSH AND LENS<br />

Kye Marshall<br />

Endangered Species<br />

Arnold Schoenberg String quartet in D major<br />

Felix Mendelssohn String quartet in A minor Op. 13<br />

Performers: Halcyon String Quartet with Paul Meyer and<br />

Wendy Rose, violins • Kent Teeple, Viola • Marie Gelinas, cello •<br />

with guest violinist Amalia Joanou-Canzoneri<br />

Tickets $20, Seniors & Students $17<br />

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor Street W.<br />

Box Office 416-282-6636<br />

www.associates-tso.org<br />

16 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


AMERICAN BACH SOLOISTS/GASLAMP PRODUCTIONS”<br />

Justin Bland<br />

soundtrack to the 1928 silent film classic La passion de Jeanne d’Arc,<br />

by Carl Theodor Dreyer.<br />

As either a work of scholarship or of film scoring, this would have<br />

been a formidable workload. The fact that the Consort has accomplished<br />

both demonstrates incredible artistic vision and dedication,<br />

and I have no doubt the veteran singers will be able to pull it off splendidly.<br />

You can catch this at Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory of<br />

Music, <strong>April</strong> 3 at 3pm.<br />

Zelenka at Tafelmusik: One composer who’s been getting some welldeserved<br />

attention in recent years is the Czech composer Jan Dismas<br />

Zelenka. Since his rediscovery by fellow Czech composer Bedřich<br />

Smetana in the mid-19th century and the publication of a catalogue<br />

running to nearly 200 works, early music audiences have had more<br />

and more chances to hear him over the last few decades. Indeed,<br />

Tafelmusik audiences should already be familiar with the composer –<br />

the group performed his concert overture, Hippocondrie, earlier this<br />

concert season, and an excerpt from one of his sonatas made it on to<br />

their fantastic Galileo Project.<br />

A double bassist, kapellmeister and avid contrapuntalist, Zelenka<br />

had the good fortune to work in the epic Dresden court of Augustus<br />

the Strong, where he wrote sacred works for choir and orchestra.<br />

Zelenka was also well-connected. Besides working with the great<br />

violinist, Johann Georg Pisendel, he was also a personal friend of Bach<br />

and was much admired by both composers. This month, Tafelmusik<br />

honors both Bach and Zelenka as composers of sacred music with a<br />

concert of Zelenka’s Missa Omnium Sanctorum and Bach’s cantata<br />

Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten at their home base at Trinity-St. Paul’s<br />

Centre, <strong>April</strong> 28 through 30 and May 1.<br />

Bland by name only! A good trumpet player is hard to find, and an<br />

excellent one harder still. It’s again still rarer to find a great player of<br />

the baroque trumpet, since the instrument is considerably harder to<br />

play than its modern counterpart (smaller embouchure, no valves)<br />

and this may explain why Justin Bland is so darn busy and why he<br />

plays with, well, basically everyone. The Copenhagen-based musician<br />

will be visiting Toronto to play with Scaramella in a concert dedicated<br />

to music for baroque trumpet, and featuring the music of Bach,<br />

Melani, Merula and Purcell at Victoria College Chapel on <strong>April</strong> 16.<br />

The up-and-coming virtuoso will be playing with Scaramella artistic<br />

director Joëlle Morton on violone, the talented young soprano Dawn<br />

Bailey and local hotshot violinists Michelle Odorico and Rezan Onen-<br />

Lapointe, which means that this concert will feature a considerable<br />

amount of talent as well as youthful exuberance. (In the interest of full<br />

disclosure, I should also say that the concert also features this columnist<br />

on harpsichord, whose talent and/or exuberance you will have to<br />

judge for yourselves.)<br />

David Podgorski is a Toronto-based harpsichordist, music<br />

teacher and a founding member of Rezonance. He can<br />

be contacted at earlymusic@thewholenote.com.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 17


Beat by Beat | Jazz Stories<br />

Braid & McDonald<br />

Czech It Out!<br />

ORI DAGAN<br />

Dream Barriers: David Braid’s artistry continues to find new<br />

directions, moving steadily forward towards the unexpected,<br />

fuelled by tremendous musical gifts. Fresh off a media appearance<br />

to discuss his role as composer for the Ethan-Hawke-starring<br />

Chet Baker biopic, Born to Be Blue, the two-time JUNO winner sat<br />

down for a one-on-one interview to discuss his latest project.<br />

The project revolves around his 12th recording, Flow, which is on<br />

the Steinway & Sons label. Later this year he will perform in Russia,<br />

Norway, Scotland and Australia to support the album; this month<br />

he tours across Canada including a stop in Kingston on <strong>April</strong> 1 at<br />

St. Mark’s Church, <strong>April</strong> 4 at London’s Aeolian Hall and <strong>April</strong> 5 at Jazz<br />

Bistro in Toronto.<br />

The new recording is a collaboration with Prague’s Epoque String<br />

Quartet. “We have a world tour coming up this year, and I really<br />

wanted to bring the Epoque Quartet to Canada, so we’re doing a<br />

cross-country tour.” But in keeping with the project’s genesis, it’s<br />

a tour that will feature three different quartets. “The first ten days<br />

are with [Epoque]; our last concert before they go home is at Jazz<br />

Bistro. Then I fly to Calgary on the sixth and pick up the Borealis<br />

Quartet, then central Canada with the Penderecki String Quartet. So<br />

I’m having a great time working with these amazing musicians and<br />

learning a lot about their world, and intermingling their music with<br />

my world.”<br />

Flow is a unique departure from Braid’s previous efforts, and not<br />

only because of the instrumentation. Courageously conceived, the<br />

bold recording blends Western classical, folk, ancient and world music<br />

forms. Jazz, Braid’s musical home turf, is perhaps more evident in the<br />

spirit of the risk-taking than the sound. So will this effort net another<br />

JUNO nomination and if so, in what category? Braid does not seem to<br />

care, and that’s precisely the point.<br />

“I found it very liberating to cut myself off from thinking in practical<br />

terms – to lose my identity as a ‘jazz pianist’ and just think about<br />

making a program of music that feels like it’s fresh and alive and not<br />

influenced by any practical decision, i.e. not being jazz, or classical.<br />

Not limited by the performance practices of a particular style. I just<br />

wanted to build something that was beautiful, that was artistic, that<br />

people could connect to.”<br />

So why now for this change of direction? “Probably…with me<br />

growing increasingly frustrated playing in jazz venues where the<br />

sound is so ridiculously loud. I feel like I’m not performing at my best<br />

because I’m fighting to create energy. I found that collaborating more<br />

with classical musicians opened up the sonic playing field fully for<br />

me. I’m really interested in playing my instrument and making a good<br />

sound at the piano and using the full range of dynamics, which could<br />

be very expressive. I wanted to go back to acoustic fundamental vibrations:<br />

strings resonating in a room, piano hammers hitting strings in<br />

a room, and nothing that’s modified by technology. Revitalizing the<br />

beauty of natural sound.”<br />

The actual catalyst though, he says, was Werner Herzog’s acclaimed<br />

documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, which debuted at the<br />

Toronto International Film Festival in 2010. The film recounts the<br />

experience of French backpackers, who in 1994 discovered ancient<br />

caves containing paintings covered by mineral deposits, which took<br />

thousands of years to grow.<br />

Braid’s wonderment at the film is still evident as he speaks. “It turns<br />

out these paintings are 32,000 years old, the oldest art work in the<br />

world – twice as old as what was previously considered the oldest.<br />

And if you see these images, we’re not talking about stick figures or<br />

primitive ideas – these are sophisticated three-dimensional drawings<br />

with very contemporary ideas. There’s a painting of a bison with eight<br />

legs – one set of legs extended, the other closed– where else do you<br />

see a single image with multiple movements? It’s a cinematic idea–<br />

and they had the same type of thinking 30,000 years ago – they were<br />

explaining in the film that when you hold torchlight up to the images<br />

on the rocks, the flickering of the torch makes it seem alive and<br />

moving. It’s mindboggling…I had never even seen a film twice before,<br />

but I saw this film nine times! One thing that really came through for<br />

me was that art has the potential to be transformative. This film made<br />

me remember that art can have a much deeper, more fundamental,<br />

ancient purpose.”<br />

In keeping with the theme of visual inspiration, Flow, which will be<br />

released on vinyl as well as compact disc, features a stunningly vibrant<br />

painting on its cover, courtesy of Beijing artist, Sophia Gao. Currently<br />

hanging in Braid’s living room, the work is fittingly titled Qi and will<br />

be on display with several other original works by Gao at Jazz Bistro<br />

when Braid and the Epoque String Quartet play on <strong>April</strong> 5.<br />

Why did Braid choose the Epoque String Quartet to record with?<br />

The Ken Page Memorial Trust and<br />

WholeNote Media Inc. are proud to present<br />

the first performance by<br />

JIM GALLOWAY’S<br />

WEE BIG BAND<br />

in The Garage, a spacious, acoustically friendly<br />

venue on the ground floor of the CSI Building<br />

at 720 Bathurst Street (two blocks south of Bloor)<br />

under the leadership of Martin Loomer<br />

and supported by Jim’s Friends we invite you<br />

to join the band for an evening of musical<br />

nostalgia, toe-tapping and dancing from<br />

7:30 to 10:30 pm<br />

Thursday 14th <strong>April</strong> <strong>2016</strong><br />

Tickets $20 each at the door,<br />

cash only please<br />

Should you wish to reserve seating in advance<br />

phone Anne Page at: 416 515 0200<br />

or email: moraig@huntingstewart.com<br />

Premises are licensed<br />

Light menu available<br />

Street parking<br />

David Braid with Sophia Gao’s Qi painting<br />

This concert is dedicated to the<br />

memory of Jim Galloway, Gordon Evans,<br />

Kira Payne and Laurie Bower<br />

ORI DAGAN<br />

18 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


“The last couple of years, I played with a lot of string quartets in<br />

a lot of different countries, and although they are all great, with<br />

the Czech quartet, early on in our collaboration, we talked about<br />

recording. We had done a couple of demo recordings, and a pile of<br />

concerts in Prague. They weren’t sure if it was going to connect with<br />

audiences – we were playing in this jazz club in Prague, the Jazz Dock,<br />

and it’s a real jazz club – here we are with a string quartet and piano,<br />

and they were like – ‘I don’t know if people are going to like it, let’s<br />

see what happens’ – and people went nuts! I felt as though with them,<br />

I broke through my dream barrier in terms of making that special type<br />

of connection with completely fresh new music. We did two more<br />

concerts that tour and we had a similar, deeply emotional response<br />

from the audience which was kind of unexpected. With new music<br />

this is unusual and so it meant a lot.<br />

“At one of the concerts, the Canadian culture attaché was in attendance<br />

and he said ‘I hadn’t seen a reaction like this before – Czech<br />

audiences are usually very critical, especially of new music.’ So that<br />

audience in Prague, which is the first place I put the program out for<br />

public consumption. These guys – all they do is play music. Three out<br />

of the four play in the state orchestra, really well taken care of, their<br />

families are musical royalty. When I wanted to do the recording, they<br />

just said, ‘We’ll just do it at the best recording studio at the Czech television<br />

station with the best engineer, we work there all the time,’ and<br />

boom, there it happened! So for many reasons, it just felt very natural<br />

to do it with these guys.”<br />

Czech mates part two: Jazz singer, educator and impresario, Lynn<br />

McDonald, is no stranger to Prague herself; next month will mark her<br />

nineteenth visit to the Czech capital, where she has sung countless<br />

tunes and absorbed bountiful inspiration. On <strong>April</strong> 19 at 6pm, she will<br />

be sharing the stage with Prague’s star guitarist Roman Pokorny at 120<br />

Diner (where in the interest of full disclosure I should state that I have<br />

a significant hand in the programming).<br />

continues on page 58<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 19


Beat by Beat | On Opera<br />

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With more companies scheduling operas in March and May,<br />

<strong>April</strong> does not quite overflow with opera performances as it<br />

used to. Nevertheless, an astonishing variety of works are on<br />

offer from warhorses to rarities and from the eighteenth century to<br />

the present.<br />

The month begins with the world premiere of the Canadian<br />

opera Isis and Osiris, Gods of Egypt composed by Peter Anthony<br />

Togni to a libretto by poet Sharon Singer. The opera, presented by<br />

Voicebox: Opera in Concert, concerns the central figures of ancient<br />

Egyptian myth.<br />

Via email Singer explained the importance of the myth and the<br />

genesis of the opera: “I have been working on this project since before<br />

Peter became involved. My fascination with ancient Egypt goes back<br />

many decades. The myth of Isis and Osiris is the overarching myth of<br />

ancient Egypt since it explains and describes the creation of the world<br />

and how evil came into the world and the afterlife. The spine of the<br />

myth is the concept of ma’at which is the Egyptian word for law,<br />

order, truth and justice.<br />

“The opera, Isis and Osiris, Gods of Egypt is inspired by this strange<br />

and compelling myth that centres on one of the world’s great love<br />

stories. Four siblings, children of the gods – Isis, Osiris, Seth and<br />

Nepthys – come to earth to live as human beings. The idealistic King<br />

Osiris and his sister-wife, Queen Isis, bring their people the gifts of<br />

civilization: agriculture, weaving, a code of laws, the arts, and worship<br />

of the gods. Their brother Seth, however, is jealous of their power,<br />

their wisdom and their devotion to each other. He murders Osiris<br />

and usurps the throne, provoking a conflagration that Isis with all her<br />

strength, love, and magic, must try to extinguish.<br />

“This story cried out to be created as an opera, which had never<br />

been done before. It’s a larger-than-life tale filled with sibling rivalry,<br />

jealousy, fratricide, brutal murders, magic and resurrection. In spite<br />

of this bedrock of a story from prehistory, the opera is very contemporary<br />

in the issues that it explores such as the eternal battle between<br />

good and evil, the selfish and power-mad Seth, versus the idealistic<br />

Osiris, who seeks to create a peaceful kingdom founded on justice,<br />

fairness and compassion.”<br />

“I had written the first draft of the libretto for the opera and I was<br />

looking for a composer. Peter and I were introduced by a mutual<br />

friend, mezzo-soprano Andrea Ludwig, who was enthusiastic about<br />

my libretto and recommended it to Peter. When he read it, he emailed<br />

me these words, ‘I read the libretto and I love it! Very dramatic, very<br />

singable…I would love to make this happen!!!’ Four years later, it is<br />

having its world premiere.”<br />

Though the story deals with gods, Singer sees them as very human:<br />

“Since Isis and Osiris are incarnated as human beings, they had to<br />

have human as well as divine qualities.”<br />

For his part, Togni explained his approach to composing the opera:<br />

“I have tried to be true to Sharon Singer’s wonderful libretto. In my<br />

musical response I am going for the humanity – a bright and rich<br />

sound rather than an approximation of what the music might have<br />

sounded like or a tip of the hat to Verdi! Much of music is already<br />

influenced by mystical and exotic sounds such as medieval chant and<br />

eastern scales. You will find this in my choral music for example –<br />

music that is ancient and modern at the same time. I am telling the<br />

story in my own harmonic language. I really wanted the opera to<br />

dance and as result I use many Arabic rhythms and scales.<br />

“There is a slightly baroque influence mixed with that and the<br />

influence of some of the Russian romantic composers. Like a film<br />

score, the sound changes from scene to scene and the range is wide,<br />

20 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


an Ontario government agency<br />

un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario<br />

Lucia Cesaroni sings<br />

the role of Isis<br />

everything from ancient<br />

sounding chords to shrieking<br />

jagged, blood-on-the-floor<br />

orchestral screams! The<br />

Egyptians were very forward<br />

thinking and I hint at this<br />

with my use of the electric<br />

organ and harmonies<br />

not unlike Pink Floyd and<br />

Coldplay. If anything, my<br />

music depicts them as a<br />

futuristic people.<br />

“I have scored it for a<br />

chamber orchestra – two<br />

violins, viola, cello, double<br />

bass, oboe, clarinet, harpsichord,<br />

harp, organ and percussion – lots of percussion! Rather like a<br />

baroque band, it has to be tight and crisp sounding.”<br />

Isis and Osiris stars soprano Lucia Cesaroni as Isis, tenor Michael<br />

Barrett as Osiris, mezzo Julie Nesrallah as Nepthys and Michael Nyby<br />

as Seth. With Robert Cooper conducting the chamber orchestra and<br />

the OIC Chorus, the opera runs <strong>April</strong> 1 and 3.<br />

A Mozart Premiere! Next up is the rarity, Lucio Silla (1772), by<br />

the 16-year-old Mozart presented by Opera Atelier, <strong>April</strong> 7 to 16.<br />

This is the opera that director Marshall Pynkoski and choreographer<br />

Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg staged to great acclaim first at the<br />

Mozartwoche Salzburg and the Salzburg Festival in 2013 and later at<br />

La Scala in Milan in 2015. Two stars of the La Scala production will<br />

sing in Toronto – Kresimir Spicer as the Roman dictator Silla (i.e.<br />

Lucius Sulla, 138-78 BC) and Inge Kalna in the trousers role of Cinna.<br />

Joining them will be Peggy Kriha Dye in the second trousers role as<br />

the senator Cecilio. Mireille Asselin is Celia, Silla’s sister. And Meghan<br />

Lindsay is Giunia, Cecilio’s beloved, who is desired by Silla. David<br />

Fallis conducts the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.<br />

The COC's Cuban Carmen: Playing from <strong>April</strong> 12 to May 15 is Bizet’s<br />

Carmen presented by the Canadian Opera Company. Because of the<br />

long run there is a double cast. Georgian mezzo Anita Rachvelishvili<br />

and French mezzo Clémentine Margaine alternate in the title role.<br />

American tenor Russell Thomas and Canadian David Pomeroy sing<br />

Carmen’s lover Don José. American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn<br />

and American baritone Zachary Nelson sing the toreador Escamillo.<br />

And Canadians Simone Osbourne and Karine Boucher sing Micaëla.<br />

Paolo Carignani conducts.<br />

The COC last presented Carmen in 2010 and premiered the current<br />

production designed by Michael Yeargan and François St-Aubin in<br />

2005. The most exciting aspect of this revival is that it will be directed<br />

by Joel Ivany, the artistic director for the Toronto alternative opera<br />

company Against the Grain Theatre, which has presented such innovative<br />

productions as La Bohème staged in a real pub and recently a<br />

fully staged and choreographed Messiah.<br />

I spoke with Ivany about what challenges there are in directing a<br />

pre-existing physical production where others have made the design<br />

choice to move the location to Cuba and the time to the 1940s.<br />

Ivany says, “I’ve had to try and get inside the mind of the original<br />

artistic team to see what they were after. Thankfully the COC had all<br />

their reference material, including the original sketches, to find out<br />

why it was important for them to set Carmen in this time period.<br />

Ivany tells me that he noticed “that some elements of those original<br />

sketches weren’t implemented into the production. I had a design<br />

person [Camellia Koo] look at it with me to see if we actually could<br />

add anything anywhere or change some elements from how this<br />

production had been done before.” The result will be that “the first<br />

three acts therefore are going to look a little bit different from what<br />

Toronto audiences have seen before.”<br />

The area where Ivany can most exercise his creativity is in directing<br />

the acting, especially since the company is doing the original version<br />

with dialogue instead of recitatives. Ivany says, “For me so much<br />

happens in those dialogues. The storytelling is so incredibly crucial.”<br />

Ivany states his goal: “What I’m going for is a good, character-driven<br />

spectacle event of what this piece<br />

is, within this set and within this<br />

company. The best approach is to<br />

celebrate what is best about this<br />

production and this piece and use<br />

its visual strengths and the chorus to<br />

the best advantage.”<br />

About the contrast between<br />

working with his own company and<br />

with the COC, Ivany says, “It’s great<br />

to be able to do the big, but also to<br />

be doing experimental work with<br />

Against the Grain and seeing where<br />

that can lead. I think that’s what’s<br />

unique and great about Canada, and<br />

Toronto as well, and I think there<br />

are some good days ahead with leaders who are taking chances on<br />

those ideas to make sure that this art form keeps evolving and moving<br />

forward. It’s variety that spurs the creativity.”<br />

Silva-Marin’s Zarzuela Love Affair: From <strong>April</strong> 27 to May 1 Toronto<br />

Operetta Theatre presents the Canadian premiere of the 1923<br />

zarzuela Los Gavilanes (The Sparrow Hawks) by Jacinto Guerrero<br />

(1895-1951). TOT artistic director Guillermo Silva-Marin introduced<br />

the zarzuela, the Spanish version of operetta, to Toronto audiences,<br />

starting in 2003, immeasurably broadening the palette of music<br />

theatre in Toronto.<br />

The action is set near a Provençal fishing village in 1845. Juan, now<br />

aged 50 and known as the “Indian,” has returned to the village after<br />

having made his fortune in Peru. He left hoping to make enough<br />

money to marry his beloved Adriana, but he finds that in his absence<br />

she married, had a daughter, Rosaura, and is now a widow. Because<br />

Rosaura so much resembles the Adriana he left behind, Juan vows<br />

to marry her, much to the anger of the village and of Rosaura’s<br />

boyfriend Gustavo.<br />

Guillermo Silva-Marin<br />

General Director<br />

A favourite of Zarzuela fans throughout the Latin<br />

world, ‘The Sparrow Hawks’ is filled with romance,<br />

unrequited love, fortune-seekers and misguided<br />

ambition, forged in the fire and passion of Spain.<br />

by Jacinto Guerrero<br />

starring Miriam Khalil, Sarah Forestieri, Ernesto Ramírez<br />

and Guillermo Silva-Marin<br />

Rosalind McArthur, Ivy Spalding, Diego Catalá and Gregory Finney<br />

Larry Beckwith, Conductor<br />

Guillermo Silva-Marin, Stage Director<br />

CANADIAN<br />

PREMIERE!!<br />

The Sparrow Hawks<br />

<strong>April</strong> 27, 29, <strong>2016</strong> at 8 pm<br />

<strong>April</strong> 30 and May 1 at 3 pm<br />

416-366-7723 | 1-800-708-6754 | www.stlc.com<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | <strong>21</strong>


KEN HOWARD<br />

Los Gavilanes will be the sixth<br />

full zarzuela that Silva-Marin has<br />

programmed, but this one has a<br />

special meaning for him. As he<br />

wrote via email, “Los Gavilanes<br />

was the first zarzuela I attended<br />

when it was performed in San<br />

Juan while I studied at Universidad<br />

de Puerto Rico. Actually, it was<br />

my first encounter with the lyric<br />

theatre during a time when I had<br />

little thought that I would someday<br />

become a singer.”<br />

Silva-Marin notes that Guerrero’s<br />

music may remind TOT fans of<br />

another great operetta composer. As he says, “Years later, I found<br />

myself thinking about Los Gavilanes in Toronto. By this time I<br />

had researched and presented Imre Kálmán’s works Countess<br />

Maritza, The Gypsy Princess and Der Zigeunerprimas. On revisiting<br />

Los Gavilanes years ago, I was struck by Guerrero’s similarity to<br />

Kálmán in sonority, orchestration and predilection for melodic invention,<br />

and smiled at recognizing that Madrid and Budapest were not<br />

truly too far apart. Being 1923, verismo in operetta was not at all an<br />

anomaly. Los Gavilanes cannot avoid a Spanish musical sensitivity,<br />

but it is not committed to a folkloric palette, rather a more universal<br />

sound evolving from the purely comical and satirical in operetta of<br />

previous decades.”<br />

The dialogue will be in English and the songs sung in Spanish.<br />

Miriam Khalil will sing Adriana, Sarah Forestieri will be Rosaura and<br />

Ernesto Ramirez will be Gustavo. Guillermo Silva-Marin himself will<br />

sing the role of Juan. Larry Beckwith conducts the TOT Orchestra and<br />

Silva-Marin directs, assisted by Virginia Reh.<br />

COC’s Seventh Rossini: The month closes with the COC’s company<br />

premiere of Rossini’s Maometto II from <strong>April</strong> 29 to May 14. Acclaimed<br />

Luca Pisaroni as Maometto II. (Sante Fe Opera, 2012)<br />

Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni<br />

makes his COC debut in the title<br />

role in this production created for<br />

Santa Fe Opera in 2012, directed by<br />

David Alden and conducted by early<br />

music expert Harry Bicket. This will<br />

be the seventh Rossini opera the<br />

COC has staged and only its second<br />

Rossini opera seria, after Tancredi<br />

in 2005. Many people will know the<br />

opera better under the title Le Siège<br />

de Corinthe, the name Rossini gave<br />

it when he rewrote the work for<br />

Paris in 1826.<br />

Loosely based on history, the<br />

central character of Maometto II is the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II<br />

(1432-81) who conquered Constantinople in 1453 and later, in 1470,<br />

the Venetian colony Negroponte on the Greek island of Euboea where<br />

the opera is set. In Maometto II, the Venetian debate how to deal<br />

with the Turkish threat. Calbo counsels the governor, Paolo Erisso,<br />

to continue to fight while General Condulmiero counsels surrender.<br />

Yet, as with most opere serie, the focus is more on love than politics.<br />

Erisso wishes his daughter Anna to marry Calbo but she confesses<br />

that she is in love with a man known to her only as “Uberto.” As one<br />

might expect Uberto turns out to be none other than Maometto II.<br />

Joining Pisaroni is tenor Bruce Sledge as Erisso, soprano Leah<br />

Crocetto as Anna, mezzo Elizabeth DeShong in the trousers role of<br />

Calbo, tenor Andrew Haji as Condulmiero and tenor Aaron Sheppard<br />

as the Muslim noble Selimo.<br />

These five operas are only the largest scale works on offer in <strong>April</strong>,<br />

yet one could hardly hope for more varied and unusual fare.<br />

Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-based writer on opera and<br />

theatre. He can be contacted at opera@thewholenote.com.<br />

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22 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


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Beat by Beat | Classical & Beyond<br />

Debargue<br />

and Geniušas<br />

Cool Hand Lukes<br />

PAUL ENNIS<br />

Born at the height of<br />

the Cold War in 1958,<br />

the International<br />

Tchaikovsky competition<br />

(held every four years,<br />

most recently in 2015) has<br />

a checkered history, beginning<br />

with its first winner,<br />

the American Van Cliburn.<br />

Conceived by the Soviet<br />

regime to celebrate the preeminence<br />

of its own musicians<br />

in a contest that<br />

welcomed contenders from<br />

around the world, Cliburn’s<br />

first-place finish (the jury<br />

included Shostakovich,<br />

Richter and Gilels) was acclaimed by music lovers in Moscow and<br />

the West. Last year’s competition likely produced the biggest surprise<br />

since 1958, although it wasn’t the winner, Dmitry Masleev, a by-thebook<br />

Russian.<br />

Lucas Debargue: The surprise was an unheralded Frenchman, Lucas<br />

Debargue, who swept through the first two rounds captivating audiences<br />

and critics with his playing. Seymour Bernstein (Seymour: An<br />

Introduction) was so moved, he sent an email to his list of followers<br />

celebrating Debargue’s artistry: “First, the Medtner is unbelievable!<br />

But I doubt that anyone will ever hear Ravel’s Gaspard performed like<br />

this. The French pianist Lucas Debargue must be in another world.<br />

Simply the most miraculous playing. Perhaps because of this alone he<br />

may win the competition.”<br />

Reportedly, though, Debargue faltered in the final round concerto<br />

performances (he had limited experience in playing with an orchestra)<br />

and was awarded Fourth Prize. More importantly, the Moscow Music<br />

Critics Association bestowed their top honours on him, and SONY<br />

signed the 25-year-old pianist to a record contract.<br />

And now Show One impresario, Svetlana Dvoretsky, has had the<br />

acumen to bring him to Toronto! In what promises to be one of the<br />

most exciting events of the season, Debargue and fellow Tchaikovsky<br />

winner, Lukas Geniušas, will give a unique, joint recital at Koerner<br />

Hall, <strong>April</strong> 30.<br />

(Debargue’s first CD – which he chose to record live in Paris’ Salle<br />

Cortot to preserve a sense of risk and spontaneity – with works by<br />

Scarlatti, Chopin, Liszt, Ravel (Gaspard de la nuit), Grieg, Schubert<br />

and his own variation on a Scarlatti sonata has just been released. In<br />

a brief sampling, I was struck by the ethereal quality in his playing<br />

of Scarlatti’s K208/L238 Sonata and the breathtaking articulation of<br />

K24/L495. He made K132/L457 his own, ruminative, other-worldly.<br />

K141/L422 was Horowitz-like but with fresh emphases. He also found<br />

the melancholic quality of Grieg’s Melody from Lyric Pieces Book<br />

III and brought an exquisite elegance to Schubert’s familiar Moment<br />

Musical Op.94.)<br />

If Debargue’s backstory weren’t true, few would believe it as fiction.<br />

He heard the slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.<strong>21</strong> K467<br />

when he was ten, fell under its spell and into the world of music. He<br />

played a friend’s upright piano by ear before beginning lessons at<br />

11 with his first teacher, Madame Meunier, in the northern French<br />

town of Compiègne. He credits her with helping him to find his way<br />

as an artist, but when he moved to Paris to study literature at Diderot<br />

University – yes, he learned English by reading Joyce’s Ulysses – he<br />

stopped playing piano (“I had no great guide, no one to share great<br />

music with,” he told the BBC), using the bass guitar as a musical<br />

outlet. After being away from the piano for years, he accepted an invitation<br />

to a competition in his home province. He won and began<br />

an intense pupil-teacher relationship with Rena Sherevskaya in<br />

Paris at <strong>21</strong>.<br />

In a recent interview Debargue gave the German magazine<br />

Crescendo right after he recorded his second solo album in Berlin,<br />

he was asked if he is living differently now, after the competition:<br />

“Externally everything’s changed but internally not. I’m looking for<br />

Lucas Debargue<br />

Lukas Geniušas<br />

the clarity in my interpretation and I always<br />

feel that I need to progress. I’ve always had<br />

it that way. It is far more difficult for me to<br />

put up with many people around me than to<br />

concentrate on the music. Music gives me a<br />

new strength.”<br />

Just a few days before his March 24 Paris<br />

recital, Debargue graciously took the time<br />

to answer a few of my questions via email.<br />

His answers were brief, to the point and<br />

illuminating:<br />

What is your goal as an<br />

interpreter of music?<br />

To find out and then keep<br />

as much as possible the<br />

spirit of the music I play.<br />

Let it live and reach the<br />

listener by being clear and<br />

expressive.<br />

Which pianists from<br />

the past or the present<br />

do you especially<br />

admire? And why?<br />

Horowitz: for his boldness<br />

and freedom. Sofronitsky:<br />

for his boldness and<br />

freedom. Gould: for his<br />

boldness and freedom. I<br />

strongly think that no other<br />

pianist reached the dimension<br />

of Rachmaninov’s<br />

playing though. Sokolov<br />

and Pletnev are my favorite<br />

living pianists. But how can one forget Art Tatum, Monk, Powell<br />

and Erroll Garner? Speaking strictly about piano playing they’re the<br />

best so far. [Debargue is also a jazzer who’s played clubs in Paris; his<br />

Ravinia Festival appearance in August will see him give one classical<br />

and one jazz recital on the same day.]<br />

(I asked about two pieces on his Toronto program.) What is your<br />

approach to playing Gaspard de la nuit?<br />

Live it from the inside after having found the right tempo and sound<br />

for each note.<br />

And Scriabin’s Sonata No.4?<br />

It’s music of fantasy and terror but one has to be very precise in<br />

choosing the right pictures and dynamics for each episode.<br />

Lukas Geniušas: Coming from a musical family, headed by his<br />

grandmother, Vera Gornostaeva, a well-known Russian pedagogue,<br />

Lukas Geniušas took a more conventional path to his second-place<br />

Tchaikovsky finish, which followed second place in the 2010 Chopin<br />

Competition. Geniušas, like Debargue, is just 25 years old and also<br />

took time to answer my email questions. He told me that his grandmother’s<br />

importance in his musical life “both early and current<br />

is impossible to overrate.” It went beyond the bounds of music in<br />

building a foundation for the overall comprehension of art.<br />

Geniušas told me that he has three goals as an interpreter of<br />

music: to create his own personal interpretations without harming<br />

EVGENY EVTYUKHOV<br />

24 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


TM<br />

the composer’s intentions; to seek moments of spiritual presence in<br />

a concert; and to pass on traditions that were passed on to him by<br />

his teachers.<br />

He told me that he grew up admiring Richter and Michelangeli.<br />

“Somehow, intuitively, I have chosen them to be my favourites<br />

among many others whom I listened to on CD and DVD (yes, before<br />

YouTube!),” he said. “Their playing still appears to me the most<br />

complex, multi-layered and profound. Out of contemporary pianists,<br />

I would point to Radu Lupu, Zoltan Kocsis and Boris Berezovsky, who<br />

mostly capture my attention.”<br />

When I asked him about his approach to Prokofiev’s Sonata No.7<br />

and the seven Chopin mazurkas he will play in Toronto he told me<br />

that he first played Chopin mazurkas under his grandmother’s supervision<br />

when he was 11 or 12. He spoke of them as “little jewels” that<br />

were like a diary, about how a traditional Polish dance reveals “some<br />

of the most intimate shades of feelings” as embodied by Chopin, and<br />

how this music was a “particular side” of the teaching experience of<br />

his grandmother’s teacher, Henry [Heinrich] Neuhaus, who taught<br />

Richter, Gilels and Lupu, among many others from 1922 to 1964.<br />

He called the Prokofiev Sonata No.7 one of the central pieces of<br />

20th-century piano music: flawless in form, matchless in its violent<br />

brutality inspired by the outrage of WWII. Instead of taking a stormy<br />

virtuosic approach that may mislead the listener with flashy tricks,<br />

Geniušas prefers an articulated rendering that conveys its depth<br />

of meaning.<br />

With eight CDs to his credit already, Geniušas’ path to an international<br />

career is well on its way. The Guardian wrote of his recent<br />

Southbank recital that he “plays with a prizewinner’s brilliance,<br />

yet with a mature ability to recreate a work’s architecture, and an<br />

expressiveness that doesn’t overtly draw attention to itself.” I can’t<br />

wait to hear him play the two-piano version of Ravel’s La valse with<br />

Debargue, the final piece of their Koerner Hall concert.<br />

Geniušas has been in Toronto before: he came last December (and<br />

will return in <strong>April</strong>) to play for Dmitry Kanovich’s Looking at the Stars<br />

project that brings professional musicians to unusual venues. “This<br />

experience sweeps beyond words,” he said. “I never expected that<br />

performing in hospitals, shelters and jails could be so emotional and<br />

inspiring.”<br />

Leonid Nediak: A student of Michael Berkovsky, Leonid Nediak<br />

(b. 2003) already has extensive concert experience. (He made his<br />

debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano<br />

in February 2014.) The grand prize winner of the 2013 and 2014<br />

Canadian Music Competition, both times receiving the highest marks<br />

ever awarded in this event, Nediak makes his TSO debut next January<br />

playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.27 K595 under the baton of Peter<br />

Oundjian. At the recent announcement of the TSO’s <strong>2016</strong>/17 season,<br />

Nediak played Rachmaninov’s Prelude in G Minor, a performance<br />

that touched all who were there. If you want to get a sense of this<br />

wunderkind before next January, there are two contrasting opportunities<br />

in the next few weeks. On Apr 16, Nediak joins with Norman<br />

Reintamm and the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony in Beethoven’s<br />

kinetic Piano Concerto No.3 Op.37. On May 7, he is the soloist in<br />

Rachmaninov’s romantic masterpiece, his Piano Concerto No.2 Op.18,<br />

with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra, conducted by Kristian Alexander,<br />

the second time Nediak has appeared with this Markham-based<br />

ensemble. (In 2014, they performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1<br />

Op.11 together.) In an email exchange, Alexander told me that Nediak<br />

played the first movement of the Rachmaninov concerto at a Kindred<br />

Spirits audition in 2014. “Leonid played very well, with the right<br />

balance of musicality, expression and technique. His performance was<br />

convincing and offered qualities that resonated with my interpretational<br />

concept about the piece,” he said, explaining the origin of the<br />

May 7 concert. Their Chopin collaboration came about just after that<br />

audition – Nediak already had it in his repertoire -- and “Leonid’s<br />

approach to Chopin’s melodic line was free-spirited and fresh and<br />

required a much higher level of elasticity and flexibility from the<br />

orchestra than usual.”<br />

HANNAFORD STREET<br />

SILVER BAND<br />

PRESENTS<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 17th, <strong>2016</strong>,<br />

3:00 PM. Jane Mallett Theatre<br />

Alain Trudel,<br />

Conductor<br />

Canadian Trumpet sensation Stéphane Beaulac<br />

takes leave from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to<br />

perform Johnny Cowell’s showpiece trumpet<br />

concerto in the finale concert of the 3 day Festival<br />

of Brass under the baton of another Canadian<br />

legend, Alain Trudel.<br />

Stéphane Beaulac,<br />

Trumpet<br />

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:<br />

Book Tickets online www.stlc.com For a special group rate (10 or more tickets) Call 416.366.7723 OR 1.800.708.6754<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 25


Describing Nediak’s qualities as a pianist, Alexander said: “Leonid<br />

is a great communicator, able to unlock the emotional content of the<br />

piece and unfold the storyline of the composition. He also has a reach<br />

and versatile palette of colours, natural sense of phrasing and flawless<br />

energy flow.”<br />

QUICK PICKS<br />

Royal Conservatory: Young organ virtuoso<br />

Cameron Carpenter brings his contemporary<br />

sensibility to Koerner Hall Apr 1. (Two days later,<br />

Apr 3, he moves his new custom-designed organ<br />

to the Isabel in Kingston, where, four days later,<br />

on Apr 7, the Korean-born Minsoo Sohn, will<br />

give a live version of his acclaimed recording of<br />

Bach’s Goldberg Variations). Continuing with the<br />

Royal Conservatory, legendary pianist/conductor/<br />

teacher/mentor, Leon Fleisher, conducts the Royal<br />

Conservatory Orchestra, Apr 8. On Apr 12, the<br />

current crop of Rebanks Family Fellows performs<br />

a free concert (tickets required) in Mazzoleni Hall;<br />

on Apr 19, another free concert there is an opportunity<br />

to gauge the future as the Glenn Gould<br />

School presents its Chamber Music Competition<br />

Finals.<br />

Syrinx presents Ensemble Made in Canada<br />

Apr 3 playing piano quartets by Beethoven,<br />

Mendelssohn and Omar Daniel at the Heliconian<br />

Club. The following week Ensemble Made in<br />

Canada travels to Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society for a<br />

double dose, Apr 8 and 9, including more Beethoven, Schumann and<br />

John Burge as well as the three pieces the group are doing in Toronto.<br />

The group’s cellist Rachel Mercer returns to KWCMS Apr 24 as part of<br />

Ménage á six, in a program of string trios by Dohnányi and Schubert<br />

along with Brahms’ Sextet No.1. And May 3 Till Fellner (whom I<br />

profiled in the March 2015 issue of The WholeNote) also returns to the<br />

Narvesons’ house in Waterloo – that “amazing place” – for a recital of<br />

works by Schumann, Berio and Beethoven.<br />

The Cecilia String Quartet is joined by James Campbell at U of T’s<br />

Walter Hall for a performance of Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet, a cornerstone<br />

of the clarinet repertoire, Apr 4. Sunday, May 1 at 11am, the<br />

Cecilia invites children on the autism spectrum and their families to<br />

the next in its series of free Xenia Concerts. The one-hour performance,<br />

“Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms by the Numbers,” takes place in<br />

the Sony Centre’s lower lobby performance space.<br />

The COC orchestra’s top two violinists, Marie Bérard and Aaron<br />

Schwebel, give a free noontime concert featuring music by Ysaÿe and<br />

Leclair, in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Apr 5.<br />

Music Toronto: Apr 5, Duo Turgeon, husband-and-wife duo pianists,<br />

perform a heavyweight program that includes a new arrangement<br />

of Ravel’s Second Suite from Daphnis and Chloe by Vyacheslav<br />

Gryaznov, Lutoslawski’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini and<br />

Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn. Music Toronto is wellknown<br />

as the hub of string quartet concerts in this city, for bringing<br />

the world’s finest ensembles to the intimacy and congeniality of<br />

the Jane Mallett Theatre. On Apr 14, Music Toronto’s current season<br />

closes with the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet’s highly anticipated<br />

Toronto debut.<br />

Heliconian Hall 35 Hazelton Ave<br />

www.syrinxconcerts.ca 416.654.0877<br />

Rachel Mercer<br />

MANY FACES OF<br />

STRING PLAYING<br />

MAY 28, <strong>2016</strong>, 8 P.M.<br />

The TSO: Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård and Swiss pianist<br />

Francesco Piemontesi make their TSO debuts, Apr 6 and 8, with<br />

Sibelius’ cyclic, texturally rich Symphony No.1 Op.39 and Beethoven’s<br />

poetic Piano Concerto No.4 Op.58. Associates of the TSO present the<br />

Halcyon String Quartet (TSO principal and associate<br />

principal second violins, Paul Meyer and<br />

Wendy Rose, and TSO violist Kent Teeple and<br />

cellist Marie Gélinas) playing Schoenberg and<br />

Mendelssohn, Apr 11. Angela Hewitt remounts<br />

her Bach hobbyhorse to perform two keyboard<br />

concertos, BMV1052 and 1056 on Apr 13 and 14.<br />

(On Apr 16, only BMV1052 will be played.) Peter<br />

Oundjian accompanies Ms. Hewitt on all three<br />

days and leads the orchestra in Shostakovich’s<br />

Symphony No.8 Op.65, written in the shadow<br />

of the horror of WWII. The exciting composer/<br />

conductor Matthias Pintscher follows a<br />

performance of his own work, towards Osiris,<br />

with Mahler’s perpetually positive Symphony<br />

No.1 “The Titan” on Apr 28 and 30. Israeli<br />

pianist Inon Barnatan is the soloist in Mozart’s<br />

dark-hued Piano Concerto No.24 K491.<br />

WMCT: The Women’s Musical Club of<br />

Toronto showcases the eminent violist Steven<br />

Dann, his family and friends, Joel Quarrington<br />

and Jamie Parker, in an eclectic recital<br />

dubbed “Dannthology,” on Apr 7. Their 118th<br />

season concludes on May 5 with a crowd-pleasing program by Honens<br />

Laureate, Pavel Kolesnikov.<br />

The Blythwood Winds’ program on Apr 7 “explores the musical<br />

geography of continental Europe, contrasting old-school German<br />

romanticism with the French school of the early 20th century.”<br />

In an intriguing concert at Alliance Française Toronto on Apr 8,<br />

Belgian pianist Olivier de Spiegeleir, plays works by Bach, Beethoven,<br />

SALVATION ARMY SCARBOROUGH CITADEL<br />

20<strong>21</strong> LAWRENCE AVENUE EAST (AT WARDEN)<br />

VISIT US AT SPO.CA<br />

NIKKI WESLEY<br />

TICKETS: AT THE DOOR OR ONLINE; EMAIL SPO@SPO.CA OR PHONE 416 429-0007<br />

Ensemble<br />

Made In Canada<br />

<strong>April</strong> 3, 3pm<br />

Canadian Viola<br />

Quintet<br />

May 1, 3pm<br />

IN COLLABORATION<br />

WITH<br />

26 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Chopin and Schubert that the movies made even more famous.<br />

In the third concert of a Beethoven String Quartet Cycle that<br />

concludes next season, Jeffery Concerts presents the Pacifica Quartet,<br />

quartet-in-residence at Indiana University, performing the master’s<br />

youthful Op.18 Nos.4 and 6 and the incomparable Op.59 No.1<br />

(“Razumovsky”) on Apr 8.<br />

Apr 9, one day after the Conservatory Orchestra’s concert, the U of<br />

T Symphony Orchestra (led by Uri Mayer) performs two masterpieces<br />

of the orchestral canon, Brahms’ Symphony No.3 and Shostakovich’s<br />

Symphony No.5.<br />

Gallery 345 presents the indefatigable cellist, Rachel Mercer, in a<br />

solo concert, Apr 13. On Apr 15, the versatile violinist, Andréa Tyniec,<br />

joins forces with the sensitive collaborative pianist, Todd Yaniw, in a<br />

wide-ranging program of works by Sokolović, Ysaÿe, Piazzolla, Franck<br />

and Brahms.<br />

The dynamic Eric Paetkau leads the Hamilton Philharmonic in<br />

Elgar’s ineffable Serenade for Strings and Tchaikovsky’s eternal<br />

Symphony No.4 on Apr 16.<br />

Mooredale Concerts presents the infectious Afiara String Quartet in<br />

works by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Dvořák (where they will be joined<br />

by the redoubtable bassist Joel Quarrington) on Apr 17.<br />

Finally, don’t let this under-the-radar concert presented by Music<br />

at St. Andrew’s/Austrian Embassy/Austrian Cultural Forum slip by.<br />

Austrian cellist, Friedrich Kleinhapl, and German pianist, Andreas<br />

Woyke, bring their romantic European sensibility to Mendelssohn,<br />

Franck, Beethoven, Piazzolla and Gade, Apr 22. Steve Smith wrote<br />

this about their September 2009 NYC recital: “Mr. Kleinhapl and<br />

Mr. Woyke supported their idiosyncratic vision of Beethoven with<br />

unimpeachable virtuosity and a thrilling unanimity of spirit. The<br />

intensity with which they listened and responded to each other’s<br />

impetuous gestures was its own reward, but they also shed new light<br />

on these familiar pieces.”<br />

Heart Songs<br />

<strong>April</strong> 3 @ 2:30 pm<br />

MacMillan Theatre<br />

With the Women’s Chamber Choir,<br />

the Women’s Chorus, the Men’s<br />

Chorus, the University of Toronto<br />

Symphony Orchestra and guest<br />

percussionist Beverley Johnston.<br />

World Music Ensembles<br />

<strong>April</strong> 7 @ 7:30 pm<br />

Walter Hall<br />

With the African Drumming &<br />

Dancing Ensemble, Latin American<br />

Percussion Ensemble and Steel Pan<br />

Ensemble. Free admission.<br />

TICKETS:<br />

music.utoronto.ca<br />

or 416-408-0208<br />

Cecilia String Quartety<br />

<strong>April</strong> 4 @ 7:30 pm<br />

Walter Hall<br />

The powerful local quartet, the<br />

Faculty’s Ensemble in Residence,<br />

return for pieces by Agócs,<br />

Mendelssohn and Brahms.<br />

UofT Symphony Orchestra<br />

<strong>April</strong> 9 @ 7:30 pm<br />

MacMillan Theatre<br />

The UTSO, under conductor Uri<br />

Mayer, perform Brahms’ Symphony<br />

No. 3, Op. 90 in F Major and<br />

Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5,<br />

Op. 47.<br />

Paul Ennis is the managing editor of The WholeNote.<br />

Last concert <strong>April</strong> 25. Thank you for joining us, see you in the fall!<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 27


Beat by Beat | In With the New<br />

That’s Curious!<br />

WENDALYN BARTLEY<br />

This month’s column takes a behind-the-scenes look at two<br />

quite different upcoming events in <strong>April</strong> – the Curiosity Festival<br />

presented by the Toy Piano Composers and an upcoming concert<br />

by the independent pianist/improviser/composer Marilyn Lerner<br />

which while different in nature from the TPC event was also surprisingly<br />

similar to it, in some very interesting ways. There was the piano<br />

connection of course; but also the artists’ interest in combining<br />

different elements, influences and genres to create their own unique<br />

creative statements. This is certainly a theme that comes up regularly<br />

in this column, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting to find this<br />

commonality when I set out to interview both parties.<br />

Monica Pearce: Beginning early in <strong>April</strong>, the TPC’s first festival, the<br />

Curiosity Festival, aims – in the words of co-founder Monica Pearce –<br />

to “bring together three unique musical explorations that go beyond<br />

what the collective already does.” Known primarily for their chamber<br />

concerts highlighting music written by their composer members, this<br />

festival has three strikingly different components: a series of operas<br />

performed in collaboration with the Bicycle Opera Project on <strong>April</strong> 1<br />

and 2; a sound installation at the Canadian Music Centre created by<br />

TPC member Nancy Tam on <strong>April</strong> 6 and 7; and a chamber concert<br />

on <strong>April</strong> 9 that highlights all things metal, including the presence of<br />

metal music, that genre of rock that developed in the late 60s and 70s<br />

with the rise of bands such as Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.<br />

The TPC, now in their eighth season, began from a desire by<br />

co-founders Pearce and Chris Thornborrow to create opportunities<br />

for their music to be performed once they had completed their<br />

music studies. At the same time, Pearce acquired a used toy piano<br />

and started writing pieces for the instrument. They both agreed that<br />

calling their new collective Toy Piano Composers would be a playful<br />

and imaginative name. Although the toy piano does not always appear<br />

in all their concerts (a risk, Pearce admits, in terms of managing audiences’<br />

expectations), they have decided to stick with a name that<br />

reflects so clearly the group’s spirit of playful adventure.<br />

The first concert of the festival, “Travelogue,” celebrates TPC’s<br />

ongoing vigorous collaboration with the Bicycle Opera Project. Bicycle<br />

Opera cycles from concert to concert as a way to make the operatic art<br />

form more relevant, intimate and accessible. Their environmentally<br />

friendly approach to travel merged with their vision of showcasing<br />

emerging talent has won them enthusiastic crowds wherever they<br />

happen to go. At the Curiosity Festival, they will be performing four<br />

operas – three composed by TPC members Pearce, Elisha Denburg<br />

and August Murphy-King, and the fourth composed by Tobin Stokes<br />

on recommendation from the Bicycle Opera directors. All four pieces<br />

include aspects of travel – from the bicycle to the space shuttle –<br />

with each work tapping into the terrain of human struggle with life’s<br />

circumstances.<br />

Playback, the sound installation by Nancy Tam at the Canadian<br />

Music Centre’s Chalmers House home, features her expertise and<br />

interest in sound art and theatre. It’s a site-specific work for ten<br />

participants at a time who will be guided around the CMC space<br />

listening over headphones hooked up to individual portable audio<br />

players. Tam’s audio walk will contain excerpts from interviews she<br />

conducted with composers across Canada, as well as recordings of<br />

Tam’s music and soundscape elements. For the interviews, composers<br />

were asked such questions as “What is Canadian music, what is your<br />

relationship to composition and to the CMC?” as well as being asked<br />

to try to remember what the Chalmers House used to look like before<br />

the renovations.<br />

The “Metal” concert includes works by TPC members Fiona Ryan,<br />

Chris Thornborrow, Bekah Simms, Daniel Brophy, Ruth Guechtal and<br />

Alex Eddington. Both Brophy and Guechtal have incorporated the<br />

metal genre influence into their overall compositional style, and this<br />

concert will give them an opportunity to let this influence become<br />

an integral part of a chamber concert. Other thematic approaches<br />

to the idea of metal include<br />

Thornborrow’s exploration of<br />

the metals of industry, Ryan’s<br />

interest in metal at a chemical<br />

level, and of course the use<br />

of metallic instruments. And,<br />

in keeping with their name,<br />

music for the toy piano will<br />

also appear on this concert.<br />

The inaugural Curiosity<br />

Festival takes its place among<br />

the other new music festivals<br />

in the city, and although<br />

not as big and well-funded<br />

as New Creations or <strong>21</strong>C, it<br />

is the first festival coming<br />

from the younger generation<br />

of presenters, Pearce<br />

told me. As for its future, TPC<br />

will assess the impact of the<br />

festival to see if it has made<br />

a positive contribution and<br />

if so, how often to repeat it.<br />

Other future visions include<br />

recording, touring and<br />

Monica Pearce<br />

collaborating with ensembles<br />

such as Chamber Cartel from<br />

Atlanta who also present music for the toy piano. And even though<br />

they now have a core ensemble made up of flute, clarinet, piano,<br />

percussion, piano, double bass and conductor, they are committed to<br />

remaining composer-focused, despite the various challenges such as<br />

lack of sustainable funding opportunities that this presents.<br />

Marilyn Lerner: No stranger to collaboration with a wide variety of<br />

ensembles and individual artists, pianist/composer and improviser<br />

Marilyn Lerner decided to take a leap into solo performance for her<br />

upcoming concert at Gallery 345 on <strong>April</strong> 16. For those not familiar<br />

with Lerner’s music, she has created her own unique and dynamic<br />

blend from a variety of influences, the most central ones being jazz,<br />

free improvisation, contemporary classical and klezmer. Within her<br />

current ensemble, The Ugly Beauties, with cellist Matt Brubeck and<br />

drummer Nick Fraser, she is able to navigate these various genres and<br />

bring a compositional style that combines the notated with the improvised.<br />

This way of working is in fact, she says, a genre unto itself, with<br />

the main question being “How do we get from one composed section<br />

to another?” That’s where the improvisation kicks in. The art of lieder<br />

combined with Yiddish poetry is another love of hers and has been<br />

behind her collaborations with singers such as Toronto’s David Wall<br />

and New Yorker Adrienne Cooper.<br />

So what to expect on <strong>April</strong> 16? I suspect it will be a fine blended<br />

soup of all of it. In our interview, Lerner told me her plan is to pull out<br />

many pieces she has previously written but which haven’t yet been<br />

performed. “I love harmony, and even though I play a lot of improvised<br />

and free music, this side of me doesn’t get to come out of the<br />

closet. I’ve written a lot of beautiful songs, and would like a chance to<br />

play them, as this seems truer to my own sensibilities.” She used the<br />

phrase “abstract lyricism” to define her approach, with an interest in<br />

an unfolding, restless harmony much like that which you find in the<br />

music of Wagner and Strauss. Influences from French impressionists<br />

Ravel and Debussy also find their way in there, as well as her love of<br />

playing Bach.<br />

And even though these pieces have a composed element to them,<br />

she will bring her improviser self into the mix. In her preparation for<br />

the concert, she will practise various improvising approaches, but<br />

in the moment of the performance it will be a spontaneous treatment.<br />

“I strive to play the piano as a horizontal multi-voiced instrument,<br />

no matter what I’m playing. Interesting, considering that I love<br />

harmony,” she comments. No matter what style or genre she embarks<br />

upon however, ultimately, “my heart is in writing pieces that express<br />

how I’m feeling.”<br />

28 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Black<br />

CMYK<br />

Pantone<br />

an Ontario government agency<br />

un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario<br />

SOUNDSTREAMS AND MASSEY HALL PRESENT:<br />

DAVID KAUFMAN<br />

Marilyn Lerner<br />

Ensemble Goings-on:<br />

New Music Concerts concludes its busy season on Apr 24 with<br />

“Flutes Galore,” a concert featuring 24 flute players performing several<br />

works and premieres by Canadian composers. NMC artistic director<br />

and flutist, Robert Aitken, has three works on the program, including<br />

the world premiere of his latest work Caracas. Other world premieres<br />

include Impulse, a NMC commission by Alex Pauk and Two Fancies<br />

by Robert W. Stevenson. Works by Bruce Mather and Christopher<br />

Butterfield complete the extravaganza concert in what promises to be<br />

a unique sound event with the presence of multiple flutes on stage.<br />

Kitchener-Waterloo: This year marks the 40th anniversary of the<br />

music faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo and the new<br />

music organization NUMUS is celebrating this milestone with orchestral<br />

concerts on Apr 2 and 3 featuring world premieres by Stephanie<br />

Martin and Glenn Buhr. In their Apr 23 concert, SlowPitchSound<br />

presents his hypnotic rhythms and unconventional uses of the turntable<br />

as an instrument in conjunction with cinematic images and<br />

the movements of modern dancer Lybido. Also in the area, Ensemble<br />

Made in Canada performs works by Canadians Omar Daniel,<br />

Apr 8, and John Burge, Apr 9, for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber<br />

Music Society.<br />

The Music Gallery presents “Emergents III” on Apr 8 in a show<br />

curated by Alex Samaras. The program begins with a set by the duo<br />

The Science of What? with Jessica Chen and Justin Orok performing<br />

improvisations and deconstructions of popular song. The second set<br />

presents the music of Jeremy Bellaviti, an emerging composer whose<br />

style merges contemporary classical with the rhythmical influences of<br />

folk music. The concert will also feature the premiere of his new work<br />

for violinist Sarah Fraser-Raff.<br />

Arraymusic’s Apr 5 concert, “Four New Works,” presents world<br />

premieres by Anna Höstman, Gregory Newsome, Adam Scime and<br />

Scott Wilson, with guest soprano Carla Huhtanen. Continuum is<br />

heading west in <strong>April</strong> for a tour of British Columbia in collaboration<br />

with Ballet Kelowna and four choregraphers. Reimagined Renaissance<br />

Music is the theme that will be explored musically in works by<br />

Rodney Sharman, Jocelyn Morlock and Michael Oesterle. Toronto<br />

audiences will have the chance to see and hear this show in the fall.<br />

Additional Listings<br />

Apr 7: Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. Commissioned premiere<br />

by Zosha di Castri.<br />

Apr 8: Essential Opera. Several contemporary operas, each focused<br />

on a different facet of women’s lives featuring composers Leslie Uyeda,<br />

Anna Pidgorna, Anna Höstman, Fiona Ryan, Elizabeth Raum, John<br />

Estacio and Jake Heggie.<br />

Apr 23: mmmm Composers In Concert. New works by Michel<br />

Allard, Marco Burak, Michael Dobinson and Michelle Wells. Stratford.<br />

Apr 27: Canadian Music Centre. Three commissions of Canadian<br />

works by Katarina Curcin, Nicole Lizée and Kati Agócs performed by<br />

the Cecilia String Quartet.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 28 and 30: Toronto Symphony. towards Osiris (2005) by<br />

German composer Matthias Pintscher.<br />

“The most original musical<br />

thinker of our time” – The New Yorker<br />

STEVE REICH<br />

AT 80<br />

The iconic figure, who has inspired artists<br />

from Radiohead to Bang on a Can, performs<br />

in a celebration of his milestone year.<br />

Featuring: Clapping Music, Tehillim, and<br />

Music for 18 Musicians<br />

<strong>April</strong> 14, <strong>2016</strong>, 8PM | Massey Hall<br />

Call 416-872-4255 or visit masseyhall.com<br />

Wendalyn Bartley is a Toronto-based composer and electrovocal<br />

sound artist. sounddreaming@gmail.com.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 29


Beat by Beat | Choral Scene<br />

Gjeilo’s Sunrise<br />

Mass Heralds<br />

<strong>April</strong>’s Abundance<br />

BRIAN CHANG<br />

Lyrical, lush, evocative, and stirring – all<br />

words that help describe Sunrise Mass<br />

by Ola Gjeilo (pronounced Yay-lo). He<br />

is a new composer to me and one that I have<br />

been mesmerized by as I delve into his repertoire.<br />

First premiered in Oslo, Norway, in<br />

2008, Sunrise Mass has captured the imagination<br />

of choirs across the world. It had its<br />

Toronto premiere in the final concert of the<br />

Orpheus Choir’s 2014/2015 season. But I<br />

have the Mississauga Festival Chamber Choir<br />

and artistic director David Ambrose to thank<br />

for my introduction to Gjeilo’s music as they<br />

present this work in “Spring Serenade” on<br />

<strong>April</strong> 2 at 8pm.<br />

Gjeilo is a Norwegian-American composer<br />

educated at the Norwegian Academy of<br />

Music, Juilliard and the Royal Academy of<br />

Music in London. He is composer-in-residence<br />

for the popular British a cappella<br />

octet – VOCES8 (who were in Ontario last<br />

fall on their first-ever Canadian tour which<br />

included a stop at the Elora Festival, both<br />

in a solo concert and in a joint one with the<br />

Elora Festival Singers and Studio de musique<br />

ancienne de Montréal in the Bach Mass in B<br />

Minor under Noel Edison). Ola Gjeilo himself<br />

will be in Toronto in the fall as part of a<br />

festival of his work sponsored by the University of Toronto, Orpheus<br />

Choir and the Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Before then, there are<br />

lots of opportunities to enjoy his work over the next month – make it<br />

to as many as you can!<br />

Gjeilo’s Dark Night of the Soul makes an appearance as part of the<br />

Hart House Chorus spring concert, <strong>April</strong> 3 at 4pm. Conductor Daniel<br />

Norman leads the Gjeilo and Haydn’s Missa in tempore belli (Mass<br />

in Time of War). For this free concert, donations are being accepted<br />

on behalf of Sistema Toronto, a free, accessible childhood music<br />

education organization that started in Venezuela. Great Hall, Hart<br />

House, Toronto.<br />

The Kingston Choral Society and Kingston Community Strings<br />

present “Sunrise: A Musical Celebration.” Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass will be<br />

performed along with Spring from Haydn’s Seasons, selections from<br />

Schubert’s Mass No.2 in G Major and Aaron Copland’s The Promise of<br />

Living on <strong>April</strong> 22 at 7:30pm.<br />

The Cantores Celestes Women’s Choir present Gjeilo as part<br />

of “Songs of the Universe” on <strong>April</strong> 23 at 7:30pm. Director Kelly<br />

Galbraith features Gjeilo’s Song of the<br />

Universal which was inspired by the Walt<br />

Whitman poem of the same name. Also<br />

included are the world premiere of Sergey<br />

Khvoshchinsky’s Hymn to Her Hands and<br />

the Canadian premiere of Mozart’s Missa<br />

in C Major (Sparrow Mass) arranged for<br />

female voices, and more. Cantores will<br />

mark this performance with a donation<br />

to support Syrian refugees to Toronto.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 23, 7:30pm, Runnymede United<br />

Church, Toronto.<br />

Markham’s Village Voices present “Faces<br />

of Love,” featuring Gjeilo’s The Ground,<br />

an adaptation of the final movement of<br />

his Sunrise Mass. Other works include<br />

Bernstein’s West Side Story and Whitacre’s<br />

Five Hebrew Love Songs. May 7 at 7:30pm.<br />

VOCA Chorus of Toronto presents<br />

“Vast Eternal Sky” on May 7 at 7:30pm.<br />

Artistic director Jenny Crober has chosen<br />

to feature Gjeilo’s Across the Vast, Eternal<br />

Sky, a beautiful musical setting to text<br />

by Charles Anthony Silvestri, inspired by<br />

the idea of a phoenix. The first half of the<br />

concert will feature the Fauré Requiem<br />

Ola Gjeilo<br />

accompanied by the Talisker Players.<br />

Other works by Daley, Lauridsen and<br />

more promise to make this a most lovely evening.<br />

Just the First Weekend!? On the first weekend of <strong>April</strong> alone, there is<br />

so much happening on the choral landscape it’s almost demoralizing.<br />

BMO<br />

BMO<br />

Financial Group<br />

Financial Group<br />

Financial Group<br />

2015-<strong>2016</strong><br />

Making a<br />

Scene!<br />

an Ontario government agency<br />

un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario<br />

Robert Cooper, C.M., Artistic Director<br />

Edward Moroney, Accompanist<br />

Walter Mahabir, Apprentice Conductor<br />

SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON!<br />

The Lyrical Shakespeare<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 23, <strong>2016</strong> 7:30 p.m.<br />

Trinity-St. Pauls Centre, 427 Bloor St W.<br />

Revel in the genius of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies and sonnets through words,<br />

music and song featuring Stratford Festival star Geraint Wyn Davies. Orpheus’ season Finale<br />

spotlights the choral-drama No Mortal Business, a stirring and visionary creation by Canadian<br />

composer Allan Bevan, inspired by The Tempest and performed on the 400th Anniversary<br />

of the death of the Bard.<br />

Orpheus Choir • Geraint Wyn Davies, actor • The Talisker Players<br />

Tickets: $35; $30 senior; $10 student<br />

www.orpheuschoirtoronto.com<br />

30 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


It’s as if every choir in the region has conspired to compete for your<br />

attention. From Kingston to London, there is a performance on everything<br />

from Broadway to Gospel. Here are some highlights:<br />

Hilary Apfelstadt is well-known in the choral community and<br />

has had a hand in the choral education of many<br />

conductors and students around town as director<br />

of Choral Programs at the University of Toronto. As<br />

well as director of several choirs at U of T, she also<br />

conducts Exultate Chamber Singers. <strong>April</strong> 1 at 8pm<br />

Exultate presents “Stories of Love and Longing,”<br />

featuring Brahms Op. 52 Liebeslieder Waltzes,<br />

Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus and several other works by<br />

