Volume 23 Issue 7 - April 2018

PRICELESS 

Vol 23 No 7 

APRIL 2018 

CONCERT LISTINGS 

FEATURES | REVIEWS 

COVER STORY 

THOMPSON 

EGBO-EGBO 

Not Your Standard Story 

IN WITH THE NEW 

Eve Egoyan 

Taking Up Space 

LEGACIES 

Elmer Iseler 

A Twenty-Year Tribute 

Thompson Egbo-Egbo

ROBERT LEPAGE DIRECTS 

THE 

“PURE MAGIC ” 

– New York Post 

NIGHTINGALE 

AND OTHER SHORT FABLES 

STRAVINSKY APRIL 13 – MAY 19 

PRODUCTION ORIGINALLY MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY 

THE CATHERINE AND MAXWELL MEIGHEN FOUNDATION 

PAUL BERNARDS 

PRODUCTION SPONSOR 

coc.ca 

416-363-8231 #COCNightingale 

A scene from The Nightingale and Other Short Fables (COC, 2009), photo: Michael Cooper

2017/18 

SEASON 

BEETHOVEN 

PASTORAL 

SYMPHONY 

GUEST DIRECTED BY BRUNO WEIL 

ELISA CITTERIO, VIOLIN SOLOIST 

JEANNE LAMON, CONCERTMASTER 

May 3–6, 2018 

KOERNER HALL, TELUS CENTRE 

(416) 408-0208 

Our grand season finale, featuring 

Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony no. 6, 

and his Violin Concerto in D Major. 

DON’T MISS: 

BACH 

B-MINOR MASS 

DIRECTED BY IVARS TAURINS 

Tafelmusik Chamber Choir 

APR 5–8, 10, 2018 

Show nearly sold out – grab your tickets today! 

tafelmusik.org 

GWRH Series Sponsored by

MESSIAH 

Part II & III 

George Frideric Handel 

featuring 

ST. MICHAEL’S CHOIR SCHOOL 

Saturday, April 14, 2018 | 7:30 p.m. 

ST. MICHAEL’S CATHEDRAL BASILICA 

65 Bond Street, Toronto, ON 

416.397.6367 

stmichaelscathedral.com/concerts 

Suggested Donation: $25 | General Seating 

Cathedral Schola Cantorum Men & Boys 

Baroque Orchestra 

Peter Mahon 

Meredith Hall 

Richard Whitall 

Simon Honeyman 

Michael Colvin 

Joel Allison 

Conductor 

Soprano 

Alto 

Alto 

Tenor 

Bass

2307-W1cover.indd 1 

PRICELESS 

Vol 23 No 7 

2018-03-20 2:23 PM 

Volume 23 No 7 | April 2018 

ON OUR COVER 

APRIL 2018 

CONCERT LISTINGS 

FEATURES | REVIEWS 

COVER STORY 

THOMPSON 

EGBO-EGBO 

Not Your Standard Story 


Eve Egoyan 

Taking Up Space 

LEGACIES 

Elmer Iseler 

A Twenty-Year Tribute 

PHOTO: JEREMY ELLIOTT 

FEATURES 

Thompson Egbo-Egbo 

“The photo was taken at Paul Hahn & Co. by Jeremy Elliott. 

It’s a piano store in Rosedale that has been my second home 

for years, and a place that I’ve gone to practice, rehearse with 

the band and just hang out. The piano they put in the front 

window is always a flagship instrument - this one was a 1916 

New York Steinway & Sons Model A, rebuilt by the craftsmen 

and technicians in the Paul Hahn workshop. The ability to 

play incredible pianos whenever I visit is a great source of 

inspiration and gets my creative juices flowing.” 

— Thompson Egbo-Egbo 

Known for his “impressive virtuosity” 

(La Presse), soloist Vincent Lauzer 

is featured in this new album devoted 

to Vivaldi recorder concertos. 

7 OPENER | A Feather in the 

Glenn Gould Foundation 

Cap? | DAVID PERLMAN 

8 COVER STORY | Thompson 

Egbo-Egbo: Not Your 

Standard Jazz Story | 

DAVID PERLMAN 

10 IN WITH THE NEW | Taking 

Up Musical Space: Eve 

Egoyan | WENDALYN BARTLEY 

14 FEATURE | Twenty Years 

Later: Celebrating Elmer 

Iseler | DAVID JAEGER 

16 FEATURE | Bitches Brew 

Anew: A Conversation with 

Aline Homzy | SARA CONSTANT 

20 FEATURE | St. Mike’s 

Springtime Messiah | 

BRIAN CHANG 

65 WE ARE ALL MUSIC’S 

CHILDREN | April’s Child: 

Kiyoshi Nagata | MJ BUELL 

84 RETROSPECTIVE | Notes in 

the Night | KEN WAXMAN 

ACD2 2760 

VIValDI 

Recorder Concertos 

VINceNt lauzer 

Arion Baroque Orchestra 

Alexander Weimann 

New release 

April 6, 2018 

10 

G R I G O R I A N . C O M

an Ontario government agency 

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THANKS TO THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS 

Beat Columnists 

Wendalyn Bartley, Brian Chang, Paul Ennis, Jack 

MacQuarrie, Jennifer Parr, Lydia Perović, 

Andrew Timar, Steve Wallace, Christopher Hoile, 

Matthew Whitfield 

Features 

Wendalyn Bartley, Brian Chang, Sara Constant, 

David Jaeger, David Perlman, Ken Waxman 

CD Reviewers 

Alex Baran, Stuart Broomer, Raul da Gama, 

Hans de Groot, Janos Gardonyi, Richard Haskell, 

Tiina Kiik, Roger Knox, Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, 

David Olds, Ted Parkinson, Ivana Popovic, 

Cathy Riches, Terry Robbins, Michael Schulman, 

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Tom Sepp, Dagmar Sullivan, Dave Taylor, 

Randy Weir 

un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario 



BEAT BY BEAT 

22 Classical & Beyond | 

PAUL ENNIS 

26 World View | ANDREW TIMAR 

28 Music Theatre | JENNIFER PARR 

30 On Opera | CHRISTOPHER HOILE 

32 Art of Song | LYDIA PEROVIĆ 

34 Early Music | 

MATTHEW WHITFIELD 

36 Choral Scene | BRIAN CHANG 

40 Jazz Notes | STEVE WALLACE 

42 Bandstand | JACK MACQUARRIE 

LISTINGS 

44 A | Concerts in the GTA 

58 B | Concerts Beyond the GTA 

60 C | Music Theatre 

61 D | In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz) 

62 E | The ETCeteras 

26 

DISCOVERIES: 

RECORDINGS REVIEWED 

66 Editor’s Corner | DAVID OLDS 

68 Strings Attached | 

TERRY ROBBINS 

70 Keyed In | ALEX BARAN 

72 Vocal 

73 Classical and Beyond 

75 Modern and Contemporary 

76 Jazz and Improvised Music 

79 Pot Pourri 

80 Something in the Air | 

KEN WAXMAN 

82 Old Wine, New Bottles | 

BRUCE SURTEES 

MORE 

6 Contact Information 

7 Upcoming dates and 

deadlines 

43 Index of Advertisers 

64 Classified Ads 

UPCOMING SPECIAL 

SECTIONS 

In May 2018: The Canary Pages 

All things choral in Southern 

Ontario 

In June 2018: The Green Pages 

Summer Music Guide 

6 | April 2018 thewholenote.com

FOR OPENERS | DAVID PERLMAN 

A Feather in the 

Glenn Gould 

Foundation Cap? 

or once, I had this Opener figured out days in advance, thanks 

to a snippet of news that came my way relating to Estonian 

F Music Week, which kicks off May 24 and will offer concerts and 

workshops in a bunch of different musical genres and eight different 

Toronto venues, from Lee’s Palace to Koerner Hall, all timed to 

coincide with the 100th anniversary of Estonia’s independence. But 

that’s May’s news. The detail that caught my eye right now, and much 

more in keeping with this month’s topic, was an initiative to the tune 

of around two million Canadian dollars, titled “An Instrument for 

Every Child,” designed to put a musical instrument in the hands of 

every Estonian child who wants to play one, with no limitations in 

terms of musical styles. 

But just a couple of hours before going to press with this issue 

of TheWholeNote, word came through to us from the Glenn Gould 

Foundation, of the death of Venezuelan visionary educator, Dr. José 

Antonio Abreu, founder of El Sistema, a transformative program of 

intensive free music education and orchestral training, starting in 

early childhood. “Abreu was a visionary figure, who recognized the 

power of music to transform the lives of children suffering the ravages 

of poverty and the host of social ills that goes with it” reads the statement 

posted on the Glenn Gould Foundation website. “From that realization, 

and by sheer force of will, he built the movement that came 

to be known as El Sistema, beginning with a mere 11 young people 

in 1975, but ultimately [spreading] to more than 25 countries worldwide, 

adapting and accommodating itself to the social and economic 

context of each.” 

I’d already been planning, cleverly, to link this new Estonian initiative 

to the topic of Abreu, El Sistema and the GGF because April is, 

as it happens, announcement time for the Glenn Gould Prize for 

the arts. This year’s distinguished jury is heading to town shortly 

(unless of course they already live here) and, on April 13 at 12:30pm 

in the galleria at Koerner Hall the jury will announce this year’s prize 

winner, following which, as surely as pigeons have wings, feathers 

will ruffle and/or fly in all directions. After dust and dander settle, the 

public, and the jury, can take in an astounding 8pm Koerner concert 

by a likely future winner of this and/or many other prizes, 13-year old 

British composer, pianist, violinist and improviser Alma Deutscher. 

A bit of history: The Glenn Gould Prize started out in 1987 as a 

strictly musical one, awarded every three years; R. Murray Schafer 

was its first recipient; then Yehudi Menuhin in 1990, Oscar Peterson 

in 1993, and Toru Takemitsu, Yo-Yo Ma, Pierre Boulez and André 

Previn, in 1996, 1999, 2002 and 2005 respectively. Abreu was the 2008 

honoree, followed by Leonard Cohen in 2011, Robert Lepage in 2013 

and Philip Glass in 2015. 

Somewhere along the way, I think either just before or just after the 

award to Leonard Cohen, it was announced that henceforth the prize 

would be known as the Glenn Gould Prize for the arts, rather than 

strictly for music. And around the same time as the change to “Prize 

for the Arts” was announced, it was also announced that the Prize 

would be awarded every two years instead of every three. 

One more little piece of history: since 1993, the year Oscar Peterson 

won, there has been a second award, called the City of Toronto Protégé 

Prize, awarded to some person, or in one case organization, of the 

Laureate’s own choosing, generally announced at the prize-giving 

ceremony sometime during the year after the announcement of the 

main award. Abreu selected Gustavo Dudamel as protégé in his year. 

Yo-Yo Ma selected a true protégé, future fellow Silk Road Project core 

company member, pipa player Wu Man for his. She remains to this 

point the only woman among the 20 honorees to date. 

Growing up: Of all the laureates so far, Abreu was for me the one 

that best reflected what prizes like this should really be for, and the 

direction that I hope this year’s jury will take in their deliberations. 

I understand why for the first couple of decades of its existence a 

prize like this is as much intent on building its own pedigree via the 

credentials of its chosen laureates as the other way round. The Prize 

had to prove its importance by choosing widely know laureates, who 

then, usually, return the favour by the graciousness and alacrity with 

which they acknowledge the importance of the award. 

But how much better when the Prize is bestowed on someone of 

towering importance to art and life whom we don’t already know. 

Abreu was one such person for me; I will always be grateful that the 

Prize brought his life-changing work to my attention. Going further, 

it is highly unlikely that El Sistema would have found fertile soil in 

Toronto and elsewhere in Canada were it not for the prominence given 

the movement here in 2008. 

The April 13 announcement will take the Prize to a whole new level 

if it brings into the limelight a person (of any gender) who stands to 

benefit more from having their work brought into focus by the Prize, 

than the Prize merely basking in the laureate’s reflected glory. Now 

that would truly be a feather in the Glenn Gould Foundation cap. 

As for the matter of the gender of the laureates, it’s an issue that 

gets thornier with every passing cycle. Each time a man is chosen, the 

cumulative imbalance becomes more improbable. Just as problematic, 

though, in my view, will be the backlash as and when this changes – 

the huffing and puffing of small-hearted people who will immediately 

assume that this award, unlike the other 19, was gender-based. So, to 

the jury, good luck. To those who are waiting to question the jury’s 

integrity, look into your own hearts. To José Antonio Abreu, you will 

not be forgotten. 

publisher@thewholenote.com 

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Free Event Listings Deadline 

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6pm Tuesday April 17 

Classifieds Deadline 

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Publication Date 

Wednesday April 25 (online) 

Friday April 27 (print edition) 

Volume 23 No 8 “MAY” 

covers May 1 - June 7, 2018 

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thewholenote.com 

NOTICE OF CORRECTION: 

In the third-to-last paragraph of last 

issue’s On Opera column, it was stated that 

mezzo Marion Newman, who sings the 

title role in the Voicebox: Opera in Concert 

production The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, also 

served as an advisor on the project. While 

she met informally with the composer 

twice during the development of the 

project, the nature of the input offered and 

the extent to which it was accepted were 

not sufficient to warrant describing the 

role as advisory. Permission was neither 

sought by the composer nor given by 

Ms. Newman to characterize her role as 

that of advisor. 

thewholenote.com April 2018 | 7

FEATURE 

THOMPSON 

EGBO-EGBO 

Not Your Standard 

Jazz Story 

DAVID PERLMAN 

JEREMY ELLIOTT 

It is a Sunday morning, March 18, 2018, and jazz 

pianist Thompson Egbo-Egbo and I have made time 

for a fairly leisurely chat in The WholeNote offices at 

720 Bathurst Street. Sunday is a lot quieter in the office 

than the rest of the week these days, as assorted heavy 

machinery takes a sabbatical from the nearly completed 

sacred task, right under our windows, of levelling all the 

buildings on the city block that was Honest Ed’s empire. 

Egbo-Egbo will be at Koerner Hall twice this coming April (once 

onstage and once backstage). The onstage Koerner appearance is 

April 11 at 7:30pm, the 14th Annual Jazz Lives gala/fundraiser for 

JAZZ.FM91. Billed as a celebration of Nat ‘King’ Cole’s centenary, 

Egbo-Egbo will be keeping company with Jackie Richardson, Mary 

Margaret O’Hara, Robi Botos, Tom Wilson, Heavyweights Brass 

Band, Lori Cullen, Bill McBirnie, Danny B, Drew Jurecka and the 

JAZZ.FM91 Youth Big Band. “I’d better start practising,” he says. 

Ten days later, April 21, is the eagerly anticipated Koerner appearance 

of Cape Town titan, jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim with Freddie 

Hendrix on trumpet and Ibrahim’s band Ekaya, in an evening featuring 

new arrangements of late 50s Jazz Epistles original compositions 

woven in with Ibrahim’s classic catalogue. 

“I am looking forward to that show,” Egbo-Egbo says. “If you can 

get a ticket,” I reply. (It has been sold out for months.) “Secret is, I will 

be watching from backstage,” he says. “They will be doing a little VIP 

reception after, they always do a little VIP thing, and my trio will be 

playing that reception. I had a choice of which to play and that was 

the one I chose. I have never seen him live and it will be great for the 

guys to get the chance to just watch and enjoy. I remember back in 

the day when IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education) was 

in town, I got to watch Ed Thigpen play with Russ Malone and Benny 

Green, with Oscar Peterson onstage and I was volunteering, opening 

the doors for those guys. So it’s going to be exciting.” 

Meanwhile, the Thompson Egbo-Egbo Trio (Jeff Halischuk on 

drums and Randall Hall on bass are the other two) will have put in a 

fair bit of practice – four March Tuesdays at The Rex, in the 6:30pm- 

8:30pm slot. Repertoire for the gigs revolves around their trio’s first 

album – A New Standard, it’s called. It was recorded as an indie project 

a year or so ago and is now being re-released by Entertainment 

One Music – a first step of another leg of Egbo-Egbo’s musical journey. 

One of the great things about the residency at The Rex, he says, is 

settling in. “Settling into the music, settling in with the same players. 

Similar to the time we’ve spent at Poetry Jazz Cafe in Kensington 

Market, it’s like paid rehearsal time. You get to work through the 

music. For me there’s a freedom in knowing that in this setting I’m 

allowed to make a few mistakes in order to find stuff. And that will 

make what we do next, next record, next evolution or whatever, that 

much better. Ideally we are trying to shed our skin of stuff to find 

whatever the next butterfly is.” 

“Why A New Standard?” I ask about the album name. 

“Partly it’s about picking repertoire,” he says. “You know, you go 

to Humber, or whatever music institution, and they give you the 

standards and you’ve got to learn these tunes; and then you get out 

in the real world and realize there’s all these other tunes. I mean, 

you sit at the piano in a piano bar and you’d better be able to at least 

fake Piano Man so that after the first 30 seconds, when they usually 

stop listening, it still sounds like the same song. So part of it was 

that. Realizing that there are new ‘standards’ being set all the time 

that you have to know. The old guard has to meet the new guard, 

and out of that you have to create your own standards, so to speak.” 

He carries on: “Another part of it is to do with the realities of life 

for a gigging musician, when you’re finding yourself in a different 

space musically all the time – a little bit of jazz and little bit of pop 

depending on where you are from moment to moment. It’s easy to 

buy in to a kind of disdain for music that’s three minutes, or 2:40, 

that sort of stuff. But I found myself thinking about the old jazz records 

– if you listen to some of the old records, that’s all they were. 

Size of the cylinder, one head, one solo head out. Which is not far 

from where the pop space is for music.” 

“So is there a danger of finding yourself betwixt and between?” 

I ask. His response is a shrug.“Some people will call it jazz, some 

people won’t; most of the jazz people won’t call it jazz, and the 

people who aren’t jazz will call it jazz. Whatever … The way I see it, 

if someone turns the radio on for the music that’s there, can we be 

there? It may not be a pop tune but can I present it in a way where 

it’s not a 12-minute song? Can I get it compact to match the way it’s 

being absorbed? Six minutes or so, that was my thought process. 

Let’s just try and present the music a little differently, you know? 

We all listen to all kinds of music which does that.” 

Egbo-Egbo, Halischuk and Hall all went through the Humber jazz 

program, at the college’s Lakeshore campus in the city’s west end. But 

the story of their working together has more twists and turns than 

that. Halischuk and Egbo-Egbo were exact contemporaries but did 


not intersect musically at the time. “Jeff was in the A Band,” Egbo- 

Egbo explains. “Which band you were in was quite competitive for 

some people. I have to say it wasn’t for me, not because it couldn’t 

have been, but just because it wasn’t on my radar at the time. I just 

thought, ‘Oh, some people got picked to play in that band.’” 

His drummer at Humber was Sly Juhas but “he met the door lady 

at some venue we were playing and they hit it off, ended up moving 

to Germany.” After that he played with many drummers, then one 

day needed someone to sub on a particular gig. “Saw Jeff on Facebook 

and went ‘Hmm, I wonder if he would play with me.’ Reached 

out, he said ‘Yeah sure, I’d love to.’” 

Something clicked, he says. “For me, Jeff really played the way 

I heard the music, the way I envisioned drums being played on 

everything I do, so at that point it became ‘How often can I get him 

to play with me?’ And I was fortunate because it stuck. He really 

elevated what we were doing. I think it’s interesting that ten years 

before we hadn’t really played together. But there’s always relationships 

along the way in music that never happened before; that’s the 

way things go sometimes.” 

Bassist Randall Hall had been at Humber a full decade before 

Egbo-Egbo. “Randall was one of those guys who had done Humber 

and never finished it. Music was great at the time, there was a lot 

of playing to be had. Then, as luck has it, he came back to finish his 

studies right at the end of my time. We ended up playing together 

and sticking around. He’s been there since very early on playing 

with me and it’s worked out really well.” 

The old guard has to meet the new guard, 

and out of that you have to create your own 

standards, so to speak. 

“Did you also gig all the way through Humber?” I ask. “Yes,” he 

says. “It’s interesting, the different philosophies people bring to it. I 

didn’t have the same supports some people had – that’s neither good 

nor bad, just a fact. It meant I didn’t interact as much with other students 

as I could have, or should have, maybe. All those gigs, four, five, 

sometimes six nights a week ... Also, to be honest, I mean I grew up 

downtown and didn’t want to be out at campus when I didn’t need to 

be. So I was jetting a lot. On the one hand I had a tough go financially 

figuring it out. On the other hand, I was very fortunate that I had private 

scholarships to pay for my time at Humber.” 

When Egbo-Egbo talks about growing up downtown, he’s talking 

specifically about Regent Park, on Toronto’s inner-city east side, the 

child of parents who immigrated here from Nigeria when he was four 

years old. The inner city east side is still his home base. He sits on the 

board of Dixon Hall Music School, where he got his own musical start – 

that’s how he met entertainment lawyer Chris Taylor, who now heads 

up Entertainment One Music. It’s also how he met Mitchell Cohen of 

Daniels Corporation, who has followed Egbo-Egbo’s progress for years 

and helped finance the production of the new album. 

“Somewhere, I can’t remember exactly where,” I say, “you’re 

quoted as saying something like ‘Before you can talk about making 

best choices, you have to have choices to make.” 

“There’s an easy version of that,” he says. “You grow up, you see 

bad things happening around you. You choose to join in or you 

choose something else, if there’s something else to choose. But I 

don’t go with painting me as some kind of a hero. I’d love to say I 

was smart enough to recognize the opportunities afforded to me. 

People look at you and say ‘Wow, look at you, you did so well.’ But 

truthfully, why shouldn’t I have? Lots of people from Regent Park 

did well. You just mostly hear about the ones who don’t. I was surrounded 

by a lot of opportunities, so much opportunity. I was not a 

rich kid but from an early age, because of music, I grew up like a 

rich kid. Looking back, it seems almost impossible that I would 

miss the road I took. Take the time to unpack it, there was a whole 

com-munity of people who invested in me like a thoroughbred. 

“I have always had support and help for what I am doing; even now 

Thursday, April 12 at 8pm 

SCHUMANN 

QUARTET 

Sparkling virtuosity 

and a willingness to astonish. 

You can hear the great 

Marc-André 

Hamelin in Toronto 

twice next season — 

but only at our house. 

See page 19 

See our 2018-2019 season at 

www.music-toronto.com 

27 Front Street East, Toronto 

Tickets: 416-366-7723 | www.stlc.com 


I remind myself that I have always had a community. If you don’t have 

one, you’d better figure it out, for music or anything else.” 

For Egbo-Egbo, “anything else” now includes a recent decision to 

add a career in commercial real estate to his toolkit. “It was an interesting 

choice” he says. “I had no background or knowledge in real 

estate. But I asked myself ‘Do I go back and do an MBA or go into 

law?’ I’d done eight years of school, didn’t want to remove myself 

from the workforce. I’d met people in that sector through my music 

so at the minimum I would have people who care about what I do to 

answer questions for me.” 

“What’s ironic and beautiful over the last year and a half since I 

started out,” he tells me, “is that the music has been subsidizing my 

real estate career. The income I used to look down on has actually 

helped me survive the transition. My first deals have come directly 

from my music network. I tell myself I am going into real estate to 

help me take care of music and monetarily it’s been the other way 

around. It’s so interesting how it all connects. No matter what I have 

done so far, music always takes care of me. Financially, emotionally, 

mentally. One way or another.” 

“So how do you think you can find a balance?” I ask. 

“Not so much a question of balance as alternating binges,” he says. 

“When I first started I was so busy I was not really practising. So I worried 

about making sure the music was continuing. I look at it this way. 

If you’re doing things musically that you don’t want to be doing, in 

order to do the things that you do want to be doing musically, then do 

something else with the time you spent on the musical part you don’t 

like. I am a performer, not into teaching, and it’s getting to where I 

don’t have to worry only about taking care of myself. My parents are 

getting older; as immigrants they don’t have the work history, pensions, 

and whatnot; at some point you have the responsibility to help out. 

They made the sacrifices for you. Roles switch as life changes. 

“It’s like starting a new conversation with myself,” he says. “I still 

want to do music, still want to write, never have done anything 

other than music. Maybe real estate will help inform the musical 

choices I get to make in ways I can’t imagine. Maybe it will give me 

the resources to make music a ‘best choice’ for other people the way 

it has been for me.” 

We look out the window at the heavy machinery sitting silent 

on the Honest Ed’s site, a small oasis of possibility in an impossibly 

overheated downtown real estate market. 

“Life in the inner city can be isolating, but it’s not actually isolated,” 

he says, as if in conversation with himself. “Downtown there 

is always somewhere close by you can go. Where you can be with 

people. We have to find ways to build that closeness in parts of our 

city where isolation is the fact.” 

David Perlman can be reached at publisher@thewholenote.com. 


Taking Up 

Musical Space: 

EVE 

EGOYAN 

WENDALYN BARTLEY 

Over 20 years ago, the Toronto-based 

pianist and extraordinary interpreter of 

contemporary music Eve Egoyan was 

introduced to the music of the Spanish-German 

composer Maria de Alvear through a recording 

given to her by composer Martin Arnold, the 

current artistic director of Array Music. After 

talking recently with Egoyan about her upcoming 

performance of de Alvear’s monumental diptych 

De Puro Amor and En Amor Duro, I think it’s fair 

to say that that moment in time was a meeting 

with destiny for Egoyan. 

Some other time 

AN EVENING WITH 

JOHN McDERMOTT 

GUIDO BASSO AND FRIENDS 

FRIDAY, MAY 11 | 7:30PM 

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I jumped into the performance with a lot of trepidation as I thought 

everyone would leave after the first half.” 

What surprised her was not only did people stay, but she had 

an experience of feeling the presence of the audience in a totally 

new way. “I found it extremely moving to be with my audience for 

that long in that sound language. I felt people listening, and was 

very excited by that – that feeling of shared listening. Of course the 

experience of shared listening is always happening when you are 

performing, but because of the level of comfort everyone was feeling 

within the language over that period of time, I was aware of their 

presence in a new way. I felt so transported by that and honoured that 

they were with me. It felt really unique, expansive, and quite extraordinary. 

We were all being transported at the same time.” 

She went on to explain how works with a long duration create a 

welcoming space for such listening. “When you are playing standard 

repertoire, people have a sense of history with that work. They are already 

prepared to hear a certain language. But when you’re playing a piece by a 

contemporary composer whose language is unknown, there is a certain 

adjustment period for the listener. The longer duration pieces allow time 

for that adjustment period. The listener can then be more present and go 

deeper into the sound language. It’s also a more profound experience for 

me as a performer, to feel people experiencing the art in a totally different 

way rather than having a more surface experience.” 

After listening to the recording, she contacted the composer and 

in return received two scores in the mail. Those scores were De Puro 

Amor and Amor Duro, composed in 1991, which Egoyan proceeded to 

learn and subsequently perform at the Music Gallery in 1996, while 

the Music Gallery was still located at 179 Richmond St. W. 

Events will have come full circle with the upcoming performance of 

these two pieces on April 14, also with the Music Gallery, but this time 

at the St. George-the-Martyr location that was the Music Gallery’s 

home performing base for the past 16 years. The current performance 

is also the launch of Egoyan’s CD recordings of these works, adding to 

her extensive list of album releases. Earlier in the evening, writer Mary 

Dickie will be interviewing former Music Gallery artistic director Jim 

Montgomery about the years (1991-2000) at the 179 Richmond St. W. 

venue, during which time Egoyan initially performed these works. 

That initial performance of de Alvear’s music was “a seminal 

moment,” Egoyan told me in our interview. The unique feature of both 

these works is their long duration: De Puro Amor being one hour in 

length and Amor Duro 50 minutes. “This was early in my performing 

career, and I had never performed anything before of that duration. 

When people write for me, it’s like having 

them dress me ... I slip into that world and 

there is a sense of trust and openness. 

Both of de Alvear’s pieces on the program are composed using a type 

of loose proportional notation. The pitches are pre-determined by the 

composer, but the durations are approximate and time is determined by 

the distance between the notes on the printed page. There are very few 

markings of dynamics or phrasing. This approach allows the performer 

to be very present in real time. “It gives me space to listen and make 

decisions based on how the piano sounds in the space and I can adjust 

the dynamics and pedalling in real time based on what I’m hearing,” 

said Egoyan. “The rules are more open and generous, so everyone can 

create. It’s not improvisation though, because the inherent structure 

and form is already there, but the composer is trusting her interpreter 

to draw the audience into real time. Both harmony and register are of 

the utmost importance, and through that window everyone is guided 

into an experience of the piece.” 

NMC String Orchestra | Iris Ensemble | Accordes | Robert Aitken flute and direction 

music by Roger Reynolds*, Claude Vivier and Brian Harman* (*world premieres) 

Royal Conservatory of Music 21C Festival 

Mazzoleni Hall | 273 Bloor Street West 

Sunday May 27, 2018 | Intro 5:15 | Concert 6:00 

www.NewMusicConcerts.com 


Maria de Alvear 

After such a profound experience performing de Alvear’s pieces, 

Egoyan had a desire to perform more such works, and thus began a 

long association between the two artists. De Alvear wrote specific 

works for Egoyan, including two piano concertos Clear Energy (2006) 

and Sky Music (2009), as well as the solo piano work Asking (2001). 

The friendship and collaboration is so strong that de Alvear invited her 

to attend the presentation of the Spanish National Award for Music in 

composition presented by the King and Queen of Spain in June 2016. 

Long works, long term relationships: Another outcome of her 

connection with de Alvear was to seek out and perform long duration 

works by other composers. A week after the Toronto performance, 

Egoyan will travel to Victoria and offer a unique listening experience 

of four concerts comprised of long duration works by de Alvear, Ann 

Southam, Rudolf Komorous and Linda Catlin Smith presented over 

the course of two days, on April 21 and 22. Over her career, Egoyan has 

developed intimate and long-lasting creative associations with each of 

these composers, and each of these collaborations has resulted in CD 

recordings as well as multiple performances. 

In the course of our conversation, Egoyan told me more about these 

long term relationships. “When people write for me, it’s like having 

them dress me, they are creating clothing for me. There is a feeling of 

intimacy – I know them and they know me. I slip into that world and 

there is a sense of trust and openness when I play music by people I 

really know. Interpreting is a strange thing for me – I’m giving myself, 

opening myself fully into somebody’s creativity. I really need to trust 

that meeting place for me to feel that it’s most effective.” One such 

long term relationship has been with composer Ann Southam. After de 

Alvear’s visit to Toronto for the premiere of her work Asking, Southam 

was so struck by it, that she wrote a long duration work for Egoyan 

entitled Simple Lines of Enquiry in 2008 in response. That particular 

visit was also inspiring in a unique way for several women composers 

who attended. Egoyan describes it this way: “We were impacted by the 

fact that de Alvear didn’t hold back from taking up space. Maria only 

writes long pieces, she only takes up time. We were struck by the fact 

that a woman would actually say ‘I’m here, I’m allowed to be here for 

this long, without any apology.’ That’s what inspired Ann to write that 

long work for me.” In describing de Alvear’s character, Egoyan stated: 

“She herself is a force, an unbelievable presence that blew us out of 

the water. You could say that her music aggressively asserts itself by its 

duration, but it’s not aggressive music.” 

Solo for Duet to get Luminato debut 

Egoyan’s latest project, Solo for Duet: works for augmented piano 

and images, will receive its premiere at this season’s Luminato Festival 

on June 19 and 20. The project takes her love of creating intimacy 

between piano and audience to a whole new level. It combines six 

piano works by six different composers and presents them as a theatrical 

production, combining choreographed movements, speaking, 

singing, images and unspoken narrative. In choosing the repertoire, 

Egoyan has intentionally created a gender-balanced program with 

works by distinguished artists David Rokeby, Michael Snow, John 

Oswald, Nicole Lizée, Linda Catlin Smith, and Duet, a new piece for 

disklavier she has composed for herself. The disklavier is capable of 

producing both acoustic piano sounds as well as sampled and digitally 

altered sounds. “Duet explores the space between what a piano 

can do and what I wish a piano could do. It’s a conversation between 

the piano and its dream self. The virtual piano can do infinite sustain, 

tremolo, change pitch and reveal harmonic overtones.” By performing 

on a disklavier, Egoyan and her collaborators transform the piano 

into a visual instrument, combining sampled sound, film and interactive 

images, and drawing inspiration from the films of David Lynch, 

a Shakespearean sonnet, technical glitches and more. 

Egoyan acknowledges that creating and preparing to perform this 

program has been very challenging for her. “I’m going from being 

extremely intimate in my performances to more extroverted than I’ve 

ever been before. I’m also revealing my own creative voice, which I’ve 

never done publicly except for some improvisation.” By combining theatrical, 

musical and visual elements, she seeks to create “a unique hybrid, 

alternating sections of multi-sensory intensity with periods of delicacy 

and stillness. This will draw the audience in close to listen and then 

expand outwards with the addition of visuals and theatrical elements.” 

Directed by Joanna McIntyre, following its Luminato debut the 

piece is scheduled to tour throughout Canada in the fall of 2018 and 

Australia the following May. 

Wendalyn Bartley is a Toronto-based composer and electro-vocal 

sound artist. sounddreaming@gmail.com. 

THE LAST CHACONNE 

On the stage where it all began, a star-studded array 

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FEATURE 

Elmer Iseler, Jessie Iseler and Lydia Adams before a performance 

at Choral Kathaumixw, Powell River BC in July 1996. 

TWENTY YEARS LATER 

MAURA MCGROARTY 

Celebrating Elmer Iseler 

DAVID JAEGER 

Known as the dean of Canadian choral conductors 

and called a Canadian choral visionary, Elmer Iseler 

(1927–1998) will be celebrated in a concert titled 

“Joyful Sounds, a Tribute to Elmer Iseler, 1927–1998 – 

Twenty Years Later” on April 14 at 7:30pm at Eglinton 

St. George’s United Church. Lydia Adams will lead the 

Elmer Iseler Singers in a program of Canadian choral 

classics, plus the world premiere of a major new work, 

commissioned to honour the 20th anniversary of his 

passing. And I will be part of it too. 

Iseler helped to found the Festival Singers of Toronto in 1954, and 

conducted them until 1978. In 1968 they became the Festival Singers 

of Canada, and also the professional core of the Toronto Mendelssohn 

Choir, which Iseler had conducted since 1964. The high standard of 

performance that Iseler achieved drew notice from no less a celebrity 

than composer Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), who recorded a number of 

his works with the Festival Singers of Canada in the early 1960s. 

Iseler was a champion of Canadian music, and throughout his 

career he commissioned and performed numerous works by Canadian 

composers. By the time he founded the Elmer Iseler Singers in 1979, 

the commissioning of original Canadian works had become a cornerstone 

of Iseler’s artistic mindset. The Elmer Iseler Singers Choral Series 

of published choral works contained hundreds of works, 90 per cent 

of them by Canadian composers. Iseler’s spirit of embracing Canadian 

choral music inspired Lydia Adams, the current artistic director of 

the choir, and Jessie Iseler, Elmer’s widow and the choir’s general 

manager, to shape the April 14 tribute program with Canadian music 

to celebrate Iseler’s legacy. For all those reasons, when they invited me 

to host the event I did not hesitate to accept. 

The premiere of a major new work by British Columbia composer 

Imant Raminsh (b. 1943) headlines the tribute concert. Raminsh told 

me that a number of years ago Lydia Adams had approached him to 

discuss the creation of a major new work to celebrate both the legacy 

of Elmer Iseler, as well as the occasion of Canada’s 150th year. Thanks 

to a private donation from Elizabeth DeBoer and Ross Redfern, the 

Elmer Iseler Singers were able to commission the large-scale work, 

titled The Beauty of Dissonance, the Beauty of Strength, which 

runs over 40 minutes, in eight movements. Raminsh took two years 

to gather poetry from all the regions of Canada; he told me that he 

and Iseler shared a love for the Canadian landscape, and this shared 

passion informed the design of the new work. The two men had 

met in the 1960s at the University of Toronto. Iseler saw the score to 

Raminsh’s Ave verum corpus, liked it and took it into his repertoire, 

the first of several Raminsh works he championed. 

The title of the new work comes from its central movement, which 

uses a poem by Montreal poet Arthur James Marshall Smith (1902– 

1980) called The Lonely Land, a depiction of the Canadian Shield 

inspired by a 1926 Group of Seven exhibition. Raminsh shared with 

me that he grew up the son of a forester, whom he described as, “an 

amateur painter of some accomplishment.” His father was fond of 

the approach of the Group of Seven landscape painters, and Raminsh 

recalls that the many paintings by his father adorning his family’s 

home showed a strong affinity with this style. 

Imant Raminsh in his studio at the Vernon Community Music School. 

PARKER CROOK/VERNON MORNING STAR 


This early exposure to landscape painting left a deep impression 

on Raminsh. His concept for this new work was to reflect the many 

regions of Canada, which led him to poets such as Newfoundland’s 

Agnes Walsh (b. 1950); Milton Acorn (1923–1986) of P.E.I.; Quebecer 

Anne Hébert (1916–2000); Barbara Klar (b. 1966) from Saskatoon; 

Frederick George Scott (1861–1944), known as the Poet of the 

Laurentians; English-born Vancouverite, Marjorie Pickthall (1883– 

1922); and Mohawk-English writer and stage performer, Pauline 

Johnson (1861–1913). The work’s eight movements are highly 

contrasting in mood and temperament, appropriate to the range of the 

poetry. The choir is accompanied by an instrumental ensemble that 

includes flutist Robert Aitken and clarinetist James Campbell. 

So what was it about Elmer Iseler that made him unique among 

choral conductors? In preparation for the upcoming concert, I asked 

a number of current and past members of his choirs for their insights 

and memories. 

Current artistic director Lydia Adams remembers how after 

returning from England, studying at the Royal College of Music and 

the National Opera Studio, and having learned so much from Sir David 

Willcocks (1919–2015), “it was more than interesting to find myself 

working with Elmer and his marvellous choir. As the pianist for the 

Elmer Iseler Singers, I was able to watch, listen and discover how he 

was able to make magic with sound, and I watched as he crafted the 

sound to reflect the music. Everything was always connected to the 

text and the music reflecting that text. Nothing was ever sung in an 

ordinary manner. Every musical moment had a purpose and a musical 

and emotional intent. Elmer lived in a rarified space of creating magic 

with sound, and he inspired so many of us to do the same. How 

fortunate we were!” 

Robert Missen, who sang in all of Iseler’s professional choirs and 

who serves as the Elmer Iseler Singers’ artist representative, also 

commented on Iseler’s craftsmanship. “His rehearsal techniques 

were second to none, his ear unerring,” he writes. “On the road he 

would nimbly make adjustments to turn unfamiliar venues into as 

congenial a choral acoustic as possible. A consummate showman, 

he created programs that appealed to a broad range of audiences. He 

would always include a huge proportion of Canadian works, including 

popular folksong arrangements such as Song for the Mira.” By the 

time of his death in 1998, writes Missen, Iseler had garnered high 

praise from some of the world’s most distinguished choral eminences, 

including Britain’s Sir David Willcocks, Estonia’s Tõnu Kaljuste and 

America’s Robert Shaw and Margaret Hillis. “Canada is a major force 

on the contemporary international choral scene thanks in no small 

part to Elmer Iseler.” 

Maggie McCoy, a student of Iseler and now the director of marketing 

for the Ottawa Choral Society, remembers Iseler’s talent as a teacher. 

“Elmer Iseler was possibly the most important influence on, not just 

my musical education, but on my entire way of seeing the world,” 

she says. “He was a kindly but challenging teacher who taught his 

students to seek beauty... in music, in literature, in art, in the heavens, 

and most importantly, in the small miracles of the natural world. I 

don’t really know who I would have become if I had not met him as a 

young person. He opened my eyes and my mind.” 

Stephen Powell, a tenor in the Elmer Iseler Singers from 1991 to 

2005, says this: “Interpretively, Elmer was a man of the big phrase, 

and by phrase I don’t mean notes simply linked together, but rather 

an overarching musical concept encompassing the entire musical 

content. ‘No two notes,’ he said, ‘should ever sound the same.’ Powell 

recalls how in the spring of 1997, shortly after his return from brain 

surgery, “Elmer was rehearsing with us Healey Willan’s short motet 

Who is she that ascendeth? which begins with three 4/4 bars scored 

for double soprano and alto. As he worked on this section repeating 

it several times, I realized that every beat in every bar was laden with 

purpose and meaning. The master was back. 

“For me, Elmer was one of the greats and I’m glad to have worked 

with him so closely. Beneath his musical proficiency there was 

passion, warmth, commitment and meaning, all providing a musical 

outlook which I could relate to strongly and which influences me to 

this day.” 

Jean Stilwell sang in the Festival Singers under Iseler, along with 


her mother, Margaret Stilwell. Jean was 18 years old at the time. “I’d 

had approximately ten voice lessons. I sang for Elmer with a mind 

to sing in the Mendelssohn Choir. Instead he invited me to sing 

with the Festival Singers, which was the professional nucleus of the 

Mendelssohn Choir,” Jean says. “It was a great honour for me. The 

greatest joy was sitting beside my mother making beautiful music 

together for seven years. We made up the second alto section. She 

taught me so much. I expect Elmer knew she would make sure I was 

well prepared for rehearsals and concerts. The first piece we worked 

on was Bach’s cantata Lobet den Herrn. Elmer did a fabulous job 

preparing us to perform it. His attention to detail and musical expression 

was such a joy of which to be a part.” 

Conductor David Christiani was artistic director and choirmaster 

of the St.-Lambert Choral Society in Quebec for 35 years and remembers 

[Iseler] talking a bit about airplane travel. “[It] surprised me, 

knowing how nervous it made him to travel that way,” Christiani 

recalls. “He told us that when the planes are thundering down the 

runway for takeoff, at one point the pilot tells the control tower, ‘We 

are committed’ when the wheels are about to leave the ground and 

the plane enters into full flight. He said that was the kind of singing he 

wanted to hear in the music we performed. It is that kind of commitment 

that has always marked our performances, be it by the Festival 

Singers or the Iseler Singers and it is that committed singing that …o, 

Lydia [Adams] and Jessie [Iseler], are keeping alive today. 

“I remember all too clearly that, when he passed into heaven far too 

soon 20 years ago, that great man’s spirit renewed that flame in me 

as a conductor. Suddenly everything that I did in music became that 

much more in earnest and that much more committed. Long may it 

inflame the singers and conductors of tomorrow to remember and 

preserve his legacy.” 

“Everything was always connected to the 

text and the music reflecting that text. 

Nothing was ever sung in an ordinary manner. 

Every musical moment had a purpose and a 

musical and emotional intent. Elmer lived in a 

rarified space of creating magic with sound.” 

And finally, Carol and Brad Ratzlaff both sang for Iseler, and both 

also became choral conductors. Carol Ratzlaff remembers: “Brad and 

I spent the first years of our marriage in EIS with Elmer conducting, 

1985 to 1988. These years were a gift which we still treasure. They 

were busy touring years and offered rich musical experiences which 

were diverse and challenging. Elmer has had a profound effect on our 

music-making at every level. His steadfast commitment to and belief 

in the choral art as an essential part of life has unceasingly inspired 

my work. I would say that my own sense of calling and unswerving 

commitment is, in part, due to my musical roots as a very young 

singer and conductor with Elmer. He had a singularity of purpose, was 

passionate and stubborn beyond anyone I had met. That awakened 

something in me, perhaps a sense of calling. I know that Elmer would 

be proud of our work in VIVA! Youth Singers. He was so supportive 

of my teaching career, and always interested in what Brad and I were 

creating. We miss him.” 

In addition to the new Raminsh work, “Joyful Sounds, a Tribute to 

Elmer Iseler, 1927–1998” also includes music by Canadian composers 

Srul Irving Glick, Ruth Watson Henderson and Healey Willan, and 

Elmer Iseler’s own adaptation of the plainchant, King of Glory. The 

J.S. Bach motet, Lobet den Herrn completes the program, which also 

features a video presentation of highlights from Elmer Iseler’s career, 

assembled by Edward Mock. 

David Jaeger is a composer, producer and broadcaster 

based in Toronto. 

FEATURE 

BITCHES 

BREW 

ANEW 

A conversation with 

Aline Homzy 

SARA CONSTANT 

In the United States in the 1970s, the concept of the 

musical bitch was big. There was the Rolling Stones’ 

recording Bitch from 1971; David Bowie’s Queen Bitch 

from later that year; and Elton John’s The Bitch Is Back 

in 1974. And, perhaps most importantly, there was the 

precursor to them all: Miles Davis’ 1970 release Bitches 

Brew, a jazz-rock album that would eventually garner 

seminal status in the world of improvised music. 

According to musicologist Gary Tomlinson, Davis’ album title referred 

to the skill of the musicians themselves – best-of-the-best improvisers, 

brought together for the recording. And though 1970 was coincidentally 

the same year that Jo Freeman published her feminist BITCH Manifesto 

(seminal itself, in other circles), the album’s connection to “bitch” as a 

gendered term was supposedly just that – coincidental. 

These words have weight, though – and as they go in and out 

of vogue, the connotations they carry change in the process. So 

when violinist Aline Homzy submitted an application to this year’s 

TD Toronto Jazz Festival Discovery Series for a project called “The 

Smith Sessions presents: Bitches Brew,” she had a lot of musical and 

linguistic history to reckon with. And when her application was 

selected, with a concert of the same name slotted for this April 28 at 

the Canadian Music Centre’s Chalmers House in Toronto, she knew it 

would be a starting point for something new. 

“Bitches Brew” is a quadruple-bill show, featuring four different 

women-led ensembles. With groups fronted by Homzy, flutist Anh 

Phung, bassist Emma Smith and drummer/percussionist Magdelys 

Savigne, the concert is Homzy’s 21st-century take on what it means 

to equate “bitch” with musical talent, and on how our community 

thinks about musical artistry today. Same name, new vibe – in a 

very good way. 


“Toronto needs this” 

The project comes to Toronto via Edinburgh, from a concert series 

of the same name run by bassist Emma Smith. On her website, Smith 

writes that her Bitches Brew sessions are a response “to the eternal 

assumption that the only woman in the band must be the singer” – a 

way of highlighting local Edinburgh talent while confronting stereotypes 

that women often face in improvised music. After playing on 

one of Smith’s sessions in August 2017, Homzy started to talk with 

Smith about bringing the series to Canada. When the applications 

opened for the 2018 TD Toronto Jazz Festival Discovery Series – a 

concert series that gives Jazz Fest branding and support to innovative 

local projects – the timing felt right. 

On April 28, Homzy and Smith will play a violin/bass duo, featuring 

some of Smith’s compositions; flutist Anh Phung will improvise 

with bassist Alan Mackie, in their duo project HaiRbraIN; Magdelys 

Savigne will lead a trio project, singing and playing percussion alongside 

Elizabeth Rodriguez (violin and vocals) and Danae Olano (piano); 

and Homzy will bring her own band, Aline Homzy’s étoile magique, 

where she’ll be joined by Chris Pruden (piano), Daniel Fortin (bass) 

and Thom Gill (guitar). 

At her Toronto apartment last week, Homzy spoke about how for 

her, this project came out of a feeling of something lacking in the local 

jazz ecosystem – and about wanting to bring it to light. 

“I told Emma, ‘We have to do this in Toronto. Toronto needs this,’” 

she says. “Normalizing the roles of women in bandleader positions. As 

a student, I felt like that was not at all present in school. I don’t think 

there’s a single full-time woman professor at U of T [in Jazz Studies]; 

I think there are only a couple at Humber. It’s important for the 

community for students – women students – to see that it’s possible. 

And also to provide role models for younger people as well, however 

they identify… it’s important for them to have a diverse roster of people 

who are successfully doing what they do, and who are really good at it.” 

Having gender-diverse leadership is important for any industry, 

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where so much of what happens onstage is guided by performers’ 

offstage social relationships. In a 2013 article for NewMusicBox, Ellen 

McSweeney talks about how women performers often pay a hidden 

“likability tax” when they come off as too self-promoting, assertive, 

or success-oriented. And in an ensemble situation, where performers 

rely on having both a supportive fan base and a network of collaborators 

to survive, being seen as unlikable can carry a high cost. 

“I’m doing ‘bitch’ in quotations right now, because I understand 

it’s a swear word as well,” says Homzy when she explains the project. 

“But for us, it’s reclaiming that word – especially as a woman leader, 

when women often get called that name for being too bossy.” 

It’s a mentality that impacts how women musicians operate within 

jazz culture – and one that extends to the way that they perform. In his 

book Swingin’ the Dream, Lewis Erenberg writes about how during 

the 1940s, women musicians were 

often seen as temporary, annoying 

replacements for the men who 

went to war – and that the 

prevailing opinion was that they 

should either act like “good girls” 

or “play like men.” Seventy-five 

years later, Homzy still encounters 

that attitude in the field. 

“I think one reason why a lot 

of women don’t show up to jam 

sessions is because you feel like 

you really have to prove yourself,” 

she says. “Everyone feels intimidated 

by that situation, but as a 

woman, it’s like – doubly that. 

And some people – some guys – 

will see a woman come in and 

on purpose count in the hardest 

tune, really fast, because they 

want to see you fail. It’s really 

discouraging to witness. 

“It becomes about [whether] 

you’re able to, we say, ‘Hang with 

the guys,’” she continues. “If you 

can ‘keep up’ then it’s like you’re 

considered ‘ok’ in the guys’ books. 

I think that some women take that 

position: ‘I’m like one of the guys.’ 

Clockwise from top left: Aline 

Homzy (violin), Emma Smith (bass), 

Anh Phung (flute), and Magdelys 

Savigne (drums/percussion) 

And I think it’s really dangerous. I’ve been in that situation too, where 

I’ve been like ‘I feel like the guys are accepting me.’ You soon realize 

that there are sometimes ulterior motives for that, which are quite 

disturbing.” 

Homzy says that it’s a particularly big problem for younger women 

artists who are early-career or still in school, because it can make it 

difficult for them to realize their worth. “It took a lot of work for me 

to realize that wanting to be in the ‘boys club’ was a really toxic way to 

think about myself,” she says. “I feel like it’s hard to know how good 

you are, when you first come out of school. As a female instrumentalist, 

you’re always told, ‘Play more like this,’ or relating to my instrument, 

‘Play more like a saxophone, play more like a horn.’ [I had to] 

come out of school and realize, no – that’s not what I’m doing. I’m a 

violinist, this is my sound and this is my style. 

“You [begin to] realize that sometimes you’re maybe even better 

than some of your male colleagues – which is interesting, because a 

lot of male colleagues tend to think that they’re better than you,” she 

adds. “And it can be really uncomfortable, because [those colleagues] 

really want to take over – in conversations, and in music.” 

Being heard 

For Homzy, that gendered feeling of being unheard has particular 

amplifications within the jazz world as a whole. It’s a big part of why 

she chose the Canadian Music Centre – a space not often seen as a jazz 

venue, and a first for the TD Toronto Jazz Festival – for this show. 

“Part of the reason that I applied for this project was that I wanted it 

to be at a venue that wasn’t just a bar or a club,” she explains. “I wanted 

it to be in a ‘listening room,’ where people listen and don’t talk – where 

we’re all there to listen to the music. All four of us write original music 

and we all consider ourselves artists. I wanted to provide a place to play 

where people are going to listen, as opposed to talking over you.” 

I ask if there are many spaces in Toronto like that for jazz; she says 

there aren’t. 

She mentions that she came to the violin from a classical background, 

and that the feeling of being undervalued as an artist is a 

chronic issue in the non-classical world. From her perspective, the 

difference is night and day. 

“We’re just not taken as seriously,” she says. “You see it with the way 

we get paid. You see it with how people think it’s ok to talk over what 

you’re doing [at any point]. I want to bridge that gap, and show people 

that improvised music can be – and is – really awesome.” 

‘Women’s music’ 

In December, The New York Times published an article claiming 

that 2017 was a “year of reckoning” 

for women in jazz – a time when we 

saw a number of standout women 

instrumentalists presenting projects 

that were bold, musically inventive, 

and squarely their own. It’s an idea 

that shouldn’t be that shocking – 

but Homzy talks about how even 

today, people seem to have a hard 

time coming around to the idea of 

women authorship in music. 

“The info about this project is 

all there. But so many people have 

seen it and asked me, ‘Wow, so 

are you playing the whole Bitches 

Brew Miles Davis album?’” she 

laughs. “It’s funny, but also kind of 

disappointing in some way. Because 

they completely missed the point.” 

Still, Homzy is dedicated to lifting 

up the work of women creators. Not 

because there’s anything inherently 

distinctive about their music – far 

from it – but because there’s a lot 

of valid experience and perspective 

there. And when our music doesn’t 

represent the demographics of our communities, that perspective, 

and the power and beauty that go along with it, is something we 

miss out on. 

“I realized, after so many years: I’d been doing these things, playing 

or writing-wise – not specifically because I wanted to please other 

musicians, but because I’d been influenced by that [oppression],” 

she says. “And now, I’m writing music in a way that is influenced by 

those experiences. We’ve experienced different challenges; I think that 

makes a lot of women’s music sound unique and different.” 

That 2017 New York Times article references the same thing. 

“There’s nothing to suggest that these...musicians expressed themselves 

in any particular way because of their gender,” it reads, “but 

what we know is that until recently they might not have been in a 

position to stand up onstage alone, addressing the audience with 

generosity and informality, empowering the room.” As Homzy seems 

to attest, that’s its own rare and powerful thing – and an experience 

that, without question, is worth seeking. 

“The Smith Sessions presents: Bitches Brew,” featuring Aline 

Homzy, Emma Smith, Anh Phung and Magdelys Sevigne, 

will be presented on April 28 at the Canadian Music Centre’s 

Chalmers House in Toronto, as part of the 2018 TD Toronto Jazz 

Festival Discovery Series. The event will also be livestreamed 

by the Canadian Music Centre, at https://livestream.com/ 

accounts/13330169/events/8050734. 

Sara Constant is a flutist and music writer based in Toronto, 

and is digital media editor at The WholeNote. 

She can be reached at editorial@thewholenote.com. 


GREAT CHAMBER 

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Gryphon Trio 

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Juilliard Quartet with 

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Lafayette and Saguenay Quartets 

Ariel Quartet 

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Marc-André Hamelin 

Louise Bessette 

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27 Front Street East, Toronto

FEATURE 

St. Mike’s 

Springtime Messiah 

Sets Momentous 

Challenge 

BRIAN CHANG 

It happens every time after the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel’s 

Messiah. There are always audience members in tears – 

profoundly affected by the art and majesty of the music. 

There are not many other major works that have this effect, and 

probably none that are so beloved in Toronto. St. Michael’s Choir 

School performs Parts II and III of Messiah for Easter 2018, 

having performed Part I during Christmastime 2017. 

St. Michael’s Cathedral 

There’s a long European choral history of all-male choirs, 

commonly known as boy’s and men’s choirs. They’re a common 

feature in many churches and boys’ schools in Europe, for example 

in the Anglican tradition in the UK. They are not common in Canada, 

but a handful of Canadian boys’ and men’s choirs still exist. Few, 

anywhere, have such a storied history as St. Michael’s Choir School 

in downtown Toronto. Adjacent to the head of the Archdiocese of 

Toronto – St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica – St. Mike’s Choir School has 

been generating high-quality musicians since 1937. 

Peter Mahon, interim choir head at St. Mike’s, sat down with 

me over the March break to talk through their upcoming Messiah 

performance. I’m no stranger to Messiah myself, as a singer with 

the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir whose annual performances in Roy 

Thomson Hall with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra draw well over 

8000 patrons over a week-long run. Mahon is also no stranger to the 

work as a singer: a veteran countertenor, he sings in the alto section of 

Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, whose own annual Messiah run reaches 

about 5000 patrons and includes the incomparable “Sing-Along 

Messiah” at Massey Hall. 

Messiah is a big work, both technically challenging and requiring 

a high level of artistry. So, perhaps not surprisingly, as far as Mahon 

knows, the work has never been performed by the school. “It’s very 

easy in a place like St. Michael’s Choir School to only focus on what 

you do well,” says Mahon. “These guys have to basically do a performance 

every week, preparing for a mass; four or five pieces of music, 

and the older boys, at least two pieces of chant. You can focus on that 

mass preparation, and there’s loads of work to do.” Mahon relishes the 

challenge of introducing this beloved Toronto tradition to the choristers 

of St. Mike’s. “It’s nice to have a change of pace. I think they’re 

finding it very refreshing.” 

The first half of Messiah, performed by the school this past 

Christmas, has six chorales that are conventionally performed. 

