Volume 21 Issue 8 - May 2016

Toronto Children’s
Chorus
Lydia Adams. Holding the baton is Andrey Boreyko, a Russian
conductor trained at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Saint
Petersburg and formerly music director of the Winnipeg Symphony
Orchestra for six years. The TSO presents this “Civic Oratorio” on
May 13 at 7:30pm and May 15 at 3pm.
Tallis Choir of Toronto: Shakespeare’s myriad works have long
inspired great music, much of it choral. In “Our Good Wills: The
World of Shakespeare & Byrd,” the robust and talented Tallis Choir
of Toronto under Peter Mahon will present several of these inspirations
from works such as All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, Twelfth
Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Tempest. Several pieces
by Shakespeare’s contemporary, William Byrd, will be featured as
well, including his popular Te Deum. Saturday May 14, at 7:30pm,
St. Patrick’s Church, Toronto.
The Yellowknife Youth Choir visits Toronto and joins the Bach
Children’s Chorus and the Bach Chamber Youth Choir in “Songs
of the Wanderer: A Spring Celebration.” Both Bach Choirs visited
Yellowknife and Western Canada in late March 2016, so this is a
reciprocal visit. They combine again to feature works by Mendelssohn
and Rodgers & Hammerstein. Saturday May 14, 7:30pm, Toronto
Centre for the Arts.
ChoralWorks Chamber Choir presents “A ChoralWorks Tapestry,”
featuring Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and music from Les Misérables,
May 14, Trinity United Church, Collingwood.
City Choir, a super-accessible and welcoming ensemble, performs
“Freedom is a Voice.” The family-oriented set list features arrangements
of popular songs such as MLK by U2, Blackbird by Sarah
McLaughlin and Freedom is a Voice by Bobby McFerrin. Tuesday
May 31, 7:30pm, St Peter’s Anglican Church.
And speaking of super-accessible, the VIVA! Youth Singers of
Toronto have a fun, new, world premiere of The Sword in the
Schoolyard, a children’s opera by Dean Burry, with music and libretto
The Canadian
Orpheus Male Choir
39 TH ANNUAL CONCERT with special guests:
internationally renowned operatic tenor
Richard Margison OC
and acclaimed soprano Lauren Margison.
JUNE 11, 7PM
AT THE DOFASCO CENTRE FOR THE ARTS
(THEATRE AQUARIUS)
by Burry, music direction by VIVA! artistic director, Carol Woodward
Ratzlaff, and direction by David Ambrose; June 3 and 4 at 7pm, June 5
at 2:30pm, Daniels Spectrum.
The Amadeus Choir performs “Serenade to Music,” featuring Ralph
Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music, Schubert’s To Music, Britten’s
Hymn to St Cecilia and more; June 5 at 7pm, Eglinton St Georges
United Church.
21C: the Royal Conservatory’s new works festival has a host of
very interesting pieces to check out. The festival runs from May 25 to
May 29 with all performances at the RC’s Telus Centre for Performance
and Learning. A couple of highlights:
In my columns I frequently mention Tanya Tagaq and her unique,
powerful interpretation of throat singing. She will be performing with
one of the most prolific new music ensembles in North America –
The Kronos Quartet. They open the festival with a host of premieres
including Sivunittinni (The future children) by Tagaq herself, May 25
at 8pm, Koerner Hall.
“21C After Hours: Blackout,” brainchild of composer John Oswald,
will take place entirely in complete darkness. Presales for it were
so successful a second performance was added to meet demand. As
we go to press, there are still tickets available for the 8pm show (the
10:30pm is officially sold out). There will be four world premieres
featuring the Element Choir under artistic director Christine
Duncan. A master of improvisation and a pioneer of choral improvisation,
Duncan is also known for her frequent and fruitful collaborations
with fellow 21C performer Tanya Tagaq. The Element Choir
will be joined by the Radiant Brass Ensemble and we’ve also been
promised special surprise guests; May 27 at 8pm and 10:30pm,
Conservatory Theatre.
Follow Brian on Twitter @bfchang Send info/media/
tips to choralscene@thewholenote.com.
190 KING WILLIAM STREET, HAMILTON
FOR TICKETS, CALL THE BOX OFFICE: 1-800-465-7529 | FOR DETAILS, EMAIL concerts@comc.ca | www.comc.ca
34 | May 1, 2016 - June 7, 2016 thewholenote.com