Britten, Vissell, Jeff Enns, Mechem and more on.<br />

On <strong>April</strong> 3 at 2:30pm, Apfelstadt is back, leading<br />

the University of Toronto choral ensembles in<br />

“Heart Songs,” an end-of-term concert featuring<br />

the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra,<br />

Women’s Chamber Choir and Men’s Chorus.<br />

Highlights include music by Timothy Corlis set to a<br />

poem by Mohawk poet Pauline Johnson: Heart Songs<br />

of the White Wampum (which was a joint commission<br />

with Elektra Women’s Choir, Vancouver, and<br />

Bella Voce Women’s Chorus, Vermont). Beethoven’s<br />

Choral Fantasy will join all the musical forces together. Doctoral<br />

Choral Conducting Candidates Elaine Choi (Timothy Eaton Memorial<br />

Church), Mark Ramsay (Exultate) and Tracy Wong (Mississauga<br />

Festival Youth Choir and Young Voices Toronto) join Professor<br />

Apfelstadt in marshalling the choral forces.<br />

The Toronto Northern Lights Chorus is the 2013 Barbershop<br />

Harmony Society World Champions. These “Silly plants” (YouTube<br />

them, seriously, it’s amazing) made Toronto proud with their awardwinning<br />

top-place finish at the Air Canada Centre and are returning<br />

to defend their title at the international convention in Nashville later<br />

this year. They present “Genius of Music” with an ensemble from the<br />

The Creation<br />

Enjoy Haydn’s grand oratorio performed<br />

by TMC, Festival Orchestra and guest soloists.<br />

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 | 7:30 PM<br />

KOERNER HALL<br />

273 BLOOR ST. WEST<br />

TICKETS<br />

$35 – $ 87<br />

VOX TIX<br />

FOR 30<br />

AND UNDER<br />

$20<br />

BOX OFFICE<br />

416-408-0208<br />

ONLINE<br />

www.tmchoir.org/creation<br />

Toronto All-Star Big Band on <strong>April</strong> 2 at 2pm and 7:30pm.<br />

The Toronto Children’s Chorus and the Cawthra Park Secondary<br />

School Chamber Choir team up for “Good Vibrations.” The TCC main<br />

choir was on tour in Boston and New York City at press time. With<br />

stops at Sanders Theatre in Boston, Carnegie Hall<br />

in NYC and the Aaron Copland School of Music,<br />

they were also invited to sing at the Canadian<br />

Consulate for the Prime Minister who happened<br />

to be in town. What a treat for those kids! Catch<br />

them in action back home on <strong>April</strong> 2 at 4pm.<br />

Barrie’s Choralfest presents “A Night at the<br />

Opera: Bizet’s Carmen in Concert,” featuring<br />

the Lyrica Chamber Choir, King Edward Choir,<br />

Bravado the Huronia Symphony Orchestra and<br />

various soloists. This grand and well-loved work<br />

is sure to provide a stellar evening of music.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 2 at 7pm.<br />

Univox and Florivox are two of the busiest and<br />

most accessible community choirs out there in<br />

Toronto at the moment. Dallas Bergen, founder<br />

Hilary Apfelstadt<br />

and artistic director is on a sabbatical, so in<br />

his stead, accomplished soprano, Univox subconductor<br />

and actor Tahirih Vejdani has taken<br />

the reins. Vejdani conducts Univox in a presentation of “Everything<br />

Beautiful: The Music of Broadway,” featuring cabaret superstar Chris<br />

Tsujiuchi and performers from Theatre 20’s composium and conservatory<br />

in hit songs from West Side Story, The Phantom of the Opera<br />

and Wicked on <strong>April</strong> 2 at 8pm.<br />

Florivox, usually helmed by Vejdani, is being led by Gillian Stecyk<br />

in “Shadows and Light: A Journey Through Dark Corners and Open<br />

Spaces.” In community partnership with Red Door Family Shelter<br />

– one of the only shelters in Toronto that accepts families in crisis<br />

– Florivox will present songs by Adam Guettel, Leonard Cohen and<br />

more on <strong>April</strong> 3 at 3pm.<br />

Elmer<br />

Iseler<br />

ingers<br />

Musical Friends<br />

S Sunday, May 8 at 4:00 pm<br />

Lydia Adams, Conductor Eglinton St. George’s<br />

and Artistic Director<br />

United Church<br />

35 Lytton Blvd., Toronto<br />

with the<br />

Bach Chamber Youth Choir<br />

Linda Beaupré, Conductor<br />

Programme will<br />

include works by<br />

Imant Raminsh, Peter<br />

Togni and a world<br />

premiere by Jason Jestadt,<br />

winner of the 2015 Ruth Watson<br />

Henderson Choral Composition<br />

Competition.<br />

Tickets 416-<strong>21</strong>7-0537<br />

www.elmeriselersingers.com<br />

Series Sponsor<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 31


Echo Women’s Choir<br />

The Etobicoke Centennial Choir presents “When Daffodils Begin<br />

to Peer,” featuring Paul Halley’s Love Songs for Springtime and<br />

Holst’s Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda amongst others on <strong>April</strong> 2<br />

at 7:30pm.<br />

The Karen Schuessler Singers present “London Composers<br />

Exposed! Creativity Up Close and Personal.” Featuring works by local<br />

composers, the event is followed by a post-concert reception and a<br />

chance to meet the composers and artists on <strong>April</strong> 2 at 8pm.<br />

Carmina Burana – Carl Orff’s unrivalled musical masterpiece of<br />

medieval monkish debauchery – continues to be an impressive display<br />

for an effective choir. The Amadeus Choir will doubtless do the work<br />

justice, with the added support of the Buffalo Master Chorale and the<br />

Bach Children’s Choir on <strong>April</strong> 3 at 4pm.<br />

Other great works this early spring:<br />

The Elmer Iseler Singers and Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber<br />

Choir join Vesnivka Choir’s “50th Anniversary Gala Concert” on<br />

<strong>April</strong> 17 at 3pm in Glenn Gould Studio. Conductor Halyna Kvitka<br />

Kondracki founded the Vesnivka Ukrainian Women’s Choir in 1965.<br />

The Oakville Choral Society presents “Wings of a Dove,” featuring<br />

works by Mendelssohn, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms on<br />

<strong>April</strong> 22 and 23 at 7:30pm.<br />

The Achill Choral Society presents “Celtic Spirit,” featuring Irish,<br />

Scottish and Eastern Canadian songs including Londonderry Air and<br />

Fogarty’s Cove. In true Celtic fashion the Achill Choral Society will be<br />

joined by NUÀ, a traditional trio featuring fiddle, guitar and bodhrán<br />

(Celtic drum) on <strong>April</strong> 23 at 3pm in Alliston and <strong>April</strong> 30 at 7:30pm<br />

in Caledon.<br />

Just before the end of the month you can catch the Toronto<br />

Mendelssohn Choir’s presentation of Haydn’s The Creation. An everpopular<br />

piece, Haydn’s classical masterpiece fits very comfortably<br />

in the ear and is always a treat. Look for me in the tenor section on<br />

<strong>April</strong> 27 at 7:30pm in Koerner Hall.<br />

Echo Women’s Choir presents “Songs of Hope and Resistance:<br />

Celebrating May Day and International Workers’ Day.” A bold idea,<br />

Becca Whitler and Alan Gasser lead Echo in a variety of labourthemed<br />

works including Chilean Victor Jara’s Plegaria a un Labrador<br />

(Worker’s Prayer); French revolutionary song Le temps des cerises<br />

and more, on May 1 at 3pm.<br />

The combined talent of Chorus Niagara, Choralis Camerata and<br />

Chorus Niagara Children’s Choir join with TorQ Percussion Ensemble<br />

and pianists Karin Di Bella and Lynne Honsberger in a compact,<br />

but-no less powerful version of Carmina Burana on May 7 at 7:30pm.<br />

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir used a similar format in its performance<br />

with TorQ in 2012 and it was very effective.<br />

Univox will join Masterworks of Oakville in a presentation of<br />

Mendelssohn’s grand Elijah on May 7 at 8pm in Oakville and May 8 at<br />

4pm in Toronto. Always a pleasure to hear, this magnificent piece of<br />

music was once more popular than Handel’s Messiah.<br />

Finally, make sure to check out singtoronto.com to see all the fun<br />

of Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival running from May 4 to 15.<br />

We will have much more about this festival in the May issue of The<br />

WholeNote.<br />

Follow Brian on Twitter @bfchang Send info/media/<br />

tips to choralscene@thewholenote.com.<br />

Beat by Beat | Art of Song<br />

From Tafel To Terfel<br />

Sibelius To Saariaho<br />

HANS DE GROOT<br />

On <strong>April</strong> 28, Tafelmusik<br />

will present “Zelenka and<br />

Bach,” a concert which<br />

features Jan Dismas Zelenka’s<br />

Missa Omnium Sanctorum.<br />

The German singer, Dorothee<br />

Mields, was engaged to sing<br />

the soprano solo but a decision<br />

was made to open up the other<br />

solo parts to a competition.<br />

The winners were Kim Leeds,<br />

mezzo, Jacques-Olivier Chartier,<br />

tenor, and Jonathan Woody,<br />

bass-baritone.<br />

Leeds and Woody are<br />

American. Leeds has sung a<br />

great deal, mainly Bach, in<br />

the Boston area. In June and<br />

July she will be performing<br />

at the Oregon Bach Festival in<br />

Eugene in concerts that include<br />

the world premiere of James<br />

MacMillan’s Requiem. Woody has a music degree from McGill and is<br />

now based in New York City. While a specialist in baroque music, he<br />

has considerable experience in the performance of modern works,<br />

including singing a part in an opera by Darius Milhaud and a collaboration<br />

with the Rolling Stones. Chartier is the only Canadian of<br />

the three. He is also the only one whom I have heard previously:<br />

earlier this season he sang the tenor arias in the Ottawa Bach Society<br />

performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass. He was very good. The concert,<br />

which will be repeated on <strong>April</strong> 29, 30 and May 1, will include Bach’s<br />

Cantata No.202 (Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten), in which Mields<br />

will be the soprano soloist.<br />

Bryn Terfel: Like many, I first<br />

became aware of the Welsh<br />

bass-baritone, Bryn Terfel, in<br />

1989, when he was a finalist<br />

in the BBC Singer of the World<br />

Competition in Cardiff. He<br />

did not win the main event –<br />

Dmitri Hvorostovsky did – but<br />

was awarded the Lieder Prize.<br />

Initially he was especially noted<br />

for his Schubert lieder, for<br />

Welsh songs and for some of<br />

the main Mozart baritone roles,<br />

including Figaro, Masetto and<br />

(a little later) Don Giovanni. In<br />

recent years he has moved to<br />

Bryn Terfel<br />

Dorothee Mields<br />

Wagner (Wolfram, Wotan, the<br />

Dutchman, Hans Sachs). He has<br />

sung both the title role and that<br />

of Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff. He<br />

will make his Koerner Hall debut on <strong>April</strong> 24 (with the pianist Natalia<br />

Katyukova). The first half of the concert will feature Welsh songs but<br />

it will also include Jacques Ibert’s Chansons de Don Quichotte; the<br />

second half will give us songs by Schubert and Schumann.<br />

Finno-Ugric Synergy: Finnish and Hungarian are not Indo-European<br />

languages. Instead they form part of a family called Finno-Ugric.<br />

This probably indicates a common origin for the two peoples. In<br />

32 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


an imaginative move, Mazzoleni<br />

Songmasters have put the two together<br />

with music by Liszt and Bartók on the<br />

one hand and Sibelius and Saariaho<br />

on the other. The singers will be Erin<br />

Wall, soprano, and Stephen Hegedus,<br />

bass-baritone. The pianists are Rachel<br />

Andrist and Robert Kortgaard. Of<br />

special interest is Saariaho’s Changing<br />

Light, in which the violinist Erika<br />

Raum will perform with Erin Wall; at<br />

Mazzoleni Concert Hall, May 1.<br />

Lunch for All Seasons: The free<br />

lunch-time concerts in the Richard<br />

Bradshaw Auditorium at the Four Seasons Centre will resume<br />

on <strong>April</strong> 19 with Clémentine Margaine, mezzo, and Stephen B.<br />

Hargreaves, piano. Subsequent recitals will be given by Russell<br />

Thomas, tenor, and Michael Shannon, piano on <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong>; Simone<br />

Osborne, soprano, and Stephen B. Hargreaves, piano on <strong>April</strong> 26;<br />

artists of the COC Ensemble Studio and the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra<br />

de Montréal on <strong>April</strong> 28; Anita Rachvelishvili, mezzo, and David<br />

Aladashvili, piano on May 3; and Ambur Braid, soprano, with Steven<br />

Philcox, piano, in a celebration of Canadian art song, May 5.<br />

QUICK PICKS<br />

A staged and costumed program of romantic opera, “The Art of the<br />

Prima Donna,” with music by Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and others, will<br />

be given on Apr 1 at Walter Hall.<br />

Carla Huhtanen will be the soprano soloist in Abigail Richardson-<br />

Schulte’s setting of Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee; with the Toronto<br />

Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, Apr 2.<br />

Pandora Topp will be the singer a program of Piaf songs at The<br />

Extension Room, Apr 2.<br />

Leslie Fagan, soprano, Christopher Mayell, tenor, and Peter<br />

MacGillivray, baritone, will be the soloists in a program that includes<br />

Carmina Burana by Orff and Psalm of David by Dello Joio at Toronto<br />

Centre for the Arts, Apr 3.<br />

Kati Agócs will be the soprano soloist in a newly commissioned<br />

piece by her, with the Cecilia String Quartet at Walter Hall, Apr 4.<br />

Carla Huhtanen, soprano, will sing in a program of new works by<br />

Höstmann, Newsome, Scime and S. Wilson with the Array Ensemble<br />

at Array Space, Apr 5.<br />

Ilana Zarankin and Robin Dann will perform in a Women’s Musical<br />

Club concert, “Dannthology,” given by Steven Dann, viola, with family<br />

and friends at Walter Hall, Apr 7.<br />

Essential Opera presents four sopranos (Erin Bardua, Maureen Batt,<br />

Maureen Ferguson and Julie Ludwig) in a program of contemporary<br />

operas by Uyeda, Raum, Höstmann, Pidgorna, Estacio and Heggie at<br />

Heliconian Hall, Apr 8.<br />

Darlene Shura, soprano, Jacqueline Gélineau, contralto, Asitha<br />

Tennekoon, tenor, and John Holland, baritone, give a free performance<br />

of Bach’s Easter Oratorio at Heliconian Hall, Apr 10.<br />

Leslie Bouza, Carla Huhtanen, Michele DeBoer and Laura Pudwell<br />

will be the singers in a concert devoted to the music of Steve Reich in<br />

honour of his 80th birthday at Massey Hall, Apr 14.<br />

“At the Ball: Social Dance through the Ages” showcases works by<br />

Purcell, Dan Godfrey and Joplin, as well as items from the Playford<br />

and Lowe collections. The singer, at Heliconian Hall, is Paula<br />

Arciniega, mezzo, on Apr 15.<br />

Scaramella presents a concert of works by Purcell, Melani, Bach,<br />

Merula and Odorico at Victoria College Chapel, Apr 16. The singer is<br />

the soprano Dawn Bailey.<br />

Gallery 345 presents Beth Anne Cole singing Gershwin, Apr 17.<br />

Castle Frank House of Melody presents works by Offenbach,<br />

Puccini, Verdi, Gershwin and others that will be sung by Cara Adams,<br />

soprano, Patricia Haldane, mezzo, and Justin Welsh, baritone, Apr 23.<br />

Jessika Whitfield, soprano, and Matthew Whitfield, piano, will<br />

perform a free concert at Metropolitan United Church, Apr 28.<br />

Mira Solovianenko, soprano, and Andrew Tees, baritone, will be<br />

the soloists with the Oakham House Choir of Ryerson University<br />

Erin Wall<br />

on Apr 30. The major work to be<br />

performed is Carl Orff’s Carmina<br />

Burana (Part 1).<br />

Charlotte Burrage, mezzo, and<br />

Clarence Frazer, baritone, will sing at<br />

Metropolitan United Church, May 1.<br />

On May 3 and 4 Krisztina Szabó,<br />

mezzo, and Aaron Durand, baritone,<br />

will perform with the Talisker Players<br />

in a program that includes works by<br />

Purcell, Gluck, Burry, Mahler and<br />

Bernstein.<br />

Julia Morson, soprano, and Rashaan<br />

Allwood, piano, will give a free recital<br />

at Metropolitan United Church on May 5.<br />

And beyond the GTA: Sheila Dietrich, soprano, Carolynne Davy,<br />

mezzo, and Chris Fischer and Lanny Fleming, tenors, will be the soloists<br />

in a program of works by Handel, Monteverdi and Mondonville at<br />

St. George’s Anglican Church, Guelph, Apr 9.<br />

Jennifer Enns Modolo, mezzo, Bud Roach, tenor, and David Roth,<br />

baritone, will be the soloists in the Spiritus Ensemble performance of<br />

two Bach cantatas, Christ lag in Todesbanden and Erfreut euch, ihr<br />

Herzen, in Kitchener, Apr 10.<br />

Georgian Music presents Marie-Josée Lord, soprano, and Hugues<br />

Cloutier, piano, performing works by Granados, Rodrigo, de Falla,<br />

Bernstein, Porter and others in Barrie, Apr 24.<br />

Jeffery Concerts presents Krisztina Szabó, mezzo, and Benjamin<br />

Butterfield, tenor, in a concert that includes Janáček’s The Diary of<br />

One Who Disappeared and Zigeunerlieder by Brahms, Apr 30 at Wolf<br />

Performance Hall, London.<br />

Hans de Groot is a concertgoer and active listener<br />

who also sings and plays the recorder. He can be<br />

contacted at artofsong@thewholenote.com.<br />

APRIL 10, <strong>2016</strong> @ 3 PM<br />

featuring<br />

COLLEEN COOK<br />

JEFFREY HILL<br />

INNA PERKIS<br />

BORIS ZARANKIN<br />

ILANA ZARANKIN<br />

co-presented with THE MUSIC GALLERY<br />

featuring<br />

- V. HOROWITZ<br />

CHRISTINE DUNCAN<br />

LUCY FITZGIBBON<br />

ALEX LUKASHEVSKY<br />

RYAN MACEVOY MCCULLOUGH<br />

MYRIAD3<br />

TO ORDER TICKETS, please call 416.466.1870<br />

offcentremusic.com<br />

TRINITY ST. PAUL’S CENTRE<br />

427 Bloor Street West<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 33


Beat by Beat | World View<br />

Musideum and<br />

Small World:<br />

Two Tales of A<br />

Single City<br />

ANDREW TIMAR<br />

This month I have two tales to tell of musical diversity in this city:<br />

a tale of two presenters. One is of beginnings and continuity,<br />

while the other of (perhaps temporary) endings. Each story has<br />

a different focus, yet they run parallel in their organizers’ mission<br />

of service to our city’s heterogeneous communities of musicians<br />

sounding the music of the world’s peoples and in their sincere dedication<br />

to serve globally curious listeners.<br />

One door closes: The first story began early in March <strong>2016</strong> when I<br />

read Donald Quan’s post on his “Musideum Performers & Supporters”<br />

Facebook group page. I’ve often written about what happens at<br />

Musideum - A World of Musical Instruments in these pages. Quan<br />

opened its doors in late 2007. He summed up his retail music store<br />

enterprise as a “look at music through the eyes of [ethnically diverse]<br />

musical instruments.” He explained the name is an amalgam of three<br />

concepts: museum, music and deum. Inspired by his own challenging<br />

life journey over the past six years, he then morphed the Musideum<br />

into a special live concert room, inspired by an inclusive vision in<br />

which “everyone, regardless of their beliefs, religion, age or what part<br />

of the world they are from, can truly love one another and coexist in<br />

peace simply by speaking the magical language of music.” And he’s<br />

kept the place buzzing until today.<br />

For those unfamiliar with its activities, Musideum has been a<br />

unique fixture in Toronto’s music scene. It serves as a retail worldmusic<br />

instrument store by day. By night, starting about five years ago,<br />

it’s been the venue for a very dense schedule of concerts in its intimate<br />

living room-like space - that’s if your living room was chock-a-block<br />

with working instruments from around the world.<br />

It’s also the only store I can recall where John Cage’s seminal score<br />

4’33” was on prominent display, not as a prop but as a potent symbol<br />

of musical diversity – and merchandise.<br />

John Terauds put his fingers on the special mojo of Musideum in a<br />

May 24, 2008, article The Star. “One customer was so inspired by the<br />

movie Kill Bill that he had to go out and get himself a Chinese bamboo<br />

flute. Until now, finding an ethnic folk instrument from a culture not<br />

one’s own […was quite problematic]. But the mix of world cultures in<br />

Toronto has finally reached a point where an enterprising local musician<br />

thinks it worthwhile to open a store that offers musical instruments<br />

from several cultures from around the globe.”<br />

Quan’s recent Facebook announcement, however, signalled a<br />

fundamental change in direction: “As I am extending my personal<br />

hiatus until late <strong>2016</strong>, I am sad to announce that Musideum will be<br />

closing its doors as a store and venue at 401 Richmond on <strong>April</strong> 2,<br />

<strong>2016</strong>. The Musideum name will live on and will be parked until a new<br />

opportunity arises. It will reawaken when the time is right.”<br />

The Toronto-born Quan, a musician and multiple award-winning<br />

composer of hundreds of television, film, radio and multimedia<br />

productions, stated that he needed to “take a well-deserved break,<br />

travel to see family, rest [his] weary brain and formulate some new<br />

and exciting projects for perhaps late in the year.” He continued that<br />

although the impetus for this “change was mostly for health reasons,<br />

it is also [because of] the need to watch my kids grow up and to<br />

spend more time with family and friends. I also need a few months<br />

“Musideum will be sorely missed.”<br />

dedicated to practising to get my playing up to where I was before the<br />

[2007] stroke.”<br />

Musideum will be sorely missed. From the earliest days, Quan has<br />

thrown its doors open across numerous musical genres that thread<br />

through the city. I counted over 20 active Facebook pages he set up<br />

with straightforward names like “Musideum Invites Indigenous<br />

Music.” (Long a contributor to the Canadian Aboriginal music scene,<br />

Quan was honoured in 2007 with the Music Industry Award at the<br />

Ninth Annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.)<br />

Other communities were encouraged to participate too on their<br />

own Facebook pages. “Musideum Invites Indian, South Asian<br />

Music,” “Musideum Invites Experimental/Improvised/New Music,”<br />

“Musideum Invites Singer-Songwriters” and “Musideum Invites<br />

World” are just a few examples of his global embrace. These pages<br />

collectively garnered thousands of “likes.”<br />

Within a week of his announcement to close, Quan reached out to<br />

community musicians, again on social media, to help in programming<br />

six concerts during the second half of March. Or as he put<br />

it, “to squeeze some final concerts in before Musideum closes up<br />

shop.” True to form, each show had a different genre focus. I was<br />

invited too, and that’s how I found myself on the pocket-sized<br />

stage playing Indonesian suling (bamboo ring flute) with Iranian<br />

drummer Naghmeh Farahmand and cavaquinho player Nuno Cristo<br />

on the designated World Music night, Thursday, March 17. About 14<br />

other Toronto musicians took their turns too, including flutist Ron<br />

Korb, recently nominated for Best New Age Album at the <strong>2016</strong><br />

Grammy Awards.<br />

Fittingly, Quan served as MC. He spoke passionately about his<br />

dream space where he had tirelessly programmed well over 1,600<br />

concerts in the last five-or-so years. Given that pace, and the fact that<br />

Musideum has been a hands-on manifestation of one man’s passion,<br />

it’s no wonder he needs an extended break.<br />

Though closing his store/venue was “one of the most difficult decisions<br />

in my life to make,” Quan nevertheless views it as a “decision<br />

that heralds a new positive, healthful, personal and creative direction<br />

for me.” As a parting gift to the larger Musideum community of<br />

musicians and store customers, he has announced a “special inventory<br />

sale” for performers on <strong>April</strong> 3 and for the public on <strong>April</strong> 4.<br />

I already miss Musideum. I, for one, will treat Quan’s wish to<br />

“awaken [the space] when the time is right” as a promise, not<br />

just a hope.<br />

Another door opens: From <strong>April</strong> 6 to May 29, in some 14 staged<br />

34 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


concerts and many more events at several<br />

venues across the GTA, Small World Music<br />

presents its 14th Asian Music Series, with the<br />

financial support of the TD Bank and in partnership<br />

with an array of other presenters.<br />

Fittingly, this year the series marks Asian and<br />

South Asian Heritage Month.<br />

This year’s AMS program features “a strong<br />

female presence, with two of the most significant<br />

artists in South Asian music - Anoushka<br />

Shankar and Abida Parveen - performing.”<br />

As well as Indian and hybrid Indian music<br />

on stage, GTA audiences will also have the<br />

opportunity to witness leading performers<br />

of Japanese, Chinese, Pakistani and Iranian<br />

music, along with Latin, ethnic chaos and “telematic<br />

music.” The latter is described on the<br />

Small World Music website as “live performance<br />

via the internet by musicians in different<br />

geographic locations, celebrating the notion of a<br />

smaller world.”<br />

In a bid to reach core audiences, AMS<br />

concerts take place at venues big and small,<br />

in and out of town. Roy Thomson Hall and<br />

Koerner Hall alternate with the Flato Markham<br />

Theatre, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Aga<br />

Khan Museum Auditorium and Lula Lounge. The charming, intimate<br />

Small World Music Centre holds down home base.<br />

New this year, Small World Music Society executive director Alan<br />

Davis and his team have cooked up an intriguing way to bundle<br />

concerts for audiences. These curated concert sets are conveniently<br />

tagged City, Fusion, Soul, Global, Classical and Legends. Those buying<br />

into a set of concerts also receive additional coupons for South-Asian<br />

themed self-improvement activities such as yoga, tabla or bansuri<br />

lessons, in addition to more typical bundle benefits of a coupon (e.g.<br />

admission to the Royal Ontario Museum) and of course discounted<br />

prices. It’s an interesting way to systematically extend the tools of<br />

partnership, a presentational and marketing skill that Davis and Small<br />

World has honed to a keen edge over the years. It is perhaps a key<br />

ingredient in the company’s success, a success which in turn enriches<br />

our entire community. It echoes a central aspect of Small World’s<br />

mission: “to promote understanding between cultures.”<br />

Equitably reflecting such a sprawling mosaic of concerts is certainly<br />

beyond my means here. Probably the best tack is to put the spotlight<br />

on a select few <strong>April</strong> AMS concerts, leaving the later May shows to the<br />

next issue of The WholeNote.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 6 AMS launches with a Koerner Hall presentation of the<br />

reigning diva of the world music sitar, Anoushka Shankar. About eight<br />

years ago, I reviewed her last appearance there with her late father,<br />

Ravi Shankar, for readers of this magazine. She has emerged since<br />

with increasing assurance not only as a sitar player, but also as as a<br />

composer in her own right, and as a collaborator with djs, dancers,<br />

flamenco musicians and singers and with Western orchestras. In her<br />

commercially successful albums, she has explored the interstices<br />

between Hindustani music and other genres, plus paying musical<br />

tribute to her father’s vast legacy. Her fourth album, Land of Gold, is<br />

slated to be released just days before the concert, so I have no details to<br />

share of it yet. I am, however, sure that the audience will hear Shankar<br />

and her accompanists featuring music from the new album.<br />

The next day on <strong>April</strong> 7 the venue switches to the Japanese Canadian<br />

Cultural Centre which presents a concert titled “Tsumugu.” Featuring<br />

Japanese musicians, Keita Kanazashi, Anna Sato and Chie Hanawa, it’s<br />

a mixed program: folk songs from Amami Island along with “bluesy”<br />

Tsugaru shamisen of Aomori prefecture, and coming to a thunderous<br />

climax with taiko drumming aimed to evoke the Japanese spirit.<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 9 Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet take the stage of<br />

the Flato Markham Theatre, just north of Highway 7. That’s unfortunately<br />

well beyond the reach of the TTC for those who love “The Better<br />

Way,” but judging from pipa virtuosa Wu Man’s moving performance<br />

last year with the Silk Road Ensemble at Massey Hall, it’s a<br />

journey this downtown music lover will want to make. Presented in<br />

association with Flato Markham Theatre, the concert headlines Wu<br />

Man; abundantly gifted as a musician she has been called a “force of<br />

nature” by Gramophone magazine. Dusted magazine also praised her<br />

performance, describing it as deftly combining “earthly energy and<br />

celestial delight.” Her masterful musicianship has also inspired several<br />

composers, including Terry Riley and Tan Dun. The Shanghai Quartet,<br />

among today’s leading string quartets, will join Wu Man in a program<br />

of music composed or arranged by Chinese musicians called “A Night<br />

in Ancient and New China.” Perhaps I’ll see you there.<br />

Our last peek into the Asian Music Series this issue: Indian master<br />

sitarist Shujaat Khan and Toronto vocalist Ramneek Singh take us<br />

deep into North Indian cultural poetics and centuries-old mystical<br />

traditions. Presented by Aga Khan Museum on <strong>April</strong> 29, the double<br />

bill concert, titled “Reflections on Kabir and Khusrau,” is presented in<br />

the museum’s Great Poets Series. Kabir was an important fifteenthcentury<br />

Indian mystic, poet and saint. Amīr Khusrau (or Khusraw, CE<br />

1253–1325) of Delhi was a Sufi musician and is often regarded as the<br />

father of Qawwali. His contributions to the advancement of poetry<br />

and music were immense and place him at the heart of the cultural<br />

history of the Indian subcontinent. In music, Khusraw is credited<br />

with the introduction of Persian, Arabic and Turkish elements into<br />

Hindustani classical music, as well as with originating khayal and<br />

tarana forms, features still central to the music today. It’s a pretty safe<br />

bet we will hear vivid performances in both forms by Shujaat Khan<br />

and Ramneek Singh.<br />

From Anoushka Shankar, one of the newest and most syncretistic<br />

voices in Hindustani music today, we get to sonically travel to one of<br />

the tradition’s oldest innovators, represented by Khusraw - all in the<br />

space of one Toronto festival!<br />

Like Donald Quan’s Musideum, that’s some story too!<br />

Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer. He<br />

can be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 35


Beat by Beat | Bandstand<br />

What HSSB Has<br />

Built On Brass<br />

Band Beginnings<br />

JACK MACQUARRIE<br />

Last month, you may recall, the<br />

Canadian Band Association,<br />

Ontario had just held its first<br />

"Community Brass Band" weekend,<br />

which got me going in this space, on<br />

the subject of the characteristics of<br />

the brass band, the British Brass Band<br />

Style, Company Bands and Brass Band<br />

Contests.<br />

There’s a whole other story to tell<br />

about how brass bands in the British<br />

tradition, sometimes sponsored by<br />

employers, began to be established<br />

on this side of the Atlantic in the late<br />

19th and early 20th centuries. But first<br />

let’s look at an upcoming event which<br />

encapsulates not only what the brass<br />

band community is all about but also<br />

how far the brass band genre has come.<br />

Hannaford Street Silver Band’s<br />

Festival of Brass: Just as there are few,<br />

if any, professional concert bands in<br />

Canada there are few professional brass<br />

bands. The notable exception is the<br />

Hannaford Street Silver Band, established<br />

some 30 years ago by a group of Toronto professional musicians<br />

who wanted to give the full virtuosic range of brass band idiom a voice<br />

and showcase in Toronto. Their concerts have consequently explored a<br />

much wider range of music than would usually have been considered<br />

part of the brass band repertoire. A recent example: with guest<br />

artist Fergus McWilliam, they presented the Strauss Horn Concerto<br />

No.1 this past February <strong>21</strong>. Here was a top musician from the Berlin<br />

Philharmonic performing with a brass band on the only major brass<br />

instrument that is not part of the usual brass band instrumentation.<br />

Also note, the HSSB commitment to broadening the repertoire has<br />

gone beyond rearranging standard repertoire into a vigorous commitment<br />

to commissioning new Canadian works.<br />

Another important outgrowth of the HSSB’s activities has been<br />

their youth program. In 1999 they launched the Hannaford Street<br />

Youth Band under the direction of Anita McAlister. In 2005, another<br />

youth band was created for beginning brass players known as the<br />

Hannaford Junior Band. Soon a third, intermediate, band known as<br />

the Hannaford Community Youth Band was also formed. All three<br />

bands, under the same director, provide musical growth opportunities<br />

for young musicians ranging in age from 11 to the early 20s.<br />

So, for devotees of the Hannafords and brass band fans in general,<br />

the HSSB’s annual Festival of Brass (this year on the weekend of<br />

<strong>April</strong> 15 to 17) is a must. This festival will be packed with almost<br />

every form of brass music. Friday evening will feature “Rising Stars”<br />

where the finalists of the Hannaford Youth Solo Competition will be<br />

judged on their performances by Alain Trudel and Stéphane Beaulac.<br />

The winner will perform with the Hannaford Band in the Sunday<br />

afternoon concert. Saturday will be devoted to a master class in the<br />

morning followed by a series of performances by “Festival of Brass”<br />

participating bands. On Sunday there will be an open dress rehearsal<br />

in the morning and the “Entre Amis” concert in the afternoon. This<br />

year, Stéphane Beaulac, formerly principal trumpet with Orchestre<br />

Métropolitain in Montreal, now with the Los Angeles Philharmonic,<br />

will be the featured soloist. He will perform Canadian composer<br />

Johnny Cowell’s Concerto in E Minor with the band, under the direction<br />

of another Hannaford distinguished visitor, Alain Trudel.<br />

Crossing the Atlantic: Now back to our previous topic. Certainly the<br />

geography of Canada, with large distances between communities,<br />

made some aspects of the British Brass Band tradition, such as regular<br />

contests, impractical. On the other hand, relative isolation and lack of<br />

other recreational opportunity may have assisted with other aspects,<br />

such as the company band. Certainly, into the 20th century there were<br />

still a few distinguished company bands around, including the Taylor<br />

Safe Works Band, the Heintzman Piano Company Band, where the<br />

famous Herbert L. Clarke was featured,<br />

and the Anglo-Canadian Leather<br />

Company Band in Huntsville, Ontario<br />

where Clarke was the conductor from<br />

1918 to 1923. Originally trained on the<br />

viola, Clarke was smitten by the cornet<br />

and began practising on his brother’s<br />

instrument. He then joined the<br />

band of the Queen’s Own Rifles in 1882<br />

at age 14, in order to obtain his own<br />

government-issue cornet on which<br />

to practise.<br />

Few, if any, company bands are still<br />

operating in Canada. There are still a<br />

number of Salvation Army bands, but<br />

the total number of British-style brass<br />

bands probably does not exceed 30.<br />

Most of these are in Ontario, operate<br />

as recreational or “community” bands<br />

and have long histories going back over<br />

a century in some cases. The most wellknown<br />

include the Oshawa Civic Band,<br />

the Whitby Brass Band, the Weston<br />

Alain Trudel<br />

Silver Band and the Metropolitan Silver<br />

Band of Toronto. Professor Henry<br />

Meredith’s Plumbing Factory Brass Band in London is one which has<br />

risen in stature in recent years.<br />

South of the border: About the same time brass bands were<br />

springing up in Canada similar bands were forming in the US, principally<br />

in the New England States. It wasn’t long, though, before<br />

brass bands caught the attention of one John Sullivan Dwight in<br />

Boston. Ordained as a minister in 1840, Dwight had abandoned the<br />

ministry and developed a deep interest in music, in particular that<br />

of Beethoven. By the 1850s music was becoming a big business in<br />

America and Dwight was soon to become the country’s first music<br />

critic, launching frequent tirades against the popular music of the day,<br />

particularly the brass band. In one memorable instance he wrote: “All<br />

at once the idea of a Brass Band shot forth: and from this prolific germ<br />

sprang up a multitude of its kind in every part of the land, like the<br />

crop of iron men from the infernal seed of the dragon’s teeth.”<br />

NABBA: Dwight notwithstanding, by 1983 the desire for some form<br />

of umbrella organization to coordinate the activities of bands and to<br />

further the brass band movement had resulted in the establishment<br />

of the North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) with stated<br />

aims to “Foster, promote and otherwise encourage the establishment,<br />

growth and development of amateur and professional British-type<br />

brass bands throughout the United States and Canada.”<br />

Cautionary note: if you decide to ask Mr. Google for information<br />

on this organization, type in the full name, not NABBA, or you will<br />

learn more than you ever wanted to know about the National Amateur<br />

Body-Builders’ Association. (Unless of course you are a tuba player<br />

and need some muscle toning.)<br />

While some Canadian bands have participated in NABBA competitions<br />

over the years, the most recent highlight was in the summer of<br />

2014 when the North American Brass Band Summer School (NABBSS)<br />

was first held in Halifax as an integral component of the Royal Nova<br />

36 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Scotia International Tattoo. We were participants in that first school<br />

and in the tattoo. We would not have missed it for the world. The 2015<br />

event was equally successful and enrollments are well on the way for<br />

this coming summer.<br />

Other Brass Band news from the GTA: I was very surprised and<br />

pleased recently to receive a copy of a new history of the Metropolitan<br />

Silver Band. As the title says, it covers “80 Years of Music-Making at<br />

Metropolitan United Church.” This history was written by the band’s<br />

longest-serving member, Ken Allen, who has been in the band for<br />

71 of those 80 years, 43 of them as its manager. He was fortunate in<br />

having access to meticulously maintained records over the years by a<br />

fellow band member.<br />

Elsewhere I have mentioned, on various occasions, those revolutionary<br />

times when a female musician was “permitted” to join a<br />

band. For the MSB, this occurred in January 1981, when Bill Martyn,<br />

a member of the cornet section and a high school English teacher,<br />

invited one of his students to join the band. Now, 35 years later,<br />

Michele McCall is still in the band and has been the band’s manager<br />

since 2005, when she took over from Ken Allen. Another milestone<br />

was in 2002 when the band appointed its first woman conductor. Fran<br />

Harvey is still the conductor after 14 years at the helm. The history<br />

includes a good selection of pictures, all with dates and identification<br />

of all band members. As I scanned these pictures, lo and behold, there<br />

I was during those years when I was a band member in the 1970s<br />

and 1980s. Late last year the band released a new CD to celebrate its<br />

80-year association with Metropolitan United Church. Titled Amazing<br />

Grace-A Gospel Celebration, it is a compilation of traditional hymns<br />

including one selection, My Lord What a Morning, featuring a solo by<br />

none other than 71-year veteran Ken Allen.<br />

Salvation Army bands have long been a mainstay of the brass band<br />

movement, so it was good to hear of an SA concert coming up later<br />

in the month. Featured will be the Ontario Central East Divisional<br />

Singing Company (Junior Choir) conducted by Elizabeth Colley,<br />

Divisional Young Peoples’ Band – Blood and Fire Brass under<br />

bandleader Bob Gray, and Divisional Reservists’ Band – Heritage Brass<br />

also led by bandmaster Gray. The concert will take place Saturday,<br />

<strong>April</strong> 23 at 7pm, in the Agincourt Community Church of The Salvation<br />

Army, 3080 Birchmount Rd, Toronto. A freewill offering will be<br />

received during the concert.<br />

Startups are always a good sign of the resurgence of interest in<br />

brass band music, and here’s another one. They are inviting other<br />

brass players to join them. They rehearse Wednesday evenings in<br />

Newmarket and would particularly welcome cornet and tuba players.<br />

If you play a brass instrument, and are interested in exploring that<br />

genre, contact Peter Hussey by email at pnhussey@rogers.com.<br />

New Horizons: From time to time I have reported on the activities of<br />

the many New Horizons groups since their introduction into Canada<br />

about six years ago. The number of groups in Toronto alone has grown<br />

to the extent that the original conductor, Dan Kapp, has relinquished<br />

his duties at the Long & McQuade main store to channel all of his<br />

energies into the many New Horizons groups. With the title of creative<br />

director, Dan will oversee the operations of all Toronto bands, as well<br />

as conduct two or more. While on the subject of New Horizons, a few<br />

days ago I learned of a New Horizons group now thriving in Sudbury.<br />

Where will the next NH group spring up?<br />

Obituary: Unfortunately I must report on the passing of Alex<br />

MacDonald a long-serving member of the Metropolitan Silver Band.<br />

I first met Alex when he and I were living in the same residence at<br />

university many years ago. We played together in the U of T Varsity<br />

band. On one occasion Alex startled us all. We were rehearsing<br />

Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, but we didn’t have anyone to<br />

play the piccolo part. Alex tucked his euphonium under his arm<br />

and pulled a slide whistle from his inner pocket. Suddenly we had<br />

a piccolo.<br />

Jack MacQuarrie plays several brass instruments and<br />

has performed in many community ensembles. He can<br />

be contacted at bandstand@thewholenote.com.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 37


The WholeNote listings are arranged in four sections:<br />

A.<br />

GTA (GREATER TORONTO AREA) covers all of Toronto<br />

plus Halton, Peel, York and Durham regions.<br />

B.<br />

BEYOND THE GTA covers many areas of Southern<br />

Ontario outside Toronto and the GTA. Starts on page 54.<br />

C.<br />

MUSIC THEATRE covers a wide range of music types:<br />

from opera, operetta and musicals, to non-traditional<br />

performance types where words and music are in some<br />

fashion equal partners in the drama. Starts on page 57.<br />

D.<br />

IN THE CLUBS (MOSTLY JAZZ)<br />

is organized alphabetically by club.<br />

Starts on page 58.<br />

E.<br />

THE ETCETERAS is for galas, fundraisers, competitions,<br />

screenings, lectures, symposia, masterclasses, workshops,<br />

singalongs and other music-related events (except<br />

performances) which may be of interest to our readers.<br />

Starts on page 60.<br />

A GENERAL WORD OF CAUTION. A phone number is provided<br />

with every listing in The WholeNote — in fact, we won’t publish<br />

a listing without one. Concerts are sometimes cancelled or postponed;<br />

artists or venues may change after listings are published.<br />

Please check before you go out to a concert.<br />

HOW TO LIST. Listings in The WholeNote in the four sections above<br />

are a free service available, at our discretion, to eligible presenters.<br />

If you have an event, send us your information no later than the<br />

8th of the month prior to the issue or issues in which your listing is<br />

eligible to appear.<br />

LISTINGS DEADLINE. The next issue covers the period from<br />

May 1 to June 7, <strong>2016</strong>. All listings must be received by<br />

Midnight Friday <strong>April</strong> 8.<br />

LISTINGS can be sent by e-mail to listings@thewholenote.com or<br />

by fax to 416-603-4791 or by regular mail to the address on page 6.<br />

We do not receive listings by phone, but you can call 416-323-2232<br />

x27 for further information.<br />

LISTINGS ZONE MAP. Visit our website to see a detailed version<br />

of this map: thewholenote.com.<br />

Lake<br />

Huron<br />

6<br />

Georgian<br />

Bay<br />

7<br />

2 1<br />

5<br />

Lake Erie<br />

3 4<br />

8<br />

City of Toronto<br />

LISTINGS<br />

Lake Ontario<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

IN THIS ISSUE: Aurora, Brampton, Etobicoke, King Township,<br />

Markham, Milton, Mississauga, Newmarket, North York, Oakville ,<br />

Richmond Hill, Scarborough, Sharon, Toronto.<br />

MUSICAL THEATRE<br />

The following musicals do not appear<br />

●●Rosedale Heights School of the Arts<br />

in the concert listings. Details for<br />

Musical Theatre. Rent.<br />

these performances can be found in<br />

●●Scarborough Music Theatre. Damn<br />

C. Musical Theatre on page 57.<br />

Yankees.<br />

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Anne of<br />

●●Shaw Festival. Alice in Wonderland.<br />

Green Gables, Avenue Q, Disney’s The Little ●●Stratford Festival. A Chorus Line.<br />

Mermaid.<br />

●●Theatre Sheridan. Grand Hotel.<br />

●●Mirvish Productions. If/Then, Kinky Boots. ●●Young People’s Theatre. The Wizard of Oz.<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 1<br />

●●12:10: Music at St. Andrew’s. Noontime<br />

Recital: Matthew Li, piano. St. Andrew’s<br />

Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593-5600 x231.<br />

Free.<br />

●●12:30: York University Department<br />

of Music. Music @ Midday: York University<br />

Brass and Percussion Ensembles. Tribute<br />

Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East<br />

Building, YU, 4700 Keele St. 647-459-0701.<br />

Free.<br />

●●1:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano Potpourri.<br />

Classics, opera, operetta, musicals,<br />

ragtime, pop, international and other genres.<br />

Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC.<br />

Concert in chapel; lunch and snack friendly.<br />

●●5:00: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. The Art of the Prima Donna. Staged<br />

and costumed program of romantic opera.<br />

Works by Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and others.<br />

Paul Widner, conductor. Walter Hall, Edward<br />

Johnson Building, University of Toronto,<br />

80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208. $20; $10(st).<br />

●●7:00: 3 in the 6ix. 2nd of 3: On a Whim.<br />

Debussy: Trio No.1 in G; Silberberg: On a<br />

Whim; Brahms: Trio No.1 in B. Jane St. Trio.<br />

Runnymede United Church, 432 Runnymede<br />

Rd. 416-767-6729. $25/$20(adv); $15(st/arts);<br />

$5(under 18).<br />

●●7:30: York University Department of<br />

Music. York U Gospel Choir. Karen Burke,<br />

conductor. Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre,<br />

Accolade East Building, 4700 Keele St.<br />

416-736-5888. $15; $10(sr/st). Also Apr 2.<br />

●●8:00: Art of Time Ensemble. Erwin Schulhoff.<br />

Dada, Jazz and the String Sextet: Portrait<br />

of a Forgotten Master. Harbourfront<br />

Centre Theatre, 235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-<br />

4000. $25–$59. Also Apr 2.<br />

●●8:00: Aurora Cultural Centre. John<br />

Sheard Presents The American Songbook.<br />

Reid Jamieson and Michael Louis Johnson.<br />

22 Church St., Aurora. 905-713-1818.<br />

$30/$25(adv).<br />

●●8:00: Etobicoke Community Concert<br />

Band. <strong>April</strong> Fools. Songs by Sinatra, Bennett,<br />

Martin, Darrin and others. Andy DeCampos,<br />

vocals. Etobicoke Collegiate Auditorium,<br />

86 Montgomery Rd., Etobicoke. 416-410-<br />

1570. $15.<br />

●●8:00: Exultate Chamber Singers. Stories<br />

of Love and Longing. Sjolund: Love Lost;<br />

Brahms: Liebeslieder Waltzes Op.52; Palestrina:<br />

Sicut Cervus; Enns: Like as the Hart;<br />

Bissell: A Song of Longing; works by Chatman,<br />

Britten, Mechem and Stroope. St. Thomas’s<br />

Anglican Church (Toronto), 383 Huron St.<br />

416-971-9229. $25; $20(sr); $10(st).<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Cameron Carpenter,<br />

Organ. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre,<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $35–$75.<br />

BENJAMIN<br />

ALARD<br />

SOLO<br />

HARPSICHORD<br />

BACH<br />

GOLDBERG<br />

VARIATIONS<br />

Mar 31-Apr 3<br />

416.964.6337<br />

tafelmusik.org<br />

●●8:00: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.<br />

Bach Goldberg Variations. Bach: Goldberg<br />

Variations; Trio Sonata from “The Musical<br />

Offering.” Benjamin Alard, solo harpsichord;<br />

Grégoire Jeay, flute; Jeanne Lamon, violin;<br />

Christina Mahler, cello. Trinity-St. Paul’s<br />

Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W.<br />

416-964-6337. $40 and up; $37 and up(sr);<br />

$20–$83(35 and under). Also Apr 2, 3(mat),<br />

5(George Weston Recital Hall).<br />

●●8:00: Toy Piano Composers/Bicycle Opera<br />

Project. TPC Curiosity Festival: Travelogue.<br />

Works by Monica Pearce, August Murphy-<br />

King/Colleen Murphy-King, Elisha Denburg,<br />

38 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


and Tobin Stokes. Members of the Bicycle<br />

Opera Project. Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm<br />

St. 647-829-4<strong>21</strong>3. $30(festival pass). Also<br />

Apr 2. Festival runs until Apr 9.<br />

●●8:00: Victoria College Chorus. Patience.<br />

Music by Arthur Sullivan. Libretto W. S. Gilbert.<br />

Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St.<br />

W. 416-978-8849. $20; $15(sr); $10(st). Also<br />

Apr 2(3:00).<br />

●●8:00: Voicebox/Opera in Concert. Isis and<br />

Osiris: Gods of Egypt. Music by Peter Anthony<br />

Togni. Libretto by Sharon Singer. Lucia Cesaroni<br />

(Isis); Michael Barrett (Osiris); Julie Nesrallah<br />

(Nepthys); Michael Nyby (Seth); Stuart<br />

Graham (The Grand Vizier); and others;<br />

Orchestra and Chorus of Voicebox: Opera<br />

In Concert; Robert Cooper, conductor and<br />

chorus director. St. Lawrence Centre for the<br />

Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-366-7723. $52 and<br />

$73. Also Apr 3 (2:30).<br />

●●8:30: Aga Khan Museum/Turkuaz TV.<br />

Turkish Masters Welcomed to the Aga Khan<br />

Museum. Ancient songs of Anatolia using<br />

traditional and modern instruments. Erkan<br />

Oğur, guitar; Ismail Hakkı Demircioğlu, saz<br />

and guitar. Aga Khan Museum Auditorium,<br />

77 Wynford Dr. 416-646-4677. From $45.<br />

Access to galleries with ticket (6:00-8:00).<br />

●●9:00: Skule Music. In Concert. Hart House,<br />

Arbor Room, 7 Hart House Circle. 416-978-<br />

2452. Free.<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 2<br />

●●12:00 noon: Lower Ossington Theatre.<br />

Disney’s The Litttle Mermaid: A Broadway<br />

Musical. Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by<br />

Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater. Book by<br />

Doug Wright. Alan Kinsella, stage director.<br />

Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst St. 416-915-<br />

6747. $39.99–$69.99. Runs to Apr 24. Days<br />

and times vary.<br />

●●2:00: Orchardviewers. Northern District.<br />

Ensemble from the University of Toronto Faculty<br />

of Music. Northern District Public Library,<br />

Room 224, 40 Orchard View Blvd. 416-393-<br />

7610. Free.<br />

●●2:00: Toronto Northern Lights Chorus.<br />

Genius of Music. Barbershop choral music.<br />

Guest: Toronto All-Star Big Band. George<br />

Weston Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 1-866-<br />

744-7467. $25–$30; $15(st); free(student<br />

ticket with purchase of adult ticket);<br />

free(under 3). Also 7:30.<br />

●●2:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Alligator<br />

Pie. Abigail Richardson-Schulte: Alligator<br />

Pie. Carla Huhtanen, soprano; Dennis Lee,<br />

poet; Kevin Frank, narrator; Earl Lee, conductor.<br />

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-<br />

598-3375. $20.50–$32.75. Also at 4:00.<br />

●●3:00: Victoria College Chorus. Patience.<br />

See Apr 1(8:00).<br />

●●4:00: Toronto Children’s Chorus/Cawthra<br />

Park Chamber Choir. Good Vibrations.<br />

Michel Ross and Alex Wang, piano; Elise Bradley<br />

and Bob Anderson, conductors. Church of<br />

the Redeemer, 162 Bloor St. W. 416-932-8666<br />

x231. $25; $20(sr/st); $10(child).<br />

●●4:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Alligator<br />

Pie. Abigail Richardson-Schulte: Alligator<br />

Pie. Carla Huhtanen, soprano; Dennis Lee,<br />

poet; Kevin Frank, narrator; Earl Lee, conductor.<br />

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-<br />

598-3375. $20.50–$32.75. Also at 2:00.<br />

●●4:30: Beach United Church. Jazz and<br />

Reflection: New Beginnings. Laura Fernandez,<br />

vocals; Don Naduriak, piano; Joaquin<br />

Nunez Hidalgo, drum. 140 Wineva Ave. 416-<br />

691-8082. Freewill offering.<br />

●●7:00: Aga Khan Museum/Raag-Mala Music<br />

Society of Toronto. Raags of the Gharana<br />

Tradition. Evening Raags with Anupama<br />

Bhagwat and Waseem Ahmed Khan. Aga<br />

Khan Museum Auditorium, 77 Wynford Dr.<br />

416-646-4677. $45 and up; $41(members).<br />

Two-concert pkg avail. Also Apr 3(mat).<br />

●●7:00: University of Toronto Scarborough,<br />

Department of Arts, Culture and Media.<br />

Spring Awakening. UTSC Concert Band;<br />

UTSC String Orchestra. Academic Resource<br />

Centre, University of Toronto Scarborough,<br />

1265 Military Trail, Scarborough. 416-208-<br />

4769. Free.<br />

●●7:30: Etobicoke Centennial Choir. When<br />

Daffodils Begin to Peer. Holst: Choral Hymns<br />

from the Rig Veda Op.26 No.1; Six Songs of<br />

Early Canada (arr. Patriquin); Halley: Love<br />

Songs for Springtime; Shearing: Songs and<br />

Sonnets from Shakespeare. Henry Renglich,<br />

conductor. Guests: Unionville Montessori<br />

School Appassionata Singers. Humber Valley<br />

United Church, 76 Anglesey Blvd., Etobicoke.<br />

416-769-9271. $25.<br />

●●7:30: Mississauga Big Band Jazz Ensemble.<br />

Best of Big Band Open Mic. Living<br />

Arts Centre, 4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga.<br />

905-306-6000 or 1-888-805-8888.<br />

$30–$45.<br />

●●7:30: Music On The Donway. Retro Ramblers<br />

Quartet. Music of the 50s, 60s, 70s and<br />

beyond. Donway Covenant United Church,<br />

230 The Donway W. 416-444-8444. $20;<br />

free(under 13).<br />

●●7:30: Opera by Request. Weber’s Abu Hassan<br />

and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. Semistaged<br />

with piano accompaniment. Henry<br />

Irwin, baritone (Abu Hassan); Michele<br />

Danese, soprano (Fatima); Steven Henrikson,<br />

baritone (Omar); Deena Nicklefork,<br />

soprano (Judith); Larry Tozer, baritone (Bluebeard);<br />

Gregory Finney, stage director; William<br />

Shookhoff, piano/conductor. College<br />

Street United Church, 452 College St. 416-<br />

455-2365. $20.<br />

●●7:30: Toronto Concert Orchestra. Piaf<br />

Encore. La Vie en rose, I Love Paris, Rien de<br />

rien, Pauvre Jean, Milord and other songs.<br />

Pandora Topp, vocals (Piaf); Kerry Stratton,<br />

conductor. The Extension Room, 30 Eastern<br />

Ave. 647-352-7041. $45.<br />

●●7:30: Toronto Northern Lights Chorus.<br />

Genius of Music. Barbershop choral music.<br />

Guest: Toronto All-Star Big Band. George<br />

Weston Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 1-866-<br />

744-7467. $25–$30; $15(st); free(student<br />

ticket with purchase of adult ticket);<br />

free(under 3). Also 2:00.<br />

●●7:30: York University Department of<br />

Music. York U Gospel Choir. Karen Burke,<br />

conductor. Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre,<br />

Accolade East Building, 4700 Keele St.<br />

416-736-5888. $15; $10(sr/st). Also Apr 1.<br />

●●8:00: Acoustic Harvest. Red Dirt Skinners.<br />

Featuring blues, country, folk, honky<br />

tonk, klezmer and ballads. Opening set: Joal<br />

Kamps. Sarah Skinner, soprano saxophone;<br />

Rob Skinner, guitar and vocals. St. Nicholas<br />

Anglican Church, 1512 Kingston Rd. 416-691-<br />

0449. $25/$22(adv).<br />

●●8:00: Art of Time Ensemble. Erwin Schulhoff.<br />

Dada, Jazz and the String Sextet: Portrait<br />

of a Forgotten Master. Harbourfront<br />

Centre Theatre, 235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-<br />

4000. $25–$59. Also Apr 1.<br />

●●8:00: Mississauga Festival Chamber<br />

Choir. Spring Serenade. Gjeilo: Sunrise<br />

Mass; other works. First United Church (Port<br />

Credit), 151 Lakeshore Rd W., Mississauga.<br />

905-278-3714. $25; $15(child).<br />

●●8:00: Mississauga Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Spring. Copland: Appalachian Spring;<br />

Debussy: Danse sacrée et profane; Dvořák:<br />

Symphony No.6. Erica Goodman, harp; Denis<br />

Mastromonaco, conductor. Hammerson Hall,<br />

Living Arts Centre, 4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga.<br />

905-306-6000. $30–$65.<br />

●●8:00: Nagata Shachu Japanese Taiko<br />

Drum and Music Ensemble/TorQ Percussion<br />

Quartet. In Concert. Japanese, Western<br />

and world percussion. TorQ: Richard<br />

Burrows, Adam Campbell, Jamie Drake, and<br />

Daniel Morphy; Kiyoshi Nagata, music director.<br />

Brigantine Room, Harbourfront Centre,<br />

235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000.<br />

$35/$30(adv); $20(sr/st).<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. TD Jazz: Katrina<br />

10 Years On. Blanchard: A Tale of God’s Will<br />

(A Requiem for Katrina). Terence Blanchard,<br />

trumpet. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre,<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $40–$95.<br />

●●8:00: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra.<br />

Shakespeare in Love: Romeo and<br />

Juliet. Salvation Army Scarborough Citadel,<br />

20<strong>21</strong> Lawrence Ave. E., Scarborough. 416-<br />

429-0007. $30; $25(sr); $15(st); $10(child).<br />

●●8:00: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.<br />

Bach Goldberg Variations. See Apr 1. Also<br />

Apr 3(mat), 5(George Weston Recital Hall).<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra.<br />

National Arts Centre Orchestra. R. Strauss:<br />

Don Juan; Mozart: Piano Concerto No.20<br />

K466; Sokolović: Ringelspiel; R. Strauss:<br />

Death and Transfiguration. Gabriela Montero,<br />

piano; National Arts Centre Orchestra, guest<br />

orchestra; Alexander Shelley, conductor. Roy<br />

Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375.<br />

$33.75–$148.<br />

●●8:00: Toy Piano Composers/Bicycle Opera<br />

Project. TPC Curiosity Festival: Travelogue.<br />

Works by Monica Pearce, August Murphy-<br />

King/Colleen Murphy-King, Elisha Denburg,<br />

and Tobin Stokes. Members of the Bicycle<br />

Opera Project. Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm<br />

St. 647-829-4<strong>21</strong>3. $30(festival pass). Also<br />

Apr 1. Festival runs until Apr 9.<br />

●●8:00: Univox Choir. Everything Beautiful.<br />

Tahirih Vejdani, conductor. Eastminster<br />

United Church, 310 Danforth Ave. 416-463-<br />

<strong>21</strong>79. $25/20 (sr, st, adv).<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 3<br />

●●12:30: Harmonia Hungarica. Spring<br />

Orlando Consort:<br />

La passion de<br />

Jeanne d’Arc<br />

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 3PM<br />

KOERNER HALL<br />

Ask LUDWIG<br />

Concert. Works by Aichinger, Lassus,<br />

Brahms, Bartók, Kodály and others. Katalin<br />

Végh, conductor. First Hungarian Presbyterian<br />

Church, 439 Vaughan Road. 416-971-9754.<br />

Freewill offering.<br />

●●1:30: Payadora Tango Duo. In Concert.<br />

Music of Buenos Aires exploring the past and<br />

present of Argentinian Tango. Neighbourhood<br />

Unitarian Universalist Congregation,<br />

79 Hiawatha Rd. 416-686-6809. $25(family);<br />

$15; $10(sr/child/artist).<br />

●●2:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Heart Songs. Corlis: Heart Songs of<br />

the White Wampum; Beethoven: Choral Fantasy;<br />

and other works. University of Toronto<br />

Symphony Orchestra; Women’s Chamber<br />

Choir; Men’s Chorus; Beverley Johnston,<br />

marimba; Hilary Apfelstadt, Elaine Choi,<br />

Tracy Wong and Mark Ramsay, conductors.<br />

MacMillan Theatre, Edward Johnson Building,<br />

80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208. $30;<br />

$20(sr); $10(st).<br />

●●2:30: Voicebox/Opera in Concert. Isis and<br />

Osiris: Gods of Egypt. See Apr 1 (8:00).<br />

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208<br />

WWW.PERFORMANCE.RCMUSIC.CA<br />

●●3:00: Royal Conservatory. Orlando Consort:<br />

La passion de Jeanne d’Arc. Koerner<br />

Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-<br />

0208. $30–$55. With a film screening of La<br />

passion de Jeanne d’Arc (1928).<br />

●●3:00: Aga Khan Museum/Raag-Mala Music<br />

If you prefer NOT to read through all 356 listings in this section<br />

looking for Leonid Nediak or Koerner Hall or<br />

Early Music or Syrinx or Zone 3 then don't.<br />

TheWholeNote.com/index.php/listings/ask-ludwig<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 39


Society of Toronto. Raags of the Gharana<br />

Tradition. Afternoon Raags with Ramesh<br />

Mishra and Devaki Pandit. Aga Khan Museum<br />

Auditorium, 77 Wynford Dr. 416-646-4677.<br />

$45 and up; $41(members). Two-concert pkg<br />

avail. Also Apr 2(eve).<br />

●●3:00: Florivox. Shadows and Light. Gillian<br />

Stecyk, conductor. Grace Church on-the-<br />

Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-488-7884. $25/20<br />

(sr, st, adv).<br />

Ensemble<br />

Made In Canada<br />

Angela Park, piano<br />

Sharon Wei, viola<br />

Elissa Lee, violin<br />

Rachel Mercer, cello<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 3, 3pm<br />

SyrinxConcerts.ca<br />

●●3:00: Syrinx. Ensemble Made in Canada.<br />

Works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Omar<br />

Daniel. Angela Park, piano; Sharon Wei, viola;<br />

Elissa Lee, violin; Rachel Mercer, cello. Heliconian<br />

Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-922-3618.<br />

$25; $20(st). Post-concert reception.<br />

●●3:00: York University Department of<br />

Music. York U Wind Symphony. William<br />

Thomas, conductor. Tribute Communities<br />

Recital Hall, Accolade East Building, YU,<br />

4700 Keele St. 416-736-5888. $15; $10(sr/st).<br />

●●3:00: Zephyr Piano Trio. In Concert. Works<br />

by Mendelssohn, Smetana and Piazzolla. Ilona<br />

Beres, Terry Holowach and Edward Hayes.<br />

Humbercrest United Church, 16 Baby Point<br />

Rd. 416-694-8923. $20; $15(sr/st); free(under<br />

12).<br />

●●3:30: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.<br />

Bach Goldberg Variations. See Apr 1. Also<br />

Apr 5(George Weston Recital Hall).<br />

●●4:00: Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto.<br />

Carmina Burana. Orff: Carmina Burana; Dello<br />

Joio: Psalm of David. Leslie Fagan, soprano;<br />

Christopher Mayell, tenor; Peter MacGillivray,<br />

baritone; Amadeus Choir; Buffalo Master<br />

Chorale; Bach Children’s Choir; Shawn<br />

Grenke, piano. Toronto Centre for the Arts,<br />

5040 Yonge St., North York. 416-446-0188.<br />

$45; $40(sr); $35(under 30); $20(st).<br />

●●4:00: Church of St. Mary Magdalene.<br />

Organ Fireworks. Andrew Adair, organ.<br />

Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Toronto),<br />

477 Manning Ave. 416-531-7955. Free.<br />

●●4:00: Hart House Chorus. Spring Concert.<br />

Haydn: Missa in tempore belli (Mass in<br />

Time of War); Gjeilo: Dark Night of the Soul.<br />

Daivd Eliakis, accompanist; Daniel Norman,<br />

conductor. Hart House, Great Hall, 7 Hart<br />

House Circle. 647-774-0755. Free. Donations<br />

accepted on behalf of Sistema Toronto.<br />

●●4:00: St. Philip’s Anglican Church. Jazz<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

Vespers: Tribute to Duke Ellington. Mike Murley,<br />

saxophone; Mark Eisenman, piano; Pat<br />

Collins, bass; Barry Elmes, drums. 25 St. Phillips<br />

Rd., Etobicoke. 416-247-5181. Freewill<br />

offering.<br />

●●4:30: Christ Church Deer Park. Jazz Vespers.<br />

Mark Eisenman Trio. 1570 Yonge St. 416-<br />

920-5<strong>21</strong>1. Free. Donations welcome.<br />

●●5:00: Nocturnes in the City. Jan Novotný,<br />

piano. Works by Smetana and Schumann. St.<br />

Wenceslaus Church, 496 Gladstone Ave. 416-<br />

481-7294. $25; $15(st). CANCELLED.<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Percussion Ensemble Concert. Walter<br />

Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University<br />

of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208.<br />

Free.<br />

viva electronica<br />

Sun. Apr. 3 | Oliphant Theatre<br />

www.NewMusicConcerts.com<br />

●●8:00: New Music Concerts. Viva Electronica.<br />

Hamel: Dreamer; Kessler: Is It Marion?;<br />

Tan: On the Sensations of Tone II; Ahn: LOL;<br />

Steenhuisen: Vajrayana Tantra Shift. Gregory<br />

Oh, solo piano; Xin Wang, soprano; Wallace<br />

Halladay, saxophone; New Music Concerts<br />

Ensemble; Robert Aitken, conductor. Betty<br />

Oliphant Theatre, 404 Jarvis St. 416-961-<br />

9594. $35; $25(sr/artists); $10(st). Introduction<br />

at 7:15.<br />

Monday <strong>April</strong> 4<br />

●●12:30: York University Department of<br />

Music. Music @ Midday: Instrumental<br />

Masterclass in Concert. Tribute Communities<br />

Recital Hall, Accolade East Building, YU,<br />

4700 Keele St. 647-459-0701. Free.<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Cecilia String Quartet. Agócs: Commissioned<br />

piece; Mendelssohn: String Quartet<br />

in e Op.44 No.2; Brahms: Clarinet Quintet<br />

in b Op.115. Cecilia String Quartet; Kati Agócs,<br />

soprano; James Campbell, clarinet. Walter<br />

Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University<br />

of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208.<br />

$40; $25(sr); $10(st).<br />

●●7:30: York University Department of<br />

Music. York University Concert and Chamber<br />

Choir. Robert Cooper, interim conductor, Ted<br />

Moroney, accompaniment. Tribute Communities<br />

Recital Hall, Accolade East Building, YU,<br />

4700 Keele St. 416-736-5888. $15; $10(sr/st).<br />

Tuesday <strong>April</strong> 5<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Chamber Music Series: Violin Masters. Works<br />

by Leclair and Ysaÿe. Marie Bérard, violin;<br />

Aaron Schwebel, violin. Richard Bradshaw<br />

Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the<br />

Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-<br />

8231. Free. Late seating is not available.<br />

●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/<br />

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Lunchtime<br />

Chamber Music. Rising Stars Recital.<br />

Featuring students from the Glenn Gould<br />

School. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church,<br />

1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. Free. Donations<br />

welcome.<br />

●●5:00: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Free<br />

Pop-Up Concert. Noel Edison, conductor.<br />

Allan Lambert Galleria, Brookfield Place,<br />

181 Bay St. 416-598-0422. Free. Also at 5:30.<br />

●●5:30: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Free<br />

Pop-Up Concert. Noel Edison, conductor.<br />

Allan Lambert Galleria, Brookfield Place,<br />

181 Bay St. 416-598-0422. Free. Also at 5:00.<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Student Woodwind Chamber Ensemble<br />

Concert. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson<br />

Building, University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s<br />

Park. 416-408-0208. Free.<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Guitar Orchestra Concert. U of T Art<br />

Centre, 15 King’s College Cir. 416-408-0208.<br />

Free.<br />

●●8:00: Array Music. 4 New Works. Hostman:<br />

Yet, the Rain Falls More Darkly; Newsome:<br />

Capsule; Scime: Scivias - Know the Ways; S.<br />

Wilson: untitled. Array Ensemble; guest: Carla<br />

Huhtanen, soprano. Array Space, 155 Walnut<br />

Ave. 416-532-3019. $20.<br />

●●8:00: Hirut Jazz. Finger Style Guitar Association.<br />

Hirut Restaurant, 2050 Danforth Ave.<br />

416-551-7560. PWYC. Also Apr 19.<br />

Music TORONTO<br />

DUO TURGEON<br />

<strong>April</strong> 5 at 8 pm<br />

●●8:00: Music Toronto. Duo Turgeon. Valery<br />

Gavrilin: Sketches; Ravel: Second Suite from<br />

Daphnis and Chloe, Vyacheslav Gryaznov:<br />

new arrangement for two pianos; Lutoslawski:<br />

Variations on a theme by Paganini. Anne<br />

Louise-Turgeon, piano; Edward Turgeon,<br />

piano. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence<br />

Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-366-<br />

7723. $55, $50; $10(st); age 18 to 35 – pay<br />

your age.<br />

BENJAMIN<br />

ALARD<br />

SOLO<br />

HARPSICHORD<br />

BACH<br />

GOLDBERG<br />

VARIATIONS<br />

Apr 5<br />

1.855.985.2787<br />

tafelmusik.org<br />

●●8:00: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.<br />

Bach Goldberg Variations. Bach: Goldberg<br />

Variations; Trio Sonata from “The Musical<br />

Offering.” Benjamin Alard, solo harpsichord;<br />

Grégoire Jeay, flute; Jeanne Lamon, violin;<br />

Christina Mahler, cello. George Weston<br />

Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 1-855-985-2787.<br />

$37 and up; $32 and up(sr); $15–$70(35 and<br />

under). Also Mar 31, Apr 1, 2, 3(mat), (all at<br />

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre).<br />

Wednesday <strong>April</strong> 6<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Piano Virtuoso Series: Chopin Preludes.<br />

Rossina Grieco, piano. Richard Bradshaw<br />

Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the<br />

Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-<br />

8231. Free. Late seating is not available.<br />

●●12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist Church.<br />

Angus Sinclair, Organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-<br />

922-1167. Free.<br />

●●7:00: Civic Light Opera Company. Two by<br />

Two. Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by<br />

Martin Chamin. Book by Peter Stone. Joe Cascone,<br />

director/designer. Zion Cultural Centre,<br />

1650 Finch Ave. E. 416-755-1717. $28. Runs to<br />

Apr 17. Days and times vary.<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Vocalis Master’s/DMA Series. Emmanuel<br />

College Chapel, 75 Queen’s Park Cr. E. 416-<br />

408-0208. Free.<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. gamUT Contemporary Music Ensemble.<br />

Wallace Halladay, director. Walter Hall,<br />

Edward Johnson Building, University of<br />

Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208.<br />

Free.<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. World Music:<br />

Anoushka Shankar, sitar. Koerner Hall, Telus<br />

Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208.<br />

$40–$90.<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Beethoven: Piano Concerto 4. Agócs: Perpetual<br />

Summer; Beethoven: Piano Concerto<br />

No.4; Sibelius: Symphony No.1. Francesco Piemontesi,<br />

piano; Thomas Søndergård, conductor.<br />

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St.<br />

416-598-3375. $33.75–$148. Also Apr 8(7:30).<br />

●●8:00: Toy Piano Composers. TPC Curiosity<br />

Festival: Playback. Nancy Tam, curator. Canadian<br />

Music Centre, 20 St. Joseph St. 647-<br />

829-4<strong>21</strong>3. $30(festival pass). Festival runs<br />

until Apr 9.<br />

40 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Thursday <strong>April</strong> 7<br />

●●12:00 noon: Adam Sherkin. Chopin: Fantastic<br />

Jest. Chopin: Fantasy in f Op.49; Scherzo<br />

No.3 in c-sharp Op.39; ​Sherkin: ​new work.<br />

Adam Sherkin, piano. Bluma Appel Lobby, St.<br />

Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E.<br />

416-366-7723. Free. Presented in partnership<br />

with Steinway Piano Gallery.<br />

●●12:00 noon: Encore Symphonic Concert<br />

Band. In Concert: Classics and Jazz. John<br />

Edward Liddle, conductor. Wilmar Heights<br />

Centre, 963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough.<br />

416-346-3910. $10. Includes coffee and<br />

snack. Also May 5.<br />

●●12:15: Metropolitan United Church. Noon<br />

at Met. Joshua Ehlebracht, organ. Metropolitan<br />

United Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E.<br />

416-363-0331 x26. Free.<br />

●●1:30: Women’s Musical Club of Toronto.<br />

Music in the Afternoon: Dannthology. Biber:<br />

Passacaglia; Zosha di Castri: WMCT commission<br />

premiere; Peter Lieberson: Rumble;<br />

Schumann: Märchenbilder Op.113; Brahms:<br />

Viola Sonata in E-flat Op.12 No.2. Steven Dann,<br />

viola; Nico Dann, percussion; Robin Dann,<br />

vocals; Joel Quarrington, double bass; James<br />

Parker, piano. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson<br />

Building, University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s<br />

Park. 416-923-7052. $45.<br />

●●7:00: Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.<br />

Tsumugu. Amami Island folk songs, Tsugaru<br />

shamisen, taiko drumming. Anna Sato, vocals;<br />

Chie Hanawa, Tsugaru shamisen; Keita<br />

Kanazashi, taiko drum and Japanese flute.<br />

6 Garamond Ct. 416-441-2345. $30; $25(JCCC<br />

members).<br />

●●7:00: Toronto Secondary School Music<br />

Teachers’ Association. 65th Annual “Sounds<br />

of Toronto” Concert. Featuring 1,000 students<br />

from 30 schools in song, concert and<br />

jazz bands, string and symphony orchestras,<br />

steel pan, small groups and as student conductors.<br />

Works by Bernstein, Williams, Grainger,<br />

Tchaikovsky, Mozart and others. Massey<br />

Hall, 178 Victoria St. 416-394-7130 x20044.<br />

$10.<br />

●●7:30: Church of the Holy Trinity. Steinway<br />

Piano Fundraising Concert. Works by Burton,<br />

Schubert/Boehm, Linton-France, Chopin,<br />

Debussy, Aitken and Meyer-Obersleben. Robert<br />

Aitken, flute; William Aide, piano. 10 Trinity<br />

Sq. 416-598-45<strong>21</strong> x301. $25. Presenting Holy<br />

Trinity’s new Steinway.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 7 - 16, <strong>2016</strong><br />

Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge St.<br />

OPER AATELIER.COM<br />

DON’T MISS<br />

TORONTO’S OPER A<br />

EVENT OF THE SEASON!<br />

●●7:30: Opera Atelier. Lucio Silla. Mozart.<br />

Kresimir Spicer (Lucio); Inga Kalna (Cinna);<br />

Mireille Asselin (Celia); Peggy Kriha Dye<br />

(Cecillio); Meghan Lindsay (Giunia); Marshall<br />

Pynkoski, stage director; Jeannette Lajeunesse<br />

Zingg, choreographer; Artists of Atelier<br />

Ballet; Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; David<br />

Fallis, conductor. Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge<br />

St. 1-855-622-2787. $38–$181; $15(under 30).<br />

Media Night. Also Apr 9, 10, 12, 15, 16; start<br />

times vary.<br />

●●7:30: Royal Conservatory. Mazzoleni Masters:<br />

Musicians from Marlboro. Haydn: String<br />

Quartet in C Op.20 No.2; Berg: Lyric Suite;<br />

Dvořák: Piano Quintet No.2 in A Op.81. Itamar<br />

Zorman, Robin Scott, violin; Samuel Rhodes,<br />

viola; Brook Speltz, cello; Cynthia Raim, piano.<br />

Mazzoleni Concert Hall, Royal Conservatory,<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $25.<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. World Music Ensembles. African<br />

Drumming and Dancing Ensemble; Latin-<br />

American Percussion Ensemble; Steel Pan<br />

Ensemble. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson<br />

Building, University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s<br />

Park. 416-408-0208. Free.<br />

●●8:00: Blythwood Winds. Continental Drift.<br />

Schumann: Rhenish Symphony (Mvt 1; arr.<br />

Vander Hyden); Klughardt: Quintett; Bitsch:<br />

Sonatine; Françaix: Quintet No.1. Tim Crouch,<br />

flute; Anthony Thompson, clarinet; Elizabeth<br />

Eccleston, oboe; Michael Macaulay, bassoon;<br />

Curtis Vander Hyden, horn. Array Space,<br />

155 Walnut Ave. 647-567-7906. $20/$15(adv);<br />

$10(sr/st).<br />

●●9:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall. Liz<br />

Loughrey. Rivoli, 334 Queen St. W. 416-872-<br />

4255. $15. Restricted to 19 and over.<br />

Photo: Daniel Foley<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 8<br />

●●12:10: Music at St. Andrew’s. Noontime<br />

Recital: Michael Westwood, clarinet. St.<br />

Andrew’s Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593-<br />

5600 x231. Free.<br />

●●1:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano<br />

Potpourri. Classics, opera, operetta, musicals,<br />

ragtime, pop, international and other<br />

genres. Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-<br />

St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-<br />

4300. PWYC. Concert in chapel; lunch and<br />

snack friendly.<br />

●●7:00: Soundstreams Salon <strong>21</strong>. Clapping<br />

Music. Learn and perform Steve Reich’s<br />

Clapping Music in an 80-person ensemble.<br />

Gardiner Museum, 111 Queen’s Park.<br />

416-504-1282. Free; PWYC. Preferred seating<br />

available.<br />

●●7:30: Alexander Showcase Theatre.<br />

The Addams Family. Music and lyrics by<br />

Andrew Lippa. Book by Marshall Brickman<br />

and Rick Elice. Based on characters created<br />

by Charles Addams. Fairview Library Theatre,<br />

35 Fairview Mall Dr. 416-324-1259. $32;<br />

$27(sr/st). Until Apr 16. Days and times vary.<br />

●●7:30: Essential Opera. She’s The One.<br />

Contemporary operas by Uyeda, Raum, Höstmann,<br />

Pidgorna, Estacio and Heggie. Erin<br />

Bardua, soprano; Maureen Batt, soprano;<br />

Maureen Ferguson, soprano; Julie Ludwig,<br />

soprano; Cheryl Duvall, music director and<br />

piano. Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-<br />

827-3009. $25; $20(sr/st/arts worker).<br />

●●7:30: Leonard Music Services/Shaw Percussion.<br />

The Heillig Manoeuvre. Original jazz<br />

compositions and other works. Henry Heillig,<br />

bass; Stacie McGregor, piano; Alison Young,<br />

saxes; Charlie Cooley, drums. Sharon-Hope<br />

United Church, 18648 Leslie Street, Sharon.<br />

905-722-5449. $25/$20(adv).<br />

‘NOON<br />

AT MET’<br />

Free concerts<br />

at 12:15 pm<br />

Apr. 7<br />

Apr.14<br />

Apr.<strong>21</strong><br />

Metropolitan United Church<br />

56 Queen Street E .,Toronto<br />

416-363-0331 (ext. 26)<br />

www.metunited.org<br />

Church of the Holy Trinity<br />

presents<br />

Robert Aitken, flute<br />

William Aide, piano<br />

Thursday <strong>April</strong> 7, 7:30pm<br />

Join us as we unveil and celebrate<br />

our new Steinway piano.<br />

Hear two of Canada’s pre-eminent musicians,<br />

together for the first time in decades, in a<br />

program of Romantic repertoire.<br />

Music<br />

at Metropolitan<br />

Joshua Ehlebracht,<br />

organist<br />

Ellen McAteer, soprano<br />

Koichi Inoue, pianist<br />

Apr. 28 Jessika Whitfield, soprano<br />

Matthew Whitfield,<br />

pianist<br />

May 5 Julia Morson, soprano,<br />

Rashaan Allwood, pianist<br />

Tickets $25 at the door ~ proceeds to offset new piano expenses ~<br />

Trinity Square, beside the Eaton Centre<br />

416-598-45<strong>21</strong> ext. 301 | ht@holytrinitytoronto.org<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 41


●●7:30: Toronto Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Beethoven: Piano Concerto 4. Agócs: Perpetual<br />

Summer; Beethoven: Piano Concerto<br />

No.4; Sibelius: Symphony No.1. Francesco Piemontesi,<br />

piano; Thomas Søndergård, conductor.<br />

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St.<br />

416-598-3375. $33.75–$148. Also Apr 6(8:00).<br />

●●8:00: Alliance Française Toronto. Olivier<br />

de Spiegeleir Classical Concert: Classic<br />

makes its Cinema. Belgian pianist plays works<br />

from the cinema by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin,<br />

Schubert and Strauss. Alliance Française<br />

de Toronto, 24 Spadina Rd. 416-922-2014 x37.<br />

$15; $10(mem/sr/st).<br />

●●8:00: Hirut Jazz. Latin Jazz with Don<br />

Naduriak Quintet. Hirut Restaurant,<br />

2050 Danforth Ave. 416-551-7560. By<br />

donation.<br />

●●8:00: Music Gallery. Emergents III: Jeremy<br />

Bellaviti and The Science of What?<br />

Curated by Alex Samaras. 197 John St. 416-<br />

204-1080. $12; $8(members).<br />

●●8:00: Oakville Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts. Dan Cooper Concert Series: Gordie<br />

MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys. 130 Navy<br />

St., Oakville. 905-815-20<strong>21</strong>. $42.<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Leon Fleisher<br />

Conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra.<br />

Brahms: Violin Concerto in D; R. Strauss: Don<br />

Juan; Ravel: La valse. Alex Volkov, violin; Leon<br />

Fleisher, conductor. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre,<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $25–$55.<br />

6:45: Prelude Recital.<br />

●●8:00: Sinfonia Toronto. Elements. McLean:<br />

Elements; Mozart: Rondo for Violin and<br />

Orchestra K269; Beethoven: Grosse Fuge;<br />

Glazunov: Theme and Variations. Brian Lewis,<br />

violin. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W.<br />

416-499-0403. $42; $35(sr); $19(arts/nonprofit<br />

worker).<br />

●●8:00: St. Jude’s Church. Celebration of the<br />

Arts: Puttin’ on the Ritz. Selections include<br />

Top Hat, Cheek to Cheek, Heat Wave, Always,<br />

What’ll I Do, and Puttin’ on the Ritz. The Talisker<br />

Players Quartet; Whitney O’Hearn, soprano;<br />

Bud Roach, tenor. St. Jude’s Anglican<br />

Church, 160 William St., Oakville. 905-844-<br />

3972. $30.<br />

●●9:00: Hart House Jazz Ensemble. In Concert.<br />

Hart House, Arbor Room, 7 Hart House<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

Circle. 416-978-2452. Free.<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 9<br />

●●3:00: Walmer Road Baptist Church. Organ<br />

Recital and Choir. Works by Bach, Schumann,<br />

Bonet and Kodály. Imre Olah, organ/conductor.<br />

188 Lowther Ave. 416-924-11<strong>21</strong>. Freewill<br />

offering.<br />

●●7:00: Latin Flute Festival. In Recital. Latin<br />

American music for flutes. Christine Beard,<br />

flute; Christopher Lee, flute; James Brown,<br />

guitar. Hart House, Music Room, 7 Hart House<br />

Circle. 416-294-4259. Entry by donation.<br />

UofT Symphony Orchestra<br />

Uri Mayer, conductor. Performing<br />

Brahms’ Symphony No. 3, Op. 90 in F<br />

Major and Shostakovich’s Symphony<br />

No. 5, Op. 47.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 9, <strong>2016</strong><br />

MacMillan Theatre, 80 Queen’s Park<br />

$30, $20 senior, $10 student<br />

music.utoronto.ca / 416-408-0208<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. University of Toronto Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Brahms: Symphony No.3 Op.90<br />

in F; Shostakovich: Symphony No.5 Op.47.<br />

Uri Mayer, conductor. MacMillan Theatre,<br />

Edward Johnson Building, 80 Queen’s Park.<br />

416-408-0208. $30; $20(sr); $10(st).<br />

●●7:30: Coro San Marco. Singing Together.<br />

A celebration of different cultures through<br />

choral music. Armonia; Cantemos; Chinese<br />

Canadian Choir of Toronto; Coro San<br />

Marco; Joyful Singers; La Petite Musicale;<br />

Nayiri Armenian Choir of Toronto; Noor Choir;<br />

Toronto Taiwanese Choir. Toronto Full of Joy<br />

Church, 1100 Petrolia Rd. 416-399-8053 or<br />

905-275-6880. $20.<br />

●●7:30: Jazz Oriental. Making the Rent 2.<br />

Sudanese, Persian and Syrian music. Waleed<br />

Abdulhamid, multi-instrumentalist, vocals;<br />

Naghmeh Farahmand, percussion; Nawras<br />

Nader, lute, guitar and vocals. Eastminster<br />

United Church, 310 Danforth Ave. 416-588-<br />

4769. $20; free(newcomers to Canada/under<br />

12). Collaboration among 4 refugee sponsorship<br />

groups to raise funds.<br />

●●7:30: Opera Atelier. Lucio Silla. Also Apr 9,<br />

10, 12, 15, 16; start times vary.<br />

●●7:30: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A Midsummer<br />

Night’s Dream and More. Wagner:<br />

“Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walküre; Handel:<br />

Harp Concerto; Mendelssohn: Selections<br />

from A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Elgar:<br />

Variations on an Original Theme “Enigma”.<br />

Heidi Van Hoesen Gorton, harp; James<br />

Feddeck, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall,<br />

60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. $33.75–$107.<br />

Also Apr 10(3:00).<br />

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Copland 2015: What Is<br />

Future? Spoken word and improvised music.<br />

Bill Gilliam and friends. 345 Sorauren Ave.<br />

416-822-9781. $20/$10(st/arts workers).<br />

●●8:00: Markham Theatre for the Performing<br />

Arts. Wu Man and Shanghai Quartet.<br />

Wu Man, pipa; Shanghai Quartet. 171 Town<br />

Centre Blvd., Markham. 905-305-7469.<br />

$59–$64.<br />

●●8:00: Oakville Symphony Orchestra. The<br />

Titan. Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No.2;<br />

Mahler: Symphony No.1 “The Titan.” Guest:<br />

Sheng Cai, piano. Oakville Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts, 130 Navy St., Oakville. 905-815-<br />

20<strong>21</strong> or 888-489-7784. $54; $49(sr); $26(st/<br />

child). Also Apr 10(mat).<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Johnny Clegg.<br />

Blend of Western pop and South African<br />

Zulu rhythms. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre,<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $50–$90.<br />

●●8:00: Toy Piano Composers. TPC Curiosity<br />

Festival: Metal. Works by Fiona Ryan, Chris<br />

Thornborrow, Bekah Simms, Daniel Brophy,<br />

RuthGuechtal, and Alex Eddington. Toy Piano<br />

Composers Ensemble; Pratik Gandhi, conductor.<br />

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 647-<br />

829-4<strong>21</strong>3. $15–$20. Festival runs until Apr 9.<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 10<br />

●●10:30am: Lawrence Park Community<br />

Church. Lion King. Elton John: Lion King medley;<br />

J.S. Bach: “Alleluia” from Cantata No.142.<br />

Confederation Centre Youth Chorus; Donald<br />

Fraser, conductor. <strong>21</strong>80 Bayview Ave. 416-<br />

489-1551. Freewill offering. Religious Service.<br />

●●2:00: Jacqueline Gélineau presents. Easter<br />

Oratorio BWV249. J.S. Bach. Darlene Shura,<br />

soprano; Jacqueline Gélineau, contralto;<br />

Asitha Tennekoon, tenor; John Holland, baritone;<br />

Brahm Goldhamer, conductor and harpsichord.<br />

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave.<br />

416-922-3618. Free; donations accepted.<br />

●●2:00: Oakville Symphony Orchestra. The<br />

Titan. See Apr 9(eve).<br />

●●3:00: Music at Islington. Triptych: Prelude/Chorale/Fugue.<br />

An exploration of<br />

musical forms by J.S. Bach with transcriptions<br />

by Siloti and Busoni, mirrored by Franck,<br />

linked by Liszt and Wagner. Asher Ian Armstrong,<br />

piano. Islington United Church,<br />

25 Burnhamthorpe Rd. 416-239-1131. PWYC.<br />

Food Bank donation appreciated.<br />

●●3:00: Off Centre Music Salon. <strong>21</strong>st Annual<br />

Schubertiad: Beyond the Brook. Colleen<br />

Cook, Jeffrey Hill, Inna Perkis, Boris Zarankin<br />

and Ilana Zarankin. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-466-1870. $50; $40(sr/<br />

st); $15(young adult); $5(child).<br />

●●3:00: Opera Atelier. Lucio Silla. Also Apr 10,<br />

12, 15, 16; start times vary.<br />

●●3:00: Royal Conservatory. Valentina<br />

Lisitsa, piano. Scriabin: Preludes; Poème in<br />

D-flat Op.41; Flammes sombres Op.73; Polonaise<br />

in B-flat Op.<strong>21</strong>; Poème tragique in B-flat<br />

Op.34; Poème satanique in C Op. 36; Tchaikovsky:<br />

Children’s Album Op.39; Rachmaninoff:<br />

Piano Sonata No.1 in d Op.28. Koerner<br />

Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-<br />

0208. $35–$85.<br />

●●3:00: St. Paul’s Bloor Street. Organ<br />

Recital. Works by Bach, Boëllmann and Widor.<br />

Thomas Bell, organ. 227 Bloor St. E. 416-961-<br />

8116. Free. Retiring collection.<br />

●●3:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A<br />

Midsummer Night’s Dream and More. Wagner:<br />

“Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walküre;<br />

Handel: Harp Concerto; Mendelssohn: Selections<br />

from A Midsummer Night’s Dream;<br />

Elgar: Variations on an Original Theme<br />

presents<br />

Christ Church Cathedral Choir,<br />

Oxford UK<br />

with Dr. Stephen Darlington, conductor in a<br />

programme of Sacred English Choral Music – the<br />

concluding concert of their <strong>2016</strong> Canada and US tour.<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 10, 7pm<br />

Tickets $30 • 416-488-7884 or<br />

online at gracechurchonthehill.ca<br />

42 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


“Enigma”. Heidi Van Hoesen Gorton, harp;<br />

James Feddeck, conductor. Roy Thomson<br />

Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. $33.75–<br />

$107. Also Apr 9(7:30).<br />

●●4:30: Northlea United Church. New Beginnings:<br />

Jazz Vespers Service. Assorted jazz<br />

repertoire with words from scripture, poetry,<br />

ancient prayers, and wisdom from a mixture<br />

of faith traditions. Alex Pangman, jazz vocals;<br />

Rob Rowe, piano; Kelly Arrey, drums; Mike<br />

Pelletier, bass. 125 Brentcliffe Rd. 416-425-<br />

5252. PWYC.<br />

●●7:00: Grace Church on-the-Hill. Christ<br />

Church Cathedral Choir of Oxford. Sacred<br />

English Choral Music. Dr. Stephen Darlington,<br />

conductor. 300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-488-<br />

7884. $30.<br />

●●7:30: Brampton Chamber Music Concert<br />

Series. In Concert. Jarred Dunn, piano;<br />

young/community artists selected by audition.<br />

St. Paul’s United Church (Brampton),<br />

30 Main St. S., Brampton. 905-450-9220.<br />

PWYC.<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Percussion Ensemble Concert. Walter<br />

Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University<br />

of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208.<br />

Free.<br />

●●8:00: Somewhere There/Arraymusic.<br />

Toronto’s Hottest Improvisers. Array Space,<br />

155 Walnut Ave. 416-532-3019. $10/PWYC.<br />

●●8:30: Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation/<br />

Toronto Downtown Jazz. Spotlight on Israeli<br />

Culture Festival: Israeli Jazz Showcase.<br />

Avishai Cohen Quartet; Roni Eytan Quintet.<br />

Rex Jazz and Blues Bar, 194 Queen St. W. 416-<br />

598-2475. $20; cash only.<br />

Monday <strong>April</strong> 11<br />

●●9:00am: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Choirs sing from 9am to noon and 1pm<br />

to 3pm. Annual High School Choral Festival.<br />

MacMillan Theatre, Edward Johnson Building,<br />

80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208. Free.<br />

See Festivals in section E: The ETCetteras for<br />

more details.<br />

●●7:00: St. Paul’s United Church (Oakville).<br />

In Concert. P.E.I. Confederation Youth<br />

Chorus. 454 Rebecca St., Oakville. 905-845-<br />

3427. Freewill donation.<br />

BOW, BRUSH<br />

AND LENS<br />

<strong>April</strong> 11<br />

Kye Marshall, Arnold<br />

Schoenberg, Felix Mendelssohn<br />

www.associates-tso.org<br />

●●7:30: Associates of the Toronto Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Five Small Concerts: Bow, Brush<br />

and Lens. Schoenberg: String quartet in D;<br />

Marshall: Endangered Species; Mendelssohn:<br />

String quartet in a Op.13. Halcyon String<br />

Quartet: Paul Meyer, violin; Wendy Rose, violin;<br />

Kent Teeple, viola; Marie Gélinas, cello;<br />

guest: Amalia Joanou-Canzoneri, violin. Trinity-St.<br />

Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-282-<br />

6636. $20; $17(sr/st).<br />

●●7:30: Donald Berman Chai Lifeline, Canada.<br />

Sing for the Children: British, Yiddish,<br />

and Kiddush! Simon Spiro; Mike Burstyn; Cantor<br />

Helfgot. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St.<br />

1-888-416-2424. $50 and up.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall.<br />

Cooder - White - Skaggs. Bluegrass, country,<br />

blues and gospel music. Ry Cooder, guitar;<br />

Sharon White, vocals and guitar; Ricky<br />

Skaggs, mandolin and guitar; Cheryl White,<br />

vocals; Mark Fain, bass; and others. Massey<br />

Hall, 178 Victoria St. 416-872-4255. $60–$95.<br />

Tuesday <strong>April</strong> 12<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Jazz Series: Strayhorn @ 100. Strayhorn:<br />

Take the “A” Train; Chelsea Bridge; and<br />

other works. Humber Studio Jazz Ensemble.<br />

Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four<br />

Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts,<br />

145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late<br />

seating is not available.<br />

●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/<br />

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Lunchtime<br />

Chamber Music. Jane St. Trio: Rebecca<br />

Macleod, violin; Sarah Steeves, cello; Talisa<br />

Blackman, piano. Yorkminster Park Baptist<br />

Church, 1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. Free.<br />

Donations welcome.<br />

●●7:00: Acting Up Stage Company.<br />

Reframed. Music by Sara Farb, Erin Shields<br />

and Julie Tepperman. Lyrics by Britta Johnson,<br />

Bryce Kulak and Kevin Wong. Brand-new<br />

short musicals inspired by AGO paintings. Art<br />

Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas St. W. 416-979-<br />

6608. $40; $25(st). Until <strong>April</strong> 17. Times vary.<br />

CARMEN<br />

Bizet<br />

APRIL 12<br />

to MAY 15<br />

coc.ca<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen.<br />

Bizet. Anita Rachvelishvili/Clémentine Margaine,<br />

mezzos (Carmen); Russell Thomas/<br />

David Pomeroy, tenors (Don José); and<br />

others; Joel Ivany, director; Paolo Carignani,<br />

conductor. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231.<br />

$50–$435. English Surtitles. Also Apr 17, 20,<br />

23, 28, May 4, 6. Start times vary.<br />

●●7:30: Opera Atelier. Lucio Silla. Also Apr 12,<br />

15, 16; start times vary.<br />

●●7:30: Royal Conservatory. Rebanks Family<br />

Fellowship Concert. Solo and chamber works<br />

performed by musicians enrolled in Rebanks<br />

Family Fellowship and International Performance<br />

Residency Program. Mazzoleni Concert<br />

Hall, Royal Conservatory, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-<br />

408-0208. Free (ticket required).<br />

●●7:30: Silverthorn Symphonic Winds.<br />

59-Minute Soiree. Wilmar Heights Centre,<br />

963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough. 416-301-<br />

5187. $10. Free parking; wheelchair accessible.<br />

Post-concert treats and conversation,<br />

followed by an open rehearsal.<br />

Wednesday <strong>April</strong> 13<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Music Centre. Duo Demel.<br />

Works by Associate Composers from the<br />

early 20th century. Daniel Hasznos, clarinet;<br />

Osvaldo Gomes Santos, flute. 20 St. Joseph<br />

St. 416-961-6601 x202. $20; $15(CMC members/arts<br />

workers).<br />

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Cello Evolution. Works by<br />

Bach, Cassado, Downing, Sigesmund and Bottermunc.<br />

Rachel Mercer, cello. 345 Sorauren<br />

Ave. 416-822-9781. $25/$10(st).<br />

ANGELA<br />

HEWITT<br />

PLAYS BACH<br />

APR 13, 14 & 16 | TSO.CA<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Angela Hewitt Plays Bach. Bach: Piano Concerto<br />

No.5 in f BWV1056; Piano Concerto No.1<br />

in d BWV1052. Shostakovich: Symphony No.8.<br />

Angela Hewitt, piano; Peter Oundjian, conductor.<br />

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-<br />

598-3375. $33.75–$148. Also Apr 14.<br />

Thursday <strong>April</strong> 14<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Piano Virtuoso Series: Baseball, Yoga, and<br />

Other Sports for the Contemporary Pianist.<br />

Pew: Bagatelles; works by Rakowski and Gosfield.<br />

Kara Huber, piano. Richard Bradshaw<br />

Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the<br />

Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-<br />

8231. Free. Late seating is not available.<br />

●●12:15: Metropolitan United Church. Noon<br />

at Met. Ellen McAteer, soprano. Metropolitan<br />

United Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-<br />

363-0331 x26. Free.<br />

●●2:00: Orchardviewers. Piano Recital by<br />

Joan Zarry. Northern District Public Library,<br />

Room 224, 40 Orchard View Blvd. 416-393-<br />

7610. Free.<br />

●●7:30: Ken Page Memorial Trust/WholeNote<br />

Media Inc. Jim Galloway’s Wee Big<br />

Band. CSI Annex, 720 Bathurst St. 416-515-<br />

0200. $20.<br />

Music TORONTO<br />

ARTEMIS<br />

QUARTET<br />

<strong>April</strong> 14 at 8 pm<br />

●●8:00: Music Toronto. Artemis Quartet.<br />

Schubert: Quartettsatz in c D703; Bartók:<br />

Quartet No.6 Sz.114; Beethoven: Quartet<br />

in F Op.59 No.1 “Razumovsky”. Jane Mallett<br />

Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the<br />

Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-366-7723. $55, $50;<br />

$10(st); age 18 to 35 – pay your age. Toronto<br />

Debut.<br />

●●8:00: Soundstreams/Massey Hall. Steve<br />

Reich at 80. Reich: Clapping Music; Tehillim<br />

(Canadian premiere); Music for 18 Musicians.<br />

Lesley Bouza, Michele DeBoer, Carla Huhtanen,<br />

Laura Pudwell, voice; Steve Reich, Russell<br />

Hartenberger, Garry Kvistad, Bob Becker,<br />

Ryan Scott, Michelle Colton, Haruka Fujii, percussion;<br />

Leslie Dala, conductor (Tehillim); and<br />

others. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St. 416-872-<br />

4255. $22–$67.50.<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Angela Hewitt Plays Bach. Bach: Piano Concerto<br />

No.5 in f BWV1056; Piano Concerto<br />

No.1 in d BWV1052. Angela Hewitt, piano;<br />

Peter Oundjian, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall,<br />

60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. $33.75–$148.<br />

7:15: Pre-concert chat (Apr 14). Also Apr 13.<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 15<br />

●●12:10: Music at St. Andrew’s. Noontime<br />

Recital: Emily Chiang, piano. St. Andrew’s<br />

Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593-5600 x231.<br />

Free.<br />

●●1:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano Potpourri.<br />

Classics, opera, operetta, musicals,<br />

ragtime, pop, international and other genres.<br />

Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC.<br />

Concert in chapel; lunch and snack friendly.<br />

●●7:30: Heliconian Club. At the Ball: Social<br />

Dance Through the Ages. Works by Purcell,<br />

Dan Godfrey, Joplin, and from the Playford<br />

and Lowe collections. Karen Millyard<br />

and the Jane Austen Dancers; Dorothy de<br />

Val, piano; Playford’s Pleasure and friends;<br />

Nadina Mackie Jackson, bassoon; Paula<br />

Arciniega, mezzo; and others. Heliconian<br />

Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-922-3618. $25;<br />

free(child).<br />

●●7:30: Opera Atelier. Lucio Silla. Also Apr 15,<br />

16; start times vary.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 43


Great Artist<br />

Music Series<br />

presents<br />

Brasil<br />

Guitar Duo<br />

Friday, <strong>April</strong> 15,<br />

8 pm<br />

auroraculturalcentre.ca<br />

905 713-1818<br />

●●8:00: Aurora Cultural Centre. Brasil Guitar<br />

Duo. Works by Piazzolla, Rameau, Castelnuovo-Tedesco,<br />

Gismonti, Brouwer and<br />

others. 22 Church St., Aurora. 905-713-1818.<br />

$34; $28(sr/st).<br />

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Andrea Tyniec, Violin and<br />

Todd Yaniw, Piano. Works by Brahms, Franck,<br />

Ysayë, Sokolović and Piazzolla. 345 Sorauren<br />

Ave. 416-822-9781. $25/$10(st).<br />

●●8:00: Manning Ulster Refugee Project.<br />

An Evening with Valery Lloyd-Watts. Works<br />

by Chopin, Beethoven, Schumann, Khachaturian<br />

and others. Valery Lloyd-Watts, piano.<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Toronto),<br />

477 Manning Ave. 416-526-6237. PWYC; $20<br />

suggested. Fundraising concert in support of<br />

refugee resettlement.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall.<br />

Hayden: A 20th Anniversary Celebration of<br />

Everything I Live For. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-872-4255. $25–$35.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall.<br />

Classic Albums Live: Pink Floyd’s Animals.<br />

Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St. 416-872-4255.<br />

$29.50-$59.50.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall.<br />

Engelbert Humberdinck. Roy Thomson Hall,<br />

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $79.50-$120.00.<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 16<br />

●●2:00: King Music Collective. Cettina<br />

Donato. Steve Wallace, bass; Terry Clarke,<br />

drums. Home of Michele Mele and Luciano<br />

Tauro, 15785 8th Concession, King Township.<br />

416-486-6742. $30; $15(st). Includes beverage<br />

and snacks.<br />

●●4:30: Bach on the Beach. Elizabeth Anderson<br />

and Patrick Dewell, Organ. Beach United<br />

Church, 140 Wineva Ave. 416-691-8082. Freewill<br />

offering. Informal reception before<br />

concert.<br />

●●4:30: Opera Atelier. Lucio Silla. Also Apr 16;<br />

start times vary.<br />

●●7:00: Latin Flute Festival. Canadian Showcase<br />

Concert. Nora Shulman, Camille<br />

Watts, Sue Hoeppner, Christopher Lee,<br />

flutes; and others. Hart House, Music Room,<br />

7 Hart House Circle. 416-294-4259. Entry by<br />

donation.<br />

●●7:30: CoexisDance. In Concert. Array<br />

Manning Ultster Refugee Project<br />

presents<br />

Space, 155 Walnut Ave. 416-532-3019. TBA.<br />

●●7:30: Jubilee Order of Good Cheer. Last<br />

Night of the Proms. Land of Hope and Glory,<br />

The Maple Leaf Forever and other favourites.<br />

Audience sing-along. Jubilee United<br />

Church, 40 Underhill Dr. 416-447-6846. $10;<br />

free(youth).<br />

Dufay<br />

world of<br />

The<br />

Stéphane Potvin<br />

artistic director<br />

<strong>April</strong> 16<br />

●●7:30: Musikay. The World of Dufay. Works<br />

by Dufay, Binchois, Ockeghem, Josquin and<br />

others. Stéphane Potvin, conductor. St. John’s<br />

United Church, 226 Randall St., Oakville. 905-<br />

825-9740. $30; $25(sr); $15(35 and under).<br />

6:30: Pre-concert chat and tea.<br />

●●7:30: Opera by Request. Don Giovanni.<br />

Mozart. In concert with piano accompaniment.<br />

Lawrence Cotton, baritone<br />

(Don Giovanni); Douglas Tranquada, baritone<br />

(Leporello); Stephanie de Ciantis, soprano<br />

(Donna Anna); Brigitte Bogar, soprano<br />

(Donna Elvira); and others; William Shookhoff,<br />

piano and music director. College Street<br />

United Church, 452 College St. 416-455-<br />

2365. $20.<br />

●●7:30: St. Basil’s Church, University of<br />

St. Michael’s College. French Connection.<br />

Works from the height of French organ music<br />

in the first half of the 20th century. Messiaen:<br />

L’Ascension; Duruflé: Prélude et Fugue<br />

sur le nom d’Alain Op.7; Vierne: Symphonie<br />

No.6 Op.59. Rashaan Allwood, organ. 50 St.<br />

Joseph St. 416-926-7110. Free.<br />

●●7:30: St. Paul’s Anglican Church. Lorne Lofsky<br />

Benefit Concert. Lorne Lofsky, jazz guitar;<br />

Kieran Overs, bass; Robin Claxton, drums.<br />

227 Church St., Newmarket. 905-853-7285.<br />

$15. Wine and beer bar. Proceeds to fund the<br />

church’s community outreach program.<br />

●●7:30: Toronto Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Angela Hewitt Plays Bach. Bach: Piano Concerto<br />

No.1 in d BWV1052. Shostakovich: Symphony<br />

No.8. Angela Hewitt, leader and piano;<br />

Peter Oundjian, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall,<br />

60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. $33.75-$107.<br />

Pre-concert lobby party.<br />

●●7:30: York University Theatre. Works in<br />

Progress. Array Space, 155 Walnut Ave. 416-<br />

532-3019. TBA.<br />

●●8:00: Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Annual Fundraising Concert and Silent<br />

Auction. Williams: Suite from The Star Wars<br />

Epic; Williams/Ottman: Selections from<br />

Superman Returns; Beethoven: Piano Concerto<br />

No.3 in c; Bernstein: Overture to Candide;<br />

West Side Story Suite; and other<br />

works. Leonid Nediak, piano; guests: Rosemary<br />

Galloway Quartet. P.C. Ho Theatre, Chinese<br />

Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto,<br />

5183 Sheppard Ave. E., Scarborough. 416-<br />

879-5566. $35/$30(adv).<br />

●●8:00: Gallery 345. The Art of the Piano:<br />

Fragments of Dreams. Original compositions<br />

and improvisations. Marilyn Lerner, piano.<br />

345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781. $25/$15(st).<br />

●●8:00: Greater Toronto Philharmonic<br />

Orchestra. French Bouquet. Ravel: Bolero;<br />

Fauré: Pavane; Offenbach: Ballet Parisienne;<br />

Debussy: Nocturnes; P. Mercure: Kaleidoskope;<br />

songs by J. Brel. Bradley Christenssen,<br />

baritone; Jean-Michel Malouf, conductor. Calvin<br />

Presbyterian Church, 26 Delisle Ave. 647-<br />

238-0015. $25; $20(sr/st).<br />

●●8:00: Healey Willan Singers. Women and<br />

Songs III. Works by von Bingen, A. Parker,<br />

Tavener, Oscar Peterson and others. John<br />

Stephenson, accompanist; Ron Ka Ming Cheung,<br />

conductor. Guests: Brown Public School<br />

Junior Choir (Tanya Turner, conductor); Chris<br />

Porter, conductor. Church of St. Martin-inthe-Fields,<br />

151 Glenlake Ave. 416-519-0528.<br />

$20; $15(sr/st). Cash only.<br />

●●8:00: Jazz Performance and Education<br />

Centre. Fred Hersch Trio. Fred Hersch, piano;<br />

John Hébert, bass; Eric McPherson, drums.<br />

George Weston Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St.<br />

416-461-7744. $40; $20(st).<br />

●●8:00: Scaramella. Sound the Trumpet.<br />

Works by Purcell, Melani, Bach, Merula, and<br />

others. Dawn Bailey, soprano; Justin Bland,<br />

trumpet; Rezan Onen-Lapointe and Michelle<br />

Odorico, baroque violins; Joëlle Morton,<br />

violone; David Podgorski, harpsichord. Victoria<br />

College Chapel, 91 Charles St. W. 416-<br />

760-8610. $30; $25(sr); $20(st).<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Simon<br />

Shaheen’s Zafir. Solo and chamber works<br />

performed by musicians enrolled in Rebanks<br />

Family Fellowship and International Performance<br />

Residency Program. Simon Shahee,<br />

44 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Simon Shaheen’s<br />

Zafir: Musical Winds<br />

from North Africa<br />

to Andalucia<br />

Saturday, april 16, 8pm,<br />

Koerner Hall<br />

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208<br />

WWW.pErfOrmANCE.rCmuSIC.CA<br />

violin, oud; Qantara; Nidal Ibourk, voice; Auxi<br />

Fernandez, flamenco dance; Juan Pérez Rodríguez,<br />

flamenco piano. Koerner Hall, Telus<br />

Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208.<br />

$35-$90.<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 17<br />

●●1:15: Mooredale Concerts. Music and Truffles.<br />

Interactive concert for young people age<br />

5-11 with excerpts from main concert (3:15).<br />

Afiara String Quartet: Valerie Li and Timothy<br />

Kantor, violins; Eric Wong, viola; Adrian Fung,<br />

cello. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building,<br />

University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-<br />

922-3714 x103. $13; includes chocolate truffle.<br />

3:15: main performance.<br />

●●1:30: Kingston Road Village Concert Series.<br />

Cecilia String Quartet. Kingston Road<br />

United Church, 975 Kingston Rd. 416-699-<br />

6091. $20; $10(st); free(under 13).<br />

●●1:30: Riccardo Iannello. Endless Horizons<br />

CD Release. Riccardo Iannello, tenor; Sabatino<br />

Vacca, conductor. Guests: Deanna Pauletto,<br />

mezzo; France Bellemare, soprano.<br />

Eglinton Grand, 400 Eglinton Ave. W. $60<br />

cash only. A portion of proceeds to Mental<br />

Health at MacKenzie Health Hospital in Richmond<br />

Hill.<br />

●●2:00: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen.<br />

Bizet. See Apr 12. Also Apr 20, 23, 28, 30,<br />

May 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15. Start times vary.<br />

Sun. 17th <strong>April</strong> at 4 p.m.<br />

Evensong<br />

for St. George<br />

plus St. George’s Tea and at 5:<br />

THE WORLD OF<br />

SHAKESPEARE<br />

AND BYRD<br />

Douglas Cowling<br />

(of Toronto’s Tallis Choir)<br />

takes an entertaining look<br />

at the life and works of<br />

William Shakespeare<br />

and his contemporary,<br />

English Renaissance<br />

composer William Byrd<br />

St. Olave’s Church<br />

Bloor and Windermere<br />

416-769-5686 stolaves.ca<br />

●●2:00: Canzona Chamber Players. Violin/Piano<br />

Duo. Works by Mozart, Messiaen,<br />

Shostakovich, Medtner and Beethoven. Christopher<br />

Miranda, piano; Jessica Tong, violin.<br />

St. Andrew by-the-Lake Anglican Church,<br />

Cibola Ave., Toronto Island. 416-822-0613.<br />

$20. Also Apr 18(eve; St. George the Martyr<br />

Church).<br />

●●3:00: Gallery 345. The Leaves. Meditation<br />

and conversation with Komachi’s life<br />

and poetry. Beth Anne Cole, vocals; Marsha<br />

Coffey, piano. 345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-<br />

9781. $20.<br />

●• ●3:00: Hannaford Street Silver Band. Band Entre<br />

Amis. Entre Cowell: Amis. Trumpet Sensational. Concerto; and Final other<br />

works. Festival Stéphane of Brass Beaulac, Concert. trumpet; Book Alain Trudel,<br />

tickets conductor. online Jane www.stlc.com<br />

Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence<br />

Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E.<br />

416-366-7723. $50.<br />

●●3:00: Vesnivka Choir. 50th Anniversary<br />

Gala Concert. Guests: Elmer Iseler Singers;<br />

Lydia Adams; Roman Borys, cello; Halyna Dziuryn,<br />

violin; Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber<br />

Choir. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W.<br />

416-246-9880. $40–$60. Reception follows.<br />

●●3:15: Mooredale Concerts. Afiara String<br />

Quartet with Joel Quarrington, double bass.<br />

Cathedral Bluffs<br />

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA<br />

Norman Reintamm<br />

Artistic Director/Principal Conductor<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 16, <strong>2016</strong> 8 pm<br />

BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto 3 in C minor<br />

with rising star pianist LEONID NEDIAK<br />

BERNSTEIN: Candide Overture<br />

West Side Story Suite<br />

featuring the ROSEMARY GALLOWAY QUARTET<br />

ADVANCE TICKETS: $30 all ages AT THE DOOR: $35 all ages<br />

P.C. HoTheatre 5183 Sheppard Avenue East, Scarborough<br />

The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an<br />

agency of the Government of Ontario<br />

Haydn: String Quartet in C Op.50 No.2 “Prussian”;<br />

Mendelssohn: String Quartet No.2 in a<br />

Op.13; Dvořák: String Quintet No.2 in G Op.77.<br />

Afiara String Quartet: Valerie Li and Timothy<br />

Kantor, violins; Eric Wong, viola; Adrian Fung,<br />

cello. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building,<br />

University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park.<br />

416-922-3714 x103. $30; $20(under 30). 1:15:<br />

Music and Truffles family concert.<br />

●●4:00: Eglinton St. George’s United Church.<br />

Prima Donna Choralis: Mary Lou Fallis and<br />

Peter Tiefenbach Return to Church. Operatic<br />

comedy, dramatic solos and choir. Mary<br />

Lou Fallis, soprano; Peter Tiefenbach, piano;<br />

Krista Rhodes, piano; Eglinton St. George’s<br />

Choir; Shawn Grenke, conductor. 35 Lytton<br />

Blvd. 416-481-1141. $35.<br />

●●4:00: Miles Nadal JCC. Community Concert:<br />

Opera for All. Singers from across the<br />

city perform opera choruses. Asher Farber,<br />

piano; Alvaro Lozano Gutierrez, conductor.<br />

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-<br />

922-8435. $10.<br />

●●4:00: St. Olave’s Anglican Church. World of<br />

Shakespeare and Byrd. Choral Evensong for St.<br />

George. 360 Windermere Ave. 416-769-5686.<br />

Free; donations welcomed. 5:00: Discussion by<br />

Douglas Cowling. St. George’s Tea follows.<br />

cathedralbluffs.com | 416.879.5566<br />

●●4:00: St. Philip’s Anglican Church. Jazz<br />

Vespers for Jaymz Bee’s Birthday. Genevieve<br />

Marentette, Alex Pangman and Joyce Barth,<br />

vocals; Robert Scott; piano. 25 St. Phillips Rd.,<br />

Etobicoke. 416-247-5181. Freewill offering.<br />

●●4:30: Christ Church Deer Park. Jazz Vespers.<br />

Alison Young Quartet. 1570 Yonge St.<br />

416-920-5<strong>21</strong>1. Free. Donations welcome.<br />

●●7:00: Thanks to Dr. Suzuki Concert Performances.<br />

Gala Concert <strong>2016</strong>. Suzuki repertoire<br />

and chamber music performed by<br />

senior violin, viola, cello, flute and piano students<br />

from Suzuki schools across the GTA.<br />

First Unitarian Church, 175 St. Clair Ave. W.<br />

416-466-0208. $10–$35.<br />

●●7:30: Lula Lounge. Bill Heffernan Celebrates<br />

release of The Horses Are Loose.<br />

1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307. $10 cover.<br />

Monday <strong>April</strong> 18<br />

●●7:00: Earl Haig Secondary School / Claude<br />

Watson Music. Choral Concert. Haydn:<br />

The Creation (excerpt); Bach: Sanctus in D;<br />

Holst: Hymns from the Rig Veda; Grieg: Ave<br />

2015–<strong>2016</strong> CoNCeRt SeRIeS<br />

SUNDAY APRIL 17 th<br />

4:00 P.m.<br />

Mary Lou<br />

FaLLis and Peter<br />

tieFenbach<br />

return to<br />

church<br />

with the esG choir<br />

A thrilling afternoon of<br />

operatic comedy,<br />

dramatic solos and choir.<br />

Mary Lou Fallis, Soprano<br />

Peter Tiefenbach, Piano<br />

Krista Rhodes, Piano<br />

Shawn Grenke, Conductor<br />

Tickets $35<br />

35 Lytton Blvd., Toronto<br />

416.481.1141<br />

www.esgunited.org<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 45


Earl Haig /<br />

Claude Watson<br />

Music presents<br />

Choral Night<br />

<strong>April</strong> 18, 7pm<br />

Grace Church-on-the-Hill<br />

claudewatson.ca<br />

maris stella; Fauré: Cantique de Jean Racine;<br />

works by Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, Bruckner<br />

and others. Earl Haig Singers; Voces Excelsis;<br />

Voces Profundis; Choirs of Claude Watson<br />

Secondary Program; Timothy Sullivan,<br />

music director. Grace Church on-the-Hill,<br />

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-395-3<strong>21</strong>0 x20141. $10;<br />

$5(st).<br />

●●7:30: Canzona Chamber Players. In Concert.<br />

Works by Mozart, Messiaen, Shostakovich,<br />

Medtner and Beethoven. Christopher<br />

Miranda, piano; Jessica Tong, violin. St.<br />

George the Martyr Church, 197 John St. 416-<br />

822-0613. $20. Also Apr 17(mat)(St. Andrew<br />

by-the-Lake Church).<br />

●●8:00: Miles Nadal JCC. Bel Canto! Italian<br />

Songs and Opera. Alvaro Lozano Gutierrez,<br />

baritone; Asher Farber, piano. 750 Spadina<br />

Ave. 416-924-6<strong>21</strong>1 x155. $20.<br />

Tuesday <strong>April</strong> 19<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Vocal Series: Arena del Amor. French<br />

and Spanish love songs. Clémentine Margaine,<br />

mezzo; Stephen B. Hargreaves, piano.<br />

Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four<br />

FRIDAY<br />

APRIL 22<br />

an evening of<br />

chamber music<br />

TIME<br />

FRIEDRICH<br />

ANDREAS<br />

KLEINHAPL<br />

VIOLONCELLO<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

TICKETS: $ 25/ $ 20 (4+)<br />

Online: standrewstoronto.org<br />

Or pay at the door<br />

Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts,<br />

145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late<br />

seating is not available.<br />

●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/<br />

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Lunchtime<br />

Chamber Music. Rising Stars Recital.<br />

Featuring students from the Glenn Gould<br />

School. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church,<br />

1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. Free. Donations<br />

welcome.<br />

●●7:00: Living Arts Centre. Stomp. 4141 Living<br />

Arts Dr., Mississauga. 905-306-6000. $55–<br />

$85. Also Apr 20.<br />

●●7:00: Royal Conservatory. Glenn Gould<br />

School Chamber Competition Finals. Ensembles<br />

of The Glenn Gould School compete for<br />

over $11,000 in prizes and the chance to perform<br />

a Prelude Recital in Koerner Hall preceding<br />

a Royal Conservatory Orchestra<br />

performance. Mazzoleni Concert Hall, Royal<br />

Conservatory, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208.<br />

Free (ticket required).<br />

●●7:30: Westwood Concerts. A Soldier’s<br />

Tale. Stravinsky: Divertimento; Duo Concertante;<br />

Firebird Suite; and Trio from L’Histoire<br />

du soldat. Jasper Wood, violin; Gregory Millar,<br />

piano; Michael Westwood, clarinet.<br />

Gallery 345, 345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781.<br />

$20; $10(st).<br />

●●8:00: Hirut Jazz. Finger Style Guitar Association.<br />

Hirut Restaurant, 2050 Danforth Ave.<br />

416-551-7560. PWYC. Also Apr 5.<br />

●●8:00: Jazz Bistro. Cettina Donato.<br />

Steve Wallace, bass; Terry Clarke, drums.<br />

251 Victoria St. 416-363-2259. $20; $15(st).<br />

Wednesday <strong>April</strong> 20<br />

●●12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist Church.<br />

Josh Ehlebracht, Organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-<br />

922-1167. Free.<br />

●●7:00: Living Arts Centre. Stomp. 4141 Living<br />

Arts Dr., Mississauga. 905-306-6000. $55-<br />

$85. Also Apr 19.<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen.<br />

Bizet. See Apr 12. Also Apr 23, 28, 30, May 4,<br />

6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15. Start times vary.<br />

●●8:00: Oratory, Holy Family Church. Oratorium<br />

Saeculare. Bach: Jesus Christus,<br />

unser Heiland, der von uns den Zorn Gottes<br />

wandt BWV688; Orchestral Suite No.2 in<br />

<strong>2016</strong> 7:30 PM<br />

WOYKE<br />

PIANO<br />

AGAINST<br />

St. Andrew’s<br />

Church<br />

King W. & Simcoe<br />

TTC: St. Andrew<br />

b BWV1067; Aria: Seele Deine Specereien<br />

BWV249; Sung Compline (Fournier: Nunc<br />

Dimittis; Byrd: Regina Caeli); Bach: Prelude<br />

and Fugue in a BWV543. Emma Elkinson,<br />

flute; Chris Verrette, violin; Julie Wedman,<br />

violin; Patrick Jordan, viola; Philip Fournier,<br />

organ/cembalo; and others. 1372 King St.<br />

W. 416-532-2879. Free. Donations accepted.<br />

Includes a talk given by one of the Fathers of<br />

the Oratory.<br />

●●9:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall.<br />

Massey Hall Band Rivoli Residency. Rivoli,<br />

334 Queen St. W. 416-872-4255. $10.<br />

Restricted to 19 and over.<br />

Thursday <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong><br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Vocal Series: Songs for Springtime. Russell<br />

Thomas, tenor; Michael Shannon, piano.<br />

Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four<br />

Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts,<br />

145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late<br />

seating is not available.<br />

●●12:15: Metropolitan United Church. Noon<br />

at Met. Koichi Inoue, piano. Metropolitan<br />

United Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-<br />

363-0331 x26. Free.<br />

●●2:00: Orchardviewers. Piano Recital by<br />

Anastasia Kulikova. Northern District Public<br />

Library, Room 224, 40 Orchard View Blvd.<br />

416-393-7610. Free.<br />

●●7:30: Nagata Shachu Japanese Taiko<br />

Drum and Music Ensemble. Nagata<br />

Shachu With Ron Davis Symphronica. Lula<br />

Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307.<br />

$25/$20(adv); $15(st).<br />

●●7:30: Sony Centre For The Performing<br />

Arts. Shen Yun. Chinese music and dance.<br />

Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 1 Front<br />

St. E. 1-855-872-7669. $60-$200. Also Apr 22,<br />

23(mat & eve), 24(mat).<br />

●●8:00: Gallery 345. CD Launch Concert.<br />

Duane Andrews and the Conception Bay<br />

String Quartet; Lenny Solomon. 345 Sorauren<br />

Ave. 416-822-9781. $25; $20(sr/arts workers);<br />

free(under 13). At the door for cash only.<br />

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Mitchell Yolevsky, Clarinet<br />

and Cecilia Lee, Piano. Works by Poulenc,<br />

Saint-Saëns, Debussy and others.<br />

345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781. $20; $10(st).<br />

●●8:00: Oakville Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts. Dan Cooper Concert Series: Ruthie Foster.<br />

Guest: Harrison “Sweettaste” Kennedy.<br />

130 Navy St., Oakville. 905-815-20<strong>21</strong>. $62.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall.<br />

Randy Bachman. Guests: Terra Lightfoot; The<br />

Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer. Massey Hall,<br />

178 Victoria St. 416-872-4255. $39.50–$79.50.<br />

●●8:30: Hugh’s Room. Dave Gunning: CD<br />

Release - Lift. Guests: Gordie MacKeeman<br />

and His Rhythm Boys. 2261 Dundas St. W. 416-<br />

531-6604. $22.50/$20(adv).<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 22<br />

●●12:10: Music at St. Andrew’s. Noontime<br />

Recital: Aaron Chow, piano. St. Andrew’s<br />

Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593-5600 x231.<br />

Free.<br />

●●1:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano Potpourri.<br />

Classics, opera, operetta, musicals,<br />

ragtime, pop, international and other genres.<br />

Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC.<br />

Concert in chapel; lunch and snack friendly.<br />

●●7:15: Master Class Players. A Visit to<br />

Vienna. Music connected with or inspired by<br />

Vienna. Lenore Beatty, piano; Deanne Bogdan,<br />

piano; Ron Jordan, piano; Joe Wearing, piano;<br />

Joan Zarry, piano and others. Jubilee United<br />

Church, 40 Underhill Dr. 416-951-1856. $20.<br />

In support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s<br />

Grandmothers Campaign. Marketplace (preconcert).<br />

Complimentary Viennese strudel,<br />

coffee and tea (post-performance).<br />

●●7:30: Brampton Folk Club. The Bombadils.<br />

St. Paul’s United Church (Brampton), 30 Main<br />

St. S., Brampton. 647-233-3655. $15; $12(sr/<br />

st).<br />

●●7:30: Music at St. Andrew’s/Austrian<br />

Embassy/Austrian Cultural Forum. Rebels<br />

Against Time: An Evening of Chamber Music<br />

with Kleinhapl and Woyke. Sonatas by Mendelssohn,<br />

Beethoven and Franck; Tangos by<br />

Gade and Piazzolla. Friedrich Kleinhapl, cello;<br />

Andreas Woyke, piano. St. Andrew’s Church,<br />

73 Simcoe St. 416-593-5600 x231. $25.<br />

●●7:30: Oakville Choral Society. Wings of a<br />

Dove. Works by Mendelssohn, Haydn, Mozart,<br />

Beethoven and Brahms. Guest: Julie Ludwig,<br />

soprano. Clearview Christian Reformed<br />

Church, 2300 Sheridan Garden Dr., Oakville.<br />

905-302-9017. $30/$25(adv); $15(st);<br />

free(children under 12). Also on Apr 23.<br />

●●7:30: RCCO Toronto Centre. Organ Recital.<br />

Works by Bach, Cochereau, Duruflé, Franck<br />

and Vierne. Maurice Clerc, organ. St. Basil’s<br />

Church, University of St. Michael’s College,<br />

50 St. Joseph St. 416-929-6400. $20;<br />

free(RCCO Toronto members).<br />

●●7:30: Sony Centre For The Performing<br />

Arts. Shen Yun. See Apr <strong>21</strong>. Also Apr 23(mat<br />

& eve), 24(mat).<br />

●●8:00: Pavlo. In Concert. Pavlo Simtikidis,<br />

guitar. Danforth Music Hall, 147 Danforth Ave.<br />

1-855-985-5000. $40-$70. Also Apr 23.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall.<br />

Buddy Guy. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St. 416-<br />

872-4255. $49.50-$79.50.<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Quiet Please,<br />