Parts II and III have about double that amount depending on cuts 

or additions. Unlike the Christmas performance, which numbered 

over 160 choristers, this time Mahon has assembled a smaller set of 

students, around 60, to present the work. The boys had to audition 

to perform in this concert. Any wrangling of children aged 10 to 17 is 

inherently challenging and Mahon appreciates that for this concert the 

boys want to be there, rather than have to be there. 

Andrew Walker, an alumnus of the St. Michael’s Choir school 

program, returns as one of the two tenor leads at the core of the tenor 

section. Other Tafelmusik professionals joining in are Richard Whittall 

and Simon Honeyman on countertenor/alto; Paul Jeffrey, joining Walker 

on tenor; and Joel Allison and Keith Lam on bass. All of them are joined 

by the all-boy treble line on soprano. Whittall and Honeyman share the 

alto solos and Michael Colvin joins as tenor soloist. The only femaleidentified 

voice will be Meredith Hall as soprano soloist. 

“I had never done Messiah before I did it with St. James Cathedral,” 

says Walker, joining me at a café before a Toronto Mendelssohn Choir 

rehearsal. He was introduced to the piece after leaving St. Mike’s. “We 

never did a major work or oratorio while I was there. It was always 

about providing music for the Cathedral. Even when we did our 

major concerts for Christmas or the spring or fall, it was pretty much 

always motets.” 

Walker reflects on the power of being able to perform a work like 

Messiah: “I think it’s incredibly difficult to know what it really feels 

like until you have done it. In Grade 5, I was in intermediate choir. 

It’s the first year you start providing the music at the cathedral. But in 

Grade 5, to learn this music … Messiah is a great piece of repertoire to 

sink your teeth into, but it’s a big work to take on as one of the first 

pieces of music in just the first ten years of your life. It’s exceptional. 

It’s a good challenge and a testament to the teaching staff, Peter, Teri 

(Dunn), and Maria (Conkey).” 

Mahon has added another challenge for the choir in this Messiah, 

by emphasizing Baroque interpretation and aspects of Baroque singing 

style: spacing between notes to give the music lightness and energy; 


more articulation on specific notes and less on others, to drive musical 

phrasing; and dynamic phrasing that tapers off at the end, appropriate 

to the fugal counterpoint common at the time. 

“They aren’t doing badly on the Baroque interpretation – but it all 

takes some getting used to,” Mahon says. They are used to Palestrina 

and songs like that, he explains, but the great sweeping sounds of 

Renaissance music are dissimilar to the technical precision and 

nuanced phrasing of equal length notes that he is asking for here. 

After all, these choristers are being asked to acquire a cultural feeling 

for Baroque music that usually takes years to master. 

The fact that these boys are singing with an orchestra is already in 

itself exciting,” says Walker. “That a 13-year-old boy is being introduced 

to Baroque and period music is really something, and part of 

the mandate of the school. I think if you’re educating a new generation 

of singers, knowing about Baroque pitch is important.” 

As a guide to matters of interpretation, Mahon has referred the boys 

to the Tafelmusik recording of Messiah, a close match to what he’s 

looking for. “It takes a little longer to teach them the music,” he says. 

“Getting them to do the style and actually understanding how to sing 

a Baroque phrase rather than a Renaissance phrase is quite hard.” It 

helps that Mahon himself led the larger contingent of choristers in the 

Christmastime 2017 performance of Part I so they are not entirely new 

to the art he’s looking for. 

The boys are talented and excited, ready to delve into the work. 

They have been rehearsing since January. “It’s quite something,” says 

Mahon. “They’re so motivated, they know the music. In the fall, they 

auditioned with For Unto Us a Child is Born. This time around they 

auditioned with All We Like Sheep.” Walker is impressed to hear that 

the boys auditioned on that chorale: many singers consider the vocal 

runs in All We Like Sheep amongst the hardest sections of music in 

the entire score. 

Walker reminisces about his time being back at St. Mike’s and what 

he would have felt like getting a work like Messiah to perform and 

having to audition. “I switched from being a treble in about Grade 8,” 

Peter Mahon conducting the SMCS choristers in Germany. 

he says. “You are still a red jacket at that point. You get your blue jacket 

when you enter high school. At age 13, that these boys are actively 

wanting to sing this piece, and on top of that, can, is an incredible 

idea. It bodes well for the future of the choral scene in Toronto. What 

an honour it is to sing with a group of musicians and create this art 

together. The music lends itself to excellence, and to a really good 

show, to creating something magical. There are some moments in the 

piece that are life changing, and I don’t use that term lightly. What an 

amazing moment; how magical and momentous it is.” 

St. Michael’s Choir School presents Handel’s Messiah Parts II 

and III with conductor Peter Mahon; Meredith Hall (soprano); 

Richard Whittall and Simon Honeyman (alto); Michael Colvin and 

Andrew Walker (tenor); Joel Allison and Keith Lam (bass); and a 

Baroque orchestra, on Saturday, April 14 at 7:30pm at St. Michael’s 

Cathedral, Toronto. 

Follow Brian on Twitter @bfchang. Send info/media/tips to 

choralscene@thewholenote.com. 

the 2018 SeaSon 

organist david briggs in concert 

with the choir of st. James cathedral 

Friday april 27 2018 | 8:00pm 

including a pre-concert talk at 7:00pm with david briggs 

tickets: $30 in advance; $35 at the door (students: $20/25) 

available in advance online or at the door 

Join organist David Briggs and The Choir of St. James Cathedral 

for an evening of beautiful music by English composer ralph 

vaughan Williams, including SErEnaDE To MuSiC, ThE 

WaSpS ovErTurE, FanTaSia on a ThEME By ThoMaS TalliS, 

MaSS in G Minor, and sacred motets. 

65 ChurCh STreeT, ToronTo 416.364.7865 STjameSCaThedral.Ca 


Beat by Beat | Classical & Beyond 

Beatrice Rana at 

Koerner 

Perlman and Barber on 

Screen 

PAUL ENNIS 

Gramophone’s 2017 Young Artist of the Year, 25-year-old Italianborn 

pianist Beatrice Rana, makes her Koerner Hall debut 

April 8. I remember fondly her Toronto Summer Music concert 

in 2014, where she brought the Walter Hall audience instantly to its 

feet with a heartfelt, technically gripping performance of Prokofiev’s 

Sonata No.6. Her career was clearly on the rise then; it continues on 

its upward path. I recently had an email Q&A exchange with her. 

WN: What are your first memories of playing the piano? 

BR: I began studying 

piano when I was four, 

Beatrice Rana 

but before that I have 

some little memories 

of me trying to repeat 

the melodies of 

cartoons four hands 

with my father. I also 

remember my parents 

taking me out for 

concerts on Friday 

nights; it was always a 

very special feeling. 

Your parents are 

professional pianists 

and your younger 

sister plays the cello. 

Please describe the 

musical atmosphere 

in your home 

growing up. 

I would say that 

music is really part of 

our daily life, as much as drinking water or eating lunch. The house 

could be pretty noisy at times (!), but it was absolutely wonderful 

to grow up in a family that really understood and supported our 

musical choice. 

Who was the first composer you fell in love with as a child? 

The first musical challenges when I was a child were some pieces 

by Mozart and Schumann, but the composer that was giving me the 

biggest sense of accomplishment was Bach, and I ended up playing 

a lot of his music. I still have a very special relationship with Bach’s 

music, even though I constantly fall in love with so many other 

composers. 

Who were the first musicians you fell in love with? 

Martha Argerich and Glenn Gould. 

Do you have any piano idols? 

I wish I could have listened live to Horowitz and [Arturo] Benedetti 

Michelangeli. 

How life-changing was winning the Silver Medal and Audience 

Award at the Cliburn piano competition in 2013? 

It was absolutely a shock – a good shock of course! The first big 

change in my musical career came with [winning] the Montreal 

competition in 2011, but after the Cliburn I really reached what I was 

looking for, which was having the chance to be a concert pianist. 

The thing is that you don’t know what it really means to be a concert 

pianist until you become one: it’s an amazing life, full of travel, 

people, different cultures, but sometimes it can be tiring. 

I’d like to focus on your upcoming Koerner Hall recital on April 8. 

What is it about Schumann’s music that speaks to you in general? 

And what about Blumenstück and the Symphonic Etudes in 

particular? 

I always loved Schumann, probably also because of my close 

relationship to Bach with whom there are many connections. 

Blumenstück and Symphonic Etudes really reflect Schumann’s 

aesthetic with his two opposite personalities: on one hand there is 

Blumenstück, which represents Eusebius with his poetic, intimate 

and dubitative approach to life; on the other, the Symphonic Etudes 

are Florestan, incredibly extroverted and brilliant, inspired also by the 

bigger sonorities of an orchestra. 

What fascinates you about Ravel’s Miroirs? 

The choice of Miroirs is connected to the choice of the piano as a 

symphonic instrument. Ravel was an incredible orchestrator and two 

pieces of the Miroirs were in fact orchestrated. What strikes me the 

most in this music is the imagination and plasticity of sound, which is 

able to recreate vividly 

either the hysteric 

movement of a butterfly 

in the night or a ship 

moving on the ocean 

and struggling with 

the storms. 

What are some 

of the challenges 

of Stravinsky’s 

The Firebird? 

Again, the piano is 

imitating an orchestra 

but this time the 

process is the opposite: 

The Firebird was originally 

written for the 

orchestra, and [Guido] 

Agosti – an incredible 

pianist of the last 

century – wrote this 

amazing transcription. 

The main challenge is 

of course to recreate the 

different sounds that such a big orchestra can reach, but on the other 

side, the advantage is the freedom with the interpretive choices that 

it’s impossible to have with an orchestra. 

What do you find most rewarding and most challenging in your 

professional life? 

It is very fascinating to travel so much and get to know so many 

audiences: every country is completely different, because of its culture 

and its musical traditions. Still, being able to communicate with all of 

them through music is a real privilege, and sharing moments of such 

authenticity on so many different stages is just incredible. 

Alison Chernick’s Itzhak 

“When you finally get the sound [of the violin], you are really 

getting something out of yourself,” the young Itzhak Perlman says in 

black and white footage from Israeli television in 1974, during Alison 

Chernick’s new documentary Itzhak. “The more you have in your 

heart, the more you have to give,” he explains, having noted that to 

get a sound out of a piano you merely have to strike a key. The Israeliborn 

Perlman has given an enormous amount over his long professional 

career; and he’s been in the public eye since his appearance 

MARIE STAGGAT 


SIMON FRYER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 

2018 

2019 

FILMS WE LIKE 

Itzhak Perlman in Itzhak 

OCTOBER 4, 2018 | 1.30 PM 

POULENC TRIO 

James Austin Smith, oboe; Bryan Young, 

bassoon; Irina Kaplan Lande, piano 

TORONTO DEBUT 

in 1958 as a 13-year-old on The Ed Sullivan Show playing an excerpt 

from Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Itzhak is a congenial portrait 

of the living legend, from the child crippled by polio to the 70-yearold 

musical icon travelling out to the CitiField pitcher’s mound in his 

motorized wheelchair to play The Star-Spangled Banner in the home 

of the New York Mets. 

With the aid of old video, photographs and home movies we get 

a sense of what drove the young violinist to succeed. More recent 

footage records the love and devotion of his wife Toby and the importance 

to him of their family and Jewish heritage. His physical challenges 

are constant, his triumph over them as a performer, teacher, 

husband and father implicit throughout. 

But it’s the singularity of his musical life and the joy he brings to 

it that is the raison d’être of Chernick’s film. Where does she lead us 

from the baseball diamond? To a rehearsal of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio 

Op.50 with cellist Mischa Maisky and pianist Evgeny Kissin. Then the 

star-spangled musical trio takes a break in Perlman’s New York City 

kitchen where the host animates the eating of takeout Chinese food 

with a hoary old Russian-Jewish joke. 

Richard Strauss’ Violin Sonata, Bruch and Wieniawski Violin 

Concertos, Brahms, Respighi and Ravel, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart and 

Schubert all resonate on the soundtrack. Marian Anderson’s singing of 

the spiritual Crucifixion has a special place in Perlman’s iconography. 

As his playing of klezmer music with The Klezmatics does in ours. 

And what is the most requested piece of music in his repertoire? The 

theme from Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List by John Williams. 

You can watch how Perlman evokes the beauty of a phrase and 

marvel at the way he brings out the colour of a melody when Itzhak 

plays at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema April 6 to 12, followed by a 

run at the Mt. Pleasant Theatre beginning April 13. 

Massey Hall/Roy Thomson Hall presents Itzhak Perlman and pianist 

Rohan De Silva in recital at Roy Thomson Hall April 22, performing 

works by Schubert, Beethoven and Dvořák. 

H. Paul Moon’s Absolute Beauty 

Recently I celebrated what would have been the 108th birthday of 

American composer Samuel Barber by watching Absolute Beauty, 

a comprehensive portrait of a man who wrote some of the most 

beautiful music of the 20th century. H. Paul Moon’s documentary has 

just now become available via internet streaming or purchase, having 

made the rounds of film festivals over the last several months. I found 

Moon’s assemblage of Barber scholars, musicians, personal reminiscences, 

film footage and photographs so touching that I immediately 

put on two of my personal Barber favourites: his Violin Concerto 

with its lovely first two movements; and his evocative Knoxville: 

Summer of 1915 for soprano and orchestra, the setting of James 

Agee’s clear-eyed nostalgic picture of family life from the point of 

view of a five-year-old boy. I had just learned that Agee and Barber 

were the same age and that Agee’s text spoke directly to Barber’s own 

NOVEMBER 8, 2018 | 1.30 PM 

THOMAS OLIEMANS 

Thomas Oliemans, baritone 

Malcolm Martineau, piano 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 | 1.30 PM 

JOEL QUARRINGTON 

& FRIENDS 

Joel Quarrington, double bass 

David Jalbert, piano; Yehonatan Berick, violin 

Jethro Marks, viola; Carole Sirois, cello 

WMCT commissioned work by Bramwell Tovey 

APRIL 4, 2019 | 1.30 PM 

MARIAM 

BATSASHVILI 

piano 

MAY 2, 2019 | 1.30 PM 

ROLSTON STRING 

QUARTET 

Luri Lee, violin; Jeffrey Dyrda, violin 

Hezekiah Leung, viola; Jonathan Lo, cello 

TORONTO DEBUT 

121 st Season 

Subscribe to Five Thursday Afternoon 

Concerts for $175 (special price until May 31) 

Walter Hall, Faculty of Music, 80 Queen’s Park (Museum Subway) 

wmct@wmct.on.ca 

www.wmct.on.ca 

416-923-7052 

thewholenote.com April 2018 | 23

CANADIAN DEBUT 

Alma Deutscher 

THIRTEEN YEAR OLD 

COMPOSER, VIOLINIST, PIANIST 

KOERNER HALL 

TORONTO, ON 

FRIDAY APRIL 13, 2018. 8 PM 

HPMOON 

Gian Carlo Menotti (left) and Samuel Barber in the 

summer of 1936 from Absolute Beauty 

“Alma wows Vienna with the 

opera she wrote aged 7” 

— TIMES OF LONDON 

“A force of nature.” 

— SIR SIMON RATTLE 

“Everything that cannot be learned, you already 

have.” 

— DANIEL BARENBOIM 

A SPECIAL CONCERT IN HONOUR OF THE 

TWELFTH GLENN GOULD PRIZE JURY 

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TICKETS FROM $55 

WWW.GLENNGOULD.CA 

PRESENTING SPONSOR 

LAUREATE ANNOUNCEMENT SPONSOR 

youthful memories. 

Moon took the film’s title from Leonard Bernstein: “I’ve always associated 

Sam’s music in my mind with Plato – I think, in terms of what 

Plato called the Absolutes, he’s a Platonic composer… the concept that 

there is an absolute truth and an absolute beauty and the absolute 

rightness of things… that all Sam’s music has tried to form one version 

or another of absolute beauty.” 

The documentary begins with the transfixing melancholy of Dover 

Beach Op.3, written for baritone and string quartet (from the poem 

by Matthew Arnold) when Barber was 21 and still a student at the 

Curtis Institute. “Barber found the profound essence of the poem in 

very small motives,” Thomas Hampson says. The film moves through 

Barber’s compositional output from the Cello Concerto, Symphony 

No.1, the justly famous Adagio for Strings, the Piano Sonata (written 

for Horowitz, a frequent visitor to Barber’s Mt. Kisco home), Hermit 

Songs (and his collaboration with Leontyne Price) et al, ending with 

his 1966 opera Antony and Cleopatra and its misplaced stage direction 

by Franco Zeffirelli that blinded the critics to its musical qualities. 

Conductor Leonard Slatkin, one of Absolute Beauty’s roster of talking 

heads, says that he was enchanted listening to the opera on the radio 

when he was 22. 

Barber wrote very little after those negative reviews and spent the 

last years of his life without his longtime partner Gian Carlo Menotti. 

Unable to afford Capricorn, their country home with its sylvan setting, 

Barber moved back to New York City where a Fifth Avenue apartment 

was of little consolation. He left us with a legacy of blissful melancholy 

as Absolute Beauty’s moving soundtrack depicts. 

Absolute Beauty is available for purchase through Amazon and for 

rental at watch.samuelbarberfilm.com and at 

https://vimeo.com/156522774. 

TSO and Friends 

Up-and-coming violinist Ray Chen is the soloist in Bruch’s beloved 

Violin Concerto No.1; Sir Andrew Davis leads the orchestra in Sibelius’ 

magnificent Symphony No.2 Apr 5, 7 and 8. Christian Tetzlaff 

performs Berg’s ineffably beautiful Violin Concerto; Kent Nagano 

leads the OSM in Bruckner’s ever-popular Symphony No.7 Apr 13. 

Violinist Blake Pouliot, recently named Women’s Musical Club of 

Toronto’s 2018 Career Development Award Winner, plays Beethoven’s 

lyrical Romances 1 and 2 as part of an all-Beethoven program under 

the baton of resident conductor Earl Lee that also includes the iconic 

Symphony No.5 Apr 14 and 15. The Associates of the TSO perform two 

of the greatest string chamber works: Schubert’s Quintet in C D946 

and Brahms’ String Sextet No.1 Apr 23. Bramwell Tovey conducts the 

1993 concert version of Leonard Bernstein’s brilliant musical Candide 

(essentially Bernstein’s 1989 recording with a few excisions) Apr 26 

and 28. The legendary pianist Leon Fleisher brings the wisdom of his 

89 years to Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.12; Peter Oundjian conducts 


Bruckner’s immense Symphony No.8 May 2 and 3 (RTH), May 6 

(Montreal) and May 8 (Ottawa). 

QUICK PICKS 

Apr 6: The indefatigable Stewart Goodyear joins Nurhan Arman 

and Toronto Sinfonia for Vinzenz Lacher’s chamber version (originally 

for piano and string quintet) of Beethoven’s masterful Piano 

Concerto No.5 “Emperor.” Also in Barrie Apr 7. Later in the month 

Goodyear joins the estimable Trio Arkel (COC concertmaster Marie 

Bérard, TSO principal violist Teng Li and associate principal cellist 

Winona Zelenka) and Silk Road Ensemble bassist Jeffrey Beecher for 

a performance of Schubert’s sublime Trout Quintet Apr 27. Music by 

Schoenberg, Boccherini and Barrière complete the program. 

Apr 8: Syrinx Concerts presents three internationally known musicians 

who happen to be on the faculty of the Schulich School of 

Music at McGill University – Ilya Poletaev, piano; Axel Strauss, violin; 

and Yegor Dyachkov, cello – performing music by Beethoven, Ravel 

and Oesterle. 

Apr 12: Music Toronto presents the German-based Schumann 

Quartet, proteges of the Alban Berg Quartet and winners of the BBC 

Music Magazine Newcomer Award 2016 in a program of Haydn, 

Shostakovich and Schumann. 

Apr 14: WholeNote Early Music columnist Matthew Whitfield is the 

organist in “The Wagner Effect” presented by Abendmusik at St. John’s 

Norway. (Apr 21 Whitfield plays harpsichord and organ in Bach’s The 

Musical Offering with Molly Evans-Stocks and Jimin Shin, violinists, 

another Abendmusik presentation.) 

Apr 21: Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra’s Annual 

Fundraising Concert features two young soloists, cellist Alik Volkov 

in Tchaikovsky’s charming Variations on a Rococo Theme and pianist 

Lauren Esch in Grieg’s enduring Piano Concerto. 

Apr 22: Pocket Concerts has decided it’s time to tackle Late 

Beethoven. Shane Kim and Katya Poplyansky, violins, and Amy Laing, 

cello, join co-director Rory McLeod, viola, in a performance of String 

Quartet No.12 Op.127. 

Apr 22: Nocturnes in the City presents pianist Karolina Kubálek 

(Antonín Kubálek’s daughter) performing music by Mozart, 

Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Ravel. 

Apr 26: The dean of Canadian pianists, Robert Silverman (soon 

to turn 80), gives an all-Chopin recital at Gallery 345. The program 

is repeated Apr 28 in the Music Room of the Kitchener-Waterloo 

Chamber Music Society. 

Apr 27: Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian joins Amici to celebrate the 

ensemble’s 30th anniversary in a program of works by Respighi, 

Dohnanyi and much Bernstein. 

Apr 28: Charismatic French cellist Gautier Capuçon and his longtime 

duo partner Jerome Ducros grace the Koerner Hall stage with 

a selection of Fauré, Brahms and Rachmaninoff plus French and 

Russian short pieces from their latest CD Intuition. 

May 3: The Women’s Musical Club of Toronto’s final concert of 

the season “Cellodrama!” features principal cellist of the Regina 

Symphony Orchestra, Simon Fryer, who also happens to be artistic 

director of the WMCT. He’s programmed himself along with seven 

cellist friends and special guest soprano Sarah Slean in a recital 

featuring works for solo cello, four cellos and eight cellos by Barrière, 

Penderecki, Jocelyn Morlock, Bach, Kelly-Marie Murphy, Queen and 

Villa-Lobos (the incomparable Bachianas Brasileira No.5). 

May 3 to 6: Tafelmusik, with guest conductor Bruno Weil at the 

podium, takes a fresh approach to Beethoven, dipping into two classics 

from his fertile middle period. Music director emerita Jeanne 

Lamon is the concertmaster for the evening. Current music director 

Elisa Citterio is busy as the soloist in the Violin Concerto, which opens 

a strong program that ends with the Pastoral Symphony. 

May 4: Festival of the Sound artistic director James Campbell gets 

ready for summer with music for clarinet, piano and cello in various 

combinations by Beethoven, Ravel, Fauré, Saint-Saëns and Brahms, at 

the Aurora Cultural Centre. 

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Beat by Beat | World View 

Transcultural 

Musical Health 

ANDREW TIMAR 

Oversimplifying a complex subject, I believe that all music is 

essentially hybrid, reflecting the diversity and the hybridity 

of our own music-loving species. What fuels the hybridizing 

impulse when staying with the tried and true often seems the safer 

musical choice? 

The continual process propelling the evolution of musical culture 

can be witnessed in seemingly small things. I’ve seen it sparked by 

casual jams and offstage exchanges between musicians from different 

cultures, for example. Such explorations have also occasionally been 

instigated by adventurous composers eager to incorporate new sounds 

or cultural sound-views in their scores and recording projects. I see 

this kind of cultural transfusion as 

a hallmark of the healthiest scenes, 

those which will continue to thrive 

among future music creators, interpreters 

and audiences. 

Relevant to this discussion is the 

evolving notion of transculturalism. 

Simply put, it is “involving, encompassing, 

or combining elements of 

more than one culture.” 

The idea of the transcultural 

society was developed 

by the German cultural philosopher 

Wolfgang Welsch. In 

Transculturality – the Puzzling 

Form of Cultures Today (1999) he 

asserts that the notion of transculturality 

takes into account “the 

internal complexities and constant 

variations characteristic of every 

culture, as well as recognizing 

the degree to which cultures are 

becoming inseparably linked with 

one another.” According to Welsch, 

cultures today are no longer 

homogenous and monolithic but rather have multiple intersections 

and interdependencies which exhibit network characteristics. 

A number of Toronto musicians and music groups have creatively 

embraced the practices of cultural hybridity and transculturality (with 

or without using that tag), putting the social reality we experience 

every day on centre stage. 

For this month’s column I’ve sought out music creators and 

presenters among us who seek to combine instruments, melodies and 

modes, musical forms, song lyrics, performance genres and practices, 

presenting concerts mixing two or more musical cultures. Here are 

just a few I’ve found. 

KUNÉ – Canada’s Global Orchestra 

Launched last year as The New Canadian Global Music Orchestra by 

the RCM’s Mervon Mehta, and recently rebranded as the more mellifluous-sounding 

KUNÉ (“together” in Esperanto), this Toronto world 

music supergroup could be transcultural music’s poster family. (I 

wrote extensively on KUNÉ’s origin story in my May 2017 column in 

The WholeNote (NCGMO Explores the Power of the Collective) and 

recommend a visit there for those who would like to know more 

about this ambitious project.) 

Directed by David Buchbinder, KUNÉ releases its debut album in 

concert on April 7 in its Koerner Hall home. As I mention in my review 

of the album elsewhere in this issue, it is a milestone in the group’s 

“journey to create a band that looks and sounds like Canada today.” 

After intermission David Buchbinder is joined by Grammy Awardnominated 

Cuban piano master Hilario Durán along with their band 

Odessa/Havana. They skillfully mash up the worlds of klezmer and 

Latin music, creating new lyrical and swinging transcultural music 

along the way. 

Kiran Ahluwalia’s “LOVEfest: Welcome the Stranger” 

Two-time JUNO Award-winning singer and songwriter Kiran 

Ahluwalia’s concert “LOVEfest: Welcome the Stranger” is a case 

study in transcultural performance. The production tours eight North 

American cities in April. Its sole Toronto stop is on April 14 at the 

Harbourfront Centre Theatre, part of Small World Music’s 16th Annual 

Asian Music Series which runs April 6 to May 25. 

Born in India, raised in Canada and currently living in New York 

City, Ahluwalia makes songs deeply rooted in Indian and Pakistani 

classical music and ghazal traditions. Her songs and arrangements 

draw from her rich South Asian heritage but they are also 

heavily influenced by African desert blues and American jazz. In 

these disparate elements we can trace Ahluwalia’s own multicontinental 

life journey, witnessing how she has morphed musical influences 

from each into a sweet sounding emblem of 

transculturality. 

Kiran Ahluwalia Tagged as “an eclectic celebration of love and 

diversity through music and dance,” LOVEfest 

includes sacred and secular performers from both 

Muslim and Sikh traditions. In an impromptu text 

chat with me, Ahluwalia pointed out with concern 

that these “two communities are currently experiencing 

an alarming rise in hate crimes.” It’s an issue 

evidently front of mind. The April tour supports her 

new album 7 Billion; its second track Saat (Seven) 

explores the faces of cultural intolerance. Says 

Ahluwalia, “It is a theme close to my personal experience. 

My story is that of an immigrant born in India 

and raised in Canada. As an immigrant child the 

hardships we faced were touted as temporary – the 

effects were permanent.” 

Onstage, Ahluwalia is supported by her crack fivepiece 

band on electric guitar, electric bass, tabla, 

accordion and voice. Affirming cultural diversity, 

she welcomes to the show Souad Massi (Algeria), 

the most successful female singer-songwriter in the 

Arabic-speaking world today. Massi’s lyrics are about 

creativity and tolerance, and the common human 

yearning for freedom. 

Adding cultural layers and spiritual dimensions to the concert, 

the Bhai Kabal Singh trio of tabla, two harmoniums and three voices 

performs songs in their Sikh temple kirtan tradition. Then Egyptian 

dancer Yasser Darwish renders the tanoura, a colourful whirling 

Dervish dance featuring multicoloured skirts that symbolically 

demonstrate core values of Sufi spiritual belief, such as unconditional 

forgiveness. 

Now for an exclusive insider tip just for WholeNote readers. In 

our recent text exchange Ahluwalia hinted she and Massi may be 

singing a cover of a song by a renowned world music diva. After some 

prompting, she revealed they’re working on Gracias a la Vida, the 

song made famous by Mercedes Sosa, the late Argentinian giant of 

Latin American song. It’s a telling choice. Written in 1966 by Violeta 

Parra, a founder of Nueva Canción Chilena, the song stands as a 

defiant, life-affirming response to political injustice while unblinkingly 

reflecting on the bittersweet nature of life’s joy and sadness. 

To a generation of Chileans Gracias a la Vida became an anthem 

uniting people in times of trouble. For audiences on both sides of the 

world’s longest peaceful border, LOVEfest’s program aims to demonstrate, 

employing elements from diverse global cultures, what it feels 

like to “welcome the stranger” though heartfelt music and dance. 

“LOVEfest: Welcome the Stranger” also plays April 12 at the Oakville 

Centre for the Performing Arts and April 13 at FirstOntario Performing 

26 | April 2018 thewholenote.com 

SWATHI REDDY

Arts Centre in St. Catharines. 

Ensemble Constantinople “Under the Senegalese Musical Sky” 

April 13 the Aga Khan Museum presents “Under the Senegalese 

Musical Sky,” featuring the Montreal-based Ensemble Constantinople 

directed by Kiya Tabassian, and guest Senegalese musician Ablaye 

Cissoko. Inspired by the ancient city illuminating East and West, 

Ensemble Constantinople was conceived as a forum for encounters 

and cross-fertilization. In its two-decade career it has explored many 

musical genres and historical periods, from medieval manuscripts 

to contemporary aesthetics, from Mediterranean Europe to Eastern 

traditions. 

MICHAEL SLOBODIAN 

Ablaye Cissoko (left) and Ensemble Constantinople 

Last fall the Aga Khan Museum inaugurated a series of performances 

titled “Conversation Nation,” linked thematically to its HERE 

exhibition. Using Ensemble Constantinople as the house band, four 

musical pairings, each with a different national focus and guest musician, 

were programmed. The series launched in October 2017 with 

“Under the Syrian Musical Sky.” 

The scene shifts to Senegal April 13, with the master kora player, 

vocalist and composer Cissoko. Born into a Mandingo griot (troubadour/historian) 

family, Cissoko has developed an international concert 

and recording career playing music characterized as “at the confluence 

of African music and jazz.” 

Ensemble Constantinople has worked with Cissoko since 2014, 

forging innovative encounters between Mandinka and Persian classical 

music, set within a transnational world music aesthetic. 

Their 2015 collaborative album Jardins migrateurs (Itinerant Gardens) 

garnered critical plaudits for “conveying a sense of effortless invention 

grounded in unassuming technical masterery.” We can expect another 

masterclass in gentle transcultural music from this quartet on April 13. 

Taiko Plus! Esprit Orchestra with guest group Nagata Shachu 

Although I’ve followed the trailblazing Esprit Orchestra since its 

inception, I rarely get a chance to write about its music in this column. 

Why? As Canada’s only full-sized professional orchestra devoted to 

performing new orchestral music, it usually falls outside my world 

music beat. Not this month. 

On April 15, the 65-member Esprit Orchestra, under the direction of 

Alex Pauk, assays the transcultural embedded at the core of contemporary 

orchestral music in its Koerner Hall concert. The work in question 

is Japanese composer Maki Ishii’s Mono-Prism (1976), scored 

for orchestra and a group of seven taiko drummers. Under the direction 

of Toronto’s Kiyoshi Nagata, members of his veteran taiko group 

Nagata Shachu perform those demanding drum parts. 

I caught up with Esprit conductor Alex Pauk on the phone recently. 

“This isn’t the first Ishii work with non-orchestral percussion we’ve 

played. In a past season we performed his Afro-Concerto (1982) which 

uses African drums. The earlier Mono-Prism had its roots in Ishii’s 

extended studies with Ondekoza, the founding group of the modern 

taiko movement.” 

Mono-Prism, the first work for orchestra and taiko, was premiered 

in 1976 by conductor Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood Music Festival, 

with Ondekoza playing the taiko parts. Its compelling energy, 

AT THE AGA KHAN MUSEUM 

In Under the Senegalese Musical Sky, 

Montreal ensemble Constantinople and 

griot Ablaye Cissoko create rich new music 

by uniting the traditions of the Mandinka 

Kingdom and the Persian Empire. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 8:30 PM 

$40, $36 Friends 

Includes same-day Museum admission 

Tickets at agakhanmuseum.org 

A co-presentation with 


hythmic vitality, clouds of sound from the pen of a skilled orchestrator, 

and its East-meets-West subtext, won a favourable reception. Its 

heart-skipping finale still excites audiences today. 

I should mention that the Esprit Orchestra has embraced transcultural 

music making before. In 2013 it hosted Toronto’s Evergreen 

Club Contemporary Gamelan, jointly performing two works by 

Canadian composers. (As usual I want to flag my 35-year membership 

in ECCG – yes, I was on that stage and yes, I’m still having fun 

doing so!) 

As a bonus that night Esprit added a dance performance by Balinese 

dancer Evie Suyadnyani. Intrepid classical music blogger Leslie Barcza 

recognized the transculturality that night, exclaiming, “My head is still 

buzzing in a good way from this exquisitely intercultural experience.” 

Gamelan in Concert 

Finally, speaking of the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, the 

pioneer Canadian world music octet has built a 35-year career making 

music which regularly crosses cultural stereotypes and boundaries. The 

group has embraced not only the West Javanese music indigenous to its 

gamelan degung (set of instruments) but many other global genres as 

well. ECCG has collaborated in concerts and recordings with an enormous 

variety of music-makers, including Baroque and contemporary 

orchestras, string quartets, violin soloists, choirs, NEXUS, opera and 

world music singers, turntable duo iNSiDEaMiND, rapper Abdominal, 

and the leading Sundanese songwriter of his generation, Nano S. 

On April 21 the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in 

Toronto presents “Gamelan in Concert” at its Jarvis Street hall. Doesn’t 

sound particularly transcultural? What if I told you that three types of 

gamelan from three distinct cultures are represented? 

In addition to playing its Sundanese degung, ECCG hosts Javanese 

musician and scholar Sutrisno Hartana as its artist-in-residence. 

He’ll be developing new works in a series of workshops with ECCG, 

exploring common ground between Sundanese, Javanese and Western 

instruments and performance practices. 

Kayonan Balinese Gamelan Orchestra represents Bali, the third 

culture in the concert. Founded in 2011 by dancer/choreographer and 

gamelan musician Keiko Ninomiya, Kayonan is Toronto’s first gong 

kebyar (orchestra). She has actively promoted the awareness and 

appreciation of Balinese gamelan music and dance in Toronto through 

performances, demonstrations, workshops and weekly courses 

ever since. 

During the break between the first and second halves of the 

concert, the Consulate has considerately arranged Indonesian snacks 

for anyone in the audience who feels peckish. After a feast of mixed 

gamelan music and dance, what better than a plate of gado-gado piled 

high with sticks of sate and pink krupuk to feel truly transcultural on 

Jarvis Street? 

Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer. He 

can be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com. 

Beat by Beat | Music Theatre 

Visceral Theatre 

JENNIFER PARR 

The Toronto spring season continues to be a hotbed of music 

theatre creation and revival, from traditional works to many 

variations on cross-genre experimentation. 

The National Ballet of Canada brought back one of the jewels in 

its crown with Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty. Over many years of 

watching ballet I had become disenchanted with the great Russian 

classics but when given the chance to see first, the dress rehearsal, and 

then the opening night of Sleeping Beauty in March, I found myself 

swept away by the company’s delighted ownership of Nureyev’s 

version of Petipa’s masterpiece and newly enchanted by the theatrical 

and dramatic variety in Tchaikovsky’s famous score. The dress 

rehearsal also featured a captivating last-minute pairing at the dress 

rehearsal of Jurgita Dronina and Harrison James as Princess Aurora 

and Prince Florimund for Act Three. On opening night Heather 

Ogden was an incandescent Princess Aurora, dancing as if without 

any thought of the technical demands of the rose adagio or grand pas 

de deux, for example (which she danced brilliantly). Ogden brought 

to life in every moment, with every gesture, the 16-year-old princess 

of Act One, the yearning dream princess of Act Two, and the newly 

mature, newly awakened princess of Act Three. Also outstanding 

was Tanya Howard as the Lilac Fairy, slim authority personified in 

her flowing lilac fairy dress, with echoes of her equally authoritative 

performance of Paulina in The Winter’s Tale last fall. 

The Ballet’s spring season also brought to the Four Seasons Centre 

the mixed program Made in Canada featuring a fascinating piece 

by Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite: Emergence, to an original 

score by Owen Belton. While the first two pieces of the program were 

lyrical and beautiful, Emergence startled with its stark, spiky, modern, 

almost science fiction-style choreography and music. Exciting in its 

energy and unexpected dangerous quality of movement, this piece 

was atavistically disturbing and sometimes terrifying to watch; the 

dancers all in black seeming to be a cross between black swans and 

insects, an impression enhanced by a score made up of unusual 

sounds, most disturbingly what sounded like a horde of beetles’ 

mandibles clicking. 

Pite, recognized internationally as an innovative choreographer 

with commissions around the world as well as for her own company 

Kidd Pivot, also returns to Toronto April 19 to 22 with Betroffenheit 

at Canadian Stage, her co-creation with playwright-performer 

Jonathan Young (of Vancouver’s Electric Theatre Company) originally 

co-commissioned by Canadian Stage and presented as part of the 

2015 Panamania Festival. Inspired by the real tragic event of Young’s 

young teenage daughter and two cousins dying in a cabin fire and his 

own spiral into despair that followed, the show was first conceived 

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as a one-man play but with the collaboration of Pite as director and 

then choreographer it developed into something much more. The 

show interweaves play text (mostly through voiceover) with dance 

in a way that allows the creators and performers to go beyond the 

literal into the metaphysical and imaginary to explore the ideas and 

emotions in great depth. 

It has been described as a 

“harrowing representation 

Betroffenheit 

of trauma and suffering” 

but is also heralded by 

almost everyone who has 

seen it as phenomenally 

powerful and inventive, 

particularly in its combination 

of dance and theatre. 

Almost a signature piece 

for Canadian Stage as an 

example of this type of 

cross-genre collaborative 

creation, it is also a 

cousin to another show in 

the Canadian Stage season: 

The Overcoat: A Musical 

Tailoring, which opens 

with previews on March 27. 

The world premiere of 

the new opera/musical version of Gogol’s short story by director and 

librettist Morris Panych with a score by James Rolfe and movement 

choreography by Wendy Gorling promises to be an exciting event, 

and particularly fascinating for anyone who saw Panych and Gorling’s 

original famously physical theatre “silent movie” style production of 

The Overcoat which wowed audiences here and around the world. 

Also opening March 27 is the Toronto run of the touring production 

of An American in Paris, presented by Mirvish Productions at 

the Princess of Wales Theatre. A more traditional musical offering, 

the draw for me is to see how the newly expanded and darker book 

by Craig Lucas will work with Christopher Wheeldon’s Tony Awardwinning 

choreography, and how both will compare to the beloved 

Gene Kelly film. 

Mirvish Productions is also presenting another Tony Awardwinning 

musical, the Musical Stage Company’s new production of 

Fun Home, coming to the intimate CAA (formerly Panasonic) Theatre 

April 13 to May 6; the first time that a local musical production has 

been part of the Off-Mirvish Program. 

On a much smaller scale than the shows I have been talking about 

above, Fun Home tackles issues much bigger than the size of its 

cast in a show described as both heartbreaking and fiercely funny. 

Adapted from Alison Bechdel’s best-selling semi-autobiographical 

2006 graphic novel, it tells the story of Alison, a 43 year-old lesbian 

cartoonist, struggling to untangle her complex relationship with her 

deceased father. Moving between past and present, and connecting 

directly with the audience, Alison relives an unusual childhood 

growing up in a funeral home, her sexual awakening, unanswerable 

questions about her father’s secret life and eventual suicide and the 

effect that has on both herself and her family. 

Adapted by Lisa Kron, and with a 70s-inflected score by Jeanine 

Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie), this production of Fun Home 

will be brought to life by the Musical Stage Company’s usual brilliant 

creative home team of director Robert McQueen, music director 

Reza Jacobs and choreographer Stephanie Graham. The dynamite cast 

includes Stratford stars Cynthia Dale and Evan Buliung as Alison’s 

parents Helen and Bruce Bechdel, with Laura Condlln as Alison at 43, 

the narrator who holds the show together; Hannah Levinson as Small 

Alison (age 10), and as Medium Alison (age 19, university student), 

Toronto native Sara Farb. 

As Toronto audiences may remember, Farb was one of two young 

Janes in the musical Jane Eyre that had its world premiere at the 

Royal Alex back in 1996. In a 2015 interview for In the Greenroom, 

she talked about her thoughts a few years earlier of getting out of the 

MICHAEL SLOBODIAN 

theatre business because “what [she] offered was too astray from the 

norm [of] musical theatre” and yet over the last five years at Stratford 

and in Toronto, she has developed into a powerful presence, most 

notably recently as the powerful goth-like Mary Tudor in The Last 

Wife (Stratford and Toronto) and The Virgin Trials, and her enigmatically 

sardonic Bob Dylan in the 

Musical Stage Company’s most 

recent Uncovered concert: Dylan 

and Springsteen – a fascinating 

segué to exploring the role 

of Medium Alison, a character 

discovering and coming to celebrate 

that she is a lesbian, and 

the effect that has on her family. 

You can hear Farb singing one 

of the signature songs of Fun 

Home, “Changing My Major” 

on Youtube in a promotional 

video shot at Toronto’s Metro 

Reference Library. 

As you will hear in this song, 

Jeanine Tesori’s score has that 

almost indescribable quality 

of sounding like real people 

singing – just that one step 

beyond talking – before soaring 

into melody, that can pull the audience immediately into the story. 

Interestingly, the story itself, centering on a daughter trying to come 

to terms with the death of her father and their earlier troubled relationship, 

irresistibly brings to mind Britta Johnson’s Life After which 

opened the Musical Stage Company’s season in September. Did they 

plan it that way? 

Other echoes of the Musical Stage Company appear in the first 

www.wmct.on.ca 

2018 WINNER OF THE WMCT’S $20,000 

CAREER DEVELOPMENTAWARD 

Violinist 

Blake Pouliot 


Beat by Beat | On Opera 

April Is a Festival 

CHRISTOPHER HOILE 

ADAM RANKIN 

In any year, April is often the month with the single highest 

concentration of opera presentations in Toronto and environs – and 

2018 is one of those years. In this April alone there are examples 

from every period of opera from the 17th century to the present. 

For newcomers or frequent operagoers April offers an unusual 

opportunity to gain an overview of the entire genre. The following are 

in chronological order based on the year they premiered. 

Hannah Levinson in Fun Home. 

previews of the Stratford Festival’s musicals this month. Dan 

Chameroy, who was so good as the motivational speaker father in Life 

After, shakes things up in the Tim Curry-associated starring role of 

Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show at the Avon Theatre, and 

Daren A. Herbert, who was so charismatic and effective as Onegin 

in the new Canadian musical of the same name last spring, takes on 

the iconic Robert Preston role of Harold Hill in The Music Man at the 

Festival Theatre. 

Breaking news this week as we prepare to go to print has it that 

the new musical Jukebox Hero, being created around songs from 

classic rock band Foreigner’s hit list, will follow up its debut performances 

this summer in Calgary and Edmonton with a Toronto engagement 

(of only five performances so far) in February 2019 at the Ed 

Mirvish Theatre under the Mirvish umbrella. Excitingly, the cast is all 

Canadian, featuring musical veterans Richard Clarkin and Jonathan 

Whittaker as the two fathers, and the creative team is top shelf, led by 

director Randy Johnson (A Night with Janis Joplin), choreographer 

Tracey Flye (Mirvish Productions, Ross Petty Productions), music 

director Mark Camilleri (Mirvish, Dancap) and writers Dick Clement 

and Ian La Frenais (best known for their films The Commitments and 

Across the Universe, as well as their one previous stage musical Billy 

which starred Michael Crawford). Tickets go on sale on Ticketmaster 

on March 26. 

QUICK PICKS 

Ongoing: The wonderfully life-affirming Canadian musical Come 

From Away continues its run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, now 

extended to October 2018. 

Apr 10 to 12: “On Broadway”: A rare chance to see Canadian 

(born in Iran but brought up in Brampton) Ramin Karimloo, star 

of Broadway and London’s West End and a brilliant Jean Valjean in 

the recent remount of Les Miserables in Toronto and New York, in a 

concert of Broadway favourites with Stephanie J. Block (Wicked) and 

the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Steven Reineke at Roy 

Thomson Hall. 

Apr 21 and 22: “Broadway Reimagined.” Sarah Slean brings her 

unique Canadian pop sensibility to a program of Broadway classics 

with the Mike Janzen (jazz) Trio and the Niagara Symphony Orchestra. 

Apr 26 to May 6: Picnic in the Cemetery, is a multimedia performance/concert 

presented by Canadian Stage and created by Toronto 

composer Njo Kong Kie with the Macau-based Folga Gaang Project. 

Described as a combination of the whimsical and the macabre, Picnic 

(which previously played at the Edinburgh Festival) was originally 

inspired in part by the composer having lived near the Mount Pleasant 

Cemetery. 

Toronto-based “lifelong theatre person” Jennifer (Jenny) 

Parr works as a director, fight director, stage manager and 

coach, and is equally crazy about movies and musicals. 

Dancers Tyler Gledhill and Juri Hiraoka pose as Ulysses 

and Penelope from The Return of Ulysses 

1639/40 – The Return of Ulysses (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) 

by Claudio Monteverdi. Monteverdi’s Ulisse, one of the first great 

operas in music history, recounts Ulysses’ return to his home of 

Ithaca after 20 years’ absence, only to find his wife Penelope besieged 

by suitors convinced that he must be dead and pressuring her to 

remarry. Opera Atelier first staged the opera in 2007 and this will 

be its first remount. Krešimir Špicer, an OA favourite who has sung 

the title role throughout Europe, will be Ulisse. Mireille Lebel will 

sing his wife Penelope, Christopher Enns will be his son Telemaco, 

Laura Pudwell will be the Nurse and Carla Huhtanen, Kevin 

Skelton, Stephen Hegedus and Meghan Lindsay will sing the deities 

Fortuna, Jupiter, Neptune and Minerva, respectively. David Fallis 

conducts the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Marshall Pynkoski 

directs. April 19 to 28. 

1733 – Orlando (composed 1719) by George Frideric Handel. The 

COC has been delving more into Handel’s operas but has so far not 

staged this work, which is counted one of the composer’s masterpieces. 

In it the Christian knight Orlando falls in love with the pagan 

princess Angelica, who is already in love with someone else. Orlando’s 

unrequited love drives him to madness. Opera by Request presents 

the opera in concert with mezzo Kinga Lizon singing the castrato 

role of Orlando. Vania Chan sings Angelica and Shannon Halliwell- 

McDonald sings Medoro, the man she loves. William Shookhoff is the 

pianist and music director. April 7. 

BRUCE ZINGER 


SCOTT SUCHMAN 

1791 – The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Those seeking 

to add Mozart to their April lineup will have to travel to Windsor to see 

a new, young opera company there perform this classic. The company’s 

name is Abridged Opera and in their mission statement they call 

themselves “an indie opera company designed to bring a taste of this 

grand art form to a community that has limited access. They condense 

classic operatic works without compromising the opera’s integrity.” 

The singers have not been determined but the stage director will be 

Tracey Atin. April 14 and 15. 

1813 – The Italian Girl in Algiers (L’Italiana in Algeri) by Gioachino 

Rossini. Fans of Rossini will also have to travel out of Toronto to see 

the work of another new, young company, Vera Causa Opera, that 

has sprung up in the Waterloo region in the past couple of years to 

provide performance opportunities for emerging artists. The operas 

are presented staged, costumed and with orchestra. L’Italiana is one of 

Rossini’s best-known comic operas (even though it has not been seen 

at the COC since 2003). Katerina Utochkina sings Isabella, the Italian 

girl of the title. Domenico Sanfilippo is the Bey Mustafà, who wants 

to marry her. David Boan is Lindoro, the young man in love with her, 

and Kimberley-Rose Pefhany is Elvira, who wants to win back the love 

of her husband the Bey. Michaela Chiste directs and Dylan Langan 

conducts. April 6 in Cambridge and April 7 in Waterloo. 

1830 – Anna Bolena by Gaetano Donizetti. With this opera the 

COC completes Donizetti’s so-called Three Queens trilogy of operas 

about Tudor monarchs, all starring superstar soprano and recent 

Canadian citizen Sondra Radvanovsky. In 2010 she sang the title role 

in Maria Stuarda and in 2014 she sang Elisabetta (Queen Elizabeth 

I) in Roberto Devereux. 

Now she sings the title 

role of the doomed Anne 

Boleyn, which Toronto 

audiences last heard 

back in 1984 sung by 

no less than the great 

Joan Sutherland. Eric 

Owens sings the role of 

Enrico VIII, Keri Alkema 

is his new love-interest 

Giovanna Seymour, Bruce 

Sledge sings Lord Percy 

and Allyson McHardy 

is Anna’s devoted page 

Smeton. Corrado Rovaris 

is again the conductor 

and Stephen Lawless, 

as with the previous 

two Three Queens 

Sondra Radvanovsky as Anna Bolena in 

a scene from the Washington National 

Opera production of Anna Bolena. 

instalments, is the 

stage director. April 28 

to May 26. 

1835 – Lucia di 

Lammermoor by 

Gaetano Donizetti. Opera 

Belcanto of York is also performing Donizetti this month in Richmond 

Hill. Alicja Wysocka sings the title role, Berg Karazian is Edgardo, 

David Babayants is Enrico and Henry Irwin is Raimondo. Edward 

Franko is the stage director and David Varjabed conducts the Opera 

Belcanto of York Chorus and Orchestra. April 19 and 22. 

1843 – Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti. Those seeking Donizetti 

in a lighter vein should look for Opera by Request’s concert performance 

of one of the composer’s best-known comic operas not seen 

at the COC since 1994. Bass-baritone Mikhail Shemet sings the title 

role, soprano Grace Quinsey sings Norina, the wife who tries to tame 

the gruff Pasquale, and tenor Fabian Arciniegas sings Ernesto, the 

young man who loves Norina. Claire Harris is the music director and 

pianist. April 21. 

1848 – Lohengrin by Richard Wagner. Opera by Request can also 

help those suffering from Wagner withdrawal. OBR is presenting 

Lohengrin, a standard repertory work that the COC last staged back 

in 1983. Lenard Whiting sings the title role of the mysterious knight, 

Vanessa Lanch is Elsa, goaded into asking a forbidden question, Jillian 

Yemen is the scheming Ortrud, Andrew Tees is Telramund and Steven 

Henrikson is King Heinrich. William Shookhoff is the music director 

and indefatigable pianist. April 13. 

1859 – Orphée by Christoph Willibald Gluck as revised by Hector 

Berlioz. Toronto’s enterprising Against the Grain Theatre has collaborated 

with the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Opera Columbus 

and New York’s Company XIV to create a new version of Orphée et 

Eurydice, the 1762 opera by Gluck, revised by Berlioz in 1859. Opera 

Atelier presented Berlioz’s version straight in 2015. Against the Grain 

has different plans. It says, “In 2018, we think this would become an 

electronic, baroque-burlesque descent into hell. While staying true to 

the original score ... and honouring the traditions of Baroque opera, 

this new production pushes the boundaries of operatic presentation 

through an orchestra that 

mixes acoustic and electric 

instruments, features 

Siman Chung 

captivating choreography 

from burlesque dancers, 

aerial artistry and a 

global virtual chorus.” 

The global virtual chorus 

is made up of videos from 

100 people who answered 

AtG’s request by singing 

their choral parts in the 

score which were then 

electronically mixed. 

Korean countertenor Siman Chung sings the title role, Canadian 

soprano Mireille Asselin is his love Eurydice and American aerialist 

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G. Silva-Marin, Stage Director 

Beste Kalender, Adam Fisher, 

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Gregory Finney, Matthew Zadow 

and Cian Horrobin 

April 27, 28 at 8 pm 

April 29 at 3 pm 

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and soprano Marcy Richardson portrays Amour. Topher Mokrzewski 

conducts an ensemble of 11 musicians, including electric guitar 

and synthesizer, and Joel Ivany directs. As a side note, the artistic 

director of co-producer Opera Columbus is none other than Opera 

Atelier favourite Peggy Kriha Dye, who sang Eurydice for OA in 2015. 

April 26 to 28. 

1864 – La Belle Hélène by Jacques Offenbach. Toronto Operetta 

Theatre concludes its 2017/18 season with the company premiere 

of Offenbach’s famous satirical Trojan War operetta. The COC last 

presented the work in 1983. Beste Kalender sings the title role, 

Gregory Finney is her aged husband Menelaus, Adam Fisher is her 

young Trojan lover Paris and Stuart Graham is Agamemnon, who 

thinks Helen’s abduction is a just cause for war. Peter Tiefenbach 

conducts and Guillermo Silva-Marin directs. April 27 to 29. 

1904 – Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. The fourth Opera 

by Request concert presentation this month is a staple of standard 

repertory. Deena Nicklefork sings Cio-Cio San, Will Ford is the faithless 

Pinkerton, Keith O’Brien is the American consul Sharpless and 

Madison Arsenault is Cio-Cio San’s faithful servant Suzuki. William 

Shookhoff is the pianist and music director. April 27. 

2009 – The Nightingale and Other Short Fables including Le 

Rossignol (1914) by Igor Stravinsky and Renard (composed 1916; 

premiere 1922) by Igor Stravinsky. The COC concludes its 2017/18 

season with a revival of Robert Lepage’s unique take on two short 

operas by Stravinsky mixed with the composer’s settings of Russian 

folksongs. The production that premiered to huge acclaim in 2009 is 

most notable for placing the orchestra and chorus on stage and filling 

the pit with water for Vietnamese water puppets and other effects. 

The cast and conductor are completely different from those in 2009. 

This time Jane Archibald will sing the Nightingale, Owen McCausland 

will be the Fisherman, Christian Van Horn will be the Emperor and 

Johannes Debus will conduct. April 13 to May 19. 

2018 – The Overcoat by James Rolfe. The first half of April will allow 

audiences to see the most recent Canadian opera to be fully staged in 

Toronto. This opera is an attempt to convert the wildly popular wordless 

1997 physical theatre piece by Morris Panych and Wendy Gorling 

into an opera. The original piece told the 1842 story by Nikolai Gogol 

through movement to selections of music by Shostakovich. It told of 

Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, a government clerk who becomes 

obsessed with the notion that he must have a new overcoat to secure 

a promotion. 

While the look of the opera will be the same as the theatre piece, 

Panych, who is also the stage director, has had to write a libretto. This 

has been set by James Rolfe, one of Canada’s most successful and 

prolific opera composers. In the 13-member cast, Geoffrey Sirett will 

sing Akaky, Peter McGillivray will be both the Tailor and the Head of 

Akaky’s Department and Andrea Ludwig will be Akaky’s Landlady. 

Leslie Dala conducts this co-production of Tapestry Opera, Vancouver 

Opera and Canadian Stage. March 29 to April 14. 

2018 – Opera Peep Show. For a sampling of all sorts of opera, four 

indie opera companies have banded together to create a pay-as-you-go 

show at the Campbell House Museum. Four rooms of the 1822 downtown 

mansion are devoted to each company. Liederwölfe presents 

an assortment of some of the most famous scenes in opera. Essential 

Opera presents favourites from its past seasons. re:Naissance presents 

three dramatic scenes combining texts from Shakespeare with music 

by John Dowland and his contemporaries. And Urbanvessel presents 

the interactive performance Boots about a young woman’s relationship 

with her footwear. April 28 to 30. 

From all of these offerings this April, new operagoers can acquire a 

wide background in the genre, while seasoned operagoers can easily 

construct their own festival. 

Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-based writer on opera and 

theatre. He can be contacted at opera@thewholenote.com. 

Beat by Beat | Art of Song 

Ga-Ga for Who? 

LYDIA PEROVIĆ 

Quick, how many Gounod fans have you encountered in your 

life? Before meeting pianist Steven Kettlewell, the man behind 

the Castle Frank House of Melody’s new concert offering, 

“Ga-Ga for Gounod” (April 7 at St. Andrew’s United on Bloor St. E.), 

my answer would have been scarcely any. Composer of very Catholic 

operas and of the overplayed Ave Maria? Not a lot to be excited about 

there. When the early listing for the Gounod song recital arrived in 

this magazine’s inbox, I found myself intrigued. Of course he would 

have composed songs, as most of his peers did, but what were they 

like – how much unlike his arias, how Catholic, how Romantic, 

how French? Most of French 19th-century song before Debussy and 

Ravel remains little performed, with one notable exception, Berlioz’s 

masterwork Les nuits d’été. 