There’s a Lady on Stage Series: Lizz Wright<br />

and Patricia O’Callaghan. Koerner Hall, Telus<br />

Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208.<br />

$35-$80.<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 23<br />

●●2:00: Sony Centre For The Performing<br />

Arts. Shen Yun. See Apr <strong>21</strong>. Also Apr 23(eve),<br />

24(mat).<br />

●●2:00: The Royal Conservatory. Los Lobos<br />

46 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Disconnected (Family Concert). Chicano<br />

roots to American rock and roll, acoustic<br />

style. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor<br />

St. W. 416-408-0208. $25-$35. Also at 8:00<br />

(full concert).<br />

●●7:00: Salvation Army. In Concert. Ontario<br />

Central East Divisional Singing Company<br />

(Junior Choir); Divisional Young People’s Band<br />

(Blood and Fire Brass); Divisional Reservists’<br />

Band (Heritage Brass). Salvation Army Agincourt<br />

Community Church, 3080 Birchmount<br />

Rd, Scarborough. 416-497-7520. Freewill<br />

offering.<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen.<br />

Bizet. See Apr 12. Also Apr 28, 30, May 4, 6, 8,<br />

10, 12, 13, 15. Start times vary.<br />

●●7:30: Cantores Celestes Women’s Choir.<br />

Songs of the Universe. Robinson: De Profundis<br />

(Canadian premiere); Khvoshchinsky:<br />

Hymn to Her Hands (world premiere);<br />

works by Gjeilo, Class, Mozart and others.<br />

Kelly Galbraith, conductor. Guests: Emperor<br />

String Quartet; Matthew Coons, organ; Ellen<br />

Meyer, piano. Runnymede United Church,<br />

432 Runnymede Rd. 416-655-7335. $25.<br />

Donation will be made to the Syrian Refugee<br />

Project.<br />

DIVAS, DOLLS<br />

AND A DUDE<br />

from La Scala<br />

to 42nd Street<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 23,<br />

7:30pm<br />

St. Andrew’s United Church<br />

117 Bloor St. E, Toronto<br />

●●7:30: Castle Frank House of Melody. Divas,<br />

Dolls and a Dude: From La Scala to 42nd<br />

Street. Works by Offenbach, Puccini, Verdi,<br />

Gershwin and others. Cara Adams, soprano;<br />

Patricia Haldane, soprano; Justin Welsh, baritone;<br />

Steven Kettlewell, piano. St. Andrew’s<br />

United Church (Bloor St.), 117 Bloor St E. 416-<br />

997-4978. $20. Portion of proceeds to The<br />

Red Door.<br />

●●7:30: Concerts at Scarborough Bluffs.<br />

Young Singers Choir of Ajax. Scarborough<br />

Bluffs United Church, 3739 Kingston Rd.,<br />

Scarborough. 416-267-8265. $15.<br />

●●7:30: Manuele Mizzi. An Evening of Love,<br />

Laughter and Singing. Operatic, musical theatre<br />

and popular favourites. Christina Lianos,<br />

soprano; Jennifer Mizzi, soprano; Manuele<br />

Mizzi, tenor; Kate Carver, piano. Asbury and<br />

West United Church, 3180 Bathurst St. 416-<br />

939-9520. $20.<br />

●●7:30: Oakville Choral Society. Wings of a<br />

Dove. See Apr 22.<br />

●●7:30: Opera by Request. Norma. Bellini. In<br />

concert with piano accompaniment. Chantal<br />

Parent (Norma); Sarah Christina Steinert<br />

(Adalgisa); Dillon Parmer (Pollione); Andrew<br />

Tees (Oroveso); Jennifer Routhier (Clotilde);<br />

Fabian Arciniegas (Flavio); William Shookhoff,<br />

piano and music director. College Street<br />

United Church, 452 College St. 416-455-<br />

2365. $20.<br />

●●7:30: Orpheus Choir of Toronto. Such Stuff<br />

as Dreams Are Made On: The Lyrical Shakespeare.<br />

Bevan: No Mortal Business. Orpheus<br />

Choir of Toronto; Geraint Wyn-Davies, narrator;<br />

The Talisker Players. Trinity-St. Paul’s<br />

Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-530-4428. $35;<br />

$30(sr); $10(st).<br />

●●7:30: Sony Centre For The Performing<br />

Arts. Shen Yun. See Apr <strong>21</strong>. Also Apr 24(mat).<br />

I FURIOSI<br />

BAROQUE ENSEMBLE<br />

I’LL BE<br />

WATCHING<br />

YOU<br />

Saturday, <strong>April</strong> 23 rd • 8pm<br />

Calvin Presbyterian Church<br />

www.ifuriosi.com<br />

●●8:00: I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble. I’ll<br />

Be Watching You. Works by Corelli, Strozzi,<br />

Handel and others. Guests: Lucas Harris,<br />

theorbo; Marcus Cera, oboe. Calvin Presbyterian<br />

Church, 26 Delisle Ave. 416-536-2943.<br />

$20/$10(adv).<br />

●●8:00: Aga Khan Museum/Small World<br />

Music. World Music Series: DakhaBrakha.<br />

Earth. Aga Khan Museum Auditorium,<br />

77 Wynford Dr. 416-646-4677. $50 and up;<br />

$40.50 and up(sr/st).<br />

●●8:00: Alliance Française Toronto. Trinity<br />

Mpho and his band: Setswana Traditional<br />

Music. Botswana-born songwriter,<br />

composer and recording artist presents<br />

an afrojazz concert. Alliance Française de<br />

Toronto, 24 Spadina Rd. 416-922-2014 x37.<br />

$15; $10(mem/sr/st).<br />

●●8:00: Canadian Sinfonietta. Young Artist<br />

Competition Concert. Prokofiev: Classical<br />

Symphony; Peter and the Wolf; concertos to<br />

be performed by competition winners TBA.<br />

Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W. 416-357-<br />

1707. $35; $30(sr); $20(st).<br />

●●8:00: Pavlo. In Concert. Pavlo Simtikidis,<br />

guitar. Danforth Music Hall, 147 Danforth Ave.<br />

1-855-985-5000. $40–$70. Also Apr 22.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall. SF<br />

Jazz Collective: Originals and the Music of<br />

Michael Jackson. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St.<br />

416-872-4255. $39.50–$69.50.<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Music Mix: Los<br />

Lobos Disconnected. Los Angeles band with<br />

Chicano roots combines rock & roll, Tex-<br />

Mex, country, American roots, blues, folk and<br />

brown-eyed soul. La Bamba. Koerner Hall,<br />

Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208.<br />

$40–$85. Also at 2:00: Family Concert.<br />

●●8:00: Musicians in Ordinary. Sweet Swan<br />

of Avon: Shakespeare’s Sorrows. Readings<br />

from Pericles, Hamlet, Macbeth and other<br />

plays. Dowland: Lachrimae; other works<br />

by Dowland and his contemporaries. Seth<br />

Lerer, reader; Hallie Fishel, soprano; John<br />

Edwards, lute; Musicians In Ordinary Violin<br />

ORGANIST<br />

IN RECITAL<br />

Maurice<br />

Clerc,<br />

Organist of<br />

Dijon Cathedral,<br />

France<br />

Music by J.S. Bach, Cochereau,<br />

Franck, Langlais, Mouret, Marcello,<br />

Tournemire and Vierne.<br />

Friday, <strong>April</strong> 22, <strong>2016</strong><br />

7:30 pm<br />

Band; Christopher Verrette, conductor. Heliconian<br />

Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-535-9956.<br />

$30; $20(sr/st).<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 24<br />

●●1:30: Classical Music Conservatory. Music<br />

For a Cause: Benefit Concert for CAMH.<br />

Veins; Headspace; Kyra Millan, vocals; Lindsay<br />

Foote & Eslin McKay, guitar, voice and violin;<br />

Matt Elwood, banjo; Sarah Steeves, cello;<br />

and others. Roncesvalles United Church,<br />

<strong>21</strong>4 Wright Ave. 416-537-5995. $20; $10(st/<br />

children); or PWYC. All proceeds donated<br />

to CAMH, Centre for Addiction and Mental<br />

Health.<br />

●●1:30: Seicho-No-Ie Toronto. Viola Concert.<br />

Keith Hamm, viola. 662 Victoria Park<br />

Ave. 416-690-8686. $20; free(12 and under).<br />

Non-perishable food donation for Daily Bread<br />

Food Bank.<br />

●●2:00: Gallery 345. Phil Dwyer, Saxophone<br />

and Don Thompson, Piano. 345 Sorauren Ave.<br />

416-822-9781. $25; $20(sr); $15(st).<br />

●●2:00: Shevchenko Musical Ensemble.<br />

125th Anniversary of Ukrainian Immigration<br />

to Canada. Songs, music and dance reflecting<br />

the Ukrainian traditions brought to Canada<br />

by the immigrants and of the people with<br />

whom they lived and worked. Shevchenko<br />

Choir; Toronto Mandolin Orchestra; vocal<br />

St. Basil’s Catholic Church<br />

50 St. Joseph St., Toronto, ON.<br />

Admission: $20<br />

RCCO Toronto Centre members: Free<br />

INFO 416-434-7945 rccotoronto.ca<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 47


and instrumental Soloists; Desna Ukrainian<br />

Dance Company; Alexander Veprinsky, artistic<br />

director. St. Michael’s College School,<br />

1515 Bathurst St. 416-533-2725. $35; $20(st).<br />

●●2:00: Sony Centre For The Performing<br />

Arts. Shen Yun. See Apr <strong>21</strong>.<br />

presents<br />

Juno-nominated<br />

World Music Ensemble<br />

SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2PM<br />

www.uucm.ca<br />

●●2:00: Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga.<br />

Autorickshaw. Featuring various<br />

styles of music from South and North Indian<br />

classical music to folk, pop, jazz-fusion and<br />

chill-out electronic. 84 South Service Rd.,<br />

Mississauga. 905-278-5622. $25; $20(sr/<br />

st); PWYC.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 24, <strong>2016</strong> | 3pm<br />

Viva Italia<br />

Joel Quarrington performs Steps to Ecstasy by M. Mozetich and<br />

Grand Concerto in F# minor by G. Bottesini<br />

Pre-concert Chat at 2:15<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

●●2:00: Trio Bravo. In Concert. Weber: Concertino<br />

for Clarinet; Fauré: Pelléas and Mélisande<br />

(arr. Selleck); and other works. Terry<br />

Storr, clarinet; Baird Knechtel, viola; John<br />

Selleck, piano. All Saints Kingsway Anglican<br />

Church, 2850 Bloor St. W. 416-242-<strong>21</strong>31. $25;<br />

$20(sr/st).<br />

●●3:00: David Occhipinti. Art Song Concert.<br />

Original works by David Occhipinti. Michael<br />

Davidson, vibraphone; Aline Homzy, violin;<br />

Jeff LaRochelle, clarinet; Soren Nissen, bass;<br />

Sheba Thibadeau, bassoon; and others. Alliance<br />

Française de Toronto, 24 Spadina Rd.<br />

416-588-4200. $20; $12(sr/st).<br />

●●3:00: Orchestra Toronto. Viva Italia! Verdi:<br />

Overture to Nabucco; Donizetti: Una furtiva<br />

lagrima; Puccini: Nessun dorma and Che gelida<br />

manina; Morricone: Gabriel’s Oboe from<br />

The Mission; Rota: Love Theme from The Godfather;<br />

Bottesini: Elegy No.1 in D, Concerto<br />

No.2 in b; Mozetich: Steps to Ecstacy. Andrew<br />

Walker, tenor; Joel Quarrington, double bass;<br />

Kevin Mallon, conductor. George Weston<br />

Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 1-855-985-2787.<br />

$43; $37(sr); $15(child and OTopus). Pre-concert<br />

chat (2:15).<br />

●●3:00: Royal Conservatory. Vocal Concerts:<br />

Bryn Terfel, Bass-Baritone and Natalia<br />

Katyukova, Piano. Works by Schubert, Schumann,<br />

B. Davies, Ibert, F. Keel, I. Lewis and<br />

others. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor<br />

St. W. 416-408-0208. $50–$140.<br />

●●3:30: Junction Trio. A Cuban-style Earth<br />

Day Celebration with Arrollando! Guests:<br />

Alejandro Céspedes, Arrollando Carnaval<br />

Ensemble; Junction Trio (Jamie Thompson,<br />

flute; Ivana Popovic, violin; Raphael<br />

an Ontario government agency<br />

un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario<br />

Kevin Mallon, Musical Director<br />

Gabriel’s Oboe from the Mission by E. Morricone<br />

Love Theme from The Godfather by N. Rota<br />

Andrew Walker, Tenor, performs Che gelida manina from La Boheme and<br />

Nessun Dorma from Turandot by G. Puccini<br />

George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge St.<br />

Tickets: Adults $43, Seniors $37, Children & OTopus (under 29) $15 available<br />

at ticketmaster.ca 1-877-985-2787 or in person at the Toronto Centre for the<br />

Arts Box Office<br />

www.orchestratoronto.ca<br />

Weinroth-Browne, cello). St. Anne’s Anglican<br />

Church, 270 Gladstone Ave. 416-536-3160.<br />

PWYC; $20 suggested. Refreshments.<br />

●●7:00: UTSC Community Band. Musician’s<br />

Nostalgia. Works by Horowitz, Erikson,<br />

Whitacre and others. Jason Dallas,<br />

euphonium; Pratik Gandhi, conductor; Kishan<br />

Chouhan, assistant conductor. Agincourt Collegiate<br />

Institute, 26<strong>21</strong> Midland Ave. 647-893-<br />

7945. Free.<br />

Chamber Music at<br />

St. George on Yonge<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 24, 7:30 pm<br />

Chris Gongos, horn<br />

Vanessa May-Lok Lee, piano,<br />

Joyce Lai, violin<br />

canadiansinfonietta.com<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Sinfonietta. Chamber Music<br />

at St. George on Yonge. Koechlin: Four Pieces<br />

for violin, horn and piano; Mozart: Horn Trio<br />

in E-flat; Brahms: Trio for violin, horn and<br />

piano Op.40. Joyce Lai, violin; Chris Gongos,<br />

horn; Vanessa May-Lok Lee, piano. St. George<br />

Anglican Church, 5350 Yonge St. 416-2<strong>21</strong>-<br />

8342. $25, $20(sr/st).<br />

Sun. Apr. 24 | St Luke’s Church<br />

2<br />

flutes galore!<br />

www.NewMusicConcerts.com<br />

●●8:00: New Music Concerts. Flutes Galore.<br />

Aitken: Tsunami; Solesmes; Stevenson: Two<br />

Fancies; Mather: Hors Piste – OFF Track; Pauk:<br />

Impulse; Butterfield: Bosquet. David Hetherington,<br />

cello; New Music Concerts Flute<br />

Orchestra; Robert Aitken, Robert W. Stevenson,<br />

Alex Pauk and Christopher Butterfield,<br />

direction. St. Luke’s United Church,<br />

353 Sherbourne St. 416-961-9594. $35;<br />

$25(sr/arts worker); $10(st). Introduction<br />

at 7:15.<br />

●●8:00: Somewhere There/Arraymusic.<br />

Toronto’s Hottest Improvisers. Array Space,<br />

155 Walnut Ave. 416-532-3019. $10/PWYC.<br />

Monday <strong>April</strong> 25<br />

●●7:30: University of Toronto Faculty of<br />

Music. Felix Galimir Chamber Music Award<br />

Concert. Featuring this year’s prize-winning<br />

ensemble. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson<br />

Building, University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s<br />

Park. 416-408-0208. PWYC.<br />

Tuesday <strong>April</strong> 26<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Vocal Series: Fruit and Sacred Ground. R.<br />

Strauss: Mädchenblumen; Emery: Three<br />

Songs; other works. Simone Osborne, soprano;<br />

Stephen B. Hargreaves, piano. Richard<br />

Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre<br />

for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St.<br />

W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late seating is not<br />

available.<br />

●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/<br />

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Lunchtime<br />

Chamber Music. Benjamin Smith, piano.<br />

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge<br />

St. 416-241-1298. Free. Donations welcome.<br />

●●7:30: Living Arts Centre. Shen Yun. Chinese<br />

music and dance. 4141 Living Arts Dr.,<br />

Mississauga. 1-855-416-1800. $60–$150.<br />

Also Apr 27, 28(eve/mat).<br />

Wednesday <strong>April</strong> 27<br />

●●12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist Church.<br />

Christel Wiens, Organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-<br />

922-1167. Free.<br />

●●7:00: Earl Haig Secondary School /<br />

Claude Watson Music. Music Elective Night.<br />

Earl Haig Secondary School, Cringan Hall,<br />

100 Princess Ave., North York. 416-395-3<strong>21</strong>0<br />

x28141. $10; $5(st).<br />

●●7:00: North York Central Library. Shakespeare’s<br />

Birthday Celebration: Elizabethan<br />

Music. Tudor era music by the Early Music<br />

Ensemble of the University of Toronto, Faculty<br />

of Music. 5120 Yonge St. 416-395-5639. Free;<br />

register by phone.<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Music Centre. Cecilia<br />

String Quartet. Three commissions of Canadian<br />

works by Katarina Curcin, Nicole Lizée<br />

and Kati Agócs. Min-Jeong Koh, violin; Sarah<br />

Nematallah, violin; Caitlin Boyle, viola; Rachel<br />

Desoer, cello. 20 St. Joseph St. 416-961-6601<br />

x202. $20; $15(CMC members/arts workers).<br />

●●7:30: Living Arts Centre. Shen Yun. Chinese<br />

music and dance. 4141 Living Arts Dr.,<br />

Mississauga. 1-855-416-1800. $60–$150.<br />

Also Apr 26, 28(eve/mat).<br />

●●7:30: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.<br />

Haydn’s The Creation. Noel Edison, conductor.<br />

Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor<br />

St. W. 416-598-0422. $35–$87; $35–$81(sr);<br />

$20(VoxTix 30 and under).<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Operetta Theatre. Los Gavilanes<br />

(The Sparrow Hawks). By Jacinto<br />

Guerrero. Miriam Khalil (Adriana); Sarah Forestieri<br />

(Rosauara); Ernesto Ramirez (Gustavo);<br />

Guillermo Silva-Marin (Juan); and<br />

others; Larry Beckwith, conductor; Guillermo<br />

Silva-Marin, stage director; Virginia Reh,<br />

assistant stage director. Jane Mallett Theatre,<br />

St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts,<br />

27 Front St. E. 416-366-2773. $72-$95. Also<br />

Apr 29, 30(3pm); May 1(3pm).<br />

48 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Thursday <strong>April</strong> 28<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Vocal Series: Collaborations. Arias and<br />

ensembles. Singers from the COC Ensemble<br />

Studio and Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de<br />

Montréal. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre,<br />

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts,<br />

145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late<br />

seating is not available.<br />

●●12:15: Metropolitan United Church. Noon<br />

at Met. Jessika Whitfield, soprano; Matthew<br />

Whitfield, piano. Metropolitan United Church<br />

(Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-363-0331 x26.<br />

Free.<br />

●●2:00: Living Arts Centre. Shen Yun. Chinese<br />

music and dance. 4141 Living Arts Dr.,<br />

Mississauga. 1-855-416-1800. $60–$150.<br />

Also Apr 26, 27, 28(eve).<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen.<br />

Bizet. See Apr 12. Also Apr 30, May 4, 6, 8, 10,<br />

12, 13, 15. Start times vary.<br />

●●7:30: High Notes Avante Productions. Gala<br />

for Mental Health. Jean Stilwell, co-host; Luba<br />

Goy, co-host; Richard and Lauren Margison;<br />

Robert Kortgaard, piano; and others. Richmond<br />

Hill Centre for the Performing Arts,<br />

10268 Yonge St., Richmond Hill. 905-787-<br />

8811. $65/$35(adv). VIP reception(6:30).<br />

●●7:30: Living Arts Centre. Shen Yun. Chinese<br />

music and dance. 4141 Living Arts Dr.,<br />

Mississauga. 1-855-416-1800. $60–$150.<br />

Also Apr 26, 27, 28(mat).<br />

●●8:00: Markham Theatre for the Performing<br />

Arts. Kiran Ahluwalia. Guest: Rez<br />

Abbasi, guitar. 171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham.<br />

905-305-7469. $59–$64.<br />

ZELENKA<br />

& BACH<br />

Apr 28–May 1<br />

416.964.6337<br />

tafelmusik.org<br />

●●8:00: Tafelmusik. Zelenka and Bach.<br />

Zelenka: Missa Omnium Sanctorum; Bach:<br />

Wedding Cantata. Dorothee Mields, soprano;<br />

Kim Leeds, mezzo; Jacques-Olivier Chartier,<br />

tenor; Jonathan Woody, bass; Ivars Taurins,<br />

conductor. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne<br />

Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-964-6337.<br />

From $38; from $30(sr); $15–$81(under 36).<br />

Also Apr 29, 30, May 1(mat).<br />

●●9:00: Burdock. Christa Couture: Album<br />

Launch - Long Time Leaving. Guest: Corinna<br />

Rose. 1184 Bloor St. W. 416-546-4033.<br />

$12/$10(adv).<br />

MAHLER<br />

SYMPHONY 1<br />

MATTHIAS PINTSCHER,<br />

CONDUCTOR<br />

APR 28 & 30 | TSO.CA<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Mahler<br />

Symphony 1. Matthias Pintscher: towards<br />

Osiris (Canadian premiere); Mozart: Piano<br />

Concerto No.24 K491; Mahler: Symphony<br />

No.1 “Titan.” Inon Barnatian, piano; Matthias<br />

Pintscher, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall,<br />

60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. $33.75–$148.<br />

Also Apr 30.<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 29<br />

●●12:10: Music at St. Andrew’s. Noontime<br />

Recital: William Bellehumeur, piano. St.<br />

Andrew’s Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593-<br />

5600 x231. Free.<br />

●●1:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano Potpourri.<br />

Classics, opera, operetta, musicals,<br />

ragtime, pop, international and other genres.<br />

Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC.<br />

Concert in chapel; lunch and snack friendly.<br />

MAOMETTO II<br />

Rossini<br />

APRIL 29<br />

to MAY 14<br />

coc.ca<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Maometto<br />

II. Rossini. Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone<br />

(Maometto); Bruce Sledge, tenor (Governor<br />

Erisso); Leah Crocetto, soprano (Anna); Elizabeth<br />

DeShong, mezzo (Calbo); and others;<br />

David Alden, director; Harry Bicket, conductor.<br />

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231.<br />

$50–$435. In Italian with English Surtitles.<br />

Also May 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 14. Start times vary.<br />

●●7:30: Cathedral Church of St. James.<br />

Last Night of the Proms. Choir of St. James<br />

Cathedral; Cathedral Parish Choir; Band of<br />

the Royal Regiment of Canada; Ian Sadler,<br />

organ; Robert Busiakiewicz, conductor; Kevin<br />

Anderson, conductor. 65 Church St. 416-364-<br />

7865 x245. $40/$35(adv).<br />

●●7:30: Knox College. Stylus Phantasticus.<br />

Buxtehude: “Nun freut euch, lieben Christen<br />

g’mein” BuxWV<strong>21</strong>0; Handel: Organ Concerto<br />

in F “Cuckoo and the Nightingale”; Bach: Trio<br />

Sonata in G BWV530; Toccata and Fugue in d<br />

BWV538 “Dorian”. Rashaan Allwood, organ.<br />

Knox College Chapel, 59 St. George St. 416-<br />

978-4500. Free.<br />

●●7:30: Lorne Park Baptist Church. Organ<br />

Concert Series: Simon Walker, organ.<br />

1500 Indian Rd., Mississauga. 905-271-6697.<br />

$20. Proceeds in support of Refugee Fund.<br />

●●8:00: Curtain Call Players. The Best Little<br />

Whorehouse in Texas. Music and lyrics<br />

by Carol Hall. Lyrics by Larry L. King and<br />

Peter Masterson. Fairview Library Theatre,<br />

35 Fairview Mall Dr. 416-703-6181. $28. Runs<br />

to May 7. Dates and times vary.<br />

●●8:00: eVoid Collective/Arraymusic. eVoid<br />

Dance Jam. Attendees are invited to dance to<br />

improvised music. Array Space, 155 Walnut<br />

Ave. 416-532-3019. PWYC.<br />

●●8:00: Music Gallery. St. Dirt Elementary<br />

School: 15th Anniversary plus DUST.<br />

197 John St. 416-204-1080. $15/$13(adv);<br />

$10(members).<br />

●●8:00: Oakville Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts. Dan Cooper Concert Series: Patricia<br />

O’Callaghan Sings Leonard Cohen. 130 Navy<br />

St., Oakville. 905-815-20<strong>21</strong>. $62.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall. Live<br />

at Massey Hall: Rheostatics. Guest: Amelia<br />

Curran. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St. 416-872-<br />

4255. $18.94–$29.50.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall. An<br />

Evening with Alan Frew: Hits of the 80s Reimagined.<br />

Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. W. 416-<br />

872-4255. $35. Restricted to 19 and over. Also<br />

Apr 30.<br />

●●8:00: Sine Nomine Ensemble for Medieval<br />

Music. De Animalibus: A Medieval Musical<br />

Bestiary. St. Thomas’s Anglican Church<br />

(Toronto), 383 Huron St. 416-978-8849 (reservations)<br />

or 416-638-9445 (info). $20;<br />

$15(sr/st/unwaged).<br />

●●8:00: Tafelmusik. Zelenka and Bach. See<br />

Apr 28. Also Apr 30, May 1(mat).<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Operetta Theatre. Los Gavilanes<br />

(The Sparrow Hawks). See Apr 27. Also<br />

Apr 30(3pm); May 1(3pm).<br />

●●8:30: Aga Khan Museum/Small World<br />

Music. Shujaat Khan and Ramneek Singh:<br />

Reflections on Kabir and Khusrau. Shujaat<br />

Khan, sitar; Ramneek Singh, vocals. Aga Khan<br />

Museum Auditorium, 77 Wynford Dr. 416-646-<br />

4677. $52–$65.<br />

ADI BRAUN<br />

SINGS<br />

KURT<br />

WEILL<br />

APRIL 29 & 30<br />

TOM KING ~ piano<br />

PAT COLLINS ~ bass<br />

DANIEL BARNES ~ drums<br />

www.adibraun.com<br />

●●9:00: Jazz Bistro. Adi Braun Sings Kurt<br />

Well. Tom King, piano; Pat Collins, bass; Daniel<br />

Barnes, drums. 251 Victoria St. 416-363-5299.<br />

$20. Also Apr 30.<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 30<br />

●●2:30: Bel Canto Singers. Here Comes<br />

the Sun. Linda Meyer, conductor; Jacqueline<br />

Mokrzewski, piano. Scarborough Bluffs<br />

United Church, 3739 Kingston Rd., Scarborough.<br />

416-286-8260. $20. Also 7:30.<br />

sine nomine<br />

Ensemble for Medieval Music<br />

De animalibus<br />

A medieval<br />

musical Bestiary<br />

Friday, <strong>April</strong> 29, 8 pm<br />

Saint Thomas's Church<br />

383 Huron Street<br />

Tickets $20 / $15<br />

416-978-8849 uofttix.ca<br />

Information 416-638-9445<br />

sinenominetoronto@gmail.com<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 49


●●3:00: Toronto Operetta Theatre. Los Gavilanes<br />

(The Sparrow Hawks). See Apr 27. Also<br />

May 1(3pm).<br />

●●4:30: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen.<br />

Bizet. See Apr 12. Also May 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15.<br />

Start times vary.<br />

●●6:30: Northlea United Church. Spring<br />

to New Life: A Syrian Refugee Fundraiser.<br />

Songs of longing and home. Theresa Tova;<br />

David Warrack; Cara Matthew; Roula Said;<br />

David Sparrow. 125 Brentcliffe Rd. 416-425-<br />

5252. $25.<br />

●●7:30: Achill Choral Society. Celtic Spirit.<br />

Burns: Londonderry Air; Rogers: Fogarty’s<br />

Cove; and other favourites. Christopher<br />

Dawes, piano; Trio NUA(fiddle, guitar, Bodhran<br />

drum); A. Dale Wood, director. Mayfield<br />

Secondary School, 5000 Mayfield St., Caledon.<br />

519-307-1024. $25; $10(ages 13-18);<br />

$5(under 12). Also Apr 23(mat; Alliston).<br />

●●7:30: Bel Canto Singers. Here Comes<br />

the Sun. Linda Meyer, conductor; Jacqueline<br />

Mokrzewski, piano. Scarborough Bluffs<br />

United Church, 3739 Kingston Rd., Scarborough.<br />

416-286-8260. $20. Also 2:30.<br />

●●7:30: Islington United Church. Don Banks<br />

Music Awards Concert: Stars of the Future. A<br />

concert by young finalists performing for the<br />

annual music awards. Guest: Etobicoke Youth<br />

Band. 25 Burnhamthorpe Rd. 416-239-1131. Free.<br />

●●7:30: Oakham House Choir of Ryerson University.<br />

Celebrate! 30th Anniversary Concert.<br />

Orff: Carmina Burana (Part I); works by<br />

Bach, Mozart, Bizet, Rutter and others. Mira<br />

Solovianenko, soprano; Andrew Tees, baritone;<br />

Oakham House Choir; Toronto Sinfonietta;<br />

Matthew Jaskiewicz, conductor. Bloor<br />

DENIS MASTROMONACO<br />

MUSIC DIRECTOR &<br />

C O N D U C T O R<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

Street United Church, 300 Bloor St. W. 416-<br />

960-5551. $30/$25(adv); $15(st; free(12 and<br />

under).<br />

●●7:30: Oakville Chamber Orchestra.<br />

Concerto Competition Grand Prize Winners.<br />

Catherine Ma, piano; Michaela Johns,<br />

cello. St. John’s United Church (Oakville),<br />

262 Randall St., Oakville. 905-483-6787. $30;<br />

$25(sr); $20(st). Also May 1(mat; St. Simon’s<br />

Anglican, Oakville).<br />

●●7:30: Toronto Chapter of the Duke<br />

Ellington Society. Celebration of the 117th<br />

anniversary of Duke Ellington’s birth. Rex<br />

Hotel Jazz Orchestra: John MacLeod, trumpet;<br />

Mike Murley, saxophone; John Johnson,<br />

saxophone; Terry Promane, trombone; Jim<br />

Vivian, bass; and others. Walter Hall, Edward<br />

Johnson Building, University of Toronto,<br />

80 Queen’s Park. 416-239-2683. $40. Proceeds<br />

to support the TDES.<br />

●●8:00: Mississauga Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Star Wars. Hammerson Hall, Living Arts Centre,<br />

4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga. 905-<br />

306-6000. From $48.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall. An<br />

Evening with Alan Frew: Hits of the 80s Reimagined.<br />

Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. W. 416-<br />

872-4255. $35. Restricted to 19 and over. Also<br />

Apr 29.<br />

●●8:00: Show One Productions. Two Piano<br />

Winners of the XV International Tchaikovsky<br />

Competition: Lucas Debargue and Lukas<br />

Geniušas. Grieg: Two Norwegian Dances for<br />

four hands; Chopin: Seven Mazurkas; Prokofiev:<br />

Sonata No.7; Scarlatti: Two Sonatas; Scriabin:<br />

Sonata No.4 in F-sharp Op.30; Ravel:<br />

Gaspard de la nuit; La valse for two pianos.<br />

Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W.<br />

416-408-0208. $35–$90.<br />

●●8:00: Tafelmusik. Zelenka and Bach. See<br />

Apr 28. Also May 1(mat).<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Mahler<br />

Symphony 1. Matthias Pintscher: towards<br />

Osiris (Canadian premiere); Mozart: Piano<br />

Concerto No.24 K491; Mahler: Symphony<br />

No.1 “Titan”. Inon Barnatian, piano; Matthias<br />

Pintscher, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall,<br />

60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. $33.75–$148.<br />

Also Apr 28.<br />

●●9:00: Jazz Bistro. Adi Braun Sings Kurt<br />

Well. Tom King, piano; Pat Collins, bass; Daniel<br />

Barnes, drums. 251 Victoria St. 416-363-5299.<br />

$20. Also Apr 29.<br />

Sunday May 1<br />

●●2:00: Canadian Opera Company. Maometto<br />

II. See Apr 29. Also May 3, 5, 7, 11, 14. Start<br />

times vary.<br />

●●2:00: Metropolitan United Church. Second<br />

Marg and Jim Norquay Celebration Concert.<br />

Charlotte Burrage, mezzo; Clarence<br />

Frazer, baritone. Metropolitan United Church<br />

(Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-363-0331 x26.<br />

$20; $10(18 and under).<br />

●●2:00: Royal Conservatory. Academy Chamber<br />

Orchestra. Works by Bach, Beethoven,<br />

Britten and Paganini. String students from<br />

The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy<br />

for Young Artists. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre,<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. Free (ticket<br />

required).<br />

●●2:00: Royal Conservatory. The Hungarian-<br />

Finnish Connection. Saariaho: Changing Light<br />

for soprano and violin; works by Liszt, Bartók,<br />

Sibelius, and others. Leslie Ann Bradley,<br />

soprano; Stephen Hegedus, bass-baritone;<br />

Rachel Andrist, piano; Robert Kortgaard,<br />

piano. Guest: Erika Raum, violin. Mazzoleni<br />

Concert Hall, Royal Conservatory, 273 Bloor<br />

St. W. 416-408-0208. $25.<br />

●●2:00: Visual and Performing Arts Newmarket<br />

(VPAN). Fung-Chiu Piano Duo.<br />

Newmarket Theatre, 505 Pickering Cres.,<br />

Newmarket. 905-953-5122. $30; $25(sr);<br />

$10(st).<br />

●●3:00: Community Baroque Orchestra<br />

of Toronto. Capriccio Stravagante. Vivaldi:<br />

“Autumn” from The Four Seasons; and works<br />

by Muffat, Buonamente and Farina. Guest:<br />

Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith, conductor and violin.<br />

Ballroom, 519 Community Centre, 519 Church<br />

St. 416-604-3440. Free.<br />

●●3:00: Echo Women’s Choir. Songs of<br />

Hope and Resistance: Celebrating May Day<br />

and International Workers’ Day. Jara: Plegaria<br />

a un Labrador (Worker’s Prayer); Barnwell:<br />

Would you Harbor Me?; Maruxiña<br />

(mine workers’ song); Le Temps des cerises;<br />

Kucho; and other songs. Jennifer Foster, guitar;<br />

Becca Whitla and Alan Gasser, conductors.<br />

Church of the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Sq.<br />

416-779-5554. $20/$15(adv); $10(sr/child/un/<br />

under-waged). Wheelchair accessible.<br />

●●3:00: Menno Singers/Pax Christi Chorale<br />

of Toronto. A Cappella Masterworks. Works<br />

by Rheinberger, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Willan,<br />

Schafer and others. Grace Church onthe-Hill,<br />

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-488-7884. $40;<br />

$35(sr); $25(st). Also Apr 30 (Kitchener).<br />

●●3:00: Oakville Chamber Orchestra. Concerto<br />

Competition Grand Prize Winners.<br />

Catherine Ma, piano; Michaela Johns, cello.<br />

St. Simon’s Anglican Church, 1450 Litchfield<br />

Rd., Oakville. 905-483-6787. $30; $25(sr);<br />

$20(st). Also Apr 30(eve; St. John’s United,<br />

Oakville).<br />

MSOEpic<br />

Music at Metropolitan<br />

presents<br />

Charlotte Burrage, mezzo-soprano<br />

Clarence Frazer, baritone<br />

Music<br />

at Metropolitan<br />

Sunday, May 1 at 2:00<br />

pm<br />

The Second Marg and Jim Norquay Celebration Concert<br />

Admission: $20/ $10 ages 18 and under<br />

Tickets: www.metunited.org or 416-363-0331 ext. 26<br />

56 Queen Street E ast,Toronto<br />

50 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Scott St. John, violin<br />

Sharon Wei, viola<br />

Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin<br />

Douglas McNabney, viola<br />

Tom Wiebe, cello<br />

Sunday May 1, 3pm<br />

Heliconian Hall<br />

35 Hazelton Avenue<br />

SyrinxConcerts.ca<br />

●●3:00: Syrinx. In Concert. Works by Brahms<br />

and Dvořák; new Canadian work by David<br />

Myska. Scott St. John, violin; Solomiya Ivakhiv,<br />

violin; Douglas McNabney, viola; Sharon<br />

Wei, viola; Tom Wiebe, cello. Heliconian Hall,<br />

35 Hazelton Ave. 416-654-0877. $25; $20(st).<br />

Post-concert reception.<br />

●●3:00: Toronto Operetta Theatre. Los Gavilanes<br />

(The Sparrow Hawks). See Apr 27.<br />

●●3:30: Tafelmusik. Zelenka and Bach. See<br />

Apr 28.<br />

●●4:00: Church of St. Mary Magdalene<br />

(Toronto). Organ works by Bach and Buxtehude.<br />

Andrew Adair, organ. 477 Manning Ave.<br />

416-531-7955. Free.<br />

●●5:00: Nocturnes in the City. Drew Jurečka<br />

Jazz Trio. Restaurant Praha, Masaryktown,<br />

450 Scarborough Golf Club Rd. 416-481-7294.<br />

$25; $15(st).<br />

●●11:00: Cecilia String Quartet. Xenia Concert:<br />

Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms by the<br />

Numbers. Sony Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts, 1 Front St. E. 416-738-8488. Free. For<br />

families affected by autism.<br />

Monday May 2<br />

●●7:30: Elmer Iseler Singers. GET MUSIC!<br />

Gala Concert. Choral music by Canadian and<br />

international composers. Secondary school<br />

choirs with their conductors; Elmer Iseler<br />

Singers (Lydia Adams, conductor). Metropolitan<br />

United Church (Toronto), 56 Queen<br />

St. E. 416- <strong>21</strong>7-0537. $25; free(full-season EIS<br />

subscribers).<br />

Tuesday May 3<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Vocal Series: Georgian Romance. Songs by<br />

Rachmaninoff, Falla, Ravel, Fauré and Taktakishvili.<br />

Anita Rachvelishvili; mezzo; David<br />

Aladashvili, piano. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre,<br />

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231.<br />

Free. Late seating is not available.<br />

●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/<br />

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Lunchtime<br />

Chamber Music. Asher Armstrong,<br />

piano. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church,<br />

1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. Free. Donations<br />

welcome.<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Maometto<br />

II. See Apr 29. Also May 5, 7, 11, 14. Start times<br />

vary.<br />

Earl Haig /<br />

Claude Watson<br />

Music presents<br />

Symphony ~<br />

Band Night<br />

May 3, 7:30pm • Cringan Hall,<br />

Earl Haig Secondary School<br />

claudewatson.ca<br />

●●7:30: Earl Haig Secondary School/Claude<br />

Watson Music. Symphony-Band Night. Borodin:<br />

Polovtsian Dances; Prokofiev: Classical<br />

Symphony (Mvts.1 and 2); Mozart: Flute<br />

Concerto in G (Mvt.1); Elgar: Cello Concerto<br />

(Mvt.1); Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin<br />

and Piano (Mvt.1); Weber: Concerto for<br />

Clarinet (Mvt.1). Earl Haig Symphonic Band,<br />

John McGregor, director; Earl Haig Chamber<br />

Strings, Alan Torok, director; Earl Haig Symphony<br />

Orchestra, Timothy Sullivan, director.<br />

Earl Haig Secondary School, Cringan Hall,<br />

100 Princess Ave., North York. 416-395-3<strong>21</strong>0<br />

x28141. $10; $5(st).<br />

CROSS’D BY<br />

THE STARS<br />

❚ Tales of true love,<br />

doomed by the fates<br />

May 3 & 4, 8:00 pm<br />

www.taliskerplayers.ca<br />

Talisker Players Music<br />

●●8:00: Talisker Players. Cross’d by the<br />

Stars. Music and readings from the letters,<br />

diaries and memoirs of great lovers<br />

through the ages. Purcell: When I Am Laid in<br />

Earth (Dido’s Lament) from Dido and Aeneas;<br />

Gluck: Che faró senza Euridice from Orfeo<br />

ed Euridice; Burry: The Highwayman; Mahler:<br />

Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs<br />

of a Wayfarer); Bernstein: Songs from West<br />

Side Story. Talisker Players; Krisztina Szabó,<br />

mezzo; Aaron Durand, baritone; Stewart<br />

Arnott, actor/reader. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-466-1800. $40; $30(sr);<br />

$10(st). 7:15: Pre-concert chat. Also May 4.<br />

Wednesday May 4<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Dance Series: Vital Few. 605 Collective; Lisa<br />

Gelley, artistic co-director; Josh Martin, artistic<br />

co-director. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre,<br />

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free.<br />

Late seating is not available.<br />

●●12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist Church.<br />

Sharon Beckstead, Organ. 1585 Yonge St.<br />

416-922-1167. Free.<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen.<br />

Bizet. See Apr 12. Also May 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15.<br />

Start times vary.<br />

●●8:00: Coleman Lemieux et Compagnie.<br />

Against Nature/À Rebours. Music by James<br />

Rolfe. Libretto by Alex Poch-Goldin. Alexander<br />

Dobson, baritone; Geoffrey Sirett, baritone;<br />

Laurence Lemieux, dancer; John Hess, piano;<br />

Parmela Attariwala, violin; Carina Reeves,<br />

cello; James Kudelka, choreographer. The<br />

Citadel, 304 Parliament St. 416-364-8011 x1.<br />

$50. Runs May 4–8, 11–15.<br />

●●8:00: Talisker Players. Cross’d by the<br />

Stars. See May 3.<br />

Thursday May 5<br />

●●12:00 noon: Adam Sherkin/Steinway<br />

Piano Gallery. Liszt: Wild New Wizardry II.<br />

Liszt: Transcendental Etudes No.3 The Wild<br />

Hunt and No.8 Paysage; Grand Paganini<br />

Etudes No.4 and No.6; Sherkin: First Sonata<br />

(Cŵn Annwn “The Hounds of Hell,” <strong>2016</strong>); Tagish<br />

Fires (2015). Adam Sherkin, piano. Bluma<br />

Appel Lobby, St. Lawrence Centre for the<br />

Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-366-7723. Free.<br />

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company.<br />

Vocal Series: A Celebration of Canadian Art<br />

Song. Ross: The Living Spectacle; works by<br />

Beckwith and Rickard. Ambur Braid, soprano;<br />

Steven Philcox, piano; Artists from the Faculty<br />

of Music of the University of Toronto. Richard<br />

Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre<br />

for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St.<br />

W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late seating is not<br />

available.<br />

●●12:00 noon: Encore Symphonic Concert<br />

Band. In Concert: Classics and Jazz. John<br />

Edward Liddle, conductor. Wilmar Heights<br />

Centre, 963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough.<br />

416-346-3910. $10. Includes coffee and<br />

snack. Also Apr 7.<br />

●●12:15: Metropolitan United Church. Noon<br />

at Met. Julia Morson, soprano; Rashaan Allwood,<br />

piano. Metropolitan United Church<br />

(Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-363-0331 x26.<br />

Free.<br />

●●1:30: Women’s Musical Club of Toronto.<br />

Music in the Afternoon: Pavel Kolesnikov,<br />

Piano. C.P.E. Bach: two sonatas; Beethoven:<br />

Sonata No.30 in E Op.109; Chopin: Selected<br />

mazurkas and nocturnes; Scherzo No.4 in E<br />

Op.54. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building,<br />

University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-<br />

923-7052. $45.<br />

Women’s Musical Club of Toronto<br />

Music in the Afternoon<br />

PAVEL KOLESNIKOV,<br />

Honens Laureate,<br />

piano<br />

Thursday, May 5, 1.30 p.m.<br />

Tickets $45<br />

416-923-7052<br />

www.wmct.on.ca<br />

●●7:00: North York Central Library. Asian<br />

Heritage Month: Tablix. Fusion of tabla, technology<br />

and electronic music. Gurpreet Chana,<br />

tabla. 5120 Yonge St. 416-395-5639. Free;<br />

register by phone.<br />

●●7:30: Art and Action Productions. Thrill<br />

of Jazz. Jazz version of selections from<br />

Tchaikovsky: The Seasons; Tribute to Oscar<br />

Peterson. Fonograf Jazz Quartet. John Bassett<br />

Theatre, 255 Front St. W. 647-477-8897.<br />

$55–$115.<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Maometto<br />

II. See Apr 29. Also May 7, 11, 14. Start times<br />

vary.<br />

●●7:30: Royal Conservatory. Glenn Gould<br />

School New Music Ensemble. Boulez: Dérive<br />

2; other works by A. Norman and Sokolović.<br />

Brian Current, curator. Conservatory Theatre,<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. Free<br />

(ticket required).<br />

●●8:00: Music Gallery/Geordie McDonald.<br />

Geordie McDonald: The March of the Robots.<br />

Music Gallery, 197 John St. 416-204-1080. $10;<br />

$8(members).<br />

Friday May 6<br />

●●12:10: Music at St. Andrew’s. Noontime<br />

Recital: Asher Armstrong, piano. St.<br />

Andrew’s Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593-<br />

5600 x231. Free.<br />

●●1:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano Potpourri.<br />

Classics, opera, operetta, musicals,<br />

ragtime, pop, international and other genres.<br />

Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC.<br />

Concert in chapel; lunch and snack friendly.<br />

●●3:30: Young Voices Toronto. Colour Me<br />

Spring. ZARI Georgian Folk Ensemble; Andy<br />

Morris, percussion, Tracy Wong and Brenda<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 51


O’Connor, conductors; Sheldon Rose, accompaniment.<br />

Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church,<br />

427 Bloor St. W. 416-762-0657. $25; $15(sr/st).<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen.<br />

Bizet. See Apr 12. Also May 8, 10, 12, 13, 15.<br />

Start times vary.<br />

●●7:30: University Settlement Music & Arts<br />

School. Faculty Favourites. St. George the<br />

Martyr Church, 197 John St. 416-598-3444<br />

x243. PWYC; $10 suggested. Fundraising<br />

concert in support of Music & Arts School<br />

programming.<br />

De Temps<br />

Antan<br />

The joie de vivre<br />

of Quebec’s<br />

musical past!<br />

Friday, May 6, 8pm<br />

auroraculturalcentre.ca<br />

905 713-1818<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Consort. Monteverdi Vespers.<br />

La Rose des Vents, cornetto and sackbut<br />

ensemble; Charles Daniels, tenor and<br />

director. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne<br />

Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-964-6337.<br />

$27-$64; $22-$58(sr); $10(st/30 and under).<br />

7:00: pre-concert talk. Also May 7, 8(mat).<br />

●●8:00: Aurora Cultural Centre. De Temps<br />

Antan in Concert. 22 Church St., Aurora.<br />

905-713-1818. $32/$28(adv).<br />

●●8:00: Lawrence Park Community Church.<br />

Fridays @ 8 Hymn Festival. Celebrating Welsh<br />

tenor Glyn Evans’ retirement as soloist with<br />

the Lawrence Park Community Church Choir.<br />

North York Temple Band; Glenn Barlow, bandmaster;<br />

choir and soloists of Lawrence Park<br />

Community Church Choir; Mark Toews, music<br />

director. <strong>21</strong>80 Bayview Ave. 416-489-1551.<br />

Free; donations welcome.<br />

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall.<br />

George Thorogood and The Destroyers.<br />

Guest: JW Jones. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St.<br />

416-872-4255. $49.50–$99.50.<br />

●●8:00: Tempus Choral Society. It’s a Grand<br />

Night for Music. It’s a Grand Night for Singing;<br />

I Lived; Swingin’ with the Gershwins; Norwegian<br />

Wood; Love at Home; other works. Tempus<br />

Choral Society; Tempus Children’s Choir;<br />

Tempus Jazz Choir. Clearview Christian<br />

Reformed Church, 2300 Sheridan Garden Dr.,<br />

Oakville. 905-334-9375. $20.<br />

Saturday May 7<br />

●●9:45am: Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival.<br />

Ruach Singers at Beth Shalom Synagogue.<br />

Beth Shalom Synagogue, 144 Eglinton<br />

St. W. 416-694-6900. Free.<br />

●●12:00 noon: Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts<br />

Festival. Free Concert. Empire A Cappella;<br />

O’Pears; Retrocity; and Concrete A Cappella.<br />

Distillery Historic District, 55 Mill St. 416-694-<br />

6900. Free. Trinity Square.<br />

●●3:00: Toronto Children’s Chorus. Music of<br />

the Spheres. Krisztina Szabó, mezzo. Toronto<br />

Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge St., North<br />

York. 416-250-3708. $35.50–$45.50.<br />

●●4:00: Royal Conservatory. Mischa Maisky.<br />

Bach: Cello Suites Nos.1, 4 and 5. Mischa<br />

Maisky, cello. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre,<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $35–$85.<br />

Also at 8:00.<br />

●●4:30: Beach United Church. Jazz and<br />

Reflection: Southern Charm. Downtown Jazz<br />

Band. 140 Wineva Ave. 416-691-8082. Freewill<br />

offering.<br />

●●6:00: Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival.<br />

Duly Noted. Toronto’s all-women’s a<br />

cappella ensemble sings everything from<br />

madrigals to Feist. 120 Diner, 120 Church St.<br />

416-792-7725. PWYC ($10-$20 suggested).<br />

The<br />

Annex<br />

Singers<br />

Songs & Sonnets<br />

A Shakespeare celebration<br />

g<br />

Come hear where fancy is bred...<br />

Saturday, May 7th, 7:30 pm<br />

Grace Church on-the-Hill<br />

www.annexsingers.com<br />

●●7:30: Annex Singers Chamber Choir.<br />

Songs & Sonnets: A Shakespeare Celebration.<br />

Commemoration of the words, life<br />

and times of the Bard on the 400th anniversary<br />

year of his death. Works by Tallis,<br />

Dowland, M. Harris and G. Shearing. Maria<br />

Case, conductor. Grace Church on-the-Hill,<br />

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-968-7747. $25; $20(sr);<br />

$15(under 30); free(12 and under).<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Men’s Chorus. On Growing<br />

Up. Emery: O My Love; Macdonald: Blues<br />

for a Green Boy; Vaughan Williams: The Vagabond;<br />

Sametz: We Two; Takach: Mad. Guests:<br />

ASLAN Boys Choir; Thomas Bell, artistic director.<br />

Music Gallery, 197 John St. 519-305-<br />

1351. $35/$30(adv); $25(st)/$20(adv).<br />

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Maometto<br />

II. See Apr 29. Also May 11, 14. Start times<br />

vary.<br />

●●7:30: Village Voices. Faces of Love. Carlyle<br />

Sharpe: Laudate Nomen; Ola Gjeillo: The<br />

Ground; medley from West Side Story; and<br />

other classic and popular music. Village<br />

Voices Community Choir; Mira Solovianenko<br />

and Natalya Matyusheva, sopranos; Oleksandra<br />

Fedyshyn, violin. Markham Missionary<br />

Church, 5438 Major Mackenzie Dr.<br />

Choralia<br />

Canadiana<br />

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR<br />

DAVID AMBROSE<br />

Saturday, May 7 / 8 pm / Hammerson Hall, Living Arts Centre<br />

New works by innovative Canadian composers + Mary Lou Fallis &<br />

Peter Tiefenbach with their hilarious version of choral music history.<br />

Tickets: info@mississaugafestivalchoir.com and at the door<br />

f themississaugafestivalchoir.com l mfchoir / mfchoir.com<br />

52 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Faces of<br />

Saturday, May 7, <strong>2016</strong><br />

Markham Missionary Church<br />

7:30 pm $25 adult $10 student<br />

Tickets at door<br />

villagevoices.ca<br />

27 years strong!<br />

E., Markham. 905-763-4172. $25; $10(st);<br />

free(under 12).<br />

●●7:30: Home Smith Bar at The Old Mill<br />

Toronto. Monica Chapman Quartet. <strong>21</strong> Old<br />

Mill Rd. 416-236-2641. No cover.<br />

●●7:30: Milton Philharmonic Orchestra. A<br />

Night at the Proms. Milton Centre for the<br />

Arts, 1010 Main St. E., Milton. 905-878-6000<br />

or 1-866-257-0004. $25; $20(sr/st/child).<br />

●●7:30: Opera by Request. Catalani’s La<br />

Wally. In concert with piano accompaniment.<br />

Sarah Hood (Wally); Paul Williamson<br />

(Giuseppe Hagenbach); Michael Robert-Broder<br />

(Vincenzo Gellner); Brigitte Bogar (Walter);<br />

and others; William Shookhoff, piano and<br />

music director. College Street United Church,<br />

452 College St. 416-455-2365. $20.<br />

●●7:30: VOCA Chorus of Toronto. Vast Eternal<br />

Sky. Fauré: Requiem; works by Lauridsen,<br />

Gjeilo, Daley, Arlen and others. Elizabeth<br />

Polese, soprano; Lawrence Shirkie, baritone;<br />

Talisker Players Orchestra; Jenny Crober,<br />

conductor; Elizabeth Acker, accompanist.<br />

Eastminster United Church, 310 Danforth<br />

Ave. 416-947-8487. $25; $20(sr); $10(st).<br />

Masterworks of Oakville Chorus & Orchestra<br />

with the Univox Choir of Toronto<br />

Elijah<br />

Mendelssohn’s<br />

Saturday, May 7 at 8 pm<br />

St. Matthew Catholic Church, Oakville<br />

Sunday, May 8 at 4 pm<br />

Metropolitan United Church, Toronto<br />

Charlene Pauls, soprano; Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo-soprano;<br />

Chris Fischer, tenor; Daniel Hambley, bass<br />

Adults $30, Seniors $25, Student $10, Child 10 and under FREE<br />

masterworksofoakville.ca<br />

univoxchoir.org<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 53


●●8:00: Kindred Spirits Orchestra. In Concert.<br />

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.2; Rachmaninoff:<br />

Piano Concerto No.2; Brahms:<br />

Academic Festival Overture. Alexa Petrenko,<br />

host; Kristian Alexander, conductor; Leonid<br />

Nediak, piano. Flato Markham Theatre,<br />

171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham. 905-305-<br />

7469. $15–$35.<br />

●●8:00: Masterworks of Oakville/Univox<br />

Choir. Elijah. Mendelssohn. Charlene Pauls,<br />

soprano; Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo;<br />

Chris Fischer, tenor; Daniel Hambly, bass. St.<br />

Matthew’s Catholic Church, 1150 Monks Passage,<br />

Oakville. 905-399-9732. $30; $25(sr);<br />

$10(st); free(child). Also May 8(mat; Toronto).<br />

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Mischa Maisky.<br />

Bach: Cello Suites Nos.2, 3 and 6. Mischa<br />

Maisky, cello. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre,<br />

B. Concerts Beyond the GTA<br />

IN THIS ISSUE: Alliston, Barrie, Belleville, Cambridge, Cobourg,<br />

Dundas, Guelph, Haliburton, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener,<br />

Leamington, Lindsay, London, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Peterborough,<br />

St. Catharines, St. Jacobs, St. Thomas, Stratford, Waterloo, Windsor.<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 1<br />

●●12:30: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Western<br />

University Singers: Jubliant Song. Von<br />

Kuster Hall, Music Building, Western University,<br />

1151 Richmond St. N., London. 519-661-<br />

3767. Free.<br />

●●7:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. St.<br />

Cecilia Singers in Concert with McMaster<br />

Women’s Chorus: Voices In Splendour. St.<br />

Peter’s Cathedral Basilica, 196 Dufferin Ave.,<br />

London. 519-661-3767. Free.<br />

●●7:30: Adventure Canada/Acoustic Muse<br />

Concerts. The Northwest Passage in Story<br />

and Song. David Newland, host/singer/songwriter;<br />

Steafan Hannigan; Saskia Tomkins;<br />

Oisin Hannigan; guests: Dayna Manning, Paul<br />

Mills, and Scallywag. Museum London Theatre,<br />

4<strong>21</strong> Ridout St. N., London. 519-319-5847.<br />

$25/$20(adv).<br />

●●7:30: University of Waterloo Department<br />

of Music. Balinese Gamelan Ensemble. Students<br />

play by ear on various gamelan instruments,<br />

consisting of gongs, metallophones,<br />

drums and flutes. Theatre of the Arts, University<br />

of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W.,<br />

A. Concerts in the GTA<br />

Ask LUDWIG<br />

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $35–$85.<br />

Also at 4:00.<br />

●●8:00: Toronto Consort. Monteverdi Vespers.<br />

See May 6. Also May 8(mat).<br />

●●8:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano<br />

Soirée: Maytime. Romberg: Will You Remember?<br />

(from Maytime); The Desert Song and<br />

One Alone (from The Desert Song); I Bring A<br />

Song Of Love and You Will Remember Vienna<br />

(from Viennese Nights); and other works. (All<br />

arr. G. Murray). Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-St.<br />

Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-<br />

4300. PWYC. Concert in chapel.<br />

●●10:00: Globetrotter/Small World Music.<br />

Adham Shaikh. The Round, 152 Augusta Ave.<br />

647-205-0559. $15–$20.<br />

Waterloo. 519-885-0220 x24226. Free.<br />

●●8:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Wind<br />

Ensemble Concert: I Pity the Fool. Bernstein:<br />

Overture to Candide; H.O. Reed: La Fiesta<br />

Mexicana; and other works. Paul Davenport<br />

Theatre, Talbot College, Western University,<br />

1151 Richmond St. N., London. 519-661-3767.<br />

Free.<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Janina Plays Chopin. Morlock:<br />

Solace; Chopin: Piano Concerto No.2 in f;<br />

Dvořák: Symphony No.7 in d. Janina Fialkowska,<br />

piano; Heiichiro Ohyama, conductor. Centre<br />

in the Square, 101 Queen St. N., Kitchener.<br />

519-745-4711. $19 and up. Also Apr 2.<br />

●●8:00: University of Guelph College of<br />

Arts. Emotion and Commotion. University<br />

of Guelph Concert Winds; John Goddard,<br />

conductor. Guelph Youth Music Centre,<br />

75 Cardigan St., Guelph. 519-824-4120<br />

x52991. $10; $5(sr/st).<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 2<br />

●●1:30: University of Guelph College of Arts.<br />

Conducting Masterclass Concert. University<br />

If you prefer NOT to read through this whole section looking for<br />

your Town or for Chamber Music or NUMUS or Corelli<br />

or Pacifica or Zone 5 then don't.<br />

TheWholeNote.com/index.php/listings/ask-ludwig<br />

of Guelph Choirs. Harcourt Memorial United<br />

Church, 87 Dean St., Guelph. 519-824-4120<br />

x52991. Price TBA.<br />

●●7:00: Barrie Choralfest. A Night at the<br />

Opera: Bizet’s Carmen in Concert. Beste Kalender,<br />

mezzo (Carmen); Michael Nyby, baritone<br />

(Escamillo); Romulo Delgado, tenor<br />

(Don José); Aleksandra Balaburska, soprano<br />

(Micaëla); Scott Hurst, storyteller; Lyrica<br />

Chamber Choir; King Edward Choir; Bravado;<br />

Huronia Symphony Orchestra; Oliver Balaburski,<br />

artistic director and conductor. Barrie<br />

Central Collegiate, 125 Dunlop St. West, Barrie.<br />

705-739-4228. $25, $10(st), $5(child).<br />

●●7:30: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.<br />

The Men of the Deeps. 250 St. Paul St.,<br />

St. Catharines. 905-688-0722. $52; $25(univ/<br />

college st); $5(high school st). Limited tickets.<br />

AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY, KINGSTON ON<br />

BOMBOLESSÉ<br />

QUEBEC’S JOIE-DE-<br />

VIVRE BRAZILEIRO!<br />

Saturday, <strong>April</strong> 2 at 7:30 PM<br />

theisabel.ca<br />

●●7:30: Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts. Joie-de-Vivre-Brazileiro!<br />

Bombolessé. 390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-<br />

530-2050. $29; $24(faculty/staff); $15(st).<br />

●●7:30: Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and<br />

Performing Arts, Brock University. Spring<br />

Glory. Brock University Choirs; guest: Avanti<br />

Chamber Singers. St. Thomas Anglican<br />

Church, 99 Ontario St., St. Catharines. 905-<br />

688-5550. $15; $10; $5(eyeGo).<br />

●●7:30: Oriana Singers of Northumberland.<br />

Operetta 101. Works by Lehár, Bernstein,<br />

Sondheim, and Gilbert & Sullivan.<br />

Virginia Hatfield, vocals. Trinity United Church<br />

(Cobourg), 284 Division St., Cobourg. 613-<br />

392-7423. $25; $22(sr); $10(st).<br />

●●7:30: University of Waterloo Department<br />

of Music. Reaching Out: University Choir.<br />

A unique exploration of cross-cultural and<br />

inter-cultural community song. First United<br />

Church (Waterloo), 16 William St. W., Waterloo.<br />

519-885-0220 x24226. $10; $5(sr/st).<br />

●●8:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Featuring the winner of<br />

2015 Maritsa Brookes Concerto Competition.<br />

Danbee Ko, piano. Paul Davenport Theatre,<br />

Talbot College, Western University,<br />

1151 Richmond St. N., London. 519-661-3767.<br />

Free.<br />

●●8:00: Karen Schuessler Singers. London<br />

Composers Exposed! Creativity Up Close<br />

and Personal. Works by London composers<br />

J. Christmas, S. Hardy, S. Holowitz, M. Emery,<br />

S. Quartel, J. Smallman, B. Van der Hoek, D.<br />

Cook, B. Ratcliffe and K. White. Wesley-Knox<br />

United Church, 91 Askin St., London. 519-<br />

455-8895. $22/$20(adv); $20/$18(adv/sr);<br />

$10(st); free (child). Post-concert reception<br />

to meet the composers.<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Janina Plays Chopin. See Apr 1.<br />

●●8:00: NUMUS. Main Series: In Celebration<br />

– 40 Years of the Faculty of Music at WLU.<br />

Stephanie Martin: Babel for Orchestra and<br />

Choirs (world premiere); Buhr: Concerto for<br />

Piano and Orchestra (world premiere); and<br />

other works. Keenan Reimer-Watts, piano.<br />

Wilfrid Laurier University, Theatre Auditorium,<br />

75 University Ave. W., Waterloo. 519-<br />

896-3662. $20; $5(st). Also Apr 3(mat).<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 3<br />

●●2:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Featuring a finalist of<br />

2015 Maritsa Brookes Concerto Competition.<br />

Rachelle Li, violin. Paul Davenport Theatre,<br />

Talbot College, Western University,<br />

1151 Richmond St. N., London. 519-661-3767.<br />

Free.<br />

●●2:00: Kawartha Concerts. Little Big Frog.<br />

Masks, puppetry, poetry, music and dance.<br />

Faustwork Mask Theatre. Glenn Crombie<br />

Theatre, Fleming College, 200 Albert Street<br />

S., Lindsay. 705-878-5625. $15; $5(youth/<br />

child). Also Mar 5(Peterborough).<br />

●●2:00: University of Waterloo Department<br />

of Music. UW Jazz Ensemble. Jazz<br />

classics. Conrad Grebel University College,<br />

140 Westmount Rd. N., Waterloo. 519-885-<br />

0220 x24226. $10; $5(sr/st). Reception to<br />

follow.<br />

AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY, KINGSTON ON<br />

CAMERON<br />

CARPENTER<br />

BACH CHOPIN SHOSTAKOVICH CARPENTER<br />

Sunday, <strong>April</strong> 3 at 2:30 PM<br />

theisabel.ca<br />

●●2:30: Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts. Not Your Grandma’s Organist.<br />

Works by Bach, Chopin, Shostakovich<br />

and Carpenter. Cameron Carpenter, organ.<br />

390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-530-2050.<br />

From $13.50.<br />

●●3:00: Guelph Youth Singers. The Mythical<br />

Forest. Guelph Youth Music Centre,<br />

75 Cardigan St., Guelph. 519-763-3000. $25;<br />

$20(sr/st); $5(eyeGO).<br />

●●3:00: NUMUS. Main Series: In Celebration<br />

– 40 Years of the Faculty of Music at WLU. See<br />

Apr 2(eve).<br />

●●3:00: University of Guelph College of Arts.<br />

Chamber Music Recital. University of Guelph<br />

Chamber Ensembles; Henry Janzen, conductor.<br />

Goldschmidt Room, 107 MacKinnon<br />

54 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Bldg., 50 Stone Rd. E., Guelph. 519-824-4120<br />

x52991. Free; donations welcome.<br />

●●7:30: University of Waterloo Department<br />

of Music. Chiaroscuro: Contrasts in Light<br />

and Dark. Chamber Choir sings music spanning<br />

five centuries. Works by Schafer, Mac-<br />

Millan, des Prez, Gesualdo, Parton and others.<br />

St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church,<br />

23 Water St. N., Kitchener. 519-885-0220<br />

x24226. $10; $5(sr/st).<br />

Monday <strong>April</strong> 4<br />

●●7:30: University of Waterloo Department<br />

of Music. Instrumental Chamber Ensembles.<br />

Featuring six different chamber ensembles,<br />

including a brass group. Works by Bach,<br />

Schubert and others. Conrad Grebel University<br />

College, 140 Westmount Rd. N., Waterloo.<br />

519-885-0220 x24226. Free. Reception<br />

to follow.<br />

●●8:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Contemporary<br />

Music Studio Concert. Von<br />

Kuster Hall, Music Building, Western University,<br />

1151 Richmond St. N., London. 519-661-<br />

3767. Free.<br />

Tuesday <strong>April</strong> 5<br />

●●6:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Electroacoustic<br />

Music: Student Composers Concert.<br />

Paul Davenport Theatre, Talbot College,<br />

Western University, 1151 Richmond St. N., London.<br />

519-661-3767. Free.<br />

●●7:00: McMaster School of the Arts.<br />

Ensemble Concerts Series. Percussion<br />

Ensemble. Robinson Memorial Theatre,<br />

McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West,<br />

Hamilton. 905-525-9140 x27671. Free.<br />

Wednesday <strong>April</strong> 6<br />

●●12:00 noon: Midday Music with Shigeru.<br />

Louis Lefaive, piano and Music Students from<br />

Elmvale High School. Jazz and pop. Hi-Way<br />

Pentecostal Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie.<br />

705-726-1181. $5; free(st).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music<br />

Society. Pierre Beaudre, Classical Guitar.<br />

Works by Rodrigo, Brouwer, Villa-Lobos and<br />

Domeniconi. KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young<br />

St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-1673. $30; $20(st).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Becoming Baroque. Fasch: Concerto<br />

in d; Handel: Concerto Grosso in<br />

e Op.6 No.3; Corelli: Concerto Grosso in<br />

B-flat Op.6 No.11; Rebel: Les élémens, simphonie<br />

nouvelle; Rameau: Suites Nos.1 and<br />

2 from Dardanus. Allene Chomyn, curator;<br />

guest: Jeanne Lamon, director. First<br />

Nations Church, 16 William St. W., Waterloo.<br />

519-745-4711. $36. Also Apr 8(Guelph);<br />

9(Cambridge).<br />

Thursday <strong>April</strong> 7<br />

●●7:00: University of Guelph College of<br />

Arts. Jazz Concert. University of Guelph Jazz<br />

Ensemble; Ted Warren, conductor. Manhattan’s<br />

Pizza Bistro and Music Club, 951 Gordon<br />

St., Guelph. 519-824-4120 x52991. $2 cover or<br />

donation at the door.<br />

●●7:30: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.<br />

Johnny Clegg Band. 250 St. Paul St., St.<br />

Catharines. 905-688-0722. $55; $25(univ/<br />

college st); $5(high school st).<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 8<br />

●●8:00: Jeffery Concerts. Pacifica Quartet.<br />

Wolf Performance Hall, 251 Dundas St., London.<br />

519-672-8800. $35; $30(sr); $15(st).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music<br />

Society. Ensemble Made In Canada I. Piano<br />

quartets of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and<br />

Omar Daniel. KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young<br />

St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-1673. $35; $20(st).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Becoming Baroque. Fasch: Concerto<br />

in d; Handel: Concerto Grosso in e<br />

Op.6 No.3; Corelli: Concerto Grosso in B-flat<br />

Op.6 No.11; Rebel: Les élémens, simphonie<br />

nouvelle; Rameau: Suites Nos.1 and 2 from<br />

Dardanus. Allene Chomyn, curator; guest:<br />

Jeanne Lamon, director. Harcourt Memorial<br />

United Church, 87 Dean St., Guelph.<br />

519-745-4711. $36. Also Apr 6(Waterloo);<br />

9(Cambridge).<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 9<br />

●●7:30: Barrie Concerts. Sinfonia Toronto<br />

and Brian Lewis, Violin. McLean: Elements;<br />

and works by Glazunov, Beethoven and Mozart.<br />

Nurhan Arman, conductor. Hi-Way<br />

Pentecostal Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie.<br />

705-726-1181. $85.<br />

●●7:30: Guelph Chamber Choir. Virtuoso Baroque.<br />

Handel: Dixit Dominus; Vivaldi: Gloria;<br />

Mondonville: Dominus regnavit. Sheila Dietrich,<br />

soprano; Janice Coles, mezzo; Carolynne<br />

Davy, mezzo; Chris Fischer and Lanny Fleming,<br />

tenors; and others; Musica Viva Ensemble;<br />

Gerald Neufeld, conductor. St. George’s<br />

Anglican Church (Guelph), 99 Woolwich St.,<br />

Guelph. 519-763-3000 or 1-877-520-2408.<br />

$25; $10(st/under 30); $5(eyeGO/under 14).<br />

On period instruments.<br />

●●7:30: McMaster School of the Arts.<br />

Ensemble Concerts Series. McMaster University<br />

Choir. Central Presbyterian Church<br />

(Hamilton), 165 Charlton Ave. W., Hamilton.<br />

905-525-9140 x27671. Free.<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music<br />

Society. Ensemble Made In Canada II. Piano<br />

quartets of Beethoven and Schumann; John<br />

Burge: Duo for violin and cello. KWCMS Music<br />

Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-<br />

1673. $35; $20(st).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Becoming Baroque. Fasch: Concerto<br />

in d; Handel: Concerto Grosso in<br />

e Op.6 No.3; Corelli: Concerto Grosso in<br />

B-flat Op.6 No.11; Rebel: Les élémens, simphonie<br />

nouvelle; Rameau: Suites Nos.1 and<br />

2 from Dardanus. Allene Chomyn, curator;<br />

guest: Jeanne Lamon, director. Central Presbyterian<br />

Church (Cambridge), 7 Queens<br />

Sq., Cambridge. 519-745-4711. $36. Also<br />

Apr 6(Waterloo); 8(Guelph).<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 10<br />

●●1:30: University of Guelph College of Arts.<br />

Contemporary Music Concert. University<br />

of Guelph Contemporary Music Ensemble;<br />

Joe Sorbara, conductor. Silence, 46 Essex<br />

St., Guelph. 519-824-4120 x52991. $5 cover<br />

charge at the door.<br />

●●2:30: Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing<br />

Arts. Minsoo Sohn, Piano. Bach:<br />

Goldberg Variations; Brahms: Variations on<br />

a Theme of Handel. 390 King St. W., Kingston.<br />

613-533-2424. $27; $22(faculty/staff);<br />

$13.50(st).<br />

AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY, KINGSTON ON<br />

MINSOO SOHN<br />

BACH GOLDBERG<br />

VARIATIONS<br />

Sunday, <strong>April</strong> 10 at 2:30 PM<br />

theisabel.ca<br />

●●4:00: Spiritus Ensemble. Easter in Leipzig.<br />

Bach: Cantata 66 Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen;<br />

Cantata 4 Christ lag in Todesbanden; Cantata<br />

6 Bleib bei mir (opening chorus). Jennifer<br />

Enns Modolo, Bud Roach and David Roth,<br />

solos; Kenneth Hull, conductor. St. John the<br />

Evangelist Anglican Church, 23 Water St. N.,<br />

Kitchener. 519-579-8335. $5–$25.<br />

●●7:00: NUMUS. Mix Series: Emerging Curators.<br />

Original work by winner of NUMUS’s<br />

first annual Student Curator Contest for postsecondary<br />

students. Kathryn Ladano, artistic<br />

director. Block3 Brewery, 1430-2 King St.<br />

N., St. Jacobs. 519-664-1001. $15; $10(sr/arts<br />

workers); $5(st).<br />

Wednesday <strong>April</strong> 13<br />

●●2:30: Seniors’ Serenade. Contrasts. Handel:<br />

Sonata in b; Doppler: Fantaisie Pastorale<br />

Hongroise; Bartók: Suite Paysane Hongroise;<br />

Barber: Canzone; Briccialdi: Il Carnevale<br />

di Venezia. Allan Pulker, flute; Pegah Yazdani,<br />

piano. Grace United Church (Barrie),<br />

350 Grove St. E., Barrie. 705-726-1181. Free.<br />

3:30: tea and goodies, $5.<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber<br />

Music Society. Jerzy Kaplanek, Violin; Francine<br />

Kay, Piano. Ravel: Sonata for violin and<br />

piano; Messiaen: Theme and Variations for<br />

violin and piano; Schumann: Piano Quartet.<br />

Jerzy Kaplanek, violin; Francine Kay, piano;<br />

Christine Vlajk, viola; Kaitie Schlaikjer, cello.<br />

KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo.<br />

519-886-1673. $35; $20(st).<br />

Thursday <strong>April</strong> 14<br />

●●7:30: Songwriters Circle. Dave Gunning:<br />

CD Release - Lift. Guests: Sean McCann, The<br />

Laws, and Paul Langille. Canada Southern<br />

Railway Station, 750 Talbot St., St. Thomas.<br />

519-719-6885. $45.<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 15<br />

●●7:00: Road to Kingsville Folk Festival Concerts.<br />

Dave Gunning: CD Release - Lift. Bank<br />

Theatre, 10 Erie St. S., Leamington. 1-800-<br />

838-3006. $20.<br />

●●7:30: Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club. Hannah<br />

Sanders and Ben Savage. Chaucer’s<br />

Pub, 122 Carling St., London. 519-473-2099.<br />

$18/$15(adv).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. The von Trapps. Edelweiss; Dream<br />

a Little Dream of Me; other works. Melanie von<br />

Trapp; Amanda von Trapp; August von Trapp;<br />

Edwin Outwater, conductor. Centre in the<br />

Square, 101 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 519-745-<br />

4711. $19 and up. Also Apr 16.<br />

Collectif9<br />

WED, MAY 4 @ 7:30PM | CAIRNS RECITAL HALL<br />

Montreal's renowned nine-piece string ensemble presents<br />

classical music with rock-style charisma<br />

FirstOntarioPAC.ca<br />

Box Office: 905-688-0722<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 55


Saturday <strong>April</strong> 16<br />

●●2:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Youth Orchestra Program Concert<br />

3. Centre in the Square, 101 Queen St. N.,<br />

Kitchener. 519-745-4711. $13; $11(child).<br />

●●7:30: Arcady Ensemble. Handel’s Messiah.<br />

Ronald Beckett, conductor. St. James Anglican<br />

Church (Cambridge), 520 Ellis Rd., Cambridge.<br />

519-658-4547. $30/$25(adv); $15(st).<br />

●●7:30: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.<br />

Digging Roots. 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines.<br />

905-688-0722. $35; $25(univ/college<br />

st); $5(high school st).<br />

●●7:30: Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.<br />

Tchaikovsky’s Fourth. Elgar: Serenade for<br />

Strings; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.4; Richardson-Schulte:<br />

Trumpet Concerto (world<br />

premiere). Michael Fedyshyn, trumpet; Eric<br />

Paetkau, conductor. Hamilton Place, 10 Mac-<br />

Nab St. S., Hamilton. 905-526-7756. $10-$67.<br />

6:30 pre-concert talk.<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music<br />

Society. Mary Kenedi, Piano. Liszt: Les Jeux<br />

d’Eaux à la Villa D’Este; Kodály: Folksong<br />

(from Hary Janos); Dances of Marosszék;<br />

Bartók: Fantasy No.1; Suite Op.14; Roumanian<br />

Folk Dances; 15 Hungarian Peasant<br />

Songs, Nos.6-15; Conway-Baker: Sonata for<br />

Piano; and other works. KWCMS Music Room,<br />

57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-1673.<br />

$30; $20(st).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. The von Trapps. See Apr 15.<br />

●●8:00: Pavlo. In Concert. Pavlo Simtikidis,<br />

guitar. Olde Walkerville Theatre,<br />

1564 Wyandotte St. E., Windsor. 519-253-<br />

2929. $40–$75.<br />

●●8:00: Registry Theatre. Dave Gunning: CD<br />

Release - Lift. 122 Frederick St., Kitchener.<br />

519-578-1570. $18–$20.<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 17<br />

●●2:00: Gallery Players of Niagara. Tunes<br />

and Tangos: The Festive Chôros Music of Brazil.<br />

Michele Jacot, clarinet; Douglas Miller,<br />

flute; Timothy Phelan, guitar; Mike Phelan,<br />

percussion. Silver Spire United Church,<br />

366 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 905-468-<br />

1525. $5–$34.<br />

●●3:00: Dublin Street United Church. A Legacy<br />

of Joy. Works by members of the Bach<br />

family including Philip Emmanuel and C.P.E.<br />

Bach; other works by Barrie Cabena. Barrie<br />

Cabena, organ; Members of the Dublin Street<br />

Choir; Neil McLaren, baritone; Margaret Robinson,<br />

flute. 68 Suffolk St. W., Guelph. 519-<br />

8<strong>21</strong>-0610. Freewill offering. Sponsored by<br />

Friends of Music.<br />

●●3:00: Wellington Wind Symphony. Cartoons<br />

and Fantasies. Gershwin: Rhapsody in<br />

Blue; works by Mussorgsky, Bach and Dello<br />

Joio; and TV themes. Heidi Wall, piano; Daniel<br />

Warren, conductor. Grandview Baptist<br />

Church, 250 Old Chicopee Dr., Kitchener.<br />

519-669-1327. $20; $15(sr); free(st). Also<br />

Apr 24 (Waterloo).<br />

●●4:30: Music at Saint Thomas’. German<br />

and Canadian: An Organ Recital. Buxtehude:<br />

Praeludium in g BuxWV163; Laurin: Excerpts<br />

from Twelve Short Pieces; Bach: Prelude<br />

and Fugue in C BWV547; Daveluy: Prelude<br />

and Fugue in E-flat (1959); Cabena: Sonata<br />

Simplicitate (Sonata XLIX) in the Form of a<br />

Trio Op.511(world premiere). Rachel Laurin,<br />

organ. St. Thomas’ Anglican Church<br />

B. Concerts Beyond the GTA<br />

(Belleville), 201 Church St., Belleville. 613-<br />

962-3636. Freewill offering.<br />

●●7:30: Folk Under the Clock. Double Bill:<br />

International Songwriters. Martyn Joseph<br />

and Dave Gunning, vocals. Market Hall Performing<br />

Arts Centre, 140 Charlotte St., Peterborough.<br />

705-749-1146. $35; $25(st).<br />

Tuesday <strong>April</strong> 19<br />

●●7:30: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.<br />

Ruthie Foster. Guest: Harrison Kennedy.<br />

250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 905-688-<br />

0722. $49; $25(univ/college st); $5(high<br />

school st).<br />

Wednesday <strong>April</strong> 20<br />

●●12:00 noon: Music at St. Andrews. Andrew<br />

Adair, Organ. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian<br />

Church (Barrie), 47 Owen St., Barrie. 705-<br />

726-1181. $5; free(st).<br />

●●7:30: Plumbing Factory Brass Band. Meet<br />

the Plumbers. Tuba Mirum; Prince Henry Fanfare;<br />

Pink Panther; Brahms and Mozart Medleys;<br />

March from Aida; and other works.<br />

Henry Meredith, conductor. Byron United<br />

Covenant Church, 420 Boler Rd., London.<br />

519-471-1250 or 519-659-3600. $15/$13(adv);<br />

$10/$8(st/adv). Refreshments to follow.<br />

Thursday <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong><br />

●●7:30: Perimeter Institute. Classical World<br />

Artists Series. J. Kuusisto: Valo; Respighi: Violin<br />

Sonata in b; Beethoven: Violin Sonata No.9.<br />

Elina Vähälä, violin. Mike Lazaridis Theatre of<br />

Ideas, Perimeter Institute, 31 Caroline St. N.,<br />

Waterloo. 519-883-4480. $83; $55(st). Valid<br />

ID needed for student rate.<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 22<br />

●●7:30: Kingston Choral Society/Kingston<br />

Community Strings. Sunrise: A Musical Celebration.<br />

Gjeilo: Sunrise Symphonic Mass. Isabel<br />

Bader Centre for the Performing Arts,<br />

390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-533-2424. $25.<br />

●●7:30: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. The Geometry of Music: Harold<br />

Scott MacDonald Coxeter. Edwin Outwater,<br />

conductor; Krista Blake, curator. Conrad Centre<br />

for the Performing Arts, 36 King St. W.,<br />

Kitchener. 519-745-4711. $36. Also Apr 23.<br />

●●8:00: Barrie Folk Society. Dave Gunning:<br />

CD Release - Lift. MacLaren Art Centre,<br />

37 Mulcaster St., Barrie. 705-7<strong>21</strong>-9696.<br />

$25/$20(adv).<br />

●●8:00: Duane Andrews. In Concert. Conception<br />

Bay String Quartet. Pearl Company<br />

Theatre, 16 Steven St., Hamilton. 905-<br />

524-0606. $25/$20(adv); free(child). Also<br />

Apr <strong>21</strong>(Toronto) and Apr 23(Peterborough).<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 23<br />

●●3:00: 5 at the First Chamber Music Series.<br />

String Extravaganza V: Back to Brahms.<br />

Schubert: Trio in B-flat D471; Dohnányi: Serenade<br />

for String Trio; Brahms: Sextet No.1<br />

in B-flat Op.18. Yehonatan Berick and Csaba<br />

Koczo, violins; Caitlin Boyle and Theresa<br />

Rudolph, violas; Rachel Desoer and Rachel<br />

Mercer, cellos. First Unitarian Church of<br />

Hamilton, 170 Dundurn St. S., Hamilton. 905-<br />

399-5125. $5–$20.<br />

●●3:00: Achill Choral Society. Celtic Spirit.<br />

Burns: Londonderry Air; Rogers: Fogarty’s<br />

Cove; and other favourites. Christopher<br />

Dawes, piano; Trio NUA(fiddle, guitar,<br />

Bodhran drum); A. Dale Wood, director. Knox<br />

Presbyterian Church (Alliston), 160 King<br />

St. S., Alliston. 519-307-1024. $25; $10(ages<br />

13-18); $5(under 12). Also Apr 30(eve;<br />

Caledon).<br />

●●7:30: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. The Geometry of Music: Harold<br />

Scott MacDonald Coxeter. See Apr 22.<br />

●●7:30: mmmm Composers In Concert.<br />

New and Used Music. New works by Allard,<br />

Burak and Dobinson; and other works. Michel<br />

Allard, Marco Burak, Michael Dobinson<br />

and Michelle Wells. Zion Lutheran Church,<br />

202 Erie St., Stratford. 519-271-8527. By<br />

donation.<br />

●●8:00: Duane Andrews. In Concert. Conception<br />

Bay String Quartet. Gordon Best Theatre,<br />

<strong>21</strong>6 Hunter St. W., Peterborough. 705-<br />

876-8884. $25/$20(adv); free(child). Also<br />

Apr <strong>21</strong>(Toronto) and Apr 22(Hamilton).<br />

●●8:00: NUMUS. Mix Series: Rabbit Hole.<br />

Mixed media. SlowPitchSound (Cheldon<br />

Paterson, turntable); Lybido, dance; winner of<br />

NUMUS’s 3rd annual Student Improvisation<br />

Audition. Button Factory, Waterloo Community<br />

Arts Centre, 25 Regina St. S., Waterloo.<br />

519-886-4577. $15; $10(sr/arts workers);<br />

$5(st).<br />

Sunday <strong>April</strong> 24<br />

●●2:30: Georgian Music. Marie-Josée Lord,<br />

Soprano and Hugues Cloutier, Piano. Works<br />

by Granados, Rodrigo, Falla, Bernstein, Porter<br />

and others. Grace United Church (Barrie),<br />

350 Grove St. E., Barrie. 705-726-1181. $65;<br />

free to new subscribers of <strong>2016</strong>/17 season.<br />

●●3:00: Wellington Wind Symphony. Cartoons<br />

and Fantasies. Gershwin: Rhapsody in<br />

Blue; works by Mussorgsky, Bach and Dello<br />

Joio; and TV themes. Heidi Wall, piano; Daniel<br />

Warren, conductor. Knox Presbyterian<br />

Church (Waterloo), 50 Erb St. W., Waterloo.<br />

519-669-1327. $20; $15(sr); free(st). Also<br />

Apr 17 (Kitchener).<br />

●●7:00: Zula Music & Arts Collective Hamilton.<br />

Lina Allemano 4. Workers Arts and<br />

Heritage Centre, 51 Stuart St., Hamilton. 905-<br />

522-3003. $15/$10/adv).<br />

●●7:30: Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club. Canal Street<br />

String Band. Chaucer’s Pub, 122 Carling St.,<br />

London. 519-473-2099. $18/$15(adv).<br />

●●7:30: Folk Under the Clock. Gordie<br />

MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys: Black<br />

Mountain Rag. Market Hall Performing Arts<br />

5 at the first<br />

CHAMBER<br />

MUSIC SERIES<br />

— PRESENTS —<br />

String Extravaganza V:<br />

Back to Brahms<br />

Schubert, Dohnanyi & Brahms<br />

SAT APR 23, 3PM<br />

Hamilton<br />

5ATTHEFIRST.COM<br />

Centre, 140 Charlotte St., Peterborough. 705-<br />

749-1146. $35; $25(st).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music<br />

Society. Ménage à six String Sextet. Schubert:<br />

String Trio in B-flat D471; Dohnányi: Serenade<br />

Op.10 (string trio); Brahms: Sextet No.1<br />

in B-flat. Yehonatan Berick and Csaba Koczo,<br />

violins; Theresa Rudolph and Caitlin Boyle,<br />

violas; Rachel Mercer and Rachel Desoer,<br />

cellos. KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W.,<br />

Waterloo. 519-886-1673. $35; $20(st).<br />

Wednesday <strong>April</strong> 27<br />

●●7:30: Royal Canadian College of Organists.<br />

Maxine Thévenot Organ Concert. St. George’s<br />

Cathedral (Kingston), 270 King St. E., Kingston.<br />

613-548-4617. $25; $20(sr); $10(st).<br />

Friday <strong>April</strong> 29<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. KWS Concerto Celebration.<br />

Weber: Andante and Hungarian Rondo; Pallett:<br />

New Work for Viola and Orchestra; Marcello:<br />

Oboe Concerto in c; Ravel: Tzigane;<br />

Glinka: Kamarinskaya; Bartók: Concerto<br />

for Orchestra. Bénédicte Lauzière, violin;<br />

Natasha Sharko, viola; James Mason, oboe;<br />

Ian Hopkin, bassoon; KWS Youth Orchestra;<br />

Edwin Outwater, conductor. Centre in the<br />

Square, 101 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 519-745-<br />

4711. $19 and up. Also Apr 30.<br />

Saturday <strong>April</strong> 30<br />

●●2:30: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. Music in Your Neighbourhood.<br />

Matt Piche, violin; WCI Strings; Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser,<br />

conductor. Centre in the<br />

Square, 101 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 519-745-<br />

4711. $19 and up.<br />

Gerald Vreman<br />

Allison Benstead<br />

Notes on Love ~ Brahms<br />

FanshaweChorusLondon.org<br />

●●7:30: Fanshawe Chorus London. Notes on<br />

Love. Brahms: Liebeslieder Waltzes; other<br />

works. Concert Players Orchestra; Guests:<br />

Allison Wiebe-Benstead and Gerald Vreman.<br />

First St. Andrew’s United Church, 350 Queens<br />

Ave., London. 519-433-9650. $30; $25(sr/st).<br />

●●7:30: Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and<br />

Performing Arts, Brock University. Avanti<br />

Chamber Singers: Water Music - Of Rain,<br />

River and Sea. Covenant Christian Reformed<br />

Church, 278 Parnell Ave., St. Catharines.<br />

905-688-5550. $25/$20(adv); $20/$15(sr/st/<br />

adv); $5(eyeGo).<br />

56 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


●●7:30: Menno Singers/Pax Christi Chorale<br />

of Toronto. A Cappella Masterworks. Works<br />

by Rheinberger, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Willan,<br />

Schafer and others. St. Peter’s Lutheran<br />

Church, 49 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 519-<br />

576-8751. $40; $35(sr); $25(st). Also May 1<br />

(Toronto).<br />

APRIL 30, <strong>2016</strong><br />

7:30pm at SHOWPLACE<br />

thepso.org<br />

●●7:30: Peterborough Symphony Orchestra.<br />

Last Night at the Proms. Elgar: Enigma Variations;<br />

Arne: Rule Britannia; Parry: Jerusalem.<br />

Leslie Fagan, soprano; Michael Newnham,<br />

conductor. Showplace Performance Centre,<br />

290 George St. N., Peterborough. 705-742-<br />

7469. $28.50–$39.50; $15(st). 6:40: Pre-concert<br />

talk.<br />

●●8:00: Jeffery Concerts. The Diary of One<br />

Who Disappeared. Janáček: The Diary of One<br />

Who Disappeared; Brahms: Zigeunerlieder<br />

Op.103; other works. Krisztina Szabó, soprano;<br />

Benjamin Butterfield, tenor; Arthur<br />

Rowe, piano; and others. Wolf Performance<br />

Hall, 251 Dundas St., London. 519-672-8800.<br />

$35; $30(sr); $15(st).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

Orchestra. KWS Concerto Celebration. See<br />

Apr 29.<br />

Sunday May 1<br />

●●3:00: Melos Choir and Period<br />

Instruments/H’art School of Smiles. Music<br />

with H’art. Pachelbel: Canon; works by Palestrina,<br />

Praetorius, Josquin, Bach and Telemann.<br />

St. George’s Cathedral (Kingston),<br />

270 King St. E., Kingston. 613-767-7245.<br />

$25/$22(adv); $15(st/sr); $5(child).<br />

Tuesday May 3<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber<br />

Music Society. Till Fellner, Piano. Schumann:<br />

Papillons Op.2; Fantasie in C Op.17;<br />

Berio: Cinque Variazioni; Beethoven: Sonata<br />

No.13 Op.27 No.1 Quasi una fantasia. KWCMS<br />

Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-<br />

886-1673. $40; $25(st).<br />

Wednesday May 4<br />

●●7:30: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.<br />

Collectif9. 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines.<br />

905-688-0722. $5-$43.<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Evolution.<br />

Handel: Sinfonia from Act I of Giulio<br />

Cesare; Corelli: Concert Grosso, Op.6 No.8<br />

in g; Christmas Concerto; J.C. Bach: Sinfonia<br />

Concertante; Haydn: Symphony No.22 in<br />

E-flat "The Philosopher"; Sinfonia Concertante<br />

in B-flat. Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser,<br />

conductor; Bénédicte Lauzière, violin; John<br />

Helmers, cello; James Mason, oboe; Ian Hopkin,<br />

bassoon. First United Church (Waterloo),<br />

16 William St. W., Waterloo. 519-745-4711.<br />

$36. Also May 6 (Guelph)<br />

Friday May 6<br />

●●7:30: Centre in the Square. Shen Yun. Chinese<br />

music and dance. 101 Queen St. N.,<br />

Kitchener. 1-855-416-1800. $58.50-$119.50.<br />

●●8:00: Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts.<br />

3rd Annual Spring into Music: @ Stratus<br />

#PianoParty. Selections from Tracing<br />

Light, House of Many Rooms. Peter Bence,<br />

piano; Laila Biali Trio. Stratus Vineyards,<br />

2059 Niagara Stone Rd., Niagara-on-the-<br />

Lake. 289-868-9177. $59–$79. Includes glass<br />

of wine. Festival runs May 6 and 7.<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Evolution.<br />

Handel: Sinfonia from Act I of Giulio<br />

Cesare; Corelli: Concert Grosso, Op.6 No.8<br />

in g; Christmas Concerto; J.C. Bach: Sinfonia<br />

Concertante; Haydn: Symphony No.22<br />

in E-flat "The Philosopher"; Sinfonia Concertante<br />

in B-flat. Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser,<br />

conductor; Bénédicte Lauzière, violin; John<br />

Helmers, cello; James Mason, oboe; Ian Hopkin,<br />

bassoon. Harcourt Memorial United<br />

Church, 87 Dean St., Guelph. 519-745-4711.<br />

$36. Also May 4 (Waterloo)<br />

Saturday May 7<br />

●●1:00: Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts.<br />

3rd Annual Spring into Music: @ Stratus<br />

#PianoParty. Works by Chopin. Tony Yike<br />

Yang, piano. Stratus Vineyards, 2059 Niagara<br />

Stone Rd., Niagara-on-the-Lake. 289-868-<br />

9177. $39–$59. Includes glass of wine. Festival<br />

runs May 6 and 7.<br />

●●5:00: Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts.<br />

3rd Annual Spring into Music: @ Stratus<br />

#PianoParty. Selections from album Diversity.<br />

Canadian solo debut of Quincy Jones’s<br />

piano protégé Emily Bear. Stratus Vineyards,<br />

2059 Niagara Stone Rd., Niagara-on-the-<br />

Lake. 289-868-9177. $49–$99. Includes glass<br />

of wine. Festival runs May 6 and 7.<br />

●●7:30: Barrie Concerts. Toronto Concert<br />

Orchestra and Thomas Torok, Piano. Saint-<br />

Saëns: African Fantasy; Piano Concerto No.3.<br />

Kerry Stratton, conductor. Hi-Way Pentecostal<br />

Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 705-<br />

726-1181. $85; free to new subscribers of<br />

<strong>2016</strong>/17 season.<br />

●●7:30: Chorus Hamilton. Operatic Choruses.<br />

Works by Purcell, Verdi, Leoncavallo,<br />

Bizet, Humperdinck, and others. Tora Klassen,<br />

soprano; Morgan Traynor, mezzo; Jason<br />

Ragan, tenor; Erika Reiman, piano; David Holler,<br />

direction. St. Paul’s United Church (Dundas),<br />

29 Park St. W., Dundas. 905-526-7938.<br />

$25; $20(sr/st).<br />

●●7:30: Chorus Niagara. Carmina Burana.<br />

Orff. Guests: TorQ Percussion Ensemble;<br />

Karin di Bella and Lynne Honsberger,<br />

pianos; Choralis Camerata; Chorus Niagara<br />

Children’s Choir. FirstOntario Performing<br />

Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines.<br />

1-855-515-0722 or 905-688-0722. $40;<br />

$38(sr); $15(st); $25(under 30), $12(child).<br />

6:30: Pre-concert chat.<br />

●●7:30: Grand Philharmonic Chamber Choir.<br />

The Spirit Sings. Rachmaninoff: Vespers<br />

(excerpts); Hatzis: De Angelis; Tavener: Svyati.<br />

Ben Bolt-Martin, cello; Grand Philharmonic<br />

Choir; Mark Vuorinen, conductor. St. Matthew’s<br />

Lutheran Church, 54 Benton St., Kitchener.<br />

519-578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977. From<br />

$25.<br />

●●7:30: Haliburton Concert Series. Back to<br />

Back with Richard and Lauren Margison.<br />

Classical, opera, music theatre, folk, pop and<br />

jazz music. Richard Margison, tenor; Lauren<br />

Margison, soprano; Jérémie Pelletier,<br />

piano. Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion,<br />

5358 County Rd. <strong>21</strong>, Haliburton. 705-457-<br />

3272. $60(3 concert series).<br />

●●7:30: Orchestra Kingston. In Concert. Rossini:<br />

Overture to The Barber of Seville; Burge:<br />

Concerto for 4 Violins; and other works.<br />

●●Acting Up Stage. Reframed. Music and<br />

lyrics by Sara Farb and Britta Johnson, Erin<br />

Shields and Bryce Kulak, Julie Tepperman<br />

and Kevin Wong. Brand new short musicals<br />

inspired by the Richard Barry Fudger Memorial<br />

Gallery at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Art<br />

Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas St W. 416-979-<br />

6608. $40, $25(st). Opens <strong>April</strong> 12, 7:00pm.<br />

Runs to <strong>April</strong> 17. Times vary. Visit<br />

actingupstage.com for details.<br />

●●Alexander Showcase Theatre. The<br />

Addams Family. Music and lyrics by Andrew<br />

Lippa, book by Marshall Brickman and<br />

Rick Elice, based on characters created by<br />

Charles Addams. Fairview Library Theatre,<br />

35 Fairview Mall Drive. 416-324-1259. $32,<br />

$27(sr/st). <strong>April</strong> 8-16, days and times vary.<br />

Visit alexandershowcasetheatre.com for<br />

details.<br />

●●Barrie Choralfest. A Night at the Opera:<br />

Bizet’s Carmen in Concert. Beste Kalender,<br />

mezzo (Carmen); Michael Nyby, baritone<br />

(Escamillo); Romulo Delgado, tenor<br />

(Don José); Aleksandra Balaburska, soprano<br />

(Micaëla); Scott Hurst, storyteller; Lyrica<br />

Chamber Choir; King Edward Choir; Bravado;<br />

Huronia Symphony Orchestra; Oliver Balaburski,<br />

artistic director and conductor. Barrie<br />

Central Collegiate, 125 Dunlop St. West,<br />

CARMEN<br />

Bizet<br />

APRIL 12<br />

to MAY 15<br />

coc.ca<br />

C. Music Theatre<br />

Guests: Canta Arya. Isabel Bader Centre for<br />

the Performing Arts, 390 King St. W., Kingston.<br />

613-634-9312. $30/$25(adv).<br />

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Evolution.<br />

Handel: Sinfonia from Act I of Giulio<br />

Cesare; Corelli: Concert Grosso, Op.6 No.8<br />

in g; Christmas Concerto; J.C. Bach: Sinfonia<br />

Concertante; Haydn: Symphony No.22<br />

in E-flat “The Philosopher”; Sinfonia Concertante<br />

in B-flat. Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser,<br />

conductor; Bénédicte Lauzière, violin; John<br />

Helmers, cello; James Mason, oboe; Ian Hopkin,<br />

bassoon. Central Presbyterian Church,<br />

7 Queen’s Square, Cambridge. 519-745-4711.<br />

$36.<br />

MUSIC THEATRE covers a wide range of music types including opera, operetta and<br />

musicals as well as non-traditional performance genres where words and music are in<br />

some fashion equal partners in the drama. These listings have been sorted alphabetically<br />

BY PRESENTER. Some information here is also included in our GTA and Beyond The GTA<br />

listings sections. Readers whose primary interest is MUSIC THEATRE should start their<br />

search with this section.<br />

Barrie. 705 -739- 4228. $25, $10(st), $5(child).<br />

<strong>April</strong> 2, 7:00pm.<br />

●●Brampton Music Theatre. Jesus Christ<br />

Superstar. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber,<br />

lyrics by Tim Rice. Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre<br />

Lane, Brampton. 905-874-2800. $35, $28(sr/<br />

st), $22(children). Opens Mar 31, 7:30pm.<br />

Runs to <strong>April</strong> 9. Days and times vary. Visit<br />

bramptonmusictheatre.com for details.<br />

●●Canadian Opera Company. Carmen. Music<br />

by Georges Bizet, libretto by Henri Meilhac<br />

and Ludovic Halévy. Anita Rachvelishvili,<br />

mezzo; Clémentine Margaine, mezzo. Joel<br />

Ivany, stage director. Paolo Carignani, conductor.<br />

Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St.<br />

W. 416-363-8231. $50-$435. Opens <strong>April</strong> 12,<br />

7:30pm. Runs to May 15. Days and times vary.<br />

Visit coc.ca for details.<br />

●●Canadian Opera Company. Maometto II.<br />

Music by Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Cesare<br />

della Valle. Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone..<br />

David Alden, stage director. Harry Bicket,<br />

conductor. Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen<br />

St. W. 416-363-8231. $50-$435. Opens <strong>April</strong><br />

29, 7:30pm. Runs to May 14. Days and times<br />

vary. Visit coc.ca for details.<br />

●●Chorus Niagara. Carmina Burana. Music<br />

by Carl Orff. Guests: TorQ Percussion Ensemble;<br />

Karin di Bella and Lynne Honsberger,<br />

MAOMETTO II<br />

Rossini<br />

APRIL 29<br />

to MAY 14<br />

coc.ca<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 57


pianos; Choralis Camerata; Chorus Niagara<br />

Children’s Choir. FirstOntario Performing<br />

Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines.<br />

1 -855-515- 0722. $40; $38(sr); $15(st);<br />

$25(under 30), $12(child). May 7, 7:30pm.<br />

●●Civic Light Opera Company. Two by Two.<br />

Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Martin<br />

Charnin, book by Peter Stone. Joe Cascone,<br />

director/designer. Zion Cultural Centre,<br />

1650 Finch Ave. E. 416-755-1717. $28. Opens<br />

<strong>April</strong> 6, 7:00pm. Runs to <strong>April</strong> 17. Days and<br />

times vary. Visit civiclightoperacompany.com<br />

for details.<br />

●●Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie. Against<br />

Nature / À Rebours. Music by James Rolfe,<br />

libretto by Alex Poch-Goldin. Second in a series<br />

of music/dance/theatre pieces by James<br />

Kudelka. The Citadel, 304 Parliament St. 416-<br />

364-8011x1. $50. Opens May 4, 8:00pm. Runs<br />

to May 15.<br />

●●Curtain Call Players. The Best Little Whorehouse<br />

in Texas. Music and lyrics by Carol Hall,<br />

book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson.<br />

Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Dr.<br />

416-703-6181. $28. Opens <strong>April</strong> 29, 8:00pm.<br />

Runs to May 7. Days and times vary. Visit curtaincalltoronto.com<br />

for details.<br />

●●Essential Opera. She’s The One. Contemporary<br />

operas by Uyeda, Raum, Höstmann,<br />

Pidgorna, Estacio and Heggie. Erin Bardua,<br />

soprano; Maureen Batt, soprano; Maureen<br />

Ferguson, soprano; Julie Ludwig, soprano;<br />

Cheryl Duvall, music director and piano. Heliconian<br />

Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416 -827- 3009.<br />

$25; $20(sr/st/arts worker). <strong>April</strong> 8, 7:30pm.<br />

●●Living Arts Centre. Stomp. The international<br />

award-winning percussion sensation.<br />

Mississauga Living Arts Centre,<br />

4141 Living Arts Dr. 905-306-6000. $55-$85.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 19, 7:00pm. Also <strong>April</strong> 20.<br />

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Anne of Green<br />

Gables. Music by Norman Campbell, lyrics by<br />

Don Harron, Norman Campbell, Elaine Campbell<br />

and Mavor Moore, book by Don Harron,<br />

based on novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery.<br />

The Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A Ossington<br />

Ave. 416-915-6747. $49.99-$59.99. Opens<br />

<strong>April</strong> 14, 7:30pm. Runs to May 8. Days and<br />

times vary. Visit lowerossingtontheatre.com<br />

for details.<br />

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Avenue Q. Music<br />

and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx,<br />

book by Jeff Whitty. Seanna Kennedy, stage<br />

director. The Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A<br />

Ossington Ave. 416-915-6747. $49.99-$59.99.<br />

Opens Mar 10, 7:30pm. Runs to <strong>April</strong> 3. Days<br />

and times vary. Visit lowerossingtontheatre.<br />

com for details.<br />

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Disney’s<br />

The Little Mermaid: A Broadway Musical.<br />

Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard<br />

Ashman and Glenn Slater, book by Doug<br />

Wright. Alan Kinsella, stage director. Randolph<br />

Theatre, 736 Bathurst St. 416-915-<br />

6747. $39.99-$69.99. Opens <strong>April</strong> 2, 12:00pm.<br />

Sat 12/3:30pm; Sun 12/3:30pm; to <strong>April</strong> 24.<br />

●●Metro Youth Opera. The Rape of Lucretia.<br />

Music by Benjamin Britten, libretto by Ronald<br />

Duncan. Aki Studio, Daniels Spectrum,<br />

585 Dundas St E. 416-531-1402. $35; $30(sr);<br />

$20(st). Opens <strong>April</strong> 29, 7:30pm. Also <strong>April</strong><br />

30, May 1, 2:30pm.<br />

●●Mirvish. If/Then. Music by Tom Kitt, book<br />

and lyrics by Brian Yorkey. Princess of Wales<br />

Theatre, 300 King St W. 416-872-1<strong>21</strong>2. $35-<br />

$130. Opens <strong>April</strong> 12, 8:00pm. Runs to May 8.<br />

C. Music Theatre<br />

Tues-Sat(8pm), Wed/Sat/Sun(2pm).<br />

●●Mirvish. Kinky Boots. Music and lyrics by<br />

Cyndi Lauper, book by Harvey Fierstein. Jerry<br />

Mitchell, stage director and choreographer.<br />

Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St.W. 416-<br />

872-1<strong>21</strong>2. $35-$130. Ongoing. Tues-Sat(8pm),<br />

Wed/Sat/Sun(2pm).<br />

●●Opera Atelier. Lucio Silla. Music by Wolfgang<br />

Amadeus Mozart, libretto by Giovanni de<br />

Gamerra. Kresimir Spicer (Lucio); Inga Kalna<br />

(Cinna); Mireille Asselin (Celia); Peggy Kriha<br />

Dye (Cecillio); Meghan Lindsay (Giunia); Marshall<br />

Pynkoski, director; Jeannette Lajeunesse<br />

Zingg, choreographer; Artists of Atelier<br />

Ballet; Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; David<br />

Fallis, conductor. Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge<br />

St. 1-855-622-2787. $38-$181; $15(under 30).<br />

Opens Apr 7, 7:30pm. Runs to Apr 16. Days<br />

and times vary. Visit operaatelier.com for<br />

details.<br />

●●Opera by Request. Don Giovanni. Music<br />

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto by<br />

Lorenzo Da Ponte. College Street United<br />

Church, 452 College St. 416-455-2365. $20.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 16, 7:30pm.<br />

●●Opera by Request. Norma. Music by Vincenzo<br />

Bellini, libretto by Felice Romani. College<br />

Street United Church, 452 College St.<br />

416-455-2365. $20. <strong>April</strong> 23, 7:30pm.<br />

●●Opera by Request. La Wally. Music by<br />

Alfredo Catalani, libretto by Luigi Illica. College<br />

Street United Church, 452 College St.<br />

416-455-2365. $20. May 7, 7:30pm.<br />

●●Oriana Singers of Northumberland. Operetta<br />

101. Music by Lehar, Bernstein, Sondheim,<br />

Gilbert and Sullivan. Virginia Hatfield,<br />

soloist. Trinity United Church, Division Street<br />

at Chapel Street, Cobourg. 613-392-7423. $25;<br />

$22(sr); $10(st). <strong>April</strong> 2, 7:30pm.<br />

●●Opera by Request. Weber’s Abu Hassan<br />

and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. Music<br />

by Carl Maria von Weber and Béla Bartók,<br />

libretti by Franz Carl Hiemer and Béla Balázs.<br />

Henry Irwin, baritone (Abu Hassan); Michele<br />

Danese, soprano (Fatima); Steven Henrikson,<br />

baritone (Omar); Deena Nicklefork, soprano<br />

(Judith); Larry Tozer, baritone (Bluebeard);<br />

Gregory Finney, stage director; William<br />

Shookhoff, piano/conductor. College Street<br />

United Church, 452 College St. 416-455-2365.<br />

$20. <strong>April</strong> 2, 7:30pm.<br />

●●Rosedale Heights School of the Arts<br />

Musical Theatre. Rent. Music, lyrics and book<br />

by Jonathan Larson. Additional material by<br />

the RHSA’s Musical Theatre Class of 2015-<br />

<strong>2016</strong>. Rosedale Heights School of the Arts,<br />

711 Bloor St. E. 416-393-1580. $15; $10(st).<br />

Opens <strong>April</strong> 13, 7:00pm. Runs to <strong>April</strong> 15.<br />

●●Scarborough Music Theatre. Damn Yankees.<br />

Music and lyrics by Richard Adler and<br />

Jerry Ross, book by George Abbott and Douglass<br />

Wallop. Scarborough Village Theatre,<br />

3600 Kingston Rd. 416-267-9292. $27. Opens<br />

<strong>April</strong> 28, 8:00pm. Runs to May 14. Days and<br />

times vary. Visit theatrescarborough.com.<br />

●●Shaw Festival. Alice in Wonderland. Music<br />

and lyrics by Allen Cole, book by Peter Hinton,<br />

based on the book by Lewis Carroll. Festival<br />

Theatre, 10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-thelake.<br />

1-800-511-7429. $35 and up. Previews<br />

begin <strong>April</strong> 27, 2:00pm. Runs to October 16.<br />

Days and times vary. Visit shawfest.com for<br />

details.<br />

●●Soulpepper Concert Series. Downtown<br />

Manhattan - The Melting Pot. Writer and Host<br />

Albert Schultz, Music Director Mike Ross,<br />

Lynn McDonald's Czech Connection continued from page 19<br />

I asked McDonald about her connection to Prague and how she<br />

became such a loyal tourist. She was happy to share her memories:<br />

“When a dear friend from Czechoslovakia, now the Czech<br />

Republic, died suddenly, I made it my mission to visit his homeland,”<br />

she recalls. “In Prague I felt more at home than I do in my own province!<br />

I never get lost. My biggest thrill is packing my music charts<br />

and going somewhere I do not speak the language. I smile at the<br />

band, I count the tune in, and then we communicate.”<br />

The Czechs are not “touristic," as she puts it. “They make no<br />

effort to be phony or charming. Having suffered both Nazi dictatorship,<br />

ghettoization, and then Communist occupation, they are quite<br />

serious. However, Czechs form very deep and lasting friendships. I<br />

was sincerely welcomed in the<br />

90s. It was rare to get a visitor’s<br />

visa and took weeks. They<br />

called me ‘Canada,’ saying ‘You<br />

must be Canada,’ when we met<br />

over the years. Back in my early<br />

visits to Bohemia, we would<br />

practise by candlelight in small<br />

flats heated by coal, electricity<br />

being an ‘option.’ I swear all the<br />

musicians lived on nicotine and<br />

caffeine then. Oh, and Pilsen on<br />

a good day.”<br />

“They often asked if I was<br />

a diplomat, a jazz ambassador.<br />

The jazz musicians at<br />

that time had all learned their<br />

craft in secret, behind closed<br />

Lynn McDonald<br />

and company create an original concert that<br />

explores the history and culture of the original<br />

neighbourhoods of New York. Young<br />

Centre for the Performing Arts, 50 Tank<br />

House Lane. 416-866-8666. $25-$60. Opens<br />

<strong>April</strong> 2, 7:30pm. Runs to <strong>April</strong> 12. Days and<br />

times vary. Visit soulpepper.ca for details.<br />

●●Stratford Festival. A Chorus Line. Music<br />

by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban,<br />

book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas<br />

Dante. Conceived and originally directed and<br />

choreographed by Michael Bennett. Donna<br />

Feore, director and choreographer. Festival<br />

Theatre, 55 Queen St, Stratford. 1-800-<br />

567-1600. $25-$175. Previews begin <strong>April</strong> 19,<br />

2:00pm. Runs to October 30. Days and times<br />

vary. Visit stratfordfestival.ca for details.<br />

●●Theatre Sheridan. Grand Hotel. Music and<br />

lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest,<br />

book by Luther Davis. Macdonald-Heaslip<br />

Hall, 1430 Trafalgar Road, Oakville. 905-<br />

815-4049. $25; $22.50(sr). Opens <strong>April</strong> 12,<br />

7:30pm. Runs to <strong>April</strong> 24. Days and times vary.<br />

Visit tickets.sheridancollege.ca for details.<br />

●●Theatre Sheridan. Sunday in the Park with<br />

George. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim,<br />

book by James Lapine. Studio Theatre,<br />

1430 Trafalgar Road, Oakville. 905-815-4049.<br />

$25; $22.50(sr). Opens <strong>April</strong> 14, 7:30pm. Runs<br />

to <strong>April</strong> 24. Days and times vary. Visit tickets.<br />

sheridancollege.ca for details.<br />

●●Toronto Concert Orchestra. Piaf Encore.<br />

La vie en rose; I Love Paris, Rien de rien,<br />

Pauvre Jean, Milord and other songs. Pandora<br />

Topp, vocals (Piaf); Kerry Stratton, conductor.<br />

The Extension Room, 30 Eastern Ave.<br />

647-352-7041. $45. <strong>April</strong> 2, 7:30pm.<br />

●●Toy Piano Composers/Bicycle Opera<br />

Beat by Beat | Jazz Stories<br />

Project. TPC Curiosity Festival: Travelogue.<br />

Works by Monica Pearce, August Murphy-<br />

King/Colleen Murphy- King, Elisha Denburg,<br />

and Tobin Stokes. Members of the Bicycle<br />

Opera Project. Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm<br />

St. 647 -829- 4<strong>21</strong>3. $30(festival pass). Opens<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1, 8:00pm. Also <strong>April</strong> 2.<br />

●●University of Toronto Faculty of Music.<br />

The Art of the Prima Donna. Staged and costumed<br />

program of romantic opera. Works by<br />

Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and others. Paul Widner,<br />

conductor. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson<br />

Building, University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s<br />

Park. 416-408-0208. $20; $10(st). <strong>April</strong> 1,<br />

5:00pm.<br />

●●Victoria College Chorus. Patience. Music<br />

by Arthur Sullivan, libretto by W.S. Gilbert.<br />

Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St.W. 416-<br />

978-8849. $20; $15(sr); $10(st). <strong>April</strong> 1,<br />

8:00pm. Also <strong>April</strong> 2, 3:00pm.<br />

●●Voicebox/Opera in Concert. Isis and<br />

Osiris: Gods of Egypt. Music by Peter Anthony<br />

Togni, libretto by Sharon Singer. Lucia Cesaroni<br />

(Isis); Michael Barrett (Osiris); Julie Nesrallah<br />

(Nephtis); Michael Nyby (Seth); Stuart<br />

Graham (The Grand Vizier); and others;<br />

Orchestra and Chorus of Voicebox: Opera<br />

in Concert; Robert Cooper, conductor and<br />

chorus director. St. Lawrence Centre for the<br />

Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-366-7723. $52 and<br />

$73. Apr 1, 8:00pm and Apr 3, 2:30pm.<br />

●●Young People’s Theatre. The Wizard of<br />

Oz. Music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and<br />

E.Y.Harburg, book by L. Frank Baum. Young<br />

People’s Theatre, 165 Front St.E. 416-862-<br />

2222. $10-$55. Opens <strong>April</strong> 4, 10:15am. Runs<br />

to May 15. Days and times vary. Visit<br />

youngpeoplestheatre.ca for details.<br />

58 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


doors, mostly from contraband recordings, which they still value.<br />

The Communists were pulling out and all kinds of Czech art was<br />

coming out of the alleyways and shadows into the bright light of day.<br />

Classical musicians were changing to jazz and playing, literally on the<br />

bridge all night. I was so exhilarated by the value put on freedom. The<br />

Czechs restored their beloved Prague to its former 16th-century glory,<br />

with new velvet and gold, recobbled streets and fresh paint and frescoes.<br />

Sadly in 2002, the Vlata River flooded its banks and destroyed<br />

much of their hard work. They started over. The Czechs are in a<br />

constant process of reinventing themselves; tirelessly healing, fixing,<br />

repairing.”<br />

Over the past few decades, McDonald has become intimately<br />

familiar with the city’s jazz club scene, as well as the Praguers’<br />

way of life:<br />

“In Prague, there is a cover charge. People value art and come out<br />

seven nights a week to hear music, cuddle in the corner and relax.<br />

They are smoking less in the clubs today, if at all. Their homes are<br />

small flats so Praguers socialize in coffee shops and clubs.<br />

“Czechs love the standards. They listen with their eyes shut, experiencing<br />

what they had only heard on recordings. I enjoy walking home<br />

at 1am, hearing my solitary footsteps on the cobblestones, feeling safe<br />

in the medieval narrow streets and the archaic gas lamplights. Sheer<br />

bliss for me. There is no physical crime that I have heard of. The odd<br />

beggar, but I always carry provisions for them.”<br />

When she isn’t in Prague, McDonald proudly presents live jazz for<br />

people who want to listen; she currently books a series at the Jester’s<br />

Court in Port Perry:<br />

“There is a no-talking policy. I was raised in George’s Spaghetti<br />

House, the Imperial Room, Café des Copains and Montreal Bistro,<br />

where there was attentive silence during the performances. That<br />

is why players like to come to Port Perry to be in my music series<br />

in the Listening Room at Jester’s Court. I pay them, feed them and<br />

guarantee an appreciative<br />

audience.<br />

Roman Pokorny<br />

People drive from<br />

Barrie, Peterborough,<br />

Oshawa, Bowmanville,<br />

Newmarket and<br />

Toronto to sit in a<br />

quiet reverie. Similar<br />

to the vibe in Prague,<br />

if you can believe it!”<br />

McDonald met guitarist Roman Pokorny in the early 1990s; he put<br />

together a band for her and booked gigs.<br />

“When I first heard Roman (romanpokorny.com) he was cranking<br />

out one blues after another at the Ungelt in Prague. His band, Blues<br />

Box Heroes, cleans up all the awards. The next night he was in a<br />

Latin band, Brazilian Mood, with Yvonne Sanchez. The third time I<br />

saw him he was playing like Grant Green in a fabulous jazz venue.<br />

Roman is a force of Nature on the guitar. Powerful and aggressive or<br />

tasty and delicate. A child in Europe is handed an instrument at four<br />

years of age and expected to practise daily for hours, for years. He did<br />

and it shows. During the height of Communist oppression he would<br />

ride his bicycle to the forest and practise alone or jam with friends,<br />

willing to chance getting caught, learning forbidden American jazz<br />

songs. Czech folk know that nothing is free and nothing comes easy.<br />

“Roman is recording with a New York rhythm section and visiting<br />

me for a few days. Tuesday <strong>April</strong> 19 at 6pm as you know, we are at<br />

120 Diner. But Jester’s Court (Sunday, <strong>April</strong> 17, 7pm) is in the works<br />

and also Blues and Brews at the Old Flame Brewery with Howard<br />

Ross and Dave Restivo. (Wednesday, <strong>April</strong> 20, 8pm).”<br />

Ori Dagan is a Toronto-based jazz musician, writer and<br />

educator who can be reached at oridagan.com.<br />

D. In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz)<br />

120 Diner<br />

120 Church St. 416-792-7725<br />

120diner.com (full schedule)<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 6pm The Sinners Choir. <strong>April</strong> 2 6pm<br />

Autorickshaw; 8:30pm Chelsea Bennett;<br />

10pm Robert Scott. <strong>April</strong> 3 6pm Thaller<br />

Family Klezmer Band; 8pm KlezFactor; 10pm<br />

iSpy. <strong>April</strong> 5 6pm AHI; 8pm Linda Lavender;<br />

10pm Royal Condition. <strong>April</strong> 6 6pm Genevieve<br />

Marentette; 8pm Lisa Particelli’s GNO Jazz<br />

Jam. <strong>April</strong> 7 6pm Laura Marks; 8pm Chelsea<br />

Keeney; 10:30pm Sophia Perlman & Terra<br />

Hazelton. <strong>April</strong> 8 6:30pm Stevey Ross and<br />

the Blue Mambo Swing. <strong>April</strong> 9 6pm Samantha<br />

Windover. <strong>April</strong> 10 5pm Pamela Hyatt’s<br />

80th Birthday Cabaret. <strong>April</strong> 12 6pm Emilie<br />

Mover; 8pm Andrea Ramolo; 10pm Chelsea<br />

McBride’s Cityscape. <strong>April</strong> 13 6pm Genevieve<br />

Marentette; 8pm Lisa Particelli’s GNO<br />

Jazz Jam. <strong>April</strong> 14 6pm Ryley Murray Trio.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 15 6pm Simone Morris +1. <strong>April</strong> 16 6pm<br />

Brian Katz; 11pm Natasha Buckeridge. <strong>April</strong><br />

17 6pm Jacky Bouchard; 8pm Mel Cote. <strong>April</strong><br />

19 6pm From Prague: Roman Pokorny; 8pm<br />

Chris Birkett; 10pm Tiffany Gooch. <strong>April</strong> 20<br />

6pm Mandy Goodhandy; 8pm Lisa Particelli’s<br />

GNO Jazz Jam. <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong> 6pm Janet Whiteway.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 22 6pm Rita di Ghent. <strong>April</strong> 23 6pm<br />

Melissa Lauren & Nathan Hiltz. <strong>April</strong> 24 6pm<br />

PerlHaze; 8pm Rachel Piscione. <strong>April</strong> 26 6pm<br />

Aaron de Souza; 8pm Ben Anthony; 10pm<br />

The Koopa Troop. <strong>April</strong> 27 6pm Genevieve<br />

Marentette; 8pm Lisa Particelli’s GNO Jazz<br />

Jam. <strong>April</strong> 28 6pm Reuven Grajner; 8:30pm<br />

The Ault Sisters; 10:30pm Leslie Huyler. <strong>April</strong><br />

29 6pm Kevin Barrett & Sharron McLeod.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 30 6pm Whitney Ross Barris; 8:30pm<br />

Chris Gale Trio plays Ellington & Strayhorn;<br />

10:30pm Sarah Thawer Trio.<br />

Alleycatz<br />

2409 Yonge St. 416-481-6865<br />

alleycatz.ca<br />

All shows: 9pm unless otherwise indicated.<br />

Call for cover charge info.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 Orangeman. <strong>April</strong> 2, 9, 16 Soular. <strong>April</strong><br />

7, <strong>21</strong> Carlos Morgan & The Flow. <strong>April</strong> 8 North<br />

of 7 Band. <strong>April</strong> 14, 28 Solo & Duets Concert<br />

Series. <strong>April</strong> 15, 23, 29, 30 Lady Kane. <strong>April</strong><br />

22 Taxi.<br />

Artword Artbar<br />

15 Colbourne St., Hamilton. 905-543-8512<br />

artword.net (full schedule)<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 8pm Worst Pop Band Ever: Adrean<br />

Farrugia (piano), Chris Gale (sax), Drew Birston<br />

(bass), Tim Shia (drums) feat. Sophia<br />

Perlman (voice) $10. <strong>April</strong> 7 8pm The ON<br />

TOPIC Trio: Kim Ratcliffe (guitar), Aubrey<br />

Dayle (drums), Brad Cheeseman (bass) $10.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 8 8pm Aaron Z Trio $10. <strong>April</strong> 14 8pm<br />

Jazz vocal jam with Sue Ramsay Trio PWYC<br />

($10 suggested). <strong>April</strong> 16 8pm Jude Johnson<br />

with Carl Horton (piano) & Mike Malone<br />

(trumpet) $15. <strong>April</strong> 22 8pm Love & Spring:<br />

Colina Phillips (voice), Stacie McGregor<br />

(piano), Mike Milligan (bass), Ted Warren<br />

(drums) $15.<br />

Bloom<br />

2315 Bloor St. W. 416-767-1315<br />

bloomrestaurant.com<br />

All shows: 19+. Call for reservations.<br />

<strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong> 7pm Alex Pangman (voice) with<br />

Peter Hill (piano), John MacLeod (trumpet)<br />

$45 (dinner included).<br />

Blue Goose Tavern, The<br />

1 Blue Goose St. 416-255-2442<br />

thebluegoosetavern.com<br />

Every Sun 4pm Blues At the Goose with<br />

the Big Groove Rhythm Section and special<br />

guests.<br />

Burdock<br />

1184 Bloor St. W. 416-546-4033<br />

burdockto.com (Full schedule)<br />

<strong>April</strong> 9 8pm Sonuskapos Jazz Orchestra<br />

$10(adv)/$20(door).<br />

Castro’s Lounge<br />

<strong>21</strong>16e Queen St. E 416-699-8272<br />

castroslounge.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: No cover/PWYC<br />

C’est What<br />

67 Front St. E (416) 867-9499<br />

cestwhat.com (full schedule)<br />

<strong>April</strong> 2, 16, 30 3pm The Boxcar Boys. <strong>April</strong> 3<br />

3pm Annie Bonsignore $10. <strong>April</strong> 9, 23 3pm<br />

The Hot Five Jazzmakers.<br />

De Sotos<br />

1079 St. Clair Ave. W 416-651-<strong>21</strong>09<br />

desotos.ca (full schedule)<br />

Every Sun 11am Sunday Live Jazz Brunch<br />

No cover.<br />

Emmet Ray, The<br />

924 College St. 416-792-4497<br />

theemmetray.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: No cover/PWYC<br />

Fat City Blues<br />

890 College St. 647-345-8282<br />

Every Sun 8:30pm Fraser/Melvin Band.<br />

Every Thurs 8:30pm The Mercenaries. <strong>April</strong><br />

1 9:30pm Freeman Dre & The Kitchen Party<br />

$5. <strong>April</strong> 15 9:30pm Sugar Brown $5. <strong>April</strong><br />

16 9:30pm Charlie Jacobson $5. <strong>April</strong> 22<br />

9:30pm Tyler Yarema $5.<br />

Gate 403<br />

403 Roncesvalles Ave. 416-588-2930<br />

gate403.com<br />

All shows: PWYC.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 5pm The Spirit of Jazz feat. Nina Richmond;<br />

9pm “The Pearl Motel”. <strong>April</strong> 2 5pm<br />

Bill Heffernan and His Friends; 9pm Danny<br />

Marks and Alec Fraser Duo. <strong>April</strong> 3 5pm<br />

Grateful Sunday feat. Trevor Cape and The<br />

Field; 9pm Virginia MacDonald Jazz Quartet.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 4 5pm Mike and Jill Daley Jazz Duo;<br />

9pm Blues and Troubles. <strong>April</strong> 5 5pm Howard<br />

Willett Blues Duo; 9pm Leigh Graham Jazz<br />

Duo. <strong>April</strong> 6 5pm Sebastian Brown Solo from<br />

Spain; 9pm Julian Fauth Blues Night. <strong>April</strong><br />

7 5pm Bruce Chapman Blues Duo with feature<br />

guests; 9pm Darcy Windover Band. <strong>April</strong><br />

8 5pm Lisa Patterson and The Roam Project;<br />

9pm Dennis Gaumond and Jen Gillmor<br />

Blues Duo. <strong>April</strong> 9 5pm Bill Heffernan and<br />

His Friends; 9pm Julian Fauth Blues Quartet.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 10 5pm Hello Darlings; 9pm Kurt<br />

Nielsen and Richard Whiteman Jazz Band.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 11 5pm Jorge Miguel Latin Music Solo;<br />

9pm Chris Staig Trio. <strong>April</strong> 12 5pm Grant<br />

Lyle Blues Music; 9pm Angela Howard Jazz<br />

Band. <strong>April</strong> 13 5pm Michelle Rumball with<br />

friend; 9pm Julian Fauth Blues Night. <strong>April</strong><br />

14 5pm Amber Leigh Jazz Trio; 9pm Kevin<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 59


MICHAEL G STEWART<br />

Beat by Beat | Mainly Clubs, Mostly Jazz!<br />

Sheila’s Back in<br />

Town!<br />

BOB BEN<br />

Sheila Jordan. Is it <strong>April</strong> 1 or<br />

<strong>April</strong> 2 as you are reading this? If<br />

so, you should be calling Jazz Bistro<br />

to make reservations for tonight<br />

for Sheila Jordan’s first appearance<br />

in Toronto in, if I’m not missing<br />

anything, two years. Almost exactly, in<br />

fact: it was near the end of March 2014<br />

when Jordan appeared for three<br />

consecutive nights at Chalkers Pub.<br />

For two nights she performed accompanied<br />

by Don Thompson on piano<br />

and Neil Swainson on bass, and on the<br />

third night she led a vocal workshop,<br />

accompanied by Thompson alone. I<br />

was in attendance at all three events,<br />

having volunteered, way ahead of<br />

time, for door duties.<br />

Sheila Jordan comes across on<br />

and off stage as a warm and caring<br />

person. You can always tell whether<br />

someone has any genuine interest in<br />

Sheila Jordan<br />

what other people are saying, or whether<br />

they’re waiting for their own turn to talk. Sheila belongs to the former<br />

camp. She cares about people. She loves the world. She has a sense<br />

of humour and a sense of wonder, and all that is on display when<br />

she performs.<br />

When she performs, she’s equal parts singer and storyteller – both<br />

during and in between songs. Her songs are both deliberate and spontaneous<br />

– rehearsed and subject to change. Each time you hear her<br />

sing, it is worth hearing. As the concerts grow chronologically further<br />

away, my memories of them become fuzzier. But almost a year ago, I<br />

wrote that “In addition to being a genuine and adventurous performer,<br />

[Sheila is] one of the sweetest, most infectiously charming people I’ve<br />

ever spoken with.” I stand by that.<br />

I bought two CDs while I was there – one of Jordan’s, Yesterdays,<br />

which is a duo album with bassist Harvie Swartz, and the Thompson/<br />

Swainson duo album, Tranquility, both of which I will recommend<br />

wholeheartedly, and the latter of which was reviewed for The<br />

WholeNote by the late Jim Galloway earlier that year.<br />

These concerts will take place at Jazz Bistro on <strong>April</strong> 1 and 2; the<br />

cover charge is $20 and dinner reservations are, as I write this, still<br />

available.<br />

Nathan Hiltz: The following day, <strong>April</strong> 3, at the same venue, you can<br />

check out Nathan Hiltz’s trio, with Pat Collins on bass and Morgan<br />

Childs on drums, playing tunes by one of my favourite jazz composers,<br />

and by very far my favourite jazz lyricist, Cole Porter. On<br />

some tunes, those lyrics will be delivered by Ori Dagan, in<br />

whose mouth those lyrics can be said to be in good hands.<br />

Or, around good teeth – whatever you like.<br />

I know I’ve taken up all this space talking about a couple<br />

of shows which, more likely than not, are in the past as you<br />

read this, so before signing off, I want to direct your attention<br />

to a weekly engagement which shows no signs of stopping.<br />

If you dig or dug Hiltz’s guitar playing in a trio setting,<br />

you may dig him in the organ jazz quartet Organic, which<br />

generally features Bernie Senensky on the organ, Hiltz<br />

on guitar, Childs on drums, and Ryan Oliver on sax. The<br />

band has been together since its genesis over a decade ago,<br />

Oliver’s brainchild, and their effortless chemistry makes<br />

that more than apparent. They play weekly on Sundays at<br />

Joe Mama’s. There is no cover or tip jar, so you can take the<br />

money you saved on that and buy more drinks at the bar<br />

than you normally would.<br />

Musideum: You’ll notice, if you thumb through the listings<br />

this month, that Musideum is conspicuously absent.<br />

Early last month, Musideum owner and founder, Donald<br />

Quan, announced that the end of March would mark the<br />

end of Musideum as a venue for the foreseeable future. Quan<br />

is indefinitely – but not necessarily permanently – closing Musideum<br />

to focus on other understandably indispensable aspects of his life:<br />

his health, his family, his friends and his own musicianship.<br />

Musideum was a remarkable venue, an intimate space in which to<br />

interact with other people: as a performer to an audience, as an audience<br />

to a performer, or artist to artist to artist. It will remain open as a<br />

store for the first few days of <strong>April</strong>, so I’d encourage anyone who still<br />

has the chance to, go now and check it out.<br />

And I hope to see you all soon, in one club or another. Check<br />

the listings!<br />

Bob Ben is The WholeNote’s jazz listings editor. He<br />

can be reached at jazz@thewholenote.com.<br />

D. In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz)<br />

Laliberté Jazz & Flamenco Trio. <strong>April</strong> 15 5pm<br />

Sam Broverman Jazz Duo; 9pm Jacob Gorzhatssan<br />

Quintet feat. Kyla Charter. <strong>April</strong><br />

16 5pm Bill Heffernan and His Friends; 9pm<br />

Sweet Derrick Blues Band. <strong>April</strong> 17 5pm Jeff<br />

Taylor and The SLT; 9pm Josh Lane: Toronto<br />

Jazz Collective. <strong>April</strong> 18 5pm Thomas Williams<br />

Jazz Trio; 9pm Linda Carone Vintage<br />

Jazz n’ Blues. <strong>April</strong> 19 5pm Sarah Kennedy<br />

and Matt Pines Jazz Duo; 9pm Heather Luckhart:<br />

Blues/Roots/Jazz Band. <strong>April</strong> 20 5pm<br />

Rick Maltese: Rick’s Three in One; 9pm Julian<br />

Fauth Blues Night. <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong> 5pm Concord Jazz<br />