Charles Gounod (1818-1893) is certainly best known for his operas, 

says Kettlewell when we meet in his apartment in a charming midrise, 

a short walk up the hill from behind the Castle Frank subway 

station. Some of Gounod’s 

better-known arias will be in 

the program—two from Roméo 

et Juliette and three from 

Faust. The motley selection of 

Gounod songs in the program 

contain several in the English 

language, to poetry by Tennyson, 

Wordsworth and Shelley. Was he 

an ardent English poetry reader? 

“He lived in England for a period 

of time. During the war of 1870 

between France and Prussia, 

Gounod moved his family to 

Charles Gounod as photographed 

in 1859, at the time of the 

premiere of his opera Faust. 

England. His wife returned after 

the Paris Commune was defeated, 

but Gounod ended up staying 

another four years. He met there a 

certain Georgina Weldon, an eccentric battleaxe of many causes… One 

of her pet causes became Gounod.” 

Gounod’s English-language songs sound very “English regional 

composer of the Victorian era,” says Kettlewell. “Even a bit like Arthur 

Sullivan. And some of the poetry is very sentimental.” One of the 

poems in the program is The Worker (1872), written by the then-indemand 

lyricist Frederick Weatherly, also known for Danny Boy and 

Roses of Picardy. It could be taken for a social-realist song about the 

harsh conditions of a worker’s life were it not for the Catholic resolution, 

with angels arriving to take his soul to the higher plane of the 

afterlife for a well-deserved reward. 

Gounod’s French songs, on the other hand, are very much salon 

songs, says Kettlewell. “He’s a lyrical composer who knows how 

to compose for the voice, and that comes across in songs as well.” 

Thematically, they involve “lovely, simple poetry, simple emotion. ‘I 

love you,’ or ‘It’s a beautiful spring day,’ or ‘A beautiful night’. Soprano 

Cara Adams is going to sing one called Boire à l’ombre, which has 

more meat to it than some of his other songs. Years ago I bought a 

collection of 15 duets by Gounod for soprano or mezzo and baritone, 

and here I’m including a selection.” Adams and two other sopranos, 

Patricia Haldane and Lorna Young, with mezzo Martha Spence and 

baritone Michael Fitzgerald, make up the soloist roster. Kettlewell 

mans the piano. 

It was a heady operatic century for France, the 19th, and the 

program will show some of its range. We’ll hear some arias from 

Bizet’s Carmen, but also the more obscure Benjamin Godard and 

Fromental Halévy. And one song by Fanny Mendelssohn. What’s the 

connection there? “She met him while they were in Rome – where 




Gounod won the Prix de Rome. She wrote a letter to her 

brother in which she describes him as ‘charming.’ She extolled 

to him the virtues of modern German music at the time, and 

also Bach. Later, on his way back to France via Vienna, Gounod 

visited them in Weimar for a few days and got to know the 

brother Felix as well.” 

On his return to Paris after the extended stay in Rome, 

Gounod seemed to be in no rush to become an opera 

composer. “What you’d normally do as a young composer is try 

to hook up with a librettist and start composing, maybe a short 

opera, in the hope that say the director of Opéra Lyrique would 

see it and give you a commission. He instead took a job as a 

church organist. He was that for a few years. He wrote masses 

and choral pieces and didn’t try hard to get invited to salons 

and meet librettists, schmooze, get to know people.” He also 

got a job writing music for schoolkids. 

It was Pauline Viardot who jump-started his career, says 

Kettlewell. “He had met her in Rome. Then in Paris, when they 

met again, she remembered him. Ah, le prêtre voluptueux! She 

asked him if he was writing any operas and promised to set him 

up with Émile Augier. She had just had a big hit at the Opera Garnier, 

they wanted her to come back next year, and she said to Gounod that 

she would if he composed that opera for her. And that was Sapho, his 

first.” It wasn’t a great success then and the intervening centuries did 

not re-evaluate it. The thoroughly heterosexual Sappho takes her own 

life over a man, and there’s even a ballet added to the story in a later 

version. What survives of the first Viardot-Gounod collaboration is the 

aria O ma lyre immortelle, which is still heard in concerts and which 

will be sung by Lorna Young in this program. 

A lot of the operatic works of that time underwent rewrites and 

recycling, extensions and cuts, demanded by opera house directors, 

star singers or the state censor. “The second version of Gounod’s Faust, 

with recitatives instead of spoken dialogue, was much more successful 

than the first one,” says Kettlewell and hands me a book that’s been 

lying on his coffee table. “I’m reading this right now, Second Empire 

Opera: The Théàtre Lyrique Paris, 1851-1870 by T.J. Walsh, it’s 

hilarious. It’s about Théâtre Lyrique, the house that wasn’t subsidized 

by the government, unlike Opéra de Paris. [There are] a lot of 

composers in this book that we’ve never heard of, operas we’ve never 

heard of. The Lyrique would put on an opera and if it wasn’t very 

successful, they’d put a work on that was successful last year but rejig 

it for this year’s use. The stuff popular with the audience would push 

other works aside. They had to make money off opera.” 

The works commissioned by the state-subsidized Opéra de Paris 

were always under the eye of the censor. Even Sapho was sent back 

for an edit because in one scene there was a hint of a sexual bargain 

Steven Kettlewell, Martha Spence and Tricia Haldane rehearsing. 

between two minor characters. “All the while, the subscribers had 

the right to go back stage and flirt with the ballerinas. Viardot once 

said something to the effect that ‘what we were doing onstage was no 

worse than what was happening in the wings during the performance’.” 

The pestering of the ballerinas was part of the subscription 

package. 

The censors also kept a close eye on anything that might cause 

political unrest. “They didn’t want people getting excited at the opera 

house and then running out to the streets and rioting … which was 

a French tradition.” Gounod’s own opera on Ivan the Terrible never 

saw light of day because there was never a good time to show regicide 

and assassination attempts onstage. While Gounod was writing 

it, Napoleon III was nearly assassinated on his way to the opera with 

his wife: somebody threw a bomb under their carriage. Gounod’s 

opera plot, coincidence would have it, also contained an assassination 

attempt. “People began saying to him, you’ll never get this on stage, 

start something else.” So he did. He relinquished the libretto to Bizet 

and moved on to other matters. 

An example: the opera Cinq-Mars, which Gounod created for 

Opéra-Comique, and which was revived only in 2017 in a German 

opera house and recorded by Palazzetto Bru Zane as part of their 

lavishly designed French Romanticism series. (Kettlewell of course 

owns the CD.) When I tell him that Opéra-Comique is reviving 

Gounod’s second opera, La nonne sanglante, in June this year 

and that I have a ticket, since one of my favourite conductors is 

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nunsploitation (nun + exploitation), known to us from genre movies 

but already familiar to 19th-century operagoers. Rossini’s Le Comte 

Ory is still probably the best known of the type. “Meyerbeer’s Robert 

le diable also has some of that with the dance of the ghosts of nuns 

who rise from their tombs,” Kettlewell says. 

As to the question of how Gounod fits in with the idea we have of 

French Romanticism: “I’d always offer some other names first in that 

context – certainly Berlioz – but with Gounod, there’s always a bit 

of restraint there, I think,” he says. He also mentions the then-star 

Meyerbeer as a more typical exponent. “What operas by Meyerbeer 

I’ve heard, I liked a lot. You sometimes wonder why some things fall 

out of fashion… and Meyerbeer has.” His Les Huguenots has seen some 

revival success in Belgium, France and Germany in the last few years. 

“Yes, and I just got a DVD of Margherita d’Anjou… and Robert le diable 

was done at the Covent Garden recently.” 

Of all of Gounod, what would be his top five that everybody should 

hear? “Remember the Alfred Hitchcock Presents series? The opening 

credits music? That’s Gounod, the Funeral March of a Marionette, 

and he wrote it to poke fun at a British music critic.” Also on that list, 

the Jewel Song from Faust and Je veux vivre from Roméo et Juliette. 

“O ma lyre immortelle from Sapho is beautiful, as is the one from 

Cinq-Mars that we’re including in the program, Nuit resplendissante,” 

he says. 

“And, of course, the Ave Maria.” 

Ga-Ga for Gounod takes place inside the modernist concrete beauty 

that is St. Andrew’s United Church, 117 Bloor St. E., on April 7 at 

7:30pm. Tickets $20 in advance (triciahaldane@gmail.com to arrange 

an e-transfer) or $25 at the door, cash only. There will be a salon party 

after, directions to the location to be given from the stage. 

Lydia Perović is an arts journalist in Toronto. Send her your 

art-of-song news at artofsong@thewholenote.com. 

Beat by Beat | Early Music 

Transcribing the 

Masters 

MATTHEW WHITFIELD 

The act of musical transcription has existed as long as notation 

has, used over the past millennium to facilitate artistic crosspollination 

and the exchange of ideas across international 

borders. Utilized in centuries past as equal parts pedagogical tool, 

musical tribute and vehicle for musical propagation, transcriptions 

exist from some of music’s greatest figures, including Johann 

Sebastian Bach. 

Historically, transcribing involves some element of copying, whether 

for pedagogy, plagiarism, or practicality, such as copying performing 

parts from a full score, a task for which Bach received much help, 

often from his wife and children. It is often from these copies that a 

work is passed down through 

Forestare 

centuries. According to the 

late-18th-century German 

musicologist Johann Rochlitz, 

even the Thomaskirche did 

not possess the full score 

for Bach’s motet Singet dem 

Herrn, but only the vocal parts 

which were preserved “as if 

they were a saint’s relics.” 

Bach’s use of transcriptions 

extends throughout his lifetime, 

from his student days 

copying forbidden scores by 

candlelight to his organ tablature 

transcriptions of music 

by Reincken and Buxtehude, 

as well as his transcriptions 

for organ of Vivaldi concerti 

and his own Schübler Chorale 

Preludes. In fact, a well-documented 

theory postulates that Bach’s most famous organ work, the 

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, wasn’t written for organ at all, but was 

an organ transcription of an earlier work for violin. 

In its modern conventional use, the term transcription refers to 

two similar but distinct actions: notating a piece or a sound which 

was previously unwritten, such as Bartók’s folk song transcriptions 

or Messiaen’s notations of birdsong; and rewriting a piece of music, 

either solo or ensemble, for another instrument or other instruments 

than those for which it was originally intended, including Liszt’s piano 

versions of the Beethoven symphonies. 

Transcription in the latter sense is often conflated with arrangement. 

In theory, transcriptions are faithful adaptations, whereas 

arrangements change significant aspects of the original piece. In practice, 

though, there are many works which fit equally well into either 

category. Consider, for example, Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s 

Pictures at an Exhibition or Mahler’s re-orchestrations of Beethoven 

and Schumann symphonies. There is an equal amount of faithful 

adaptation and significant change in each of these examples, which 

ride the line between transcription and arrangement. 

The act of transcribing is, at first glance, an uncomplicated one – 

nothing needs to be changed in a work’s notes or rhythms – the piece 

simply needs to be re-notated for a different instrument. It is in this 

adaptation, however, that the art and craft of the transcriber is made 

apparent, for each instrument contains its own idiosyncrasies, technical 

challenges and limitations, particularly if the music being transcribed 

and the instrument being transcribed for have their origins centuries 

apart – Hildegard von Bingen for saxophone and theremin, for example! 


Better by the Dozen 

One of the relatively recent instruments for which old music is 

regularly arranged is the modern classical guitar, designed in the 

19th century after earlier classical models. Although not in existence 

during Bach’s time, a great deal of J.S. Bach’s music has been transcribed 

for the modern guitar, including preludes, fugues, sonatas, 

partitas, cello and orchestral suites, as well as lute, keyboard and 

ensemble music by other Baroque composers. One of the most interesting 

facets of these arrangements is the constant accommodation 

and adaptation being made by the transcriber and performer, 

particularly in fugues, where it is nearly impossible for all three or 

four voices to be as distinctly present on a guitar as they would be on 

a keyboard. This adjustment creates another arranging/transcribing 

hybrid, for Bach’s original counterpoint must be compromised to be 

played, often resulting in a work that is familiar yet new when heard 

in performance. 

While many of us are acquainted with the classical guitar, April 

brings a supersized surprise to fans of the instrument. On April 15, 

the Quebec-based ensemble Forestare makes their Toronto debut in 

Mooredale Concerts’ 2017/18 season finale. What makes this program 

unusually interesting is the instrumental makeup of Forestare, 

consisting of 12 guitars and two basses. 

According to their media release, “Since 

its 2002 inception, Forestare has participated 

in the creation of 50 original 

works and adapted nearly another 100 

for its unique configuration – as a result 

creating the largest repertoire for guitar 

orchestra in the world.” 

For their April Toronto debut, 

Forestare’s program is comprised 

entirely of arrangements made by David 

Pilon (also Forestare’s conductor), David 

Ratelle and Jürg Kindle, taken from their 

Baroque album. Works including Lully’s 

Le bourgeouis gentilhomme, Vivaldi’s 

Trio Sonata (La folia) and numerous 

works by Bach, including Brandenburg 

Concerto No. 3, ensure a mixture of 

familiar earworms and less-familiar 

discoveries. This concert presents a 

rare and unique opportunity to experience 

something that is, for many of us, entirely new: well-known 

works transcribed for an extraordinary and novel combination of 

instruments. 

Looking Ahead 

Scaramella, April 7: In addition to the new and exciting debut 

of the Forestare guitar orchestra, Toronto hosts a number of other 

worthwhile early music events this month, including Scaramella’s 

“Boccherini and Friends,” a survey of Boccherini’s music in the 

context of his contemporaries, on April 7. With works by Boccherini, 

Michael Haydn (brother of Franz Josef), Leopold Mozart (father of 

Wolfgang) and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, this dip into the late 

18th century features those who were lost in the transition between 

the Baroque and Classical periods, as popular tastes shifted and 

changed, and many worthwhile and successful composers faded into 

premature obscurity. According to the late-18th-century author Jean- 

Baptiste Cartier, “If God wanted to speak to men through music, He 

would do it with the works of Haydn, but if He wanted to listen to 

music, He would choose Boccherini.” But don’t take Cartier’s word for 

it – check out this concert and decide for yourself. 

Music @ Met, April 22: Last month’s issue of The WholeNote 

featured an interview with Dr. Patricia Wright, Metropolitan United 

Church’s Minister of Music. In her interview Dr. Wright explained that 

for decades Metropolitan United has hosted a successful and ongoing 

series of concerts, recently rebranded as the Music at Metropolitan 

(Music @ Met) program. The next performance in the Music @ Met 

calendar features Musicians on the Edge and Rezonance Baroque 

QUICKSILVER’S 

FANTASTICUS 

April 13 & 14 at 8pm 

AS our guest ensemble, The Toronto Consort 

is proud to present Quicksilver, the 

hot new ensemble of virtuoso players of 

early Baroque music. At one of their recent 

concerts, The New York Times reported that 

“the audience was on its feet cheering and 

hooting as if it were at a rock show.” Fantasticus 

features extravagant music from 17th-century 

Germany for violins, sackbut, dulcian and 

continuo, with works by Buxtehude, Bertali, 

Weckmann and Schmeltzer. 

“All virtuoso soloists in their own right, and together 

their playing is drop-dead gorgeous.” 

- EARLY MUSIC AMERICA 

UP NEXT! Monteverdi’s Orfeo, May 25, 26, 27 

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Beat by Beat | Choral Scene 

Ensemble in “Mystery of the Unfinished Concerto” on April 22. With 

music by Corelli, Vivaldi and others, as well as new compositions 

created on the spot, this presentation continues Rezonance’s exploration 

of partimenti and Baroque improvisational technique, in both the 

context of written and unwritten music. 

Cantemus, May 5 and 6: Looking ahead to early May, Cantemus 

Singers present what should be a sublime concert of works from the 

early Tudor period on May 5 and 6. Although written in social, political, 

and religious conditions that were decidedly less than ideal, the 

music produced by such composers as Tallis, Sheppard and Mundy 

overcame the limitations of their time and began the progression 

towards what is now considered the English Cathedral style of music. 

With a rich historical background full of fascinating tales and anecdotes, 

this performance is ideal for fans of Renaissance music and 

history buffs alike. 

As winter departs, the days grow longer, and the mercury rises, take 

advantage of a beautiful spring evening or two and explore a concert. If 

nothing in this month’s column strikes an interest, explore this magazine 

for hundreds more shows, recitals and presentations – all happening 

within the area – and find the music that’s right for you. Your feedback is 

always welcome: send me a note at earlymusic@thewholenote.com or say 

“Hi” in person; either way, don’t let April showers keep you indoors. 

Matthew Whitfield is a Toronto-based harpsichordist and organist. 

THREE 

UNIQUE 

CONCERTS! 

3rd Annual 

TORONTO 

BACH 

FESTIVAL 

John Abberger, Artistic Director 

A dazzling showcase of works by J.S. Bach in an intimate setting. 

With John Abberger, Ellen McAteer, Rachel Mahon, 

Scott Wevers, Julia Wedman, Alison Melville and more! 

TWO BRANDENBURG WITH LOVE 

Fri May 11 @ 8 pm * 

BACH & SCHÜTZ 

Free lecture! Sat May 12 @ 11 am ** 

BACH’S INSPIRATION 

Organ recital Sat May 12 @ 2 pm ** 

CANTATAS AND A PASSION 

Sun May 13 @ 3 pm * 

Music and 

Storytelling 

BRIAN CHANG 

Emotion is at the core of every musical performance and 

storytelling is at the heart of emotion. Sometimes the stories 

can be esoteric, sometimes they are obvious, sometimes they 

challenge us to find them. There is an extra dimension that conductors 

put into their concerts when programming songs that tell a story 

to evoke certain feelings. Take in a well-constructed choral concert 

this month and see the part that musical storytelling plays. I’ve 

highlighted a few below. 

“I’ll be Your Refuge” 

“Music has a way of softening the edges around a message, of getting 

at its true emotional core, and of transmitting that to a broad range 

of people,” says Annabelle Chvostek, JUNO-nominated singer-songwriter 

and artist-in-residence for Echo Women’s Choir. She continues: 

“Having music carry ideas can make things feel less preachy or 

didactic. It’s just giving it from the heart.” Chvostek is answering 

some of my questions by email. I’ve asked her about her experiences 

creating and adapting her solo music for Echo Women’s Choir. 

I’ll Be Your Refuge is Chvostek’s feature song that gives the Echo 

Women’s Choir spring concert its title. This isn’t Chvostek’s first time 

writing or arranging music for Echo. She has adapted her songs Black 

Hole and Firewalker for them, amongst others. But “this year is the 

first time I am actually presenting a song that is a choral song first. 

I’ll Be Your Refuge is a song I want to be singing, but it is so much 

more poignant to do it with the intent and attention of these women 

supporting its delivery. And it was a magical process to have room for 

four vocal parts to carry it instead of my one.” 

The story she’s telling here is one that is deeply personal for her. Her 

partner is a former refugee and Chvostek is sharing a story of acceptance, 

belonging and open arms. “Observing the global refugee crisis of 

the last few years has been powerful. Some of the most moving news 

moments for me have been around [refugees], including watching 

Canadian families and communities respond to the crisis with openness 

and generosity,” she continues.“And frustratingly, some people 

respond with fear.” Echo is sharing this music to move beyond fear. 

Echo is unlike any other choir in the city that I’ve met. It is a gathering 

of female-identified voices rooted in a compassion and drive 

for social justice. Their concerts are community gatherings centred 

around music, much of which is uniquely arranged for Echo by Alan 

Gasser. Becca Whitla and Gasser are co-directors with Chvostek. They 

want you to think and be challenged by their music and storytelling. 

There is deep thoughtfulness behind the music they program and the 

issues they want you to confront. 

Dene singer Leela Gilday comes to Toronto as the choir’s special 

guest. Based out of Yellowknife, Gilday shares stories and describes 

Tickets: $40 | 3-concert Festival Pass: $105 | Senior & Student pricing 

*St. Barnabas-on-the-Danforth 361 Danforth Ave, Toronto 

** Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, Toronto Oratory 1372 King St W, Toronto 

TorontoBachFestival.org 416.466.8241 


Annabelle Chvostek 

XIMONA GRISCTI 

herself as having “a 

sense of humour as 

well as a sense of social justice and an ironic appreciation of human 

folly.” Her music and stories will be welcomed by the choir. 

“Music is one way we can express the things that we hope will 

contribute to a fairer, more just society,” says Chvostek. “One that 

cultivates joy within all its diversity of expression. Music can actually 

get at things in a way that words alone can’t.” 

Echo Women’s Choir presents “I’ll be Your Refuge” with special 

guest Leela Gilday and co-directors Becca Whitla, Alan Gasser and 

Echo Women’s Choir 

Annabelle Chvostek, Sunday April 29 at 3pm, at Church of the Holy 

Trinity, Toronto. 

Now the Guns Have Stopped 

For the Oakham House Choir upcoming concert “Better is Peace 

than Always War,” artistic director Matthew Jaskiewicz has paired 

Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man and Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem. Two 

distinct works, they are companion pieces in their ability to channel a 

message of peace in the form of a mass. The concert’s title comes from 

the opening words of the 12th and final movement of Jenkins’ piece. 

KATHERINE FLEITAS 

BACH CHILDREN’S CHORUS 

and the BACH CHAMBER YOUTH CHOIR 

Charissa Bagan, Artistic Director 

James Pinhorn, BCYC Conductor 

Eleanor Daley, Pianist 

SATURDAY MAY 12, 2018 AT 7:30PM 

Toronto Centre for the Arts 5040 Yonge Street 

Tickets at the box office or 1-855-985-2787 (ARTS) 

Photo by Kinson Leung; used under licence. 

Design by David Kopulos www.davidkopulos.com 

facebook.com/BCCandBCYC bachchildrenschorus.ca 


David Bowser 

The Armed Man is popular amongst 

community choirs for its universal 

message of peace and its musical 

accessibility. The work includes 

poetry by Rudyard Kipling, Jonathan 

Swift and Sankichi Tōge, a Japanese 

survivor of the Hiroshima bombing 

by the USA. The hymn L’homme 

Pax Christi Chorale 

armé, for which the work is named, 

is based on an ancient tune. The 

hymn tells us “the armed man should be feared,” a warning against 

those who carry and use weapons. 

Paired with The Armed Man, Jaskiewicz has chosen the Fauré 

Requiem. A beloved staple of French music and the requiem canon, 

this is a mass for the dead. Put into the context of a call for peace, this 

requiem performance will not be used for actual commemoration. 

Audiences will instead be challenged to think about the areas of the 

world plagued by conflict at this very moment. And as we approach 

the centenary of the end of World War I, it serves to remind us of past 

conflicts as well. This concert commemorates the end of the First 

World War and is a collaboration with the European Union consulates 

in Toronto. Members of the armed forces from the Scottish Regiment 

and Haller’s Army (Blue Army) will be in attendance. Oakham is also 

pleased to welcome the Novi Singers of Toronto to this performance. 

Oakham House Choir Society presents “Better is Peace Than Always 

War” on April 28, 7:30pm, at Metropolitan United Church, Toronto. 

“Let there be light!” 

Pax Christi Chorale is joined by the Toronto Mozart Players for a 

presentation of Haydn’s masterpiece oratorio: Die Schöpfung (The 

Creation). “The Creation represents the highest form of oratorio,” 

shares David Bowser, artistic director of Pax Christi, via email. “It was 

written with love for the listener. Haydn paints colourful and vivid 

musical depictions of darkness and light, water and weather, plants, 

birds, animals and people, all framed in grand angelic choruses.” 

Bowser is presenting the work in its original German because the 

“text is closer to today’s spoken German, and gives the music a more 

buoyant phrasing and crisper articulation. It should be underlined 

that neither Haydn nor van Swieten, who wrote both versions, spoke 

English with any fluency and the settings are clumsy,” he says. Many 

a chorister has frowned when confronted with the awkward English 

of “And to th’ ethereal vaults resound” or “achieved” in three syllables. 

The original German allows the choir to move beyond such 

awkwardness. 

Pax Christi is joined for this concert by Sandy Rossignol, a video 

artist. Bowser explains the creative process and the reasoning behind 

the inclusion of this added dimension to the music. “Often audiences 

are buried in their programs reading along with the text,” he 

says. “And they are not as connected with the performers. A video 

of images compiled and manipulated by Sandy will serve as abstract 

surtitles to assist the audience in following the German text. The 

music is so visual that Sandy was immediately inspired. He is also 

incorporating themes of science, equality, diversity and conservation 

to bring modern relevance to the performance.” 

Rossignol’s live visual accompaniment promises to give the 

concert a unique visual storytelling dimension. 

Pax Christi Chorale presents Die Schöpfung (The Creation) with 

the Toronto Mozart Players, Danika Lorèn (soprano), Charles Sy 

(tenor), Oliver Laquerre (bass-baritone), and live video performance 

by Sandy Rossignol on April 28 at 7:30pm, at Grace Church 

on-the-Hill, Toronto. 

QUICK PICKS 

Apr 6: Exultate Chamber 

Singers presents “We Sing 

and Play!” As noted in last 

month’s Choral Scene, Dr 

Hilary Apfelstadt is retiring 

from the University of 

Toronto and as artistic 

director of Exultate. She 

brings the Toronto Winds 

to her final concert with 

Exultate, which features the 

premiere of Resurgam by 

Canadian composer Matthew 

Emery, the choir’s composerin-residence. 

Emery has 

blended Renaissance 

polyphony with contemporary compositional techniques to create 

a work for an interesting pairing: voice and small wind ensemble. 

St. Thomas’s Anglican Church, Toronto. 

Apr 28 and 29: DaCapo Chamber Choir and the Orpheus Choir 

of Toronto present This Thirsty Land. Joined by instrumentalists, 

the choirs present the local premiere of DaCapo artistic director 

2017 / 2018 

Ensemble! 

with Adleisia 

Oriana is delighted to share the stage with 

Montreal Women’s Chamber choir Adleisia 

Sunday, May 6, 2018 ~ 2 pm 

Grace Church on-the-Hill 

300 Lonsdale Road, Toronto 

Tickets available at www.orianachoir.com 

or Hart House Tickets at 416-978-8849 

ORIANA Women’s Choir gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of 

www.orianachoir.com 

info@orianachoir.com 


I 

I 

T 

T 

C H O R A L E 

C 

H O 

R 

L 

A 

E 

Leonard Enns’ work This Thirsty Land, recently commissioned and 

premiered by the University of Guelph. Other smaller works include 

Toronto-based composer Hussein Janmohamed’s Sun on Water and 

Norwegian Trond Kverno’s Ave Maris Stella. April 28, 8pm at St. John’s 

Lutheran, Waterloo, and April 29, 3:30pm at St. Anne’s Anglican 

Church, Toronto. 

Apr 29: Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto presents “I Saw 

Eternity.” Artistic director Lydia Adams conducts the choir’s final 

concert of the season featuring music by Eric Whitacre, Eleanor Daley, 

Hussein Janmohamed, Stephen Chatman and more. The inspiration 

for the concert comes from Henry Vaughan’s poem The World, which 

opens with the lines: “I saw eternity the other night.” Leonard Enns’ 

and Stephen Chatman’s settings of The World are presented along 

with other spacious works including Ola Gjeilo’s Serenity and Eric 

Whitacre’s Water Night. Eglinton St. George’s United Church, Toronto. 

May 5: Mississauga Festival Choirs present “Generations,” with the 

Mississauga Festival Choir, the Mississauga Festival Chamber Choir, 

their youth choir, Resonance, and their intergenerational choir Raising 

Voices. The signature work of the evening will be John Rutter’s Mass of 

the Children. Living Arts Centre, Mississauga. 

May 6: St. Anne’s Anglican Choir presents “A Hubert Parry Tribute.” 

The Junction Trio joins a larger orchestra and the St. Anne’s Choir 

under music director John-Luke Addison. The concert commemorates 

100 years since the death of Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. 

Royal music aficionados will know him for his coronation anthem I 

was Glad, which was written for the coronation of King Edward VII 

in 1902. The famous Anglican hymn Repton, a staple of congregations 

around the world was set to music by Parry. St. Anne’s Anglican 

Church, Toronto. 

Follow Brian on Twitter @bfchang. Send info/media/ 

tips to choralscene@thewholenote.com. 

P A X 

• 

C H R 

I S T 

• 

C H O R A L E 

I 

David Bowser 

Artistic Director 

TORONTO CLASSICAL SINGERS 

MUSIC OF TRANSCENDENCE 

BRAHMS: EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM 

ONE OF THE MOST MOVING PIECES EVER COMPOSED – 

BOTH HUMANIST AND HUMANIZING 

JURGEN PETRENKO, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR 

THE TALISKER PLAYERS ORCHESTRA 

LESLEY BOUZA, SOPRANO 

MATTHEW ZADOW, BARITONE 

SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2018 

CHRIST CHURCH DEER PARK 1570 YONGE STREET AT HEATH 

TICKETS $30.00 416-444-7863 

Die 

Schöpfung 

Franz Joseph Haydn 

The Creation 

Pax Christi Chorale with the 

Toronto Mozart Players, Danika Lorèn, 

Charles Sy, Olivier Laquerre and 

video artist Sandy Rossignol 

Saturday, April 28, 7:30 p.m. 

Grace Church on-the-Hill, 

300 Lonsdale Rd. Toronto 

FOR TICKETS, VISIT 

PAXCHRISTICHORALE.ORG 

torontoclassicalsingers.ca 


Beat by Beat | Jazz Notes 

Happy St. 

Patrick’s Day from 

the Great Irish 

Jazz Pianists 

STEVE WALLACE 

St. Patrick’s Day came and went between this issue of WholeNote 

and the last, so I thought it would be fun to acknowledge my 

Irish descent – the key word being descent, as in “into madness” 

– by taking a look at the grand legacy of Irish jazz piano. There have 

been many more fine Irish jazz pianists than many people realize and 

here they are, in chronological order: 

Ellis Larkins 

I SAW ETERNITY 

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2018 • 4:00 PM 

FEATURING 

Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto | Lydia Adams, conductor 

Shawn Grenke, conductor and piano | Naomi Barron, cello 

Single tickets: $40 | $30 | $20 

For tickets, call (416) 446-0188 

www.amadeuschoir.com 

Eglinton St. George’s United Church 

35 Lytton Blvd, Toronto 

(at Lytton Blvd and Duplex Ave, 

one block west of Yonge St) 

Ellis Larkins – Larkins hailed from Baltimore, County Cork. He 

was something of a child prodigy, performing with local orchestras 

by the age of ten. After graduating from the distinguished Peabody 

Conservatory in his hometown, Larkins became the first jazz pianist to 

attend the famed Jewel Yard School of Music in Dublin and began his 

long career after graduation. Larkins had a gossamer touch resulting 

in a translucent sound, a deft harmonic sense and a sensitivity which 

made him a great accompanist, especially of singers. He spent many 

years as a vocal coach and was the regular pianist for a number of fine 

vocalists including Mabel Mercer, Sylvia Syms and the First Lady of 

Irish Song, Ella Fitzgerald. Along with his own natural reticence, this 

supportive role meant Larkins was one of the more overlooked Irish 

pianists, although musicians like Ruby Braff, with whom he often 

recorded in a duo, knew his true worth. 

Harold McKinney – McKinney was born into a musical family in 

that hotbed of Irish jazz, Moughtown (pronounced “mow”), County 

Monaghan. One of his brothers, Bernard, played the euphonium and 

another, William, was a bassist. They bear no relation to the William 

McKinney who led the seminal Irish big band McKinney’s Flax 

Spinners. Harold McKinney might have achieved more notoriety had 

he left Moughtown for Dublin, as did many of the city’s younger pianists, 

but he preferred to remain there in the role of elder and mentor, 

for which he was much treasured. 

Dave McKenna – McKennna was from the Aran Islands and eventually 

emigrated to Boston and later New York, where he was the 

favourite pianist of such American-Irish greats as Bobby Hackett and 

Zoot Sims. A huge, anvil-headed man with massive hands who looked 

like the captain of a whaling boat, he was the most two-fisted of Irish 


pianists, developing a driving and very full style often displayed in 

solo outings. His two-fistedness was often seen offstage as well, with 

a pint of Guinness in his left hand and a small one of Jameson’s in 

his right. He was also renowned for his almost limitless repertoire, 

often weaving seemingly disparate songs into long and ingeniously 

witty medleys. 

Tommy Flanagan – Easily my favourite Irish pianist, Flanagan 

was part of the large wave of young musicians, many of them pianists, 

to emerge from Moughtown in the mid-1950s. His very fluent 

playing showed both the delicacy of Teddy Wilson and the toughness 

of Bud Powell, his two main influences. He was very much of 

the lace-curtain school of Irish jazz piano; there never was one who 

played with more lilting grace or elegance. Like Ellis Larkins, he was 

naturally standoffish and served a long apprenticeship as a sideman, 

including several stints as Ella Fitzgerald’s accompanist in the 1960s 

and 70s. He appeared on hundreds of records, including a couple of 

seminal ones in Irish history: Giant’s Causeway Steps with the great 

Ulster tenor John Coleraine, and The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes 

Montgomery, with Eire’s most celebrated plectrist. Eventually in his 

forties, Flanagan lit out on his own as a leader with a long series of 

fine trio records. By the time he died in 2001 he was known as “The 

Poet of the Piano.” 

Armagh J. O’Malley – Born Fritz Peterson, O’Malley eventually 

adopted a more Irish name taken from his home county in Ulster. 

He later emerged in the centrally located Shightown with a fine trio, 

which exerted considerable influence on both the repertoire and 

rhythmic approach of the mid-1950s’ Miles Davis quintet, bringing 

him lasting fame in spite of indifference from many critics. Despite 

virtuosic technique, he played with a very sparse, probing style, often 

concentrating on the piano’s upper register, and displayed a brilliant 

knack for arranging unlikely pieces for piano trio, using ingenious 

vamps and interludes to fully integrate the bass and drums. He was 

one of the first jazz pianists to become a Steinway Artist and is still 

going strong. He will turn 88 this July, a special age for a pianist given 

the number of keys on the instrument. 

Wynton Kelly – In contrast to Tommy Flanagan, Kelly developed 

a hard-swinging, funky, blues-infused style of great craic and spirit 

much more in keeping with the thatched-roof school of Irish jazz 

piano. He hailed from the large Dublin borough of Brooke Lynn and 

went on to form important associations with Miles Davis and Wes 

Montgomery, often in the company of his long standing trio of bassist 

Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobh, who hailed from the small 

port just south of Cork. He died far too young, but Kelly was the most 

joyous of Irish pianists. 

(For those not familiar with the designations lace-curtain and 

thatched-roof Irish, the former tend to be more urban and genteel, 

more prosperous and “of the quality” as the Irish would put it. 

Thatched-roof Irish are more lively, down to earth and working class, 

often dwelling in modest rural cottages. The following old joke may 

help drive the distinction home: What’s the difference between lacecurtain 

Irish and thatched-roof Irish? The lace-curtain Irish take the 

dishes out of the sink before they pee in it.) 

Roland Hanna – Hanna is another of the fine pianists to emerge 

from the hyperactive Moughtown jazz scene. He had an eclectic 

modern approach and was one of the few players influenced both 

by bebop pianists and Erroll Garner. A great favourite of that noted 

jazz fan Queen Elizabeth II, he was knighted by her and thereafter 

known as Sir Roland Hanna, causing no small dismay among his more 

republican fans, some of whom referred to him as “that poxy royalist 

bastard.” He survived a couple of knee-capping attempts but eventually 

won over his doubters by remaining true to his Irish musical roots 

of lyricism wed with inventiveness. 

McCoy Tyner – Tyner came to prominence as a young man when 

he joined the classic 1960s quartet of renowned Ulster tenor John 

Coleraine. Tyner developed a rhythmically powerful attack using 

the 6/8 rhythms and triplets common to Irish jigs and reels, while 

exploring the modern applications of traditional Irish modality 

using Uilleann pipe modes and the quartal harmonies of the puntatonic 

scale. Apart from the Coleraine quartet he made many fine trio 

recordings as a leader. 

Chick O’Rea – O’Rea began in his teens as a percussionist, playing 

the bodhran in traditional Irish groups. His inherent brilliance as a 

pianist soon took over, as did his more modern tendencies. He was 

one of the key Irish pianists in the fusion movement as leader and 

sideman and has shown a restless spirit in switching back and forth 

between both electric and acoustic bands and instruments. Indeed, 

#Corea (as he hashtags himself these days) has at times had difficulty 

deciding whether he wants to be a popular musician or an uncompromisingly 

creative one and this dichotomy shows in his music. His 1978 

release The Leprechaun was an unabashed exploration of his Irish 

musical heritage. 

Joanne Brackeen – Against all odds, Brackeen (nee Joanne Grogan) 

managed to break through the more hidebound strictures of traditional 

Irish society, demonstrating the deeply matriarchal roots of 

the small island, all those priests notwithstanding. Early in her career 

she accompanied the noted Irish tenors Stan Getts and Joe Henderson 

before establishing herself as a leader. Her style can be a little on the 

challenging and explosive side, but her inventiveness could also be 

very lyrical and melodic. She often performed with the Irish rhythm 

team of bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Aloysius Foster. 

Todd O’Hammer – O’Hammer is a stalwart of modern Irish bebop, 

both as an active sideman and as a leader of his own trios. He has 

performed with such veterans as Charlie Rouse, Johnny Griffin, 

Art Farmer, and George Coleman, and regularly accompanied the 

singer Annie Ross. His playing is steeped in the jazz tradition but he 

continues to look forward, always sounding fresh. 

Rossan O’Sportiello – At just 43, O’Sportiello is the most recent 

arrival on this list, and yet he is something 

of a stylistic throwback, often 

performing in a mainstream/swing 

style of catholic breadth. He is a 

dynamic virtuoso in the tradition of 

Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson, also 

showing a fondness for such pianists 

as Ralph Sutton, Barry Harris and 

the aforementioned Dave McKenna. 

He has built a solid international reputation 

working with many fine jazz 

artists as well as through his own 

recordings. Toronto fans may know 

him from his sparkling performances 

at the last few Ken Page Memorial 

Trust All-Star fundraiser concerts at 

the Old Mill. 

So there you have them, the great Irish jazz pianists. To all music 

fans, sláinte, and a belated Happy St. Patrick’s Day. 

Toronto bassist Steve Wallace writes a blog called “Steve 

Wallace – jazz, baseball, life and other ephemera” which 

can be accessed at wallacebass.com. Aside from the topics 

mentioned, he sometimes writes about movies and food. 

Sunday, April 8 at 4:30pm 

Tribute to Bix Beiderbecke, 

Andrew McAnsh (trumpet) 

Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 

(north of St. Clair at Heath St.) 

Admission is free; donations are welcome. 

Rossan O’Sportiello 

Featuring some of Toronto’s best 

jazz musicians with a brief reflection 

by Jazz Vespers Clergy 

Sunday, April 22 at 4:30pm 

Amanda Tosoff Quartet 

416-920-5211 

www.thereslifehere.org 


Beat by Beat | Bandstand 

Continuity 

and Change 

JACK MACQUARRIE 

Looking out my window, Old Man Winter is still with us, but 

according to my calendar, spring has officially arrived. However, 

the fact is that this is the time of year when community bands 

frequently experience transition, if not evolution. Organizations, 

just like humans, age, and have growing pains or other disruptions 

which require timely attention. With the passage of time every band 

will have changes in membership, leadership, sponsorship, rehearsal 

locations and performance venues. Similarly, some new groups will 

arise while a few may not 

survive another season. In 

some cases, if a group prospers 

and grows, much of the 

administrative workload must 

be delegated to a broader crew. 

So it is with that in mind that I 

decided to see how some such 

transitions are in progress this 

spring. If you are a member of 

a musical group and have not 

gone through the problems 

of some sort of transition, be 

patient. Your day will come. 

New Horizons 

Currently the most dramatic 

of these is New Horizons Band 

of Toronto. When Dan Kapp 

first started the New Horizons 

Band of Toronto, little did he 

know how many adults were 

looking for places to learn and 

play music. They started their 

first year with only 25 people 

of varying degrees of musical 

experience, and a small executive 

of five people. Through 

Kapp’s dedication, expertise 

and enthusiasm for music, the 

program has grown to seven 

concert bands and two jazz bands, 

with six music directors, as well as 

a number of other New Horizons 

Bands in surrounding communities. 

I remember well their very first concert in the Glenn Gould Studio. 

When I first heard that this startup amateur band, with many who 

had never played a concert in their lives, was scheduled to present 

their very first offering in this prestigious venue, I questioned the 

sanity of leader Dan Kapp. As would be the case with any such startup 

group, a few vacancies had to be filled with ringers. In retrospect I can 

now say that I am proud to have been one of those ringers. How did it 

go over? To my surprise the hall was packed. 

Almost immediately the year-end showcase concerts became a 

major goal to work for. The next performance step other than full band 

concerts was the establishment of small ensembles which provide 

an excellent practice mode for developing musical skills, particularly 

the skill of listening to the other members of the group. Soon 

came the Chamber Sweets program, which features ensembles from 

all band levels playing in concert for family and friends. These have 

(from left) Donna Dupuy (concert band conductor); 

holding euphonium, Randy Kligerman (president, NHB 

Toronto); Bill Condon, who gifted the euphonium 

become great social gatherings around the GTA, particularly at holiday 

times, and include a large array of tasty treats in addition to the music, 

hence the name. 

As is the case with any organization, growth comes with its challenges. 

One man, now with nine bands and six music directors, can’t 

be expected to assume the multitude of responsibilities. To ensure 

their future success, last year the entire association was registered as 

a not-for-profit organization and established a formal board of directors. 

Randy Kligerman, one of the original band members, was named 

as president and Dave Barnes, another early member, as secretary. 

Soon after, Donna Dupuy, conductor of the most senior band, was 

contracted to be head of education for NH Bands in Toronto. 

Next year they are planning to offer sectional masterclasses to 

members, thereby providing further support to enhance their learning 

and playing experience. This appears to be the first time that this type 

of program will be will be offered in a community band environment. 

As the numbers grew they required larger, reliable rehearsal space; 

they were fortunate to get a long-term commitment for the use of the 

Salvation Army Hall in Toronto at Dovercourt Rd. and Bloor St. W. in 

central Toronto. They have been 

able to lease space to store their 

equipment and hold practice 

five days per week. They would 

never be able to run such a 

program without this help. 

As for Kapp, director since 

the band’s inception, he is 

moving on. During a vacation 

trip to Nova Scotia last 

summer he and his wife Lisa 

fell in love with the town of 

Wolfville. They purchased a 

home there and will be moving 

this summer. Consequently, he 

announced his retirement from 

New Horizons Band of Toronto, 

as he and Lisa prepare for their 

big move. I understand that 

their reputation precedes them, 

as the New Horizons Band and 

local theatre/music groups in 

Wolfville have already been in 

contact with them. They may 

well be busier than ever. As 

they leave, their legacy will 

continue, as NHB Toronto starts 

preparing for next year’s registration. 

Toronto’s loss will be 

Wolfville’s gain. 

For those not familiar with 

New Horizons, the Toronto band is 

a member of a much larger group, 

New Horizons International Music 

Association. (Their website is 

newhorizonsmusic.org.) Roy Ernst, a professor at the Eastman School 

of Music in Rochester, New York, founded the New Horizons movement 

in 1991, emphasizing entry and reentry points to music-making 

for older adults. His motto of “Your best is good enough – no auditions 

required” has inspired over 6000 people in approximately 200 bands 

across North America to get involved with music. 

New president Kligerman says: “I felt very lucky to have met Dan 

seven years ago, as the band has been a truly enriching part of my 

life.” Three years ago Kligerman became a member of the NHIMA 

board, so that he could “further help spread the word of this amazing 

opportunity to learn music, to anyone looking to enrich their lives 

through music.” 

Having not had much contact with the Toronto New Horizons 

groups for some time, I decided to visit the most senior group with 

which I have had contact over the years and also to visit their jazz 


and. After I introduced myself to the jazz band’s director Patricia 

Wheeler, I was invited to sit in. Since they did not have a bass trombone 

in their group and I had one in the car, I was soon holding my 

own at the bottom of the band. I was very impressed at how Wheeler 

helped instill the concepts of the jazz idiom into those new to that 

type of music. After that rehearsal I stayed to listen to the newest 

of the many groups. This was a woodwind choir with a difference; 

it consisted of three flutes, four clarinets and one bass clarinet but 

augmented by piano, bass and drums, similar to their jazz band. The 

key was to make a different form of music. 

My next visit, a few days later, was to the rehearsal of the concert 

band. Still with several members of that original band, which began 

seven years ago, the band is now under the direction of Donna Dupuy. 

Here again, band members don’t just sit down and play the notes from 

the printed page. They are challenged to get comfortable with the finer 

aspects of the harmonies and rhythms to produce a distinctive quality 

performance. 

Shortly before it was time to wind up that rehearsal there was a visit 

by Wheeler and her husband Bill Condon. In a brief ceremony Condon 

was there to present the surprise gift of a euphonium to the NH bands. 

My timing couldn’t have been better: a rehearsal, the most senior 

band, the president, two conductors and a generous friend of the 

band. What better instrument to receive as a gift! When prospective 

members attend a session to learn about band instruments, more 

often than not the euphonium is the one instrument they have never 

heard of. After this brief ceremony I was granted the honour of being 

the first to make sound on this euphonium. With great flair, the band 

members heard a B-flat major chord on their new instrument. 

Anyone interested in learning more about New Horizons Band of 

Toronto can contact them at newhorizonstoronto.ca. Remember their 

motto: “It’s never too late!” Or you can contact Randy Kligerman 

directly, at randy@jaragroup.org. 

Other news 

Although I wrote quite a bit about Johnny Cowell last month, I 

would be remiss if I didn’t mention the recent Celebration of the Life 

of Johnny Cowell, which took place on March 12 at Scarborough Bluffs 

United Church. With friend and colleague Stuart Laughton acting as 

MC, we heard not only reminiscences from many, but an amazing 

musical program. There were recordings of Johnny’s performances, 

as well as a wide spectrum of live performances of his compositions, 

from the song Walk Hand in Hand to a number of works for trumpet. 

The most stirring moment for me was a flugelhorn solo by Jens 

Lindemann, who came to Toronto specially for the occasion. Normally, 

the tune Amazing Grace is close to the top of my dislike list, but 

Lindemann’s rendition was so emotional that I was speechless. I have 

never heard that number or the flugelhorn sound so wonderful. 

From time to time we hear of unusual instruments arriving on 

the local scene. A couple of years ago it was Jeff Densham with his 

subcontrabass flute from the Netherlands. He first saw such an instrument 

when a visitor from overseas played one with the Flute Street 

ensemble. Now, Nancy Nourse, director of Flute Street, is showing off 

her new contr’alto flute, also from the Netherlands. In her words: “It 

has such a rich, flutey baritone voice, capable of reaching well past the 

tenor range into the mezzo-soprano.” 

This instrument’s very first outing with Flute Street will be 

on April 6 in Reston, VA in the Washington DC area, at the First 

International Low Flutes Festival (lowflutesfestival.org). Flute Street is 

one of a number of invited ensembles, amidst groups from Hungary, 

USA, England and Japan. Then on Sunday, April 15 at 7:30pm, Flute 

Street will present the same program, including a special contr’alto 

flute feature, at Christ Church Deer Park in Toronto. 

Speaking of new groups, Borealis Big Band, mentioned last month, 

has risen to local stardom, in a recent edition of snapd Aurora. For 

those interested visit https://aurora.snapd.com/events/view/1118828. 

Jack MacQuarrie plays several brass instruments and 

has performed in many community ensembles. He can 

be contacted at bandstand@thewholenote.com. 

THE WHOLENOTE VOL 23 NO. 7 FOR APRIL 2018 

IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY 

Adam Sherkin 45 

Oriana Women’s Choir 38 

Adrean Farrugia & Joel Frahm ORMTA 64 

53 

Orpheus Choir of Toronto 54, 86 

Aga Khan Museum 27, 48 

Pax Christi Chorale 39, 54 

Amadeus Choir 40, 55 

Remenyi House of Music 17 

Annex Singers 56 

Roy Thomson Hall 47 

ArtsMediaProjoects 64 

Royal Conservatory 13, 52, 54, 83 

Associates of the TSO 52 

Sine Nomine Ensemble for 

ATMA Classique 5 

Medieval Music 50 

Aurora Cultural Centre 47, 56 Soundstreams 51 

Bach Children’s Chorus 37 

St. James Cathedral 21, 53 

Canadian Children’s Opera 

St. Michael’s Concerts 4, 48 

Company 34 

St. Olave’s Anglican Church 52 

Canadian Opera Company 2, 47, Steinway Piano Gallery Toronto 

53 

15 

Canadian Stage / Tapestry Opera Syrinx Concerts 46 

44 

Tafelmusik 3, 33, 45, 46 ,55, 88 

Cantemus Singers 37 

TD Niagara Jazz Festival 58 

Cathedral Bluffs Symphony 

Temple Sinai 49 

Orchestra 50 

Toronto Bach Festival 36 

Christ Church Deer Park 41 

Toronto Children’s Chorus 48, 56, 

Classical Music Conservatory 51 63 

Elmer Iseler Singers 48 

Toronto Classical Singers 39 

Esprit Orchestra 49 

Toronto Consort 35, 48 

Estonian Music Week 87 

Toronto Masque Theatre 12 

Etobicoke Centennial Choir 45 Toronto Operetta Theatre 31 

Exultate Chamber Singers 45 Toronto Symphony Orchestra 45, 

Flute Street 49 

55, 85 

George Brough Memorial Fund Trio Arkel 53 

53 

VOCA Chorus of Toronto 40 

Georgetown Bach Chorale 46 Windermere String Quartet 54 

Glenn Gould Foundation 24, 47 Women’s Musical Club of 

Greater Toronto Philharmonic Toronto 23, 29, 47, 55 

Orchestra 51 

Yorkminster Park Baptist 

Hannaford Street Silver Band 46 Church 10 

Horizon Tax 64 

LISTENING ROOM 

Jeremy Dutcher 67 

ATMA Classique 70, 71 

Lessonshop.ca 64 

Christopher Platt 71 

Masterworks of Oakville Chorus 

Dirk Herten 69 

& Orchestra 36 

Ensemble Vivant 71 

Mississauga Festival Choir 57 

Eybler Quartet 67 

Mississauga Symphony 55 

Lawrence Folk 71 

Mooredale Concerts 49 

Nina Soyfer 67 

Music at First-St. Andrew’s 59 

Parma Recordings 69, 70 

Music at Metropolitan 52 

Parma Recordings 70 

Music at St. Andrew’s 57 

Music Gallery 48 

THE WHOLENOTE 

Music Toronto 9, 19, 47 

BUSINESS CLASSIFIEDS 64 

New Music Concerts 11 

CIRCULATION 64 

Oakham House Choir 54 

CLASSIFIEDS 64 

Off Centre Music Salon 25, 49 

Opera Atelier 28, 50 

Opus 8 56 


The WholeNote listings are arranged in five sections: 

A. 

GTA (GREATER TORONTO AREA) covers all of Toronto 

plus Halton, Peel, York and Durham regions. 

B. 

BEYOND THE GTA covers many areas of Southern 

Ontario outside Toronto and the GTA. Starts on page 57. 

C. 

MUSIC THEATRE covers a wide range of music types: 

from opera, operetta and musicals, to non-traditional 

performance types where words and music are in some 

fashion equal partners in the drama. Starts on page 60. 

D. 

IN THE CLUBS (MOSTLY JAZZ) 

is organized alphabetically by club. 

Starts on page 61. 

E. 

THE ETCETERAS is for galas, fundraisers, competitions, 

screenings, lectures, symposia, masterclasses, workshops, 

singalongs and other music-related events (except 

performances) which may be of interest to our readers. 

Starts on page 62. 

A GENERAL WORD OF CAUTION. A phone number is provided 

with every listing in The WholeNote — in fact, we won’t publish 

a listing without one. Concerts are sometimes cancelled or postponed; 

artists or venues may change after listings are published. 

Please check before you go out to a concert. 

HOW TO LIST. Listings in The WholeNote in the four sections above 

are a free service available, at our discretion, to eligible presenters. 

If you have an event, send us your information no later than the 

8th of the month prior to the issue or issues in which your listing is 

eligible to appear. 

LISTINGS DEADLINE. The next issue covers the period from 

May 1 to June 7, 2018. All listings must be received by 11:59pm, 

Sunday April 8. 

LISTINGS can be sent by email to listings@thewholenote.com 

or by using the online form on our website. We do not receive 

listings by phone, but you can call 416-323-2232 x27 for further 

information. 

LISTINGS ZONE MAP. Visit our website to search for concerts 

by the zones on this map: thewholenote.com. 

Lake 

Huron 

6 

Georgian 

Bay 

7 

2 1 

5 

Lake Erie 

3 4 

8 

City of Toronto 

LISTINGS 

Lake Ontario 

Sunday April 1 

●●10:30am: St. Andrew’s Church (Toronto). 

Easter Sunday Service. Works by Charles 

Wood, Eleanor Daley and Randall Thompson; 

Widor: Toccata. Cathedral Brass Quartet; St. 

Andrew’s Gallery Choir; Dan Bickle, organ. 

73 Simcoe St. 416-593-5600 x220. Freewill 

offering. Religious service. 

the 

overcoat 

a musical tailoring 

MAR 27-APR 14 

canadianstage.com 

●●1:00: Canadian Stage/Tapestry Opera. 

The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring. Music by 

James Rolfe, libretto by Morris Panych. Bluma 

Appel Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the 

Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-368-3110. $35 and 

up. Opens Mar 27, 8pm. Runs to Apr 14. Tues/ 

Wed/Thurs/Sat(8pm), Fri(7pm), Sun(1pm). 

●●4:00: Cathedral Church of St. James. 

Organ Recital. Ian Sadler, organ. 65 Church 

St. 416-364-7865 x234. Free. Donations 

welcomed. 

●●7:00: St. Thomas’s Anglican Church. Easter 

Solemn Evensong & Devotions. Works by Kellyu, 

Hadley and Willan. Choir of St. Thomas’s 

Church; Matthew Larkin, organist and director 

of music; Elizabeth Anderson, assistant 

organist. St. Thomas’s Anglican Church 

(Toronto), 383 Huron St. 416-979-2323. Freewill 

offering. Religious service. 

Monday April 2 

●●12:30: York University Department of 

Music. Music @ Midday: Instrumental 

Masterclass in Concert. Tribute Communities 

Recital Hall, Accolade East Building, YU, 

4700 Keele St. 416-736-2100 x20054. Free. 

●●7:30: Chorisma. Easter Reflections. A concert 

of choral music for Easter. Andrew 

Ascenzo, organ; Gretchen Anner, violin; Karen 

Ages, oboe; Robert Richardson, conductor; 

Lona Richardson, accompanist. Thornhill 

United Church, 25 Elgin St., Thornhill. 905- 

731-8318. Freewill offering. In support of Hill 

Hospice, Richmond Hill. 

Tuesday April 3 

●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/ 

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Lunchtime 

Chamber Music: Rising Stars Recital. 

Performance students from the UofT Faculty 

of Music. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 

1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. Free; donations 

A. Concerts in the GTA 

welcomed. 


Music at Midday: Piano Recital. Peter Regan, 

piano. 65 Church St. 416-364-7865 x234. 

Free. Donations welcomed. 

●●5:00: University of Toronto Faculty of 

Music. From the 19th Century. Works by 

Donizetti, Delibes, Verdi, Wagner and others. 

Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University 

of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408- 

0208. $20; $10(st). 

●●7:30: Toronto Children’s Chorus. Toronto 

Youth Choir Concert. Selections from wellknown 

oratorios. Guest soloists from University 

of Toronto’s Oratorio Class. Christ Church 

Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416-932-8666 x231. 

Donations accepted. 


The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring. See Apr 1. 

Also Apr 3, 4, 5, 6(7pm), 7, 13(7pm), 14. 

Wednesday April 4 

●●11:30am: Canadian Children’s Opera Company. 

Open House: Senior Divisons. The 

Monkiest King by Marjorie Chan and Alice Ho 

(rehearsal). Senior Divisions (grades 6-12). 

First Unitarian Congregation of Ontario, 

Sutherland Hall, 175 St. Clair Ave. W. 416- 

366-0467. Free. Be prepared for some interactive 

activities as well as watching the CCOC 

at work. 

●●12:00 noon: University of Toronto Faculty 

of Music. UofT Concert Orchestra. Paul Widner, 

conductor. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson 

Building, University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s 

Park. 416-408-0208. Free. 



Also Apr 4, 5, 6(7pm), 7, 13(7pm), 14. 

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Fables: An Evening of 

Classical and Video Game Music. Piano music 

for four hands. Works by Ravel, Debussy and 

Poulenc; improvisations on themes from 

Final Fantasy, Saga Frontier and Bungo to 

Alchemist. Cathy Yang and Benyamin Nuss, 

piano. 345 Sorauren Ave. 519-774-6988. $20. 

Cash only. 