Quintet; 9pm Tiffany Hanus Jazz Band. <strong>April</strong><br />

22 5pm Carter Brodkorb Jazz Quintet; 9pm<br />

Fraser Melvin Blues Band. <strong>April</strong> 23 5pm Bill<br />

Heffernan and His Friends; 9pm John Deehan<br />

Jazz Band feat. Zoe Chilco. <strong>April</strong> 24 5pm Six<br />

Points Jazz Orchestra; 9pm Ben Walker Jazz<br />

Trio. <strong>April</strong> 25 5pm Mark Rainey Jazz Band;<br />

9pm Chelsea McBride Jazz Trio. <strong>April</strong> 26 5pm<br />

Kevin Bolger Jazz Trio; 9pm Kalya Ramu Jazz<br />

Band. <strong>April</strong> 27 5pm L.A.Turcotte: Sultants of<br />

Soul; 9pm Julian Fauth Blues Night. <strong>April</strong> 28<br />

5pm G Street Jazz Trio; 9pm Kristin Lindell<br />

Jazz Band. <strong>April</strong> 29 5pm Lisa Patterson and<br />

The Roam Project; 9pm Jacob Gorzhatssan<br />

Quintet feat. Donovan Locke. <strong>April</strong> 30 5pm<br />

Bill Heffernan and His Friends; 9pm Donné<br />

Roberts Band.<br />

Grossman’s Tavern<br />

379 Spadina Ave. 416-977-7000<br />

grossmanstavern.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: No cover (unless otherwise noted).<br />

Every Sat The Happy Pals Dixieland jazz jam.<br />

Harlem Restaurant<br />

67 Richmond St. E. 416-368-1920<br />

harlemrestaurant.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: 7:30-11pm (unless otherwise<br />

noted). Call for cover charge info.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 Gyles. <strong>April</strong> 2 Jazzbiscuit. <strong>April</strong> 8 The<br />

Sean Stanley Trio & Sokhna-Dior. <strong>April</strong><br />

9 Simone Morris Trio. <strong>April</strong> 23 Gib & Tam.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 29 Madette. <strong>April</strong> 30 Kristen Fung.<br />

Hirut Cafe and Restaurant<br />

2050 Danforth Ave. 416-551-7560<br />

Every Sun 3pm Open Mic with Nicola<br />

Vaughan: folk/country/jazz/world/r&b PWYC.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 5, 19 8pm Finger Style Guitar Association<br />

PWYC. <strong>April</strong> 8 8pm Don Naduriak (piano)<br />

Quintet with Bob Rice (trumpet), John ‘JJ’<br />

Johnson (sax), George Koller (bass), Joaquin<br />

Hidalgo (drums) PWYC. <strong>April</strong> 29 9pm Hirut<br />

Hoot Cabaret: 4 year anniversary $5.<br />

Home Smith Bar – See Old Mill, The<br />

Hugh’s Room<br />

2261 Dundas St. W. 416-531-6604<br />

hughsroom.com<br />

All shows: 8:30pm (unless otherwise noted).<br />

Every Sun 12pm Michael Johnston<br />

Music Studio presents 9th Annual Student<br />

Recital & Spring Celebration<br />

$17(adults)/$11.50(kids). <strong>April</strong> 1 Ken Whiteley’s<br />

Freedom Blues CD Release Concert<br />

$20(adv)/$22.50(door). <strong>April</strong> 2 Connie Kaldor<br />

$27.50(adv)/$30(door). <strong>April</strong> 5 10am<br />

Toronto Ravel $15. <strong>April</strong> 6 8pm The JAZZ.<br />

FM91 Songwriters Series – We Insist! Jazz<br />

Songs of Protest $40. <strong>April</strong> 8 Jack de Keyzer<br />

$22.50(adv)/$25(door). <strong>April</strong> 9 Seems Like<br />

Only Yesterday – A Tribute to Jesse Winchester<br />

$30(adv)/$32.50(door). <strong>April</strong><br />

10 Heather Nova $25(adv)/$27.50(door).<br />

<strong>April</strong> 11 Little Miss Higgins and The Winnipeg<br />

Five $22.50(adv)/$25(door). <strong>April</strong><br />

13, 14 Old Man Luedecke and Tim O’Brien<br />

$32.50(adv)/$37(door). <strong>April</strong> 15 Martyn<br />

Joseph $22.50(adv)/$25(door). <strong>April</strong> 16 Tom<br />

Rush with Matt Nakoa $45(adv)/$50(door).<br />

<strong>April</strong> 17 NEeMA – CD Release<br />

$22.50(adv)/$25(door). <strong>April</strong> 20 Double Bill<br />

– Emm Gryner – CD Release and Sarah Smith<br />

$25(adv)/$30(door). <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong> Dave Gunning<br />

with Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm<br />

Boys $20(adv)/$22.50(door). <strong>April</strong> 22 Dark<br />

Angel: The Music of Roy Orbison featuring<br />

Patrick Brealey $22.50(adv)/$25(door).<br />

60 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


<strong>April</strong> 23 4th Annual Anniversary ‘A Celebration<br />

of Levon Helm’ $35(adv)/$40(door).<br />

<strong>April</strong> 28 BluesIn’ Toronto presents Double<br />

Bill – Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar<br />

and Cheryl Lescom & The Tucson Choir<br />

Boys $25(adv)/$30(door). <strong>April</strong> 29,<br />

30 Borrowed Tunes – The Music of Neil Young<br />

$32.50(adv)/$35(door).<br />

Jazz Bistro, The<br />

251 Victoria St. 416-363-5299<br />

jazzbistro.ca<br />

Every Sun 12pm Piano Brunch with Eli Pasic<br />

$5. <strong>April</strong> 1, 2 9pm Sheila Jordan with Don<br />

Thompson (piano), Kieran Overs (bass) $20.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 3 7pm Nathan Hiltz Plays Cole Porter<br />

$15. <strong>April</strong> 5 8pm Chauvet Project Epoque<br />

String Quartet (Prague) & David Braid $25.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 6 7:30pm Andrew Beg Sings Rat Pack<br />

Classics $15. <strong>April</strong> 7 9pm Gillian Margot’s<br />

“Black Butterfly” Project $20. <strong>April</strong> 8 9pm<br />

Mandy Lagan Sings the Joni Mitchell Songbook<br />

and More with Kevin Turcotte (trumpet),<br />

Amanda Tosoff (piano), Ted Quinlan (guitar),<br />

Andrew Downing (bass), Blair Mackay (percussion)<br />

$15. <strong>April</strong> 9 9pm Joel Miller (sax)/<br />

Geoff Keezer (piano) Quartet with Fraser Hollins<br />

(bass), Greg Ritchie (drums) $20. <strong>April</strong> 14<br />

8pm Grandmothers Partnering with Africa –<br />

In Support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation<br />

with The Heavyweights Brass Band and guest<br />

vocalists Jackie Richardson and Jay Douglas<br />

$45. <strong>April</strong> 15, 16 9pm Myriad3 $15. <strong>April</strong><br />

17 7pm Daniela Nardi’s (voice) Espresso Manifesto<br />

with Ron Davis (piano), Mike Downes<br />

(bass), Kevin Barrett (guitar), Steve Heathcote<br />

(drums) $20. <strong>April</strong> 19 8pm Concetta<br />

Donato. <strong>April</strong> 20 8pm Morgan Childs Quartet<br />

$15. <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong> 9pm Howie Silverman (piano)<br />

CD Release ‘Duets’ with Pat Collins (bass),<br />

Ethan Ardelli (drums), Bill McBirnie (flute),<br />

Sarah Silverman (voice) $15. <strong>April</strong> 22, 23<br />

9pm Steve Holt (piano) Quartet with Kieran<br />

Overs (bass), Barry Elmes (drums), Kevin Turcotte<br />

(trumpet on Fri), Chris Gale (sax on Sat)<br />

$15. <strong>April</strong> 24 7pm Acoustic Version. <strong>April</strong> 29,<br />

30 9pm Adi Braun sings Kurt Weill with Tom<br />

King (piano), Pat Collins (bass), Daniel Barnes<br />

(drums) $20.<br />

Jazz Room, The<br />

Located in the Huether Hotel, 59 King St. N.,<br />

Waterloo. 226-476-1565<br />

kwjazzroom.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: 8:30pm-11:30pm unless otherwise<br />

indicated. Attendees must be 19+.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 Pram Trio: Jack Bodkin (piano),<br />

Mark Godfrey (bass), Eric West (drums) CD<br />

Release “Saga 13”″ $18. <strong>April</strong> 2 Chris Wallace’s<br />

(drums) Many Names Quartet with Jeff King<br />

(saxophone), Adrean Farrugia (piano), Dan<br />

Fortin (bass). $20. <strong>April</strong> 8 Andy Klaehn Group<br />

$15. <strong>April</strong> 9 6:30pm Mike Anderson (piano)<br />

& Joe Brand (bass) opening for Johanna<br />

Pavia & Soul Drive $20. <strong>April</strong> 10 4pm Joel Miller<br />

(Montreal) & Geoff Keezer Quartet (NYC)<br />

$20. <strong>April</strong> 15 Brent Rowan Group $15.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 16 NYC’s Alex Goodman (guitar) Quintet<br />

with Matt Marantz (sax), Eden Ladin (piano),<br />

Rick Rosato (bass), Jimmy Macbride (drums)<br />

$20. <strong>April</strong> 22 The Worst Pop Band Ever:<br />

Dafydd Hughes (piano), Chris Gale (sax), Gordon<br />

Mowat (bass), Tim Shia (drums) $18.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 23 Brian Dickinson Big Band $25. <strong>April</strong><br />

29 Carey West (voice) Quartet with Thomas<br />

Hammerton (piano), Tyler Wagler (bass),<br />

Dave O’Neil (drums) $15. <strong>April</strong> 30 Eric St.<br />

Laurent (guitar) Trio with Jordan O’Connor<br />

(bass), Michel DeQuevedo (percussion) $16.<br />

Joe Mama’s<br />

317 King St. W 416-340-6469<br />

joemamas.ca<br />

Every Tue 6pm Jeff Eager. Every Wed 6pm<br />

Thomas Reynolds. Every Thurs 9pm Blackburn.<br />

Every Fri 10pm The Grind. Every<br />

Sat 10pm Shugga. Every Sun 6:30pm<br />

Organic: Nathan Hiltz (guitar); Bernie<br />

Senensky (organ); Ryan Oliver (sax), Morgan<br />

Childs (drums).<br />

KAMA<br />

<strong>21</strong>4 King St. W. 416-599-5262<br />

kamaindia.com (full schedule)<br />

Every Wed 5:30pm Jazz with the Kama<br />

House Band.<br />

Local Gest, The<br />

424 Parliament St. 416-961-9425<br />

<strong>April</strong> 3 4:30pm Artie Roth Trio.<br />

Lula Lounge<br />

1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307<br />

lula.ca (full schedule)<br />

Manhattans Pizza Bistro & Music Club<br />

951 Gordon St., Guelph 519-767-2440<br />

manhattans.ca (full schedule)<br />

All shows: PWYC.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 Eclectic Vinyl Orchestra. <strong>April</strong> 2 Jazz<br />

Meets Blues. <strong>April</strong> 3, 10 Grace Peters. <strong>April</strong><br />

5, 15, 19 Carmen Spada. <strong>April</strong> 6, 20 Jamie<br />

‘Giggles’ Mitges. <strong>April</strong> 7 University of Guelph<br />

Jazz Ensemble. <strong>April</strong> 9 Parker Wilson Duo.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 10, 24 Stan Chang & Erick Bruck. <strong>April</strong><br />

12, 26 Paul Taylor. <strong>April</strong> 13, <strong>21</strong> John Zadro.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 14 David Hollingshead & Isaiah Farahbakhsh.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 22 Lara Solnicki Trio. <strong>April</strong><br />

23 Joni Nehrita & Jane Lewis. <strong>April</strong> 27 D Eve<br />

Archer. <strong>April</strong> 29 Gary Beck & Sideways. <strong>April</strong><br />

30 ¡DO! - drums and organ.<br />

Mezzetta Restaurant<br />

681 St. Clair Ave. W 416-658-5687<br />

mezzettarestaurant.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: 9pm, $8 (unless otherwise noted).<br />

Monarch Tavern<br />

12 Clinton St. 416-531-5833<br />

themonarchtavern.com (full schedule)<br />

<strong>April</strong> 11 7:30pm Martin Loomer & His Orange<br />

Devils Orchestra $10.<br />

Morgans on the Danforth<br />

1282 Danforth Ave. 416-461-3020<br />

morgansonthedanforth.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: 2pm-5pm. No cover.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 24 Lisa Particelli’s Girls Night Out Jazz<br />

Jam.<br />

Nawlins Jazz Bar & Dining<br />

299 King St. W. 416-595-1958<br />

nawlins.ca<br />

All shows: No cover/PWYC.<br />

Every Tue 6:30pm Stacie McGregor. Every<br />

Wed 7pm Jim Heineman Trio. Every Thu 8pm<br />

Nothin’ But the Blues w/ Joe Bowden (drums)<br />

and featured vocalists. Every Fri, Sat 8:30pm<br />

N’awlins All Star Band. Every Sun 7pm<br />

Brooke Blackburn.<br />

Nice Bistro, The<br />

117 Brock St. N., Whitby. 905-668-8839<br />

nicebistro.com (full schedule)<br />

<strong>April</strong> 20 Zoé Chilco Duo $39.99 (dinner<br />

included).<br />

Old Mill, The<br />

<strong>21</strong> Old Mill Rd. 416-236-2641<br />

oldmilltoronto.com<br />

The Home Smith Bar: No reservations. No<br />

cover. $20 food/drink minimum. All shows:<br />

7:30pm-10:30pm<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 Canadian Jazz Quartet & Friends:<br />

Frank Wright (vibraphone), Ted Quinlan (guitar),<br />

Pat Collins (bass), Don Vickery (drums),<br />

feat. Alex Dean (sax). <strong>April</strong> 2 Chris Gale (sax)<br />

Trio with Amanda Tosoff (piano), Jon Maharaj<br />

(bass). <strong>April</strong> 5 In Concert and Conversation<br />

with Gene DiNovi. <strong>April</strong> 7 Tara Davidson<br />

(sax) Quartet with Mike Murley (sax), Michael<br />

Davidson (vibes), Andrew Downing (bass).<br />

<strong>April</strong> 8 Lenny Solomon (violin) Trio with Bernie<br />

Senensky (piano), Shelly Berger (bass).<br />

<strong>April</strong> 9 Ilana Waldston’s (voice) Jazz ‘n’<br />

Laughs Trio with Mark Kieswetter (piano),<br />

Ross MacIntyre (bass). <strong>April</strong> 14 Roberto<br />

Occhipinti (bass) Trio with James Hill (piano),<br />

Ian Wright (drums). <strong>April</strong> 15 Ori Dagan<br />

(voice) Trio with Mark Kieswetter (piano),<br />

Jordan O’Connor (bass). <strong>April</strong> 16 Lou Pomanti<br />

(piano) Trio with Marc Rogers (bass),<br />

Mark Kelso (drums). <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong> Lara Solnicki<br />

(voice) Trio with Ted Quinlan (guitar), Andrew<br />

Downing (bass). <strong>April</strong> 22 Bernie Senensky<br />

(piano) Trio with Steve Wallace (bass), Terry<br />

Clarke (drums). <strong>April</strong> 23 Luis Mario Ochoa<br />

(voice, guitar) Quartet with Hilario Duran<br />

(piano), Louis Simao (bass), Luis Orbegoso<br />

(percussion). <strong>April</strong> 28 Rob Piltch (guitar) Trio<br />

with Neil Swainson (bass), Davide DiRenzo<br />

(drums). <strong>April</strong> 29 Jocelyn Barth (voice) Trio<br />

with Bernie Senensky (piano), Jon MacMurchy<br />

(sax). <strong>April</strong> 30 Bruce Cassidy (trumpet,<br />

flugelhorn, EVI) Trio with Tom Szczesniak<br />

(piano), Ted Quinlan (guitar).<br />

Only Café, The<br />

972 Danforth Ave. 416-463-7843<br />

theonlycafe.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: 8pm unless otherwise indicated.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 13, 27 Lazersuzan.<br />

Paintbox Bistro<br />

555 Dundas St. E. 647-748-0555<br />

paintboxbistro.ca (Full schedule)<br />

Pilot Tavern, The<br />

22 Cumberland Ave. 416-923-5716<br />

thepilot.ca<br />

All shows: 3:30pm. No cover.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 2 Pat Labarbera Quartet. <strong>April</strong> 9 Alison<br />

Young Quartet. <strong>April</strong> 16 Turboprop: Kelly Jefferson<br />

(alto & soprano saxes), Shirantha Beddage<br />

(tenor & soprano saxes), William Carn<br />

(trombone), Adrean Farrugia (piano), Jim<br />

Vivian (bass), Ernesto Cervini (drums). <strong>April</strong><br />

23 Mike Murley Quartet. <strong>April</strong> 30 Bob Brough<br />

(sax) Quartet with Adrean Farrugia (piano),<br />

Artie Roth (bass), Terry Clarke (drums).<br />

Poetry Jazz Café<br />

224 Augusta Ave. 416-599-5299<br />

poetryjazzcafe.com (full schedule)<br />

Reposado Bar & Lounge<br />

136 Ossington Ave. 416-532-6474<br />

reposadobar.com (full schedule)<br />

Every Wed Spy vs. Sly vs. Spy. Every Thurs,<br />

Fri 10pm Reposadists Quartet: Tim Hamel<br />

(trumpet), Jon Meyer (bass), Jeff Halischuck<br />

(drums), Roberto Rosenman (guitar).<br />

Reservoir Lounge, The<br />

52 Wellington St. E. 416-955-0887<br />

reservoirlounge.com (full schedule).<br />

All shows: 9:45<br />

Every Tue, Sat Tyler Yarema and his Rhythm.<br />

Every Wed The Digs. Every Thu Stacey<br />

Kaniuk. Every Fri Dee Dee and the Dirty<br />

Martinis.<br />

Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar, The<br />

194 Queen St. W. 416-598-2475<br />

therex.ca (full schedule)<br />

Call for cover charge info.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 1 4pm Hogtown Syncopators; 6:30pm<br />

Artie Roth Quartet; 9:45pm Kelly Jefferson<br />

St. Philip’s Anglican Church<br />

Featuring some of Toronto’s best jazz musicians<br />

with a brief reflection by Jazz Vespers Clergy<br />

Sunday, <strong>April</strong> 3, 4:00 pm | Jazz Vespers: Tribute to<br />

Duke Ellington | Mike Murley (saxophone), Mark Eisenman<br />

(piano), Pat Collins (bass), Barry Elmes (drums)<br />

Sunday, <strong>April</strong> 17, 4:00 pm | Jazz Vespers for<br />

Jaymz Bee’s Birthday | Genevieve Marentette,<br />

Alex Pangman and Joyce Barth (vocals), Robert Scott (piano)<br />

St. Philip’s Anglican Church | Etobicoke<br />

25 St. Phillips Road (near Royal York + Dixon)<br />

416-247-5181 • stphilips.net • free will offering<br />

Sunday, May 8 at 4:30 pm<br />

Lenny Solomon, violin; Bernie Senensky, piano<br />

Sunday, <strong>April</strong> 3 at 4:30 pm<br />

MARK EISENMAN TRIO – Mark Eisenman, piano<br />

Steve Wallace, bass; John Sumner, drums<br />

Sunday, <strong>April</strong> 17 at 4:30 pm ALISON YOUNG QUARTET<br />

Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416-920-5<strong>21</strong>1<br />

(north of St. Clair at Heath St.)<br />

www.thereslifehere.org Admission is free; donations are welcome.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 61


Quartet. <strong>April</strong> 2 12pm The Sinners Choir;<br />

3:30pm Conor Gains Blues; 7:30pm Nick Teehan<br />

Group; 9:45pm Kelly Jefferson Quartet.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 3 12pm Excelsior Dixieland Jazz;<br />

3:30pm Club Django; 7pm Angela Turone<br />

Duo; 9:30pm Pram Trio. <strong>April</strong> 4 6:30pm University<br />

of Toronto Student Jazz Ensembles;<br />

9:30pm Humber College Student Jazz<br />

Ensembles. <strong>April</strong> 5 6:30pm Melissa Lauren<br />

Quartet; 9:30pm Anna Webber’s Simple<br />

Trio. <strong>April</strong> 6 6:30pm Bugaloo Squad;<br />

9:30pm New York’s Manuel Valera Trio. <strong>April</strong><br />

7 6:30pm Ross Wooldridge Trio; 9:30pm<br />

New York’s Manuel Valera Trio. <strong>April</strong> 8 4pm<br />

Hogtown Syncopators; 6:30pm Artie Roth<br />

Quartet; 9:45pm Eric St. Laurent’s Rough<br />

Cocktail. <strong>April</strong> 9 12pm The Sinners Choir;<br />

3:30pm Socialist Night School; 7:30pm Nick<br />

Teehan Group; 9:45pm The Cookers Quintet.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 10 12pm Hart House Jazz Ensembles;<br />

3:30pm Red Hot Ramble; 8pm Israeli<br />

Jazz Showcase: Berklee’s Roni Eitan Quintet<br />

opens for New York’s Avishai Cohen Quintet.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 11 6:30pm University of Toronto<br />

Student Jazz Ensembles; 9:30pm York University<br />

Jazz Orchestra. <strong>April</strong> 12 6:30pm Melissa<br />

Lauren Quartet; 9:30pm Kirk MacDonald<br />

Quartet. <strong>April</strong> 13 6:30pm Bugaloo Squad;<br />

9:30pm Kirk MacDonald Quartet. <strong>April</strong><br />

14 6:30pm Ross Wooldridge Trio; 9:45pm<br />

Alex Goodman Quintet. <strong>April</strong> 15 4pm Hogtown<br />

Syncopators; 6:30pm Artie Roth Quartet;<br />

9:45pm Alex Goodman Quintet. <strong>April</strong> 16<br />

12pm The Sinners Choir; 3:30pm Mississagua<br />

Big Band; 7:30pm Nick Teehan Group;<br />

9:45pm Roberto Occhipinti. <strong>April</strong> 17 12pm<br />

Excelsior Dixieland Jazz; 3:30pm Dr. Nick &<br />

The Rollercoasters; 7pm Angela Turone Duo;<br />

9:30pm Darren Sigesmund’s Strands. <strong>April</strong><br />

18 6:30pm Peter Hill Quintet; 9:30pm Brian<br />

Dickinson Jazz Orchestra. <strong>April</strong> 19 6:30pm<br />

Melissa Lauren Quartet; 9:30pm Brian Dickinson<br />

Jazz Orchestra. <strong>April</strong> 20 6:30pm Bugaloo<br />

Squad; 9:30pm Andrew McAnsh. <strong>April</strong> <strong>21</strong><br />

6:30pm Ross Wooldridge Trio; 9:30pm Rob<br />

Cappalletto. <strong>April</strong> 22 4pm Hogtown Syncopators;<br />

6:30pm Artie Roth Quintet; 9:45pm<br />

New York’s Quinsin Nachoff Trio. <strong>April</strong> 23<br />

12pm The Sinners Choir; 3:30pm Advocats<br />

Big Band; 7:30pm Nick Teehan Group; 9:45pm<br />

Dave Young Quintet. <strong>April</strong> 24 12pm Excelsior<br />

Dixieland Jazz; 3:30pm Freeway Dixieland;<br />

7pm Ken Aldcroft; 9:30pm Three Blind<br />

Mice. <strong>April</strong> 25 6:30pm Peter Hill Quartet;<br />

8:30pm John MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Orchestra.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 26 6:30pm Melissa Lauren Quartet;<br />

9:30pm Classic Rex Jazz Jam hosted by<br />

Chris Gale. <strong>April</strong> 27 6:30pm Bugaloo Squad;<br />

9:30pm Ryley Murray. <strong>April</strong> 28 6:30pm Ross<br />

Wooldridge Trio; 9:30pm Rachel Piscione.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 29 4pm Hogtown Syncopators; 6:30pm<br />

Artie Roth Quintet; 9:45pm Joel Haynes’ Jazz<br />

D. In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz)<br />

PASQUALE BROTHERS<br />

PURVEYORS OF FINE FOOD<br />

Collective. <strong>April</strong> 30 12pm The Sinners Choir;<br />

3:30pm Laura Hubert Band; 7:30pm Nick Teehan<br />

Group; 9:45pm Kiki Misumi Quintet.<br />

Salty Dog Bar & Grill, The<br />

1980 Queen St. E. 416-849-5064<br />

(full schedule)<br />

thesaltydog.ca<br />

Sauce on the Danforth<br />

1376 Danforth Ave. 647-748-1376<br />

sauceondanforth.com<br />

All shows: No cover.<br />

Every Mon 9pm The Out Of Towners: Dirty<br />

Organ Jazz. Every Tue 6pm Julian Fauth.<br />

Galas and Fundraisers<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 09 11:30am-1:30: La Jeunesse Youth<br />

Orchestra. 6 th Annual Soup and Symphony<br />

Fundraiser. Enjoy delicious soups donated by<br />

local caterers and restaurants, while you listen<br />

to our orchestra rehearsal. Silent auction.<br />

Calvary Pentecostal Church, 401 Croft St. E.,<br />

Port Hope. 866-460-5596. $20.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 11 6:30: Soundstreams. Gala starring<br />

composer Steve Reich. Exclusive opportunity<br />

to meet Steve Reich. Features Reich-inspired<br />

DJ grooves with live video and dance, plus a<br />

special performance of Reich’s Drumming;<br />

classical cocktails, delectable eats, silent auction.<br />

Integral House, 194 Roxborough Drive.<br />

416-504-1282; soundstreams.ca $175-$250.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 16 7:30: Grand Philharmonic Choir.<br />

Fiesta Latina Fundraiser and Concert. Music,<br />

food and art. Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery,<br />

25 Caroline St. N. Waterloo. 519-578-6885;<br />

www.grandphilchoir.com $100 (partial tax<br />

receipt to be issued).<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 28 6:30: High Notes Avante<br />

Productions Inc. High Notes Gala for Mental<br />

Health. Inspiring and uplifting evening of<br />

music, speeches, dance, poetry and laughter.<br />

Co-hosted by comedienne Luba Goy and Classical<br />

96.3 FM’s mezzo soprano, Jean Stilwell.<br />

6:30: VIP reception and mental health display;<br />

7:30: concert. Richmond Hill Centre for<br />

Performing Arts, 10268 Yonge St., Richmond<br />

Hill. 905-787-8811; rhcentre.ca $35 and up.<br />

Competitions<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 01 Now open for applications: Etobicoke<br />

Philharmonic Orchestra. Young Composers<br />

Competition for the <strong>2016</strong>/17 season.<br />

Canadian composers 32 years of age and<br />

under may submit entries. The Grand Prize<br />

winner’s composition will be performed at<br />

the EPO’s final concert of the <strong>2016</strong>/17 season,<br />

CATERING<br />

(416) 364-7397 WWW.PASQUALEBROS.COM<br />

Seven44<br />

(Formerly Chick n’ Deli/The People’s Chicken)<br />

744 Mount Pleasant Rd. 416-489-7931<br />

seven44.com (full schedule)<br />

All shows: 7:30pm<br />

<strong>April</strong> 4 Advocats Big Band. <strong>April</strong> 11 Mega City<br />

Swing Band. <strong>April</strong> 18 George Lake Big Band.<br />

Toni Bulloni<br />

156 Cumberland St. 416-967-7676<br />

tonibulloni.com (full schedule)<br />

No cover. Saturday shows: 9pm. $30 food/<br />

drink minimum. Sunday shows: 6pm. $25<br />

food/drink minimum.<br />

E. The ETCeteras<br />

May 12, 2017. For more information, guidelines<br />

and entry form: eporchestra.ca Application<br />

deadline: November 4 <strong>2016</strong>.<br />

Festivals, Fairs, Festivities<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 02 7:00: Toronto Gilbert and Sullivan<br />

Society. <strong>April</strong> Meeting. Join us for song,<br />

snacks and cheer, with spectacular performers.<br />

St. Andrew’s United Church, 117 Bloor St.<br />

E. 416-763-0832. $5 for non-members.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 15 (deadline): Coalition for Music Education.<br />

12th Annual Music Monday. All music<br />

makers are invited to submit videos that<br />

showcase learning and making music in their<br />

schools/communities. All videos received by<br />

<strong>April</strong> 15, <strong>2016</strong> will be considered for inclusion<br />

in the Music Monday - Coast2Coast<br />

(#MMC2C) powered Music Monday webcast.<br />

For more information: www.musicmonday.ca<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 24 2:00-5:00: Classical Music Club<br />

Toronto. Monthly sessions offer a prepared<br />

program, audio and video recordings and<br />

informal discussion with refreshments. This<br />

month’s program provides a detailed overview<br />

of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 Babi<br />

Yar which is being performed by the TSO in<br />

May. Excerpts from various recordings will be<br />

presented. For information and location: 416-<br />

597-1924 or info@classicalmusicclubtoronto.<br />

org $25 (annual membership fee); no charge<br />

for first-time visitors.<br />

Lectures, Salons, Symposia<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 07 7:30: Darchei Noam Synagogue.<br />

Jews’ Muse: Gustav Mahler. A mix of lecture,<br />

music and discussion with lecturer Rick Phillips<br />

as he explores the music of Mahler - the<br />

influences that shaped his music, the impact<br />

he left on his times, and his lasting legacy.<br />

864 Sheppard Ave. W. 416-638-4783;<br />

darcheinoam.ca/event/JewishComposers<br />

$20 or $45 for all four dates.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 08 7:00: Soundstreams Salon <strong>21</strong>.<br />

Clapping Music. Learn and perform Steve<br />

Reich’s Clapping Music in an 80-person<br />

ensemble to celebrate his 80 th birthday. Gardiner<br />

Museum, 111 Queen’s Park. 416-504-<br />

1282. Free; PWYC preferred seating available.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 15 – 17: Guitar Society of Toronto.<br />

Third annual Toronto Guitar Weekend. Features<br />

Brazilian guitarists Celso Machado<br />

and Carlos Barbosa Lima. Includes concerts,<br />

lectures, master class with Carlos<br />

Barbosa Lima (Sunday at 1:00; venue: Victoria<br />

College), a luthier and vendor fair. All<br />

Friday and Saturday events at Church of St.<br />

Tranzac<br />

292 Brunswick Ave. 416-923-8137<br />

tranzac.org<br />

3-4 shows daily, various styles. Mostly PWYC.<br />

Every Mon 10pm Open Mic Mondays. Every<br />

Thurs 7:30pm Bluegrass Thursdays: Houndstooth.<br />

Every Fri 5pm The Foolish Things<br />

(folk). This month’s shows include: <strong>April</strong> 3, 17<br />

5pm Monk’s Music. <strong>April</strong> 5 7:30pm Ali Berkok;<br />

10pm Peripheral Vision. <strong>April</strong> 10 10pm The<br />

Lina Allemano Four. <strong>April</strong> 12 7:30pm Aurochs;<br />

10pm Bedroom. <strong>April</strong> 19 10pm Blunt Object.<br />

<strong>April</strong> 17 7:30pm Diane Roblin. <strong>April</strong> 26 10pm<br />

Nick Fraser Presents. <strong>April</strong> 29 10pm The<br />

Ryan Driver Sextet.<br />

Simon-the-Apostle, 525 Bloor St. E. Information<br />

and registration: 416-964-8298;<br />

guitarsocietyoftoronto.com<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 17 2:00: North York Music Festival.<br />

The Piano – Then and Now! Where did the<br />

piano come from? Who were some of the<br />

greatest figures in piano history? Joe Ringhofer<br />

presents a light-hearted yet informed<br />

look at some of the key players in the history<br />

of the piano and its design. Lawrence Park<br />

Community Church, <strong>21</strong>80 Bayview Ave. 416-<br />

788-8553; northyorkmusicfestival.com $20.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 19 1:30: Oakville Opera Guild. My Life<br />

in the Chorus – the High Notes and the Low<br />

Notes. Guest speaker: Joyce Sitarski, chorister<br />

and founder of Masterworks of Oakville.<br />

Oakville Public Library Central Branch,<br />

120 Navy St., Oakville. 905-827-5678;<br />

Oakville.Opera.Guild@outlook.com $10 (proceeds<br />

go towards our scholarship fund, to<br />

be awarded to a student attending the Faculty<br />

of Music at the U of Toronto, and support<br />

our annual donation to the Canadian Opera<br />

Company).<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 19 & 26, 6:30-8:30: The Royal Conservatory.<br />

Music Appreciation Class: Haydn:<br />

The Creation. Join instructor Rick Phillips and<br />

special guest, TMC artistic director Noel Edison,<br />

for a 2-week exploration of this magnificent<br />

work. TELUS Centre for Performance<br />

and Learning, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-2824<br />

x363. $99.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 28 7:00: North York Central<br />

Library. Opera Talk: Dying for Love in Rossini’s<br />

Maometto II. Join Opera Canada editor<br />

Wayne Gooding as he uses audio and visual<br />

elements to explore works from the Canadian<br />

Opera Company’s 2015/16 season. Auditorium,<br />

5120 Yonge St. To register: 416-395-<br />

5639. Free.<br />

Master Classes<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 03 2:00: North York Music Festival.<br />

Open Violin Master Class. Violinist Moshe<br />

Hammer will coach six senior level students.<br />

Open to auditors. Lawrence Park Community<br />

Church, <strong>21</strong>80 Bayview Ave. 416-788-8553;<br />

northyorkmusicfestival.com $20.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 10 2:00: North York Music Festival.<br />

Open Piano Master Class with Prof. William<br />

Aide. Open to auditors. Lawrence Park Community<br />

Church, <strong>21</strong>80 Bayview Ave. 416-788-<br />

8553; northyorkmusicfestival.com $20.<br />

●●May 07 6:30: Li Delun Music Foundation.<br />

Piano Master Class. With Haochen Zhang,<br />

First Prize Winner, Van Cliburn Competition.<br />

Robert Lowrey’s Piano Experts, 2 nd Floor,<br />

62 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Lydia Pederson<br />

COMMUNITY ACADEMY<br />

JULY 31-AUGUST 7, <strong>2016</strong><br />

943 Eglinton Ave. E. 416-490-7962. $15; VIP<br />

$20.<br />

Screenings<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 03 4:00 and 7:30: Toronto Jewish<br />

Film Society/Ashkenaz Foundation. Rock<br />

in the Red Zone (Israel, 2015). War, music,<br />

love, and fate come together in this powerful<br />

documentary. Director Laura Bialis travels<br />

to Sderot, the town that revolutionized Israeli<br />

rock music and whose proximity to the Gaza<br />

Strip puts it on the front lines. Al Green Theatre,<br />

Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Ave. 416-<br />

924-6<strong>21</strong>1 x606. $15; $10 (ages 18-35).<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 08 7:00: Toronto Silent Film Festival/<br />

Ensemble Polaris. Epic of Everest. Screening<br />

of 1924 film with new score. Revue Cinema,<br />

400 Roncesvalles Ave. torontosilentfilmfestival.com/tickets.<br />

$20; $15 (sr/st).<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 16 7:30: Joseph Patrick. Brew & View:<br />

MOULIN ROUGE Sing-along Film Screening.<br />

The words will be on-screen with the movie.<br />

Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst St. 416-915-<br />

6747. $15 (age 19 +).<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 23 7:30: Joseph Patrick. Brew &<br />

View: CHICAGO Sing-along Film Screening.<br />

The words will be on-screen with the movie.<br />

Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst St. 416-915-<br />

6747. $15 (age 19 +).<br />

Workshops<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 01 7:30: CAMMAC Recorder Players’<br />

Society. Amateur recorder players<br />

are invited to join in the playing of early<br />

music. Mount Pleasant Road Baptist Church,<br />

527 Mount Pleasant Rd. 416-597-0485; cammac.ca<br />

$15 (non-members). Refreshments<br />

included.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 03 1:00-3:30: World Fiddle Day<br />

Toronto. Workshop led by musician Anne<br />

Lederman. Join players of bowed string<br />

instruments to learn world folk repertoire for<br />

our community event at Fort York on May <strong>21</strong>.<br />

Long & McQuade Clinic Space, 935 Bloor St.<br />

W. For more information and repertoire: 647-<br />

<strong>21</strong>7-4620; worldfiddledaytoronto.ca Practice<br />

sessions by donation.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 09 10:30am: Toronto Mendelssohn<br />

Choir. Singsation Saturday: Choral Workshop.<br />

Guest conductor Hilary Apfelstadt leads<br />

a workshop on Mendelssohn’s Elijah and<br />

Haydn’s The Creation. Cameron Hall, Yorkminster<br />

Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge St.<br />

416-598-0422, x223; tmchoir.org/singsationsaturdays<br />

$10.<br />

Write a Hymn?<br />

Who, me?<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 10 2:30: Southern Ontario Chapter<br />

Hymn Society. Sing familiar tunes and new<br />

words. Lydia Pederson, clinician. Refreshments<br />

at 2:30; singing at 3:00. Royal York<br />

Road United Church, 851 Royal York Rd. 416-<br />

342-6034. Free.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 16 10:00am-12:00 noon: Canadian<br />

Children’s Opera Company. Opera Day - Senior<br />

Divisions Open House. Participate in workshops<br />

alongside current CCOC members.<br />

Meet the cast and production team for The<br />

Hobbit. Includes choral singing, drama, staging<br />

and more. Appropriate for ages 10 to<br />

17. First Unitarian Congregation, 175 St. Clair<br />

Ave. W. 416-366-0467. Free.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 17 2:00-4:30: CAMMAC Toronto<br />

Region. Reading for singers and instrumentalists<br />

of Haydn’s Mass in Time of War. Daniel<br />

Norman, conductor. Christ Church Deer<br />

Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416-605-2793. $10; $6<br />

(members).<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 19 5:00-6:30: Canadian Children’s<br />

Opera Company. Opera Day - Junior Divisions<br />

Open House. Participate in workshops alongside<br />

current CCOC members. Includes choral<br />

singing, drama, staging and more. Appropriate<br />

for ages 3 to 10. First Unitarian Congregation,<br />

175 St. Clair Ave. W. 416-366-0467. Free.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 23 9:00am-4:00: The Orillia Vocal<br />

Ensemble. CHORAL GOLD: Raising the Bar in<br />

Choral Technique. Full day workshop for anyone<br />

16 or older, to learn more about choral<br />

music technique. Clinicians: Dr. Dean Jobin-<br />

Bevans (Lakehead University), Jenny Crober<br />

(VOCA Chorus), and Dr. Lee Willingham (Wilfrid<br />

Laurier University). Lakehead University<br />

Orillia Campus, 500 University Ave., Orillia.<br />

$50 (includes lunch and refreshments). To<br />

register or for more information: 705-955-<br />

0056. Registration is limited to 100 singers.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 24 1:00-4:00: Array/Evergreen Club<br />

Contemporary Gamelan (ECCG). MEETUP:<br />

A Workshop For All. Come one, come all and<br />

play with us! A hands-on meet-up that brings<br />

people together to play beautiful Indonesian<br />

instruments. Array Space, 155 Walnut Ave.<br />

416-532-3019. $10.<br />

●●<strong>April</strong> 24 1:30-5:00: CAMMAC Recorder<br />

Players’ Society. Spring Workshop. Amateur<br />

recorder players are invited to join in the<br />

playing of early music with coach Colin Savage.<br />

77 Carlton St. 416-597-0485; cammac.ca<br />

$30 (non-members). Refreshments included.<br />

THREE PROGRAMS FOR ADULT<br />

AMATEUR MUSICIANS<br />

The TSM Community Academy invites you to play and<br />

sing for pleasure and push your abilities to a new level,<br />

while spending a week with artists of the Toronto<br />

Summer Music Festival.<br />

CHAMBER MUSIC WITH TSO<br />

PRINCIPALS AND GUESTS<br />

18-20 Participants (Strings, Wind Quintet, 2 pianists,<br />

open to individuals and pre-formed ensembles)<br />

Mentors: Jonathan Crow (Concertmaster, TSO), Shane<br />

Kim (violin, TSO), Eric Nowlin (Associate Principal viola<br />

TSO), Emmanuelle Beaulieu-Bergeron (cello, TSO), David<br />

Hetherington (cello), Sarah Jeffrey (Principal oboe, TSO)<br />

PIANO MASTERCLASS<br />

WITH DAVID JALBERT<br />

12-15 Participants (Minimum suggested level, Grade 10<br />

RCM Piano)<br />

CHAMBER CHOIR<br />

WITH MATTHIAS MAUTE<br />

Rehearse and prepare the Vivaldi’s Gloria and Britten’s<br />

Hymne to St. Cecilia with renowned choral conductor,<br />

virtuoso recorder player and composer, Matthias Maute.<br />

Afternoon activities include voice-coaching and individual<br />

lessons. The week will culminate with a performance in<br />

Walter Hall.<br />

APPLY NOW BY VISITING<br />

TORONTOSUMMERMUSIC.COM<br />

The Community Academy is made possible by the generous support of the Metcalf Foundation.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 63


Classified Advertising | classad@thewholenote.com<br />

WholeNote CLASSIFIEDS can help you<br />

recruit new members for your choir or band<br />

/ orchestra or find a new music director!<br />

Advertise your help wanted needs or<br />

promote your services starting at only $24/<br />

issue. Inquire by <strong>April</strong> 23 for the May issue.<br />

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AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES<br />

Available positions with the KINDRED<br />

SPIRITS ORCHESTRA: 2nd Oboe, 1st Horn,<br />

2nd Trumpet, 2nd (tenor) Trombone, 3rd<br />

(bass) Trombone, Principal Pianist, sectional<br />

Violins, Violas, Cellos and Contrabasses. The<br />

KSO is an auditioned-based civic orchestra<br />

in residence at Flato Markham Theatre.<br />

Weekly rehearsals are held on Tuesday<br />

evening at the state-of-the-art Cornell<br />

Recital Hall (HWY 407 ETR and 9th Ln). For<br />

more information visit www.KSOchestra.ca<br />

or e-mail Jobert Sevilleno at<br />

GM@KSOrchestra.ca<br />

The Celtic Fiddle Orchestra of Southern<br />

Ontario is looking for additional musicians:<br />

violin, viola, cello, bass and flute. We practice<br />

twice a month on Sunday afternoons from<br />

1:30 to 4:00 at the QEPCCC in Oakville. Please<br />

contact Jill Yokoyama at 905-635-8079 or<br />

email cfoso.exec@gmail.com<br />

COUNTERPOINT COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA<br />

(www.ccorchestra.org) welcomes volunteer<br />

musicians for Monday evening rehearsals<br />

at the 519 Church Street Community Centre<br />

in downtown Toronto. No audition. We’re<br />

especially looking for harp, trombone and<br />

strings players. Email info@ccorchestra.org.<br />

DO YOU LOVE TO SING? Are you looking for<br />

a choir that performs every type of sacred<br />

music, from Byrd to Britten, Howells to<br />

Hogan? The Anglican Church of St. John the<br />

Baptist seeks all voice types to enhance their<br />

Mass Choir. Services take place on Sundays<br />

at 10:30 AM in the Beaches, one of Toronto’s<br />

most active and artistic neighbourhoods.<br />

For more information, contact music@<br />

stjohnsnorway.com or 647-302-2074<br />

JOIN THE 0NTARIO POPS. Oboe, clarinet,<br />

trombone, tuba and strings players WANTED!<br />

Monday rehearsals. No Auditions. Register at<br />

www.ontariopopsorchestra.com<br />

MUSIC DIRECTOR NEEDED for orchestra@<br />

uwaterloo, the extra-curricular orchestra<br />

at the University of Waterloo. Application<br />

deadline May 9, details at www.orchestra.<br />

uwaterloo.ca/pdf/MusicDirectorAd.pdf<br />

NORTH YORK CONCERT ORCHESTRA is<br />

interested in welcoming new players. We<br />

are a community orchestra which rehearses<br />

throughout the year on Weds. nights, York<br />

Mills Collegiate in Don Mills. There are four<br />

subscription concerts and several outreach<br />

opportunities. Especially interested in<br />

hearing from first violinists and string bass<br />

players. Please contact personnel@nyco.<br />

on.ca for further information.<br />

INSTRUCTION & COURSES<br />

FLUTE LESSONS. Classical flute lessons for<br />

all ages and levels. Located near Davenport-<br />

Lansdowne. Contact Meghan at 647-226-<br />

5488, meghan@meghancornett.com<br />

www.meghancornett.com<br />

FLUTE, PIANO, THEORY LESSONS. RCM<br />

exam preparation. RCM certified advanced<br />

specialist. Samantha Chang, FTCL,<br />

FLCM, Royal Academy of Music PGDip,<br />

LRAM, ARCT. Toronto, Scarborough 416-293-<br />

1302, samantha.studio@gmail. com<br />

www.samanthaflute.com.<br />

LESSONS FOR ALL! Friendly and firm -<br />

I’m an experienced musician and mom<br />

teaching piano and singing to children (and<br />

young at heart) in my Toronto home (East<br />

Leslieville). To discuss your child’s need for<br />

music-making please contact<br />

kskwhite@gmail.com.<br />

PIANO LESSONS FOR ADVANCED<br />

STUDENTS Prepare for RCM exams,<br />

competitions. Play musically with freedom<br />

and ease. Professional instruction with Dr.<br />

Réa Beaumont (DMA, MMus, MusBacEd,<br />

ArtDipMus, ARCT). Midtown Toronto studio,<br />

near subway, parking.<br />

info@reabeaumont.com.<br />

PIANO LESSONS WITH CONCERT PIANIST<br />

EVE EGOYAN eveegoyan.com All ages,<br />

all levels welcome, at Earwitness Studio,<br />

Artscape Youngplace (downtown Toronto).<br />

Eve’s own exposure to exceptional teachers<br />

during her developmental years makes her a<br />

communicative, intuitive and creative teacher<br />

with over 25 years teaching experience<br />

(private lessons, masterclasses, adjudication)<br />

Each student is an individual. Email Eve to set<br />

up a free introductory meeting at<br />

eve.egoyan@bell.net<br />

PRIVATE VIOLIN LESSONS: All ages<br />

welcome! Beginner to professional. Lessons<br />

in english and french, music studio in the<br />

Annex. info@andreatyniec.ca<br />

PRIVATE VOICE/PIANO/THEORY<br />

LESSONS: Experienced, BFA Certified<br />

Teacher located at Christ Church Deer<br />

Park (Yonge & St. Clair). Prepares you or<br />

your child for RCM exams, competitions &<br />

auditions. Contact Jessika:<br />

jwithakmusic@gmail.com 647-<strong>21</strong>4-2827.<br />

VegasNorth’s <strong>2016</strong> BIG BAND WORKSHOPS<br />

These big band workshops focus on teaching<br />

intermediate/advanced musicians how to<br />

rehearse/perform in a big band ensemble<br />

while having a ton of fun rehearsing<br />

great charts. 12 sessions - Noon - 2 PM on<br />

Sundays from <strong>April</strong> - June <strong>2016</strong> Location -<br />

The Rehearsal Factory 330 Geary. Toronto<br />

Registration is now open. info@vegasnorth.ca<br />

WARMHEARTED PIANO TEACHER with<br />

sterling credentials, unfailing good humor,<br />

and buckets of patience. Royal Conservatory<br />

washouts and nervous learners especially<br />

welcome. Lovely Cabbagetown studio. “Best<br />

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FOR SALE / WANTED<br />

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RESTORE & PRESERVE<br />

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64 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


TIME FOR SPRING CLEANING! Is that<br />

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CLAUDE WATSON MUSIC<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 65


WE ARE ALL MUSIC’S CHILDREN<br />

<strong>April</strong>’s Child<br />

Mireille Asselin<br />

MJ BUELL<br />

Mireille Asselin was born in Ottawa,<br />

and grew up in St. John, New<br />

Brunswick, and the Ottawa Valley.<br />

She attended école secondaire publique De<br />

La Salle, Ottawa, and moved to Toronto to<br />

begin her bachelor of music at the Glenn<br />

Gould School.<br />

Now in her third season with the<br />

Metropolitan Opera, Asselin made her Met<br />

debut in the 2014/15 season in Manon, in the<br />

role of Pousette. This season, as cover for the<br />

role of Adele in Die Fledermaus, conducted<br />

by James Levine, she was called upon to<br />

perform when soprano Lucy Crow became ill.<br />

Asselin sang the role on opening night (last<br />

December 4) – by all accounts to the delight<br />

of those who attended. (There’s a great interview<br />

with Asselin at schmopera.com about<br />

how the Met’s understudies prepare.)<br />

“…Possessed of a beautiful crystalline<br />

voice with a cool, bright middle register and<br />

clear-as-a-bell top, Asselin has<br />

a natural charm in her voice<br />

and in her bearing.…“(Eric C.<br />

Simpson. New York Classical<br />

Review, December 5, 2015)<br />

Last October in Toronto you<br />

may have heard her in Mahler’s<br />

Symphony No.4 with the Royal<br />

Conservatory Orchestra, or more<br />

recently in a Songmasters Series<br />

recital at Mazzoleni Hall called<br />

“Le travail du peintre,” with baritone<br />

Brett Polegato. <strong>April</strong> 7 to 16<br />

Asselin will sing the role of Celia<br />

in Opera Atelier’s much-anticipated<br />

production of Lucio Silla.<br />

In May she will sing the title<br />

role in Handel’s Berenice with<br />

La Nuova Musica (London, UK)<br />

at the Göttingen International<br />

Handel Festival, and in June she’ll sing<br />

Mahler’s Symphony No.8 with the Calgary<br />

Philharmonic, followed by Cosi Fan Tutte at<br />

Ashlawn Opera (Charlottesville VA).<br />

Asselin earned her master’s from Yale<br />

University’s opera program. She was a<br />

member of the Canadian Opera Company’s<br />

Ensemble Studio (2011 to 2013), and a Toronto<br />

Summer Music Academy Fellow (Art of<br />

Song) in 2012. Prior to her studies at Yale, she<br />

completed a B.Mus. at the RCM Glenn Gould<br />

School in Toronto.<br />

Tell us about your childhood photo. It was<br />

the dress rehearsal for our ballet school’s<br />

year-end show. My mom and I had put great<br />

care into making my cardboard tin-foil<br />

star and I was quite proud of it. We always<br />

performed our shows in the local high school<br />

auditorium. I remember my classmates, and<br />

the test of my patience having to wait for<br />

(what seemed like) hours in my costume until<br />

it was our turn to practise our scene on the<br />

stage. I was fascinated with the older ballerinas<br />

who seemed so graceful and talented.<br />

Mireille Asselin lives in Riverdale with her partner<br />

Chris Enns. Some of her other pastimes include<br />

fawning over cute dogs in the park, taking math<br />

classes for fun, baking unnecessary treats and<br />

passionately advocating for Toronto’s east end.<br />

Anything you would like to tell young<br />

Mireille? I don’t think I would give young<br />

me any special advice, because every hurdle<br />

I encountered growing up taught me a hard<br />

lesson that I am grateful for today. I think kids<br />

have a beautiful curiosity and lack of selfconsciousness<br />

that should be left alone for<br />

as long as possible. I would, however, love to<br />

have a casual chat with her…I think it would<br />

be hilarious! I was a precocious, headstrong<br />

kid, and I’m sure I’d profess opinions and<br />

make categorical statements that would give<br />

me quite a chuckle now. But you know, come<br />

to think of it, I’d probably just tell her that she<br />

was a lucky kid to have such a great family<br />

and that she should give her mom an extra<br />

kiss for bringing her to ballet classes.<br />

What’s your absolute earliest memory of<br />

hearing music? My mom says I first kicked<br />

in her tummy during the Dance of the<br />

Sugarplum Fairy at a performance of The<br />

Nutcracker! My own strongest<br />

memory is my father picking me<br />

up and dancing me around our<br />

living room to The Temptations:<br />

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy<br />

day. When it’s cold outside I’ve<br />

got the month of May. I guess<br />

you’d say – what can make me<br />

feel this way? My girl (my girl,<br />

my girl) Talkin’ ’bout my girl…<br />

Where did hearing music fit<br />

into your childhood? Growing<br />

up in a small-town I heard music<br />

mostly at home (CBC was always<br />

on in our kitchen), and in my<br />

community at church, camps and<br />

in my school choir.<br />

A first memory of making<br />

music? Endlessly singing Disney<br />

songs into a little tape recorder<br />

which I’m sure my parents regretted giving<br />

me immediately. I was also very gifted at my<br />

little xylophone!<br />

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS!<br />

Love conquers all, including (eventually) ancient Rome’s most infamous dictator, but the road to freedom and<br />

democracy is paved with passion and plotting in Mozart’s first masterpiece, Lucio Silla. Presented by Opera Atelier<br />

(<strong>April</strong> 7 to 16), at the Elgin Theatre, this new Canadian production features Kresimir Spicer in the title role of Lucio Silla<br />

with Inga Kalna as Cinna. Mireille Asselin sings the role of Celia (Silla’s sister), with Peggy Kriha Dye as Cecillio and<br />

Meghan Lindsay as Giunia. A pair of tickets each for Veronica Clarke-Hanik and Joe Orlando.<br />

AND…for those who guessed correctly, but whose names were not drawn, Opera Atelier has created a special discount<br />

code just for you – we’ll be in touch soon to provide it!<br />

Ash Roses (Centrediscs 2014) is The Canadian Art Song Project celebration of Canadian composer Derek Holman and his<br />

20-year prolific period of writing art songs. The featured artists are Mireille Asselin and Lawrence Wiliford, known for<br />

their dedication to song and chamber repertoire, with Liz Upchurch (piano) and Sanya Eng (harp). All works previously<br />

unrecorded! A copy for Otto Rath.<br />

66 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Making music with others? I joined choir<br />

in first grade because I was new at school<br />

and wanted to make friends. I remember our<br />

choir director telling us to feel like Chia Pets,<br />

with grass growing out of our heads in order<br />

to get us to sing with more head voice and a<br />

nice straight posture.<br />

A first music teacher? Mrs. Goud was the<br />

most special of my early piano instructors.<br />

She had a beautiful house in the country,<br />

she was glamorous and kind, and encouraged<br />

me to compose. She made playing piano<br />

about making music, not just getting all the<br />

right notes.<br />

The origins of your appetite for staged<br />

works? I was always a theatrical kid,<br />

putting on little pageants for my family and<br />

performing in lots of different capacities. I<br />

was also quite terrified of playing piano and<br />

singing in front of people but I think that<br />

my stubborn nature ensured that I couldn’t<br />

quit just because it made me uncomfortable.<br />

Ironically, I feel that it was precisely because<br />

performing in public was such a challenge<br />

for me that I took to it and ultimately made it<br />

my career…<br />

For a longer version of this interview<br />

please visit thewholenote.com.<br />

NEW CONTEST<br />

Who is May’s Child?<br />

Toronto, circa 1961<br />

~ ~ Artistic director, impresario,<br />

teacher, chamber musician.<br />

~ ~ This warm smile has welcomed<br />

summer music audiences in<br />

hometown Toronto since 2010, at<br />

Domaine Forget from 2001 to 2005.<br />

~ ~ He can still play some<br />

serious strings.<br />

(See our concert listings, May 1.)<br />

Know our Mystery Child’s name?<br />

WIN PRIZES!<br />

Send your best guess by midnight<br />

on <strong>April</strong> 25.<br />

musicschildren@thewholenote.com<br />

REMEMBERING<br />

Robin Engelman (1937 – <strong>2016</strong>)<br />

Intersecting with His Percussive Life<br />

ANDREW TIMAR<br />

As I write this, Robin<br />

Engelman’s website<br />

is filling up with<br />

dozens of tributes, both<br />

moving and humorous,<br />

from around the world.<br />

CBC Radio broadcaster<br />

Tom Allen, on his show<br />

Shift, eulogized Robin<br />

for his “voracious love of<br />

life and pursuit of knowledge,”<br />

for his “integrity<br />

and passion for getting<br />

things right.”<br />

Percussionist, music<br />

teacher, composer, oenophile<br />

and amateur golfer<br />

Robin Engelman had<br />

an active musical career<br />

ranging over half a century<br />

conducted at the highest<br />

This photo, ca. 1972-73, captures York University instructors<br />

Trichy Sankaran and Robin Engelman in the latter’s York<br />

percussion studio in alert, active percussive dialogue. It’s<br />

how I remember both men when I first met them.<br />

artistic level, so perspectives on his life and work will be many, varied and likely, as often as<br />

not, focused as much on the individuals he influenced as on Robin himself. He enlivened many<br />

lives, mine included. Here is my take on it.<br />

His musical path began in the US, but his distinguished contribution to Toronto’s musical<br />

life was wide and deep. As a percussionist he had extended engagements with our symphony<br />

orchestra under the eminent conductors Seiji Ozawa and Karel Ančerl, our opera company,<br />

and for more than 15 years with New Music Concerts. It was, however, his nearly four decades<br />

performing with Nexus that most keenly defined his career as a musician.<br />

Being an avid Toronto concertgoer and an active contemporary music student, then musician<br />

and composer, I witnessed and savoured Robin’s work in each of his roles from the<br />

1960s on. Witnessing him among his varied colleagues in the act of musicking proved to be<br />

defining musical moments, keys of inspiration. They helped to unlock the doors of my own<br />

musical journey.<br />

He was also a passionately critical teacher and musical mentor to generations of percussionists.<br />

Though I was never formally his student, our paths first crossed at York University in<br />

the early 1970s. I was already an undergrad there, focused on the bassoon, composition and<br />

ethnomusicology, when Robin made his presence known, and felt, as an instructor of percussion<br />

there. His studio at Founders College, chock-a-block with orchestral and non-Western<br />

percussion instruments, was heady turf for young musical keeners like me.<br />

In this early 1970s photo, Engelman is playing the standard drum practice pad with an<br />

intense musical focus, not on his instrument his hands or thoughts, but rather on his musical<br />

partner of the moment. With drumsticks in hand, he’s tackling “Three Camps” (according to<br />

his own caption to the photo) with his illustrious York University colleague, my teacher and<br />

later fellow performer, Trichy Sankaran, here playing the kanjira. They’re surrounded by the<br />

tools of Robin’s trade. Looking closer, we see they’re poised like two dancers, the tension and<br />

excitement of their musical dialogue palpable in their body language and gaze.<br />

With minimalism in the York air – and Nexus right in the thick of it (more on that later)<br />

– I started a student percussion-centric group which made its own music cheekily tagged<br />

R[hythm] Pals. Robin encouraged me and permitted us to rehearse at his studio. He also<br />

generously allowed us to use his instruments, including the kulintang, a gongchime from the<br />

Southern Philippines, which I played extensively in the ensemble in concerts at York, A Space,<br />

The Music Gallery and at the University of Western Ontario, London. That kulintang, the gong<br />

ensemble in which it is featured, R-Pals, as well as the numerous performances of Nexus I<br />

attended at the time, were all determining factors in setting the tone for my lifelong taste for<br />

the sounds of percussion, and more specifically, gong ensembles.<br />

That specific sonic taste for gongs has morphed into a career-long deep and abiding<br />

affection, exemplified most enduringly in my 33 years with Toronto’s Evergreen Club<br />

Contemporary Gamelan, Canada’s pioneering ensemble of its kind. Robin had, over the<br />

decades, attended a number of ECCG concerts, partly because he was genuinely passionate<br />

about avant-garde music, but in large part I think, in order to support – and sometimes challenge<br />

– the local community of percussionists, many of whom considered him a mentor. As<br />

more of his former University of Toronto students began to perform with the group, Robin<br />

COLLECTION OF ROBIN ENGELMAN<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 67


RAMONA TIMAR<br />

R-Pals rehearse in Robin Engelman’s studio at York U. (left to right: Don<br />

MacMillan, David Kent, Andrew Timar, Nicholas Kilbourn, ca 1974).<br />

made it a point to see what we were doing. In 2014, he even published<br />

his review of an ECCG concert on his website. Following a lifelong<br />

practice of telling it as he saw and heard it, he pulled no punches!<br />

On <strong>April</strong> 14, Soundstreams will present “Steve Reich at 80,” in<br />

celebration of one of the shakers of musical minimalism, and as I<br />

had alluded to earlier, there’s a Robin and Nexus connection here<br />

too. Nexus co-founders Russell Hartenberger and Bob Becker were<br />

both also original members of the seminal Steve Reich and Musicians,<br />

formed in 1966. Then, when Nexus was born in 1971 in Toronto, Robin<br />

was on board as a charter member. During their many extensive residencies,<br />

national and international tours, Robin was there (installments<br />

of his tour diaries can be read on the Nexus website). And<br />

Reich’s music was often on the program. His minimalist masterwork,<br />

Music for Pieces of Wood, videoed in a 1984 Tokyo concert, has<br />

surpassed 242,000 YouTube views.<br />

Returning once more to that evocative early 1970s photo of<br />

Sankaran and Robin, to me it captures a key feature of that era’s York<br />

University music scene and Robin’s place in it. In retrospect, the place<br />

was at the beating heart of a kind of transcultural music making, and<br />

for a few (trans)formative years I was privileged to be part of it. I’ve<br />

spent a career since exploring several such musical broader crossings<br />

and meetings. That photo reminds us that Robin’s York studio was<br />

one of its early touchstones, while his continuing friendship was yet<br />

another. He is already missed by many.<br />

The WholeNote’s regular world music columnist, Andrew<br />

Timar, is a Toronto musician and music writer.<br />

HalfTones Highlights<br />

Peter Maxwell Davies’ Canada Connection<br />

THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED COMPOSER AND FORMER MASTER OF THE QUEEN’S MUSIC DIED OF<br />

LEUKEMIA ON MONDAY, MARCH 14, AT THE AGE OF 81. IN THE MARCH 16 ISSUE OF HALFTONES, OUR<br />

MIDMONTH E-LETTER, OUR SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR, SARA CONSTANT WROTE ABOUT HIS INFLUENCE.<br />