Thursday April 5 

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company. 

Chamber Music Series: Beethoven's Cellists. 

VC2 Cello Duo. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, 

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. 

Free. First-come, first-served. Late seating 

not available. 


Music. Thursdays at Noon: Asher Ian Armstrong, 

Piano and Emily Kruspe, Violin. 

Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Robert 

Schumann Op.9; Sonata for Violin and Piano 

No.1 in G Op.78. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson 


Park. 416-408-0208. Free. 


Music. Music @ Midday: Chamber Strings. 

Matt Brubeck, director. Tribute Communities 


4700 Keele St. 416-736-2100 x20054. Free. 

●●2:00: Northern District Public Library. 

Orchardviewers. Sae Yoon Chon, piano; 

Music Toronto. Room 224, 40 Orchard View 

Blvd. 416-393-7610. Free. 

●●7:30: Adam Sherkin. Liszt: Pilgrimage. 

Liszt: Années de pèlerinage Book I S160; Im 

Rhein, im schönen Strome S272; Die Loreley 

44 | April 1 – May 7, 2018 thewholenote.com

S273; Sherkin: Three New Songs “Offers 

More Than Earthly Meat and Drink”; Sonata 

No.2 “Cŵn Anwnn”; Sonata No.3 “Elfin Land”; 

Sunbent (2015). Adanya Dunn, soprano; Adam 

Sherkin, piano. Glenn Gould Studio, lobby, 

250 Front St. W. 416-535-4612. $46; $42(sr); 

$35(35 and under). 


Music. Wind Ensemble: Loss and Reflection. 

George: Firefly; Bryant: Nothing Gold Can 

Stay; Morawetz: Memorial to Martin Luther 

King; Blackshaw: Soulström; Maslanka: Traveler. 

Shauna Rolston, cello; Gillian Mackay, 

conductor. MacMillan Theatre, Edward Johnson 

Building, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208. 

$30; $20(sr); $10(st). 


Music. Guitar Orchestra. Jeffrey McFadden, 

director. Victoria College Chapel, 91 Charles 

St. W. 416-978-0491. Free. 



Also Apr 6(7pm), 7, 13(7pm), 14. 

BACH B-MINOR MASS 

APR 5–8, 2018 

JEANNE LAMON HALL, 

TRINITY-ST. PAUL’S CENTRE 


●●8:00: Tafelmusik. Bach B Minor Mass. 

Dorothee Mields, soprano; Laura Pudwell, 

mezzo-soprano; Charles Daniels, tenor; 

Tyler Duncan, baritone; Tafelmusik Baroque 

Orchestra and Chamber Choir; Ivars Taurins, 

director. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne 

Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-964-6337. 

$24-$109. 7pm: pre-concert chat. 

TS 

Toronto 

Symphony 

Orchestra 

Sibelius 

Symphony 5 

April 5, 7 & 8 

Sir Andrew Davis, conductor 

Ray Chen, violin 

TSO.CA 

SEASON PRESENTING SPONSOR 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Sibelius 

Symphony 5. Mendelssohn: The Fair Melusina 

Overture; Bruch: Violin Concerto No.1; 

Stenhammar: Intermezzo from Sången; 

Sibelius: Symphony No.5. Ray Chen, violin; 

Sir Andrew Davis, conductor. Roy Thomson 

Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $34.75– 

$148.00. 6:45pm Free pre-concert performance 

by The TSO Chamber Soloists. 

Also Apr 7(7:30pm); 8(3pm George Weston 

Recital Hall). 

Friday April 6 

●●12:10: Music at St. Andrew’s. Noontime 

Recital. Works by Mozart and Rachmaninoff. 

Emily Chiang and Young-Ah Bang, piano 

4-hands. St. Andrew’s Church (Toronto), 

73 Simcoe St. 416-593-5600 x231. Free. 

●●7:00: Canadian Stage/Tapestry Opera. The 

Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring. See Apr 1. Also 

Apr 7, 13(7pm), 14. 

We Sing 

and Play! 

Friday, April 6, 8pm 

With special guests 

The Toronto Winds 

Dylan Maddix, Artistic Director 

Music by Rutter, 

Chatman, and Matthew 

Emery 

383 Huron Street, Toronto 

416-971-9229 www.exultate.net 




Music. York University Gospel Choir. Karen 

Burke, conductor. Sandra Faire and Ivan 

Fecan Theatre, Accolade East Building, 

4700 Keele St. 416-736-5888. $15; $10(sr/st). 

Also Apr 7. 

●●8:00: Exultate Chamber Singers. We Sing 

and Play! Guests: Toronto Winds; Hilary Apfelstadt, 

conductor. St. Thomas’s Anglican 

Church (Toronto), 383 Huron St. 416-971- 

9229. $25; $20(sr); $10(st). 

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Le Trace de Satyr. An 

evening of classical songs and jazz improvisation. 

Songs by Rameau, Fauré, Poulenc, 

Debussy, Satie, Messaien, Barbara, Gainsbourg 

and Artur H. Marilyn Lerner, piano; 

Patricia O’Callaghan, vocals; Andrew Downing, 

bass. 345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781. 

$25; $10(st). Cash only. 

●●8:00: Music Gallery. Emergents III: The 

Music of Ken Aldcroft. Karen Ng, saxophone; 

and others. Music Gallery at 918 Bathurst, 

918 Bathurst St. 416-204-1080. $12; 

$8(members). 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory of Music. 

Bernstein @ 100. Featuring Jamie Bernstein, 

Wallis Giunta, Sebastian Knauer, and 

ARC Ensemble. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $35-$70. 

●●8:00: Sinfonia Toronto. The Emperor. 

Wolf-Ferrari: Serenade; Beethoven: Piano 

Concerto No.5 “The Emperor”. Stewart Goodyear, 

piano; Nurhan Arman, conductor. Glenn 

Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W. 416-205-5000. 

$42; $35(sr); $15(st). 

●●8:00: Small World Music. kLoX. Small 

World Music Centre, Artscape Youngplace, 

180 Shaw St. 416-536-5439. $15. 

●●8:00: Summerhill Orchestra. Dvořák 

in Summerhill. Dvořák: Symphony No.7; 

Romance for Violin; Telemann: Concerto 

in D for Trumpet. Victoria Yeh, violin; Eric 

Adelman, trumpet; Sarah John, conductor. 

Church of the Messiah, 240 Avenue Rd. 647- 

267-0750. PWYC ($5, $10 or $20). 

●●8:00: Tafelmusik. Bach B Minor Mass. See 

Apr 5. Also Apr 7, 8(3:30pm), 10(8 pm George 

Weston Recital Hall) 

Saturday April 7 

●●2:00: University of Toronto Scarborough, 

Department of Arts, Culture and 

Media. Afternoon Concert: Spring Awakening. 

Family-friendly, famous film music. UTSC 

Concert Band; UTSC String Orchestra. University 

of Toronto Scarborough Campus, 

Room AC223, 1265 Military Trail. 416-208- 

4769. Free. 


Music. World Music Ensembles. Latin American 

Music Ensemble and Steel Pan Ensemble. 

Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University 

of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408- 

0208. Free. 

●●7:00: Opera by Request. Handel’s Orlando, 

In Concert. Kinga Lizon, mezzo (Orlando); 

Vania Chan, soprano (Angelica); Daniela 

Agostino, mezzo (Dorinda); Shannon Halliwell-McDonald, 

mezzo (Medoro); and others; 

William Shookhoff, music director and piano. 

College St. United Church, 452 College St. 

416-455-2365. $20. 

●●7:00: Singing Out. Make Your Own Kind of 

Music: An Evening Cabaret. 519 Community 

Centre, 519 Church St. 416-392-6874. $20; 

$15(adv). Also 9:30pm. Proceeds benefit 

Singing Out, a registered charity. 

●●7:00: University of Toronto Scarborough, 

Department of Arts, Culture and Media. 

Evening Concert: Spring Awakening. Haydn: 

Lord Nelson Mass; Vaughan Williams: Songs 

of Travel. University of Toronto Scarborough 

Concert Choir. University of Toronto Scarborough 

Campus, 1265 Military Trail. 416-208- 

4769. Free. Meeting Place, Science Wing. 

●●7:30: Castle Frank House of Melody. Ga-Ga 

for Gounod. Songs, duets and arias by Gounod 

and his contemporaries. Lorna Young, 

Tricia Haldane, Cara Adams, sopranos; Martha 

Spence, mezzo; Michael Fitzgerald, baritone. 

St. Andrew’s United Church (Bloor St.), 

117 Bloor St E. 416-966-2685. $25/20(adv). 

6:45: showing of mixed media art by Lorette 

C. Luzajic. 

●●7:30: Etobicoke Centennial Choir. Joyous 

Music from Haydn to Poulenc. Haydn: Te 

Deum; Schubert: Mass in F “German Mass”; 

Brahms: Vier Quartette Op.92; Poulenc: 

Gloria. Caroline Corkum, soprano; Henry 

Renglich, conductor; Carl Steinhauser, piano 

and organ. Humber Valley United Church, 

76 Anglesey Blvd., Etobicoke. 416-779-2258. 

$25. 6pm: Spring Marketplace. 

●●7:30: Royal Conservatory of Music. Discovery 

Series: Glenn Gould School Piano Showcase. 

Mazzoleni Concert Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $15. 




Sibelius: Symphony No.5. Ray Chen, violin; Sir 

Andrew Davis, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $34.75–$148.00. 

Also Apr 5(8pm); 8(3pm George Weston 

Recital Hall). 


Music. UofT Symphony Orchestra. Freedman: 

Suite from Oiseaux Exotiques; Vaughan Williams: 

The Lark Ascending; Stravinsky: Suite 

from The Firebird (1919 version). Uri Mayer, 

conductor. MacMillan Theatre, Edward Johnson 

Building, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208. 

$30; $20(sr); $10(st). Pre-performance chat. 


Music. York University Gospel Choir. Karen 

Burke, conductor. Sandra Faire and Ivan 

Fecan Theatre, Accolade East Building, 

4700 Keele St. 416-736-5888. $15; $10(sr/st). 

Also Apr 6. 

●●8:00: Acoustic Harvest. The Oh Chays. 

Folk/Soul/Blues duo. Kelly Authier, vocals; 

thewholenote.com April 1 – May 7, 2018 | 45

Michael Authier, guitar, percussion, and 

vocals. St. Nicholas Birch Cliff Anglican 

Church, 1512 Kingston Rd. 416-729-7564. 

$25/$22(adv). 

●●8:00: Alliance Française de Toronto. An 

Evening of Slam: Free Together. Joy, Caylah, 

Yao and D-Track. 24 Spadina Rd. 416-922-2014 

x37. $15; $10(sr/st/member). 



Also Apr 13(7pm), 14. 

●●8:00: Georgetown Bach Chorale. Mozart’s 

Requiem. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G; 

Requiem in d K626; Alleluia Jubilate. Christine 

Lamoureux, soprano; Ron Greidanus, 

piano. St. John’s United Church (Georgetown), 

11 Guelph St., Georgetown. 905-873- 

9909. $35; $10(st). 

●●8:00: Oakville Symphony Orchestra. 

Musical Tales. Guest: Vanessa Lanch, soprano. 

Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, 

130 Navy St., Oakville. 905-815-2021. $27- 

$56. Also Apr 8(2pm). 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory of Music. World 

Music Series: KUNÉ with Odessa/Havanna. 

David Buchbinder, Hilario Durán and others. 

Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 

416-408-0208. $35-$70. 

●●8:00: Scaramella. Boccherini and Friends. 

Quintets by Boccherini; divertimenti by 

Michael Haydn, Leopold Mozart, and J.G. 

Albrechtsberger. Elizabeth Loewen Andrews 

and Michelle Odorico, violins; Matthew Antal, 

viola; Josephine van Lier, cello; Joëlle Morton, 

Viennese double bass. Victoria College 

Chapel, 91 Charles St. W. 416-760-8610. 

$20-$30. 

●●8:00: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra/Toronto 

Choral Society. Glorious Music. 

Dvořák: Symphony No.8; Royer: Gloria; Vivaldi: 

Gloria. Toronto Choral Society (Geoffrey 

Butler, conductor); Scarborough Philharmonic 

Orchestra (Ronald Royer, conductor). 

Salvation Army Scarborough Citadel, 

2021 Lawrence Ave. E., Scarborough. 

www.spo.ca. $30; $25(sr); $15(st); $10(child). 


Apr 5. Also Apr 8(3:30pm), 10(8 pm George 

Weston Recital Hall) 

●●8:00: Voices Chamber Choir. Bach Rediscovered. 

Works by Casals, Mendelssohn 

and Bach. Shonagh McVean, cello; John Stephenson, 

organ; Ron Ka Ming Cheung, conductor. 

Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, 

151 Glenlake Ave. 416-519-0528. $20; $15(sr/ 

st). 



Musical Tales. Guest: Vanessa Lanch, soprano. 

Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, 


130 Navy St., Oakville. 905-815-2021. $27- 

$56. Also Apr 7(8pm). 


Rolston String Quartet with Robert McDonald. 

Debussy: String Quartet; Schumann: 

Piano Quintet in E-flat Op.44. Mazzoleni Concert 

Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416- 

408-0208. Free. 


Music. Percussion Ensembles. Walter Hall, 

Edward Johnson Building, University of 

Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208. 

Free. 

●●3:00: Hannaford Street Silver Band. Dutch 

Treats. Joe Alessi, trombone; Johan de Meij, 

conductor. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence 

Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416- 

366-7723. $45. 

●●3:00: North York Concert Orchestra. 

Hansel and Gretel. Music by Humperdinck. 

Guests: Vox Youth Choir; Gwenna Fairchild- 

Taylor, narrator. Temple Sinai, 210 Wilson Ave. 

416 628 9195. $10-$25. 

●●3:00: Royal Conservatory of Music/ Istituto 

Italiano di Cultura. Invesco Piano Concerts: 

Beatrice Rana. Works by Schumann, 

Ravel and Stravinsky. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $30-$65. 

2:00: pre-concert talk with Rick Phillips. 

●●3:00: St. Paul’s Bloor Street Anglican 

Church. Organ Recital. Works by J.S.Bach, 

Barraine, Jackson and Guilmant. Gordon 

Mansell, organ. 227 Bloor St. E. 416-961- 

8116. Free. 

●●3:00: Syrinx Concerts Toronto. Ilya Poletaev, 

Piano, Axel Strauss, Violin and Yegor 

Ilya Poletaev, piano 

Axel Strauss, violin 

Yegor Dyachkov,cello 


3pm 

Heliconian Hall 

SyrinxConcerts.ca 

Dyachkov, Cello. Beethoven: Op.1 No.3; Oesterle: 

Centennials (I, II, III); Ravel: Piano Trio. 

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-654- 

0877. $30; $20(st). Reception with the musicians 

to follow. 




Stenhammar: Intermezzo from Sången; 

Sibelius: Symphony No.5. Ray Chen, violin; 

Sir Andrew Davis, conductor. George Weston 

Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 416-250-3708 

or 1-855-985-2787. $34.75–$148.00. Also 

Apr 5(8pm); 7(7:30pm). 


Music. York University Wind Symphony. 

Guest: TorQ Percussion Quartet; William 

Thomas, conductor. Tribute Communities 


4700 Keele St. 416-736-5888. $20; $15(sr/st). 


Apr 5. Also Apr 10(8 pm George Weston 

Recital Hall) 




welcomed. 

●●4:00: Church of St. Mary Magdalene 

(Toronto). Organ Fireworks. Andrew Adair, 

organ. 477 Manning Ave. 416-531-7955. Free. 

●●4:30: Christ Church Deer Park. Jazz Vespers. 

Tribute to Bix Beiderbecke. Andrew 

McAnsh, trumpet. 1570 Yonge St. 416-920- 

5211. Freewill offering. Religious service. 

●●7:30: Hart House Symphonic Band. Appalachian 

Spring. Appalachian Spring; Armenian 

Dances; Star Wars Medley; Hans Zimmer 

Movie Milestones and Jurassic Park Soundtracks. 

Mark Saresky, conductor. Hart House, 

Great Hall, 7 Hart House Circle. 416-978- 

2452. Free. Donations in support of Sistema, 

Toronto. 



World Music Series: Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa 

(Our Maliseet Songs). Jeremy 

Dutcher, tenor/composer. Richard Bradshaw 

Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the 

Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363- 

8231. Free. First-come, first-served. Late seating 


●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/Yorkminster 

Park Baptist Church. 

Lunchtime Chamber Music: Jenny Boin 

Cheong, cello. Students from the Glenn Gould 

School. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 


welcomed. 


Organ Recital. Manuel Piazza, organ. 

65 Church St. 416-364-7865 x234. Free. Donations 

welcomed. 

BACH B-MINOR MASS 

APR 10, 2018 

GEORGE WESTON RECITAL HALL, 

TORONTO CENTRE FOR THE ARTS 


●●8:00: Tafelmusik. Bach B Minor Mass. 

Dorothee Mields, soprano; Laura Pudwell, 

mezzo; Charles Daniels, tenor; Tyler Duncan, 

baritone; Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra 

and Chamber Choir; Ivars Taurins, director. 

George Weston Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 

1-855-985-2787. $15-$75. 7pm: pre-concert 

chat. Also Apr 7, 8(3:30pm). 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. On 

Broadway. Selections from: Carousel, Funny 

Girl, The King and I, Gypsy and others. Stephanie 

J. Block and Ramin Karimloo, vocalists; 

Steven Reineke, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $30.75–$107.00. 

Also Apr 11(2pm & 8pm), 12(8pm). 



Vocal Series: Yom HaShoah – Holocaust 

Remembrance. Heggie: Another Sunrise 

(based on life and work of Krystyna Zywulska); 

and other works. Sara Schabas, soprano; 

Geoffrey Conquer, piano. Richard 

Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre 

for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 

416-363-8231. Free. First-come, first-served. 

Late seating not available. 

●●12:10: TO.U Collective/Music at St. 

Andrew’s. Noontime Recital. Maeve Palmer, 

soprano. St. Andrew’s Church (Toronto), 


●●12:30: Organix Concerts/All Saints Kingsway. 

Kingsway Organ Concert Series. Eric 

Hanbury and Anita Gaide, organ duo. All 

Saints Kingsway Anglican Church, 2850 Bloor 

St. W. 416-571-3680. Freewill offering. 

45-minute concert. 

●●12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. 


1585 Yonge St. 416-922-1167. Free. 







60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $30.75–$107.00. 

Also 8pm; Apr 10(8pm), 12(8pm). 

●●7:30: JAZZ.FM91. Jazz Lives: A Century 

of Nat ‘King’ Cole. An evening to pay homage 

to this iconic 20th-century musician. 

Jackie Richardson; Mary Margaret O’Hara; 

Robi Botos; Tom Wilson; Jazz Lives House 

Band (Lou Pomanti, Davide Direnzo, Marc 

Rogers); JAZZ.FM91 Youth Big Band; and 

others. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor 

St. W. 416-408-0208. $30 and up. Fundraiser 

to support JAZZ.FM91’s youth education 

programs. 


Rebanks Family Fellowship Concert. Taylor 

Academy Orchestra. Mazzoleni Concert 

Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408- 

0208. Free. 

●●7:30: Sony Centre For The Performing 

Arts. Celtic Woman. Sony Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 1 Front St. E. 1-855-872-7669 or 

416-916-7878. $39-$120. 

●●8:00: Burlington Performing Arts Centre. 

Cameron Carpenter. International Touring 

Organ. Burlington Performing Arts Centre, 

Main Theatre, 440 Locust St., Burlington. 

905-681-6000. $59. Series discount 

available. 






60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $30.75–$107.00. 

Also 2:00; Apr 10(8pm), 12(8pm). 

●●9:00: Mezzetta Restaurant. Vocal Jazz. 

How Deep is the Ocean, Heather on the 

Hill, Time Flies, You Smell So Good, It Never 

Entered My Mind and other songs. Rebecca 

Enkin, vocals; Mike Allen, guitar. 681 St. 

Clair Ave. W. 416-658-5687. $10. Quiet listening 

policy. 


WOMEN’S MUSICAL CLUB OF TORONTO 

APRIL 12, 2018 | 1.30 PM 

SYLVIA 

SCHWARTZ 

416-923-7052 

wmct.on.ca 

●●1:30: Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. 

Music in the Afternoon. Berg: 7 Frühe Lieder; 

Schumann: Frauenliebe und -leben; Guridi: 

Seis canciones castellanas; Turina: Tres 

poemas; Montsalvagte: Cinco canciones 

negras. Sylvia Schwartz, soprano; Olivier 

Godin, piano. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson 


Park. 416-923-7052. $45. 

●●7:00: Brampton Folk Club. Looking for a 

Blue Bird. John Stroud, Triangl and Downtown 

Freddy Brown. Peel Art Gallery, 

Museum and Archives, 9 Wellington St. E., 

Brampton. 905-791-4055. Free with museum 

admission. 

●●8:00: Kiran Ahluwalia. Lovefest: Welcome 

the Stranger. Kiran Ahluwalia, vocalist; 

Bhai Kabul Singh, vocalist; Souad Masai, 

singer and songwriter; Abul Gheit Whirling 

Dervishes of Egypt;. Oakville Centre for the 

Performing Arts, 130 Navy St., Oakville. 905- 

815-2021. $58. Also Apr 14 (Toronto). 

April 12 at 8pm 

SCHUMANN 

QUARTET 

●●8:00: Music Toronto. Schumann Quartet. 

Haydn: Quartet in B-flat Op.76 No.4 “Sunrise”; 

Shostakovich: Quartet No.7 in f-sharp Op.108; 

Schumann: Quartet in F Op.41 No.2. St. Lawrence 

Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416- 

366-7723. $50-$55; $10(st, full time). 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory of Music/Batuki 

Music. Quiet Please, There’s a Lady on Stage: 

Fatoumata Diawara and Okavango. Koerner 


0208. $35-$85. 


Arts. An Evening with 2CELLOS. Sony Centre 

for the Performing Arts, 1 Front St. E. 

1-855-872-7669 or 416-916-7878. $69-$189. 

Also Apr 13. 






60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $30.75–$107.00. 

Also Apr 10(8pm), 11(2pm & 8pm). 

●●8:08: DigitalSIlkRoad2020. Fuhong Shi: 

From Beijing, Here in Toronto. Works by Shi, 

Mozetich, Hatzis and Vivier. Joseph Petric, 

accordion; Rob McDonald, guitar, Colleen 

Cook, clarinet; Stephen Sitarski, violin: Olivier 

Hébert-Bouchard, piano. 918 Bathurst Centre 

for Culture, Arts, Media and Education, 

918 Bathurst St. 437-889-4447. PWYC. 


●●12:00 noon: Roy Thomson Hall. Noon Hour 

Choir & Organ Concerts: Ottawa Bach Choir 

- Bach to the Beatles. Works by J.S. Bach and 

the Beatles. Lisette Canton, conductor; Matthew 

Larkin, organ. 60 Simcoe St. 416-872- 

1255. Free. 

OTTAWA 

BACH CHOIR 

Bach to the Beatles 

FRI APR 13 ◆ 12 PM 

FREE 

ROYTHOMSONHALL.COM 


Recital. Busoni: Chamber Fantasy on Bizet’s 

Carmen; and sonatas by Haydn and Schubert. 

Jean-Luc Therrien, piano. St. Andrew’s 

Church (Toronto), 73 Simcoe St. 416-593- 

5600 x231. Free. 



Also Apr 14. 

●●7:00: Opera by Request. Lohengrin. Wagner. 

In concert with piano accompaniment. 

Lenard Whiting, tenor (Lohengrin); Vanessa 

Lanch, soprano (Elsa); Jillian Yemen, mezzo 

(Ortrud); Andrew Tees, baritone (Telramund); 

Steven Henrikson, baritone (King Heinrich); 

John Holland, baritone (Herald); William 

Shookhoff, piano and music director. College 

Street United Church, 452 College St. 416- 

455-2365. $20. 

THE 

NIGHTINGALE 

AND OTHER 

SHORT FABLES 

STRAVINSKY 

APR 13 – MAY 19 

coc.ca 

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. The Nightingale 

and Other Short Fables. Stravinsky 

(arr. LePage). Jane Archibald, soprano (the 

Nightingale). Four Seasons Centre for the 

Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363- 

8231. $35-$225. Opera runs Apr 13-May 19. 

Start times vary. 

●●8:00: Aurora Cultural Centre. Great Artist 

Music Series: Vladimir Soloviev, Piano. 

Debussy: Estampes; Beethoven: Sonata No.21 

Great Artist 

Music Series 

presents 

Vladimir 

Soloviev, piano 

Friday, April 13, 

8pm 

auroraculturalcentre.ca 

905 713-1818 

in C Op.53; Bach (arr. Busoni): Chaconne in d 

BWV1004; Scriabin: Sonata No.2 in g-sharp 

Op.19; Liszt: Concert Paraphrase on Rigoletto. 

22 Church St., Aurora. 905-713-1818. 

$40/$35(adv). 

CANADIAN DEBUT 

Alma Deutscher 

COMPOSER, VIOLINIST, PIANIST 

APRIL 13, 8:00 PM 

KOERNER HALL, TORONTO 

WWW.GLENNGOULD.CA 

●●8:00: Glenn Gould Foundation. Alma 

Deutscher. Thirteen-year-old prodigy makes 

Canadian debut. Deutscher: Cinderella Opera 

(selections); other original compositions 

and an improvisation. Alma Deutscher, violin, 

piano and composer; guest singers. Koerner 


0208. $55 and up. 


Arts. An Evening with 2CELLOS. Sony Centre 

for the Performing Arts, 1 Front St. E. 

1-855-872-7669 or 416-916-7878. $69-$189. 

Also Apr 12. 

●●8:00: St. Anne’s Anglican Church. Jesus 

Christ Superstar in Concert. Lloyd Webber. 

270 Gladstone Ave. 416-536-3160. $20; 

$15(sr/st); free(under 12). 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 

Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Berg: 

Violin Concerto; Bruckner: Symphony No.7 in 

E. Christian Tetzlaff, violin; Kent Nagano, conductor. 

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416- 

872-4255. $34.75–$148.00. 


Elmer 

Iseler 

Singers 

Lydia Adams, Conductor 

and Artistic Director 

Sat. April 14, 2018 

7:30 pm 

Eglinton St. George’s 

United Church 

Joyful 

Sounds 

A Tribute to 

Elmer Iseler 

(1927-1998) 

20 years later 

Details & tickets: (416) 217-0537 

www.elmeriselersingers.com 

QUICKSILVER’S 

FANTASTICUS 

April 13 & 14 at 8pm 

Great seats available 

for only $45! 

Buy online at 

TorontoConsort.org 

●●8:00: Toronto Consort. Quicksilver Presents 

Fantasticus. Works by Buxtehude, Bertali, 

Weckmann and Schmeltzer. Guests: 

Quicksilver Ensemble. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 

Jeanne Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W. 416- 

964-6337. $15-$69. Also Apr 14. 

AT THE AGA KHAN MUSEUM 

Under the Senegalese 

Musical Sky 

FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 8:30PM 

agakhanmuseum.org 

●●8:30: Aga Khan Museum. Four Skies, Four 

Seasons: Under the Senegalese Musical Sky. 

Constantinople; Ablaye Cissoko. 77 Wynford 

Dr. 416-646-4677. $40; $36(Friends). Includes 

museum admission. 


●●2:00: Gallery 345. Chamber Opera for 

Clarinet and Piano. Works by Mozart, Rossini, 

Bassi and Weber. Mitchell Yolevsky, clarinet; 

Madison Ryley Arsenault, vocals; Deena 

Nicklefork, vocals; Hye Won Lee, piano. 

345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781. $20. Cash 

only. 


Young People’s Concert. Oakville Centre for 

the Performing Arts, 130 Navy St., Oakville. 

905-815-2021. Free. Ages 5-12. 

●●4:00: Abendmusik at St. John’s Norway. 

The Wagner Effect. Bruckner: Organ Works; 

Wagner: Prelude to Die Meistersinger von 


Nürnberg; Wolf: Selections from Mörike- 

Lieder. Jessika Monea, soprano; Matthew 

Whitfield, organ. St. John the Baptist Norway 

Anglican Church, 470 Woodbine Ave. 647- 

302-2074. Free will offering. 

Fire, Choir 

and Desire 

April 14 | 4PM 

Church of the Redeemer 

torontochildrenschorus.com 

●●4:00: Toronto Children’s Chorus. Fire, 

Choir and Desire. Works by Raminsh, Dubra, 

Brahms and others. TCC’s touring choir. 

Church of the Redeemer, 162 Bloor St. W. 416- 

932-8666 x231. $25; $20(sr/st); $10(child). 


and Other Short Fables. See Apr 13. 

Also Apr 22, May 1, 2, 10, 12(4:30pm), 13(2pm), 

19(4:30pm). 

●●7:00: Kemi Lo. LGBTQ Classical Showcase. 

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings (selected 

mvts.); Barber: Adagio for Strings; Britten: 

Simple Symphony; Corelli: Concerto Grosso 

in g. Victoria College Chapel, 91 Charles St. W. 

647-825-3857. $15; $10(st). 

●●7:30: St. Michael’s Choir School. Messiah 

(Part II & III). Handel. Meredith Hall, soprano; 

Richard Whitall, alto; Simon Honeyman, 

alto; Michael Colvin, tenor; Joel Allison, 

bass; Cathedral Schola Cantorum Choir, Men 

& Boys; Baroque orchestra; Peter Mahon, 

conductor. St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, 

65 Bond St. 416-397-6367 x6036. $25 

M 

E 

S 

S 

PART I & II 

H 

G. F. HANDEL 

featuring 

ST. MICHAEL’S 

CHOIR SCHOOL 

Saturday, April 14 

7:30 p.m. 

48 | April 1 – May 7, 2018 thewholenote.com 

A

suggested donation. 

●●7:30: Elmer Iseler Singers. Joyful Sounds: 

A Tribute to Elmer Iseler - Twenty Years 

Later. Featuring video projections from Elmer 

Iseler’s career, assembled by Toronto video 

technician Edward Mock. Raminsh: World 

premiere; and favourite choral works of Dr. 

Elmer Iseler. Robert Aitken, flute; James 

Campbell, clarinet; Lydia Adams, conductor; 

David Jaeger, host and producer. Eglinton St. 

George’s United Church, 35 Lytton Blvd. 416- 

217-0537. $40; $35(sr); $15(st). 

●●7:30: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. All 

Beethoven. Beethoven: Egmont Overture; 

Violin Romances Nos.1 & 2; Coriolan Overture; 

Symphony No.5. Blake Pouliot, violin; Earl Lee, 

RBC resident conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $34.75–$107.00. 

Also Apr 15(3pm). 



●●8:00: Kiran Ahluwalia. Lovefest: Welcome 

the Stranger. Kiran Ahluwalia, vocalist; Bhai 

Kabul Singh, vocalist; Souad Masai, singer 

and songwriter; Abul Gheit Whirling Dervishes 

of Egypt;. Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 

235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. 

$59-$69. Also Apr 12 (Oakville). 

●●8:00: Music Gallery/Goethe Institut. Eve 

Egoyan: De Puro Amor/En Amor Duro CD 

Release. De Alvear. Eve Egoyan, piano. St. 

George the Martyr Church, 197 John St. 416- 

204-1080. $30/$25(adv); $20(st/members). 

6:00: Interview with Jim Montgomery. 7:30: 

Doors open. 

●●8:00: Ontario Pops Orchestra. Star Wars 

and Epic Soundtracks. Music from Star Wars; 

Theme from Star Trek; Zarathustra (movie 

2001: A Space Odyssey); Theme from ET; 

Theme from Jurassic Park; and other works. 

Carlos Bastidas, conductor. Humber Valley 

United Church, 76 Anglesey Blvd., Etobicoke. 

n/a. $20; free(under 12 accompanied). 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. TD Jazz: The 

Hot Sardines and Flávia Nascimento. Cabaret 

from France and Brazil. Koerner Hall, 

Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. 

$40-$90. 

●●8:00: Toronto Consort. Quicksilver Presents 

Fantasticus. Works by Buxtehude, Bertali, 

Weckmann and Schmeltzer. Guests: 

Quicksilver Ensemble. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 

Jeanne Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W. 416- 

964-6337. $15-$69. Also Apr 13. 

●●9:00: Alliance Française de Toronto. 

Sounds of Senegal. Élage Mbaye, drummer 

and songwriter. 24 Spadina Rd. 416-922-2014 

x37. $15; $10(sr/st/member). 


●●1:15: Mooredale Concerts. Music and Truffles: 

Forestare Ensemble. Host Joanna leads 

an interactive concert for young people with 

a Lindt truffle at the end. Walter Hall, Edward 

Johnson Building, University of Toronto, 

80 Queen’s Park. 416-922-3714 x103. $20. 

3:15pm: main performance. 

●●2:00: Canzona Chamber Players. In Concert. 

Works by Beethoven, Liszt and Carter. 

Vadim Serebryany, piano. St. Andrew by-the- 

Lake Anglican Church, Cibola Ave., Toronto 

Island. 416-822-0613. $25; $45(brunch & 

concert). Also Apr 16(7:30pm, St. George the 

Martyr Anglican Church). 

●●2:00: Royal Conservatory of Music. Mazzoleni 

Masters: Dianne Werner. Rachmaninov: 

Corelli Variations; Sonata for piano and 

cello. Dianne Werner, piano; Andrés Díaz, 

cello. Mazzoleni Concert Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $25. 

SUNDAY APRIL 15, 2018 | 3 PM 

FRENCH SALON: 

a midday in Paris 

offcentremusic.com 

●●3:00: Off Centre Music Salon. French 

Salon: A Midday in Paris. Performers: Tom 

Allen, Allison Angelo, Nico Dann, Erica Iris 

Huang, Elina Kelebeev, and others. Trinity-St. 

Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-466-6323. 

$50; $40(sr/st); $15(young adult); $5(child). 

●●3:00: Temple Sinai Congregation of 

Toronto. A Temple Sinai Program: Exploring 

our Musical Legacy. Demonstration of the 

refurbished Saville Electronic Organ. Temple 

Sinai Ensemble Choir; Knox United Church 

Choir; Cantor Charles Osborne, organ; Marilyn 

Reesor, organ; Ross Inglis, organ; Cantor 

Katie Oringel. 210 Wilson Ave. 416-487-4161. 

Free. 

●●3:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. All 

Beethoven. Beethoven: Egmont Overture; 

Violin Romances Nos.1 & 2; Coriolan Overture; 

Symphony No.5. Blake Pouliot, violin; Earl Lee, 

RBC resident conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $34.75–$107.00. 

Also Apr 14(7:30pm). 

●●3:15: Mooredale Concerts. Forestare 

Ensemble. Lully: Le Bourgeois gentilhomme 

(selections); Vivaldi: Concerto No.2 RV578; 

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G 

BWV1048 (arr. Pilon, Ratelle and Kindle). 

Twelve guitars and two double basses. Walter 

Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University 

of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-922-3714 

x103. $30; $20(under 30). 1:15pm: Music and 

Truffles. 

●●3:30: St. Paul’s United Church (Oakville). 

Encore Series: Broadway By Request. Catherine 

Arcand-Pinette, soprano; Manuele 

Mizzi, tenor. 454 Rebecca St., Oakville. 905- 

845-3427. $15; $5(under12). 




welcomed. 

●●7:30: EventBrite - NanBud Productions. 

Spring Romance. Beethoven: Variations 

on Rule Britannia; Piano Sonata No.17 

“Tempest”; Debussy: Arabesque; L’isle joyeuse; 

Grieg: Lyric Pieces; other works by 

Louie and Morel. John Dupuis, piano. Heliconian 

Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-576-6809. 

$30/$25(adv). 

●●7:30: Flute Street. Home From Away. 

Works by Victoria, Bartók, Piazzolla, Isaac 

Page and Leonard Cohen. Christ Church 

Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416-462-9498. $25; 

$20(sr); $10(st). Cash only. 

Flute 

Street 

TORONTO’S 

PROFESSIONAL 

FLUTE CHOIR 

HOME FROM AWAY 

April 15, 7:30pm 

Christ Church, Deer Park 

Taiko 

Plus! 

Sunday 

April 15 

2018 

8pm Concert 

Koerner Hall 

ESPRIT ORCHESTRA 

espritorchestra.com 

●●8:00: Esprit Orchestra. Taiko Plus! Harman: 

New Work; Ishii: Mono-Prism; Shi: Concentric 

Circles; Wilson: Dark Matter. Shannon 

Mercer, soprano; Nagata Shachu, Japanese 

taiko drums; Alex Pauk, conductor. Koerner 


0208. $40-$60; $40-$55(sr); $22-$32(under 

30); $20-$25(st). 7:15pm: Pre-concert chat. 


●●7:30: Canzona Chamber Players. In Concert. 

Works by Beethoven, Liszt and Carter. 

Vadim Serebryany, piano. St. George the Martyr 

Church, 197 John St. 416-822-0613. $25. 

Also Apr 15(2pm, St. Andrew by-the-Lake 

Anglican Church). 



Vocal Series: Refuge. Romantic and earlymodern 

art songs that centre on the theme 

of refuge. Owen McCausland, tenor; Stephen 

Hargreaves, piano. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, 

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. 

Free. First-come, first-served. Late seating 


●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/Yorkminster 

Park Baptist Church. 

Organ Concert 

Sunday, April 15 at 3.00 p.m. 

An afternoon of concert pieces and choral works, 

including a demonstration of the newly refurbished organ. 

With: 

Don Anderson, President of Phoenix Organs 

Marilyn Reesor, concert organist and music director at 

Am Shalom Congregation, Barrie 

Ross Inglis, organist and music director of Knox United Church 

Knox United Church Choir 

Cantor Charles Osborne, Cantor Katie Oringel and the 

Temple Sinai Ensemble Choir 

This concert is free and open to the public. 

www.templesinai.net 

210 Wilson Avenue, Toronto 

T 416.487.4161 • programs@templesinai.net 


Lunchtime Chamber Music: Rising Stars 

Recital. Students from the Glenn Gould 

School. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 


welcomed. 


Music at Midday. Tom Fitches, organ. 


welcomed. 


Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra Spring 

Concert. Mozart: Overture to The Magic Flute 

K620; Ravel: Mother Goose Suite; Bartók: 

Concerto for Orchestra. Earl Lee, conductor. 


416-408-0208. $16-$28. 



Vocal Series: Opera Out of the Box. Original 

compositions, unique arrangements and outof-the-box 

interpretations. Danika Lorèn, 

soprano; Stéphane Mayer, piano. Richard 



416-363-8231. Free. First-come, first-served. 

Late seating not available. 

●●12:00 noon: Yorkminster Park Baptist 

Church. Organ Recital. Aaron James, organ. 

1585 Yonge St. 416-922-1167. Free. 

●●7:30: Free Times Cafe. 60s Folk Revival: 

Where Have All the Folk Songs Gone? Sue 

and Dwight, folk roots duo; Michelle Rumball, 

guitar and vocals; Tony Laviola, bass. 

320 College St. 416-967-1078. $15. Reservations 

required. Songsheets provided for audience 

sing-along. 

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Mortals, Myths, Lovers, 

Victims and the Survivors. A Music Anthology. 

Music by Strauss, Schubert, Messiaen, 

Duparc, Korngold, Poulenc, Berg, Menotti and 

Morlock. Vanessa Lanch, soprano; William 

Shookhoff, piano. 345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822- 

9781. $20; 10(st). Cash only. 


Music Mix: Max Raabe and Palast Orchester. 


416-408-0208. $45-$100. 

●●8:00: Small World Music. Itamar Erez: Solo 

Show. Traditional Zambian music combined 


with modern music and reggae. Itamar 

Erez, composer, guitar and piano. Small 

World Music Centre, Artscape Youngplace, 

180 Shaw St. 416-536-5439. $20/$15(adv). 


Cathedral Bluffs 

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 

Norman Reintamm 

Artistic Director/Principal Conductor 


Vocal Series: Finishing the Hat. Miles 

Mykkanen, tenor; Sandra Horst, piano. 

Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four 

Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 

145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free. Firstcome, 

first-served. Late seating not available. 

MONTEVERDI Apr 19–28 

OPERAATELIER.COM 

● ● 7:30: Opera Atelier. The Return of Ulysses. 

Music by Monteverdi. Krešimir Špicer, tenor 

(Ulysses); Mireille Lebel, mezzo (Penelope); 

Carla Huhtanen, soprano (Fortuna/Melanto); 

Christopher Enns, tenor (Telemaco); Isaiah 

Bell, tenor (Eurimaco); and others; Marshall 

Pynkoski, stage director; Jeannette Lajeunesse 

Zingg, choreographer; Artists of Atelier 

Ballet; Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; David 

Fallis, conductor. Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge 

St. 1-855-622-2787. $39-$157. Also Apr 21, 

22(3pm), 24, 27, 28(4:30pm). 

VERDI Overture to “La Forza del Destino” 

ERIK KREEM Symphony in C minor, 1st mvt. 

TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture 

GRIEG Piano Concerto in A minor 

with pianist Lauren Esch 

TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme 

with cellist Alik Volkov 

Join the Maestro’s Circle – $100 per person 

Each Maestro’s Circle ticket receives: 4 premium balcony seating 

4 tax receipt for $70 4 special recognition in the concert programme 

4 a free gift and more 



Recital. Kodály: Meditation on a Theme by 

Debussy; Bartók: Roumanian Dance Op.8/a 

No.1; Kuzmenko: In Memoriam of the Victims 

of Chernobyl; Conway-Baker: Sonata. Mary 

Kenedi, piano. St. Andrew’s Church (Toronto), 


●●7:00: Toronto Chamber Players. Symphony 

of the Sea. Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, 

288 Bremner Blvd. 647-351-3474. $30; 

$19.25(sr & ages 6-13); $7(ages 3-5). 

●●7:30: Music on Main. William O’Meara, 

Organ. Works for organ; organ accompaniment 

to movie “Our Hospitality” starring 

Buster Keaton. Trinity United Church (Newmarket), 

461 Park Ave., Newmarket. 905- 

895-4851. $15; $10(st). 

●●7:30: Oleg Samokhin. In Concert. Mozart: 

sine nomine 

Ensemble for Medieval Music 

Music for a 

Royal Convent 

The Las Huelgas Codex 

Friday, April 20, 8 pm 

Trinity College Chapel 

6 Hoskin Avenue 

Tickets $20 / $15 

416-978-8849 

tickets.harthouse.ca 

Information 416-638-9445 

sinenominetoronto@gmail.com 

Sonata No.10 in C K330; Liszt: Five Concert 

Etudes; Ravel: Miroirs (Reflections); Albeniz: 

Selection from Suite Espagnole Op.47. Oleg 

Samokhin, piano. St. Philip’s Lutheran Church, 

61 West Deane Park Drive, Etobicoke. 416- 

622-5577. $20. Also Apr 28 (Thornhill). 

●●8:00: Aurora Cultural Centre. Ennis Sisters: 

Keeping Time. Original music featuring 

humourous stories, step dancing and Celtic 

instruments. 22 Church St., Aurora. 905-713- 

1818. $40/$35(adv). Cash bar. 

●●8:00: Echo Chamber. Origin. Bach: Preludio 

from Partita No.3; Chaconne from Partita 

No.2; Saariaho: Nocturne; Ysaÿe: Sonata No.2 

for solo violin; Kurtág: Selections from Signs, 

Games and Messages. Aaron Schwebel, violin; 

Robert Stephen and Jenna Savella, dancers. 

Al Green Theatre, 750 Spadina Ave. 

647-780-9040. $35; $25(st). 

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Made in Trio Ensemble. 

Works by Debussy, CPE Bach, Nino Rota, 

Abigana, Mantovani, Dupuis and Connesson. 

David Dias da Silva clarinet; Rute Fernandes, 

flute; Sinforosa Petralia, piano. 345 Sorauren 

Ave. 416-822-9781. $20; 10(st). Cash only. 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory of Music. Royal 

Conservatory Orchestra. Berlioz/Bernstein: 

Symphonic Dances (from West Side 

Story); Poulenc: Concerto in d for Two Pianos 

and Orchestra. Johannes Debus, conductor. 

Guests: La Fiammata piano duo (Linda Ruan 

and Charissa Vandikas). Koerner Hall, Telus 

Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $25- 

$55. 6:45: prelude recital. 7:15: pre-concert 

talk with Gillian Story. 

●●8:00: Sine Nomine Ensemble for Medieval 

Music. Music for a Royal Convent: Las Huelgas 

Codex. Trinity College Chapel, University 

of Toronto, 6 Hoskin Ave. 416-978-8849 (reservations), 

416-638-9445 (information). $20; 

$15(sr/st/unwaged). 

●●8:00: Toronto Guitar Society. In Concert: 

Steve Cowan and Jesus Serrano. Church 

of St. Peter and St. Simon-the-Apostle, 

525 Bloor St. E. 416-964-8298. $35/$30(adv); 

$25/$20(st). 


●●2:00: Tafelmusik. Close Encounters ... in 

Vienna and Madrid. Chamber music performance. 

Works by Vanhal, Boccherini and 

Mozart. John Abberger, oboe; Christina 

Saturday April 21, 2018 8 pm 

Annual Fundraising Concert 

& Silent Auction 

Silent Auction opens at 7 pm 

Join us for the Annual Fundraising Concert & Silent Auction—enjoy 

an evening of great music and the chance to bid on an amazing 

selection of silent auction items! 

TICKETS: $35 at the door / $30 in advance 

ORDER ONLINE cathedralbluffs.com 

BY PHONE 416.879.5566 

P.C. HoTheatre 

5183 Sheppard Ave E (1 block east of Markham Rd), Scarborough 

cathedralbluffs.com | 416.879.5566 


Zacharias, violin; Patrick Jordan, viola; Margaret 

Gay, violoncello. Temerty Theatre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-964-6337. $45. Also 

Apr 25 (11am, Heliconian Hall). 


Young People’s Concert: The Animated 

Orchestra. Bizet: Carmen - Suite No.1, No.1a 

(Aragonaise); Rossini: Excerpt from William 

Tell Overture; Traditional: Mister Sun (singalong); 

Bizet: Carmen - Suite No.1, No.5 (Les 

Toréadors); Smith: The Animated Orchestra. 

Greg Smith, narrator and composer; 

Dina Gilbert, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $20.00–$33.75. 

Also 4pm. 

●●3:00: Oakville Choir for Children and 

Youth. A Few Good Men, A Few Good Men in 

Training, and Friends. First United Church 

(Port Credit), 151 Lakeshore Rd W., Mississauga. 

905-337-7104. $25; $20(sr); $15(under 

13). 

●●4:00: Abendmusik at St. John’s Norway. 

J.S. Bach: The Musical Offering. J.S. 

Bach: The Musical Offering BWV1079. Molly 

Evans-Stocks and Jimin Shin, violinists; Matthew 

Whitfield, organ and harpsichord. St. 

John the Baptist Norway Anglican Church, 

470 Woodbine Ave. 647-302-2074. Free will 

offering. 


Young People’s Concert: The Animated 

Orchestra. Bizet: Carmen - Suite No.1, No.1a 

(Aragonaise); Rossini: Excerpt from William 

Tell Overture; Traditional: Mister Sun (singalong); 

Bizet: Carmen - Suite No.1, No.5 (Les 

Toréadors); Smith: The Animated Orchestra. 

Greg Smith, narrator and composer; 

Dina Gilbert, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $20.00–$33.75. 

Also 2pm. 

●●7:00: Church of St. Andrew, Scarborough. 

Passion and Talent at Annual Spring Concert. 

Katrina Cherys Martinez, soprano and piano; 

Winston Hurlock, tenor; Marie English-Critchlow, 

vocals; Marcus Walker, keyboard, drums 

and music director. 2333 Victoria Park Ave., 

Scarborough. 416-571-6192. $25; $15(st). 

Complimentary post-concert refreshments. 

●●7:30: Cantores Celestes Women’s Choir. 

Wrapped in Light. M. Haydn: Missa Sancti 

Aloysii; Purcell: Come Y Sons of Art; Andre 

Arnesen: Even When He is Silent. Emperor 

String Quartet; Matthew Coons, organ; Kate 

Carver, piano; Kelly Galbraith, conductor. 

Runnymede United Church, 432 Runnymede 

Rd. 416-655-7335. $25. 

●●7:30: Concerts at Scarborough Bluffs. An 

Evening of Jazz with the Patricia Wheeler 

Quartet. Scarborough Bluffs United Church, 

3739 Kingston Rd., Scarborough. 416-267- 

8265. $20; free(child). 

●●7:30: North York Concert Band. April 

Showers. Music with a nautical or rain theme, 

Canadian music, and tunes from the movies 

and Broadway shows. John Edward Liddle, 

trumpet and conductor. Al Green Theatre, 

750 Spadina Ave. 416-393-1650 x20100. $15; 

$5(under 12). 

●●7:30: Oakville Choral Society. A Classical 

Spring. Celebrating the many moods of 

choral music – joyful, poignant, triumphant. 

Works by Pergolesi, Durante, Haydn, Mozart 

and Beethoven. Queen Elizabeth Park Community 

and Cultural Centre, 2302 Bridge Rd., 

Oakville. 289-351-1574. $30/$25(adv); $15(st); 

free(under 13). Also Apr 22(2pm). 

●●7:30: Opera Atelier. The Return of Ulysses. 

See Apr 19. Also Apr 22(3pm), 24, 27, 

28(4:30pm). 

●●7:30: Opera by Request. Don Pasquale. 

Donizetti. In concert with piano accompaniment. 

Mikhail Shemet, bass-baritone (Don 

Pasquale); Austin Larusson, baritone (Dr. 

Malatesta); Grace Quinsey, soprano (Norina); 

Fabian Arciniegas, tenor (Ernesto); Claire 

Harris, piano and music director. College 


455-2365. $20. 

●●7:30: Toronto Guitar Society. In Concert: 

Máximo Diego Pujol. Church of St. Peter and 

St. Simon-the-Apostle, 525 Bloor St. E. 416- 

964-8298. $45/$40(adv); $35/$30(st adv). 

Coffee and dessert reception included. 


100 Years of Jazz Double Bass. Works by 

Duke Ellington, Oscar Pettiford, Miles Davis, 

Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers, and others. 

Bernard Dionne and guests. 24 Spadina Rd. 

416-922-2014 x37. $15; $10(sr/st/member). 

●●8:00: Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. 

Annual Fundraising Concert and Silent 

Auction. Verdi: Overture to La forza del destino; 

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture; Variations 

on a Rococo Theme; Grieg: Piano Concerto 

in a; Kreem: Symphony in c (Mvt 1). Lauren 

Esch, piano; Alik Volkov, cello. P.C. Ho Theatre, 

Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater 

Toronto, 5183 Sheppard Ave. E., Scarborough. 

416-879-5566. $35 and up; $30(sr/st); 

free(under 12). 

“American” 

Saturday April 21st, 8:00 PM 

Rhapsody in Blue 

West Side Story 

Fanfare for the common man... 

www.gtpo.ca 

●●8:00: Greater Toronto Philharmonic 

Orchestra. American. Barber: Adagio for 

Strings; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Griffes: 

Poème for flute and orchestra; Bernstein: 

Dances from West Side Story. Laura Bolt, flute; 

Kathleen Chang, piano; John Palmer, conductor. 

Calvin Presbyterian Church, 26 Delisle 

Ave. 647-238-0015. $25; $20(sr); $15(st). 

●●8:00: Greenbank Folk Music Society. 

Triple Folk Feature. Featuring folk, blues 

and country music. Zachary Lucky; Ryan 

Cook; Little Miss Higgins. Greenbank Hall, 

19965 Highway #12, Greenbank. 905-985- 

8351. $25. 

●●8:00: Richmond Hill Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Dressed in Love. Tchaikovsky: Romeo and 

Juliet (Overture-Fantasy); Gounod: Je veux 

vivre from Romeo and Juliet; Rodgers & Hammerstein: 

I Enjoy Being a Girl from Flower 

Drum Song; Puccini: Quando m’en vo from La 

Bohème; Donizetti: Regnava nel silenzio from 

Lucia di Lammermoor; and other works. Leslie 

Fagan, soprano; Jessica V. Kun, conductor. 

Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 10268 Yonge St., Richmond Hill. 905- 

787-8811. $29; $24(sr/st). 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. TD Jazz: Abdullah 

Ibrahim and Ekaya. African roots in tribute 

to The Jazz Epistles. Special guest: 

Freddie Hendrix. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $45-$100. 

●●8:00: Soundstreams. Freddy’s Tune: Turntable 

Bach with Strings Attached. Bach: 

Musical Offering; John Adams: Phrygian 

Gates. Gryphon Trio; DJ SlowPitchSound; 

Dafnis Prieto, percussion; Scott Good, performer; 

Roberto Occhipinti, double bass. 

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416- 

408-0208. From $22. 

●●8:00: York Symphony Orchestra. Russian 

Champions. Borodin: In the Steppes of 

Central Asia; Shostakovich: Piano Concerto 

No.2; Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade. Vivian 

Chen, piano. Trinity Anglican Church 

(Aurora), 79 Victoria St., Aurora. 416-410- 

0860. $28; $23(sr); $15(st). Also Apr 22 (mat, 

Richmond Hill). 


●●1:30: Classical Music Conservatory. Music 

for a Cause: Benefit Concert for SickKids. 

Teiya Kasahara, soprano; Eslin McKay, violin; 

Hannah Bussière; Arkose (Erik Ross, Torrie 

Seager and Rob MacDonald); and others. 

Roncesvalles United Church, 214 Wright 

Ave. 416-537-5995. PWYC; $20/$10(kids) 

suggested. 

Freddy’s Tune 

April 21, 8pm | Trinity-St.Paul’s 

Turntable Bach, 

strings attached 

FEATURING 

The Gryphon Trio 

DJ SlowPitchSound 

Roberto Occhipinti 

Dafnis Prieto 

Scott Good 

www.soundstreams.ca 

CMC’S ANNUAL BENEFIT CONCERT 

MUSIC 

FOR A CAUSE 

Sunday, April 22 

1:30pm 

cmccanada.com 


●●1:30: Music at Metropolitan. Marg and Jim 

Norquay Celebration Concert: Mystery of the 

Unfinished Concerto. Works by Corelli, Vivaldi 

and others; also new compositions created 

on the spot. Musicians on the Edge; Rezonance 

Baroque Ensemble. Metropolitan United 

Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-363- 

0331 x26. $20; $10(18 and under). 

●●2:00: Canadian Opera Company. The 

Nightingale and Other Short Fables. See 

Apr 13. Also May 1, 2, 10, 12(4:30pm), 13(2pm), 

19(4:30pm). 

●●2:00: Jacqueline Gelineau. J.S. Bach: 

Oster-Oratorium. Jacqueline Gelineau, contralto; 

Darlene Shura, soprano; John Holland, 

baritone; William Ford, tenor; and others; 

Brahm Goldhamer, conductor and harpsichord. 

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416- 

922-3618. Free; donations welcomed. 

●●2:00: Oakville Choral Society. A Classical 

Spring. Celebrating the many moods of 

choral music – joyful, poignant, triumphant. 

Works by Pergolesi, Durante, Haydn, Mozart 

and Beethoven. Queen Elizabeth Park Community 

and Cultural Centre, 2302 Bridge Rd., 

Oakville. 289-351-1574. $30/$25(adv); $15(st); 

Sun. 22nd April at 4 p.m. 

Choral Evensong 

for St. George’s Eve 

plus St. George’s Tea and at 5: 

THE BEST OF 

CANADIANA 

St. Olave’s Arts Guild 

and guests with music 

by Joni Mitchell and 

Neil Young; prose by 

L.M. Montgomery; poetry 

by Pickthall and Kogawa; 

and an exploration of 

Toronto's history – as we 

continue our year-long 

celebration of Canada 150 

St. Olave’s Church 

Bloor and Windermere 

416-769-5686 stolaves.ca 


free(under 13). Also Apr 21(7:30pm). 


See Apr 19. Also Apr 24, 27(both 7:30pm), 

28(4:30pm). 

●●3:00: Orchestra Toronto/Essential Opera. 

A Night at the Opera. Puccini: Gianni Schicchi 

(in concert). Maureen Batt, soprano (Lauretta); 

JP Décosse, baritone (Gianni Schicchi); 

with Erin Bardua and Beth Hagerman, sopranos, 

and Catharin Carew, mezzo; Kevin Mallon, 

conductor. George Weston Recital Hall, 

5040 Yonge St. 416-733-0545. $45; $39(sr); 

$19(under 29). 2:15pm: pre-concert chat. 

●●3:00: Roy Thomson Hall. Itzhak Perlman, 

Violin & Rohan De Silva, Piano. 60 Simcoe St. 

416-872-4255. $39.50–$149.50. 

Gerald Finley 

with Julius Drake 

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2018 3PM 

PRE-CONCERT TALK 2PM 

KOERNER HALL 

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 

WWW. RCMUSIC.COM/PERFORMANCE 

●●3:00: Royal Conservatory of Music. Vocal 

Concerts: Gerald Finley with Julius Drake. 

Works by Schubert, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky 

and Beethoven; a selection of favourite 

folksongs. Gerald Finley, baritone; Julius 

Drake, piano. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $40-$95. 

2:00: pre-concert talk with Rick Phillips. 

●●3:00: Southern Ontario Chapter of the 

Hymn Society. How Can I Keep From Singing? 

Mark Ruhnke, leader. St. Andrew’s 

United Church (Bloor St.), 117 Bloor St E. 416- 

694-6436. Free. 2:30: refreshments. 

●●3:00: York Symphony Orchestra. Russian 

Champions. Borodin: In the Steppes of 

Central Asia; Shostakovich: Piano Concerto 

No.2; Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade. Vivian 

Chen, piano. Richmond Hill Centre for the 

Performing Arts, 10268 Yonge St., Richmond 

Hill. 905-787-8811. $30; $25(sr); $15(st). Also 

Apr 21 (eve, Aurora). 




welcomed. 

●●4:00: St. Olave’s Anglican Church. The 

Best of Canadiana. Choral Evensong for St. 

George’s Eve, followed by works by Mitchell 

and Young, prose by L. M. Montgomery, 

poetry by Pickthall and Kogawa, and other 

works. St. Olave’s Arts Guild and guests. 

360 Windermere Ave. 416-769-5686. Free. 

Donations welcomed. 5:00: St. Olave’s Arts 

Guild presentation. St. George’s Tea to follow 

Evensong. 

●●4:30: Christ Church Deer Park. Jazz Vespers. 

Amanda Tosoff Quartet. 1570 Yonge 

St. 416-920-5211. Freewill offering. Religious 

service. 

●●5:00: Nocturnes in the City. Piano Recital. 

Works by Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Chopin and 

Ravel. Karolina Kubálek, piano. St. Wenceslaus 

Church, 496 Gladstone Ave. 416-481- 

7294. $25; $15(st). 

Monday April 23 

●●7:30: Associates of the Toronto Symphony 

Orchestra. The Small Concerts: Taste of 

Dark Chocolate. Schubert: String Quintet in 

C Op.163 D956; Brahms: String Sextet No.1 in 

B-flat Op.18. Etsuko Kimura, violin; Paul Meyer, 

violin; Gary Labovitz, viola; Kathleen Kajioka, 

viola; Marie Gélinas, cello; Britton Riley, cello. 

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416- 

419-7507. $22; $20(sr/st). 

●●7:30: Toronto Masque Theatre Salon Series. 

The Means of Grace: Seven Monologues 

on Music. Beckwith: personal narrative on 

the transcendent power of music. Derek 

Boyes, director. Guest performers. Atrium, 

21 Shaftesbury Ave. 416-410-4561. $25. 


Music. Felix Galimir Chamber Music Award 

Concert. Features this year’s prize-winning 

ensembles. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson 


Park. 416-408-0208. PWYC. 



Chamber Music Series: Close Encounters in 

Vienna and Madrid. Works by Vanhal, Mozart 

and Boccherini for oboe and string trio. 

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Richard Bradshaw 

Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for 

the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416- 

363-8231. Free. First-come, first-served. Late 

seating not available. 




Students from the Glenn Gould School. Yorkminster 

Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge St. 

416-241-1298. Free; donations welcomed. 


Music at Midday. Simon Walker, organ. 


welcomed. 


See Apr 19. Also Apr 27, 28(4:30pm). 


●●11:00am: Tafelmusik. Close Encounters ... 

in Vienna and Madrid. Chamber music performance. 

Works by Vanhal, Boccherini and 

Mozart. John Abberger, oboe; Christina Zacharias, 

violin; Patrick Jordan, viola; Margaret 

Gay, violoncello. Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton 

Ave. 416-964-6337. $45. Also Apr 21 (2pm, 

Temerty Theatre). 


Dance Series: UNBXBL 2. Apolonia Velasquez, 

Offilio Portillo, dancers and choreographers. 






Church. Organ Recital. Andrew Adair, organ. 

1585 Yonge St. 416-922-1167. Free. 

●●12:30: Organix Concerts/All Saints Kingsway. 

Kingsway Organ Concert Series. Ian 

Grundy, organ. All Saints Kingsway Anglican 

MUSICIANS ON THE EDGE AND 

REZONANCE BAROQUE ENSEMBLE 

Mystery of the 

Unfinished Concerto 

SUNDAY APRIL 22, 1:30PM 

ANNUAL MARG AND JIM NORQUAY 

MEMORIAL CONCERT 

Improvised playing in the style of Baroque 

and Galant court musicians; works by 

Corelli, Vivaldi, Telemann and others. 

New compositions created on the spot! 

$20 FOR ADULTS / $10 FOR YOUTH (UNDER 18) 

For more information, contact Dr. Patricia Wright at 

patriciaw@metunited.org or 416-363-0331 ext. 26. 

56 Queen Street East, Toronto • www.metunited.org 

MetUnited Music 

MetUnitedMusic 

THE ASSOCIATES OF THE 

TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 

Monday, April 23, 2018, 7:30 p.m. 

TASTE OF DARK 

CHOCOLATE 

Franz Schubert 

String Quintet in C major, 

Op. 163, D 956 

Johannes Brahms String Sextet No. 1 in B flat 

major Op. 18 

Tickets $22, Seniors & Students $20 

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre 

427 Bloor St. W. 

Box Office: 416-419-7507 

www.associates-tso.org 


Church, 2850 Bloor St. W. 416-571-3680. 

Freewill offering. 45-minute concert. 

●●7:30: Royal Conservatory of Music. Taylor 

Academy Series: Academy Chamber Orchestra. 

String students from The Phil and Eli Taylor 

Performance Academy for Young Artists. 


416-408-0208. Free. 

●●9:00: Swing Out Productions. Playing With 

Fire. Featuring jazz, broadway, and contemporary 

pop. Joel Sheridan, vocals; Eric St- 

Laurent, guitar. Mezzetta Restaurant, 681 St. 

Clair Ave. W. 416-658-5687. $10. Reservations 

recommended. 



Vocal Series: Collaborations. A program of 

arias and ensembles. Singers from the Canadian 

Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio and 

the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. 





●●2:00: Northern District Public Library. 

Orchardviewers. Amina Holloway, cello. 

Room 224, 40 Orchard View Blvd. 416-393- 

7610. Free. 

●●7:00: Royal Conservatory of Music. Discovery 

Series: Glenn Gould School Chamber 

Competition Finals. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. Free. 

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Art of the Piano: Robert 

Silverman plays Chopin. Chopin: Prelude 

in c-sharp Op.45; Sonata No.2 in b-flat 

Op.35 “Funeral March”; Ballade No.1 Op.23; 

Polonaise Fantaisie Op.61; 3 Waltzes Op.64; 

Ballade No.4 Op.52. 345 Sorauren Ave. 416- 

822-9781. $35; 10(st). Cash only. 

●●8:00: Room 217 Foundation. Voices That 

Care. A musical evening to benefit Room 

217 Care Through Music. Dan Hill, Jill Barker, 

Murray McLauchlan, Sylvia Tyson, Ezra Jordan, 

Denise Donlan, and special guests. Glenn 

Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W. 705-852-2499 

or 844-985-0217. $175. 7pm hors d’oeuvres 

and cocktail reception. 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Bernstein’s 

Candide (1993 concert version). Tracy 

Dahl, soprano (Cunegonde); Judith Forst, 

mezzo (The Old Lady); Nicholas Phan, tenor 

(Candide); Richard Suart, baritone (Pangloss 

& others); Members of the Toronto Mendelssohn 

Choir; Bramwell Tovey, conductor. Roy 

Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. 

$34.75–$148.00. Also Apr 28. 

●●8:30: Tafelmusik. Haus Musik: The Classical 

Alternative. Works by Mozart and Rolfe. 

Tafelmusik Musicians; ACOTE, modular synth 

artist; Amanda Smith, director. The Great 

Hall, Longboat Hall, 1087 Queen St. W. 416- 

964-6337. $25/$20(adv). 



Recital. Bach: Arias and duets. Allison Angelo, 

soprano; Dan Bickle, organ. St. Andrew’s 

Church (Toronto), 73 Simcoe St. 416-593- 

5600 x231. Free. 

●●7:00: Brampton Folk Club. Friday Folk 

Night. Flamenco Music and Dance. Roger 

Scannura and Ritmo Flamenco. St. Paul’s 

United Church (Brampton), 30 Main St. S., 

Brampton. 647-233-3655 or 905-874-2800. 

$18; $15(sr/st). 

●●7:00: TD Toronto Jazz Discovery Series/ 

Gallery 345. Jazz at the Gallery. CD Release: 

"Blued Dharma". Farrugia: New and previously 

unrecorded works; explorations of 

jazz standards. Adrean Farrugia, piano; Joel 

Frahm, saxophone. Gallery 345, 345 Sorauren 

Ave. 416-822-9781. $25; 15(st). Cash only. 

●●7:30: Heliconian Club. Bachanalia. J.S. 

Bach: arias and duets with obbligato from the 

Cantatas and Passions; Double Violin Concerto 

in d BWV1043; J.C. Bach: Quartet in C 

Op.19 No.1; Marshall: Bach Blues. Hill Chamber 

Players; Heliconian String Quartet; members 

of the Heliconian Club and friends. 

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-922- 

3618. $25; $20(visually impaired). Visually 

impaired audience members especially welcomed; 

blind soprano Susanna McCleary featured 

performer. 


See Apr 19. Also Apr 28(4:30pm). 

●●7:30: Opera by Request. Madama Butterfly. 

Puccini. In concert with piano accompaniment. 

Deena Nicklefork, soprano 

(Cio-Cio-San); Will Ford, tenor (Pinkerton); 

Keith O’Brien, baritone (Sharpless); Madison 

Arsenault, mezzo (Suzuki); Colin Frotten, 

tenor (Goro); William Shookhoff, piano and 

music director; and others. College Street 

United Church, 452 College St. 416-455- 

2365. $20. 

●●7:30: St. Andrew’s Humber Heights. Halton 

Hills Concert Band. Hollywood movie hits 

and music favourites. Daniella Baryla, conductor; 

Frank Iacino, organ. 1579 Royal York 

Rd., Etobicoke. 905-824-4667. $20; $5(st). 

●●7:30: Trio Arkel. Die Forelle. Schubert: Die 

Forelle. Guests: Stewart Goodyear, piano; Jeffrey 

Beecher, bass. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 

427 Bloor St. W. 416-409-6824. $30; $15(st). 


Dance, Dance! The Transformation of 

the World. Works by Couperin, Rameau, 

and others. Jean Rondeau, harpsichord. 

24 Spadina Rd. 416-922-2014 x37. $15; $10(sr/ 

st/member). 

●●8:00: Cathedral Church of St. James. Serenade 

to Music. Vaughan Williams: Serenade 

Cidel Asset Management 

TRIO 

Sponsors: 

Marie Berard - Teng Li - Winona Zelenka 

Presents 

Die Forelle 

Guest Artist 

Stewart Goodyear, Piano 

Jeffrey Beecher, Bass 

Friday, 

April 27 th , 7:30 PM 

Trinity St.Paul's Centre, 

427 Bloor St.W 

organist DaviD Briggs 

in concert with the Choir 

of st James CatheDral 

Friday april 27 2018 

8:00pm 

stjamescathedral.ca 

to Music; Overture to The Wasps; Fantasia 

on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Mass in g; and 

Sacred Motets. Choir of St. James Cathedral; 

David Briggs, organ. 65 Church St. 416-364- 

7865. $35/$30(adv); $25(st)/$20(adv). 7pm - 

pre-concert talk by David Briggs. 

●●8:00: Let There Be Music Community 

Choir. Spring Concert: Songs That Entertain. 

Salvation Army Temple (Rexdale), 2152 Kipling 

Ave. 416-745-0352. $15. 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory of Music. Chamber 

Music Series: Amici Chamber Ensemble 

30th Anniversary with Isabel Bayrakdarian 

and Friends. Works by Respighi, Dohnányi 

and Bernstein; and other works. Joaquin 

Valdepeñas, clarinet; David Hetherington, 

cello; Serouj Kradjian, piano. Koerner Hall, 


$35-$85. 

●●8:00: Toronto Operetta Theatre. The 

Beautiful Helen. Music by Jacques Offenbach. 

Beste Kalender, mezzo; Adam Fisher, tenor; 

ADREAN FARRUGIA 

& JOEL FRAHM 

BLUED DHARMA 

CD RELEASE 

CONCERT 

FRI APR 27 8:00PM 

A TD DISCOVERY SERIES 

SPECIAL PROJECT 

torontojazz.com 

Stuart Graham, baritone; Peter Tiefenbach, 

conductor; Guillermo Silva-Marin, stage director; 

and others. St. Lawrence Centre for 

the Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-366-7723. $49- 

$95. Also Apr 28(8pm); Apr 29(3pm). 


THE GEORGE 

BROUGH 

MEMORIAL 

FUND 

THE 

MUSICAL 

ARTS 

Clare Longendyke, piano 

Banff Centre George Brough 

Memorial Endowment recipient, 2017 

SATURDAY, APRIL 28 2PM 

●●2:00: George Brough Memorial Fund. 

The Musical Arts: Recital by Pianist Clare 

Longendyke. Schumann: Papillons Op.2; Liszt: 

3 Sonetti del Petrarca; Prokofiev: Romeo & 

Juliet (excerpts); Feldman: Michelle; Takemitsu: 

Golden Slumbers; Williams: Cineshape 

4. Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-926- 

1578. PWYC. 

ANNA 

BOLENA 

DONIZETTI 

APR 28 – MAY 26 

coc.ca 

●●4:30: Canadian Opera Company. Anna Bolena. 

Donizetti. Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano 

(Anna Bolena); Eric Owens, bass-baritone 

(Henry VIII); Keri Alkema, soprano (Giovanna 

Seymour); Allyson McHardy, mezzo (Smeton); 

and others; Stephen Lawless, director. 

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 

145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. $35-$225. 

Opera runs Apr 28-May 26. Start times vary. 


See Apr 19. 

●●6:00: Toronton Pelimannit. 10th Anniversary 

Concert: Tule Mukaan – Join Us. 

A variety of Finnish folk music. Toronton 


Pelimannit; Toronto Finnish Male Singers; Vox 

Finlandiae; Gail Hakala. Agricola Lutheran 

Church, 25 Old York Mills Rd. 289-892-4562. 

$15. 

●●7:00: Vesnivka Choir. Road to Independence. 

Works by Koshyts and Leontovych. 

Guests: Canadian Bandurist Capella; Toronto 

Ukrainian Male Chamber Choir. Trinity-St. 

Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416- 

246-9880 or 416-763-2197. $30; $25(sr/st). 

Refreshments. 

●●7:30: Aline Homzy. The Smith Sessions 

Presents Bitches Brew. Female-led jazz and 

improvised music. Aline Homzy, violin; Anh 

Phung, flute; Magdelys Savigne, percussion; 

Emma Smith, bass. Canadian Music Centre, 

20 St. Joseph St. 416-961-6601. $20. 

●●7:30: Jubilee United Church. Let’s Go To 

The Show. Comedy Tonight; Summertime; 

Lullaby of Broadway; Anything Goes; De- 

Lovely. Jubilee United Church Choir; Daniel 

Rubinoff, music director; Christine Petrie; 

William Petrie. 40 Underhill Dr. 416-726-7015. 

$10; free(youth). 

●●7:30: Music On The Donway 2017- 

2018 Season. Danny’s 7: Sweet Music We 

Love To Remember. Nina Richmond. Donway 

Covenant United Church, 230 The Donway W. 

416-444-8444. $20. 

●●7:30: Oakham House Choir Society. Better 

Is Peace Than Always War. Jenkins: 

The Armed Man (A Mass for Peace); Fauré: 

Requiem. Karolina Podalak, soprano; Jeremy 

Ludwig, baritone; Oakham House Choir; 

Novi Singers Toronto; Toronto Sinfonietta; 

Matthew Jaskiewicz, conductor. Metropolitan 

United Church (Toronto), 56 Queen 

St. E. 416-960-5551. $30/$25(adv); $15(st); 


●●7:30: Oleg Samokhin. In Concert. Mozart: 

Sonata No.10 in C K.330; Liszt: Five Concert 

Etudes; Ravel: Miroirs (Reflections); Albeniz: 

Selection from Suite Espagnole Op.47. Oleg 

Samokhin, piano. St. Luke’s Parish Church, 

39 Green Lane, Thornhill. 1-800-838-3006 or 

647-296-6851. $30(at the door)/$17-$27(adv). 

Also Apr 20 (Etobicoke). 

●●7:30: Pax Christi Chorale. Die Schöpfung 

(The Creation). Music by Haydn. Danika 

Lorèn, soprano; Charles Sy, tenor; Olivier 


Oakham House Choir | Novi Singers Toronto | Toronto Sinfonietta 

Better Is 

Peace 

Than Always War 

The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace 

by Sir Karl Jenkins 

Requiem 

by Gabriel Fauré 

Pax Christi Chorale 


Die 

Schöpfung 

Laquerre, bass-baritone; Toronto Mozart 

Players. Grace Church on-the-Hill, 

300 Lonsdale Rd. boxoffice@paxchristichorale.org. 

$45; $40(sr); $25(st). 

●●7:30: Toronto Duke Ellington Society. 

Annual Concert. Martin Loomer and the Wee 

Big Band. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, 

University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 

416-239-2683. $25. 

●●8:00: Alejandra Ribera and Alex Cuba. In 

Concert. Oakville Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 130 Navy St., Oakville. 905-815-2021. 

$55. 

●●8:00: Canadian Sinfonietta. Lai Crino Duo 

Recital. Willan: Sonata No.1; Brahms: Violin 

Sonata No.1; Michael Pepa: Introduction and 

L’abeille sur la fleur; Schubert: Fantasy for 

violin and piano in C. Joyce Lai, violin; Erika 

Crino, piano. Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 

647-812-0839. $35; $30(sr); $20(st). 

●●8:00: Healey Willan Singers. Women 

and Songs IV. Works by women composers 

and poets; tribute to the 100th anniversary 

of the end of World War 1. John Stephenson, 

organ and piano; Ron Ka Ming Cheung, 

Saturday, April 28 | 7:30pm 

www.oakhamchoir.ca 

conductor. Church of St. Martin-in-the- 

Fields, 151 Glenlake Ave. 416-519-0528. $20; 

$15(sr/st). 

●●8:00: Masterworks of Oakville Chorus 

and Orchestra. Handel’s Samson. Clodagh 

Earls, soprano; Kyle Engler, mezzo; 

Zach Finkelstein, tenor; Andrew Tees, bass. 

St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church, 

47 Reynolds St., Oakville. 905-399-9732. $30. 

Also Apr 29(3pm). 

Gautier Capuçon 

with Jérôme Ducros 

SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 8PM 

KOERNER HALL 

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 

WWW.RCMUSIC.COM/PERFORMANCE 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory of Music/Alliance 

Française de Toronto. String Concerts: 

Gautier Capuçon with Jérôme Ducros. 

Works by Brahms and Rachmaninov; favourite 

French and Russian works. Gautier Capuçon, 

cello; Jérôme Ducros, piano. Koerner 


0208. $40-$85. 








$95. Also Apr 27(8pm); Apr 29(3pm). 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Bernstein’s 

Candide (1993 concert version). Tracy 

Dahl, soprano (Cunegonde); Judith Forst, 

mezzo (The Old Lady); Nicholas Phan, tenor 

(Candide); Richard Suart, baritone (Pangloss 

& others); Members of the Toronto Mendelssohn 

Choir; Bramwell Tovey, conductor. Roy 

Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. 

$34.75–$148.00. Also Apr 26. 


●●1:30: Jacqueline Teh/Alexa Belgrave. 

In Concert. Jacqueline Teh, vocals; Alexa 

Belgrave, piano. Seicho-No-Ie Toronto, 

662 Victoria Park Ave. 416-690-8686. $20; 

$10(st); free(under 12). Bring a non-perishable 

item for the Daily Bread Food Bank. 

●●3:00: Echo Women’s Choir. I’ll Be Your Refuge. 

Featuring songs of Canada, social justice 

and good fun. Valverde: Despertemos (premiere); 

Chvostek: I’ll Be Your Refuge; All Have 

Some; Hemsworth: Black Fly Song; Guest: 

Leela Gilday: stories and songs of the Dene 

people. Alan Gasser, conductor; Annabelle 

Chvostek, mandolin/conductor; Becca Whitla, 

piano/conductor. Church of the Holy Trinity, 

19 Trinity Sq. 416-779-5554. $20/$15(adv); 

$10(sr/child/unwaged). 

●●3:00: Izabella Budai/Maria Dolnycky. 

Sounds of the Forest: Celebrating Spring with 

Melodies of Eastern Europe. Works by Weinberg, 

Gubaidulina, Taktakishvili, Kolodub, 

Schoenfield and others. Izabella Budai, flute; 

Maria Dolnycky, piano. Hart House, East Common 

Room, 7 Hart House Circle. 416-994- 

4445. $20; $15(st); free(under 12). 

●●3:00: Masterworks of Oakville Chorus and 

Orchestra. Handel’s Samson. Clodagh Earls, 

soprano; Kyle Engler, mezzo; Zach Finkelstein, 

tenor; Andrew Tees, bass. St. Andrew’s 

Roman Catholic Church, 47 Reynolds St., Oakville. 

905-399-9732. $30. Also Apr 28(8pm). 








$95. Also Apr 27, 28 (both 8pm). 

on period instruments 

Viva Vienna! 


supported by 

●●3:00: Windermere String Quartet. Viva 

Vienna! Rapoport: new work; Beethoven: 

Quartet in a Op.132. St. Olave’s Anglican 

Church, 360 Windermere Ave. 416-769-0952. 

$25; $20(sr); $10(st). On period instruments. 

●●3:30: Orpheus Choir of Toronto. This 

Thirsty Land. Music by Leonard Enns. Guests: 

This Thirsty Land 

April 29, 2018 3:30pm 

www.orpheuschoirtoronto.com 

416-530-4428 


DaCapo Chamber Choir; Orpheus Chamber 

Ensemble. Robert Cooper, conductor; Edward 

Moroney, accompanist. St. Anne’s Anglican 

Church, 270 Gladstone Ave. 416-530-4428. 

$95(family); $40(adult); $36(sr); $15(st). 

I SAW 

ETERNITY 

APRIL 29 

amadeuschoir.com 

●●4:00: Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto. 

I Saw Eternity. Works by Whitacre, Daley, 

Janmohamed, Chatman, Gjeilo and others. 

Naomi Barron, cello; Lydia Adams and Joan 

Andrews, conductors; Shawn Grenke, conductor 

and piano. Eglinton St. George’s United 

Church, 35 Lytton Blvd. 416-446-0188. $40; 

$30(sr); $20(under 30). 


Organ Recital. David Briggs, organ. 


welcomed. 

●●4:00: Royal York Road United Church. 

Hymn Festival and 75th Anniversary Concert. 

Bach: St. Anne Prelude and Fugue; Vaughan 

Williams: O How Amiable; Ziegenhauls: You 

Shall Have A Song. Choirs of Royal York Road 

United; Runnymede United Senior Choir. 

Guests: Christopher Dawes, organ; guest 

instrumentalists. 851 Royal York Rd. 416-231- 

9401. Free. 

●●4:00: St. George’s on-the-Hill. Bach and 

Beyond. Choral works by Bach, Brahms, 

Haydn, Gounod, Lauridsen and others. Choir 

of St. George’s on-the-Hill; Karen Rymal, conductor. 

4600 Dundas St. W., Etobicoke. 416- 

239-2341. Free. Reception to follow. 

●●7:00: Royal Conservatory of Music/Small 

World Music. World Music: Crosscurrents 

(Zakir Hussain and Dave Holland). Zakir Hussain, 

tabla; Dave Holland, bass; Chris Potter, 

saxophone; Shankar Mahadevan, vocals; 

Louis Banks, piano; and others. Koerner Hall, 


$50-$110. 

●●8:00: Mississauga Symphony Orchestra. 

Symphonic Fairy Tales. Suk: Pohádka 

Fairy Tale Suite; Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade. 

Denis Mastromonaco, conductor; Corey 

Gemmell, violin. Hammerson Hall, Living Arts 

Centre, 4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga. 

905-306-6000. $40-$65; $36-$58(sr); 

$30(youth); $25(15 and under); $100(family). 

●●8:00: Music Gallery. Not the Music Featuring 

Joe McPhee + Mercury Duo. Music 

Gallery at 918 Bathurst, 918 Bathurst St. 416- 

204-1080. $20/$15(adv); $10(members). 

Tuesday May 1 




Students from the Glenn Gould School. Yorkminster 

Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge St. 

416-241-1298. Free; donations welcomed. 


and Other Short Fables. See Apr 13. Also 

May 2, 10, 12(4:30pm), 13(2pm), 19(4:30pm). 

Wednesday May 2 


Church. Organ Recital. Sharon L. Beckstead, 

organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-922-1167. Free. 


and Other Short Fables. See Apr 13. Also 

May 10, 12(4:30pm), 13(2pm), 19(4:30pm). 

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Magisterra Soloists. 

String Chamber Works. Verdi: Quartet in 

e; Bruckner: Quintet in F. Annette-Barbara 

Vogel, violin; Mikela Witjes, violin; Jordan 

Clayton, violin; Matt Antal, viola; Ethan Filner, 

viola; Joel Tangjerd, cello. 345 Sorauren Ave. 

416-822-9781. $25; 10(st). Cash only. 

TS 

Toronto 

Symphony 

Orchestra 

Mozart & 

Bruckner 

May 2 & 3 

Peter Oundjian, conductor 

Leon Fleisher, piano 

TSO.CA 


●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Mozart 

& Bruckner. Mozart: Piano Concerto No.12 

in A, K414; Bruckner: Symphony No.8 in c 

(ed. Hawkshaw) (Canadian premiere). Leon 

Fleisher, piano; Peter Oundjian, conductor. 

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-872- 

4255. $34.75–$148.00. 7:15: pre-concert chat 

with Tom Allen, North Lobby. Also May 3(2pm), 

6(2:30pm, Montreal), 7(8pm, Ottawa). 

Thursday May 3 

●●12:00 noon: Encore Symphonic Concert 

Band. In Concert. Big Band swing, jazz, 

film scores, classical favourites and military 

marches. Wilmar Heights Centre, 

963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough. 416-346- 

3910. $10. Coffee and snacks provided. 

●●1:30: Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. 

Music in the Afternoon: Cellodrama! 

Barrière: Sonata for 2 cellos in G; Penderecki: 

Capriccio per Siegfried Palm for solo cello; 

Morlock: The Violet Hour for 4 cellos; Bach: 

Chaconne from Violin Partita in D Minor 

BWV1004; Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody; and 

others. Simon Fryer, Ariel Barnes, Minna 

Rose Chung, David Hetherington, Paul Marleyn, 

Katie Schlaikjer, Paul Widner, Thomas 

WOMEN’S MUSICAL CLUB OF TORONTO 

MAY 3, 2018 | 1.30 PM 

CELLODRAMA! 

Simon Fryer, cello, with seven 

guest cellists and special guest 

Sarah Slean, soprano 

416-923-7052 wmct.on.ca 

Wiebe, cellos; Sarah Slean, soprano. Walter 

Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University of 

Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-923-7052. $45. 


& Bruckner. Mozart: Piano Concerto 

No.12 in A, K414; Bruckner: Symphony No.8 

in c (ed. Hawkshaw) (Canadian premiere). 

Leon Fleisher, piano; Peter Oundjian, conductor. 

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416- 

872-4255. $34.75–$148.00. Also May 2(8pm), 

6(2:30pm, Montreal), 7(8pm, Ottawa). 

●●5:30: Canadian Music Centre. CMC Presents: 

Charm of Finches. Rose Bolton: To the Birds 

and Animals of the World; Hetu: Serenade (arr. 

Sean King); Esko Maimets: Infinite Blue Heights; 

DENIS MASTROMONACO 

MUSIC DIRECTOR & 

C O N D U C T O R 

Ubertelli: In Limene Coelorum; Charke: Raga 

Terah. Laura Chambers; Tristan Durie; Terry 

Lim; Amelia Lyon; Katherine Watson. 20 St. 

Joseph St. 416-961-6601. $20/$15(adv); $10(st); 

$15/$12(adv)(CMC members/arts workers). 

●●7:00: Toronto Children’s Chorus. Vocal 

Academy Recital. TCC’s Vocal Academy members 

showcase their skills following a year of 

study with Dr. Darryl Edwards. Calvin Presbyterian 

Church, 26 Delisle Ave. 416-932-8666 

x231. Donations accepted. 


See Apr 28. Also May 5, 8, 11, 16, 20(2pm), 

24, 26. 

BEETHOVEN 

PASTORAL SYMPHONY 

MAY 3–6, 2018 

KOERNER HALL, TELUS CENTRE 



●●8:00: Tafelmusik. Beethoven Pastoral Symphony. 

Beethoven: Concerto for violin in D 

Op.61; Symphony No.6 in F Op.68 “Pastoral”. 

Bruno Weil, guest director; Elisa Citterio, violin 

soloist; Jeanne Lamon, concertmaster; 

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Koerner Hall, 


$26-$103. 7pm: pre-concert chat. Post-concert 

talkback after the show. Also May 4, 5, 

6(3:30pm). 

Friday May 4 


Recital. Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit; Beethoven: 

Moonlight Sonata. Andrew Fu, piano. St. 

Andrew’s Church (Toronto), 73 Simcoe St. 

416-593-5600 x231. Free. 

Friday, May 4, 

8pm 

auroraculturalcentre.ca 

905 713-1818 


Great Artist 

Music Series 

presents James 

Campbell, 

with Cameron 

Crozman & 

Leopoldo 

Erice 

clarinet, 

cello, piano 

●●8:00: Aurora Cultural Centre. Great Artist 

Music Series: James Campbell and Friends. 

Beethoven: Trio for clarinet, cello, piano; 

Ravel: Habanera; Fauré: Sicilienne, Papillon; 

Saint-Saens: The Swan; Brahms: Trio 

for clarinet, cello and piano. James Campbell, 

clarinet; Leopoldo Erice, piano; Cameron 

Crozman, cello. 22 Church St., Aurora. 

905-713-1818. $40/$35(adv). 7:30: doors 

open. 

●●8:00: Gallery 345. Art of the Piano: Satoko 

Inoue. Works by Kondo Hoshiya, Shibuya and 

Watanabe; Jamieson: new work (premiere). 

345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781. $25; 10(st). 

Cash only. 


See May 3. Also May 5, 6(3:30pm). 

●●8:00: TTSS Musical Theatre Ensemble. 

Big City, Big Songs: A Musical Theatre Revue. 

Songs by Porter, Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber 

in a relaxed cabaret show. Linda Eyman, 

director. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 

12 Alexander St. 416-975-8555. $20-$30. 

Also May 5. 

Saturday May 5 


Youth. Journeys in Song. Oakville Centre for 


905-337-7104. $25; $20(sr); $15(under 13). 

Also 4:30pm. 

●●2:30: Bel Canto Singers. Silver Anniversary 

Concert: Can’t Stop Singing. Adams: We 

Rise Again; Maschwitz & Sherwin: A Nightingale 

Sang in Berkeley Square; Les Misérables 

Medley (arr: Lojeski); MacGillivray: Song for 

the Mira; Rogers & Hammerstein: The Sound 

of Music; and other works. Leanne Piller, conductor; 

Jacqueline Mokrzewski, accompaniment. 

Scarborough Bluffs United Church, 


7586. $20; free(child). Also 7:30. 

●●3:00: Toronto Children’s Chorus. Fire and 

Ice. Finale to TCC’s 40th anniversary concert 

season. Music reflecting the diversity 

of Canada. Works by Kuzmenko, Henderson, 

Adams, Telfer and others. Winona Zelenka, 

cello; Stan Klebanoff, trumpet; Elise Bradley, 

conductor. Toronto Centre for the Arts, 

5040 Yonge St., North York. 416-932-8666 

x231. $35.50-$45.50. 


Youth. Journeys in Song. Oakville Centre for 


905-337-7104. $25; $20(sr); $15(under 13). 

Also 1:30pm. 

●●7:00: Raag-Mala Music Society of 

Toronto. Sarod and Vocal Recital. Pandit 

Partho Sarothy, sarod; Vidushi Shruti Sadolikar, 

vocalist. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front 

St. W. 416-276-5616 or 647-521-3816. $40; 

$25(member); $10(st). 

●●7:30: Annex Singers. North by Northeast. 

Contemporary choral music by Scandinavian 

and Baltic composers. Dobrogosz: Jazz Mass; 

works by Gjeilo, Pärt, Ešenvalds, Miškinis and 

others. Maria Case, director. Grace Church 

on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-968-7747. 

$25; $20(sr/st); free(8-12). 

●●7:30: Bel Canto Singers. Silver Anniversary 

Concert: Can’t Stop Singing. Adams: We 

Rise Again; Maschwitz & Sherwin: A Nightingale 

Sang in Berkeley Square; Les Misérables 

Medley (arr: Lojeski); MacGillivray: Song for 

the Mira; Rogers & Hammerstein: The Sound 

of Music; and other works. Leanne Piller, conductor; 

Jacqueline Mokrzewski, accompaniment. 

Scarborough Bluffs United Church, 


7586. $20; free(child). Also 2:30. 


See Apr 28. Also May 8, 11, 16, 20(2pm), 

24, 26. 

●●7:30: Cantemus Singers. Songs for Young 

Elizabeth. Fayrfax: O Lux beata Trinitas; Sheppard: 

In pace in idipsum; Tallis: Lamentations 

of Jeremiah; Blessed are those that are 

undefiled; Mundy: O Lord, the Maker of all 

things; and works by Cornysh. Trinity College 

Chapel, U of T, 6 Hoskin Ave. 416-578-6602. 

$20; free(under 12). Also May 6(mat, Church 

of the Holy Trinity). 

●●7:30: Espressivo Singers. Where There 

Is Love: Celebrating 10 Years of Espressivo 

Singers. Mechem: Sing All Ye Joyful 

Op.55 No.1; Leland/White (arr. Coolen): Morning 

Trumpet; Debussy (arr. Raines): Nuit 

d’étoiles; L’Engle/Gawthrop: Mary Speaks 

Madeleine; Jenkins: Adiemus from Songs 

of Sanctuary; Jasperse: VoiceDance. St. 

George’s Memorial Church, 51 Centre St. S., 

Oshawa. 905-686-6299. $25; $15(under 13). 

●●7:30: Mississauga Festival Youth Choir. 

Generations. Rutter: Mass of the Children. 

Mississauga Festival Choir; Mississauga Festival 

Youth Choir; Resonance; Raising Voices; 

orchestra. Hammerson Hall, Living Arts Centre, 

4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga. 905- 

306-6000. $15; $10(sr/child 12 and under). 

Fire and Ice 

A Special 40th Anniversary Celebration Concert 

Featuring Winona Zelenka (cello) and surprise guests 

What is our life? 

May 5, 7:30pm, Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields 

Opus 8 brings you the existential choral 

ponderings of Howells, Britten, 

Whitacre, Gombert, Gibbons, and more. 

Entry is pay-what-you-can-afford. 

Join us for a free post-concert reception 

Saturday, May 5 | 3pm | Toronto Centre for the Arts 

Tickets: Toronto Centre for the Arts Box Office 

(in person) & Ticketmaster (phone & online) 


The entire MFC family 

of choirs! 

SATURDAY, 

MAY 5, 2018 

7:30PM 

mfchoir.com 

●●7:30: Music at St. Andrew’s. For King and 

Country: 100th Anniversary of the End of 

World War I. Tony Quarrington & Friends: 

Mary Lous Fallis, soprano; Allison Angelo, 

soprano; Stuart Laughton, trumpet; Arthur 

Renwick, dobro; James Gordon, guitar. With 

dramatic readings, big-screen A/V show, and 

displays of Vimy Cross and war artifcats. St. 

Andrew’s Church (Toronto), 73 Simcoe St. 

416-593-5600 x231. $25. CD launch. 

●●7:30: Oakville Chamber Orchestra. Concerto 

Competition Grand Prize Winners Concert. 

St. John’s United Church (Oakville), 

262 Randall St., Oakville. 905-483-6787. $30; 

$25(sr); $20(st); free(12 and under). Also 

May 6(3pm, St. Simon’s Anglican Church). 

●●7:30: Opus 8. What Is Our Life? Choral 

music that asks the eternal questions of 

the human condition. Works by Gibbons, 

Howells, Josquin, Gombert and Bach. Opus 

8 Choral Octet. Church of St. Martin-in-the- 

Fields, 151 Glenlake Ave. 647-233-5803. PWYC. 

Reception following concert. 

●●7:30: VOCA Chorus of Toronto. Dreamsongs. 

Gjeilo: Dreamweaver (Canadian premiere); 

Song of the Universal (Toronto 

premiere); and works by Daley, Sirett, Penfound, 

Hawley, and others. Ellen McAteer, 

soprano; Jason Fowler, guitar; VOCA Chamber 

Strings; Jenny Crober, conductor; Elizabeth 

Acker, accompanist. Eastminster United 

Church, 310 Danforth Ave. 416-947-8487. $25; 

$20(sr); $10(st). 

●●8:00: Ambiance Singers. Annual Charity 

Concert. Jazz standards, blues, country, 

pop, show tunes and gospel songs. Guest: 

Ori Dagan; Danny McErlain, conductor. Living 

Arts Centre, 4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga. 

905-306-6000. $37.50; $18.75(12 and 

under). Net proceeds to The Journey. 

●●8:00: Gallery 345. John Cage: Duos for 

Piano and Violin. Satoko Inoue, piano; Clemens 

Merkel, violin. 345 Sorauren Ave. 416- 

822-9781. $25; 10(st). Cash only. 

●●8:00: Music Gallery. Emergents IV: Pursuit 

Grooves + 2nd Son + Naman Cale. Music 

Gallery at 918 Bathurst, 918 Bathurst St. 416- 

204-1080. $12; $8(members). 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. SongBird North 

(Music Mix). Temerty Theatre, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $35. 

●●8:00: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Flights of Fantasy. Mozart: Overture to 

The Abduction from the Seraglio; Bisson: 

Epitaph, Concert Piece for String Quartet; 

Mahler: Symphony No.4. Odin String Quartet; 

Ronald Royer, conductor. Salvation Army 

Scarborough Citadel, 2021 Lawrence Ave. 

E., Scarborough. www.spo.ca. $30; $25(sr); 

$15(st); $10(child). 

●●8:00: Soundstreams. Beat It! Ryan Scott, 

percussion. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 

12 Alexander St. 416-975-8555. $20. 


See May 3. Also May 6(3:30pm). 

Sunday May 6 

●●2:00: Oriana Women’s Choir. Ensemble! 

With Adleisia. Holst: Hymn to Vena; Fauré: 

Les Berceaux; Holst: Ave Maria; Henderson: 

Come Ye Makers of Song; Verdi: Laudi 

Alla Vergine. Guests: Adleisia Women’s Choir. 

Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale 

Rd. 416-978-8849. $25; $20(sr/under 35); 

$10(st). 

●●2:00: Rezonance Baroque Ensemble. 

Handel’s Heroines. Opera arias by Handel 

for soprano; and other works. Vania 

Chan, lyric coloratura soprano; Rezan Onen- 

Lapointe and Jimin Shin, baroque violins; 

Rebecca Morton, baroque cello; David Podgorski, 

harpsichord. St. Barnabas Anglican 

Church, 361 Danforth Ave. 647-779-5696. 

$25/$20(adv); $15(st). 

●●2:00: Royal Conservatory. Sunday Interludes. 

Sara Daneshpour, piano. Medalist from 

the International Artur Rubinstein Competition. 

Temerty Theatre, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor 

St. W. 416-408-0208. Free. 

●●2:00: Visual and Performing Arts Newmarket. 

Vandikas Family. Instrumental group 

of six. Newmarket Theatre, 505 Pickering 

Cres., Newmarket. 905-953-5122. $30; 

$25(sr); $10(st). 



No.12 in A, K414; Bruckner: Symphony No.8 in 

c (ed. Hawkshaw) (Canadian premiere). Leon 


La Maison Symphonique, 1600 St Urbain St., 

Montreal. 514-842-2112. $34.75–$148.00. 

Also May 2(8pm), 3(2pm), 7(8pm, Ottawa). 

●●3:00: Cantemus Singers. Songs for Young 

Elizabeth. Fayrfax: Fayrfax: O Lux beata 

Trinitas; Sheppard: In pace in idipsum; Tallis: 

Lamentations of Jeremiah; Blessed are those 

that are undefiled; Mundy: O Lord, the Maker 

of all things; and works by Cornysh. Church of 

the Holy Trinity, 19 Trinity Sq. 416-578-6602. 

$20; free(under 12). Also May 5(eve, Trinity 

College Chapel). 

●●3:00: Oakville Chamber Orchestra. Concerto 

Competition Grand Prize Winners 

Concert. St. Simon’s Anglican Church (Oakville), 

1450 Litchfield Rd., Oakville. 905- 

483-6787. $30; $25(sr); $20(st); free(12 and 

under). Also May 5(7:30pm, St. John’s United 

Church). 

●●3:00: St. Paul’s Bloor Street Anglican 

Church. Organ Recital. Sarah Svendsen, 

organ. 227 Bloor St. E. 416-961-8116. Free. 

●●3:30: St. Anne’s Anglican Church. Celebration 

of Composer C.H.H. Parry. Parry: 

anthems, hymns, and other choral and 

instrumental selections. Guests: chamber 

orchestra; Junction Trio. 270 Gladstone Ave. 

416-536-3160. PWYC. 


See May 3. 

●●4:00: Church of St. Mary Magdalene 

(Toronto). Organ Fireworks. Andrew Adair, 

organ. 477 Manning Ave. 416-531-7955. Free. 

●●4:00: Toronto Classical Singers. Music 

of Transcendence. Brahms: Ein Deutsches 

Requiem. Lesley Bouza, soprano; Matthew 

Zadow, baritone; Jurgen Petrenko, conductor. 

Guests: Talisker Players Orchestra. Christ 

Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416-444- 

7863. $30. 

●●7:00: Canadian Children’s Opera Company. 

Chip & His Dog and All The King’s Men. Music 

by Gian Carlo Menotti and John Anthony Bennett. 

Canadian Youth Opera Chorus; Teri 

Dunn, music director; Autumn Smith, stage 

director. York University, Joseph G. Green 

Studio Theatre, 4700 Keele St. 416-366-0467. 

$20; $15(sr/st); $5(under 6). 

Monday May 7 

●●7:30: Elmer Iseler Singers. Get Music! 

Educational Gala. Toronto secondary school 

guest choirs; Lydia Adams, conductor, mentor 

and clinician. Metropolitan United Church 

(Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-217-0537. $25; 

$10(st). Educational Outreach Initiative in 

memory of John C. Bird. 

B. Concerts Beyond the GTA 

IN THIS ISSUE: Alliston, Barrie, Belleville, Cambridge, Cambridge, 

Campbellcroft, Cobourg, Elmira, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, 

Kitchener, London, New Hamburg, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Orangeville, 

Owen Sound, Peterborough, Peterborough, St. Catharines, 

St. Catharines, St. Jacob's, Stratford, Waterloo, Windsor. 


●●12:00 noon: Marilyn I. Walker School of 

Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University. 

RBC Foundation Music@Noon. Piano and guitar 

students from the Department of Music. 

Cairns Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts 

Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 905- 

688-0722. Free. 

●●7:30: Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine 

and Performing Arts, Brock University. 

The University Wind Ensemble. Zoltan Kalman, 

conductor. Partridge Hall, FirstOntario 

Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. 

Catharines. 905-688-0722. $12; $5(child); 

$5(eyeGo); free(Brock students). 


●●12:00 noon: Midday Music with Shigeru. 

Daniel Johnston and Bear Creek Students. Hi- 

Way Pentecostal Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 

705-726-1181. $10; free(st). 

●●7:30: Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and 

Performing Arts, Brock University. The 

University String Orchestra. George Cleland, 

conductor. Cairns Hall, FirstOntario 


Catharines. 905-688-0722. $12; $5(child); 

$5(eyeGo); free(Brock students). 

●●8:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Western 

University Symphonic Band: Song and 

Dance. Paul Davenport Theatre, Talbot 

Sat. May 5 

7:30PM 

St. Andrew’s Church 

King & Simcoe St., 

Toronto 

Tickets $25 

ADVANCE TICKETS & 

GROUP DISCOUNTS 

standrewstoronto.org 

for 

King 

a n 

Country 

d 

Songs about 

Canadians in the 

First World War 

World Premiere by 

TONY 

QUARRINGTON 

& FRIENDS 


College, Western University, 1151 Richmond 

St. N., London. 519-661-3767. Free. 



●●12:00 noon: Marilyn I. Walker School of 

Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University. 

RBC Foundation Music@Noon. Piano 

and guitar students. Cairns Hall, FirstOntario 


Catharines. 905-688-0722. Free. 

●●8:00: Encore Performances. Pat & Emilia. 

Works by Smallman, Bizet, Verdi, Puccini and 

Gounod. Tara Sievers-Hunt, soprano; Jocelyn 

Zelasko, soprano; ensemble. Willistead 

Manor, 1899 Niagara St., Windsor. 519-253- 

2365. $25. 


●●7:00: Vera Causa Opera. The Italian Girl 

in Algiers. Rossini; Anelli, libretto. Katerina 

Utochkina (Isabella); Kimberely-Rose Pefhany 

(Elvira); Grace Quinsey (Zulma); David Boan 

(Lindoro); Domenico Sanfilippo (Mustafa); 

and others. Cambridge Centre for the Arts, 

60 Dickson St., Cambridge. 519-740-4681 

x4376. $15. Also Apr 7 (Waterloo). 

●●8:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. 

Western University Wind Ensemble: Meditation 

and Exaltation. Paul Davenport Theatre, 

Talbot College, Western University, 

1151 Richmond St. N., London. 519-661-3767. 

Free. 

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. 

Cirque de la Symphonie. Evan Mitchell, conductor. 

Centre in the Square, 101 Queen St. 

N., Kitchener. 519-745-4711 or 1-888-745-4717. 

$18; $11(child). Also Apr 7(2:30pm & 8pm). 





N., Kitchener. 519-745-4711 or 1-888-745-4717. 

$18; $11(child). Also Apr 6 & 7(8pm) 

●●7:00: Chorus Niagara. Treble in Niagara: 

Treble Festival Concert. Children’s choirs 

from Niagara and the GTA; Dr. Rollo Dilworth, 

guest conductor. FirstOntario Performing 

Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 

1-855-515-0722 or 905-688-0722. $20; 


●●7:00: Gallery Players of Niagara. Movie 

Night - Safety Last. Improvised music accompanying 

silent films. Harold Lloyd: Safety Last 

(1923). Douglas Miller, flute; Eric Mahar, guitar; 

Penner Mackay, percussion. FirstOntario 


Catharines. 905-468-1525. $75(family); $36; 

$33(sr); $14(st/arts worker). 6:45pm: prescreening 

talk with film historian Joan Nicks. 

●●7:00: Vera Causa Opera. The Italian Girl 

in Algiers. Rossini; Anelli, libretto. Katerina 

Utochkina (Isabella); Kimberely-Rose Pefhany 

(Elvira); Grace Quinsey (Zulma); David 

Boan (Lindoro); Domenico Sanfilippo (Mustafa); 

and others. Knox Presbyterian Church 

(Waterloo), 50 Erb St. W., Waterloo. 519-886- 

4150. $15. Also Apr 6 (Cambridge). 

●●7:30: Barrie Concerts. Sinfonia Toronto 

& Stewart Goodyear. Dvořák: Serenade; 

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 “The 

Emperor”. Stewart Goodyear, piano; Nurhan 

Arman, conductor. Hi-Way Pentecostal 

Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 705-726- 

1181. $85. 

●●7:30: Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing 

Arts. Genius of John Coltrane. Rémi 

Bolduc Jazz Ensemble. 390 King St. W., Kingston. 

613-533-2424. $29-$55; $15-$27(st). 

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music 

Society. Robert Dvorkin, Piano. Debussy: Preludes 

(Books I and II). KWCMS Music Room, 

57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-1673. 

$30; $20(st). 




N., Kitchener. 519-745-4711 or 1-888-745-4717. 

$19-$86. Also Apr 6, 7(2:30pm). 


●●2:00: Chamber Music Hamilton. New 

Orford String Quartet. Wolf: Italian Serenade; 

Gellman: Musica Eterna; Barton: String Quartet 

No.2;Mozart: Viola Quintet in C K515. Art 

Gallery of Hamilton, 123 King St. W., Hamilton. 

905-525-7429. $35; $30(sr); $15(st). 


Performing Arts, Brock University. Viva 

Voce! Choral Series: Brock University Choirs. 

Rachel Rensink-Hoff, conductor. Cairns Hall, 

FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. 

Paul St., St. Catharines. 905-688-0722. $15; 

$10(sr/st); $5(eyeGo). 

●●7:00: Les AMIS Concerts. Joyce Lai, Violin 

and Erika Crinó, Piano. Works by Lavallée, 

Willan, Champagne, Pepa and Cozens. 

The Loft Cinema, 201 Division St., Cobourg. 

905-372-2210. $20. Seven short NFB documentaries 

about Canadian composers will be 

screened after the live performance. 


●●8:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Contemporary 

Music Studio Concert. Von 

Kuster Hall, Music Building, Western University, 

1151 Richmond St. N., London. 519-661- 

3767. Free. 


●●6:00: Don Wright Faculty of Music. Electroacoustic 

Music Compositions Concert. 

Paul Davenport Theatre, Talbot College, Western 

University, 1151 Richmond St. N., London. 

519-661-3767. Free. 


●●12:15: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church 

(Kitchener). Wednesday Noon-Hour Concerts 

Spring 2018. Lucy Zhang, violin; Ian Le, 

piano. 54 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 226-647- 

1290. Free. 11:30: Lunch available in the foyer 

or BYO. 

●●2:30: Seniors Serenade. Evelyn Liang, 

Piano. Works by J. S. Bach, Mozart, Chopin 

and Fauré. Grace United Church (Barrie), 

350 Grove St. E., Barrie. 705-726-1181. Free. 

3:30: tea & goodies $5. 



Arts. Arion Baroque Orchestra and 

Boris Begelman. Works by Bach, Handel, 

Quantz and Telemann. 390 King St. W., Kingston. 

613-533-2424. $29-$55; $15-$27(st). 



Bénédicte Plays Barber. Adès: Three Studies 

from Couperin; Barber: Violin Concerto; 

Schubert: Symphony No.9 in C “The Great”. 

Bénédicte Lauzière, violin; Case Scaglione, 

conductor. Centre in the Square, 101 Queen 

St. N., Kitchener. 519-745-4711 or 1-888-745- 

4717. $19-$82. Also Apr 14. 



Youth Orchestra: Concert 3. Centre in the 

Square, 101 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 519-745- 

4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $13; $11(child). 

●●2:30: Kingston Symphony Association. 

Herbert & Dvořák. Massenet: Prelude to Act 5 

of Don Quichotte; Herbert: Cello Concerto 

No.2; Dvořák: Cello Concerto. Ariel Barnes, 

cello; Kingston Symphony Orchestra. Isabel 

Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, 

390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-530-2050. 

$20-$50; $20-$45(sr); $15-$25(st); $10(child/ 

Classically Hip member). Also Apr 15(mat). 

●●7:00: King Edward Choir. Barrie Choralfest. 

Mozart: Requiem; Bernstein: Missa Brevis; 

Borodin: Polovtsian Dances; Les Mis. Oliver 

Balaburski, conductor. Guests: Huronia Symphony 

Orchestra. Collier Street United Church, 

112 Collier St., Barrie. 705-721-4752. $30. 

●●7:30: New Tecumseth Singers/Dufferin 

Concert Singers. To Life We Sing. Forrest: 

Requieum For The Living; and other choral 

works. Members of Hart House Orchestra. 

Grace Baptist Church, 354 Victoria St. E., 

Alliston. 705-435-5497. $20; free(under 16). 

Also Apr 15 (3:30pm, Orangeville). 


Bénédicte Plays Barber. Adès: Three Studies 

from Couperin; Barber: Violin Concerto; 

Schubert: Symphony No.9 in C “The Great”. 

Bénédicte Lauzière, violin; Case Scaglione, 

conductor. Centre in the Square, 101 Queen 

St. N., Kitchener. 519-745-4711 or 1-888-745- 

4717. $19-$82. Also Apr 13. 


●●2:30: Kingston Symphony Association. 

Herbert & Dvořák. Massenet: Prelude 

to Act 5 of Don Quichotte; Herbert: Cello 

Concerto No.2; Dvořák: Cello Concerto. Ariel 

Barnes, cello; Kingston Symphony Orchestra. 

Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-530- 

2050. $20-$50; $20-$45(sr); $15-$25(st); 

$10(child/Classically Hip member). Also 

Apr 14(mat). 

●●2:30: Niagara Symphony Orchestra. Fires 

of Creation. Estacio: Light Eternal; Elgar: Cello 

Concerto; Shostakovich: Symphony No.5. 

Bryan Cheng, cello; Bradley Thachuk, conductor. 

FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 

250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 905-688- 

0722 or 1-855-515-0722. $67; $62(sr); $32(30 

and under); $12(st/arts/child); $5(eyeGO). 

●●3:00: Angus Sinclair. Organ Recital. Works 

by Bach, Buxtehude, Cabena and Sinclair. 

Trinity Lutheran Church, 23 Church St., New 

Hamburg. 519-662-1810. Free will offering. 

Refreshments provided. 

●●3:30: New Tecumseth Singers/Dufferin 

Concert Singers. To Life We Sing. Forrest: 

Requiem for the Living; and other choral 

works. Members of Hart House Orchestra. 

Westminster United Church (Orangeville), 

247 Broadway Ave., Orangeville. 705-435- 

5497. $20; free(under 16). Also Apr 14 

(7:30pm, Alliston). 

●●4:00: Folk Under the Clock. Double Bill: 

James Keelaghan & Tony McManus. Market 

Hall Performing Arts Centre, 140 Charlotte 

St., Peterborough. 705-749-1146 and 705-742- 

9425. $37.50; $25(st). 

●●4:00: St. George’s Cathedral (Kingston). 

Choral Evensong. Wood: Hail Gladdening 

Light; other works by Noble and Smith. Guest 

choir: Cantabile; Mark Sirett, conductor. 

270 King St. E., Kingston. 613-548-4617. Free. 

●●4:30: Music At St. Thomas’. An Afternoon 

with J.S. Bach: Concerto in c BWV1060; 

Sanctus in d BWV239; Cantata “Christ lag 

in Todesbanden” BWV4; and works by Matthieu 

Latreille and Francine Nguyen-Savaria. 

St. Thomas’ Choral Academy; Odin String 

Quartet; Duo Pergulae. St. Thomas’ Anglican 

Church (Belleville), 201 Church St., Belleville. 

613-962-3636. Admission by donation. 


●●10:30am: Tunes4Tots. Sound the Horn! 

Michael Rosenberger, French horn; John Butler, 

piano. St. George’s Anglican Church (St. 

Catharines), 83 Church St., St. Catharines. 

n/a. $10/$8(adv); free(child). 10:00: doors 

open and refreshments available. 


●●12:00 noon: Music at St. Andrews. Four 

Hands, Two Feet. Works by Ravel, Yon and 

Bédard. Simon Irving, organ; Janice Beninger, 

piano. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church 

(Barrie), 47 Owen St., Barrie. 705-726-1181. 

$10; free(st). 



Spring 2018. Wendy Wagler, flute; Beth 

Ann de Sousa, piano. 54 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 

226-647-1290. Free. 11:30: Lunch available 

in the foyer or BYO. 


●●8:00: Jeffery Concerts. Classical Evolution. 

Mozart: Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano 

in E-flat K498 “Kegelstatt”; Weber: Quintet for 

Clarinet and Strings in B-flat Op.34; Brahms: 

Quintet for Piano and Strings in f Op.34. 

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: 

Gilles Vonsattel, piano; Tommaso Lonquich, 


clarinet; Ida Kavafian and Erin Keefe, violins; 

Yura Lee, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello. Wolf 

Performance Hall, 251 Dundas St., London. 

519-672-8800. $40. 


●●10:30am: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. 

The Most Beautiful Bird. Kait Taylor, storyteller; 

KWS Musicians. Woolwich Memorial 

Centre, 24 Snyder St. S., Elmira. 519-745- 

4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $13; $11(child). 