BBC<br />

In a recent article by Andrew Clements,<br />

The Guardian referred to the late Sir<br />

Peter Maxwell Davies as “one of the<br />

great fixed points in the firmament of<br />

British music.” Perhaps best known in<br />

North America for works like his music<br />

theatre piece, Eight Songs for a Mad<br />

King, Maxwell Davies was a prolific<br />

composer who over his long career tried<br />

his hand at an array of classical genres<br />

and styles. From his early experimental -<br />

and at times controversial - pieces, to his<br />

more symphonic writing of the 1970s,<br />

to his ‘light classical’ approach later in<br />

life, Maxwell Davies’ musical voice was a<br />

many-chaptered, multifaceted one.<br />

It just so happens that Maxwell Davies<br />

was a frequent visitor to Canada and the<br />

United States, both as a guest composer<br />

and conductor - and sometimes serving as<br />

both, as he did on tour in Canada with the<br />

Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 1988. He<br />

also left a musical impression, writing Job -<br />

a massive three-part oratorio, over an hour<br />

in length - for the CBC Vancouver Orchestra<br />

and Vancouver Bach Choir, who premiered<br />

it in 1997.<br />

More locally in the Toronto scene, Maxwell<br />

Davies proved a valuable resource for<br />

such local fixtures as Aradia Ensemble’s<br />

Kevin Mallon - who was a student of his at<br />

Dartington College of Arts - and New Music<br />

Concerts, when the organization was still in<br />

its infancy. In the early years of NMC in the<br />

1970s - a tone-setting time both for the young<br />

Peter Maxwell Davies<br />

concert series and the Canadian new music<br />

scene at large - Maxwell Davies compositions<br />

figured prominently in the programming,<br />

featured alongside works by Claude<br />

Vivier in 1976 as well as in a show specifically<br />

dedicated to Maxwell Davies later that year.<br />

Interviewed at the time by the CBC, NMC<br />

director Robert Aitken cited Maxwell Davies’<br />

aesthetic as an approachable, complementary<br />

counterpart to music like that of Vivier’s,<br />

and the 1970s as a transitional time for new<br />

music, where “music is more exciting now<br />

than it perhaps has ever been…where literally,<br />

anything goes.”<br />

That interview is archived online (at musiccentre.ca/node/16954)<br />

by the Canadian<br />

Music Centre, where you can check it out for<br />

a glimpse into Toronto’s - and Maxwell<br />

Davies’ - musical past. And as for New<br />

Music Concerts, now approaching its<br />

45th season, things still seem musically<br />

as exciting as ever. You can find details<br />

on their upcoming <strong>April</strong> 3 program “Viva<br />

Electronica,” which features electroacoustic<br />

works from a host of Canadian<br />

composers, in our listings and at<br />

newmusicconcerts.com.<br />

Incidentally, baroque ensemble Aradia<br />

is scheduled to close its 2015/16 season<br />

with a performance on June 4 of none<br />

other than Maxwell Davies’ infamous<br />

Eight Songs for a Mad King, featuring a<br />

guest appearance by Montreal-based new<br />

music group Paramirabo. While maybe<br />

the reason behind this performance’s<br />

suddenly-apt timing isn’t the cheeriest one,<br />

the piece is a real modern classic, and Aradia<br />

and Paramirabo are sure to put on a topnotch<br />

show. You can find the details online at<br />

aradia.ca.<br />

Sara Constant is social media editor at<br />

The WholeNote and studies musicology at<br />

the University of Amsterdam. She can be<br />

contacted at editorial@thewholenote.com.<br />

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68 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


DISCOVERIES | RECORDINGS REVIEWED<br />

DAVID OLDS<br />

As I have had occasion to mention before,<br />

my day job is general manager at New<br />

Music Concerts, an occupation with<br />

brings me into contact with some of the finest<br />

musicians and composers from across Canada<br />

and around the world. So in the spirit of full<br />

disclosure I will say that I have had professional<br />

dealings with the artists involved in the<br />

project Horațiu Rădulescu – Piano Sonatas<br />

and String Quartets. Pianist Stephen Clarke has been a frequent<br />

performer on our series over the years and in January we had the<br />

great pleasure of presenting JACK Quartet in conjunction with Music<br />

Toronto. Rădulescu (1942-2008) was a Romanian composer active<br />

in the French school of spectral composition. He wrote six piano<br />

sonatas and six string quartets during a career which saw him based<br />

in France, Germany and later Switzerland, after leaving his homeland<br />

in 1969. <strong>Volume</strong> One of this series (Mode Records 290), which will<br />

ultimately include all of the sonatas and quartets, presents us with<br />

three very contrasting works, Piano Sonata No.2 Op.82 (1991), String<br />

Quartet No.5 Op.89 (1990-95) and Piano Sonata No.5 Op.106 (2003).<br />

As this is my first exposure to Rădulescu’s music it is hard to know<br />

whether the difference in approach between the keyboard and string<br />

writing has more to do with the nature of the instruments themselves<br />

or if it is simply a matter of different concerns in the different works.<br />

Each of the pieces has a subtitle taken from the Tao te Ching of the<br />

sixth-century BC Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. The Second Piano<br />

Sonata “being and non-being create each other” is in three movements:<br />

Immanence, Byzantine Bells and Joy, in decreasing durations<br />

of Fibonacci proportions (we are told in the excellent notes by Bob<br />

Gilmore). The overall feel of the piece is contemplative, with even<br />

the “Joy” of the third movement seeming contained rather than<br />

exuberant. We are even treated to echoes of Beethoven’s “fateknocking”<br />

theme from the Fifth Symphony in the closing moments<br />

of the sonata. While in his earlier years Rădulescu had treated the<br />

piano in a number of unconventional ways – turning it on its side and<br />

bowing the strings with rosined cords; retuning the piano spectrally to<br />

free the natural harmonics hampered by tempered tuning – with the<br />

Second Sonata he seems to have reconciled his language to the use of<br />

a conventional concert instrument.<br />

This is not the case with the Fifth String Quartet “before the<br />

universe was born,” which uses a number of extended techniques to<br />

expand the palette of the strings in some unimaginable ways, which<br />

is to say that there are some sounds produced that I can’t begin to<br />

understand the origins of. The 29-minute work is in 29 brief sections,<br />

each with a quote from Lao Tzu beginning with “The unnamable<br />

is eternally real (darkness, the gateway to all understanding)” and<br />

ending “The world is sacred (it can’t be improved).” Again contemplation<br />

is the mood of the piece, with clouds of quiet sounds, but<br />

just past the halfway point things get more aggressive and there is an<br />

extended section of quite abrasive sound. Although there are moments<br />

of respite along the way, the work ends with insect-like buzzing<br />

and gnashing.<br />

The Fifth Sonata “settle your dust, this is the primal identity”<br />

returns to modal melodic material. It is based on Romanian folk music<br />

and its drone- and bell-like passages are a genuine relief after the dark<br />

journey of the Fifth Quartet. Perhaps the subtitle of the third movement<br />

tells it all: “Use your own light /and return to the source of light.<br />

This is called practicing eternity.”<br />

Stephen Clarke, who we know is comfortable in many modern<br />

idioms from the gentle, sparse music of Linda Catlin Smith to the<br />

aggressive complexity of Pierre Boulez, seems well at home in this<br />

largely unknown repertoire. And with their extensive work with<br />

Helmut Lachenmann I can’t think of another group better suited to<br />

the extended demands of Rădulescu’s string writing than JACK.<br />

In keeping with the full disclosure of my<br />

opening paragraph, it was New Music Concerts<br />

who first brought Steve Reich to Toronto back<br />

in 1976 and was responsible for my initial<br />

exposure to his music. In recent years it has<br />

been our colleagues at Soundstreams who<br />

have been Reich’s premier sponsors in the city<br />

and this month they will pay tribute to “Steve<br />

Reich at 80” with a performance of, in my<br />

opinion, the jewel in the crown of his oeuvre,<br />

Music for 18 Musicians.<br />

In October 2014 the Ballet de l’Opéra<br />

national de Paris presented choreographer<br />

Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s Rain (Bel Air Classiques BAC126), a<br />

setting of Music for 18 Musicians as performed by Ensemble Ictus<br />

and Synergy Vocals under Georges-Elie Octors’ direction. I admit to<br />

being out of my zone of comfort here, not being well versed, or even<br />

You can find enhanced reviews of all discs below the yellow line in The WholeNote listening room.<br />

Listen in!<br />

• Read the review<br />

• Click to listen<br />

• Click to buy<br />

New this month to<br />

the Listening Room<br />

TheWholeNote.com/Listening<br />

For more information<br />

Thom McKercher at<br />

thom@thewholenote.com<br />

VIVALDI : LES VIOLONS DU ROY<br />

MATHIEU LUSSIER conductor<br />

Mathieu Lussier leads the Quebecbased<br />

ensemble Les Violons du Roy<br />

in this recording of quintessential<br />

works selected from the 500<br />

concertos composed by Vivaldi.<br />

SCHUBERT<br />

To celebrate the 65th birthday of<br />

world-renowned pianist Janina<br />

Fialkowska, ATMA Classique<br />

is delighted to release this<br />

new recording of Schubert’s<br />

Impromptus and Sonata.<br />

Hélène Grimaud’s WATER is an<br />

evocative, experimental, deeply<br />

personal project combining her<br />

two greatest passions: music and<br />

nature.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 69


particularly interested, in modern dance. But the ten athletic dancers<br />

running gazelle-like (or is it Giselle-like?) around the stage in patterns<br />

reminiscent of a Samuel Beckett play on speed proved to be almost as<br />

hypnotic as the music. The focus of the film is understandably on the<br />

dancers, with only occasional tantalizing glimpses of the musicians,<br />

but the 5.1 Dolby digital sound is immaculate and the performance is<br />

compelling.<br />

Concert Note: On <strong>April</strong> 14, Soundstreams presents a very ambitious<br />

program at Massey Hall, including Reich’s iconic Clapping Music, the<br />

large choral work Tehillim and Music for 18 Musicians.<br />

Steve Reich provides the bridge to the next<br />

disc, Density, featuring flutist Claire Chase<br />

(clairechase.net) which has been waiting<br />

patiently on my desk for the past year. It<br />

opens with Reich’s Vermont Counterpoint<br />

for 11 flutes (piccolos, flutes and alto flutes),<br />

conceived as a work for flute “choir” or to be<br />

overdubbed by one player (as first performed<br />

and recorded by Ransom Wilson). As with all the works on this disc,<br />

Chase plays all of the parts in studio recordings in which the layers<br />

blend seamlessly. All are by living composers with the exception of the<br />

title piece Density <strong>21</strong>.5 which Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) composed<br />

for a solo platinum flute in 1936 (<strong>21</strong>.5 grams being the approximate<br />

density of a cubic centimeter of platinum). The other works all involve<br />

multiple flutes and/or electronics.<br />

Of particular note for its rich sonorities is Marcos Balter’s Pessoa<br />

for six bass flutes. Alvin Lucier’s Almost New York for piccolo, flute,<br />

alto, bass and contrabass flutes, and pure wave oscillators, takes<br />

some getting used to. The pure electronic sounds are quite harsh<br />

in comparison with the warmth of the natural flutes, but eventually<br />

our ears adjust and the contrast is quite effective. That being said,<br />

Philip Glass’ homage to Erik Satie, Piece in the Shape of a Square for<br />

two flutes, comes as breath of fresh air after 25 minutes of the sterile<br />

sounds produced by Lucier’s oscillators.<br />

Luciform for flute and electronics by Mario Diaz de León presents a<br />

very different electronic soundscape: synthetic layerings and contrapuntal<br />

accompaniments to the rich sounds of the flute in its lower<br />

register. Again, to my ears, the purely acoustic sounds produced by<br />

the platinum flute in Varèse’s Density <strong>21</strong>.5 are more interesting by far.<br />

Nevertheless, Chase is to be congratulated not only for her dexterity<br />

throughout the full range of flute family but also for her diverse choice<br />

of repertoire, producing a 75-minute homophonic program that holds<br />

our interest from start to finish.<br />

Concert Note: To hear all the members of the conventional flute<br />

family (contrabass to piccolo) combined in a live flute orchestra I<br />

recommend (conflict of interest duly noted) “Flutes Galore,” a concert<br />

of contemporary music for 24 flutes presented by New Music Concerts<br />

on <strong>April</strong> 24 at Saint Luke’s United Church.<br />

If Claire Chase has shown mastery in<br />

combining all the members of one instrumental<br />

family through “the magic of the<br />

studio,” what is to be said of Mike Herriott?<br />

On Isn’t Life Grand (mikeherriott.com) this<br />

consummate musician is responsible for not<br />

only the entire horn section (piccolo trumpet,<br />

trumpets, flugelhorns, French horns and<br />

trombones), but also basses and piano. He is<br />

joined by frequent collaborator Richard Moore on drums and percussion<br />

throughout, with a (very) few other guests on several tracks. The<br />

overall sound is rich and warm and takes me back to the great horn<br />

arrangements I heard in my formative years from the likes of Chicago,<br />

Lighthouse and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Herriott penned all the tunes<br />

and, with the exception of the extended Free at Last arranged by the<br />

late, great Canadian flugelhorn icon, Kenny Wheeler, did all the arranging<br />

too. Fittingly, Herriott provides a lush flugelhorn solo on Free at<br />

Last and is joined by Dave Reid for a bass trombone solo. The style is<br />

quite mainstream, and I am left thinking that with some lyrics and<br />

a singer like David Clayton Thomas this music could have been top<br />

of the charts back in the day. I mean that in the nicest possible way<br />

though and am in awe of this one-man big band that is Mike Herriott.<br />

Another disc that spans mainstream jazz<br />

and pop sensibilities is Taylor Cook’s The<br />

Cook Book (taylorcook.com). In this instance<br />

though, the composer/leader has some fine<br />

Toronto players contributing to his ensemble.<br />

This is not to say that Cook is a one-trick pony<br />

by any means. The basic tracks see him on alto<br />

sax, flute and clarinet, with bandmates Jack<br />

Bodkin, keyboards, Brandon Wall, guitar, Justin Gray, acoustic and<br />

electric bass, and Robin Claxton, drums. This is complemented by a<br />

host of horns and woodwinds on such tracks as the rollicking Biker’s<br />

Dozen and the sultry Lilia which also includes string quartet. Another<br />

track where the ranks swell is Cook’s effective arrangement of On the<br />

Sunny Side of the Street which features a horn sextet. All of the other<br />

tracks are composed and arranged by Cook, including Splainin’ with<br />

lyrics by Neil Surkan and plaintive vocals by Alex Samaras, with the<br />

exception of the closing, soulful Testifyin’ by Fender Rhodes-playing<br />

Bodkin. In all, The Cook Book provides some tasty recipes, prepared to<br />

perfection.<br />

As noted with modern dance above, I<br />

confess to being somewhat out of my comfort<br />

zone in the world of serious modern jazz. In<br />

my formative years however, I did spend quite<br />

a bit of time combing the shelves of John<br />

Norris’ Jazz and Blues Centre down on King<br />

St. West and building a collection of the standards<br />

of the time: Monk, Coltrane, Hawkins,<br />

Rollins, Davis, Parker, Coleman, MJQ, Brubeck and, as mentioned<br />

in last month’s column, even the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.<br />

Montreal bassist Alain Bédard and his acoustic Auguste Quartet take<br />

me back to those exciting years of discovery. Circum Continuum<br />

(Effendi Records FND 144) features Félix Stussi on piano, Samuel<br />

Blais on saxophones, Bédard on contrabass and Michel Lambert<br />

on drums. The music is old fashioned in the sense that is reminiscent<br />

of the music I was listening to in the 70s and 80s from the pioneers<br />

of post-bop jazz: uncompromising yet cohesive, melodic without<br />

being tuneful. Often busy in its undercurrents, but overlaid with long<br />

lines, and with nothing extraneous – all four members of the machine<br />

integral to the process. Bédard composed nine of the 13 tracks with<br />

the other members each contributing one of their own. The only<br />

“outside job” is Oelo by Gilles Bernard, inspired by Sonny Rollins’<br />

Oleo. Lambert’s Blue Mitch begins with an enervated extended drum<br />

and saxophone duet, eventually tamed by the bass and piano before<br />

reestablishing their dominance in a harmolodic-style ending. Blais’<br />

Noirceur Passagère features a haunting saxophone melody that gives<br />

way to a pizzicato bass solo that segues into Stussi’s Garissa evoking<br />

a Night in Tunisia sensibility. Bédard’s Le Gras Mollet with its block<br />

chord melody in the sax, piano and bass over a walking drum and<br />

cymbal line brings this excellent disc to a very satisfying conclusion.<br />

David Olds, DISCoveries Editor<br />

discoveries@thewholenote.com<br />

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. CDs and<br />

comments should be sent to: DISCoveries, WholeNote Media Inc.,<br />

The Centre for Social Innovation, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON<br />

M5S 2R4. We also encourage you to visit our website thewholenote.<br />

com where you can find added features including direct links to<br />

performers, composers and record labels, “buy buttons” for on-line<br />

shopping and additional, expanded and archival reviews.<br />

70 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Narratives on Life – music for cello and<br />

piano is the latest CD from the Ottawa<br />

duo of cellist Joan Harrison and pianist<br />

Elaine Keillor (Marquis MAR 81467). The four<br />

varied works are connected by the composers’<br />

shared Jewish heritage and are not often heard<br />

– indeed, three of the performances here are<br />

world premiere recordings.<br />

Srul Irving Glick’s Chagall Suite for Cello<br />

and Piano is a three-movement work from 1993 inspired by the Marc<br />

Chagall paintings The Cellist, The Lights of the Wedding and The Big<br />

Circus. There’s some lovely tone and colour from the cello, although<br />

the piano seems to be a bit far back in the balance.<br />

My feeling that the playing was perhaps a bit too subdued was<br />

reinforced by the second work, the Sonata for Cello and Piano by the<br />

Canadian composer Steven Gellman. Completed in 1994, its third<br />

movement finale is titled Scherzo (on a Heavy-Metal rhythm), but<br />

while the playing here is more than up to the technical challenges it<br />

really seems to need more fire and energy.<br />

The one work I would have thought would be a first recording<br />

turned out to be the only one that wasn’t. The musically multitalented<br />

child prodigy Hélène Riese Liebmann was born in Berlin<br />

in 1795 and was already having her compositions published by 1813,<br />

a quite remarkable achievement in an age when the likes of Fanny<br />

Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann would have to resort to having<br />

their compositions published under the names of their respective<br />

brother and husband. The Grand Sonata in B-flat Major for Cello and<br />

Piano Op.11 is a very pleasant work and it is very much of its time.<br />

While studying at Yale University Harrison met the son of the<br />

American composer Maurice Gardner (1909-2002) whose Sonata for<br />

Cello and Piano completes the CD.<br />

Gardner had a long and varied musical career in many commercial<br />

spheres, and was finally able to concentrate on non-commercial<br />

compositions when he reached his 60s. Harrison’s acquaintance<br />

with his son led to her being coached by the composer himself in the<br />

playing of this sonata, and it shows: it’s not only the strongest and<br />

most assured work on the CD, but also draws the most committed and<br />

convincing playing from the performers.<br />

It’s a fine ending to a very interesting CD.<br />

Say what you will about Antonio Vivaldi – and despite the huge<br />

popularity of his music, he isn’t everyone’s favourite composer – his<br />

voice is unmistakeable. We’ve all heard the old line – that Vivaldi<br />

didn’t write 500 concertos but wrote the same concerto 500 times<br />

– but the truth is that despite the continuous sequences, circles of<br />

fifths, arpeggios, scales and rhythmic patterns that tend to obscure<br />

the frequent absence of any real melodic material, there is a delightful<br />

freshness and inventiveness and a sense of spontaneity that runs<br />

throughout his instrumental music.<br />

TERRY ROBBINS<br />

before the final Concerto in C Major for Two Trumpets, Strings and<br />

Continuo RV537, whose familiar opening three notes will immediately<br />

bring to mind the closing doors on a TTC subway car for Toronto<br />

residents; the dazzling third movement brings to a close a CD that is a<br />

pure delight from start to finish.<br />

The orchestral texture is warm and bright, with a discreet<br />

and beautifully balanced continuo and a clear and resonant<br />

recorded sound.<br />

The young Spanish ensemble Trio Rodin<br />

is featured in a lovely CD of music of their<br />

homeland with Enrique Granados Chamber<br />

Music with Piano (Ævea Æ16013).<br />

Chamber music was a neglected field in late<br />

19th-century Spain, a situation that Granados<br />

addressed in his compositions; his Piano Trio<br />

Op.50 was one of two chamber works that he<br />

performed on his debut in Madrid’s musical<br />

society in 1895. It’s an attractive work that allows all three performers<br />

here to showcase their technique, their warm tone and their ensemble<br />

skills. For this recording Trio Rodin worked from the autograph<br />

manuscript source, apparently only recently identified.<br />

Pianist Jorge Mengotti is joined by cellist Esther García in the three<br />

pieces Madrigal, Danza gallega and Trova, all adapted from previous<br />

Granados works and all dedicated to Pablo Casals.<br />

The remaining eight tracks on the CD feature violinist Carles Puig.<br />

Romanza is a lovely, lyrical miniature that brings sensitive playing<br />

from the duo. The Tres preludios are extremely short (less than four<br />

minutes in total) but quite effective.<br />

The unfinished Sonata for Violin and Piano completes the disc. It<br />

dates from the same period as the Piano Trio, but until fairly recently<br />

the beautifully rhapsodic first movement was thought to be all that<br />

was completed; Trio Rodin, however, found a completed second<br />

movement in the same manuscript source as the Piano Trio, together<br />

with very brief opening fragments for an Andante and a Finale; all the<br />

material is presented here.<br />

The works here are all finely crafted and beautifully played, with an<br />

exceptionally clean recorded sound.<br />

Every now and then a CD comes along that reminds you how<br />

easily you can lose track of contemporary composers and their works<br />

if your focus is always on the standard repertoire and the established,<br />

traditional composers, and how much of real value you can<br />

consequently miss.<br />

Visit TheWholeNote.com/Listening<br />

These qualities are more than captured in<br />

Vivaldi, the outstanding new CD from Les<br />

Violons du Roy under Mathieu Lussier (ATMA<br />

ACD2 2602). Moreover, the six concertos<br />

here display the wide range of solo combinations<br />

that Vivaldi used, as 16 of the orchestra<br />

members are featured as soloists. Just look<br />

at the range of works: the two Concertos in<br />

F Major for Violin, Two Oboes, Bassoon,<br />

Two Horns, Strings and Continuo RV569 and RV574; the Concerto<br />

in B Minor for Four Violins, Cello, Strings and Continuo RV580; the<br />

Concerto in G Minor for Violin, Two Recorders, Two Oboes, Bassoon,<br />

Strings and Continuo RV577; and the Concerto in E Minor for Four<br />

Violins, Strings and Continuo RV550.<br />

There is a brief Sinfonia from the opera La verità in cimento, RV739<br />

'Glassworlds Vol. 3' reveals the<br />

"Metamorphosis" in Glass’s work<br />

from his '80s film and theatre<br />

transcriptions, through "The<br />

Olympian", composed for the Los<br />

Angeles Olympiad, to rarities such<br />

as "Coda".<br />

Despite the popularity of<br />

Khachaturian’s ballet music, his<br />

works for piano have been relatively<br />

neglected. This CD combines<br />

arrangements of popular pieces<br />

with less familiar works.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 71


One such CD is Meanderings, the terrific<br />

new solo release from the Israeli violinist Yael<br />

Barolsky (negevmusic.wix.com/negevmusic).<br />

While Luciano Berio’s name will be familiar<br />

to most, the same may not be true for Dai<br />

Fujikura (b.1977), a Japanese composer now<br />

resident in the UK; the Boston-born Israeli<br />

composer Amos Elkana (b.1967); the soloist’s<br />

father, Lithuanian Michael Barolsky (1947-2009); and Italian Luca<br />

Francesconi (b.1956), although all five composers are represented here<br />

by strong, engrossing works.<br />

Berio’s Sequenza VIII from 1976 is at the heart of the album for<br />

Barolsky, who credits its character and technical demands as leading<br />

to, and influencing the selection of, the other works on the CD. The<br />

ease and comfort with which she negotiates a really challenging piece<br />

more than bear out her statement that it is a piece she has loved and<br />

performed for many years.<br />

Fujikura’s 2010 composition Fluid Calligraphy for violin and<br />

optional video (the latter obviously not included here, but viewable in<br />

a complete performance on daifujikura.com) is an attempt to recreate<br />

the principles of Japanese calligraphy by using the bow as the equivalent<br />

of the calligrapher’s brush. Although it encompasses a wide range<br />

of technical effects it remains a very accessible work.<br />

Elkana’s Reflections for violin and electronics was written for<br />

Barolsky in 2014 and is dedicated to her. A computer records the<br />

solo violin, but only at specific points in the solo part, and plays the<br />

recordings back through four speakers positioned beside the player.<br />

The result is a multi-layered collage of voices where distinguishing<br />

between the live and recorded playing becomes virtually impossible<br />

at times; only the first appearance of new material clearly identifies<br />

the live soloist. It’s extremely effective, with mixes of high and low<br />

registers, pizzicato and arco sections and fast and slow tempi, with a<br />

beautiful quasi-chordal section at the end.<br />

Michael Barolsky’s Prana (the Sanskrit word for life force) for violin<br />

and tape from 1977 fuses the composer’s melodic lines with fragments<br />

from the Bach D Minor Allemande (in slow tempo) against a background<br />

of electronic sounds invoking nature.<br />

Francesconi’s 1991 composition Riti neurali for violin and ensemble<br />

is a live recording with the Israel Contemporary Players under Ilan<br />

Volkov. Subtitled Third Study on Memory, it was inspired by the<br />

composer’s fascination with a particular theory on the function<br />

of memory.<br />

Barolsky’s playing is simply outstanding throughout a CD that is a<br />

significant addition to the contemporary solo violin discography.<br />

Lutenist Žak Ozmo explores the music of Vincenzo Galilei on The<br />

Well-Tempered Lute Tones I-IV, another excellent CD from Hyperion<br />

(CDA68017).<br />

Galilei was a respected member of the Camerata, an influential<br />

group of humanists, musicians, poets and<br />

intellectuals active in Florence in the late<br />

1500s. The music here is taken from his Il<br />

Primo Libro d’intavolatura di liuto (1584),<br />

written for a six-course lute and which Ozmo,<br />

in the outstanding booklet notes, calls the first<br />

substantial musical collection to champion the<br />

versatility of a well-tempered tuning system,<br />

demonstrating the lute’s ability to transpose<br />

pieces to any of the 12 degrees of an equally tempered scale. Ozmo<br />

explains in fascinating detail the philosophical, interpretational and<br />

technical challenges that the work presents – which he says push both<br />

the player and the instrument to their limits – as well as the questions<br />

that need to be answered in order to perform it.<br />

The technical challenges are clearly handled well, although the<br />

playing seems a bit dry and tight at times, no doubt due to the fact<br />

that in order to play the pieces on each step of the scale, the index<br />

finger of the left hand needs to be kept flat on the fingerboard after<br />

the first step. Anyone who has ever tried playing classical guitar with a<br />

permanent full barre chord will know what that entails!<br />

Still, this is a fascinating CD that will doubtless more than repay<br />

repeated listening.<br />

There’s another series of the Beethoven<br />

Complete String Quartets making its way<br />

through these remarkable works, this time<br />

by the Quartetto di Cremona on the audite<br />

label (92.684). The first volume was issued in<br />

March 2013.<br />

I haven’t heard any of the previous releases,<br />

but if the new <strong>Volume</strong> V Super Audio CD is<br />

anything to go by, then I’ve really been missing something. There’s<br />

only one quartet on this issue – No.15, the String Quartet in A Minor<br />

Op.132 – but the ensemble is joined by the outstanding Lawrence<br />

Dutton on viola for the early String Quintet in C Major Op.29.<br />

This Italian quartet has been around for ten years now, and much is<br />

made of their training with the Quartetto Italiano’s Piero Farulli and<br />

the Alban Berg Quartet’s Hatto Beyerle; the resulting mix of an intuitive,<br />

emotional approach to the music with the classical German-<br />

Austrian focus on form and structure. Their playing here certainly<br />

bears that out, with a fine sense of shape and form never compromising<br />

the warmth and spontaneity of the playing.<br />

Three further volumes are planned to complete the series of eight<br />

regular-priced CDs. How this set will fare in a fiercely competitive<br />

field where 2CD issues and box sets are the norm remains to be<br />

seen, but the performances themselves will more than hold their<br />

own, I’m sure.<br />

Visit the Listening Room Online. Enhanced reviews. Click to listen. Click to buy.<br />

What if you could<br />

listen in?<br />

Now you can!<br />

Previously uploaded to<br />

the Listening Room<br />

Fairouz has rapidly become one<br />

of the most highly regarded<br />

composers of his generation. The<br />

songs on 'No Orpheus' represent a<br />

decade of his writing for voice.<br />

ABENG is the 3rd album from<br />

electric bassist Rich Brown.<br />

The music has been described as<br />

highly charged, richly imaginative,<br />

and at times poignant.<br />

TheWholeNote.com/Listening<br />

For more information<br />

Thom McKercher at<br />

thom@thewholenote.com<br />

Orbis is an album through which<br />

contemporary works are given a<br />

new and vibrant life. The harp like<br />

you’ve never heard it before!<br />

72 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Keyed In<br />

ALEX BARAN<br />

Janina Fialkowska’s new recording of<br />

Schubert – Piano Sonata No.7; Four<br />

Impromptus (ATMA ACD2 2699) is an<br />

example of familiar repertoire rethought,<br />

reconsidered and reinvented. Nothing has<br />

been turned on its head nor has Schubert been<br />

over-examined for missed content. The genius<br />

of his ideas lies in both their lyric value and in<br />

the exquisite nature of his supporting accompaniments.<br />

What Fialkowska has done is to redraw the emotional map<br />

that guides her playing through Schubert’s straightforward material.<br />

She plays the Impromptu No.2 in A-flat Major Op.142 D935 as if it<br />

were something sacred. The opening idea is delivered in utter simplicity<br />

and the middle section rises to a speed and intensity not often<br />

heard. This pulls the work’s emotional poles further apart and gives<br />

greater impact to the quiet ending. The other three impromptus, too,<br />

are wonderfully recast.<br />

The Piano Sonata No.7 in E -flat Major Op.122 D568 benefits from<br />

a release of tempo strictures in the second and third movements.<br />

Fialkowska gives Schubert’s simple ideas an airy freedom that feels so<br />

completely right. She is, as ever, the mature interpreter we have come<br />

to admire.<br />

Concert Note: On <strong>April</strong> 1 and 2 Janina Fialkowska performs<br />

Chopin’s Concerto in F Minor with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony<br />

at the Centre in the Square.<br />

It’s always a pleasure to hear a new<br />

recording from Angela Hewitt, regardless<br />

of the repertoire. Early <strong>2016</strong> saw the release<br />

of Domenico Scarlatti – Sonatas (Hyperion<br />

CDA67613), her first project with this material<br />

and one which she hopes to pursue more. In<br />

her liner notes, Hewitt makes reference to<br />

the scholarly debate over whether the sonatas<br />

were originally intended to be paired or not.<br />

She has, nevertheless, chosen to devise her own groupings, to the<br />

sonatas’ best advantage.<br />

Playing her long-favoured Fazioli, Hewitt delivers a flawless technical<br />

performance with clarity never sacrificed to speed. Scarlatti’s<br />

sonata structures are simple enough to navigate and one might expect<br />

that in the course of 16 such works a certain amount of predictability<br />

would set in. But this never happens as Hewitt gives the main idea<br />

of each sonata a completely fresh approach. She also never misses a<br />

contrapuntal opportunity, and plenty abound throughout. Her ornaments<br />

and figures are perfect. She is also completely at ease using<br />

whatever technical advantage the modern piano offers to this older<br />

repertoire, whether dynamic or colouristic. The Sonata in G Minor<br />

Kk8 is an excellent example of this as is the Sonata in F Minor Kk69.<br />

The final track is a bit of surprise as Hewitt’s choice of tempo is<br />

notably slower than most often heard. This turns the Sonata in E<br />

Major Kk380 into a far more thoughtful and even slightly melancholy<br />

utterance than we expect. We look forward to her next set of<br />

Scarlatti sonatas.<br />

Concert Note: On <strong>April</strong> 13, 14 and 16, Angela Hewitt performs two<br />

piano concertos by Bach with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The<br />

program also features Symphony No.8 by Shostakovich, conducted by<br />

Peter Oundjian.<br />

In her latest disc Hélène Grimaud – Water<br />

(Deutsche Grammophon CD 00289 479<br />

3426), pianist Hélène Grimaud draws from<br />

the well of repertoire using water as its inspiration.<br />

Nearly every composer has written<br />

something depicting an aspect of water<br />

whether vast or minute. Her choices of works<br />

were guided by a live performance project<br />

incorporating art, music and architecture. Set<br />

in a New York armoury drill hall carefully flooded for added effect, the<br />

performance reflected her environmental concerns around the treatment<br />

of water as one of humanity’s most precious resources.<br />

Grimaud immerses herself completely in the nature of the<br />

water theme. Aided by the cavernous acoustic of the armoury, she<br />

captures all the fluidness and sparkling images created by her chosen<br />

composers. Liszt’s Les Jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este is among the best<br />

tracks for its articulate shimmer in the upper registers. The Takemitsu<br />

Rain Tree Sketch II is beautiful for its deeply haunting reserve and<br />

Fauré’s Barcarolle flows with unbound rhythmic freedom throughout.<br />

The best track is, however, Debussy’s La Cathédrale engloutie. Here<br />

Grimaud evokes an architectural grandness and solemnity so appropriate<br />

to the composer’s image for the piece.<br />

The recording produced at the art installation is combined with<br />

seven electro-acoustic compositions by Nitin Sawhney that act<br />

as transitions between her eight piano pieces. The contemporary<br />

works serve effectively as transitions between the traditional repertoire<br />

and are, in fact, titled as such, Transition 1, 2, etc. They alternate<br />

seamlessly from one track to the next and make for a truly fascinating<br />

listen.<br />

It’s hard to imagine the mindset that a pianist must adopt to undertake<br />

an extensive project like Valentina Lisitsa plays Philip Glass<br />

You can find enhanced reviews of all discs below the yellow line at TheWholeNote.com/listening<br />

"This dazzling debut album features<br />

pure, emotionally eloquent vocals,<br />

refreshingly eclectic selections<br />

and stylistic arrangements that are<br />

sure to leave you smiling."<br />

Jan Lisiecki performs the complete<br />

works of Robert Schumann for<br />

piano and orchestra with Antonio<br />

Pappano leading the Orchestra<br />

dell'Accademia Nazionale di S.<br />

Cecilia<br />

Saffo is full of surprising & striking<br />

elements, with a strong musical<br />

realisation of the text, supportive<br />

string and woodwind writing and<br />

vivid choral effects.<br />

Critically acclaimed world-jazz<br />

group AVATAAR explores rhythmic<br />

hypnotism, cinematic sonic<br />

landscapes and soaring melody<br />

through a seamless marriage<br />

of ancient and modern musical<br />

sounds.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 73


(Decca 478 8079 DH2). This two-disc set<br />

contains nine selections from The Hours and<br />

other films like Mishima and The Truman<br />

Show. Lisitsa also plays the Metamorphosis<br />

I-V and the half-hour long How Now.<br />

Conventionally, one imagines a performer<br />

mapping out thematic structure and development,<br />

and attending to such concerns as<br />

articulation and phrasing. But in Glass’ world<br />

these things can have far less significance and a performer may look<br />

elsewhere to prepare.<br />

Glass describes himself as a composer of “music with repeating<br />

structures” and it’s this device that predominates throughout the<br />

repertoire in this set. Lisitsa takes an approach that respects the<br />

important patterns of Glass’ work but leaves her enough expressive<br />

room to use speed and dynamics to shape the music. This is<br />

most evident in How Now and Wichita Vortex Sutra. The experience<br />

of playing this often hypnotic music is challenging. Lisitsa reaches<br />

successfully for the other worldliness of Glass’ minimalist voice. She<br />

never loses herself in it because she understands that the immersive<br />

experience of Glass’ music is best reserved for the listener.<br />

Concert Note: Valentina Lisitsa performs at Koerner Hall at 3pm<br />

on <strong>April</strong> 10. The program will include Scriabin, Tchaikovsky<br />

and Rachmaninov.<br />

Young pianist Nicolas Horvath has a very<br />

impressive reputation as a Liszt interpreter. It’s<br />

no surprise then, that his approach to Glass in<br />

Philip Glass – Glassworlds 3; Metamorphosis<br />

(Grand Piano GP691) is strikingly different.<br />

His own liner notes to this recording reveal<br />

his inclination toward analytical detail. At the<br />

keyboard he extracts thematic material from<br />

the rotating structures that Glass sets spinning<br />

like so many Buddhist prayer wheels. In doing so he compels the<br />

listener to experience the music more melodically than its hypnotic<br />

patterns might otherwise allow. This sets his performance of the<br />

Metamorphosis I-V apart from most others. The melodic imperative<br />

that seems to drive Horvath’s interpretation of Glass’ music is<br />

even more powerful in Einstein on the Beach and the Piano Sonatina<br />

No.2 (1959). There’s even a hint of programmatic interpretation in the<br />

piano version of The Olympian – Lighting of the Torch and Closing.<br />

By contrast, however, Horvath completely abandons all classical/<br />

romantic sensibilities in Two Pages (1968), choosing instead to favour<br />

the dominant mechanical nature of the repeating figures, leaving<br />

only Glass’ subtle changes to play with the listener’s mind. This kind<br />

of versatility makes Horvath a compelling interpreter and presents<br />

the repertoire in a deeply engaging and listenable way. This disc is the<br />

third volume in his Glassworlds series.<br />

Kariné Poghosyan is an Armenian-<br />

American pianist teaching at the Manhattan<br />

School of Music. With a scholarly thesis on<br />

the piano music of Aram Khachaturian to<br />

her credit, her latest recording Khachaturian<br />

– Original Piano Works and Transcriptions<br />

(Grand Piano GP673) demonstrates the<br />

affinity she has for this composer’s work.<br />

The disc includes a new piano transcription<br />

of the Masquerade Suite with its familiar Waltz, and the Suite<br />

No.2 from the ballet Spartacus, in a new arrangement by Matthew<br />

Cameron. Both performances are world premieres but the latter<br />

is impressive for the way it presents the ballet’s well-known main<br />

theme, particularly in its wide, sweeping orchestral gestures.<br />

Also on the disc is Poem, a very early and somewhat troubled work<br />

that Poghosyan performs with conviction, finding great serenity in the<br />

quieter sections to balance the work’s darker passages.<br />

The recording’s finest piece is, however, the Piano Sonata from<br />

1961, one of Khachaturian’s few formal efforts in larger forms. The<br />

opening movement is breathtaking for its relentless motion that only<br />

has a brief respite midway through. Poghosyan plays this brilliantly<br />

and brings it to an edge-of-your-seat close. The second movement is<br />

remarkable for its unfamiliar and sometimes experimental language.<br />

The final movement brings back the energy of the first but with more<br />

intensity. This must be an exhausting piece to perform live. It is excitement<br />

combined with mystery and Poghosyan plays it masterfully.<br />

We tend to have set notions of the personalities<br />

that shaped the music of most historical<br />

periods. While the names of those who<br />

dominate obscure the lesser, we sometimes<br />

find, in the shadows, new material that helps<br />

us understand an age in a richer way. And so it<br />

is with the music of Daniel Steibelt and a new<br />

recording by Howard Shelley that presents<br />

three of his piano concertos in Stiebelt<br />

(Hyperion CDA68104).<br />

Born to German/French parents, Steibelt was a contemporary of<br />

Mozart and Beethoven. He built his career as a pianist and composer<br />

in France and England at the turn of the 19th century. He is reported<br />

to have famously challenged Beethoven to a piano duel and forever<br />

lived with the humiliation of that ill-conceived contest. Steibelt’s<br />

music shows his remarkable keyboard facility with extended runs and<br />

complex ornamentation. Although his work shows him to have been<br />

a fine tunesmith, he is judged to have been much less competent at<br />

thematic development.<br />

Pianist and conductor Howard Shelley performs the Piano<br />

Concertos Nos. 3, 5 and 7 with the Ulster Orchestra. Shelley’s<br />

playing is graceful and delivers the full value of Steibelt’s decorative<br />

tunes, many of them finely crafted and memorable, especially<br />

the Scottish folk melodies in the slow movements. The orchestra<br />

is superbly balanced with the piano, and while conducted from<br />

the keyboard, their performance is unerringly intimate with the<br />

soloist. The recording is a welcome document of a deserving, if lesser<br />

known, composer.<br />

Lauded by critics as the finest fortepiano<br />

performer of our time, Kristian Bezuidenhout<br />

has issued another installment in his ambitious<br />

Mozart recording project, Mozart<br />

Keyboard Music Vols. 8 & 9 (Harmonia Mundi<br />

HMU 907532.33). Bezuidenhout plays a fortepiano<br />

built in 2009, copied from a Viennese<br />

Walter & Sohn of 1805. The instrument is<br />

tuned to A 430 and set in unequal temperament. This has the effect<br />

of reducing the instrument’s resonance in keys not part of C Major’s<br />

harmonic overtone series, like D and F. This is hardly noticeable since<br />

the fortepiano has, overall, characteristically less resonance than our<br />

modern pianos.<br />

These two volumes are well programmed with plenty of contrasting<br />

pieces that make listening through their entirety highly enjoyable.<br />

The familiar Sonata in C Major K545 opens the set and is striking for<br />

the degree of clarity and articulation Bezuidenhout is able to express<br />

at this keyboard. He plays the Gigue in G Major K574 with an incisive<br />

angularity applied to both the rhythmic patterns and the intervallic<br />

leaps that must have delighted Mozart in writing them. He also<br />

includes three sets of variations and a couple of fragments completed<br />

by Mozart scholar Robert Levin.<br />

Bezuidenhout is a dynamic player not shy about digging into the<br />

instrument forcefully to generate a fortissimo. He’s equally adept at<br />

key touch so light that some notes seem to disappear on first hearing.<br />

A quick replay confirms their presence but only at the softest levels.<br />

The two-disc set contains selected works from 1774 to 1790 and, like<br />

the rest of the series, is not chronological.<br />

74 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


VOCAL<br />

The Way of the Pilgrim<br />

Toronto Consort<br />

Marquis Classics MAR 81465<br />

(marquisclassics.com)<br />

!!<br />

The Toronto<br />

Consort was founded<br />

in 1972. Since then it<br />

has been recognized<br />

as one of the finest<br />

ensembles in the<br />

world specializing in<br />

medieval, renaissance<br />

and early baroque<br />

music. This disc is a reissue, first released by<br />

Dorian in 2000. The ensemble is essentially<br />

the same as that performing now, with one<br />

exception: the recording was made before the<br />

soprano Michele DeBoer joined the group.<br />

Although the title of the CD emphasizes<br />

pilgrimage, the subtitle, “Medieval Songs of<br />

Travel,” shows that “travel” is taken in a wider<br />

sense: we have here songs about the Crusades,<br />

about the miracles performed by the Virgin<br />

Mary (linked to the Spanish pilgrimage Salas),<br />

about spring and love written by wandering<br />

monks (the Carmina Burana) and about the<br />

vicissitudes in one’s own life (the autobiographical<br />

poem by Oswald von Wolkenstein,<br />

one of the last minnesingers). Making these<br />

works ready for performance would have<br />

involved a considerable amount of work.<br />

While good modern editions are available,<br />

it must be remembered that the music has<br />

come down to us in the shape of monophonic<br />

songs. Everything added to the tune would<br />

have to be added by the performer.<br />

The performances on the CD are always<br />

enjoyable. I was particularly taken with the<br />

soprano Katherine Hill’s performances in the<br />

Cantiga Ben pode Santa Maria, mezzo Laura<br />

Pudwell’s rendering of Bonum est confidere<br />

from the Carmina Burana and with Pudwell’s<br />

unaccompanied performance Jerusalem se<br />

plaint, a lament written in response to the<br />

retreat of the Crusader army from Egypt in<br />

12<strong>21</strong>. A lively and informative essay by David<br />

Fallis, the artistic director of the Toronto<br />

Consort, is a valuable supplement.<br />

Hans de Groot<br />

Concert Note: The Toronto Consort’s season<br />

concludes with performances of Monteverdi’s<br />

Vespers of 1610 with special guest British<br />

tenor Charles Daniels, joined by tenor Kevin<br />

Skelton and Montreal’s premier cornetto<br />

and sackbut ensemble La Rose des Vents on<br />

May 6, 7 and 8 at Trinity-St.Paul’s Centre.<br />

Monteverdi – Vespro Della Beata Vergine<br />

Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque<br />

Soloists; Sir John Eliot Gardiner<br />

Alpha 705<br />

!!<br />

Sir John Eliot Gardiner has conducted<br />

Monteverdi’s Vespers many times. In the<br />

booklet that comes<br />

with this DVD he<br />

relates how he first<br />

conducted the work<br />

in 1964 when he was<br />

still an undergraduate<br />

at Cambridge. He<br />

also mentions that he<br />

received a great deal<br />

of cooperation from<br />

various academics.<br />

His tutor even<br />

arranged for him to have a year off from his<br />

work for the History Tripos so that he could<br />

concentrate on the Monteverdi. The performance<br />

was in the splendid late Gothic chapel at<br />

King’s College, Cambridge. Recently Gardiner<br />

was invited to conduct the work again in<br />

King’s College Chapel and the essay in the<br />

DVD booklet is clearly the program note for<br />

that performance.<br />

Gardiner has conducted the work several<br />

times on CD and also once on an earlier DVD<br />

where the venue was the Basilica of St. Mark<br />

in Venice. The venue on this recording is yet<br />

another space, the late 17th century Chapelle<br />

Royale de Versailles. That church is not as<br />

spectacular as the Chapel at King’s College or<br />

St. Mark’s Basilica but the architectural space<br />

works well. The cinematographer has also<br />

made good use of the frescos in the church to<br />

heighten the baroque ambiance in which the<br />

work is performed.<br />

In his introductory essay, Gardiner writes<br />

that already in 1964, he found “the smooth,<br />

polite euphony of the collegiate choral style<br />

of the early 60s” unsuitable for this work. He<br />

has not changed his mind: this performance<br />

is dramatic and vigorous. Apart from some<br />

rather ungainly entrances by the solo tenors<br />

in the concluding Magnificat, it is also beautifully<br />

sung and played.<br />

Hans de Groot<br />

Concert Note: As mentioned above, the<br />

Toronto Consort presents Monteverdi’s<br />

Vespers at Trinity-St. Paul’s on May 6, 7 and 8.<br />

Rossini – Mosè<br />

Raimondi; Kabatu; Ganci; Mihai; Polinelli;<br />

Veneranca Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano;<br />

Francesco Quattrocchi<br />

Cmajor 735308<br />

!!<br />

This was one of<br />

the events specially<br />

created for the Milan<br />

Expo 2015 that<br />

coincided with the<br />

150th anniversary of<br />

Italian Unification<br />

and what better way<br />

to celebrate than to<br />

perform an opera<br />

in the magnificent<br />

Gothic cathedral,<br />

Duomo di<br />

Milano, that took 600 years to build. The<br />

majestic interior became awash in cascading<br />

multicoloured curtains of light giving an<br />

impressive backdrop to the action.<br />

The original opera, well over three hours<br />

long, Mosè in Egitto by the 24-year-old<br />

Rossini, was written for Naples. He later<br />

revised it for Paris and turned it into French<br />

(Moise et Pharaon) thereby losing a lot of<br />

the originality and freshness of the original.<br />

The creators of this particular event in their<br />

wisdom used this second version (translated<br />

back into Italian) and condensed it into a oneand-a-half-hour<br />

“semi-staged sacred melodrama”<br />

of overblown and repetitive religious<br />

scenes of divine miracles, dispensing with<br />

much of the love story, the human drama and<br />

the wonderful music that made this opera a<br />

success and caused it to survive for nearly 200<br />

years. Fortunately, the immortal Prayer Scene<br />

at the banks of the Red Sea was kept, ending<br />

the show on a positive note.<br />

This being in Italy and especially Milan, the<br />

mostly young singers are all excellent, their<br />

voices gloriously resounding in the spacious<br />

acoustics of the cathedral. Isabelle Kabatu as<br />

Queen Sinaide is especially memorable in her<br />

highly emotionally charged scene, and in the<br />

title role the venerable Ruggero Raimondi at<br />

74, amazingly enough can still sing the role<br />

although his voice is somewhat compromised<br />

by now. The young Italian conductor<br />

Francesco Quattrocchi, well attuned to the<br />

Rossini idiom, brings out beautiful sounds<br />

and sonorities. All in all the opera is severely<br />

truncated, but still an impressive, visually<br />

resplendent show for this special occasion.<br />

Janos Gardonyi<br />

Wagner – Tannhäuser<br />

Seiffert; Petersen; Mattei; Pape;<br />

Prudenskaya; Sonn; Staatskapelle Berlin;<br />

Daniel Barenboim<br />

Bel Air Classiques BAC122<br />

!!<br />

The exiled and<br />

penniless Wagner’s<br />

first real international<br />

break came in 1860<br />

when Emperor<br />

Napoleon III invited<br />

him to perform his<br />

Tannhäuser in Paris,<br />

an event that became<br />

the biggest scandal<br />

in the history of<br />

opera. Riots broke<br />

out, people were beating each other up,<br />

screaming, yelling and throwing things at the<br />

singers while the Emperor and his Empress<br />

were sitting in the royal box unable do a<br />

thing. Wagner quickly withdrew the score<br />

and hurriedly left Paris.<br />

Tannhäuser, Wagner’s tortured dilemma<br />

between physical and spiritual love, however,<br />

not only survived 150 years but is triumphantly<br />

vindicated here in Berlin. The big<br />

problem facing directors today is how to<br />

make opera relevant in the <strong>21</strong>st century;<br />

there have been many failures, stupidly<br />

conceived updated concepts by second-rate<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 75


directors. Acclaimed choreographer Sasha<br />

Waltz was the Staatsoper’s unlikely but brilliant<br />

choice to direct, and with her emphasis<br />

on the poetry of movement to underline the<br />

drama – exquisitely composed scenes with<br />

dancers mingling with the singers – there<br />

is constant motion adding excitement and<br />

visual splendour.<br />

There is musical splendour of the highest<br />

order as well. A superb cast: Peter Seiffert, a<br />

strong heldentenor as Tannhäuser, his voice<br />

rich, sensitive and expressive with no sign<br />

of fatigue through the gruelling four hours.<br />

Ann Petersen is a glorious Elizabeth both in<br />

joy and later in her suffering. Peter Mattei,<br />

probably today’s greatest lyrical baritone is a<br />

noble, elegant and aristocratic Wolfram. René<br />

Pape (Landgraf) and Marina Prudenskaya<br />

(Venus) are also memorable in their lesser<br />

roles. Maestro Barenboim conducts the entire<br />

score from memory with forward thrust<br />

and quickening of pulse in the resplendent<br />

and joyful scenes of the second act, broadening<br />

into sustained slow tempi in the tragic<br />

but sublime third. Wonderful performance,<br />

highly recommended.<br />

Janos Gardonyi<br />

Ravel – L’Heure espagnole; Don Quichotte à<br />

Dulcinée<br />

Lombardo; Druet; Antoun; Barrard;<br />

Courjal; Le Roux; Orchestre National de<br />

Lyon; Leonard Slatkin<br />

Naxos 8.660337<br />

!!<br />

Maurice Ravel<br />

loved a challenge.<br />

Why else would he<br />

embrace the prospect<br />

of writing a new take<br />

on the comic Italian<br />

opera in French, on a<br />

Spanish theme? The<br />

Spanish Hour, filled<br />

with flirtation, comical characters and cuckolds,<br />

is far from being a bedroom farce. It is,<br />

instead, a great example of Ravel’s musical<br />

genius, especially when it comes to orchestration.<br />

While he pays homage to the Spanish<br />

musical idiom, he also respects the distinct<br />

musicality of the French language, whether<br />

scoring the straightforward observations of<br />

Ramiro, the rapid plotting of Concepción, or<br />

the over-the-top buffoonery of Gonzalve and<br />

Don Inigo. The result is playful, poetic and<br />

impressionistic.<br />

The accompanying work, three songs of<br />

Don Quixote sung to Dulcinea, has a much<br />

less happy theme – and history. It is the very<br />

last thing Ravel composed (in 1933) and was<br />

commissioned by the celebrated film director,<br />

G. W. Pabst for a new film version of the story<br />

of the knight of La Mancha. Alas, as they say<br />

in the film biz, it ended up on the cutting<br />

room floor and was replaced by Jacques<br />

Ibert’s four songs on the same theme. This<br />

insult galled Ravel to the point of considering<br />

a lawsuit against the producers, but he eventually<br />

gave up on this…quixotic pursuit. The<br />

film’s loss is our gain, as these songs remain<br />

a popular vehicle for baritone voice, as<br />

rendered here by François Le Roux, one of the<br />

leading exponents of French chanson.<br />

Robert Tomas<br />

Alec Roth – A Time to Dance<br />

Ex Cathedra; Jeffrey Skidmore<br />

Hyperion CDA68144<br />

!!<br />

Alex Roth’s A Time<br />

to Dance is divided<br />

into four major<br />

sections, each representing<br />

a season and<br />

time of day, with each<br />

featuring a different<br />

soloist: soprano for<br />

Spring Morning,<br />

tenor in Summer Noon, alto for Autumn<br />

Evening and bass in Winter Night. Adding<br />

choir and orchestra, the hour-long cantata,<br />

uses almost the same instrumentation as<br />

Bach’s Magnificat; thus the two works were<br />

paired for the cantata’s premiere performance<br />

by Ex Cathedra in 2012.<br />

With texts drawn from biblical verse as well<br />

as well-loved poets such as Blake, Dickinson,<br />

Donne, Manley Hopkins, Marlowe and Yeats,<br />

a fertile groundwork is provided for a great<br />

variety of expression in the music. The piece<br />

opens with the bass and choir singing from<br />

Ecclesiastes (To everything there is a season).<br />

Through Roth’s deft characterization, soprano<br />

Grace Davidson evokes the beauty of spring;<br />

tenor Samuel Boden the romance and sensuality<br />

of summer, alto Matthew Venner the<br />

ripeness of autumn and bass Greg Skidmore<br />

the gravity of winter. All come together<br />

for the marvellous Epilogue followed by<br />

an exuberant After-dance in which Roth<br />

expects the singers to hand-clap as well as<br />

actually dance.<br />

The other pieces included on the recording<br />

are a little more conventional and reserved,<br />

though still lovely; Roth’s Magnificat and<br />

Nunc dimittis is set for a smaller choir with a<br />

chamber organ part for left hand only; Men<br />

and Angels, for unaccompanied choir, showcases<br />

Ex Cathedra’s thoughtful and meticulous<br />

delivery.<br />

Dianne Wells<br />

CLASSICAL AND BEYOND<br />

In Search of Chopin<br />

A film by Phil Grabsky<br />

Seventh Art Productions SEV182<br />

!!<br />

Traditionally, the lives of classical<br />

composers haven’t fared all that well on<br />

film. We have only to think back to Miloš<br />

Forman’s acclaimed Amadeus which, in the<br />

opinion of many music lovers, left something<br />

to be desired in its portrayal of Mozart<br />

as a childish jokester who also happened to<br />

be a musical genius. And certain biographies<br />

currently posted online seem questionable<br />

in quality. In Search<br />

of Chopin is something<br />

very different,<br />

a sensitive documentary<br />

by Phil Grabsky<br />

on the Seventh Art<br />

label and the fourth<br />

in his series of DVDs<br />

focusing on the lives<br />

of great composers.<br />

Through the use<br />

of exquisite photography,<br />

a well-delivered narration by Juliet<br />

Stevenson and readings by David Dawson of<br />

selected correspondence, In Search of Chopin<br />

takes the viewer on a 39-year journey, from<br />

the composer’s beginnings in Żelazowa Wola,<br />

Poland, to his untimely demise in France in<br />

1849. Commentaries from those connected<br />

with the Chopin Institute in Warsaw and from<br />

musicologist Jeremy Siepmann further add<br />

to this compelling biography and from the<br />

beginning, I was struck by a wonderful sense<br />

of intimacy. The viewer becomes a privileged<br />

visitor to the rooms where Chopin lived and<br />

created – in Warsaw, in Vienna, at Nohant and<br />

his city of exile, Paris.<br />

Yet the film is more than a mere life story;<br />

indeed, it views the composer through his<br />

music more than most documentaries do.<br />

Interviews with renowned pianists such<br />

as Ronald Brautigam, Lars Vogt, Daniel<br />

Barenboim and Leif Ove Andsnes shed<br />

light on the composer’s output in new and<br />

revealing ways. Furthermore, the numerous<br />

musical examples seem particularly generous<br />

in length while those performed by Nelson<br />

Goerner, Kevin Kenner and Janusz Olejniczak<br />

in concert on an early Erard instrument with<br />

the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century<br />

provide the viewer with a sound very close<br />

to what Chopin would have heard during<br />

his lifetime.<br />

Adept editing and attractive bonus features<br />

further add to the appeal of this exemplary<br />

biography, a worthy tribute to the “poet of the<br />

piano.” Highly recommended.<br />

Richard Haskell<br />

Mendelssohn – A Midsummer Night’s<br />

Dream; Hebrides Overture; Fair Melusine<br />

Overture<br />

Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Radio<br />

Choir; Thomas Dausgaard<br />

BIS Hybrid SACD <strong>21</strong>66<br />

!!<br />

Felix Mendelssohn<br />

was born in Hamburg<br />

on February 3, 1809,<br />

and a no more prophetic<br />

name than Felix<br />

(Latin for “happy”)<br />

could have been given<br />

him if his music tells<br />

the tale. His ebullient<br />

Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream was<br />

written when he was 17 and was followed 17<br />

years later by more miniatures to comprise<br />

a suite of Incidental Music. That he chose<br />

76 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


to compose these extra pieces populated by<br />

those same scampering fairies of the Overture<br />

was brilliant.<br />

The Incidental Music is composed of the<br />

Overture that sets the stage and introduces<br />

the cast, followed by 13 pieces including the<br />

Scherzo, Nocturne, Intermezzo, Wedding<br />

March and other delights.<br />

Dausgaard’s tempi may feel slightly headlong,<br />

with an impetuosity that imbues a<br />

breathtaking expectancy even when we know<br />

the score well. This is a performance that<br />

has the listener leaning forward so as not to<br />

miss a single, unexpected nuance. Constant<br />

re-evaluation of textures in almost every<br />

chord is different in weight and balance from<br />

what we are used to, keeping us alert for what<br />

is to come. We can see those fairies being as<br />

disruptive as they are in Shakespeare.<br />

The uniquely mid-nineteenth-century<br />

quality of the score is brought out with<br />

extremely precise orchestral execution, transparent<br />

and articulate, adding a zing unlike<br />

any others. This is pure Mendelssohn and, for<br />

me, exemplary.<br />

Similarly, the two familiar overtures are<br />

meticulously prepared, drawing even a blasé<br />

listener into these interpretative revelations<br />

and performance bench marks.<br />

Bruce Surtees<br />

Concert Note: On <strong>April</strong> 9 and 10 the Toronto<br />

Symphony Orchestra presents “A Midsummer<br />

Night’s Dream & More” featuring Mendelssohn’s<br />

incidental music, Handel’s Harp<br />

Concerto, Elgar’s Enigma Variations and<br />

Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries under the<br />

baton of James Feddeck in his TSO debut.<br />

Miroirs: Dutilleux; Liszt<br />

Jonas Vitaud<br />

NoMadMusic NMM028 (nomadmusic.fr)<br />

!!<br />

Miroirs is a<br />

solo piano album<br />

of Romantic and<br />

20th-century repertoire<br />

by French<br />

pianist Jonas Vitaud<br />

that stems, in part,<br />

from his work with<br />

Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) at the Cordessur-Ciel<br />