Also Apr 28(Conrad Centre, Kitchener), 

May 5(Waterloo Region Museum, Kitchener). 

●●7:30: Grand Philharmonic Choir Chamber 

Singers. Earth Sea Sky. Enns: Ten Thousand 

Rivers of Oil; Raminsh: In the trail of the wind 

(excerpts); Vasks: Plainscapes; Grau: Kasar 

mie la Gaji; Lang: Earth Teach Me. St. John the 

Evangelist Anglican Church, 23 Water St. N., 

Kitchener. 519-578-5660 x5290. $29; $13(st/ 

under 30); $5(child). 

presents 

Mendelssohn’s 

●●7:30: Music at First-St. Andrew’s United 

Church. Elijah. Mendelssohn. First-St. 

Andrew’s Senior Choir; London Pro Musica 

Choir; London Symphonia; Sonja Gustafson, 

soprano; Francesca Ranalli, mezzo; Darryl 

Edwards, tenor; Chad Louwerse, bass-baritone; 

Terry Head, conductor. First-St. Andrew’s 

United Church (London), 350 Queens Ave., 

London. 519-679-8182. $35; $15(st). 

●●7:30: Niagara Symphony Orchestra. 

Broadway Reimagined. Sarah Slean, vocalist; 

Bradley Thachuk, conductor. FirstOntario 

Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., 

St. Catharines. 905-688-0722 or 1-855-515- 

0722. $67; $62(sr); $32(30 and under); $12(st/ 

arts/child); $5(eyeGO). Also Apr 22(2:30pm). 


●●2:30: Duet Club of Hamilton. Annual Choral 

Concert. Cape Breton Lullaby, Boogie Woogie 

Bugle Boy, Hymn to Freedom and others. 

Women of Song Choir; Sir William Osler Glee 

Club; Komenci and Esplori Choirs from The 

Hamilton Children’s Choir. Melrose United 

Church, 86 Homewood Ave., Hamilton. 905- 

304-8945. $18; $15(sr/st); free(under 12). 

●●2:30: Georgian Music. Penderecki String 

Quartet and Stéphane Lemelin, Piano. Works 

by Wolf and Verdi; Wolf-Ferrari: Piano Quintet. 

Grace United Church (Barrie), 350 Grove 

St. E., Barrie. 705-726-1181. $65. 

●●2:30: Isabel Bader Centre for the 

Performing Arts. The Schoolyard Carmen. 

Shoestring Opera. 390 King St. W., Kingston. 

613-533-2424. $16; $8(st). Recommended for 

Grades 1-6. 


Broadway Reimagined. Sarah Slean, vocalist; 

Bradley Thachuk, conductor. FirstOntario 


St. Catharines. 905-688-0722 or 1-855-515- 

0722. $67; $62(sr); $32(30 and under); $12(st/ 

arts/child); $5(eyeGO). Also Apr 21(7:30pm). 

●●4:00: St. George’s Cathedral (Kingston). 

Choral Evensong. Service commemorating 

St. George. Parry: I was glad; other works 

by Brewer and Oxley. St. George’s Cathedral 

Evensong Choir; Michael Capon, conductor. 

270 King St. E., Kingston. 613-548-4617. Free. 



Arts. Metamorfosi. Works by Monteverdi, 

Kapsberger, Merula, Strozzi, Rossi and 

others. Constantinople; Suzie LeBlanc, soprano. 

390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-533- 

2424. $29-$55; $15-$27(st). 




Spring 2018. Penny Johnson, piano. 

54 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 226-647-1290. 

Free. 11:30: Lunch available in the foyer or 

BYO. 

●●7:30: Plumbing Factory Brass Band. Quodlibets: 

Miscellaneous Melodic Mixtures. 

Bagley: National Emblem; Mozart: March 

of the Priests (from The Magic Flute); Salvation 

Army festival march ‘The Canadian’; 

Meacham: American Patrol; Auber: overture 

to The Bronze Horse; Meredith: Riding 

the Range; and other works. Henry Meredith, 

conductor. Byron United Church, 420 Boler 

Rd., London. 519-471-1250 or 519-659-3600. 

$15/$13(adv); $10(st). Refreshments and conversation 

to follow. 


The Royal Fireworks: No Strings Attached. 

Haydn: London Trio No.1; Mozart: Serenade 

No.12 in c; Gounod: Little Symphony for Wind 

Instruments; Handel: Music for the Royal 

Fireworks. Ian Hopkin, curator. First United 

Church (Waterloo), 16 William St. W., Waterloo. 

519-745-4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $36. Also 

Apr 27(Guelph), 28(Cambridge). 


●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. The 

Royal Fireworks: No Strings Attached. Haydn: 

London Trio No.1; Mozart: Serenade No.12 in 

c; Gounod: Little Symphony for Wind Instruments; 

Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks. 

Ian Hopkin, curator. Harcourt Memorial 

United Church, 87 Dean Ave., Guelph. 519-745- 

4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $36. Also Apr 25(Waterloo), 

28(Cambridge). 




KWS Musicians. Conrad Centre for 

the Performing Arts, 36 King St. W., Kitchener. 

519-745-4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $13; 

$11(child). Also Apr 21(Woolwich Memorial 

Centre, Elmira); May 5(Waterloo Region 

Museum, Kitchener). 

●●5:30: Alloy Fusion Handbell Choir/Peterborough 

Astronomical Association. Under 

the Stars. Featuring contemporary and 

classical music with an astronomical theme. 

Holst: Jupiter from “The Planets”; Beethoven: 

Moonlight Sonata; Stairway to Heaven; Fly Me 

to the Moon; City of Stars; and other works. 

Four-octave handbell choir, bell trees, percussion 

and flute; Debbie Fingas, conductor. 

Ganaraska Forest Centre, 10585 Cold Springs 

Camp Rd., Campbellcroft. 905-375-9414. 

$60.00 (groups of 8 save 10% when ordered 

online). Includes banquet, handbell concert, 

and guided tour of the night sky; bring warm 

clothes. 


Performing Arts, Brock University. Viva 

Voce! Choral Series: Avanti Singers. Rachel 

Rensink-Hoff, conductor. St. Thomas Anglican 

Church (St. Catharines), 99 Ontario St., 

St. Catharines. 905-684-2339. $25; $20(sr/ 

st); $5(eyeGo). 

●●8:00: DaCapo Chamber Choir. This Thirsty 

Land. Music by Leonard Enns. Guests: 

Orpheus Choir of Toronto; Robert Cooper, director; 

and oboe soloist and string orchestra. 

St. John’s Lutheran (Waterloo), 22 Willow 

St., Waterloo. 519-725-7548. $25; $20(sr); 

$15(st); $5(eyeGO/child). 

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. The 

Royal Fireworks: No Strings Attached. Haydn: 

London Trio No.1; Mozart: Serenade No.12 in 

c; Gounod: Little Symphony for Wind Instruments; 

Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks. 

Ian Hopkin, curator. Central Presbyterian 

Church (Cambridge), 7 Queens Sq., Cambridge. 

519-745-4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $36. 

Also Apr 25(Waterloo), 27(Guelph). 

●●9:00: SweetWater Music Festival. Sweet- 

Water Jazz II. Mark Fewer and Drew 

Jurecka, violins; Nathan Hiltz, guitar; Justin 

Gray, bass. Heartwood Hall, 939 2nd Ave. E., 

Owen Sound. 519-477-1403. $30/$25(adv). 


●●2:00: Gallery Players of Niagara. Eybler 

Quartet: Three Worlds in One. First 50 years 

of the string quartet. Beethoven: String Quartet 

Op.130; Mozart: String Quartet K464 in 

A; Asplmayr: String Quartet Op.2. Aisslinn 

Nosky, violin; Julia Wedman, violin; Patrick 

Jordan, viola; Margaret Gay, cello. Silver Spire 

United Church, 366 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 

905-468-1525. $75(family); $36; $33(sr); 

$14(st/arts worker). 

●●2:00: Guelph Youth Music Centre. Music at 

the Guelph Youth Music Centre Concert Series: 

Brenda Lewis and Friends - Celebrating 

25 Years of Singing! Brenda Lewis, lead and 

harmony vocals; Margaret Stowe, jazz guitar; 

guests: John Zadro, piano; Jeff Bird, upright 

bass, harmonica, mandolin; Andy MacPherson, 

drums & percussion; Gayle Ackroyd, harmony 

vocals, ukulele, guitar. 75 Cardigan St., 

Guelph. 519-837-1119. $15; $10(sr/st). 

●●2:30: WomEnchant Chorus & Drummers. 

Celebrating 25 Years of Sisterhood and 

Song. Works by Near, Kaldor, Simon, Thompson, 

Hale and others. Guests: Beth Bartley, 

Betsy Tauro and Teresa Holierhoek, vocals. 

Hernder Estate Wines, 1607 8th Avenue 

Louth, St. Catharines. 905-935-0352. $40; 

$20(under 13). 

●●7:30: Brandi Disterheft Quartet. New York 

Meets International Jazz Day Peterborough! 

Jazz standards & originals from Brandi’s 

albums. Brandi Disterheft, bass and vocals; 

Vincent Herring, saxophone; Alex Minasian, 

piano; Carmen Intorre, drums. Market Hall 

Performing Arts Centre, 140 Charlotte St., 

Peterborough. 705-749-1146. $30. 

Wednesday May 2 

●●12:00 noon: Midday Music with Shigeru. 

Participants of the Barrie Music Festival. Hi- 

Way Pentecostal Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 

705-726-1181. $10; free(st). 



Spring 2018. Andrew Fu, piano. 

54 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 226-647-1290. 

Free. 11:30: Lunch available in the foyer or 

BYO. 

Thursday May 3 

●●7:00: TD Niagara Jazz Festival. Cole Porter 

Tribute: Porter with Porter. Stu MacDonald 

Quartet. Exchange Brewery, 7 Queen St., 

Niagara-on-the-Lake. 905-468-9888. $29. 

One beverage and light fare included. 

●●7:30: Artword Artbar. 60s Folk Revival: 

Where Have All the Folk Songs Gone? Sue 

and Dwight, folk roots duo; Michelle Rumball, 

guitar and vocals; Tony Laviola, bass. 

15 Colbourne St., Hamilton. 416-543-8512. 

$15. Reservations required. Songsheets provided 

for audience sing-along. 

Friday May 4 

●●7:30: Musicata - Hamilton’s Voices. Visual 

Art and Choral Music Collaboration Concert. 

Church of St. John the Evangelist, 

320 Charlton Ave. W., Hamilton. 905-628- 

5238. $25; $20(sr); $5(st). 


The Great Human Odyssey in Concert. Darren 

Fung, composer and conductor; Dr. Niobe 

Thompson, filmmaker and narrator; Rockway 

Mennonite Collegiate Choir. Centre in the 


4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $19-$86. Also May 5. 

Saturday May 5 



KWS Musicians. Waterloo Region 

Museum, 10 Huron Rd., Kitchener. 519-745- 

4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $13; $11(child). Also 

Apr 21(Woolwich Memorial Centre, Elmira), 

Apr 28(Conrad Centre, Kitchener). 

●●2:00: King Edward Choir. Time Travel. 

Works by des Prez, di Lasso and Morley; 

Schumann: Die alte gute Zeit; Barber: To Be 

Sung on the Water; and other works. Daniel 

Cabena, countertenor; Oliver Balaburski, 

conductor. Collier Street United Church, 

112 Collier St., Barrie. 705-431-0343. $25; 

$15(st). Also 7:30. 

●●2:30: Niagara Symphony Orchestra. Playtime! 

Stevenson: Compose Yourself; Leopold 

Mozart: Toy Symphony. Bradley Thachuk, conductor. 

Cairns Hall, FirstOntario Performing 


905-688-0722 or 1-855-515-0722. $67; 

$62(sr); $32(30 and under); $12(st/arts/ 

child); $5(eyeGO). Also May 6. 

●●3:00: 5 at the First Chamber Music Series. 

Three Voices: Twelve Strings. Mozart: Divertimento 

in E-flat K563; Reger: String Trio No.1 

in a; Abigail Richardson-Schulte: Homage 

to Mozart. Yehonatan Berick, violin; Jethro 

Marks, viola; Rachel Mercer, cello. First Unitarian 

Church of Hamilton, 170 Dundurn St. S., 

Hamilton. 905-399-5125. $20; $15(sr); $5(st/ 

unwaged); free(under 12). 

●●7:00: Chorus Niagara. Amadeus. Mozart: 

Mass in c; excerpts from Don Giovanni, The 

Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte and The 

Magic Flute. Niagara Symphony Orchestra; 


Claire de Sévigné, soprano; Jocelyn Fralick, 

soprano; Isaiah Bell, tenor; Vartan Gabriellan, 

bass; and others. FirstOntario Performing 


1-855-515-0722 or 905-688-0722. $43; 

$41(sr); $28(under 30); $18(st); $15(child); 

$5(eyeGo). 6:30pm: pre-concert chat. 

●●7:30: Barrie Concerts. Stage & Screen. 

Highlights from The Sound of Music, Star 

Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Porgy and 

Bess, West Side Story; and others. Younggun 

Kim, piano; Toronto Concert Orchestra; 

Kerry Stratton, conductor. Hi-Way Pentecostal 

Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 705- 

726-1181. $85. 

●●7:30: Isabel Bader Centre for the 


Performing Arts. The Beauty of Bach. Works 

by Bach and Scarlatti. Angela Hewitt, piano. 

390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-533-2424. $29- 

$55; $15-$27(st). 

●●7:30: King Edward Choir. Time Travel. 

Works by des Prez, di Lasso and Morley; 

Schumann: Die alte gute Zeit; Barber: To Be 

Sung on the Water; and other works. Daniel 

Cabena, countertenor; Oliver Balaburski, 

conductor. Collier Street United Church, 

112 Collier St., Barrie. 705-431-0343. $25; 

$15(st). Also 2:00. 

●●7:30: Peterborough Singers. Mendelssohn’s 

Elijah. Melody Thomas, soprano; Marjorie 

Maltais, mezzo-soprano; Adam Bishop, 

tenor; Alexander Dobson, baritone; Ian 

C. Music Theatre 

Sadler, organ; Sydney Birrell, conductor. 

Emmanuel (George St.) United Church, 

534 George St. N., Peterborough. 705-745- 

1820. $30; $20(under 30); $10(st). 

●●7:30: Serenata Choir. Spring Fever. Gary 

Heard, conductor. St. Paul’s United Church 

(Midland), 308 King St., Midland. 705-526- 

6800. $20; $15(st). 


The Great Human Odyssey in Concert. Darren 

Fung, composer and conductor; Dr. Niobe 

Thompson, filmmaker and narrator; Rockway 

Mennonite Collegiate Choir. Centre in the 


4711 or 1-888-745-4717. $19-$86. Also May 4. 

Sunday May 6 


Playtime! Stevenson: Compose Yourself; Leopold 

Mozart: Toy Symphony. Bradley Thachuk, 

conductor. Cairns Hall, FirstOntario Performing 

Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. 

Catharines. 905-688-0722 or 1-855-515- 

0722. $67; $62(sr); $32(30 and under); $12(st/ 

arts/child); $5(eyeGO). Also May 5. 

Monday May 7 

● ● 8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Mozart 


No.12 in A, K414; Bruckner: Symphony No.8 in 

c (ed. Hawkshaw) (Canadian premiere). Leon 


National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin St., Ottawa. 613- 

947-7000. $34.75–$148.00. Also May 2(8pm), 

3(2pm), 6(2:30pm, Montréal). 

These music theatre listings contain a wide range of music theatre types including 

opera, operetta, musicals and other performance genres where music and 

drama combine. Listings in this section are sorted alphabetically by presenter. 

●●Alexander Showcase Theatre. The Hunchback 

of Notre Dame. Music by Alan Menken, 

lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, based on the 

novel. Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview 

Mall Dr. 416-324-1259. $27-$35. Opens Apr 6, 

7:30pm. Runs to Apr 14. Wed-Sat(7:30pm), 

Sun(2pm). 

●●Brampton Music Theatre. Beauty and the 

Beast. Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard 

Ashman and Tim Rice, book by Linda 

Woolverton. Rose Theatre, 1 Theatre Lane, 

Brampton. 905-874-2800. $35; $28(sr/ 

st). Opens Mar 29, 7:30pm. Runs to Apr 7. 

Thurs-Sat(7:30pm). 

●●Canadian Opera Company. The Nightingale 

and Other Short fables. Music by Igor 

Stravinsky (arr. LePage). Jane Archibald, soprano 

(The Nightingale). Four Seasons Centre 

for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416- 

363-8231. $35-$225. Opens Apr 13, 7:30pm. 

Runs to May 19. Days and times vary. Visit coc. 

ca for details. 

●●Canadian Opera Company. Anna Bolena. 

Music by Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by 

Felice Romani. Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano 

(Anna Bolena); Eric Owens, bass-baritone 

(Henry VIII). Stephen Lawless, director. 


145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. $35-$225. 

Opens Apr 28, 4:30pm. Runs to May 26. Days 

and times vary. Visit coc.ca for details. 

●●Canadian Stage/Tapestry Opera. The 

Overcoat: An Opera. Music by James Rolfe, 

libretto by Morris Panych. Bluma Appel Theatre, 

27 Front St. E. 416-368-3110. $35 and 

up. Opens Mar 27, 8pm. Runs to Apr 14.Tues/ 


●●Canadian Stage. Picnic in the Cemetery. 

Created by Njo Kong Kie. Berkeley Street Theatre, 

26 Berkeley St. 416-368-3110. $35-$69. 

Opens Apr 26, 8pm. Runs to May 6. Tues/ 


●●Castle Frank House of Melody. Ga-Ga for 

Gounod. Songs, duets and arias by Gounod 

and his contemporaries. St. Andrew’s United 

Church (Bloor St.), 117 Bloor St E. 416-966- 

2685. $25/20(adv). Apr 7, 7:30pm. 

●●Chorus Niagara. Amadeus. Mozart: Mass 

in c; excerpts from Don Giovanni, The Marriage 

of Figaro, Così fan tutte and The Magic 

Flute. Niagara Symphony Orchestra. FirstOntario 


St. Catharines. 1-855-515-0722. $43; $41(sr); 

$28(under 30); $18(st); $15(child); $5(eyeGo). 

6:30pm: pre-concert chat. May 5, 7pm. 

●●Curtain Call Players. Sister Act. Music by 

Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, book 

by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner and Douglas 

Carter Beane, based on the film. Fairview 

Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Dr. 416-703- 

6181. $28. Opens May 4, 8pm. Runs to May 12. 

Thurs-Sat(8pm). Sat/Sun(2pm). 

●●Drayton Entertainment. Hairspray. Music 

by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and 

Marc Shaiman, book by Mark O’Donnell and 

Thomas Meehan. Hamilton Family Theatre 

Cambridge. 46 Grand Ave. S., Cambridge. 

1-855-372-9866. $27-$46. Opens Mar 14, 2pm. 

Runs to Apr 8. Days and times vary. Visit draytonentertainment.com 

for details. 

●●Drayton Entertainment. The Drowsy Chaperone. 

Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert 

and Greg Morrison, book by Bob Martin. St. 

Jacob’s Schoolhouse Theatre, 11 Albert St. W., 

St. Jacob’s. 1-855-372-9866. $27-$46. Opens 

Mar 28, 2pm. Runs to Apr 15. Tues-Thurs/Sat/ 

Sun(2pm), Thurs-Sat(7:30pm). 

●●Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing 

Arts. The Schoolyard Carmen. Shoestring 

Opera. 390 King St. W., Kingston. 613-533- 

2424. $16; $8(st). Recommended for Grades 

1-6. Apr 22, 2:30pm. 

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Cabaret. 

Music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb. 

Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A Ossington 

Ave. 1-888-324-6282. $54.99-$64.99. 

Opens Feb 16, 7:30pm. Runs to May 6. Fri/ 

Sat(7:30pm), Sat(3:30pm), Sun(4pm). 

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Beauty and the 

Beast. Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard 

Ashman and Tim Rice, book by Linda 

Woolverton. Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst 

St. 1-888-324-6282. $49.99-$69.99. 

Opens Mar 3, 7:30pm. Runs to May 13. Fri/ 

Sat(7:30pm), Sat(3:30pm), Sun(12pm/4pm). 

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Joseph and the 

Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Music 

by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice. 

Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A Ossington 

Ave. 1-888-324-6282. $54.99-$64.99. 

Opens Mar 9, 7:30pm. Runs to May 20. Fri/ 

Sat(7:30pm), Sat(3:30pm), Sun(12pm, 4pm). 

●●Mirvish. Come From Away. Music, lyrics 

and book by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. 

Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. W. 416- 

872-1212. $69 and up. Opens Feb 13, 8pm. 

Runs to Oct 21. Tues-Sat(8pm), Wed(1:30pm), 

Sat/Sun(2pm). 

●●Mirvish. An American In Paris. Music by 

George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, 

book by Craig Lucas, adapted by Christopher 

Wheeldon. Princess of Wales Theatre, 

300 King St W. 416-872-1212. $59-$175. Opens 

Mar 27, 8pm. Runs to Apr 29. Tues-Sat(8pm), 

Sat/Sun(2pm), Wed(1:30pm). 

●●Mirvish. Annie. Music by Charles Strouse, 

lyrics by Martin Charnin, book by Thomas 

Meehan. Ed Mirvish Theatre, 244 Victoria 

St. 416-872-1212. $29-$200. Opens Apr 24, 

7:30pm. Runs to May 27. Tues-Sat(7:30pm), 

Wed/Sat/Sun(1:30pm). 

●●Mirvish/Musical Stage Co. Fun Home. 

Music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics and book by 

Lisa Kron, based on the graphic novel by Alison 

Bechdel. CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St. 416- 

872-1212. $39-$99. Opens Apr 13, 8pm. Runs 

to May 6. Tues-Sat(8pm), Sat/Sun(2pm). 

●●Music Theatre Mississauga. Encore Series 

Gala. Meadowvale Theatre, 6315 Montevideo 

Rd. 905-615-4720. $40. Apr 28, 7pm. 

●●Musical Theatre Productions. The Light in 

the Piazza. Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, 

book by Craig Lucas. McManus Stage at 

the Grand Theatre, 471 Richmond St, London. 

519-672-8800. $25. Opens Apr 20, 8pm. Runs 

to Apr 29. Wed-Sat(8pm), Sun(2pm). 

●●North York Concert Orchestra. Hansel 

and Gretel. Music by Engelbert Humperdinck. 

Guests: Vox Youth Choir; Gwenna Fairchild- 

Taylor, narrator. Temple Sinai, 210 Wilson Ave. 

416-628-9195. $10-$25. Apr 8, 3pm. 

●●Opera Atelier. The Return of Ulysses. 

Music by Claudio Monteverdi. Marshall Pynkoski, 

stage director; Jeannette Lajeunesse 

Zingg, choreographer; Artists of Atelier Ballet; 

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; David Fallis, 

conductor. Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge St. 

1-855-622-2787. $39-$157. Opens Apr 19, 

7:30pm. Runs to Apr 28. Days and times vary. 

Visit operaatelier.com for details. 

●●Opera by Request. Handel’s Orlando, In 

Concert. William Shookhoff, music director 

and piano. College St. United Church, 

452 College St. 416-455-2365. $20. Apr 7, 

7pm. 

●●Opera by Request. Lohengrin. Music and 

libretto by Richard Wagner. In concert with 

piano accompaniment. William Shookhoff, 

piano and music director. College Street 

United Church, 452 College St. 416-455-2365. 

$20. Apr 13, 7pm. 

●●Opera by Request. Don Pasquale. Music by 

Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Giovanni Ruffini. 

In concert with piano accompaniment. Claire 

Harris, piano and music director. College 


455-2365. $20. Apr 21. 7:30pm. 

●●Opera by Request. Madama Butterfly Music 

by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Luigi Illica 

and Giuseppe Giacosa. In concert with piano 

accompaniment. William Shookhoff, piano 

and music director. College Street United 

Church, 452 College St. 416-455-2365. $20. 

Apr 27. 7:30pm. 

●●Orchestra Toronto/Essential Opera. A 

Night at the Opera. Puccini: Gianni Schicchi 

(in concert). George Weston Recital Hall, 

5040 Yonge St. 416-733-0545. $45; $39(sr); 

$19(under 29). 2:15pm: pre-concert chat. 

Apr 22, 3pm. 

●●Rezonance Baroque Ensemble. Handel’s 

Heroines. Opera arias by Handel for soprano; 

and other works. St. Barnabas Anglican 

Church, 361 Danforth Ave. 647-779-5696. 

$25/$20(adv); $15(st). May 6, 2pm. 

●●Royal City Musical Productions. Spamalot. 

Music by John Du Prez, Eric Idle, Neil Innes, 

lyrics and book by Eric Idle. River Run Centre 

Main Stage, 35 Woolwich St, Guelph. 519-763- 

3000. $30. Opens Apr 26, 7:30pm. Runs to 

Apr 29. Thurs-Sat(7:30pm), Sat/Sun(1:30pm). 

●●Scarborough Music Theatre. Crazy for 

You. Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira 

Gershwin, book by Ken Ludwig. Scarborough 

Village Community Centre, 3600 Kingston Rd. 

416-267-9292. $30; $27(sr/st). Opens May 3, 

8:00pm. Runs to May 19. Wed-Sat(8:00pm), 

Sun(2:00pm). Note: May 19 show at 2:00pm. 

●●Shaw Festival. Grand Hotel. Music and 

lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, 

additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, 

book by Luther Davis. Festival Theatre, 

10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-lake. 

1-800-511-7429. $30 and up. Previews begin 

May 3, 2pm. Runs to October 14. Days and 

times vary. Visit shawfest.com for details. 

●●Soulpepper Concert Series. A Moveable 

Feast: Paris in the ‘20s. Mike Ross, music director. 

Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 

50 Tank House Lane. 416-866-8666. $25-$69. 

Opens Mar 30, 7:30pm. Runs to Apr 10. Days 

and times vary. Visit soulpepper.ca for details. 

●●Stratford Festival. The Music Man. Music, 

lyrics and book by Meredith Willson. Donna 

Feore, director and choreographer. Festival 

Theatre, 55 Queen St, Stratford. 1-800- 

567-1600. $25 and up. Previews begin Apr 17, 

2pm. Runs to Nov 3. Days and times vary. Visit 

stratfordfestival.ca for details. 

●●Stratford Festival. The Rocky Horror 


Show. Music, lyrics and book by Richard 

O’Brien. Donna Feore, director and choreographer. 

Avon Theatre, 99 Downie St, Stratford. 

1-800-567-1600. $25 and up. Previews 

begin Apr 27, 8pm. Runs to Oct 31. Days and 

times vary. Visit stratfordfestival.ca for 

details. 

●●St. Anne’s Anglican Church. Jesus Christ 

Superstar (in concert). Music by Andrew 

Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice. St. Anne’s 

Anglican Church, 270 Gladstone Ave. 416- 

536-3160. $20; $15(sr/st); Free(ch). Apr 15, 

3:30pm. 

●●Theatre Aquarius. Million Dollar Quartet. 

Features music of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee 

Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. Theatre 

Aquarius, 190 King William St, Hamilton. 

905-522-7529. $40 and up. Opens Apr 18, 

8pm. Runs to May 12. Tues-Sat(8pm), Sat/ 

Sun(2pm). 

●●Theatre Sheridan. Crazy for You. Music 

by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, 

book by Ken Ludwig. Macdonald-Heaslip Hall, 

1430 Trafalgar Rd, Oakville. 905-815-4049. 

$25. Opens Apr 10, 7:30pm. Runs to Apr 22. 

Tues-Thur(7:30pm), Fri-Sat(8pm), Sat/ 

Sun(2pm). Note: no show Apr 15. 

●●Theatre Sheridan. If/Then. Music by Tom 

Kitt, lyrics by Brian Yorkey. Studio Theatre, 

1430 Trafalgar Rd, Oakville. 905-815-4049. 

$25. Opens Apr 12, 7:30pm. Runs to Dec 9. 

Tues-Sat(7:30pm), Sat/Sun(2:00pm). Note: 

no show Apr 15. 

●●Toronto Catholic District School Board 

Staff Arts. Curtains. Music by John Kander, 

lyrics by Fred Ebb, book by Rupert Holmes. 

Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts Theatre, 

36 Greenfield Ave. 416-222-8282 x2787. 

$26 ($28 at door). Opens Apr 13, 7:30pm. 

Runs to Apr 21. Thurs-Sat(7:30pm). 

●●Toronto Masque Theatre Salon Series. 

The Means of Grace: Seven Monologues on 

Music. Featuring Larry Beckwith and special 

musical guests. Atrium, 21 Shaftesbury Ave. 

416-410-4561. $25. Apr 23, 7:30pm. 

●●Toronto Operetta Theatre. The Beautiful 

Helen. Music by Jacques Offenbach, libretto 

by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Beste 

Kalender, mezzo; Adam Fisher, tenor; Stuart 

Graham, baritone. St. Lawrence Centre 

for the Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-922-2912. $49- 

$95. Opens Apr 27, 8pm. Runs to Apr 29. Fri/ 

Sat(8pm), Sun(3pm). 

●●Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Bernstein’s 

Candide (1993 concert version). Bramwell 

Tovey, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $34.75–$148.00. 

Apr 26&28, 8pm. 

●●University of Toronto Faculty of Music. 

From the 19th Century. Works by Donizetti, 

Delibes, Verdi, Wagner and others. Walter 

Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University 

of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416-408-0208. 

$20; $10(st). Apr 3, 5pm. 

●●Vera Causa Opera. The Italian Girl in 

Algiers. Music by Gioachino Rossini, libretto 

by Angelo Anelli. Cambridge Centre for 

the Arts, 60 Dickson St., Cambridge. 519- 

740-4681 x4376. $15. Apr 6, 7pm. Also Apr 7 

D. In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz) 

(Waterloo). 

●●Vera Causa Opera. The Italian Girl 

in Algiers. Music by Gioachino Rossini, 

libretto by Angelo Anelli. Knox Presbyterian 

Church (Waterloo), 50 Erb St. W., Waterloo. 

519-886-4150. $15. Apr 7, 7pm. Also Apr 6 

(Cambridge). 

●●Wavestage Theatre. Beauty and the Beast. 

Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman 

and Tim Rice, book by Linda Woolverton. 

Newmarket Theatre, 505 Pickering Cres., 

Newmarket. wavestagetheatre.com. $28; 

$24(sr/st). Opens Apr 19, 7:30pm. Runs to 

Apr 22. Thurs-Sat(7:30pm), Sat/Sun(1pm). 

●●Windsor Light Music Theatre. Singin in 

the Rain. Music by Nacio Herb Brown, lyrics 

by Arthur Freed, book by Adolph Green and 

Betty Comden. St. Clair College Centre for 

the Arts: Chrysler Theatre, 201 Riverside 

Dr. W., Windsor. 519-974-6593. $36; $31(sr/ 

st); $16(ch). Opens May 4, 8:00pm. Runs to 

May 13. Fri/Sat(8:00pm), Sun(2:00pm). 

As we work towards listing club events with our main listings in an integrated 

searchable format, some listings here are less complete than they were previously. 

Please visit the website addresses provided for specific venues or use the phone 

number provided for more detailed information. We apologize for this temporary 

inconvenience. 

120 Diner 

120 Church St. 416-792-7725 

120diner.com (full schedule) 

All shows: PWYC ($10-$20 suggested) 

Alleycatz 

2409 Yonge St. 416-481-6865 

alleycatz.ca 

All shows: 9pm unless otherwise indicated. 

Call for cover charge info. 

Every Mon 8:30pm Salsa Night with DJ 

Romantico with free lessons. Every Tue 

Bachata Night with DJ FR Bischun with free 

lessons. Every Wed 7pm Midtown Blues Jam 

hosted by Andrew “Voodoo” Walters. Every 

Thurs 7:30pm Claudia Lopez Jazz Duo. 

Apr 5 Stepping Out with Tasha Blues Jazz 

Soul. Apr 6 Red Velvet. Apr 7, 28, May 5 Lady 

Kane. Apr 12 Country Hoe Down w/Tasha 

w/lessons. Apr 13 Gyles Band. Apr 14 & 

21 Soular. Apr 19 Blues. Apr 20 Sound 

Parade. Apr 26 Feelin Da Heat w/ Ammoye 

Reggae R&B. Apr 27 North of 7 Band. 

May 4 All Request Band. 

Artword Artbar 

15 Colbourne St., Hamilton. 905-543-8512 

artword.net (full schedule) 

All shows at 8pm unless otherwise noted. 

The Blue Goose Tavern 

1 Blue Goose St. 416-255-2442 

thebluegoosetavern.com (full schedule) 

Every Sun 4pm Blues at The Goose. Big 

Groove featuring Downchild`s Mike Fitzpatrick 

& Gary Kendall with Special Guests: 

Apr 1 Jerome Godboo & Eric Schenkman, 

Apr 8 Matt Allen & Larry Bodner. 

Apr 15 Maria Aurigema & Michael Fonfara. 

Apr 22 Harpdog Brown & Jordie Edmunds. 

Apr 29 Terry Gillespie & Jesse Whiteley. 

Bloom 

2315 Bloor St. W. 416-767-1315 

bloomrestaurant.com 

All shows: 19+. Call for reservations. 

Apr 10 The Willows Trio. Apr 26 Louis Simao 

Trio. 

Burdock 

1184 Bloor St. W. 416-546-4033 

burdockto.com (full schedule) 

Apr 2 Town House w/ New You. Apr 3 Slow 

Leaves. Apr 4 Confabulation presents: Eye 

of the Storm; Motherhood, Baby Cages & 

Slurry. Apr 5 Bazarian & Dillon Baldassero. 

Apr 6 Les Petits Nouveaux. Apr 7 Annie 

Sumi. Apr 8 Tullstars w/ Joëlle. Apr 9 Side 

Hustle. Apr 10 Tavis Weir w/ Lucas Penner. 

Apr 11 Trace Mountains, Rachael Cardiello 

& LUKA. Apr 12 Violin and Voice / Cassie 

Norton + Olio&I; Ellen Doty. Apr 14 Irish 

Mythen. Apr 15 Jom Comyn & Rich Burnett; 

Emily Burgess w/ Ryan “Rico” Brown 

& Marcus Browne. Apr 16-17 David Hamilton’s 

Solar System Social Fest / Monday 

Early & Late Shows. Apr 18 Charming Disaster 

w/ Sarah Greene. Apr 20 The LYNNeS; 

Brooklyn Doran, Dana Sipos & Hello Delaware 

(duo). Apr 22 Raine Hamilton w/ Piper 

Hayes. Apr 24 Shawn James. Apr 25. Aestrid, 

Paper Ladies & Leonids. Apr 26 Ava Wild 

and Brodie Moniker. Apr 27 Togetherness! 

Apr 28 Mike Evin with special guest Jennifer 

Foster. Apr 29 Mindful Audacity. Apr 29 The 

Koopa Troop Presents: The Legend of Zelda 

Ocarina of Time. Apr 30 The Story Collider. 

May 1 Tyler Sweet. May 2 Creature 

Speak, Wired To The Sky & Anna Mernieks 

(Beams). May 3 Major Love. May 3 BLESS 

YOUR PURPLE HEART. May 6 Dan McKinnon. 

May 7 Adam Wendler. 

Cameron House 

408 Queen St. W. 416-703-0811 

thecameron.com 

Castro’s Lounge 

2116 Queen St. E. 416-699-8272 

castroslounge.com (full schedule) 

All shows: No cover/PWYC 

C’est What 

67 Front St. E. (416) 867-9499 

cestwhat.com (full schedule) 

All concerts are PWYC unless otherwise 

noted. 

Apr 7 & May 5 3pm Thelonious Hank. Apr 8 

7pm Chris & Nicole 19+. Apr 12 10pm Ambre 

Mclean. Apr 13 10pm Metronome Chomsky 

19+. Apr 14 3pm The Hot Five Jazzmakers; 

9pm Bring Your Own Vinyl Party Free 19+. 

Apr 15 5pm Pop Goes the World: James Clark 

Institute, The Beat Club 19+. Apr 21 3pm The 

Boxcar Boys 19+; 9pm Jamie Reaume & Charlie 

McKittrick split EP release 19+. Apr 22 7pm 

Danny Webster / Hugh Wilson 19+. Apr 28 

3pm The Hot Five Jazzmakers. Apr 29 7pm 

Owen Davies and Zoubi Arros $10 19+. May 4 

10pm Surefire Sweat Suggested contribution 

$10 19+. 

Emmet Ray, The 

924 College St. 416-792-4497 

theemmetray.com (full schedule) 

All shows: No cover/PWYC 

Every Fri 10:00 DJ What chu Want Playing 

What You Like Weekly Themes. 

Apr 4 9pm Peter Boyd: Cruel & Unusual. 

Apr 5 & May 3 9pm John-Wayne Swingtet. 

Apr 7 & May 5 10pm DJ Sawtay: Hip Hop, 

Soul, & Classics. Apr 12 9pm Bossa Tres. 

Apr 14 10pm DJ Cruz Controlla: Soul, Hip 

Hop, & Classics. Apr 19 9pm Vokurka’s Vicarious 

Virtuoso Violin. Apr 21 10pm DJ: Soul, 

Hip Hop, & Classics. Apr 25 9pm Peter Boyd 

& Noah Zacharin. Apr 28 10pm DJ: Soul, 

Hip Hop, & Classics. Apr 29 8:30pm Steve 

D’angelo. 

Gate 403 

403 Roncesvalles Ave. 416-588-2930 

gate403.com (full schedule) 

All shows: PWYC. 

Every Wed 5pm Passport Trio with Kurt Nielsen; 

9pm Blues Night with The Gatekeepers. 

Every Sat 5pm Bill Heffernan’s Saturday Sessions 

(Roots Music). 

Apr 3 5pm Celtic & Croon; 9pm Maria Ryan 

Solo. Apr 5 5pm Howard Willet & Alan Cohen. 

Apr 6 5pm Roberta Hunt Trio; 9pm Melissa 

Joyce Jazz & Blues. Apr 7 9pm The Tin 

Pan Jazz Band. Apr 8 5pm Fifth Element; 

9pm Boogaloo Banzai. Apr 9 5pm Chelsea 

McBride Jazz Trio. Apr 10 5pm Bruce Chapman 

Blues Trio; 9pm Robert Lee Trio. Apr 12 

5pm Nick Arsenau Jazz Trio. Apr 13 5pm Sam 

Broverman & Friends. Apr 16 5pm Mike and 

Jill Daley Jazz Trio. 

Grossman’s Tavern 

379 Spadina Ave. 416-977-7000 

grossmanstavern.com (full schedule) 

All shows: No cover (unless otherwise noted). 

Every Sat 4:30pm The Happy Pals Dixieland 

jazz jam. Every Sun 4pm New Orleans Connection 

All Star Band; 10pm Sunday Jam with 

Bill Hedefine. Every Wed 10pm Action Sound 

Band w/ Leo Valvassori. 

Apr 1 4:30pm New Orleans Connection All 

Star Band. Apr 5 10pm Mike Sedgewick Jam. 

Apr 6 6pm Hold the Bus; 10pm Combo Royale. 

Apr 7 4:30pm The Happy Pals; 10pm Pearl 

Motel. Apr 9 9:30pm No Band Required - 

Jam Night. 

Hirut Cafe and Restaurant 

2050 Danforth Ave. 416-551-7560 

Every Sun Eucalyptus Ethio-Jazz Ensemble 

Residency (call for details). 

Apr 3 & 17 8pm Finger Style Guitar Association 

PWYC. Apr 5 8pm Franklin Ave Jazz 

Swingtet PWYC. Apr 13 8:30pm E=Jazz and 

Latin Jazz w/ Don Naduriak. Apr 26 8pm The 

Daniel Barnes Low Stress Trio. PWYC/Suggested 

$10. Apr 27 9pm Hirut Hoot 6th Anniversary 

Cabaret Show. $5. Apr 30 8pm 

The Tequila Mockingbirds Community Singalong. 

Free. 

Home Smith Bar – See Old Mill, The 

Hugh’s Room 

2261 Dundas St. W 416 533 5483 

hughsroom.com 

All shows at 8:30pm unless otherwise noted. 

Apr 4 Suzie Vinnick (CD Release) 

$35/$30(adv). Apr 5 Tamar Ilana & Ventanas 

+ Quique Escamilla $30/$25(adv). 

Apr 8 Tom Rush $55/$50(adv). Apr 12 James 

Keelaghan $35/$30(adv). Apr 14 Laura 

Smith $35/$30(adv). Apr 15 Martin Taylor 

$35/$30(adv). Apr 18 Dave Gunning and 

J. P. Cormier $35/$30(adv). Apr 19 Little 


Miss Higgins (CD Release) $30/$25(adv). 

Apr 20 Stephen Fearing $35/$30(adv). 

Apr 21 RPR (Ritchie-Parrish-Ritchie) 

$30/$25(adv). Apr 22 Levon Helm - 5th 

Anniversary Celebration $45/$40(adv). 

Apr 27 Russell deCarle $30/$25(adv). 

May 2 Jazz.FM91: President’s Choice Concert 

Series - June Garber $55. May 3 Martyn 

Joseph $30/$25(adv). May 4 Rawlins Cross 

$35/$30(adv). May 5 Soulsville - The Music of 

STAX $45/$40(adv). 

Jazz Bistro, The 

251 Victoria St. 416-363-5299 

jazzbistro.ca (full schedule) 

Apr 28 7:30pm Last Weekend Jazz Party w/ 

Faith Amour & Friends - Spring Edition. $15. 

Jazz Room, The 

Located in the Huether Hotel, 59 King St. N., 

Waterloo. 226-476-1565 

kwjazzroom.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 8:30-11:30pm unless otherwise 

indicated. Attendees must be 19+. Cover 

charge varies (generally $12-$25) 

Apr 6 Dan Faulk $18; $10(under 30). 

Apr 7 Sophia Perlman Quartet. Apr 13 Andriy 

Tikhonov $16; $8(under 30). Apr 14 Rebecca 

Hennessy FOG Brass Band $18; $10(under 

30). Apr 19 7:00 Jazz FM Fundraiser. 

Apr 20 Alysha Brylla and the Brillion Dollar 

Band $30; $15(under 30). Apr 21 3:00 Jam 

Session!!; 8:30 Mike Downes Quartet $22; 

$11(under 30). Apr 27 Big Band Theory $25; 

$15(under 30). Apr 28 Brian Dickinson’s 

“The Rhythm Method”. Apr 29 4:00 Adrean 

Farrugia and Joel Frahm Sunday Matinee. 

May 4 Jerzy Kaplanek and David Braid Duo. 

May 5 Tevert Sela Quartet featuring John 

Roney. 

Lula Lounge 

1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307 

lula.ca (full schedule) 

Every Fri 7:30pm Early Jazz & World Sessions 

free before 8pm; Every Fri 10:30pm 

Havana Club Cuba Libre Fridays $15; Every 

Sat 10:30pm Salsa Saturdays $15. 

Apr 4 7pm OKAN & Kobo Town $25/$20(adv). 

Apr 6 7:30pm Elena Kapeleris $15. Apr 6 

10:30pm Charangón del Norte + DJ Suave 

$15. Apr 7 10:30pm Lula All Stars + DJ Santiago 

Valasquez $15. Apr 12 7:30pm Robert 

Scott and Genevieve Marentette; 8:30pm The 

Tiki Collective CD Launch Release “Muse”. 

$25/$20; 10:30 The Jay Danley Ethiojazz Band 

featuring Hilario Duran. Apr 13 7:30pm Tio 

Chorinho $15; 10:30pm Papiosco y los Ritmicos 

& DJ Suave $15. Apr 14 10:30pm Ricky 

Franco + The P-Crew Orchestra & DJ Santiago 

Valasquez $15. Apr 16 6pm Don Mills 

C.I. Jazz Night $15; $10(sr); $5(st). Apr 20 

7:30pm Scott Kemp Trio $15; 10:30pm Yani 

Borrell + DJ Suave $15. Apr 21 10:30pm La 

Borinqueña + DJ Santiago Valasquez $15. 

Apr 25 6:30pm The Composers Collective 

Big Band Toronto Project $25; $15(st). Apr 27 

7:30pm Mark Kelso Trio $15. Apr 27 10:30pm 

Café Cubano + DJ Suave $15. Apr 28 10:30 

pm Salsotika + DJ Santiago Valasquez $15. 

Manhattans Pizza Bistro & Music Club 

951 Gordon St., Guelph 519-767-2440 

manhattans.ca (full schedule) 

All shows: PWYC. 

Every Tue Open Stage hosted by Paul, Pete 

D. In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz) Apr 28 Kevin Turcotte Quartet. 

& Ron. 

Mây Cafe 

876 Dundas St. W. 647-607-2032 

maytoronto.com (full schedule) 

Mezzetta Restaurant 

681 St. Clair Ave. W. 416-658-5687 

mezzettarestaurant.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 9pm, $8 (unless otherwise noted). 

Every Wed 9 & 10:15pm Wednesday Concert 

Series. Cover $10: Apr 11 Rebecca 

Enkin, vocals; Mike Allen, guitar. 

Apr 18 David Occhipinti, guitar; Dan Fortin, 

bass. Apr 25 Joel Sheridan, vocals;, Eric St. 

Laurent, guitar. 

Monarch Tavern 

12 Clinton St. 416-531-5833 

themonarchtavern.com (full schedule) 

Every Tues 9pm Vinyl Night $5; Every 

Thu 10pm Monarch Karaoke $5. 

Apr 2 6pm Purdy Drinks – Poetry & Music. 

Apr 9 7:30pm Martin Loomer & His Orange 

Devils Orchestra. Apr 27 7pm Incase We 

Crash. May 5 8:30pm Spectre Hearts Album 

Release Party. 

N’awlins Jazz Bar & Dining 

299 King St. W. 416-595-1958 

nawlins.ca 

All shows: No cover/PWYC. 

Every Tue 6:30pm Stacie McGregor. Every 

Wed 7pm The Jim Heineman Trio. Every Thur 

8pm Nothin’ But the Blues with Joe Bowden. 

Every Fri & Sat 8:30pm N’awlins All Star 

Band; Every Sun 7pm Brooke Blackburn. 

Nice Bistro, The 

117 Brock St. N., Whitby. 905-668-8839 

nicebistro.com (full schedule) 

Old Mill, The 

21 Old Mill Rd. 416-236-2641 

oldmilltoronto.com 

The Home Smith Bar: No reservations. No 

cover. $20 food/drink minimum. All shows: 

7:30-10:30pm 

Every Tues, Thu, Fri, and Sat. 

Apr 3 In Concert and Conversation with 

Gene DiNovi. Apr 5 Micah Barnes Quartet. 

Apr 6 Canadian Jazz Quartet & Friends. 

Apr 7 Sharon Smith Trio. Apr 12 Suzi & 

Doug Trio. Apr 13 Bernie Senensky Quartet. 

Apr 14 Brian Blain’s Second Saturdays 

Blues Campfire. Apr 19 Brenda Lewis 

Trio. Apr 20 LJ Folk. Apr 21 The Heillig 

Menoeuvre. Apr 26 Brian Barlow Trio. 

Apr 26 Shannon Butcher Trio. Apr 28 Roy 

Patterson Trio. May 1 In Concert and Conversation 

with Gene DiNovi. May 3 Beverly Taft 

Trio. May 4 Canadian Jazz Quartet & Friends. 

May 5 Steven Cole Quartet. 

Only Café, The 

972 Danforth Ave. 416-463-7843 

theonlycafe.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 8pm unless otherwise indicated. 

Pilot Tavern, The 

22 Cumberland Ave. 416-923-5716 

thepilot.ca 

All shows: 3pm. No cover. 

Every Sat 3pm Saturday Jazz. 

Apr 7 Frank Botos Quartet. Apr 14 Mike 

Allen Quartet. Apr 21 Jeff King Quartet. 

Poetry Jazz Café 

224 Augusta Ave. 416-599-5299 

poetryjazzcafe.com (full schedule) 

Reposado Bar & Lounge 

136 Ossington Ave. 416-532-6474 

reposadobar.com (full schedule) 

Reservoir Lounge, The 

52 Wellington St. E. 416-955-0887 

reservoirlounge.com (full schedule). 

Every Tue & Sat, 8:45pm Tyler Yarema and 

his Rhythm. Every Wed 9pm The Digs. Every 

Fri 9:45pm Dee Dee and the Dirty Martinis. 

Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar, The 

194 Queen St. W. 416-598-2475 

therex.ca (full schedule) 

Call for cover charge info. 

Every Mon 6:30pm University of Toronto 

Student Jazz Ensembles. Every Tue 6:30pm 

Morgan Childs. Every Wed 6:30pm Chris 

Wallace’s Many Names. Every Thu 6:30pm 

Jane Koffman Quartet. Every Fri 4pm Hogtown 

Syncopators; 6:30pm James Brown 

Trio. Every Sat 12noon The Sinners Choir. 

Every Sun 12noon Excelsior Dixieland Jazz; 

7pm Sounds of Brazil. 

Apr 1 9:30pm Phillipe Lemm Trio. 

Apr 2 9:30pm Humber College Brazilian Jazz 

Ensemble. Apr 3 9:30pm Classic Rex Jazz 

Jam. Apr 4 9:30pm Virginia MacDonald. 

Apr 5-6 9:45pm Lorne Lofsky Quartet. Apr 7 

7pm Teri Parker Trio; 9:45pm Kelsey & Kelly. 

Apr 8 9:30pm Aaron Irwin. Apr 9 9:30pm 

Humber College Jazz Orchestra. Apr 10 

9:30pm Progger. Apr 11 9:30pm Darryl Orr. 

Apr 12-13 9:45pm Mark Eisenman Quartet. 

Apr 14 3:30pm The Swing Shift Big Band; 

7pm Parker/Abbott Duo; 9:45pm Dave Young 

Quintet. Apr 15 9:30pm Jazzamboka. Apr 16 

9:30pm Robert Black Quartet (CD Release). 

Apr 17-18 9:30pm Manuel Valera Trio. Apr 19 

9:30pm Eric St-Laurent. Apr 20 9:45pm Luis 

Deniz Quartet. Apr 21 7pm Teri Parker Trio; 

Galas and Fundraisers 

●●Apr 07 11:30am: La Jeunesse Youth 

Orchestra. Fundraising Event. Enjoy delicious 

soups donated by local restaurants while you 

listen to an orchestra rehearsal. Silent auction. 

$20. For more information visit our website 

at ljyo.ca or call 1-866-460-5596. 

●●Apr 07 7:00: Sistema Toronto. Red Violin 

Gala. Come together as a community to 

celebrate over food, drink, and amazing performances 

and raise vital funds for Sistema 

Toronto as we work toward welcoming more 

students into our program. The Spoke Club, 

600 King St. W. $75. www.eventbrite.com/e/ 

the-red-violin-2018-tickets-42583465291. 

●●Apr 11 7:30: JAZZ.FM91. Jazz Lives: A Century 

of Nat “King” Cole. An evening to pay 

homage to this iconic 20th-century musician. 

Jackie Richardson, Mary Margaret O’Hara, 

Robi Botos, Tom Wilson, Jazz Lives House 

Band and others. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $30 and up. 

Fundraiser to support JAZZ.FM91’s youth education 

programs. 

●●Apr 12 6:00: Canadian Opera Company. 

Fine Wine Auction. Bid on rare vintages at 

both the live and silent auction. Stephen 

E. The ETCeteras 

9:45pm Project Rex. Apr 22 9:30pm Alex 

Fournier. Apr 23 9:30pm The T.J.O. Big Band. 

Apr 24 9:30pm Classic Rex Jam. Apr 25 

9:30pm David Hutchison. Apr 26-27 9:45pm 

Colin Stranahan Trio + Brian Chahley, Trumpet. 

Apr 28 3:30pm A/C Unit; 7pm Teri Parker 

Quartet; 8:45pm Roberto Occhipinti. Apr 29 

9:30pm Jacob’s Cattle. Apr 30 6:30pm John 

MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Orchestra. 

Salty Dog Bar & Grill, The 

1980 Queen St. E. 416-849-5064 

thesaltydog.ca (full schedule) 

Every Tue 7-10pm Jazz Night. Every 

Thu 8:30pm Karaoke. Every Fri 9:30pm 

Blues Jam - house band with weekly featured 

guest. 

Sauce on Danforth 

1376 Danforth Ave. 647-748-1376 

sauceondanforth.com 

All shows: No cover. 

Every Mon 9pm Funky Mondays. Every 

Tue 6pm Julian Fauth Plays Barrel-House 

Jazz. Every Thursday 8pm An Evening of 

Music with Steven Koven and Artie Roth. 

Every Sat 4pm Saturday Matinees. 

Apr 7 The Lesters. Apr 14 Stephen Stanley. 

Apr 21 Michelle Rumball. Apr 28 TBA. 

May 5 Johnny Canpar & Friends 

The Senator WineBar 

249 Victoria St 416 364-7517 

thesenator.com 

All shows with $10 cover charge 

Tranzac 

292 Brunswick Ave. 416-923-8137 

tranzac.org (full schedule) 

3-4 shows daily, various styles, in four different 

performance spaces. Mostly PWYC. 

Every Mon 10pm Open Mic Mondays. Every 

Tues 8pm Annex Ukelele Jam Every Thur 

7:30pm Bluegrass Thursdays Every Sun 7pm 

The Rhythmicaturgically Syncopated Social 

Hour Jazz Jam. 

Ranger will lead the live auction which features 

an impressive array of exquisite and 

hard-to-find wines from private collections. 


145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. $100. 

●●Apr 22 1:30: Classical Music Conservatory. 

Music For A Cause: Benefit Concert 

for SickKids. Teiya Kasahara, soprano; 

Eslin McKay, violin; Hannah Bussière; Arkose 

(Erik Ross, Torrie Seager and Rob Mac- 

Donald); and others. Roncesvalles United 

Church, 214 Wright Ave. 416-537-5995. PWYC; 

$20/$10(kids) suggested. All proceeds to 

SickKids Hospital. 

●●Apr 26 8:00: Room 217 Foundation. Voices 

That Care. A musical evening to benefit Room 

217 Care Through Music. Dan Hill, Jill Barker, 

Murray McLauchlan, Sylvia Tyson, Ezra Jordan 

and special guests. Glenn Gould Studio, 

250 Front St. W. 705-852-2499 or 844-985- 

0217. $175. 7pm hors d’oeuvres and cocktail 

reception. 

Lectures, Salons and Symposia 


Trapping the Queen. Join eminent musicologist 

Wayne Gooding for an engaging 

exploration of Anna Bolena in anticipation 


of the upcoming COC production. The 

court of Henry VIII is in tumult as the king 

tires of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, who 

must now fight for her honour and her life. 

Don Mills Branch, Toronto Public Library, 

888 Lawrence Ave. E. Please register by calling 

416-395-5710. 

●●Apr 4 7:30: TD Niagara Jazz Festival. Live 

Learn Jazz Collection Launch. Presented by 

Ethnomusicologist Michael Morse. Niagaraon-the-Lake 

Public Library, 10 Anderson Lane, 

Niagara-on-the-Lake. 905-468-2023. Free. 

●●Apr 06 6:00: Music Gallery/Musicworks 

Magazine. History Series: Creative Music 

Journalism. Artistic Director David Dacks 

talks to journalists past and present about 

the challenges and joys of trying to describe 

abstract music. Mark Miller (Globe and Mail); 

Carl Wilson (Slate, The Guardian, Globe and 

Mail); Katie Jensen (Polaris Music Prize 

podcast, IMPSTR); Jennie Punter (Musicworks, 

Toronto Star); Jerry Pratt (Exclaim). 

918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media 

and Education, 918 Bathurst St. 416-204- 

1080. Free. 

●●Apr 10 7:30: Toronto Chapter of the Duke 

Ellington Society (TDES). Monthly Meeting. 

Montgomery’s Inn, corner of Dundas St. 

W. and Islington Ave. Membership fee is $35 

single or $50 per couple with one free initial 

visit. Anyone interested in Ellington’s music 

and his contributions to the art of jazz is welcome. 

416-453-5342. 

●●Apr 12 7:00: Tafelmusik. The Listening Club: 

Blurring the Boundaries. A lecture on innovative 

early music composers who “sit outside 

the box”. Musicologist Hanna French and violist 

Patrick Jordan are the moderators. Trinity-St. 

Paul’s Centre, The Chapel, 427 Bloor St. 

W. 416-964-6337. $25. 

●●Apr 14 7:15: Gilbert and Sullivan Society. 

Sullivan Without Gilbert. Followed by a choral 

lesson for a Sullivan song. Join the chorus! St. 

Andrew’s Church, 117 Bloor St. E. Free parking 

below church off Hayden St. All welcome. For 

further info, call Sheryl at 416-763-0832. Nonmembers 

$5. Refreshments provided. 