festival in 2004.<br />

The CD immediately transports us into<br />

harmonically adventurous worlds with Liszt’s<br />

Angelus, Klavierstück, Valse oubliée, Nuages<br />

gris and Dutilleux’s three Preludes: D’ombre<br />

et de silence, Sur un même accord, Le jeu des<br />

contraires (1973-1988). However, Vitaud has<br />

changed the order of the pieces and interjects<br />

a Dutilleux prelude between each of<br />

Liszt’s four late compositions. His rationale is<br />

to show parallels between the works written<br />

by these two very different composers, with<br />

Vitaud describing Liszt as a prolific virtuoso<br />

and Dutilleux as “a composer of the night.”<br />

The reordering may be confusing for a listener<br />

who is not following along with the liner<br />

notes, however Vitaud consistently conveys<br />

an acute awareness of harmonic colour and<br />

masterfully presents works that are not<br />

performed as often as they should be.<br />

The album gradually leads to Liszt’s<br />

virtuoso Mephisto Waltz before closing<br />

with Dutilleux’s musically and technically<br />

complex Piano Sonata Op.1 (1948). Dutilleux<br />

consciously defied classification and rejected<br />

a number of 20th-century compositional<br />

idioms while expanding elements of the<br />

Impressionist tradition. Many of his compositions<br />

are refined and deeply moving, such<br />

as the Choral et variations, the final movement<br />

in the piano sonata, which Vitaud<br />

delivers superbly. Particularly impressive is<br />

Vitaud’s ability to convey strength without<br />

harshness even in the most technically difficult<br />

passages, resulting in an innovative<br />

and beautifully performed CD, released to<br />

coincide with Dutilleux’s centenary.<br />

Dr. Réa Beaumont<br />

Woodwinds<br />

Woodwinds of the Royal Concertgebouw<br />

Orchestra<br />

RCO Live LC-14237<br />

!!<br />

This varied,<br />

attractive program<br />

of 20th-century<br />

woodwind chamber<br />

music presented by<br />

Concertgebouw wind<br />

players is a credit to<br />

all concerned. For<br />

me the highlights<br />

are Poulenc’s Sextet (1932/39) and Jánaček’s<br />

Mládí (1924). The well-known Poulenc is<br />

played with sensitivity, and Jeroen Bal’s handling<br />

of the piano part is particularly subtle.<br />

Fine recordings of this work are numerous:<br />

the recent Berlin Counterpoint on Genuin<br />

is more energetic and virtuosic; while the<br />

London Conchord Ensemble on Champs Hill<br />

has a more reverberant acoustic. But to me,<br />

the shifting senses of nonchalance, dreaminess<br />

and high spirits in the composition are<br />

most stylishly captured in this reading.<br />

Jánaček’s late and wonderful Mládí evokes<br />

his memories of childhood in Moravia, with<br />

instrumental suggestions of speech, song,<br />

dance and play. The group projects frequent<br />

changes of activity and emotional tone confidently.<br />

Intonation is unfailingly accurate and<br />

Lucas Navarro’s oboe playing is particularly<br />

expressive.<br />

Martinů’s Sextet for Piano and Wind<br />

Instruments (1929) avoids consistent style and<br />

instrumentation. The Scherzo is to me the<br />

best movement; flutist Emily Beynon’s virtuosity<br />

and tone make it shine. Gershwin-jazzy<br />

passages burst in on several movements, and<br />

the Concertgebouw winds turn the whole<br />

into a witty, enjoyable experience. The early<br />

Sonatina for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon<br />

(1931) by Sándor Veress (1907-1992) features<br />

intriguing dissonance, attractive lyricism and<br />

vital rhythm in turn, all conveyed convincingly<br />

by the reed trio who seem throroughly<br />

at home with the work’s Hungarian<br />

folk idioms.<br />

Roger Knox<br />

MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY<br />

Prokofiev – Piano Concertos 2 & 5<br />

Vadym Kholodenko; Fort Worth Symphony;<br />

Miguel Harth-Bedoya<br />

Harmonia Mundi USA – HMU 807631<br />

!!<br />

Among the<br />

plethora of emerging<br />

piano virtuosos<br />

a name to watch is<br />

Vadym Kholodenko,<br />

the Ukrainian<br />

winner of the 2013<br />

Van Cliburn competition.<br />

Of special<br />

interest is his partnership with the Fort<br />

Worth Symphony including the recording<br />

of all five Prokofiev piano concertos.<br />

Kholodenko’s stylistic and technical rapport<br />

with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and<br />

orchestra shows in fine ensemble playing. I<br />

come to this Prokofiev Concerto No.2 (1913)<br />

with memories: Yefim Bronfman’s blazing<br />

performance with the Toronto Symphony;<br />

also novelist Philip Roth’s astounded account<br />

of Bronfman’s Prokofiev Two in The Human<br />

Stain. Khodolenko’s technique is fully sufficient<br />

yet he emphasizes expressive, lyrical<br />

aspects more, starting with the expansive<br />

opening melody. He even manages to<br />

make the cadenza’s romantic ballast sound<br />

meaningful. The perpetual motion Scherzo<br />

and heavy tramping Intermezzo have fewer<br />

expressive opportunities. The Finale does<br />

however, amid much virtuosic bravado that<br />

Kholodenko also navigates successfully.<br />

By 1932 when he wrote Concerto No.5<br />

Prokofiev was seeking stylistic simplicity, no<br />

doubt under increasing pressure from the<br />

Soviet regime. Many passages show that he<br />

still had the ability to be both musically childlike<br />

and inventive. For example, the second<br />

movement’s clock-ticking motion becomes<br />

interesting with lightning quick scales and<br />

staccatos that pianist and orchestra make<br />

sound crystalline. In the fourth movement,<br />

the piano weaves beautifully around lyrical<br />

winds; later on, the performers achieve the<br />

required solemnity. I look forward to the<br />

other three concertos from this team.<br />

Roger Knox<br />

Bartók; Ligeti<br />

Ensemble InterContemporain; Matthias<br />

Pintscher<br />

Alpha <strong>21</strong>7<br />

!!<br />

Though György<br />

Ligeti’s early largescale<br />

works brought<br />

him fame, his name<br />

was largely absent<br />

from North American<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 77


orchestra programs in the 1980s. As a result,<br />

for many, he is associated with bagatelles and<br />

études instead of megaliths like Atmosphères.<br />

This Ensemble InterContemporain recording,<br />

better than merely reminding us of his<br />

orchestral roots, reaffirms his genius in<br />

both styles.<br />

This is especially true of the Piano<br />

Concerto, featuring Hidéki Nagano, which<br />

feels at times like orchestral Ligeti and<br />

intimate Ligeti happening simultaneously,<br />

the sound streams occasionally lining up in<br />

a happy coincidence akin to those moments<br />

when a car’s turn signal blinks in time with<br />

the radio. This mechanical analogy is particularly<br />

apt, as the perpetual motion piano part<br />

also conjures up Conlon Nancarrow’s player<br />

piano works. The second movement showcases<br />

Ligeti’s trademark cosmic orchestral<br />

writing; here he weaves slide whistles<br />

and ocarinas into the fabric of a soundscape<br />

reminiscent of his Lontano for orchestra, delicately<br />

toeing the line between the apocalyptic<br />

and the mawkish in a way only Ligeti can.<br />

Also featured are Ligeti’s concertos for<br />

violin and cello. Ligeti described his piano<br />

concerto as “music as frozen time, as an<br />

object in an imaginary space,” but these<br />

words might be yet better suited to his Cello<br />

Concerto, performed here by Pierre Strauch.<br />

The above are joined by two Bartók pieces,<br />

Contrasts and the Sonata for Two Pianos and<br />

Percussion, and appropriately enough – for<br />

no two composers offer a more compelling<br />

solution to the problems posed by a world<br />

where both trite tonality and humourless<br />

avant-gardism are equally exhausted.<br />

Elliot Wright<br />

Concert Note: Matthias Pintscher makes<br />

his Toronto Symphony Orchestra debut<br />

conducting Mahler’s Symphony No.1,<br />

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.24 (with Inon<br />

Barnatan) and his own Towards Osiris on<br />

<strong>April</strong> 28 and <strong>April</strong> 30.<br />

Samuel Andreyev – Moving<br />

ensemble proton bern; Matthias Kuhn<br />

Klarthe K014 klarthe.com<br />

!!<br />

Paris-based<br />

Canadian composer<br />

Samuel Andreyev is<br />

deeply influenced<br />

by the plastic arts;<br />

he describes the first<br />

work on this disc, the<br />

Marcel Duchampinspired<br />

La Pendule de Profil, in terms of<br />

cubism, and his pieces tend toward an objectlike<br />

quality. A good analog for the entire<br />

decade of work represented here, however,<br />

might be abstract impressionism. The impressionists<br />

placed the immediacy of perception<br />

above all else, carefully modulating light<br />

and colour to reproduce the experience of<br />

motion and time. The abstract impressionists<br />

took it further, distilling the object until<br />

only motion and colour remained. Andreyev,<br />

too, reduces musical perception to its elementary<br />

components, exploiting attack and especially<br />

timbre for their visceral, immediate<br />

impressions.<br />

Where the abstract impressionism analogy<br />

fails, however, is in Andreyev’s meticulous<br />

structural clarity. An abstract impressionist<br />

painting overwhelms with its chaotic density.<br />

Andreyev’s music, although saturated with<br />

chromaticism, is not spatially dense, and as<br />

a result the listener perceives the music as<br />

both weighty but translucent, ordered but<br />

atemporal.<br />

The miracle material that enables this<br />

remarkable paradox is ensemble proton<br />

bern itself; the symbiosis between composer<br />

and the musicians is palpable throughout.<br />

As rare instrument specialists, the Swiss<br />

ensemble gives free rein to Andreyev’s<br />

timbral explorations. The best examples are<br />

PLP, which features the Lupophon, a bass<br />

oboe with a fibrous, tenor saxophone-like<br />

sound, and Bern Trio, an ethereal gossamer<br />

fog for quartertone-tuned harp, viola, and<br />

oboe d’amore. A moving disc in both senses<br />

of the word.<br />

Elliot Wright<br />

Simon Martin – Hommage à Leduc,<br />

Borduas, et Riopelle<br />

Quatuor Bozzini; Quasar quatuor de<br />

saxophones; Trio de guitares contemporain<br />

Ambiances Magnétiques Collection QB CQB<br />

1616 (quatuorbozzini.ca)<br />

!!<br />

The young<br />

composer Simon<br />

Martin has created<br />

three separate works<br />

here with highly<br />

distinct instrumentation<br />

in homage to<br />

a trinity of closely<br />

linked Québécois<br />

painters central to the history of Canadian<br />

art. The first piece L’heure mauve, inspired by<br />

the Ozias Leduc painting and the last of these<br />

works to be composed (2009), is performed<br />

by a trio of classical guitarists. Historically,<br />

Martin has arrived at the earliest of these<br />

painters last and he’s matched Leduc’s<br />

symbolist landscape with an extraordinary<br />

minimalism, organizing a piece that matches<br />

periods of silence with complex rhythmic<br />

patterns created on strummed flurries or<br />

plucked notes on open strings.<br />

Projections libérantes (2007), named for a<br />

text by Paul-Émile Borduas, was composed<br />

for Quasar saxophone quartet. The piece uses<br />

saxophone multiphonics created by alternate<br />

fingerings and shifting embouchures to mine<br />

the instruments’ sonic resources, drawing, for<br />

example, simultaneous low-frequency blasts<br />

and whistling highs from the baritone.<br />

That sonic creativity is matched by Martin’s<br />

handling of the string quartet in Icebergs et<br />

Soleil de minuit — Quatuor en blanc, which<br />

takes its inspiration from Jean-Paul Riopelle’s<br />

series of black and white paintings. It’s a<br />

series of brief vignettes, sometimes highly<br />

gestural, in which Quatuor Bozzini explores<br />

different textures often employing harmonics<br />

to create a kind of richly nuanced transparency,<br />

a contradictory dense thinness of sound<br />

resembling the texture of a painted surface, as<br />

clusters can gradually reduce to single attenuated<br />

pitches.<br />

What ties these works together is Martin’s<br />

fascination with the physical matter engaged<br />

by these painters and the power of brush or<br />

spatula strokes in their work, qualities transferred<br />

to his own dramatic exploration of<br />

individual instrumental timbres and subtly<br />

evolving sounds. The ultimate effect resembles<br />

the dynamic stillness and material transformation<br />

that links his three subjects’ work.<br />

It’s music of power, beauty and originality,<br />

worthy of its subjects.<br />

Stuart Broomer<br />

Mohammed Fairouz – No Orpheus<br />

Kate Lindsey; Kiera Duffy; Christopher<br />

Burchett<br />

Naxos 8.559783<br />

!!<br />

The young<br />

American composer<br />

Mohammed Fairouz<br />

has quickly become a<br />

widely performed and<br />

recorded composer.<br />

Although barely<br />

into his 30s, Fairouz<br />

has been commissioned by many important<br />

American institutions and performers. In<br />

his latest Naxos release Fairouz has compiled<br />

a selection of art song spanning a ten-year<br />

range in his output. The disc is comprised<br />

of four works that incorporate texts by<br />

W.B. Yeats, Edgar Allan Poe and William<br />

Wordsworth, along with selections from the<br />

writings of Alma Mahler, the ancient Arabic<br />

poet Ibn Shuhayd and contemporary poets<br />

Wayne Koestenbaum and Lloyd Schwartz.<br />

This collection reinforces Fairouz’s command<br />

over his approach to musical expression.<br />

Those who are familiar with his musical<br />

language appreciate it for an immediate sense<br />

of accessibility, its strong link to popular<br />

music infused with light romanticism and<br />

a familiar lyricism. Fairouz writes well for<br />

the voice. There is clarity of intention in his<br />

vocal writing that leaves nothing beyond the<br />

surface for the listener.<br />

Mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey, soprano Kiera<br />

Duffy and baritone Christopher Burchett<br />

bring a strong sense of musicality and drama<br />

to this recording and are able to interpret<br />

this music with a calming sense of ease and<br />

intuitiveness. At times the music is bare. The<br />

instrumental writing for cello and piano make<br />

for a light accompaniment that – despite a<br />

sense of clarity – perhaps leaves the listener<br />

wanting a bit more. Where clarity of artistic<br />

voice elevates this music to certain successful<br />

neighbourhoods, a deeper level of expression<br />

is perhaps lacking throughout. This recording<br />

provides a light, pleasing listening experience<br />

78 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


that doesn’t pin the listener down with any<br />

type of heavy material.<br />

Adam Scime<br />

Elena Langer – Landscape with Three<br />

People<br />

Anna Dennis; William Towers; Nicholas<br />

Daniel<br />

harmonia mundi HMU 907669<br />

!!<br />

Elena Langer,<br />

a Russian-born<br />

composer who<br />

studied in London,<br />

writes in an<br />

idiom that recalls<br />

Mussorgsky’s Pictures<br />

at an Exhibition as<br />

orchestrated by Ravel;<br />

she combines a Russian folk sensibility with<br />

modern orchestral colours and a deep understanding<br />

of the resonances between text<br />

and music.<br />

This is especially true of the title piece, a<br />

work for soprano, countertenor, oboe, harpsichord<br />

and trio of strings. Here Langer casts<br />

the poetry of Lee Harwood, a 20th-century<br />

English poet best known for being John<br />

Ashbery’s lover during the 1960s, in a<br />

baroque-inspired musical mould. There is an<br />

uneasiness in the configuration, though – the<br />

poems, dealing as they do with urban love,<br />

threaten to struggle free from the old-fashioned<br />

harmonic conventions that constrain<br />

them. Langer, delighting in this tension,<br />

exploits it to very wry effect. This is especially<br />

true of the oboe part, which, ostensibly representing<br />

the third figure in a love triangle with<br />

the soprano and countertenor, frequently<br />

seems to make stage-whispered asides to the<br />

audience, offering commentary on the action<br />

in the way only wickedly good gossip can.<br />

“This is my first love scene,” sing the soprano<br />

and countertenor, but the oboe’s acidic obbligato<br />

implies mockingly that this is neither<br />

their first nor their last “first love scene” at all.<br />

Ultimately, the oboe is subsumed by the affair,<br />

and the three figures are left to swirl in the<br />

purgatorial ambiguity of their similar tessiture.<br />

Such nuances pervade the works of this<br />

vital composer.<br />

Elliot Wright<br />

JAZZ AND IMPROVISED<br />

Abeng<br />

Rich Brown<br />

Independent RDB03 (rinsethealgorithm.<br />

bandcamp.com/album/abeng)<br />

!!<br />

Rich Brown, one<br />

of Canada’s and the<br />

world’s preeminent<br />

bassists, has produced<br />

an impassioned reaction<br />

to, and path<br />

forward from, some<br />

of the darkest forces<br />

of human nature, specifically racism and<br />

divisiveness. He has chosen the abeng, an<br />

instrument originally fashioned by escaped<br />

Jamaican slaves, as a metaphor for a call to<br />

unity. This message comes at a perilous time<br />

in world affairs. He has assembled a cast of<br />

some of Canada’s top musicians to interpret<br />

Abeng’s compositions and the result is great<br />

depth and complexity. The rhythm section<br />

team of Brown and drummer Larnell Lewis<br />

establishes a broad, open canvas on which<br />

everything seems possible.<br />

Mahishmatish opens the recording with<br />

a melody that incorporates a long held note,<br />

perhaps the sound of the abeng. Saxophonists<br />

Luis Deniz on alto and Kelly Jefferson on<br />

tenor trade phrases that rise in intensity with<br />

the incredible feel and interplay provided by<br />

Brown and Lewis. Pianist Robi Botos solos<br />

effortlessly over Window Seat’s across-thebar-lines<br />

groove. Chant of the Exiled (Abeng)<br />

is a perfect miniature, featuring trumpeter<br />

Kevin Turcotte and percussionist Rosendo<br />

Chendy Leon in its mournful exploration.<br />

Brown holds off until track four, Promessa,<br />

before treating us to his remarkably lyrical<br />

bass soloing. Chris Donnelly, who shares<br />

keyboard duties with Botos, plays a beautifully<br />

evocative intro to This Lotus Ascension<br />

and continues on to improvise over the<br />

doubled bass/alto sax melody. Abeng is a<br />

masterful recording that confirms Rich<br />

Brown’s position as one of our country’s most<br />

important musicians.<br />

Ted Quinlan<br />

Concert Note: Rich Brown and the Abeng<br />

Quintet open for the Ernie Watts Quintet on<br />

May <strong>21</strong> at the George Weston Recital Hall.<br />

Fulfillment<br />

Michael Blake<br />

Songlines SGL1615-2 (songlines.com)<br />

!!<br />

Michael Blake is<br />

among New York’s<br />

most esteemed saxophonists,<br />

but he<br />

frequently returns to<br />

Vancouver where he<br />

works with some key<br />

members of the city’s<br />

jazz community. Fulfillment is a very special<br />

Vancouver project that uses up to ten musicians<br />

in an extended suite devoted to a dark<br />

episode in the city’s history: in 1914 several<br />

hundred Sikh immigrants on board the<br />

Komagata Maru were refused entry to Canada<br />

by means of laws designed specifically to<br />

exclude Asians. In subsequent events, advocates<br />

for the passengers were murdered in<br />

Vancouver and 19 were killed in an altercation<br />

with British officials on their return to India.<br />

Blake’s suite abounds in complex emotions<br />

and original textures, gradually developing a<br />

cumulative impact. The theme of the opening<br />

Sea Shanty intertwines his soprano saxophone<br />

with Emma Postl’s voice to create an<br />

effect that’s at once dissonant and ethereal;<br />

there’s a coiling improvised duet between<br />

Blake’s soprano and Chris Gestrin’s synthesizer<br />

on Perimeters in which the two instruments<br />

are almost indistinguishable; a series<br />

of duets among the string players on Arrivals<br />

is highlighted by the unlikely combination<br />

of Peggy Lee’s cello and Ron Samworth’s<br />

banjo. Exaltation is an extended jam that<br />

adds Neelamjit Dhillon’s tabla drums to<br />

the densely textured rhythms created by<br />

drummer Dylan van der Schyff, bassist André<br />

Lachance and the rest of the group.<br />

At the core of Blake’s music there’s the<br />

consistent legacy of modern jazz, from the<br />

extended use of blues structure and compositional<br />

inspirations from Ornette Coleman,<br />

Charles Mingus and Oliver Nelson to the overarching<br />

expressive power of his tenor saxophone,<br />

best embodied here on the evocative<br />

Battle at Baj Baj, directly inspired by John<br />

Coltrane’s elegiac Alabama.<br />

Stuart Broomer<br />

Songs and Dances from The Muted Note<br />

The Disguises<br />

Ambiences Magnetiques AM 227<br />

(actuellecd.com)<br />

!!<br />

Trombonist/<br />

composer Scott<br />

Thomson crafted this<br />

series of song settings<br />

for poems by the late<br />

British Columbian<br />

poet P.K. Page in<br />

2012-2013, first<br />

recording them in a<br />

series of spare and artful duets with the singer<br />

Susanna Hood (The Muted Note, & Records,<br />

ET20). The project later expanded to include<br />

Hood’s choreography for four dancers and a<br />

quintet called The Disguises, adding alto saxophonist<br />

Yves Charuest, bassist Nicolas Caloia<br />

and drummer Pierre Tanguay to the original<br />

duo. The result is remarkable, sacrificing<br />

some intimacy but gaining greater resilience<br />

and highlighting the strength of Thomson’s<br />

melodies, like the vibrant Picking Daffodils.<br />

The Disguises represent some of Montreal’s<br />

finest improvisers and Thomson has achieved<br />

a fine balance in the writing, creating<br />

arrangements that frame and expand Page’s<br />

luminous language without drowning it out,<br />

sometimes employing understated dissonance<br />

to suggest ambiguity. Thomson has<br />

studied with the veteran trombonist Roswell<br />

Rudd, and at times The Disguises strongly<br />

suggests the clarity and interplay of the New<br />

York Art Quartet, the brilliant band that Rudd<br />

co-led in the mid-60s: Charuest’s solo on<br />

The Understatement consists of brief elliptical<br />

phrases with shifting timbres, recalling<br />

the subtle work of NYAQ saxophonist<br />

John Tchicai.<br />

While it’s the wedding of poem and sound<br />

that unites these works, moments of spontaneous<br />

musical creation abound, like the<br />

energy and precision that Caloia and Tanguay<br />

bring to The Disguises/The Masks, or the<br />

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dovetailing lines of Hood and Charuest on<br />

Star-Gazer. Thomson’s accompaniment to<br />

Hood’s voice on The Metal and the Flower<br />

flirts with silence to suggest birds and tiny<br />

woodland creatures, while the brashly vocal,<br />

plunger-muted solo of The Mole conveys<br />

generations of jazz trombone playing.<br />

Stuart Broomer<br />

The World Is Alright<br />

Aimée Butcher<br />

Independent (aimeebutcher.com)<br />

!!<br />

This debut album<br />

by singer/songwriter<br />

Aimée Butcher,<br />

recorded when she<br />

was only 22, demonstrates<br />

clearly her<br />

ability to compose,<br />

and deliver beautifully,<br />

melodies which are both substantially<br />

interesting and satisfyingly – almost frustratingly<br />

– catchy.<br />

The band, a quintet featuring Butcher’s<br />

voice, Chris Pruden on piano and keyboards,<br />

Brandon Wall on guitar, Jeff Deegan on bass<br />

and Robin Claxton on drums, all of whom<br />

are recent graduates of U of T’s hailed music<br />

program, has several feet planted firmly in<br />

the contrasting, sometimes feuding, worlds of<br />

jazz and pop. Songs like Stay or Drive and The<br />

World Is Alright are where Butcher’s hooks<br />

really shine: these are on the one hand pop<br />

songs, melodies that would feel at home in<br />

the mouths of singers like Alanis Morisette or<br />

Michael Bublé; and on the other hand recordings<br />

that highlight delicious, distinctly jazzy<br />

improvisations, including a simple, brief scat<br />

solo by Butcher. Especially notable is Pruden’s<br />

piano solo on the title track. It builds and<br />

develops perfectly, organized yet exciting; I<br />

always find myself saying “yeah” at the end.<br />

Butcher’s band also re-imagines songs by<br />

Joni Mitchell, Radiohead, and, delightfully,<br />

Jann Arden; the haunting duo of Butcher<br />

accompanied by Wall’s guitar on Arden’s<br />

It Looks Like Rain might be my favourite<br />

track. With a pulse only lightly suggested,<br />

on an ethereal bed of swelling chords,<br />

Butcher delivers Arden’s song as though it<br />

was her own.<br />

Bob Ben<br />

OUTgoing<br />

François Carrier; Steve Beresford; John<br />

Edwards; Michel Lambert<br />

FMR Records FMRCD400 (francoiscarrier.<br />

com)<br />

!!<br />

As much as<br />

this performance<br />

is entirely improvised<br />

the musicians<br />

also offer finely<br />

gauged and beautifully<br />

regulated music.<br />

The benefits are<br />

immediately apparent in OUTgoing, which<br />

is not only audaciously spelled, but contains<br />

music that is also unflinchingly dynamic.<br />

The players – saxophonist François Carrier,<br />

pianist Steve Beresford, bassist John Edwards<br />

and drummer Michel Lambert – offer music<br />

that is impetuous, inventive and laced with<br />

paprika. In one episode after another on this<br />

empirically existential recording the players<br />

make music that is technically challenging<br />

and impeccably pointed. There is a miraculous<br />

balance between simplicity, depth and<br />

virtuosity, all in the service of expression.<br />

Steve Beresford’s piano playing has an<br />

impish wit which, when pursued by the<br />

saxophone of Carrier, is pushed to address<br />

the saxophonist with an effect that borders<br />

on an almost “three-handed” playing,<br />

achieved by huge scales that sweep from top<br />

to bottom of the keyboard. Carrier’s own<br />

playing on saxophone as well as the exotic<br />

Chinese oboe, is informed by themes decorated<br />

with abandon, while Beresford passes<br />

the harmonics between himself and Carrier<br />

(especially on Kingsland Road) decorated<br />

with swirling arpeggios to once again give the<br />

illusion of there being three hands playing.<br />

The piece ends with passages of interlocking<br />

lines between saxophone and piano entwined<br />

with some impressive arco playing by<br />

bassist John Edwards. This is a sparkling disc<br />

which combines the talent of four astonishingly<br />

versatile musicians to create iridescent<br />

showers of notes cascading with echoing,<br />

scintillating exuberance.<br />

Raul da Gama<br />

Wrong Is Right<br />

Noisy Minority<br />

Intakt Records CD 262<br />

NYC Five<br />

Angelika Niescier; Florian Weber<br />

Intakt Records CD 263<br />

In Motion<br />

Richard Poole; Marilyn Crispell; Gary<br />

Peacock<br />

Intakt Records CD 264<br />

!!<br />

At the very end of<br />

music’s spectrum,<br />

almost like planetary<br />

rumblings from<br />

outside the Milky<br />

Way, free improvisations<br />

imbue today’s<br />

music with a glorious<br />

sheen. Instrumental movements that one is<br />

accustomed to hearing are turned on their<br />

head enabling us to hear, with unabashed<br />

fascination, the explosive whimsy captured<br />

by some of the finest musicians alive<br />

today. Taking a leaf from Berg and Webern,<br />

Stravinsky and Stockhausen as much as from<br />

Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams,<br />

Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie, musicians<br />

– some who have been playing pretty conventional<br />

swing – have been blazing new trails,<br />

birthing, in every sense, a new avant-garde.<br />

This trend in Europe is vastly different from<br />

the one in America, which is rooted as much<br />

in the blues as it is in the music of Europe.<br />

Across the pond the “New Thing” dives<br />

daringly into triumphantly free improvisation<br />

that is almost completely bereft of the<br />

blues, although it might sometimes dig into<br />

jazz for idiomatic inspiration. Here are three<br />

wonderful discs from the Swiss label Intakt<br />

(intaktrec.ch) that exemplify everything that<br />

is bold and beautiful about European free<br />

improvisation.<br />

Wrong Is Right is a performance that<br />

provides a burst of acclamation with loud<br />

triumphant chords fittingly made by musicians<br />

who are the epitome of the triumph of<br />

musicianship. Saxophonist Omri Ziegele is<br />

also a voice artist and leads the power quartet<br />

that includes one of the finest trombonists in<br />

the business. Ray Anderson has been celebrated<br />

for his brilliant tone colours and<br />

impeccable use of timbre, all embodied in the<br />

highest form of artistry. The repertoire on this<br />

disc has music that is arranged in a suite-like<br />

manner. Everything – especially the brilliant<br />

Decimal System and Wrong Is Right – celebrates<br />

the unexplored nooks and crannies of<br />

the instruments’ vast repertoire.<br />

NYC Five is a beautifully<br />

constructed<br />

album of songs by one<br />

of the most extroverted<br />

saxophonists in<br />

Europe. Angelika<br />

Niescier might not be<br />

a name many are<br />

familiar with but the<br />

Cologne-based alto saxophonist inhabits<br />

many worlds seemingly at once. The music<br />

that is improvised is strikingly majestic and<br />

the written work – especially the ballad,<br />

Invaded – is likely to tear your heart out for<br />

its deep emotion and exquisite showers of<br />

notes by the pianist Florian Weber. The<br />

ubiquitous American drummer Tyshawn<br />

Sorey makes an electrifying appearance<br />

wherever he goes and this record is no exception.<br />

Watch out for the lightness and bounce<br />

of Ralph Alessi’s trumpet – the other<br />

American of repute on the album.<br />

“Cats with nine<br />

lives” is how tempting<br />

it is to describe pianist<br />

Marilyn Crispell,<br />

drummer Richard<br />

Poole and most definitely<br />

the monumental<br />

bassist, Gary<br />

Peacock, on In Motion.<br />

These leading exponents of their instruments<br />

almost intuitively bring dramatic, fresh<br />

tones and textures to notes and chords that<br />

you have heard hundreds of times before. The<br />

almost vocal styles of Crispell and Peacock<br />

have endeared them to generations of freethinking<br />

musicians and here they show<br />

why. Their explosive whimsy is captured on<br />

Backseat of the Galaxy, In Motion and Isle of<br />

Nowhere. The rest of the repertoire is no less<br />

80 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


wondrous and is full of joyous evocation and<br />

revels in the über-virtuosity of all three musicians<br />

whose brilliance has no limits.<br />

Raul da Gama<br />

POT POURRI<br />

A Tribute<br />

Band of the Welsh Guards<br />

British Military Music Archive<br />

BMMAWG1502 (bmma.org.uk)<br />

!!<br />

This two-disc<br />

set commemorates<br />

the 100th anniversary<br />

of the establishment<br />

of The Band of<br />

the Welsh Guards.<br />

In 1915, as the British<br />

army expanded<br />

during the First World<br />

War, it was felt that Wales should be represented<br />

in the Brigade of Guards. The regiment<br />

was formed in February of that year.<br />

Soon after, when the establishment of a band<br />

was approved, the city of Cardiff helped to<br />

purchase a set of instruments, and the band<br />

began rehearsals in October. By the time of<br />

their first concert in the London Opera House<br />

on March 1, 1916, the band had already been<br />

in a studio and recorded the first six numbers<br />

of CD1. By the end of the year 1916, founding<br />

members of that band had recorded all 12<br />

numbers on the first CD. While recording<br />

techniques have improved significantly, the<br />

audio quality is quite amazing.<br />

While CD1 contains mostly patriotic<br />

music, CD2, recorded between 19<strong>21</strong> and<br />

1940, contains a variety of musical styles<br />

including several novelty numbers of the type<br />

performed by bands in the years between the<br />

wars. Such numbers as Gaiety Echoes and<br />

Wedded Whimsies certainly aren’t likely to<br />

be found in the repertoire of concert bands<br />

of <strong>2016</strong>. One particular novelty number that<br />

used to be very popular is The Whistler and<br />

His Dog. Written by Arthur Pryor, famed<br />

trombone virtuoso of the Sousa band, it has<br />

many of the band members whistling the<br />

melody and then ends with loud barking.<br />

This CD even contains a couple of numbers<br />

by the Dance Orchestra. All in all, an excellent<br />

preservation of the musical history of the<br />

Welsh Guards.<br />

Jack MacQuarrie<br />

Orono Cornet Band<br />

Orono Cornet Band<br />

Great Canadian Town Band Festival<br />

(oronocornetband.com)<br />

!!<br />

Some years ago,<br />

trombone player<br />

and old town band<br />

music fan, David<br />

Climenhage established<br />

the Great<br />

Canadian Town Band<br />

Festival in the small<br />

town of Orono, east<br />

of Toronto. While the festival no longer operates,<br />

Climenhage has now focused on another<br />

aspect of his interest in the music of the early<br />

town bands in Canada. When he got together<br />

with Toronto musician Herbert Poole they<br />

discovered that they had a common interest<br />

in the collection and restoration of old brass<br />

musical instruments. They soon decided that,<br />

since their instruments were made to produce<br />

music, not just to be admired, they should<br />

form a band.<br />

The result is Orono Cornet Band which<br />

performs the music of the period when the<br />

instruments were built. The result is this<br />

recording with music composed between<br />

1855 and 1890. Top flight musicians<br />

performing on period instruments, ranging<br />

from cornets to such lesser-known oddities<br />

as the ophicleide and helicon, provide a rare<br />

insight into the musical life of small town<br />

Canada before motion pictures, radio or<br />

television. Where else could you hear such<br />

works for a town dance as the Take Me Home<br />

Quickstep or the Blue Dahlia Polka Mazurka.<br />

Unfortunately, there are no program notes,<br />

and while I had never heard of any of the<br />

composers, a little research provided much<br />

information on one of them. F. H. Torrington<br />

founded the Toronto College of Music<br />

which became the first music affiliate of the<br />

University of Toronto. In 1894 he conducted<br />

the very first concert in Massey Hall. For<br />

devotees of early brass band music this<br />

recording is a must.<br />

Jack MacQuarrie<br />

Something in the Air<br />

Preserving Rediscovered Free Music Classics<br />

KEN WAXMAN<br />

Fully grasping the intricacies of musical history often depends on<br />

the availability of recorded documents. That’s why many musical<br />

histories are re-evaluated once hitherto little known performances<br />

become accessible. This is especially crucial when it comes to<br />

completely or mostly improvised sounds. Reissued and/or rediscovered<br />

sessions, which preserve ephemeral moments, confirm the<br />

music’s wide dissemination. More importantly they add the equivalent<br />

of additional sentences that provide a fuller understanding of the<br />

free music story.<br />

Consisting of almost 78 minutes of music,<br />

First Duo Concert (Emanem 5038 emanemdisc.com)<br />

is particularly relevant because<br />

it captures one dozen interactions between<br />

American multi-reedist Anthony Braxton and<br />

British guitarist Derek Bailey. Recorded in<br />

1974, it displays the similarities, and as significantly,<br />

the differences between free music<br />

concepts. Even at this early date Bailey and<br />

many of his London-based colleagues rejected the idea of playing<br />

anything but in-the-moment music. But as true to the Association<br />

for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) ethos as Knights<br />

Templar would be to their creed during the Crusades, the saxophonist/clarinetist<br />

brought not only familiarity with the blues form,<br />

but also an interest in semi-composed material and extended explorations<br />

in certain techniques to the date – concerns that remain with<br />

him more than 40 years later. When the completely improvised Area 3<br />

(open) is reached, congruence turns to cooperation. What originally<br />

could have been the jolts produced when two blindfolded players<br />

collided with one another turns into a motley garment whose patchwork<br />

can envelop grinding string buzzes and harsh clangs as well as<br />

resonating timber wolf-like saxophone snarls and moderated bass<br />

clarinet ostinato. If gating banjo-like reverb plus internal body tube<br />

puffs and renal-like vibrations from his reed collection on Braxton’s<br />

part still disturb the evolving continuum like pointed flecks in rough<br />

wood grain, then his unexpected peeps and pops lessen as both aim<br />

towards measured expression. Allowing each partner’s full expression<br />

during single unaccompanied tracks, the duo reaches the zenith<br />

of mutual understanding on the extended Area 11 (open). While each<br />

still tests the limits of the other’s convictions with the zeal of a small<br />

child taunting the family pet, harsh, oblique strums and quivering,<br />

aviary-styled peeps from the clarinet finally dovetail enough so that<br />

aggressive string thumb taps fit into an accompanying groove, as later<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 81


circular tweets from sopranino saxophone, clarinet and flute settle<br />

uneasily next to guitar strokes. The concluding Area 12 with its corkscrew<br />

reed squeaks and rugged string quivers gives notice that neither<br />

improvisational philosophy has bested the other. But the framework<br />

for future reciprocal idea exchanges has been set.<br />

Three years earlier the protean trio of<br />

German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann,<br />

Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove and Dutch<br />

percussionist Han Bennink was constantly<br />

touring the continent confirming that a<br />

bellicose interpretation of free jazz wasn’t<br />

confined to Americans. The CD 1971 (Corbett<br />

vs Dempsey CD 020 corbettvsdempsey.com)<br />

reissues the band’s justly famous, furiously<br />

unyielding set at that year’s New Jazz Meeting, but adds an additional<br />

almost 16 minutes of sound recorded four months earlier that<br />

demonstrate the hair-trigger-like technical skill that goes into what<br />

initially seems like relentless bombast. Like the proverbial tough guy<br />

with the gentle interior, Van Hove for one uncovers elegant nearromantic<br />

phrasing on Filet Americain, which he expands with harsh<br />

clanging, sounding as if he prepared the piano with thumbtacks.<br />

Bennink confines himself to clattering reverberations and Brötzmann<br />

blows with a burr-like tone. I.C.P. No.17 is more aggressive, with the<br />

saxophonist’s subterrestrial exposition echoed by Bennink probably<br />

honking through a Tibetan radung or long metal bass horn. Just For<br />

Altena the 26-minute final showcase then shows how a palpitating<br />

rhythm can be maintained even as the players push techniques past<br />

expected instrumental limits. Spelled by the percussionist’s smashing<br />

cracks, horn blowing and yells, Brötzmann’s virtually endless honks<br />

and glottal punctuation sound as if he’s soon going to be pushing<br />

blood out of his horn as well as air. Still he manages to work in quotes<br />

from Bavarian marches, polkas, Mexican hat dances and limitless freejazz<br />

glossolalia as he plays, often unaccompanied, reaching beyond the<br />

highest imaginable altissimo slur. Like a hyperactive canine, Bennink<br />

is also in motion, shoving everything from a conga-drum interlude<br />

to bass drum resonation to gong and cymbal clashes into his accompaniment<br />

as if boiling a potluck stew. Van Hove marathon-runner-like<br />

glissandi share space with crackling kinetic expositions that whack<br />

the keys and strings as frequently as they play them. Is it any wonder<br />

that at this time this trio could challenge any electrified rock band for<br />

pure excitement?<br />

Another band that could do the same was<br />

the Willem Breuker Kollektief (WBK), like<br />

Bennink, part of Amsterdam’s fertile improv<br />

scene. Mixing anarchistic stunts, parody,<br />

constant motion, classic tune recreations plus<br />

free-form playing with top-line musicianship,<br />

the nine-piece group led by saxophonist/<br />

clarinetist Breucker (1944-2010) was the<br />

epitome of post-modernism. Yet unlike more academically oriented<br />

Fluxus or Dada experimentalists, the WBK was so entertaining that<br />

this two-CD set recorded live in France, Angoulême 18 mai 1980 (Fou<br />

Records FR-CD 9&10 fou.records.free.fr), ends with the raucous<br />

audience demanding three successive encores. A European equivalent<br />

of Sun Ra’s Arkestra, but infinitely less serious-minded, here the<br />

group mixes the precision of Glenn Miller’s band, the romping swing<br />

of Count Basie’s and the humour of Laurel and Hardy. During the<br />

concert modern jazz originals, a tango, Kurt Weil’s Song of Mandalay,<br />

Les Brown and his band of Renown’s theme song Sentimental Journey<br />

and finally the hokey I Believe – to disperse the crowd – race by at<br />

record pace. Additionally, following Big Busy Band where the group’s<br />

solid brassy power is broken up by Rob Verdurmen’s flashy drumming<br />

à la Gene Krupa, plus bassist Arjen Gorter playing Blues in the<br />

Closet, Breucker exposes his inner Benny Goodman and tenor saxophonist<br />

Maaren van Norden outscreams Big Jay McNeeley. Eventually<br />

an episode of pseudo-show-biz banter introduces March & Sax Solo<br />

with Vacuum Cleaner where Breucker does just that, improvising<br />

in tandem and in opposition to the whining household appliance.<br />

Like a squad of quick change artists the WBK is capable of taking on<br />

any persona, with pianist Henk de Jonge for instance, comping like<br />

a bopper, knocking out stride piano asides, beginning and ending<br />

Flat Jungle with romantic flourishes and extravagant glissandi that<br />

could be Vladimir Ashkenazy playing Chopin, channels Cecil Taylor’s<br />

contrasting dynamics in the song’s centre and mocks the saxophonist’s<br />

appropriation of the highest altissimo notes in existence with<br />

studied, flamboyant quotes from Rhapsody in Blue. Gorter’s bass<br />

line and Verdurmen’s back beat ensure that foot-stomping elation<br />

is always present, even if the rhythm team may sometimes feel like<br />

extras in a Marx Brothers movie with all the musical mayhem going<br />

on around them. Still any band that on Potsdamer Stomp mocks rock<br />

music’s overwrought yakety saxes via dueling solos from Breuker and<br />

baritone Bob Drissen, at the same time as playing Name That Tune,<br />

as fragments of everything from Chick Corea’s Spain to the Marine<br />

Hymn to circus music loom into earshot, confirms that these discs<br />

do a lot more than fill in a three-year gap in the WBK discography.<br />

They’re a jubilant listening experience on their own.<br />

If music’s value is judged by its pervasive<br />

acceptance, then the tracks on Frictions/<br />

Frictions Now (NoBusiness Records NBCD<br />

79 nobusinessrecords.com) are as notable as<br />

the better-known efforts by Breuker, Braxton-<br />

Bailey and Brötzmann. Independent of other<br />

connections, members of the Free Jazz Group<br />

Wiesbaden (FJGW) developed a caustic and<br />

punchy free music variant, which mixed<br />

musique concrète and chance notions from notated music, folkloric<br />

instruments and tropes plus improvisation that went beyond freebop<br />

into sonic intoxication. Recorded in 1969 and 1971 and released in<br />

limited edition, the German band members eventually pursued other<br />

paths. Like Quebec’s Walter Boudreau, who went from leading the<br />

Zappa-esque ensemble l’Infonie to become a composer and artistic<br />

director of Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, trumpeter<br />

Michael Sell abandoned improvisation for fully notated work in the<br />

1980s; saxophonist/pianist/flutist Dieter Scherf played with major<br />

German free jazzers later in the decade before abandoning music<br />

because of dental problems; drummer Wolfgang Schlick and guitarist<br />

Gerhard König’s histories are even more obscure. However the three<br />

tracks here demonstrate the band’s originality. Coming across like a<br />

spiky combination of Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Sharrock and Earl Scruggs,<br />

König’s chord-shredding flanges insinuate into whatever spaces the<br />

horns leave open with a style that includes surf music intonation,<br />

single-string finesse and preparations that could come from double<br />

bass. Schlick’s coiled rumbles and consistent thumps range from<br />

martial to miasmatic; he doesn’t swing but keeps the pieces moving<br />

notwithstanding, even when slamming his metal bracket for unusual<br />

rhythms. Squeezing death rattles and hunting-horn-like blares from<br />

his trumpet, Sell’s tone resembles those of ur-New Thing players<br />

like Earl Cross and Don Ayler. Yet when he unites with Schlick they<br />

harmonize enough to approach contemporary jazz, and even flutter<br />

out rounded grace notes on the final Frictions Now Part II, to reach<br />

a meandering, delicate tempo. Leaping among his instruments like<br />

an unsupervised child in a music store, Scherf brings something<br />

different to each one. On alto saxophone, obviously influenced by the<br />

atonal techniques of American free jazzers, his honks, snorts and blats<br />

include crying vibrations that add an unconventional Teutonic melancholy.<br />

Brief shenai and oboe interludes introduce World Music allusions<br />

to the middle of the extended Frictions, while his inner-piano<br />

strums join with König’s finger-style ornamentation on the same<br />

piece for stark tonal outlines, finally climaxing with a moving motif<br />

that appears to judder from cadence to cacophony and back again.<br />

Like crate digging in a second-hand vinyl store, reissues like these<br />

can reveal unexpected values. They confirm the talents of the known<br />

or introduce unfamiliar stylists who should have been better known<br />

first time out.<br />

Ken Waxman reviews The Necks and the Ulrich Gumpert Quartet at<br />

thewholenote.com.<br />

82 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


Old Wine, New Bottles | Fine Old Recordings Re-Released<br />

A<br />

new box of Philips Classics restores to<br />

the catalog a wealth of analogue recordings<br />

that were, not so long ago, in wide<br />

demand by music lovers around the world:<br />

Philips Classics The Stereo Years – 50 Analogue<br />

Albums in Original Jackets (Decca 4788977,<br />

50 CDs). After WWII Philips entered the blossoming<br />

long-playing record business by issuing<br />

American Columbia recordings in Europe under their own Philips<br />

mini-groove imprint. Columbia, inventors of the long-playing record,<br />

owned the LP logo and for many years no other manufacturer could<br />

call their product an LP. Very soon LP became generic however and<br />

that was that.<br />

Philips productions were of the highest quality, both sonically and<br />

in their immaculate pressings. In fact, when their discs were eventually<br />

pressed in North America, knowledgeable music lovers sought<br />

out the better sounding Dutch pressings in their gatefold covers even<br />

though they were marginally more expensive. It may be of some<br />

interest to audiophiles that after Ray Dolby developed his noise reduction<br />

system that enabled producers and engineers to make more<br />

accurate and wider range recordings, Dolby became the universal<br />

noise reduction system (and still is). Philips, though, preferred to<br />

tilt the high frequencies up in the recording and reverse the process<br />

for playback. Simple…tape hiss gone. There’s more to it than that,<br />

but that’s how Philips touted it at the time. In 1979 when Polygram<br />

bought Decca they owned DG, Philips and Decca, and although each<br />

company shared their technologies with the others, each retained its<br />

own recognizable sound due to the preferred choice of microphones,<br />

set-up and certainly recognizable artistic preferences. Philips, in close<br />

cooperation with Sony, devised and perfected digital encoding and<br />

in 1979 began recording digitally. The recorded performances in this<br />

box are from the analogue era, 50 recordings in replicas of their LP<br />

original jackets, often with bonus tracks.<br />

Most music lovers of a certain age – make<br />

that of any age – will be thrilled to the teeth to<br />

hear the musicians whose artistry lives on in<br />

these recordings. Dutch soprano Elly Ameling<br />

sings Schumann, Frauenliebe und -leben<br />

and Liederkreis, and ten Schubert lieder with<br />

Dalton Baldwin and Jörg Demus (1973, 1979).<br />

Mezzo Janet Baker sings Handel and Gluck<br />

with Raymond Leppard (1972, 1975). Cristina<br />

Deutekom, the Dutch coloratura, sings Verdi,<br />

Bellini, J. Strauss, etc. (1969, 1971). Dramatic soprano, Jessye Norman<br />

sings Ravel’s Shéhérazade and Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été (1979). Gérard<br />

Souzay, the French baritone, sings Handel, Rameau, Lully and Ravel<br />

(1963, 1968). José Carreras sings 16 arias from Verdi to Rossini (1976,<br />

1980); and there are others.<br />

Pianist Claudio Arrau, once a towering figure, plays Liszt’s Twelve<br />

Transcendental Etudes (1976) and the Concert Paraphrase on Aida<br />

(1971), also Beethoven’s Third and Fourth Piano Concertos with<br />

the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Bernard Haitink (1964). Alfred<br />

Brendel plays Schubert’s Sonata D960, The Wanderer Fantasy and<br />

Three Klavierstücke D946 (1971, 1974), Liszt’s two concertos and<br />

Totentanz (LPO Haitink, 1972), three Mozart concertos, K450, K467<br />

and K488 (1971, 1981) and of course, the Sviatoslav Richter Sofia<br />

recital of February 1958. And lots more.<br />

How about symphonies? Brahms’ First and Fourth (van Beinum),<br />

Saint-Saëns’ Third (Daniel Chorzempa organ, Edo de Waart). I<br />

must mention that this recording was made with the Rotterdam<br />

Philharmonic in the organ’s home, De Doelen, Rotterdam.<br />

Overwhelming sound. Simply fabulous! Well deserving of mention<br />

are the Concertgebouw Orchestra recordings: The Sibelius Second<br />

conducted by George Szell, the Dvorak Seventh under Colin Davis,<br />

Heldenleben (Haitink), Bruckner Ninth (Haitink), Bruckner Fifth<br />

BRUCE SURTEES<br />

(Eugene Jochum), Schubert Ninth (Haitink) and many other so wellremembered<br />

classic recordings.<br />

In this collection there is not a single recording or performance<br />

of less than exemplary quality but check them all out for yourself at<br />

deccaclassics.com/us/cat/4788977.<br />

Arthaus Musik has issued a Blu-Ray video of a really great live<br />

performance of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Sir Colin Davis,<br />

the Bavarian Radio Symphony and soloists Doris Soffel and Kenneth<br />

Riegel (ArtHaus Musik 109113). It is fortunate for us that this 1988<br />

event from Munich was flawlessly documented in both audio and<br />

video. Davis is not usually remembered for his Mahler, although he<br />

has directed impressive productions throughout his career.<br />

Davis was such a natural, intuitive Mahlerian in this performance<br />

that it’s a pity that he did not set down a complete cycle of this<br />

calibre. Of course he has the redoubtable Bavarian Radio Symphony<br />

Orchestra, with whom he recorded the First, Fourth and Eighth,<br />

who are surely at home in this work. The best news is the choice of<br />

soloists because both Riegel and Soffel have not been able to elsewhere<br />

demonstrate their mastery of this demanding work. From the<br />

first song, Riegel creates a bright, constantly dramatic tone, cutting<br />

through the orchestral welter. Here we can see just how fluently he<br />

projects every meaning of the text with intense, vehement authority.<br />

Soffel is captured in a role for which she was clearly born. In this<br />

production her alto voice is perfect for the role. She comes into her<br />

own after the orchestral interlude in Der Abschied where she projects<br />

a sense of loneliness and emptiness with the tone of her voice wherein<br />

she keeps any warmth under strict control, to crushing effect.<br />

Mahler, deeply superstitious, salted away the finished score and<br />

never heard it performed.<br />

Leonid Kogan (1924-1982) was born in Kiev<br />

and came to be one of the foremost violinists<br />

of the 20th century. From about 1955 on,<br />

he was considered to be among the supreme<br />

artists of his era. One only needs to hear<br />

any of his recordings to agree. Archipel has<br />

returned to the catalog the three Brahms Violin<br />

Sonatas with his accompanist Andrei Mytnik<br />

(ARPCD 03550). The first two are studio recordings and the third live<br />

from Moscow in 1956. As a bonus there are the Brahms Hungarian<br />

Dances 1, 2, 4 and 17. From the first few bars of the First Sonata,<br />

through to an inspired finale we hear totally natural Brahms played<br />

with commanding mastery.<br />

The late Leonard Rose was an American<br />

cellist who was best known during the 1950s<br />

and the 1960s through his Columbia recordings<br />

of concertos with the New York Philharmonic<br />

and the Philadelphia Orchestra and later as<br />

a member of the very special Istomin-Stern-<br />

Rose Trio. Well-respected are his early 1950s<br />

recordings with the New York Philharmonic,<br />

of which he was principal cellist, of Bloch’s Schelomo with Dimitri<br />

Mitropoulos and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations under George Szell.<br />

Although many or most of his Columbia recordings remain in print<br />

as reissues, collectors are always on the lookout for live performances<br />

from around the world residing in radio archives. There are three<br />

cello concertos: Dvořák with Charles Dutoit and the ORTF Orchestra<br />

(1967); Saint-Saëns No.1 and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with<br />

Louis de Froment from Radio Luxembourg (1961); and Beethoven’s<br />

Fifth Cello Sonata with Eugene Istomin (Stratford, 1969). From WQXR<br />

in NYC, playing with pianist Nadia Reisenberg, Rose plays Beethoven’s<br />

Third Cello Sonata and Brahms First Cello Sonata (1973). These<br />

performances issued by Doremi (DHR-8038/9, 2CDs) are not intended<br />

to replace his commercial recordings but to confirm and enjoy his<br />

unmistakable, now legendary powerful sonorities and musicianship.<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> | 83


THIS ENDING HAS A HAPPY STORY<br />

Return of The Littlest Oboe!<br />

(AND WHY ONE SHOULD NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY)<br />

Lorée came home! A year and a half later, and none the worse for wear.<br />

Many of you know me as the person who does display-ad bookings<br />

for this magazine. Others might remember me as the<br />

writer of the World Music column from mid-2004 to early<br />

2011. In addition, I’m an oboist, a longtime member of the Niagara<br />

Symphony, and freelancer around the Toronto area. A year and a half<br />

ago, I did something no musician should do – I left my instruments,<br />

oboe and English horn in a single black rectangular case, in my car.<br />

Mind you, I’d been doing this for years, on all those highway stops<br />

on the way to gigs, catching a quick bite to eat, or a coffee. Why lug<br />

around more than I needed? And besides, who would know what that<br />

is anyway – the case isn’t shaped like a violin or cello, nothing to give<br />

away its contents or value.<br />

It was September 11, 2014, and I had just driven back to Toronto<br />

from Ottawa. It was a Thursday evening and the traffic on the 401<br />

coming into the city was heavy and slow, making the trip longer<br />

than usual. I picked up some groceries, dropped off a passenger,<br />

then instead of going home to unload my car, decided to head to The<br />

WholeNote office to catch up with some work. It was around 8pm,<br />

and I parked on Lennox St. just off Bathurst, south of Bloor, across<br />

from the Midas automotive shop. I grabbed my purse, a bag of food,<br />

and my WholeNote-related work satchel, and headed up to the office<br />

nearby. I’d glanced at the instrument case on the back seat of my<br />

trusty 1995 Toyota Corolla wagon…naw, too much to carry…and who’d<br />

know what that was anyway.<br />

I guess I had a lot to do at the office; it was 11pm when I returned<br />

to the car, got in and drove home up toward St. Clair Ave. There was<br />

a chill in the air, but I was too tired to register the fact that there<br />

shouldn’t in fact be a breezy chill, since all my windows were closed.<br />

I parked in my usual spot behind my building and began to unload on<br />

the driver’s side. You can imagine my shock when, lo and behold, no<br />

instrument case to be found! And my blue backpack containing an old<br />

computer was also missing. Then I noticed the shattered glass, and the<br />

entirely missing rear passenger-side window.<br />

Without going into too much detail, my feeling from Toronto police<br />

KAREN AGES<br />

was that this was not a high priority for them. Though they assured<br />

me they were taking the case seriously, being “theft over $5,000,”<br />

it was three weeks before any investigation began. To make matters<br />

worse, the instruments were not insured. In the meantime, I needed<br />

to borrow an English horn for the opening concert of the Niagara<br />

Symphony season only a week away. (I still had my old Greenline<br />

oboe; the stolen one was a new Lorée). Gary Armstrong owner of Gary<br />

Armstrong Woodwinds, came to the rescue, and when I entered his<br />

Queen Street shop the day after the theft to pick up an instrument,<br />

he informed me he’d had a call from someone at Knox Presbyterian<br />

Church on Spadina, saying they’d found some of my stuff in their<br />

dumpster area in the laneway behind the church. They knew to call<br />

Gary, because of a repair receipt containing his info, and my name,<br />

that they’d found. I raced over – in addition to the receipt that I’d left<br />

in the pouch of the instrument case, there was my Niagara Symphony<br />

music, a reed case with my name on it, and the blue backpack, but<br />

no computer and no instruments or case. But now I knew exactly<br />

where the thief had been after the theft, to dump items that might<br />

link me to the instruments. And, there were surveillance cameras on<br />

a private garage in the laneway facing the dump site! I contacted the<br />

homeowner, but by the time police got onto the case and then waited<br />

for the camera owner (the homeowner’s son) to return to town, the<br />

footage from that evening had been erased!<br />

I had an outpouring of support from friends and colleagues on<br />

Facebook. I posted my instrument serial numbers, which were in<br />

turn shared by colleagues to their contacts, including music stores<br />

and instrument dealers. The WholeNote ran a monthly classified ad<br />

with all the info. I posted the theft to a couple of online stolen instrument<br />

registries, looked in pawn shops, and had help from friends<br />

checking sites such as eBay and Kijiji. Time passed. Life went on. I<br />

eventually bought a used English horn, and continued to play my<br />

20-year-old reliable Greenline oboe. I thought about my stolen instruments<br />

a lot, imagining them rotting in landfill somewhere, or perhaps<br />

enjoying a new life in China, never to be traced again. Or perhaps<br />

they were nearby, in the possession of someone wondering what to do<br />

with them.<br />

And then the miraculous happened! Twelve days ago at the time<br />

of writing, I got a phone call from a music store not far from Toronto<br />

– they had my instruments! Someone had brought them in for<br />

appraisal. After exchanging some information, I was able to pick<br />

them up from that region’s police station. The music store wished<br />

to remain anonymous here, fearing that eventually word might leak<br />

out, deterring would-be thieves or individuals in possession of stolen<br />

instruments from bringing them in for repair or evaluation, so I am<br />

respecting that wish. But<br />

thanks to a community of<br />

individuals who spread the<br />

word, and to the on-theball<br />

employees of that music<br />

store who smelled a rat<br />

and checked their internal<br />

system, I have my precious<br />

instruments back, and in<br />

good condition I might add.<br />

Miracles do happen, with a<br />

bit of help from friends.<br />

"Endings" invites readers to submit stories of musical interest in which something takes an unanticipated turn for the better! Stories should be between<br />

900 and 1,000 words in length. Remuneration for stories published in this space takes the form of a $250 gift certificate, to a worthy musical<br />

cause of the contributor's choosing, to be used for display advertising in The WholeNote. (Some restrictions may apply.)<br />

Send stories for consideration, with "Happy Endings" in the subject line, to publisher@thewholenote.com<br />

84 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


KOERNER HALL IS:<br />

“<br />

A beautiful space for music “<br />

THE GLOBE AND MAIL<br />

Musicians from Marlboro<br />

tHurSday, april 7, 7:30pm, maZZoleni ConCert Hall<br />

an annual favourite of the mazzoleni masters! led by the respected<br />

Samuel rhodes, former violist of the Grammy award-winning Juilliard<br />

String Quartet, the program features Haydn’s String Quartet in C major,<br />

Berg’s Lyric Suite, and dvořák’s piano Quintet.<br />

Generously supported by Dr. Günes N. Ege-Akter<br />

The Glenn Gould School<br />

Chamber Competition Finals<br />

WedneSday, april 19, 7pm<br />

maZZoleni ConCert Hall<br />

Hear the talented ensembles of the Glenn Gould<br />

School compete for over $11,000 in prizes<br />

and the chance to perform a prelude recital<br />

in Koerner Hall preceding a royal Conservatory<br />

orchestra performance.<br />

Presented in honour of<br />

R.S. Williams & Sons Company Ltd.<br />

Simon Shaheen’s<br />

Zafir: Musical Winds<br />

from North Africa<br />

to Andalucia<br />

Saturday, april 16, 8pm<br />

Koerner Hall<br />

Simon Shaheen and Qantara bring<br />

to life the Arab music of Al-Andalus<br />

and blend it with flamenco.<br />

Generously supported by<br />

Mohammad and Najla Al Zaibak<br />

Presented in association with the<br />

Canadian Arab Institute and the<br />

Toronto Palestine Film Festival<br />

Leon Fleisher conducts<br />

The Royal Conservatory<br />

Orchestra and<br />

Alex Volkov<br />

Friday, april 8, 8pm Koerner Hall<br />

prelude reCital at 6:45pm<br />

legendary pianist and conductor<br />

leon Fleisher leads the rCo in<br />

a program of Brahms’s Violin Concerto<br />

with alexander Volkov, r. Strauss’s<br />

Don Juan, and ravel’s La valse.<br />

Generously supported by<br />

Leslie & Anna Dan<br />

Rebanks Family Fellowship Concert<br />

tueSday, april 12, 7:30pm maZZoleni ConCert Hall<br />

Hear artists on the cusp of major careers. This concert features solo<br />

and chamber works performed by Rebanks Fellows currently enrolled<br />

in the one-year Rebanks Family Fellowship and International<br />

Performance Residency Program.<br />

Generously supported by the Rebanks Family and<br />

The W. Garfield Weston Foundation<br />

Songmasters:<br />

The Hungarian-Finnish<br />

Connection<br />

Sunday, may 1, 2pm<br />

maZZoleni ConCert Hall<br />

Explore the Finnish-Hungarian connection<br />

with works by Liszt, Bartók, Sibelius,<br />

and others, with soprano Leslie Ann Bradley,<br />

bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus,<br />

and pianists Rachel Andrist and<br />

Robert Kortgaard.<br />

Special guest violinist Erika Raum<br />

will join Leslie Ann Bradley to perform<br />

Kaija Saariaho’s Changing Light.<br />

TICKETS START AT ONLY $25! 416.408.0208 www.performance.rcmusic.ca<br />

273 BLOOR STREET WEST<br />

(BLOOR 237 Bloor ST. & AVENUE Street RD.) WeSt<br />

TORONTO (Bloor St. & aVenue rd.) toronto


CBC Radio Two: The Golden Years<br />

Coming of Age<br />

in the 1990s<br />

DAVID JAEGER<br />

The decade of the 1990s witnessed a flourishing of Canadian<br />

musical creativity, in terms of both the composition of significant<br />

new works and the growing maturity of several organizations<br />

that commissioned and presented performances of<br />

them. Two New Hours, the contemporary music program I created<br />

for CBC Radio Two, turned 12-years-old on New Years Day, 1990. We<br />

had already commissioned over 100 new Canadian works, and were<br />

just “hitting our stride,” as the saying goes. Included among the many<br />

outstanding Canadian works whose world premieres were yet to be<br />

broadcast on Two New Hours in the 1990s were Glenn Buhr’s Cathedral<br />

Songs, Harry Freedman’s Borealis, Jacques Hétu’s Concerto for<br />

Trombone and Orchestra, Alexina Louie’s Shattered Night, Shivering<br />

Stars, Murray Schafer’s Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra, Harry<br />

Somers’ Third Piano Concerto, Ann Southam’s Webster’s Spin and<br />

hundreds more works of exceptional quality. It was already clear that<br />

the investment CBC had made in new musical creation was yielding<br />

large-scale returns.<br />

In November 1990, in a live network broadcast from Quebec City on<br />

both CBC Radio Two and Radio-Canada, Chris Paul Harman, then a<br />

19-year-old, became the youngest Grand Prize winner in the National<br />

Radio Competition for Young Composers. At the end of that decade,<br />

the Grand Prize went to Brian Current. In both instances, Harman and<br />

Current were subsequently voted top young composers at the International<br />

Rostrum of Composers in Paris, launching their careers on<br />

the international stage. It was clear that CBC’s investment in identifying<br />

and developing emerging young Canadian composers was<br />

providing a high-power talent pool for the future.<br />

Karen Kieser (1948–2001) was head of CBC Radio Music as the<br />

90s began. Karen was a firm believer in the CBC’s role as an institution<br />

that developed Canadian musical talent, not only to assure that<br />

there would be Canadian artists of international standard available to<br />

future CBC programmers, but as a fulfillment of the Broadcasting Act,<br />

the cornerstone legislation that created the CBC, and which is still in<br />

force today. The effort that Karen put into talent development in the<br />

1980s planted the seeds for an explosion of musical initiatives in the<br />

1990s. She was particularly supportive of the CBC’s talent competitions<br />

and she made it a priority to increase their public visibility by<br />

investing in the promotion of the concerts and broadcasts of the CBC/<br />

Radio-Canada Young Performers, Young Composers and the choral<br />

competitions.<br />

Among her many accomplishments, we owe the existence of Glenn<br />

Gould Studio to her. Her formidable determination ensured that it was<br />

included in the plans for the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, against<br />

all odds. As crunch time approached to finalize the plans for the<br />

Broadcasting Centre in the late 1980s, Karen battled those planners<br />

who considered a dedicated music studio to be an unnecessary frill.<br />

I remember that dark Friday, when word arrived that the “performance<br />

studio,” as it was then labelled, had been officially purged from<br />

the design plan. It was a temporary setback, as Karen counterattacked,<br />

rallying support and seeing to it that a world class music production<br />

facility would be in the music department’s tool kit when the Centre<br />

opened in 1992.<br />

Karen moved to the new Canadian Broadcasting Centre in 1992,<br />

not as head of Radio Music, but rather as executive director of Glenn<br />

Gould Studio (GGS). One of her first production decisions in this<br />

new capacity was to set aside budget for programming contemporary<br />

music. She asked me to conceive and produce concerts that would<br />

broaden the range of otherwise standard classical repertoire she was<br />

offering in GGS-sponsored concerts. A highlight of that first season<br />

was our presentation of the percussion group, Nexus: Bob Becker,<br />

The Karen Kieser<br />

Prize in Canadian<br />

Music is displayed, and<br />

awarded annually, at<br />

University of Toronto's<br />

Faculty of Music.<br />

William Cahn, Russell Hartenberger, Robin Engelman (1937–<strong>2016</strong>) and<br />

John Wyre (1941–2006). All were eager to exploit the perfect acoustics<br />

of the new hall, and to accomplish this, we designed a concert titled<br />

“Classics of Contemporary Percussion.” The program included Drumming<br />

(Part 1) by Steve Reich, Third Construction by John Cage, Rain<br />

Tree by Toru Takemitsu and The Birds by William Cahn. The sold-out<br />

concert was a brilliant success, a fabulous broadcast, and it certainly<br />

showed off the Nils Jordan-designed acoustics of Glenn Gould Studio.<br />

Encounters: In 1993 Karen also asked me, as executive producer of<br />

Two New Hours, to create a new music concert series at GGS in partnership<br />

with Lawrence Cherney, who was busy transforming his<br />

organization, Chamber Concerts Canada, into Soundstreams Canada.<br />

With Karen’s support, Lawrence and I created Encounters, a series<br />

of concerts pairing music by a significant Canadian composer with<br />

works by a composer who was internationally recognized. The series<br />

was co-presented by GGS and Soundstreams Canada and broadcast<br />

on Two New Hours. In the first season we produced concerts in GGS<br />

that paired Canadians Ann Southam, Michael J. Baker and Barry Truax<br />

with Estonian Arvo Pärt, American Terry Riley and Englishman Gavin<br />

Bryars, respectively. Encounters was a successful format, both for<br />

concert and radio audiences, and the series continued to the end of the<br />

decade. A highpoint of this collaboration was in 1997, when Soundstreams<br />

expanded the Encounters concept and produced the Northern<br />

Encounters Festival, a large undertaking described as “a circumpolar<br />

festival of the arts.”<br />

Another signature feature of the new Canadian Broadcasting Centre<br />

was the Barbara Frum Atrium. The design team had conceived the<br />

ten-story, glass-topped atrium as a public space, where people could<br />

gather in a friendly atmosphere. There was always a notion that the<br />

space might serve to host performance events, but it wasn’t until<br />

1995 that the appropriate grand statement was realized. In 1993, on<br />

the heels of the success of the Winnipeg Symphony’s New Music<br />

Festival, I asked WSO composer-in-residence, Glenn Buhr, to compose<br />

a piece of music that would be an expression of musical community<br />

building. The work would be designed as a surround-sound symphony<br />

for performance in the Barbara Frum Atrium: on the ground floor,<br />

up in the balconies, and with antiphonal brass groups sounding<br />

from the very top floors. Glenn responded to the challenge and he<br />

began composing Cathedral Songs, a work that included the Toronto<br />

Symphony, Nexus, the Toronto Children’s Choir and the Hannaford<br />

Street Silver Band. In March of 1995, these forces were assembled for a<br />

concert titled Cathedral Songs, in which the eponymous composition<br />

by Glenn Buhr had its premiere. Each participating group performed<br />

separately in the first half of the concert, and then all together in<br />

Glenn’s composition in the second part. The Atrium’s 700 seats were<br />

full, and the concert was broadcast live-to-air, yielding an audience<br />

of thousands of listeners across Canada. The concert, the broadcast,<br />

the new work and all the other pieces performed that night made a<br />

statement. Canadians, creating together and aspiring for excellence,<br />

can achieve greatness. Alec Frame, vice president of CBC Radio at the<br />

time, told me, “I wish that concert could have gone on forever!” It was<br />

a highpoint of Canadian music in the 90s, and there was still half a<br />

decade to go!<br />

David Jaeger is a composer, producer and broadcaster based in<br />

Toronto.<br />

KEVIN KING<br />

86 | <strong>April</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - May 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com


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