●●Apr 15 2:00: Toronto Opera Club. Guest 

speaker: Johannes Debus, Music Director, 

Canadian Opera Company. Room 330, Faculty 

of Music, Edward Johnson Bldg. 80 Queen’s 

Park Cr. W. 416-914-3940. $10. 


Nightingale: Performing With Puppets. Acrobat 

and puppeteer Noam Markus gives participants 

a behind-the-scenes peek into the 

world of puppetry displayed in Robert Lepage’s 

spectacular production of Stravinsky’s The 

Nightingale and Other Short Fables. Education 

Centre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. (at University 

Ave.). Free. Reserve tickets at 416-363-8231. 

●●Apr 21 1:30: Guitar Society of Toronto. 

Toronto Guitar Weekend: The History of 

Tango. A journey through tango with Máximo 

Diego Pujol from its beginnings in the marginal 

neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires to the 

present as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage 

of Humanity”. Historic audio recordings and 

live performances. Church of St. Peter and St. 

Simon the Apostle, 525 Bloor St. E. 416-964- 

8298. $20/$10(st). 

●●Apr 23 7:30: Darchei Noam Synagogue. 

The Brill Building: Great Jewish Songwriters 

of the 60s. Presented by acclaimed music 

educator Jordan Klapman. A mix of lecture, 

music and discussion. 864 Sheppard Ave. W. 

416-638-4783. Members $10 Guests:$15 per 

lecture. Online Registration: www.darcheinoam.ca/event/brillbuilding. 

●●Apr 29 2:00: Classical Music Club Toronto. 

Bernstein: Candide. Based on the writings 

of Voltaire, this musical by Leonard Bernstein 

tells the story of an innocent youth and 

his adventures in the Old and New World. 

A selection of recordings (both audio and 

video) will be presented. For information and 

location contact John Sharpe: 416-898-2549. 

Annual membership: $25(regular); $10(sr/ 

st). Free for first-time visitors. Donations 

accepted for refreshments. 


Anna Bolena: The Power of Clothing in the 

Court of Henry VIII. Join Alexandra Kim, former 

Historic Royal Palaces Curator at Kensington 

Palace, as she unpacks the role Tudor 

court costume played in charting Anne Boleyn’s 

changing fortunes, as seen in the COC’s 

new production of Anna Bolena. Education 

Centre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. (at University 

Ave.). Free. Reserve tickets at 416-363-8231. 

●●May 02 7:30: TD Niagara Jazz Festival. 

Discover Jazz. Presented by Mark Micklethwaite. 

Niagara-on-the-Lake Public 

Library, 10 Anderson Lane, Niagara-on-the- 

Lake. 905-468-2023. Free. 

●●May 06 2:00: Toronto Opera Club. Guest 

speaker: David Fallis. The First Great Opera: 

Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Room 330, Faculty of 

Music, Edward Johnson Bldg. 80 Queen’s 

Park Cr. W. 416-914-3940. $10 

●●May 06 5:00: Nocturnes in the City. 

100 Years of Famous Czech Operas. Audiovisual 

presentation. Iain Scott, opera educator. 

Restaurant Praha, Masaryktown, 

450 Scarborough Golf Club Rd. 416-481-7294. 

$25; $15(st). 

Master Classes 

●●Apr 07 1:00: Tafelmusik. Voice Masterclass. 

Dorothee Mields. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 

Jeanne Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-964- 

9562 x241. Free admission for auditors. Suggested 

donation $10. Open to the public. 

●●Apr 22 1:00: Guitar Society of Toronto. 

Toronto Guitar Weekend: Masterclass with M 

áximo Diego Pujol. Church of St. Peter and St. 

Simon the Apostle, 525 Bloor St. E. 416-964- 

8298. $20/$10(st). 

●●Apr 24 2:45: Li Piano Academy. Piano 

Masterclass with James Anagnoson. James 

Anagnoson, Dean of the Royal Conservatory’s 

Glenn Gould School, is one of Canada’s 

most renowned pianists and pedagogues. 

Level 6 to ARCT Repertoire. Infinity Strings, 

351 Ferrier Str., Markham. 647-822-2931. 

$15; $5(st). 

Screenings 

●●Apr 07 4:30: Toronto Silent Film Festival. 

Sensation Seekers (1927). Fern Lindzon, composer, 

pianist. Royal Cinema, 608 College 

St. $15. 

●●Apr 24 6:30: Royal Conservatory of Music. 

Song of Lahore (2015). Meet and discover 

the cultural heritage of Pakistan’s classical 

musicians. After toiling in obscurity for years, 

an innovative album leads Sachal Studios to 

international acclaim and a triumphant concert 

with Wynton Marsalis and his orchestra 

at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Toronto-based 

musicians Anwar Kurshid (sitar), Luis Denis 

(saxophone), and Matias Recharte (percussion) 

will join for the post-screening performance 

and Q&A. $17. Hot Docs members: $12, 

$10(sr/st), free(child). Tickets can be purchased 

at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema 

box office, 506 Bloor St. W. or online at www. 

hotdocscinema.ca. 

Sing-alongs, Jams, Circles 

●●April 20 7:30: Toronto Recorder Players 

Society. Monthly meeting. Mount Pleasant 

Road Baptist Church, 527 Mt. Pleasant Rd. 

Bring your recorders and music stand. 416- 

779-5750. Non-members $15. 


Opera Chorus Sing-Along. Warm up those 

pipes and join the COC’s Chorus Master Sandra 

Horst as she guides participants through 

a sing-along of favourite opera choruses by 

Mozart and Donizetti, and shares what it 

takes to be an opera chorister. Open to all levels 

of experience and musical ability. Richard 



(at University Ave.). Free. Reserve tickets at 

416-363-8231. 

●●May 04 7:30: Toronto Recorder Players 

Society. Monthly meeting. Mount Pleasant 

Road Baptist Church, 527 Mt. Pleasant Rd. 

Bring your recorders and music stand. 416- 

779-5750. Non-members $15. 

Tours 

●●April 08 10:30am: Canadian Opera Company. 

90-Minute Tour of the Four Seasons 

Centre. Led by a trained docent. Includes 

information and access to the Isadore and 

Rosalie Sharp City Room, the Richard Bradshaw 

Amphitheatre and R. Fraser Elliott Hall, 

as well as backstage areas such as the wig 

rooms and dressing rooms, the orchestra 

pit, and other spaces that only a stage door 

pass could unlock. Four Seasons Centre for 

the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416- 

363-8231. coc.ca. $20(adults); $15(sr/st). Also 

Apr 15, 22, 29. 

Workshops 

●●Apr 07 Chorus Niagara. Treble In Niagara: 

Professional Development Day for Choral 

Educators. Observe clinics with participating 

choirs and internationally renowned 

choral leader Dr. Rollo Dilworth. Participate 

in a choral reading session with Toronto 

Children’s Chorus Conductor Elise Bradley. 

Enjoy an evening concert featuring children’s 

choirs from across the GTA at 7pm. FirstOntario 


St. Catharines. $25. 

●●Apr 08 1:30. Toronto Early Music Players 

Organization. Workshop coached by 

recorder player Janos Ungvary. St. Leonard’s 

Church, 25 Wanless Avenue (Canon Dykes 

Memorial Room). Bring your early instruments 

and a music stand. 416-779-5750. 

www.tempotoronto.net. $20. 

●●Apr 22 2:00: CAMMAC Toronto Region. 

Reading for Singers and Instrumentalists. 

Vivaldi: Gloria and Haydn: Little Organ Mass. 

David Weaver, conductor. Christ Church Deer 

Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416-551-5183. $10; $6 

(members). 

●●May 06 1:30: Toronto Early Music Players 

Organization. Workshop coached by 

recorder player Francis Colpron. Armour 

Heights Community Centre, 2140 Avenue Rd. 

Bring your early instruments and a music 

stand. 416-779-5750. www.tempotoronto. 

net. $20 

Join the Chorus! 

Auditions May 12 & 26 

Midtown | North York 

Register at 

torontochildrenschorus.com/join-us 


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the KINDRED SPIRITS ORCHESTRA: Oboe, 

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Violoncellos and Contrabasses. The KSO is an 

auditioned-based civic orchestra in residence 

at Flato Markham Theatre. For information, 

visit KSOchestra.ca or e-mail 

GM@KSOrchestra.ca 

BAND TEACHER POSITION WITH NEW 

HORIZONS BAND OF TORONTO FOR 2018-19 

SEASON. Experience teaching high school 

or adult concert band program a must. 

Openings for day or evening band classes 

are available. This is a growing organization 

focussed on delivering a quality music 

experience to mature adults in a positive and 

supportive environment. Toronto west area. 

See www.NewHorizonsBandToronto.ca for 

more details and a link to TVO documentary. 

Send CV and cover letter to 

nhbdirector@gmail.com 

BASS/BARITONE SINGER NEEDED for 

established Toronto vocal quartet 4skör. Visit 

our website at 4skör.ca Interested singers 

should contact apply@4skor.ca. 

ORIANA WOMENS’ CHOIR is always 

welcoming new singers! Sopranos and altos 

can contact the choir to set up an audition by 

emailing auditions@orianachoir.com or drop 

by a rehearsal at Earl Haig Secondary School 

Tuesday nights 7:00pm-10:00pm. 

PLAYERS NEEDED for children’s concert 

band program at St. Albans Boys and Girls 

Club. Age 9+. All levels welcome. Wednesdays 

from 6-7:30. $180 for 12 week session. 

Please contact Michelle Clarke for more info 

416-534-8461. stalbansclub.ca/st-albans-band 

BUY & SELL 

BUY OR SELL INSTRUMENTS with a 

WholeNote classified ad! What’s in YOUR 

closet? Does your old guitar gently weep? 

Give that nice old clarinet / drum kit a new 

life. Ads start at $24.00 INQUIRE BY APRIL 

21 for the MAY edition. 

classad@thewholenote.com 

CLASSICAL RECORD AND CD COLLECTIONS 

WANTED. Minimum 350 units. Call, text or 

e-mail Aaron 416-471-8169 or A@A31.CA. 

DIGITAL ORGAN FOR SALE Superb 

two-manual, 37 stop Allen Quantum Q265D 

drawknob organ (2012) seven channel 

audio, seven tonal suites, occasionally used 

by dealer as concert rental instrument, 

available immediately. Organ may be played 

and inspected by appointment. $47K, price 

negotiable, financing available, includes 

delivery in Ontario. Call/Text: 416-571-3680 or 

email: gdmansell@sympatico.ca. 

FRENCH HORN: nice double horn in excellent 

condition. Hard case. One owner since 1978. 

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TRUMPET Bach Stradivarius model 37 (never 

used); SAXOPHONE Bundy Selmer alto; 

BASSOON Linton; TUBA Besson ¾ size, in 

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VIOLINS BY EUROPEAN VIOLIN MAKER call 

after 6pm 905-886-7374. Weekends anytime. 

INSTRUCTION 

FLUTE, PIANO, THEORY LESSONS. RCM 

exam preparation. RCM certified advanced 

specialist. Samantha Chang, FTCL, 

FLCM, Royal Academy of Music PGDip, LRAM, 

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www.samanthaflute.com. 

JAMMING WITH A COACH - a 10 week Adult 

Band Workshop seeks singers, piano, guitar, 

bass, drums and horns etc for a weekly 

workshop. For those who want to reconnect 

with music, play in a band, make friends and 

most of all have fun. Like School of Rock but 

for adults. Marc Enkin Music 647 522-4213. 

marcenkin@gmail.com. 

LESSONS FOR ALL! Friendly and firm - I’m 

an experienced musician and mom teaching 

piano and singing to children (and the 

young at heart) in my Toronto home (East 

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music-making please contact 

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PIANO, VOCAL, THEORY LESSONS in 

Etobicoke and East Mississauga with RCM 

piano advanced certified specialist. MUSIC 

THERAPY SERVICES and ADAPTED LESSONS. 

www.lmmtstudio.com 

larissa@lmmtstudio.com 416-574-0018. 

SERVICES 

ACCOUNTING AND INCOME TAX SERVICE 

for small business and individuals, to save you 

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needs. Norm Pulker, B. Math. CMA. 

905-251-0309 or 905-830-2985. 

AUDIOLOGY SERVICES FOR 

MUSICIANS. Treatment for tinnitus, 

hyperacusis, misophonia. Custom musician 

ear plugs, hearing testing, clinical hypnosis 

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Doctor of Audiology. Telemedicine option 

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train/bus station. www.auditorypathways.ca 

647-527-7107. 

CD LINER NOTES, PROMO MATERIAL, 

CONCERT PROGRAMS, LIBRETTI, WEB SITE 

CONTENT AND MEMOIRS need proofreading 

and editing for correct spelling and grammar, 

clarity and consistency. Contact Vanessa 

Wells, wellsread@editors.ca, for a copy editor 

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DO YOU NEED MUSIC FOR A BIRTHDAY, 

WEDDING, ANNIVERSARY OR OTHER 

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plays music for all ages to fit your budget. 

Motown, sixties-and-up and your requests. 

For more information, phone Jen at 

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RESTORE PRECIOUS MEMORIES lost on 

old records, tapes, photos etc.? Recitals, 

gigs, auditions, air checks, family stuff. on 

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to CD’s or DVD’s. Call George @ 416-910-1091. 

VENUES AVAILABLE / WANTED 

ARE YOU PLANNING A CONCERT OR 

RECITAL? Looking for a venue? Consider 

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Email: tina@bloorstreetunited.org. 

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April’s Child 

KIYOSHI 

NAGATA 

MJ BUELL 

WE ARE ALL MUSIC’S CHILDREN 

NEW CONTEST 

Who is MAY’S CHILD? 

Kiyoshi Nagata lives in Scarborough, but 

spends most of his time in Richmond Hill 

caring for his mother, or in downtown Toronto 

with his musician girlfriend. Besides living and 

breathing taiko music, Kiyoshi religiously goes 

to the gym each morning to work out, clear 

his head and prepare for each day. During 

the school year, he teaches taiko drumming 

at U of T’s Faculty of Music. Kiyoshi 

loves drinking sake, red wine and craft beer 

on a nightly basis (not all three at the same 

time), and enjoys trying new local restaurants, 

usually on Sunday evenings. On his off days, 

which are rare, his favourite things to do are 

to walk along Toronto Islands, or catch a small 

independent movie with his girlfriend. 

Kiyoshi Nagata is the artistic director of the 

taiko drum ensemble Nagata Shachu, formed 

in 1998. Rooted in the folk-drumming traditions 

of Japan, the ensemble makes innovative 

and exciting music that continues to 

create a new voice for the taiko. These physically 

demanding, spirited performances 

feature diverse repertoire for taiko (including 

the massive O-Daiko drum), bamboo flutes, 

the three-stringed shamisen, gongs, cymbals, 

shakers and wood blocks. 

Born and raised in Richmond Hill, ON, 

Nagata’s father worked in the auto fleet 

department of Ontario Hydro and his mother 

was a secretary/bookkeeper. He says that 

his parents always listened to Japanese enka 

music (a popular traditional/ballad style) but 

his father also liked Nat King Cole and Benny 

Goodman. He attended Bayview Secondary 

School in Richmond Hill, graduated in political 

science from U of T and then moved to 

Japan to further his taiko training. 

Nagata has taught a credit course in taiko 

at the U of T’s Faculty of Music since 1998. He 

also established a public taiko course at the 

RCM in Toronto and is regularly invited by 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS! 

universities and community taiko groups to 

conduct workshops and present lectures. He 

composes and performs taiko music for dance, 

theatre, film and radio, and collaborates with 

artists from all genres of music including traditional 

Japanese instrumentalists. 

About your childhood photo? This was 

definitely taken at Halloween. I guess I was 

a banjo-playing Mountie! I never played the 

banjo but it was probably the very first instrument 

that I ever owned. The photo reminds 

me of a very happy childhood with loving 

parents. Coming from a working-class family, 

we didn’t have much, but we had a lot of fun. 

First memories of hearing music? 

My parents had one of those large furniture 

phonograph consoles that I played records on. 

I do specifically remember listening to 78 rpm 

records of Old MacDonald, and Raindrops 

Keep Falling on my Head. My grandmother 

played the three-stringed shamisen and 

my mother and three sisters did Japanese 

dance with it. 

Your first recollection of making music? 

I remember clearly: the first time I made 

music was playing the taiko drum at age 12 

at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. 

I learned a simple song called Don Doko 

Bayashi which was a simple four-bar pattern 

repeated over and over again. It was exhilarating. 

Later I played tenor sax in the school 

band where the main objective was to be 

unified and sound as one. This was a very 

appealing concept for me. When I started 

learning taiko I became obsessed with the 

philosophy of working together to create 

something new, exciting and in the moment. 

Do you remember when you first 

performed for an audience? My very first 

performance was at Toronto’s Nathan 

Phillips Square in 1982 where the Japanese 

community held its annual Obon Festival 

On April 15 Koerner Hall will resound with “Taiko Plus!” when Nagata 

Shachu teams up with Esprit Orchestra for the Canadian premiere 

of Mono-Prism, by Maki Ishii (Japan). Expect irresistible energy and 

a sound like no other. Program also includes three other premieres: 

Chris Paul Harman’s …with silverbells and cockle shells…, 

Scott Wilson’s Dark Matter, and Concentric Circles, 

by Fuhong Shi (China), which will feature soprano 

Meredith Hall. A pair of tickets each is waiting for 

RICHARD SMITH and ZOE BROWN. 

espritorchestra.com 

On their DVD/CD recording Toronto 

Taiko Tales Nagata Shachu celebrates the 

vibrancy and diversity of its hometown in 

Toronto. This professional studio recording, 

released in 2017, features 13 of the 

ensemble’s signature pieces interspersed 

with evocative scenes of the city. A copy 

each goes out to CHRISTIAN MUELLER 

and EILEEN BEST. 

Regina, 1973 

Don’t you have a capo? I’m a mezzo! 

She sang some serious sorcery in a very recent 

Dido and Aeneas. 

If you liked her in Briefs or heard her in a Shelter 

before she went barefoot in Messiah you can 

now catch her from until April 14 in a brand new 

Overcoat. 

In June she’ll be joining streams of sound to match 

another little girl’s passion. 

Her last name is the first name of a famous 

composer. 

Know our Mystery Child’s name? WIN PRIZES! 

Send your best guess by April 21 to 

musicschildren@thewholenote.com 

Previous artist profiles and full-length 

interviews can be read at 

thewholenote.com/musicschildren 

(to honour the dead). That’s when the 

performing bug hit me! 

What helped to form your appetite for 

staged performance, and for the multigenre 

collaborations you do today? My first time 

seeing the Kodo drummers from Japan in 

the early 1980s really set the stage for me (no 

pun intended). I was entranced by the fact 

that these drummers were making music 

using their entire bodies. The combination of 

physical strength, spirit and musicality had 

a lasting impression on me. Another concert 

which really opened my mind was to see John 

Wyre’s (NEXUS) concert of World Drums. 

That helped me to understand the potential of 

making music together without the need of 

spoken language or a score. 

Kiyoshi Nagata’s full-length interview and 

a list of upcoming engagements can be read 

at thewholenote.com/musicschildren 


DISCOVERIES | RECORDINGS REVIEWED 

DAVID OLDS 

New Worlds/Nouveaux Mondes; Canada’s 

National Arts Centre Orchestra; Alexander 

Shelley (Analekta AN 2 8873 analekta.com). 

It took a while to identify what sounded 

familiar in Ana Sokolović’s Golden slumbers 

kiss your eyes…, but eventually I realized 

it reminded me of that mid-20th century 

pillar of choral/orchestral repertoire, Carl 

Orff’s Carmina Burana. Reading the 

program notes revealed another parallel to 

that great work – this too is based on secular, vernacular texts, in this 

case primarily folk songs in French, English, Italian, German, Ladino 

and the composer’s native Serbian. The likeness to Carmina Burana 

is mostly one of scale – vocal soloist, multiple choirs, orchestral forces 

with prominent percussion – but there are a couple of movements 

that are particularly Orffian, including Mie mama mata mata with its 

alternating lines between the choirs, and later an anguished countertenor 

solo reminiscent of the dying swan of Orff’s masterpiece. 

Conceived as a tribute to NACO (now CNACO)’s founding conductor 

and later, music director Mario Bernardi, it is a celebration of Canada’s 

multiculturalism and pays tribute to Bernardi’s Italian heritage in 

two of the seven movements. Although the texts are from folk songs 

they are surprisingly transformed in this presentation, sometimes 

to the point of non-recognition. À la claire fontaine begins with a 

haunting solo by countertenor David DQ Lee, eventually joined by 

dark chanting from the chorus more reminiscent of a satanic ritual 

than the coureur de bois chanson learned at French immersion camp. 

I was also reminded of some of the more dramatic scenes from Harry 

Somers’ Louis Riel and the movement Durme, durme, a Serbian 

lullaby, reminded me of that opera’s Kuyas. I don’t mean to say that 

this is in any way a derivative work. Sokolović has a unique voice and 

it is more a reflection of my own way of relating to new things, always 

happy to find touchstones. 

Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, better known for “viewing 

the past through rose coloured glasses” in recent decades, is marching 

bravely into the 21st century under Alexander Shelley, who succeeded 

Pinchas Zukerman as music director in 2015. I’m pleased to note that 

their last three CDs have all featured new Canadian compositions 

commissioned by the orchestra. In this most recent addition, 

Sokolović’s stunning work is paired with Dvořák’s New World 

Symphony. I think it is very effective programming, and any questions 

I had about whether this classical-size orchestra numbering 

60-some players would be sufficient to do justice to this staple of the 

Romantic repertoire were allayed by listening to the performance on 

this beautifully recorded disc. 

I believe several disclaimers are in order 

here for the sake of full disclosure. New 

Zealand-born Canadian composer Juliet 

Palmer’s music has been presented on 

several occasions by New Music Concerts 

(my “day” job), most recently last month on 

our program “The Lioness of Iran,” featuring 

settings of the poetry of Simin Behbahani. 

In addition, Palmer and her husband 

James Rolfe (another composer whose work we have presented), are 

frequent attendees at parties at my musical neighbour Gail’s house, 

where I’m often heard jamming with guitars and, on the best nights, 

mandolins and fiddles. But if I recused myself from writing about all 

the composers I have had the pleasure to meet over the past several 

decades, there wouldn’t be many left to mention. A further disclosure 

is that for the most part I don’t enjoy contemporary vocal music. So 

when Palmer’s new mostly a cappella disc Rivers (BR0343 

barnyardrecords.com) arrived, I fully expected to be assigning the 

review to someone more at arm’s length and more appreciative of 

the genre. My curiousity got the best of me however and I decided to 

give it a listen. I must say I was smitten! The six tracks span a decade, 

with Simple Death from 2006 (from SLIP, a site-specific multimedia 

collaboration with lyricist Anna Chatterton which took place 

in Harrison Baths as part of that year’s X Avant Festival), to two selections 

first performed as part of another site-specific project, Singing 

River, on the Pan Am Path, Lower Don Trail in 2015. 

The disc opens with the sounds of a babbling brook, or so it seems. 

It turns out to be blood flow, ultrasound recordings from the 

Sunnybrook Research Institute which, complemented by quiet chattering 

and disturbing interpolations from a chorus, provide a kind of 

ostinato under the anguished solo vocal by Laura Swankey on a text 

from Emily Dickinson’s The Heart has narrow Banks. Dreaming of 

Trees is a slow lyrical piece that begins with a very simple pattern on a 

metallophone which continues throughout under the solo voice of 

Alex Samaras and gentle, flowing tonal harmonies from a small mixed 

chorus. The text is by Nicholas Power. Dusk of Tears from Palmer’s 

opera Shelter is an unaccompanied duet – Felicity Williams and 

Samaras – with lyrics by Julie Salverson, which employs some close 

harmonies and clever counterpoint. This leads to the onomatopoeic 

and at times abrasive Burble, a lament for the Don River featuring 

Swankey with chorus. Litany (After the End) features post-apocalyptic 

lyrics of Christine Duncan recited in sprechstimme by the author 

with electronic treatments by Palmer. The closing track, Simple 

Death, uses a traditional Japanese folksong as its point of departure, 

with Aki Takahashi sounding hauntingly muezzin-like, juxtaposing 

an English lyric interwoven by Duncan over droning vocalise. It is an 

effective conclusion to a very satisfying recording. 

Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Violin 

Sonata, Op.134 in 1968 and it was premiered 

by its dedicatee David Oistrakh with 

Sviatoslav Richter in the spring of the 

following year. In 1975, the year of the 

composer’s death, a Melodiya/Angel LP 

recording of that performance and the 

premiere of the String Quartet No.13, Op.138 

was released in North America, and for 

Don’t just take our word for it... 

Hear it for yourself! 

At thewholenote.com/listening, you can do more 

than just read the review. Check out tracks from any 

of the albums in the following ads, or with a yellow 

'L/R' arrow on its cover. 

Plus: watch videos, click to buy and more! 

What we're listening to this month: 


some months held pride of place in this avid young collector’s library. 

So it was with great interest that I received a new recording of the 

sonata featuring two young Russians, Sergei Dogadin and Nikolai 

Tokarev (Naxos 8.573753 naxos.com). Dogadin has won ten international 

violin competitions including the Tchaikovsky (2011) and the 

Joseph Joachim International (2015), so his credentials are impeccable. 

While his colleague’s accolades are perhaps not quite so prestigious, 

Tokarev nevertheless has been recognized with awards in Switzerland 

and Germany since completing his piano studies in 2007. Together 

they capture the essence of Shostakovich’s late sonata in a riveting 

performance. The disc also features the first complete recording of 

Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes, Op.34 in transcription for violin and 

piano: 19 by Dmitry Tsyganov (some from 1937 and some from 1963) 

praised by Shostakovich as sounding more idiomatic in this guise than 

even the piano originals; and five by composer/pianist Lera Auerbach 

to complete the set in 2000. These youthful and sometimes exuberant 

short pieces – 35 minutes in all – provide a welcome contrast to the 

darkness of the sonata, which is not to say that they are all bright and 

sunny. The preludes, which date from 1932-33, run the gamut of 

emotion and at times hint at the hard times to come in the composer’s 

troubled life. While not supplanting the Oistrakh/Richter, this new 

recording will also occupy a treasured spot in my library. 

Having taken the plunge into art song above, 

I will say that one of my favourite vocal 

cycles is Winterreise, that classic of the 

genre by Franz Schubert. One of the discs to 

cross my desk recently is a new version with 

the piano part transcribed for string quartet 

by cellist Richard King of the Copenhagen 

Quartet which is featured with bass-baritone 

Johan Reuter (Danacord DACOCD 759 

danacord.dk). Reuter, who has been a soloist 

with the Royal Danish Opera for the past two decades, is touted as 

“one of the most in-demand classical singers of his generation” in the 

booklet notes, and with this recording as evidence I can see why. His 

rendering is powerfully dramatic and tenderly sensitive as required, 

and his tone is superb. I find the transcription to be quite convincing, 

although definitely a different sensibility from the piano original. King 

captures the different moods of the piece, and the playing is nuanced 

and well balanced. While this will not supplant my other recordings of 

the cycle – if you are interested in different transcriptions I encourage 

you to seek out Hans Zender’s rendering for a 30-piece contemporary 

chamber orchestra – it is a welcome addition to my collection. One 

reason for not suggesting this be your only recording of Winterreise is 

the booklet. This Danish production features English-only liner notes, 

but the texts are only given in German. I had to pull out my Fischer- 

Dieskau/Brendel performance (Philips 464 739-2), which has English 

and French translations of Wilhelm Müller’s poems, to be able to 

follow along. 

By all rights I should have sent the next 

disc (along with the Shostakovich) to Terry 

Robbins for his Strings Attached column, but 

once again I could not resist it. As a cellist I 

have played Schumann’s Piano Quartet and 

Piano Quintet, as well as works for piano 

trio and cello and piano, but have never had 

the opportunity to explore his string quartets 

in depth. So when Schumann Quartets 

Nos. 2 & 3 featuring the Elias Quartet (ALPHA 280 

alpha-classics.com) arrived I decided to hold on tight. Written in 1842 

when the composer was 32, his three quartets of Op.41 were presented 

to his wife Clara in celebration of her 23rd birthday and their second 

wedding anniversary. I particularly like the personal style of the introductory 

program note in this tri-lingual booklet by violinist Sara 

Bitlloch. In it she describes how the Elias approached the charming 

Quartet No.3 in A Major, one of the first works they played together, 

and how different it was to encounter the Quartet No.2 in F Major 

sometime later. “The enthusiasm of the first movement can easily 

turn into anxiety if you push it a bit too far. In the slow movement the 

texture is sometimes so bare that to convey its tenderness you have to 

sustain it with great fervour. The capacious Scherzo is bristling with 

rhythmic pitfalls […] while the Finale is an endless explosion of joy!” 

Hard to resist such a description and even harder to ignore the music 

it describes. The performance was recorded live at Potton Hall, UK in 

May 2016 and the excitement is palpable. 

Further on in these pages you will read reviews of new discs from 

David Buchbinder’s OdessaHavana and KUNÉ, Canada’s Global 

Orchestra, noting that both groups are featured in performance at 

Koerner Hall on April 7. I have also received – from restaurateur Oğuz 

Koloğlu, proprietor of Café 808 – a CD by Toronto-based Turkish clarinetist 

and saxophonist Selcuk Suna (selcuksuna.com), who will be 

J E R E MY D UTC H E R 

WO LASTO Q IYIK LINT UWA KO NAWA 

Radiant Classics 

Nina Soyfer 

Collection of Renowned Classical 

Compositions. Radiant Classics 

is a classical piano solo album 

featuring fresh interpretations 

and passionate performances of 

classical piano masterpieces. 

BEETHOVEN String Quartets 

Op. 18 nos. 1-3 

Eybler Quartet 

Toronto’s acclaimed early music 

quartet approaches Beethoven’s 

Opus 18 string quartets as “new 

music” in this debut on the British 

CORO label. 

A L BUM AVA I LA B L E O N 

WWW. J E R E MYDUTC H E R. CO M 


performing with KUNÉ. The disc, Turkish 

Standards//Non Standard, is quite eclectic. 

From the lush but breakneck moto perpetuo 

opening track Hicaz Mandira it progresses 

through some smooth jazz (but still with 

busy, virtuosic melody lines), touches of 

funk and evocations of Turkish clubs replete 

with belly dance rhythms. The core band 

consists of familiars Eric St. Laurent, Tyler 

Emond, Todd Pentney and Max Senitt and is complemented by a 

number of guest artists from the Turkish community. I’m a bit frustrated 

by the lack of detailed information on the disc or on Suna’s 

website – for instance I tried to find out about the vocalist Dia, but the 

only hits I got online were for a South Korean Kpop girl group whom 

I’m pretty sure this is not. Nevertheless the disc kept me grooving in 

my chair. 

The last disc I will mention takes me 

even further afield and I don’t even 

know what section I would have put it 

in – Contemporary? Improvised? Pot 

Pourri? – if I wasn’t covering it here. Food 

Foragers came to us from Unit Records in 

Switzerland (unitrecords.com). The press 

release says this is the first Duo release of 

Mark Lotz (flutes and effects) and squeakologist 

Alan Purves. “Music that sparkles with imagination and is free 

from conventions.” It certainly is that. One might ask what exactly 

a squeakologist is. A partial answer is in the list of the instruments 

Purves employs: toy accordion; DADA bells; balaphon, sruti boxes; toy 

horns; klaxon; tin whistle; brim bram; and one of my favourites, toy 

pigs. Although Lotz’s arsenal is more traditional, he also pushes the 

envelope, focusing on the extreme end of the flute family: bass flute 

headjoint; bass flute tongue slaps; concert flute body; prepared flute; 

bamboo flute; piccolo and even PVC contrabass flute. As for the music, 

I simply don’t know how to describe it. From melodic flute lines 

floating over kalimba-like ostinati in Abu in the Sky, to rhythminc 

grunting in Hog Time, deep heartbeat-like pulsations in the meditative 

Echoes Of A Life Hereafter and the playful piccolo/toy accordion 

duet Piepkuiken, to mention just the first four tracks, there’s never a 

dull moment. Some of the influences listed include traditional songs 

from Mali, Chick Corea’s Children’s Songs and Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 

Antarctic Expedition (1914-17). After a truly wondrous journey a final 

highlight is the concluding I’m So Sorry Blues, a standard 12-bar riff 

pairing the contrabass with tin whistles. Intriguing! 

DISCOVERIES | RECORDINGS REVIEWED 

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. 

CDs and comments should be sent to: 

DISCoveries, WholeNote Media Inc. 

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David Olds, DISCoveries Editor 

discoveries@thewholenote.com 

STRINGS 

ATTACHED 

TERRY ROBBINS 

There are two Beethoven string quartet 

issues this month, featuring works from 

both ends of the canon. 

The Miró Quartet, now in its 24th year 

and with two original members still playing, 

gives an excellent performance of the 

remarkable String Quartet No.14 in C-sharp 

Minor, Op.131, part of its ongoing series of 

the complete cycle (Miró Quartet Media 

MQM 2909 2 miroquartet.com). It’s a deeply satisfying recording, but 

in an extremely competitive field not necessarily one which challenges 

your perceptions of the music or forces you to re-evaluate them. 

That, however, is exactly what Toronto’s Eybler Quartet does 

with its simply stunning CD of Beethoven’s first efforts in the genre, 

the String Quartets Op.18 Nos.1-3, on instruments appropriate to 

the period (Coro Connections COR16164 

eyblerquartet.com). 

In his perceptive booklet essay violist 

Patrick Jordan notes that the Eybler’s 

emphasis on pre-Beethoven repertoire 

meant that they approached the early 

Beethoven quartets as “new music,” with 

the aim of re-learning how to play them 

to Beethoven’s exact specifications. This 

entailed not only sorting out issues with the 

various sources but also – and most importantly – deciding to adhere 

to Beethoven’s tempo markings, which at times are excessively fast or 

slow and have long been the subject of animated discussion, though 

rarely followed. 

The results, particularly with the faster movements, are quite astonishing, 

from the brisk opening of the F Major Op.18 No.1 through to 

the dazzling Presto finale of the D Major Op.18 No.3. Technical virtuosity 

doesn’t begin to do justice to the playing here – there’s jawdropping 

agility, clarity and accuracy in the playing, allied with 

terrific dynamics and nuance, outstanding ensemble work, a lovely 

warm tone with a judicial use of vibrato and an unerring sense of 

period style. 

I doubt if you’ve heard these works sound like this before – it’s 

absolutely essential listening. Volume 2 with Op.18 Nos.4-6 is apparently 

in preparation. I can hardly wait! 

Fast forward 210 years or so and there’s 

Canadian string quartet music from the 21st 

century on Par quatre chemins, the latest 

CD from the New Orford String Quartet 

(ATMA Classique ACD2 2740 atmaclassique.com). 

The CD takes its title from the five-movement 

work by François Dompierre that 

opens the disc. It’s a really attractive and 

strongly tonal work with decided dance influences. Commissioned by 

the Orford Arts Centre, it was premiered by these performers in 2015. 

The other two works on the CD were both commissioned by the 

New Orford quartet. Airat Ichmouratov wrote his String Quartet 

No.4 Op.35, “Time and Fate” in 2012, following the sudden death 

of his close friend Eleanor Turovsky, the first violinist of I Musici de 

Montréal. Again, it’s an extremely attractive four-movement work 


with a particularly lovely third movement. 

Tim Brady’s Journal (String Quartet No.2) was written in 2013, 33 

years after Brady’s previous work in the genre. Inspired simply by “the 

opportunity to write music for such amazing players,” it has seven 

sections played without pause, the composer likening this to turning 

pages in a diary or journal. It’s a tougher work than the other two, 

with a cinematic feel to the music at times, but is another very strong 

and extremely well-written composition. 

The NOSQ’s playing throughout is exemplary in what can be viewed 

as definitive performances. 

There’s also American string quartet music 

from the current century on Richard 

Danielpour String Quartets Nos.5-7, 

performed by the Delray String Quartet 

in the Naxos American Classics Series 

(8.559845 naxos.com). The second violinist 

in the group is Tomás Costik, whose 

Piazzolla and Mozart solo CDs were recently 

reviewed here. 

String Quartet No.5, “In Search of La vita nuova” (2004) deals with 

the composer’s longstanding relationship with Italy. String Quartet 

No.6, “Addio” (2009) deals with the string quartet as a metaphor for 

family, and how families are eventually broken apart through distance, 

time and loss. Both works were written in Northern Italy, and are 

about what Danielpour calls “letting go.” 

String Quartet No.7, “Psalms of Solace” (2014) is about a “search for 

the Divine.” The last movement features a soprano part written specifically 

for Hila Plitman, the excellent soloist here. 

All three works are very much in a late-20th-century style, strongly 

tonal and very accessible, and with some truly beautiful writing and 

lovely textures. 

The American string quintet Sybarite5 was 

formed in 2006, since when it has commissioned, 

premiered and promoted over 60 

new works. Its new CD Outliers (Bright 

Shiny Things BSTC-0121 sybarite5.org) 

debuted at No.1 in the Billboard Traditional 

Classical Album charts in February. 

There was no booklet with the digi-pak 

we received and no information on any of 

the composers or the 13 works, virtually all from the period 2012 to 

2015 and all quite short; the brief information on the cover says that 

“each track has been carefully selected to demonstrate a decade of 

musical growth and the relationships developed between Sybarite5 

and these accomplished American composers.” 

Those represented here are: Jessica Meyer; Shawn Conley; Eric 

Byers; Dan Visconti; Andy Akiho; Mohammed Fairouz; Kenji Bunch; 

Daniel Bernard Roumain; Michi Wiancko; and Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin. 

It’s a fascinating selection of solid and appealing compositions with 

nothing too challenging aurally. 

aware of the operatic vocal nature of the music; Paganini was a close 

friend of Rossini, and his concertos make much more sense when 

heard with the contemporary Italian opera style in mind. 

The Violin Concerto in D Major Op.26 of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari 

is little known and seldom performed. It’s a late work, completed 

in 1944 a few years before the composer’s death and written for the 

American violinist Guila Bustabo, who revised a subsequent edition 

after the original copies were destroyed in an Allied bombing raid. 

Dego correctly likens it to “an Italian opera for violin” – albeit opera 

from an earlier period than Wolf-Ferrari’s – in which respect it shares 

much with the Paganini. A long but very attractive four-movement 

work, it has much to recommend it. 

Dego is absolutely superb in both works, but particularly in the 

lengthy first movement of the Paganini; Rustioni draws excellent 

support from the CBSO. The Wolf-Ferrari was recorded live in 

Birmingham in March 2017 at its UK premiere, the lengthy applause 

well deserved. 

Contemporary American composers are 

featured on two new CDs. 

The husband-and-wife team of violinist 

Nicholas DiEugenio and pianist Mimi 

Solomon are the performers on Into the 

Silence, a tribute to the late Steven Stucky 

(who taught at Cornell University in Ithaca, 

NY from 1980 to 2014) and the three generations 

of composers associated with Cornell 

(New Focus Recordings FCR 188 newfocusrecordings.com). 

Stucky’s 2013 Sonata for Violin and Piano is surrounded by works 

by two of his students: 2013’s . . . in dulcet tones, by Jesse Jones; and 

2014’s Plush Earth in Four Pieces by Tonia Ko. Stucky himself studied 

at Cornell with Robert Palmer, who founded the doctoral composition 

program and taught there from 1943 until 1980. Palmer’s excellent 

Sonata for Violin and Piano from 1956 closes the CD. 

The Ithaca “sound” is described as “a blend of east coast modernism 

with neo-romantic and neo-classical sensibilities, with a rich sense of 

colour,” an accurate description of these premiere recordings. 

DiEugenio and Solomon were Ithaca neighbours of Stucky, who 

introduced them to Palmer’s music and supported this project prior to 

his death in 2016. 

Notes to Loved Ones features music for strings and piano by Peter 

Dayton (Navona Records NV6143 navonarecords.com). 

The brief but lovely Fantasy for Viola and Piano is followed by 

Morceaux des Noces for String Quartet, another work with a quite 

beautiful sound. 

The Sonata “Los Dedicatorias” for Violin and Piano reflects 

Dayton’s relationship with the art and family of Peruvian painter 

thewholenote.com/listening 

The Italian violinist Francesca Dego signed 

with Deutsche Grammophon in 2012, and 

following her debut albums of the Paganini 

Caprices and the complete Beethoven Violin 

Sonatas the label has released her first 

orchestral CD, Paganini/Wolf-Ferrari Violin 

Concertos with the City of Birmingham 

Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dego’s 

husband Daniele Rustioni (DG 4816381). It’s 

quite outstanding. 

If you’re going to play Paganini’s Concerto No.1 in D Major Op.6 

then you need not only impeccable technique so that the sheer difficulty 

is never the focus of the performance but also musical sensitivity 

and intelligence to make any criticisms about empty virtuosity redundant. 

Dego has all these qualities in abundance and is clearly well 

Notes to Loved Ones 

Peter Dayton 

Peter Dayton makes his PARMA 

debut on Navona Records with 

NOTES TO LOVED ONES, an album 

of works for piano and strings. 

Johannes Brahms Klavierstuecke 

Dirk Herten 

"These Brahms recordings have 

the grandeur, mystery, emotional 

neuroses which are so often 

neglected in performances of 

Brahms’ Klavierstuecke." 

~ Michael Finnissy, composer. 


Fernando de Szyszlo. Variations for String 

Quartet, a tougher and darker work, 

resulted from an exchange program with 

the Royal Academy of Music in London, 

the virtuosic violin cadenza inspired 

by the program leader, violinist Peter 

Sheppard-Skærved. 

An abrasive and edgy two-movement 

Sonata for Violoncello and Piano 

(the second movement marked “Stark, 

Percussive”) ends an interesting and promising Navona debut CD. 

Yang Guo (viola), Sarah Jane Thomas (violin), Lavena Johanson 

(cello) and Michael Sheppard (piano) are the soloists. 

For some reason, three CDs received this 

month are way past their initial release 

date. Two of them are from the Brilliant 

Classics label (brilliantclassics.com), 

both Complete Works for Violin and 

Piano – one by the Polish composer Karol 

Szymanowski (2 CDs 94979) and the other 

by his contemporary, the Czech composer 

Erwin Schulhoff, who died in a concentration 

camp in 1942 at the age of 48 (95324). The performers on both 

are the Portuguese duo of violinist Bruno Monteiro and pianist João 

Paulo Santos. 

Critical opinion of Monteiro’s playing was mixed when the 

Schulhoff CD was released in 2016, with opinions ranging from 

praising his golden tone and interpretations to Gramophone magazine’s 

noting his “effortful and sometimes insecure” playing. Personal 

taste probably played a large part: Monteiro’s often slow and wide 

vibrato does tend to make the intonation sound suspect at times, and 

his tone in the highest register can sometimes sound tight and thin. 

There are moments in the Sonata for Solo Violin when his playing 

seems a bit tentative. Still, there is much to enjoy here. In particular, 

the piano playing in the Suite and the Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 is 

outstanding, with a rich, resonant sound and an excellent balance 

with the violin. 

The Szymanowski set fares much better, 

especially CD2 with Mythes Op.30 opening 

the disc and the Nocturne and Tarantella 

Op.28 providing a strong finish. The Sonata 

in D Minor Op.9, the Romance in D Major, 

the Three Capriccios of Paganini Op.40 and 

the lullaby La Berceuse Op.52 are the other 

original works in the set, with the remaining 

five tracks either transcriptions by the 

composer’s compatriot, the violinist Pawel Kochanski, or – in two 

cases – joint compositions by them. 

Keyed In 

ALEX BARAN 

Stewart Goodyear’s new CD For Glenn 

Gould (Sono Luminus DSL 92220 sonoluminus.com) 

is an expression of Goodyear’s 

deep admiration of Gould’s music and his 

peculiar take on just about everything. The 

disc includes a generous amount of Bach, 

some Sweelinck, Gibbons, Brahms and 

Alban Berg. The pieces represent a selection 

of works that Gould chose for his debuts 

in Montreal and Washington. Far from being an imitation of Gould’s 

keyboard style, Goodyear’s recording seeks to recognize the genius 

behind the programming, by which Gould included works that bore 

some relationship to each other. 

The striking feature of Goodyear’s playing is the authenticity and 

stylistic confidence he brings to each piece. From the early Baroque 

through Bach, Brahms and Berg, Goodyear plays with a keen ear for 

clarity, whether structural or melodic. The Bach Sinfonia No.8 in F 

Major, BWV 794 is an excellent example of this. His technique is crisp, 

incisive yet fluid. 

The two Brahms Intermezzi, Op.118, No.2 and Op.119, No.3 come 

from what Goodyear believes was Gould’s best recording. In it, Gould 

reveals himself as the salon artist looking for the most intimate 

expression of his music. The recording studio became the ultimate 

refuge for Gould’s flight from the public stage. Accordingly, Goodyear 

admits that his studio time with this disc was largely intended to 

recreate that intimacy. Like Gould, Goodyear is careful with his tempi 

and always lets the forward movement of a phrase govern the amount 

of hesitation and drama he applies. 

For Glenn Gould is a unique, creative project, and played brilliantly. 

Yevgeny Sudbin has an impressive performance 

CV that includes nearly every major 

European orchestra. His newest recording 

Rachmaninov – Piano Concertos 2&3; BBC 

Symphony Orchestra; Sakari Oramo (BIS 

2338 SACD bis.se) offers a truly exciting 

performance of these two repertoire stalwarts. 

The orchestra is, as expected, reliably 

superb. Sudbin, for his part, brings some 

new ideas to these two familiar works. With the Concerto No.2 Sudbin 

The third latecomer is Forestare Baroque, 

a program of works by Bach, Vivaldi and 

Jean Baptiste Lully arranged for guitar 

ensemble and performed by the Montreal 

group Forestare with their 12 guitars, two 

contrabasses and – in the Lully – percussion 

(2xHDFO1043 forestare.com). 

The works are Bach’s Brandenburg 

Concerto No.3 and Fantasia on Komm, 

heiliger Geist, Vivaldi’s Sonata Op.1 No.12, “La Folia” and the Concerto 

for Two Violins and Cello Op.3 No.2, and Lully’s suite Le Bourgeois 

gentilhomme. The Vivaldi concerto was arranged by the Swiss guitarist 

Jürg Kindle, the other works by Forestare’s music director Dave Pilon 

and guitarist David Ratelle. 

Recorded in l’Église St-Augustin in Mirabel, the sound is full and 

warm throughout a thoroughly enjoyable disc. 

Concert note: Mooredale Concerts presents Forestare’s Toronto debut 

on April 15 at Walter Hall. 

Musical Images for Piano 

John McEnroe 

Performed with a delicacy both 

melancholic and nostalgic, Mark 

John McEncroe focuses on the 

introspective, letting the listener’s 

memories give the music its own 

unique life. 

Femmes 

Marie-Josée Lord 

On her new album Femmes, Marie- 

Josée Lord passionately embodies 

heroines of operas by Puccini, 

Verdi, and Massenet. 


introduces several brief tempo pullbacks in unusual places, very 

subtle but arresting nevertheless to all who know these pieces well. 

He plays a few passages in the second movement with a speed more 

daring than is usually heard, but his unerring musicianship makes 

these small unconventional moments entirely convincing. 

Sudbin makes an immediate impression of technical brilliance in 

the Concerto No.3. He skillfully navigates the opening movement, 

replete with high emotional contrasts. The second builds on this 

energy and Sudbin rides it right into the Finale where he and the 

orchestra build to a spectacular conclusion that is hard to describe. 

Anyone who loves these Rachmaninov concertos must have this disc. 

Dirk Herten is a pianist who marches to the 

beat of a different metronome. His latest 

recording Johannes Brahms – Opp. 76, 79, 

116-119 (White Records white-records.com) 

introduces an approach to Brahms not often 

heard. Herten puts his music into a freely 

modern context. His principal tool is to 

slow down works that are usually played at 

considerably faster tempi. And while he does 

this with several pieces, the most dramatic effect is on the Rhapsodie 

Op.119. The reduction in speed takes much of the traditional turmoil 

out of the music. The boiling Romantic cauldron is reduced to a 

simmer. This suddenly puts the music into a stricter rhythm, forcing 

the ear to listen for new things, and this is how Herten makes his 

point with Brahms. The usual dramatic changes in speed are curtailed 

and Brahms’ bold key changes and harmonic wanderings suddenly 

become more noticeable. 

The Steinway D that Herten plays is very closely miked and possibly 

specially voiced for this session. In any case, he plays the instrument 

with a heightened intimacy that will make this Brahms repertoire a 

new experience for many. His touch can be mechanistically perfect as 

in the Intermezzo Op.117 No.1 or lusciously fluid as in the Intermezzo 

Op.118 No.2. Herten pedals very lightly if at all, and uses the instrument’s 

natural resonance to fill the newly created microseconds of 

time. It’s a courageous and provocative disc. 

Lika Bibileishvili has been playing piano 

since age four. Her debut recording 

Prokofjew, Ravel, Sibelius, Bartók (Farao 

Classics B108099 farao-classics.de) introduces 

a powerful and versatile pianist who 

takes her vocation very seriously. Now 30, 

she is a fireball of energy that approaches 

Prokofiev and Bartók piano sonatas fearlessly. 

Prokofiev’s Sonata No.6 Op.82 

is a work of considerable variety in which the outer movements, 

What we're listening to this month: 

especially the finale, are extremely demanding. The two inner movements 

are much more wistful and humourous. Throughout this piece, 

Bibileishvili never falters or surrenders control of the material. She 

combines an inherent sense of the composer’s melodic purpose with 

the raw power that he demands be used at the keyboard. 

This same energy fuels Bibileishvili’s playing of Bartók’s Sonata for 

Piano Sz80. Somewhat less bombastic than the Prokofiev and more 

elemental, it demands a different contemporary sensibility that she 

demonstrates convincingly. Here, Bibileishvili focuses intensely on 

Bartók’s smaller-scale ideas, as if to turn the work in on itself. Her 

playing is astonishingly good and conveys impressive concentration. 

This pianist-as-spectre appears in Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, where 

Scarbo lives up to its devilish reputation for difficulty. Ondine, by 

contrast, flows and shimmers beautifully and shows Bibileishvili’s 

lighter touch to perfection. 

The Sibelius 13 Pieces for Piano Op.76 (of which Bibileishvili 

selected ten) adds another dimension to her debut recording. 

Sounding deceptively simple, some very challenging keyboard work 

combines with Sibelius’ gift for melody to give this extraordinary 

pianist a chance to prove that she’s as adept with beauty and frivolity 

as she is with fire and brimstone. 

Ralph van Raat has an extraordinary 

keyboard technique. He is powerful, articulate 

and capable of extended physical 

demands bordering on the impossible. His 

latest recording Stravinsky – Rite of Spring; 

Debussy – La Mer (arr. for solo piano) 

(Naxos 8.573576 naxos.com) is demonstrable 

proof of this. 

It’s sufficiently awe-inspiring to hear a 

performance of Stravinsky’s official piano 

duet version without imagining the work further condensed into a 

score for solo piano. Still, such a score exists and van Raat has now 

recorded it. Pianist Vladimir Leyetchkiss transcribed the duet into a 

solo version in 1985. It’s every bit as dense and rhythmically maniacal 

as the orchestral score. The familiar passages of the sacrificial dances 

aptly capture what Stravinsky first conceived at the keyboard before 

he orchestrated the ballet. In addition to the work’s elements of 

savagery, van Raat portrays beautifully those fewer moments of 

calmer, mystical darkness that occur in both Introductions as well as 

the Mystic Circles of the Young Girls. 

The solo transcription of La Mer is a wonderful example of how 

such a work can be more than a mere reduction of the orchestral 

parts. Debussy originally set out to avoid imitative seascapes and 

instead chose to write music capturing the essential emotions of the 

sea experience. This 1938 solo version is by Lucien Garban, a director 

with Debussy’s publishing firm Durand. Garban uses the composer’s 

thewholenote.com/listening 

Bruckner: Les 9 symphonies 

Orchestre Métropolitain of 

Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin 

With the release of a sumptuous 

boxed set of 10 discs, Yannick Nézet- 

Séguin completes a 10 year project 

to record the complete Bruckner 

symphonies. 

Sky Glow 

Chris Platt Trio 

Sky Glow by Chris Platt brings 

fluent melodies, understated 

rhythms, and harmonic complexity 

that is a modern continuation of the 

classic guitar trio. 

Near Me 

LJ Folk 

NEAR ME - L J FOLK features The 

Look of Love duet with Emilie-Claire 

Barlow. Available Everywhere 

Live in Concert – Tribute to Rick 

Wilkins 

Ensemble Vivant 

Lush chamber music featuring jazz 

guests Mike Murley, Brian Barlow 

and Guido Basso. Arrangements 

and original music from Bach, to 

Chaplin, Gershwin and Piazzolla 


choices for orchestral colouration as a guide for his rewrite of the 

score. Van Raat instinctively draws out the heavily arpeggiated effects 

of massive oceanic movement and masterfully depicts what Debussy 

achieved so brilliantly in his orchestral score. 

Nicolas Horvath plays Cosima Liszt’s 1881 

Érard in his latest recording: Erik Satie – 

Complete Piano Works 2 (Grand Piano 

GP762 grandpianorecords.com). In doing 

so, Horvath provides an example of how 

Satie would have heard his music in the 

late 19th century. This particular instrument 

is in surprisingly good playing condition 

and delivers tremendous power in the 

lower range. 

The main work on the disc is Le Fils des étoiles, incidental music 

to a drama in three acts. The three preludes are brief and each is 

followed by a more substantial Autre musique in which Satie explores, 

invents and generally does the kind of thing that earned him a reputation 

for being unconventional. Horvath is quite comfortable with this 

music. He himself is a strong promoter of contemporary music and 

has commissioned more than a hundred works. His familiarity with 

modern keyboard language makes him adept at working with Satie’s 

material, since the composer was among the earliest to toy with 

minimalism, atonality and other new approaches. 

The recording is a serious, weighty examination of Satie’s work by a 

highly capable and credible pianist. There’s nothing casual about this 

– it’s an all-or-nothing performance. 

When Naxos proposed to William Bolcom 

that they record the entire body of his piano 

works, he countered with the suggestion to 

record only those pieces not already available 

on disc. After agreeing on the project, 

they approached four pianists – Constantine 

Finehouse, Estela Olevsky, Ursula Oppens 

and Christopher Taylor – to collaborate 

in recording this three-disc set: William Bolcom – Piano Music 

(Naxos 8.559832-34 naxos.com). 

The repertoire includes unrecorded material from Bolcom’s teen 

years right up to 2012. There’s tremendous variety in this program, 

reflecting the broad creative expression that has marked Bolcom’s 

career. The works are neither arranged chronologically nor given in 

any large block to a single pianist. Instead they’re laid out as an intellectual 

progress that’s as entertaining as it is stimulating. 

It’s a credit to the four performers that their interpretive approaches 

are so similar, allowing Bolcom to appear consistently as a composer 

whose language is bold and clear. Equally comfortable with swinging 

rags as with contemporary forms, Bolcom emerges from this 

recording project as a rich creative spirit capable of both profound 

iteration and light-hearted humour. 

Musical Images for Piano (Navona NV6144 

navonarecords.com) is a two-disc set 

of works by Australian composer Mark 

John McEnroe, performed by pianist Yoko 

Hagino. The set is subtitled “Reflections 

& Recollections Vol. 1 & 2” and is written 

in an introspective mood. McEnroe’s style 

shows, at least in these works, the strong 

influence of Debussy and Satie. In his liner 

notes, McEnroe describes a desire to capture the increasingly reflective 

moments that occur in later life. He draws further similarities between 

Monet’s inspiring gardens and his own as a stimulus for this collection. 

The French impressionist style is a perfect vehicle for what McEnroe 

sets out to achieve. Serenity is the immediate feeling conveyed in this 

music, although the composer also ventures very effectively into dark 

corners for variety and balance. This well-planned tension and release 

is occasionally punctuated by touches of humour with pieces like A 

Fish with the Blues. Jazzy harmonies recur through the set, giving an 

eclectic sound to McEnroe’s voice. 

He writes with a strong affinity for melodic line and this feature has 

attracted a number of orchestrations of his piano works, resulting in 

subsequent recordings by several European orchestras. 

VOCAL 

Femmes (Verdi; Puccini; Massenet) 

Marie-Josée Lord; Orchestre symphonique 

de Laval; Alain Trudel 

ATMA ACD2 2758 (atmaclassique.com) 

!! 

Canada is a frustratingly 

large place. 

Despite having sung 

professionally since 

the early 2000s, 

Marie-Josée Lord 

did not conquer 

the country until 

2012, when her first 

recording (from 

2010) was nominated for the JUNO award 

in the best classical vocal album category. 

Personal disclosure here: I was one of the 

judges, voting, albeit unsuccessfully, for that 

album. To say that Lord’s voice stunned me 

would be an understatement. She has proved 

to be an elusive singer – appearing mostly 

in Quebec, and not gracing operatic stages 

frequently enough. In addition, Lord holds a 

deep conviction that she must be a popular 

singer – in her concerts and on record 

– mixing Quebec chanson, spirituals and 

classical pieces. That is why her new album is 

such a rare gift: a full CD of operatic performance. 

And what a performance it is! As her 

voice matures, she relies more on vibrato. 

What may have been lost in agility is more 

than compensated for in power and range. 

She can easily become one of Verdi’s heroines 

– I would give my proverbial eye tooth 

to see her on stage as Violetta! The music of 

Massenet and Puccini, especially as gracefully 

presented here by Maestro Trudel, suits 

her well too. 

Her self-titled debut CD became a bestseller 

– over 30,000 copies sold, which in the 

world of classical music is massive. This one 

has a potential of beating that record – and 

bringing an extraordinary performer to full 

triumph over the Great White North. 

Robert Tomas 

Schnittke – Psalms of Repentance; Pärt – 

Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis 

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; 

Kaspars Putnins 

Bis BIS-2292 (bis.se) 

!! 

In the final years of his life Alfred 

Schnittke became increasingly interested in 

religious music and 

in the relationship 

between his music 

and the Russian 

orthodox tradition, 

both religious and 

musical. The Psalms 

of Repentance, 

which date from 

1988, consist of 11 penitential psalms followed 

by a final wordless humming movement. 

Some movements are intensely dramatic; 

others are more lyrical. It is to the latter 

kind that I found myself especially drawn. 

The Russian poems which Schnittke set are 

anonymous; they date from the 16th century. 

The central narrative event to which the work 

alludes is the murder of the youngest sons 

of Grand Prince Vladimir by their brother in 

1015, but many of the psalms are penitential 

in a more general way. 

The Schnittke work is complemented by 

two shorter works by Arvo Pärt, both in 

Latin: the Magnificat (1989) and the Nunc 

Dimittis (2003). Both are very moving. The 

very fine Estonian Philharmonic Chamber 

Choir has performed in Toronto several times 

and many readers will have heard the choir 

in concert. The choir was founded in 1981 


y its first conductor Tönu Kaljuste and has, 

since 2014, been led by Latvian conductor 

Kaspars Putnins. 

Hans de Groot 

Kim André Arnesen – Infinity: Choral 

Works 

Kantorei; Joel Rinsema 

Naxos 8.573788 (naxos.com) 

!! 

Kantorei, a 

greatly admired 

ensemble with 

international tours, 

workshops and 

major commissions 

to its credit, is an 

elite choir based in 

Denver, Colorado 

and led by artistic director Joel Rinsema. 

This recording of compositions from the past 

eight years by Norwegian composer Kim 

André Arnesen (b.1980) places it in the front 

ranks. Rich, clear tone, balance and expressiveness 

characterize recordings of these religious 

and meditative pieces, four of which 

are commissions by Kantorei and Rinsema. 

Some Arnesen works show the influence 

of composers like Morten Lauridsen and 

Eric Whitacre, with long-sustained tones, 

division of the chorus’ sections and high clusters 

of soprano voices that produce radiant 

effects. Of these, I found the adventurous title 

work Infinity and the Holocaust-inspired 

Even When He is Silent especially moving. 

The lullabies Dormi Jesu and Cradle Hymn 

(the latter of which was sung for President 

Obama in the White House) are among the 

more appealing simpler works. Here babies 

and parents could perhaps provide the most 

authoritative reviews! When simplicity 

ventures into harmonic cliché, though, my 

inner music theory cop is triggered, as in The 

Gift I’ll Leave You. 

In its mastery of textures and vocal registers, 

Arnesen’s compositional craft is remarkable. 

The choice of works and the disc’s 

overall smooth sound also suggest its potential 

for meditation; in any case I found myself 

taking long, even breaths. This serene and 

attractive disc is recommended for both 

secular and religious listeners. 

Roger Knox 

The Path to Paradise 

The Trinity Choir; Daniel Taylor 

Sony Classical 19075801822 

(theatreofearlymusic.com) 

!! 

The Trinity Choir 

was founded in 2015 

by countertenor 

and conductor 

Daniel Taylor. 

It is a chamber 

choir (with, on 

this recording, 32 

singers); they sing a 

cappella. The centre of their repertoire is the 

16th century (Thomas Tallis, John Sheppard, 

Orlando di Lasso, William Byrd, Nicolas 

Gombert) but they make a point of also 

including more modern works. This recording 

includes the Miserere of the 17th-century 

composer Gregorio Allegri (much the most 

familiar work on this disc) and Arvo Pärt’s 

Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (which coincidentally 

appear on the Estonian Philharmonic 

Chamber Choir’s 2017 Schnittke/Pärt 

release, also recently reviewed by me for The 

WholeNote). 

Most of the singers are young and at the 

beginning of their career, although several, 

like the soprano Ellen McAteer and bass-baritone 

Joel Allison, are beginning to make a 

name for themselves through their participation 

in other choirs. The singing is very 

fine throughout. I was particularly taken 

with Gombert’s Media Vita with its long 

melodic lines. 

Hans de Groot 

Crazy Girl Crazy 

Barbara Hannigan; LUDWIG Orchestra 

Alpha Classics ALPHA 293 

(alpha-classics.com) 

!! 

As internationally 

celebrated 

Canadian soprano 

and conductor 

Barbara Hannigan 

said in a 2015 CBC 

radio interview: “I 

love taking risks 

as a performer …” 

Her risk-taking paid unexpected dividends 

when her Crazy Girl Crazy CD was awarded 

the 2018 GRAMMY for Best Classical Solo 

Vocal Album. 

In fact, Hannigan went well beyond the 

solo vocalist category. She not only sang 

but also conducted the Amsterdam-based 

LUDWIG Orchestra. She even had a hand in 

the newly minted orchestral arrangement 

of songs from Gershwin’s 1930 musical Girl 

Crazy in collaboration with Bill Elliott. 

Sequenza III (1965) for female voice serves 

as the album’s spectacular curtain-raiser. 

Originally composed for the legendary 

American diva Cathy Berberian by Luciano 

Berio, Hannigan puts her own vocal and 

intellectual stamp on this vocal tour de force. 

Berio opened the door to multiple renderings 

of his score, noting, “In Sequenza III I 

tried to assimilate many aspects of everyday 

vocal life, including trivial ones, without 

losing intermediate levels or indeed normal 

singing … Sequenza III can also be considered 

as a dramatic essay whose story [… explores] 

the relationship between the soloist and her 

own voice.” I think the composer would be 

chuffed with Hannigan’s powerfully idiosyncratic 

interpretation and advocacy of this 

seminal work. 

The core of Crazy Girl Crazy is however 

centred on Hannigan’s long-term love affair 

with Alban Berg’s opera Lulu, the lead 

character of which she has portrayed onstage 

to great acclaim. It is represented here by 

Berg’s masterful symphonic-scale Lulu Suite, 

given an emotionally powerful performance 

by LUDWIG Orchestra under Hannigan’s 

direction. 

The album closes with Girl Crazy Suite, 

the Elliott/Hannigan re-orchestration of 

Gershwin’s original songs, but re-contextualized 

in light of Berg’s orchestral sound world. 

As a long-term fan of the music on this 

disc, I found it a very satisfying listen. It’s 

also satisfying to know that in Hannigan this 

repertoire has a convincing advocate able to 

convey it with passion and intellectual rigour 

to future generations. 

Andrew Timar 

CLASSICAL AND BEYOND 

Haydn – Symphonies 26 & 86; Mozart – 

Violin Concerto No.3 

Aisslinn Nosky; Handel and Haydn Society; 

Harry Christophers 

Coro COR16158 (naxos.com) 

! ! The Handel and 

Haydn Society, 

the Boston-based 

chorus and period 

orchestra and one 

of the oldest art 

organizations in 

North America, 

continues to unravel 

new complexions and nuances of well-loved 

and well-known works with gusto. This new 

live recording, under the artistic leadership 

of Harry Christophers, presents Haydn and 

Mozart’s works with candour and exuberance. 

Pairing the early “Lamentatione” 

Symphony with a more extensive one from 

Haydn’s later period works quite well. The 

juxtaposition of Sturm und Drang style 

with plainsong chant in Symphony No.26 

reveals Haydn’s creative spirit, but it is the 

more mature No.86 (arguably the best of the 

six “Paris” symphonies) that shows what 

an original thinker he was. The orchestra’s 

playing is dynamic and uniform, underlying 

every single nuance, blending ardour with 

measured restraint. 

Canadian violinist Aisslinn Nosky, the 

orchestra’s concertmaster and soloist in 

Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.3, is a marvel. 

The chemistry between her and the orchestra 

is obvious. If you are not already enthralled 

by Nosky’s spiritedness and playful abandon 

in the first movement, then she will have you 

in the palm of her musical hand (so to speak) 

with the otherworldly opening phrase of the 

second. Her cadenzas are a bravura of virtuosity 

and humour and at one point on the 

recording we can even hear the audience 

chuckling with delight. 

Very enjoyable, suitable for any season or 

time of the day. 

Ivana Popovic 


Tchaikovsky – Pathétique 

Park Avenue Chamber Symphony; David 

Bernard 

Recursive Classics RC2059912 

(chambersymphony.com) 

!! 

Tchaikovsky’s 

great Symphony 

No.6 being 

performed by a 

chamber ensemble? 

I admit I had 

my doubts as to 

whether this New 

York-based group 

numbering roughly 50 members could do full 

justice to the composer’s symphonic swan 

song. Admittedly, the Park Avenue Chamber 

Symphony under the direction of conductor 

David Bernard has earned an enviable reputation 

since its formation in 1999, and its 

three First Prizes in the American Prize 

Competition in Orchestra or Performance 

(2011, 2012, 2013) and an extensive tour to the 

People’s Republic of China should be ample 

evidence of its musical heft. 

Rest assured – the PACS may not have the 

numbers usually associated with orchestras 

who perform this daunting repertoire, but it 

delivers a thoroughly convincing performance. 

Following the lugubrious opening 

measures, the Allegro non troppo of the 

first movement is spirited and elegant, the 

well-balanced phrasing clearly articulated, 

featuring a deft interplay between woodwinds 

and strings. 

The second movement “waltz” (in 5/4 time) 

is all grace and charm, while the brisk third 

movement march provides a perfect showcase 

for the ensemble’s stirring brass section 

before the anguished and despairing finale. 

My only quibble is the occasional lack of 

the luxuriant sound found in other recordings, 

due to the PACS’ smaller string section. 

And at times, the brass section – as ebullient 

as it is – tends to overshadow the strings. Yet 

neither of these minor faults detracts from an 

otherwise fine performance. While this may 

not be a touchstone recording of the Sixth 

Symphony, it has a certain energy and style 

all its own and is a worthy companion to 

existing performances by much larger orchestras. 

Recommended. 

Richard Haskell 

Bruckner – Les 9 Symphonies 

Orchestre Metropolitain; Yannick Nézet- 

Séguin 

ATMA ACD2 2451 (atmaclassique.com) 

!! 

This box of ten 

CDs comprising 

Les 9 Symphonies 

sports a gold trim 

that gives it a rather 

deluxe look and 

manages to fit quite 

a bit of detail in its 

Spartan-looking 

24-page booklet. Significantly, for an 

Anton Bruckner box, it lists the version 

and premiere details, which are critical as 

Bruckner was known to be a sort of serial 

reviser of his symphonic work. For dyed-inthe-wool 

fans – and aficionados of classical 

music – version is, indeed, everything and 

would explain idiosyncrasies of the opuses 

performed. Important also is to note that 

these magnificent versions are an enormous 

decade-long quest by Yannick Nézet-Séguin 

and Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal to 

put down on record the complete symphonic 

work of a composer as consumed by spirituality 

as he was by a seemingly obsessive 

compulsion to refine, time and again, what he 

had written. 

The booklet notes may not explain 

why certain Bruckner versions of these 

symphonies were chosen above others 

and one might question – as Bruckner is 

said to have – Franz Schalk’s 1894 version 

of Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major WAB 

105, which is reported to have 15 to 20 

minutes of music cut from it (the composer 

certainly disagreed with the cuts). Still, what 

seems to have motivated Nézet-Séguin is 

certainly the mission to capture the depth 

of Bruckner’s mysticism and joyful recreation 

of the composer’s “cathedrals of sound.” 

This would also explain why Symphony No.7 

in E Minor WAB 107 is a version premiered 

by the legendary Arthur Nikisch and why 

Symphony No.1 in C Minor WAB 101 is taken 

from Hans Richter’s version premiered on 

December 13, 1891 (which is what Bruckner 

seems to have approved for performance on 

May 9, 1868). 

If the determination to capture Bruckner 

at his most intense was the driving force 

behind Nézet-Séguin’s quest to complete 

his Bruckner cycle then he has certainly 

succeeded beyond belief and this box is 

comprehensive proof. It bears mention that 

at various points in time completed recordings 

of the symphonies have been released 

and reviews of Nos. 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 have 

also been featured within these pages, which 

leaves us with Nos.1 and 5. Symphony No. 1 in 

C Minor establishes many of Bruckner’s most 

distinctive characteristics, from the sense of 

scale to the organ-like washes of orchestral 

sound and the construction of long expanses 

from short repeated phrases. The electrifying 

performance with the leonine power of 

the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal in 

full throttle is shaped with fantastic conviction 

by Nézet-Séguin. His speeds are sometimes 

quite leisurely, but this only increases 

the symphony’s sense of scale and magnitude. 

This “Vienna Version” is a terrific 

achievement. 

The Symphony No.5 in B-flat Major is the 

first of Bruckner’s mature symphonies to 

survive in a single version and was his most 

monumental, being both longer and more 

finely worked out than its predecessors. It 

has a sense of solemnity not found in earlier 

symphonies, with a dramatic sense of conflict 

generated by the suggestion that passion is 

always being kept in check. What’s especially 

impressive about Nézet-Séguin’s performance 

is the way momentum is always maintained, 

even in the tricky last movement, where he 

sails through the unmannered eloquence and 

power that are the hallmarks of this great 

performance from the beginning. The devotional, 

awestruck intensity of the final movement 

is effectively captured in this recording. 

Indeed this and the other performances 

in this box almost certainly comprise the 

defining recordings of Nézet-Séguin’s career. 

Raul da Gama 

Kodály – Concerto for Orchestra 

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn 

Falletta 

Naxos 8.573838 (naxos.com) 

! ! These days, 

when symphony 

orchestras are 

going bankrupt 

all over America, 

the nearby Buffalo 

Philharmonic is 

flourishing. This 

is the second 

recording that came to my attention by JoAnn 

Falletta, their music director, recorded at 

Kleinhans Music Hall, with fabulous acoustics 

and designed by one of the forefathers of 

modern architecture, Eliel Saarinen. 

Zoltan Kodály’s best and most popular 

orchestral works are played with such gusto, 

enthusiasm and flair that one wonders if 

Falletta has some Hungarian blood in her 

veins. Folk music of Hungary is unique in 

Europe as the Magyar tribes came from the 

east in the ninth century, their music and 

rhythms more in common with the Mongols. 

The two dance pieces Dances of Galánta and 

Dances of Marosszék are skilfully composed, 

colourful collections of folk tunes, sometimes 

melancholic or driven to a frenzy, which 

often demonstrate a rhythmic pulse found 

in Mongolian dances (said Lang Lang), not to 

mention Hungary having been invaded by the 

Mongols in the 13th century. 

Kodály’s Concerto for Orchestra (1940) 

was commissioned by and written for the 

50th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony. 

Although less well-known than its counterpart 

by Bartók, it is a fascinating mixture of highstepping 

folk dance and Baroque passacaglia, 

echoing the concerto-grosso style. Sparklingly 

performed by the Philharmonic’s superb 

instrumentalists, conducted with surgical 

precision by Falletta and rendered in spectacular 

sound, I was thoroughly enchanted. 

The enchantment continues with “The 

Peacock” Variations (1939), a “very virtuoso 

showcase of scintillating effects” based on 

a folk song that became a rallying tune of 

the fight for freedom in the 1848 uprising of 

Hungary against the Habsburg oppression. 

Superb recording, highly recommended. 

Janos Gardonyi 


MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY 

Stravinsky – Rite of Spring: Ligeti – 

Mysteries of the Macabre; Berg – Three 

Fragments from Wozzeck; Webern – Six 

Pieces for Orchestra 

Barbara Hannigan; London Symphony 

Orchestra; Sir Simon Rattle 

LSO Live LSO3028 (lso.co.uk) 

!! 

Some will want 

this album for the 

major work, the 

Stravinsky, while 

others will want to 

hear how the LSO 

will sound under 

their new music 

director, recently 

returned from 

Berlin. Still others, 

a lot of others, will want to hear what Barbara 

Hannigan is up to, particularly the outrageous 

Mysteries of the Macabre, which is a specialty 

of hers and has been recorded and videoed 

several times. 

Hannigan is astonishingly versatile, a brilliant 

soprano singing what sopranos sing, in 

addition to works by 20th- and 21st-century 

composers, and is developing as a conductor 

(often while singing!). (There is, by the way, 

a revealing and fascinating documentary on 

another DVD, Barbara Hannigan Concert and 

Documentary from Lucerne (Accentus ACC 

20327) published in 2014. In it she explains 

what Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre is all 

about. She is the chief of the secret police 

who is crazy, paranoid and hysterical, who 

cannot speak real words and gives orders to 

her squad, the orchestra, in indecipherable 

code. A crazy but serious piece, especially 

coming straight after the genuinely searching 

fragments from Wozzeck.) 

The concert from January 15, 2015 opens 

with the Webern pieces in a performance 

that puts the likes of, say, a Boulez to shame. 

Finally to Le Sacre. The playing is measured, 

powerful and incisive throughout with 

accents and attacks quite audible, even in the 

ferocious but controlled tuttis. Both audio 

and video are most impressive and considering 

the repertoire, this Blu-ray disc packaged 

with a regular DVD is enthusiastically 

recommended. 

Bruce Surtees 

Alice Ping Yee Ho – The Mysterious Boot 

Susan Hoeppner; Winona Zelenka; Lydia 

Wong 

Centrediscs CMCCD 25018 

(musiccentre.ca) 

!! 

Prolific Toronto-based composer Alice 

Ping Yee Ho adds to her extensive discography 

with these five works for flute, plus 

cello and/or piano, brilliantly performed by 

three superb Toronto musicians: flutist Susan 

Hoeppner, cellist Winona Zelenka and pianist 

Lydia Wong. 

Ho’s compositions 

often reflect 

her Chinese 

ancestry (she was 

born in Hong Kong 

in 1960). Asiatic 

Impression for flute, 

cello and electronic 

tape “evokes,” 

writes Ho, “sounds of Asiatic instruments and 

ancient tunes.” More “ancient” echoes appear 

in two works for all three players, but here 

they’re Greco-Roman. Seiren is the mythical 

songstress whose hypnotic melodies 

fatally lured sailors onto reefs. Ho gives the 

instruments roles: flute/alto flute (Seiren), 

cello (sailor), piano (sea), creating a turbulent 

tone-poem scenario. In The Mysterious 

Boot (subtitled Cothurnus, the boot worn by 

actors in tragic plays), the musicians employ 

many unconventional techniques, seeming to 

offer quirky, hypermodern commentary on an 

archaic drama. 

Ho describes Coeur à Coeur for flute and 

piano “as an imaginary conversation between 

two voices…confessing their feelings to each 

other.” By turns lyrical, passionate, playful, 

ruminative and vehement, the flute emerges 

as the dominant voice. Suite for Flute and 

Piano (1992) is an early Ho composition (the 

other four date from 2014 to 2017). It’s an 

attractive, French-sounding piece, suggesting 

that Ho hadn’t yet found her own dominant 

stylistic voice, a voice that sings loud and 

clear in the recent works on this highly entertaining 

disc. 

Michael Schulman 

Scott Johnson – Mind Out of Matter 

Alarm Will Sound; Alan Pierson 

Tzadik TZ 4021 (alarmwillsound.com) 

!! 

I have read, with 

pleasure, books by 

secular-humanist 

philosopher Daniel 

Dennett on evolution 

(Darwin’s 

Dangerous 

Idea), religion 

(Breaking the 

Spell) and consciousness (From Bacteria to 

Bach and Back). So I was curious to hear 

this 73-minute, eight-movement work by 

American composer Scott Johnson (b.1952), 

using as musical materials the pitches and 

rhythms of Dennett’s spoken words, recorded 

at a talk about Breaking the Spell and in 

interviews with the composer. 

Johnson calls his technique, used in 

this and previous compositions, “speech 

melody,” adding that Mind Out of Matter 

contains “musical references ranging from 

Baroque recitative to retro funk grooves.” 

Dennett’s speaking style is conversational 

and Johnson’s instrumental score is conversational, 

too, lacking extended melodies or 

dramatic climaxes. Johnson repeats some 

of Dennett’s words and phrases many 

times, usually clearly heard but occasionally 

submerged under the colourful, ambulating 

music, mixing elements of classical, rock and 

jazz. It’s performed by Alarm Will Sound, 17 

players on strings, winds, brass and percussion, 

including alto sax and electric guitar, 

conducted by Alan Pierson. In one movement, 

the musicians contribute a chanted chorus. 

In Surrender, the longest movement, 

Dennett asserts that religions – “ideas to die 

for and kill for, even if it doesn’t make sense” 

– have, like biological organisms, evolved by 

natural selection. 

Dennett’s books drew me to this music. If, 

in turn, listeners are led to read Breaking the 

Spell, Johnson’s composition will have helped 

increase their understanding of why people 

believe as they do. 

Michael Schulman 

The Make Project 

Veryan Weston 

Barnyard Records BR0344 

(barnyardrecords.com) 

! ! The Make Project 

presents pieces realized 

in Toronto in 

2015 by English 

pianist-composer 

Veryan Weston with 

Christine Duncan, 

Jean Martin and 

three ensembles, 

including Duncan’s 45-member Element 

Choir. The music is a stunning synthesis of 

two concepts: one is Duncan’s conduction 

method in which the large choir creates spontaneously 

in response to her hand signals; 

the second is Weston’s Tesselations, works 

he’s been developing since 2000 in which 

performers move through the 52 possible 

pentatonic scales, altering one note at a time. 

For Tesselations IV, Weston has added 52 

corresponding texts, all from women writers 

and each containing the word “make,” which 

triggers the shift to the next scale. The authors 

range through the centuries, from Julian of 

Norwich to Margaret Atwood, and include 

telling words whether on creativity (Simone 

de Beauvoir: “On paper, I make time stand 

still”) or politics (Emma Goldman: “If voting 

changed anything, they’d make it illegal”). 

The first piece, the four-minute Hidden 

Meanings, has a nine-voice women’s a 

cappella choir creating luminous layers of 

words and voices with overlapping texts. The 

second, Hidden Words, is an eight-minute 

instrumental improvisation with Weston, 

producer/drummer Martin and four strings 

(violinists Josh and Jesse Zubot, violist Anna 

Atkinson and bassist Andrew Downing) that 

possesses a spiky, Webern-esque clarity. 

Then the forces assemble – the musicians, 

the Element Choir, solo voices 

Felicity Williams and Alex Samaras – for the 

32-minute Tesselations IV (Make), a work 

of great depth and scale that moves through 


various combinations of choir, sextet and 

soloists with expanding meaning and a series 

of luminous textures. It’s brilliant work that 

combines genres and techniques to create its 

own world. 

Stuart Broomer 

Music for Six Musicians: Hommage à 

Olivier Messiaen 

Steve Swell 

Silkheart SHCD 161 (silkheart.se) 

!! 

Taking the postmodern 

concept of 

saluting favoured 

musicians without 

recreating their 

work, trombonist 

Steve Swell 

convened a sextet 

of New York 

improvisers to play five of his compositions 

expanding on the work of French composer 

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992). Extrapolating 

Messiaen’s complex harmonies, rhythms and 

melodies to the 21st century, this 76-minute 

suite manages to replicate orchestral verisimilitude 

with violist Jason Kao Hwang, cellist 

Tomas Ulrich, alto saxophonist Rob Brown, 

keyboardist Robert Boston and drummer Jim 

Pugliese. 

Boston’s ecclesiastical organ fills create the 

perfect environment for a sly takeoff on 

Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, 

titled Sextet for the End of Democracy. Quiet 

but sardonic like the 1941 classic, this piece 

features appropriate aviary cackles from 

the strings and plunger variables by Swell. 

Contrasting melodic cello and astringent reed 

timbres contribute to the juddering swing as 

the tune climaxes with swelling organ pulsations. 

Comparable transformations advance 

the other tracks, with the polyphonic and 

nearly atonal final Exit the Labyrinth filled 

with squeaking strings and blowsy horns 

reaching a passionate crescendo; and Joy 

and the Remarkable Behavior of Time 

outright jazz, matching drum shuffles and 

pseudo-tailgate trombone with cascading 

piano chording. 

Tellingly it’s the nearly 25-minute Opening 

track which sets up compositional tropes 

from the dynamic to the compliant, with 

as many dual contrapuntal challenges and 

pseudo-romantic tutti outbursts as solos that 

measure technique against inspiration. More 

than a Hommage, the performance demonstrates 

how considered inspiration can create 

a work as memorable as its antecedent(s). 

Ken Waxman 

JAZZ AND IMPROVISED 

Sky Glow 

Chris Platt Trio 

Independent (chrisplattmusic.ca) 

!! 

Released internationally 

in 

March 2018, 

guitarist Chris 

Platt’s debut album 

is a tight, wellcrafted 

collection 

of seven original 

compositions, 

performed in guitar trio format. Joining Platt 

are bassist Phill Albert and drummer Robin 

Claxton, both of whom, like Platt, are graduates 

of the University of Toronto’s Jazz Studies 

program. Both Albert and Claxton provide 

intelligent, engaging support throughout, 

with compelling solo moments of their own. 

Sky Glow has firm roots in the guitar trio 

tradition. The album is anchored by Platt’s 

ligneous archtop tone, and for good reason: 

his sound is warm and expressive, and 

synthesizes some of the most pleasant qualities 

of electric and acoustic guitar playing. 

The guitar is strongly present in both channels, 

and is generally foregrounded, allowing 

the finer details of articulation to be heard 

throughout the album. While this might 

become overwhelming with a different player, 

Platt is sensitive enough that the choice works 

well. The overall effect, as on the straighteighths, 

bossa-tinged title track, is that the 

deep texture of the guitar provides the backdrop 

against which the action of the music 

takes place, even during moments of doubletime 

single-note soloing. 

Beyond the title track, notable selections 

include the contemplative, 3/4 I Like The Sad 

Ones, the raucous Platter and the beautiful 

When You’re Not Here, a solo piece whose 

pairing of harmonic sophistication and 

hollow-body warmth succinctly distills Sky 

Glow’s charming ethos. 

Colin Story 

Sometime Ago 

Jim Vivian; John Abercrombie; Ian 

Froman; Mike Murley 

Cornerstone Records 

(cornerstonerecords.com) 

!! 

John 

Abercrombie, who 

passed away at 72 in 

2017, was one of the 

finest jazz guitarists 

of his generation. 

He possessed 

a consummate lyricism 

and harmonic 

subtlety that could stand comparison with the 

guitarists who initially influenced him, like 

Jim Hall, while his thumb picking, derived 

from Wes Montgomery, added a warm, 

personal sound. This session, led by bassist 

Jim Vivian, was recorded in Toronto in 2016 

following a series of performances at Jazz 

Bistro. Five of the tracks are trio performances 

with drummer Ian Froman; three tracks add 

tenor saxophonist Mike Murley. 

It’s eminently listenable music, low-key 

modern jazz that possesses depths and details 

that reward close attention. Abercrombie, 

Vivian and Froman weave complex webs of 

subtly inflected lines, often on jazz standards. 

The set opens with Everything I Love, a relatively 

obscure Cole Porter song favoured by 

jazz musicians – including Bill Evans, whose 

interactive trio conception informs this group, 

with Vivian and Froman busy in a positive 

way. Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way 

gets a similar, slightly abstracted treatment, 

while Miles Davis’ Nardis builds from its 

spare and slightly exotic melody to inspired 

scalar improvisation. 

Vivian comes to the fore on some imaginative 

repertoire choices, like Petty Harbour 

Bait Skiff, a song commemorating a nautical 

disaster from his native Newfoundland, and 

the Argentinian Sergio Mihanovich’s limpidly 

beautiful title track. Mike Murley fits in 

perfectly on the dancing four-way improvisation 

of Abercrombie’s Another Ralph’s and 

Vivian’s tuneful Stellaluria. 


Orbit 

Avi Granite 6 

Pet Mantis Records PM102 

(petmantisrecords.com) 

! ! Avi Granite 6 

is a small combo 

comprising guitarist 

Granite, together 

with an extraordinary 

assemblage 

of reeds, 

trumpet, trombone, 

bass and drums. 

But Peter Lutek, 

Jim Lewis, Tom Richards, Neal Davis and Ted 

Warren are hardly an average backing band 

for the guitarist. The sextet comes together to 

offer a gorgeous evocation of Granite’s music 

on Orbit, which is full of enigmatic depths, 

expectations, anger, hope, doubt and affirmation 

amid what seems like a moody atmosphere 

encountered through a shattered 

mirror by moonlight. 

Despite all of the extreme emotion, 

Granite’s music as heard on Like a Magazine 

can be meditative, with long, glistening runs 

on the guitar and saxophone. The guitarist 

can also be quite rambunctious, plucking 

and rattling the strings on the broadly grinning 

Knocking on the Door, or downright 

mysterious as on Over and Out/Ancestral 

Walkie Talkie, with his leaping, parabolic 

lines punctuated with jabbing octaves. 

The music of Orbit has, by its composer’s 

admission, been incubating for a decade, 

some of which was spent in a great personal 


crisis. Coming through has meant everything 

to Granite and this is reflected not only in the 

CD’s quieter, more contemplative moments, 

but also in the jagged, bittersweet works such 

as Undo Process and When the View Became 

the Way. Together, these 11 pieces represent 

the work of a thoughtful composer with 

exceptional resourcefulness and imagination. 

Raul da Gama 

Octet Vol. 2 

Dave Young/Terry Promane Octet 

Modica Music (daveyoung.ca) 

!! 

Following the 

success of their first 

album, Octet Vol. 

1, the Dave Young/ 

Terry Promane 

Octet is back with 

Vol. 2, a collection 

of ten songs 

arranged by group 

co-leaders Young (bass) and Promane (trombone). 

A standard bearer for the Canadian 

large ensemble tradition of Phil Nimmons and 

Rob McConnell, the DYTP 8 features some of 

Toronto’s most prominent and well-established 

musicians, including Kevin Turcotte 

(trumpet/flugelhorn), Vern Dorge (alto saxophone), 

Mike Murley (tenor saxophone), 

Perry White (baritone saxophone), Dave 

Restivo (piano) and Terry Clarke (drums), 

all of whom deliver memorable, top-tier 

performances. 

For the uninitiated, the DYTP 8 functions 

more like a big band than it does as a traditional 

combo-style group. Listeners can 

expect to hear clear melodic statements, 

thoughtfully voiced horn backgrounds, and 

punchy rhythm section playing, all of which 

are present on the Promane-arranged Oh, 

What A Beautiful Morning, the album’s first 

track. Young’s evocative arrangement of Duke 

Ellington’s Sound of Love is another winning 

moment, as is the Murley original Can’t You 

See, a bouncy, medium-up-tempo bebop tune 

that features solos from Young, Promane and 

Murley, in addition to athletic contributions 

from the whole band, with special mention to 

drummer Clarke on Promane’s solo. 

Highly recommended both to largeensemble 

aficionados and newcomers to 

the genre, Octet Vol. 2 is engaging from start 

to finish, with a strong performance from 

an experienced band that sounds bigger 

and more exciting than many groups twice 

its size. 

Colin Story 

Out of Silence 

François Carrier; Michel Lambert 

FMR Records FMRCD455 

(francoiscarrier.com) 

!! 

Two of Canada’s foremost jazz artists, saxophonist 

François Carrier and drummer Michel 

Lambert, have come together to create and 

record a spontaneous, symbiotic expression 

of skilled, improvisational, 

musical 

possibilities. All of 

the pieces on this 

remarkable project 

are improvised 

creations of Carrier 

and Lambert, who 

by travelling along the tones and beats of 

mankind’s most elemental musical impulses 

have morphed into inter-dimensional space/ 

time travellers – soaring seamlessly between 

conscious and subconscious thought, in 

and around their own memories and egos, 

through deep emotional subtext, cultural 

precepts and to the very soul itself. 

This CD was beautifully recorded as a live 

concert at Ryan’s Bar in London, UK, and 

Carrier wears several hats here: producer, 

sound designer and artist. There are seven 

odysseys on the recording – and each one 

is evocative and stirring in its own nuanced 

way, with its own dual-narrative. The opening 

salvo is the title track – crisp, arrogant, and at 

the same time, strangely melancholic – like a 

lost youth from West Side Story questioning 

every boundary. This is an urban landscape, 

and Lambert’s intricate and skilled brushwork, 

propels the action, while Carrier is 

the virtual voice in the Gotham-like wilderness. 

Ancient DNA engrams vibrate into this 

reality, with the addition of Carrier’s Chinese 

oboe. As the piece progresses, perspective and 

overview – both musically and emotionally – 

begin to percolate and coalesce; eventually, a 

new perspective is birthed by Lambert, whose 

playing feels as though it could be the sacred 

heartbeat of Mother Earth herself. 

Out of Silence (both the track and the disc 

as a whole) is brave, audacious and sometimes 

uncomfortably exposing – but it is also 

joyous and freeing at a deeply profound level. 

Only two artists at the peak of their talent, 

insight and skill could produce a project of 

such gravitas and complexity. 

Lesley Mitchell-Clarke 

The River 

John Roney; Tevet Sela 

Effendi Records FND149 

(effendirecords.com) 

!!“It’s all kind 

of going in a big 

cultural pot.” Those 

are some of the 

essence-capturing 

words Montrealbased 

jazz pianist 

John Roney uses to 

describe The River, 

his collaborative project with Israeli-born, 

Montreal-based, alto saxophonist Tevet Sela, 

in a September 2017 YouTube video introducing 

the project, which was released the 

following month. The “it’s” he refers to is the 

amalgam of their diverse musical influences 

permeating – or perhaps more apt, flowing 

through – The River: Middle Eastern, jazz, 

klezmer, classical chamber music and North 

African rhythms. 

The album is a most engaging collaboration. 

Roney and Sela are highly skilled and 

innovative players and composers; this is 

apparent from The River’s ten original tracks. 

After listening to the entire CD several times 

(it warrants an uninterrupted session), these 

are some of the words that came to mind: 

lyrical, poignant, probing, driving, intimate, 

hypnotic, expansive, compelling, moving and 

mellifluous. 

From the CD’s cover art to each evocatively 

named composition – in addition 

to the title track are such monikers as 

Watershed, Always Too Far, Gentle Shifts, 

Dream in Blue, Closer Horizon, Calm Flat 

Sea – Sela and Roney have created a singular 

musical journey that does indeed flow with a 

river’s momentum. 

I conclude, as I began, with some words 

by Roney from the YouTube video: “The river 

is really a metaphor for the overwhelming 

power of inspiration, improvisation and 

really being spontaneous in the moment, and 

allow[ing] the music to carry you forward.” 

May your spirit be inspired and buoyed up by 

The River. 

Sharna Searle 

Concert Notes: The Tevet Sela Quartet 

performs May 4 at The Rex (Toronto) and 

May 5 at The Jazz Room (Waterloo). 

Dr. Quixotic’s Traveling Exotics 

Jon Irabagon Quartet with Tim Hagans 

Irabbagist Records 010 (jonirabagon.com) 

! ! Saxophonist 

Jon Irabagon rose 

to prominence in 

Mostly Other People 

Do the Killing, the 

eclectic, ironic, 

virtuosic band that 

has redefined the 

parameters of jazz with post-modern pastiche 

since 2003. His current projects stretch from 

the modern mainstream to solo sopranino 

concerts. This quartet is rooted in post-bop 

(the 60s Jazz Messengers and tenor saxophonists 

Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson: 

riffs, vamps, ostinatos, modes) but has its 

own approach, with a breadth that extends 

comfortably forward. 

Irabagon sticks to his tenor here, and his 

big sound and hard-edged authority are 

apparent from his introduction to The Demon 

Barber of Fleet Week (the CD has a medicine/freak 

show theme), focusing the coiled 

energy of a working band, recorded while on 

tour in Buenos Aires. Pianist Luis Perdomo, 

bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Rudy 

Royston all exude the same intense command 

of a complex language. 

Veteran trumpeter Tim Hagans (he first 

recorded in 1974) joins the group on several 

tracks, a restrained complement to the leader’s 

bustle. He’s at his finest on Pretty like 


North Dakota, from the keening, Miles-like 

muted playing to the dark, brassy burr of his 

open sound. The multi-dimensional ballad 

demonstrates different sides of each member: 

Perdomo’s translucent grace, Nakamura’s 

flowing lyricism and Royston’s orchestral 

drama. Irabagon plays booting tenor, 

building from blues roots to Coltrane-like 

flurries, before he and Hagans conclude with 

an improvised dialogue that crowns both the 

15-minute tune and the CD as a whole. 


Near Me 

LJ Folk 

Independent NMLJF-FSM-18 (ljfolk.com) 

!! 

I’ve got a new 

favourite Toronto 

singer. And by 

“new” I mean new 

to me, because LJ 

(aka Larry) Folk 

has been on the 

scene for decades in 

various capacities – 

guitarist, producer, 

composer and educator – in a variety of 

genres. But Folk’s focus on singing – and jazz 

– for his second album, Near Me, means we 

are all the beneficiaries. A subtle singer, his 

voice is expressive yet controlled and has a 

lovely warm tone. In addition to singing, Folk 

plays guitar on several tracks and his compositions 

are sprinkled throughout the lineup. 

Recorded during two separate sessions with a 

who’s who of Toronto jazz players, the covers 

include a couple of standards but mostly lean 

to rock classics. 

Highlights of the album are the first 

track Brazilia!, a breezy, samba-tinged 

original, featuring Brazilian-born percussionist 

Maninho Costa and drummer Steve 

Heathcote, a swing treatment of Bargain by 

The Who, which works surprisingly well, and 

a lilting (12/8?) version of Elton John’s Your 

Song with an extended soulful ending. The 

best bit is a duet with the exquisite Emilie- 

Claire Barlow on The Look of Love. Tasteful 

solos by all the players, including John 

MacMurchy on sax, Peter Mueller on guitar, 

Stu Harrison on piano and Pat Collins on 

bass, round out the charms of this album. 

Find concert dates at ljfolk.com. 

Cathy Riches 

Holly 

Holly Cole 

Universal Music Canada O256726398 

(hollycole.com) 

!! 

It has been five 

long years since 

the jazz-infused, 

honey-voiced Holly 

Cole has released 

a CD. Recognized 

internationally for 

her unique, sultry 

performances, the new recording does not 

disappoint. There has always been a vein of 

honesty that runs through every note that 

Cole sings – reflected in her often strippeddown 

arrangements of engaging and rarely 

performed material. On this exquisite, selftitled 

recording, Cole collaborates with genius 

pianist/keyboardist Larry Goldings. Goldings 

has notably performed and recorded with 

such diverse artists as the late jazz guitar 

legend Jim Hall and iconic popular music 

artist James Taylor. 

Cole produces and contributes to arrangements 

on the 11 delicious tracks, and her fine 

collaborators include producer Russ Titelman; 

Aaron Davis on keyboards; Ed Cherry on 

guitar; David Piltch and Ben Street on bass; 

Justin Faulkner and Davide DiRenzo on 

drums; John Johnson on flute; Scott Robinson 

on tenor sax and cornet; and Wycliffe Gordon 

on trombone, who also sings two delicious 

duets with Cole! 

A huge standout is Mose Allison’s Your 

Mind is on Vacation. Cole’s sassy, ironic interpretation 

and Davis’ Fender Rhodes solo 

invoke lost innocence and frustration (of 

the late 1960s and today). Burke and van 

Heusen’s It Could Happen to You is presented 

with a simply stunning piano/vocal arrangement. 

Set at an unusually slow tempo, Cole 

deftly wrings every last drop of emotional 

content from the potent lyric, while Goldings 

demonstrates how it’s supposed to be done. 

Teach Me Tonight, is arranged with a big dose 

of Goldings’ sexy Hammond B3 work – and 

when Cole sings in her velvety alto “I have lost 

all fear, my love,” we believe it. 

Lesley Mitchell-Clarke 

A New Standard 

Thompson Egbo-Egbo 

eOne Entertainment EMC-CD-16 (egbo.ca) 

!! 

The notion of 

standards and the 

Great American 

Songbook have 

defined much of 

jazz music’s history 

and each musician 

must choose a way 

to address this background. Pianist Thompson 

Egbo-Egbo’s playfully titled album A New 

Standard contains both classic and not-sostandard 

standards. 

Egbo-Egbo is a graduate of Humber College, 

studied at Berklee and regularly plays in 

Toronto with his trio. He performs with a 

calm assurance and combines elements of 

jazz, pop and classical styles. His playing 

is often more chordal and rhythmic than 

linear. Drummer Jeff Halischuck and bassist 

Randall Hall provide a sensitive and nuanced 

accompaniment. 

Album highlights include Sing to the 

Moon in which Egbo-Egbo offers restrained 

accompaniment to a gorgeous vocal 

by Nikki Ponte. Softly As in a Morning 

Sunrise has a great bounce and right-hand 

intricacy reminiscent of Oscar Peterson. Be 

Courageous has a pop feel and gradually 

increases in intensity throughout its first half, 

which is driven by swirling drums; there is 

a brief solo respite and then it pushes to the 

end. Coltrane’s Mr PC takes off at a blistering 

speed and after a frenetic solo it morphs into 

Spiderman which seems to just make sense. 

My Favourite Things brings together many of 

Egbo-Egbo’s ideas and techniques. It begins 

with a quiet semi-classical arrangement with 

a left-handed counterpoint to the melody. 

Over its six-minute length it gradually builds 

and becomes louder, more intense and 

majestic with its impassioned ending. 

Ted Parkinson 

Octoblue 

Joe McPhee; Jérôme Bourdellon 

Label Usine l.u. 2016 (bourdellon.com) 

! ! American 

Joe McPhee has 

pursued an itinerant 

improvisers’ 

path since the mid- 

1960s; Octoblue 

is another of his 

significant discs for 

several reasons. Not only is McPhee’s versatility 

matched by France’s Jérôme Bourdellon, 

who plays C, bass and contrabass flutes, 

piccolo and bass clarinet, but McPhee’s 

expressiveness on clarinet and pocket 

trumpet is extended to toy piano, singing and 

bubbling water(!). 

Switching among instruments, the two add 

the unexpected to the exposition throughout 

the CD. Deep Sea Dancers, for example, is a 

mini-suite in itself. Moving through plunger 

trumpet growls, whale-like sounds from the 

contrabass flute and dual key percussion, 

further elaborations include shrill brass whistles 

and reed tongue stops, with the finale 

half-valve brass extensions steadied by foottapping 

bass flute pacing. With Bourdellon’s 

woody clarinet as stop-time accompaniment, 

McPhee’s melismatic blues singing on 

the title tune is Ray Charles-like (if somewhat 

coarser), while still communicating 

profound sentiments like “freedom is a work 

in progress.” 

Conversely, Across the Water reaches the 

zenith of atonality, as water-burbled mouthpiece 

timbres are stretched into strangled 

trumpet blasts contrasted with airy flute 

puffs, as both horns quicken to elevated 

pitches without losing the narrative. After 

McPhee unexpectedly introduces a toy piano 

to honour the deceased keyboardist on 

Tribute to Borah Bergmann, and a track like 

On the Way to History melds loping clarinet 

tones and graceful flute symmetry, both 

players expose almost every mood and modulation. 

For McPhee, itinerant is a synonym 

for inventiveness, as he demonstrates his 

cooperative skills at every performance. 

Ken Waxman 


Concert Note: Joe McPhee is part of a 

program of improvised music at the Music 

Gallery, 918 Bathurst St. on April 29. 

POT POURRI 

Conversation of the Birds 

David Buchbinder’s OdessaHavana 

Independent MFR CD003 

(odessahavana.com) 

!! 

David 

Buchbinder’s 

release 

Conversation of the 

Birds forays into 

the countryside of 

fantasy while still 

staying on course 

for the musical 

realms between the Baltic and Cuba, where 

he befriends much more than fine feathered 

friends in the forests outside Odessa and 

Havana. If one has been an admirer of the 

trumpeter and his extraordinary group, one 

can now be persuaded to go travelling with 

him and his posse that includes drummer 

Mark Kelso, violinist/violist Aleksandar Gajic, 

extraordinary pianist Hilario Duran and the 

ineffably beautiful vocals of Maryem Hassan 

Tollar – you can hear a sense of freedom in 

her voice as she remembers the elegance 

of the proverbial bridesmaid in La Galana, 

while the elegance of the band sends her 

spirits soaring during another visit to Iberia in 

Bembe Andaluz. 

Throughout the visceral excitement of 

this music the listener is transported to a 

rarefied realm, all but becoming a part of 

the vivid, natural landscape – one that mixes 

beauty and danger, and conjures the exotic 

locales in the keening ululations of Tollar as 

well as in the congas, bongos, chekere and 

darbuka. All of the musicians are completely 

attuned to Buchbinder’s unique vision and 

artistry. Saxophonist John Johnson, Flamenco 

guitarist Benjamin Barrile and percussionists 

Joaquin Hidalgo and Raquy Danziger deliver 

hugely powerful performances evocative of 

steamy Cuban and Turkish afternoons as 

well as freezing Baltic nights on this inspiring 

musical journey. 

Raul da Gama 

Concert note: OdessaHavana shares the bill 

with KUNÉ – Canada’s Global Orchestra at 

Koerner Hall on April 7. 

KUNÉ – Canada’s Global Orchestra 

KUNÉ 

The Royal Conservatory 8088909562 

(rcmusic.com/performance/KUNE) 

!! 

Launched last year as the New Canadian 

Global Music Orchestra, the Toronto ensemble 

self-described as “Canada’s Global Orchestra” 

has recently been gifted with a name 

change. Rebranded KUNÉ, it has produced 

an ambitious 

eponymous debut 

album as its 

calling card. KUNÉ 

means “together” 

in Esperanto, 

the most widely 

spoken constructed 

language in the 

world. With one of its core tenets being 

“to foster harmony between people from 

different countries,” it’s an apt language with 

which to succinctly express the raison d’être 

of this multicultural musical group. 

The ensemble consists of 13 virtuoso 

Canadian resident musicians each with deep 

roots in a different country’s music and 

language, plus Métis fiddler and singer Alyssa 

Delbaere-Sawchuk. Under the skilled artistic 

direction of the JUNO Award-winning trumpeter, 

composer and “cultural inventor” David 

Buchbinder, this album is the first permanent 

record of KUNÉ’s “journey to create a band 

that looks and sounds like Canada today.” 

The opening track features Delbaere- 

Sawchuk’s suite We Met in Tkaranto. Locating 

the band’s project firmly on native land, the 

track twigs us to the multi-border-crossing 

musical journey ahead. Delbaere-Sawchuk’s 

confident fiddling at first welcomes the 

listener to what sounds like familiar Celtic 

territory. It’s only when the kora, sitar and 

other world instruments enter that we realize 

that this album aims to add layer to multicultural 

musical layer. 

To detail the vast range of musical and 

cultural influences, instruments and music 

genres traversed in the album’s 14 tracks is 

impossible to do succinctly – let alone to 

adequately assess the artistic and cultural 

resonances generated. I won’t hesitate 

however to state that repeated listening will 

gradually reveal plenty of music to explore for 

the globally curious sonic traveller. They will 

find both musical riches and a worldviewaffirming 

transcultural harmony. 

Andrew Timar 

Concert note: KUNÉ shares the bill with 

David Buchbinder’s OdessaHavana at 

Koerner Hall on April 7. 

Near East 

Near East Trio (Ravi Naimpally; Demetri 

Petsalakis; Ernie Tollar) 

Independent NE001 (neareasttrio.com) 

!! 

This excellent 

album is like 

an elegant railway 

system linking jazz, 

folk, Hindustani, 

Mediterranean and 

Middle Eastern 

music, which all 

seems to come 

together in an elegant 21st-century conservatoire. 

But to describe it as such might also give 

the impression of overcooking when in fact 

it is a masterpiece of subtlety. Ernie Tollar’s 

reeds and woodwinds are an exotic take on 

the lineage of the cool spacey music of an 

Indian durbar and the moist echo of a Turkish 

bath. The exotic atmospherics come from 

the flute, albeit in a less than conventional 

setting, even as Tollar summons breathy 

woody tones from the instrument. These 

float benignly over the sound of Demetri 

Petsalakis’ lutes, which in turn add a rich 

harmonic foundation to the music. 

Meanwhile the regal rumble of Ravi 

Naimpally’s tabla makes for a hypnotic 

trance-like beat. The surprises when they 

come on songs such as Cairo and Muzafir 

are effective but discreet: a gamelan-like riff 

is played as pizzicato harmonics; a delicate 

curlicue of a bass drum line underpins what 

sounds like a Gaelic lament played on the 

flute; and a close-knit ensemble passage on 

Muzafir develops from a single phrase. That 

said, there are moments throughout when 

the trio loosens just enough to let the individual 

instrumental personality through, as 

when a soaring ney flute emerges imparting 

a mystical tinge, or a lyra solo arises from the 

relentless cycles conjuring the otherworldliness 

of this music. 

Raul da Gama 

This City 

Heavyweights Brass Band 

Lulaworld Records 

(heavyweightsbrassband.com) 

! ! The uplifting, 

toe-tapping, 

impressive playing 

of the Heavyweights 

Brass Band in their 

third release has the 

band live up to its 

name with great, 

diverse musical 

sounds. The five members – John Pittman 

(trumpet), Chris Butcher (trombone), Paul 

Metcalfe (tenor saxophone), Tom Richards 

(tuba/keyboard/trombone) and Lowell Whitty 

(drums/percussion) – are each brilliant in 

any role from soloist, to backup support, to 

improvisers, to astute group musicians, to 

composer/arrangers. This time they travelled 

to New Orleans to record in the city of their 

inspiration, collaborating with special guests 

from both there and Toronto. 

The eight tracks blast with wide-ranging 

styles and influences. Richards’ Two Foot 

Ticket is an intriguing mix of low tuba lead 

line contrasted by higher pitched horns 

sections and a smart solo by guest guitarist 

Kevin Breit. I love guest Roger Lewis’ Roger’s 

Intro, with its wailing baritone sax leading 

into Metcalfe’s get-up-and-boogie funky 

dance tune Dance Out On The Corner. There’s 

a refreshing, almost laid-back yet fun feel in 

the Metcalfe arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s 

hit Tell Me Something Good. Another change 

of pace is guest vocalist Jackie Richardson 

soaring through Pittman’s at times almost 


folk music arrangement of Steve Earle’s 

This City. 

Great to hear the Heavyweights evolving 

both in the to-be-expected brass band funk/ 

Latin/jazz/R&B tradition and taking on the 

challenges of covers, different styles and 

working with special guests. All of which 

makes for dancing and listening hurrahs. 

Tiina Kiik 

Tambai 

Zimbamoto 

Independent (zimbamoto.com) 

!! 

Tony Montague, 

music journalist for 

the Georgia Straight 

and ROOTS, wrote, 

“Zimbamoto is the 

most exciting band 

playing African 

music to emerge on 

the West Coast for 

too many years.” Based on the evidence on 

Tambai, I have to agree. 

Led by lead singer, mbira, and marimba 

player Kurai Mubaiwa, his band Zimbamoto’s 

sound and energy firmly rooted in the exhilarating 

traditional and contemporary melodies 

and rhythms of Zimbabwe and surrounds. 

Having played the mbira since childhood in 

his native Zimbabwe, Mubaiwa has in the 

last 20 years established himself as a leading 

mbira/marimba musician and teacher. He has 

toured internationally with musicians like 

Cesária Évora, Chiwoniso Maraire and Vusi 

Mahlasela. His group Zimbamoto sings in 

Shona and plays with an Afrobeat sensibility. 

The band’s drive is firmly anchored by Curtis 

Andrews’ deeply West African informed and 

tonally-inflected drum kit playing. Vancouver 

guitarist Mark Campbell, bassist Greg Valou 

and percussionist/singer Navaro Franco round 

out this adept band. 

The lyrics of this exhilarating tensong 

album explore Mubaiwa’s experiences 

growing up in Zimbabwe. I love the 

moments when a song switches to cut time, 

as on the outstanding track Asila Mali. 

Other beautiful musical moments of note: 

harmonically textured and contrapuntal 

vocal response choruses, striking reggae 

moments, and every time a countermelody or 

response chorus confidently strides across the 

prevailing 6/8 feel. 

Mubaiwa chose a Shona word for “dance” 

for the title of Zimbamoto’s debut album and 

I for one can’t stop moving to this infectious 

and well-crafted music. 

Andrew Timar 

Old Soul 

Robi Botos; Larnell Lewis; Mike Downes; 

Seamus Blake 

A440 Entertainment (robibotos.com) 

!! 

This new release by Robi Botos, a multiinstrumentalist, 

composer and two-time 

JUNO Award winner, is personal and frank, 

an ode to life 

experiences. In his 

liner notes Botos 

explains the inspiration 

behind each 

song – a tribute 

to his hometown 

of Budapest and a 

childhood musician 

friend, a journey from Europe to North 

America, a favourite standard and a salutation 

to a tune by Prince. Recorded in one 

day, off the floor, this album truly keeps 

up with a centuries-old tradition of joyful 

music-making. 

Although a mixed bag of styles (jazz, funk, 

Motown, gospel, Romani folk), each tune is 

very much played in Botos’ style – groovy, 

grand, upfront and authentic. Musicians on 

Something in the Air 

Updating the Conventional Keyboard Duo 

KEN WAXMAN 

this record are exceptional and the esprit de 

corps is compelling. Robi Botos plays several 

instruments, including a lesser-known 

harpejji (electrical stringed instrument), but it 

is the magnetism of his piano solos that is the 

most captivating. Out of five original tunes, 

Budapest has the most nostalgic feel and Old 

Soul brings forth many of the musical traditions 

that influenced Botos in his career. 

Praise, a musical poem on being grateful, has 

the most mesmerizing piano motif that grabs 

you from the beginning and doesn’t let go. 

The album concludes with a tribute to Prince. 

Calhoun Square is a funky, full-bodied piece, 

with wild solos and rhythms. 

Skillfully crafted, emotionally intelligent, 

this record is distinguished by its heartfelt 

tunes and first-rate musicianship. 

Ivana Popovic 

Although there were vogues at points from the 1930s to the 1960s for stride and 

boogie-woogie keyboard teams, piano duos have never been as prevalent in jazz as in 

so-called classical music, starting in the late 18th century. More recently, however, with 

keyboardists cognizant of both notated and improvised music and with standard performance 

configurations liberated, duo piano pieces have become more common in exploratory jazz, as 

these sessions attest. 

The closest link to the classic(al) duo concept is piano duo Pétrole’s 

Créations raffinées pour deux pianos [Refined Pieces for Two 

Pianos] (Pépin & Plume P&P 005 pepinetplume.com). The stated 

aim of French pianists Nathalie Darche and Carine Llobet (the former 

known as a jazz player and the latter specializing in chamber music) 

is to renew the duo piano repertoire by playing pieces by younger 

jazz composers. Tilts in varied directions enliven the interpretations. 

This is most obvious on Les pensées offshore d’Arthur, the first 

and longest piece. Relaxed romanticism, the adagio sequences are 

only slightly transformed by quick jazz-like modulations at the end. The obverse is evident on 

Pétrole Interlude, mostly concerned with vibrating the darkest parts of the instruments’ action 

and soundboard. Tremolo torque spreads the interpretation so that it’s mesmerizing as well as 

kinetic, with echoes created by four hands pumping at once. These are the CD’s parameters; 

the players’ high level of coordination allows them to slide nearly effortlessly from neo-classical, 

almost sugary passages that match crystalline fingering with front-parlour-like sentimentality, 

to bright, modernist sequences, where theme depiction is both lively and agitated. 

Overlapping cadenzas constantly move the melody delineation and tune decoration from one 

instrument to the other. 

Meanwhile, tremolo syncopation and overlapping piano percussiveness 

are taken to extremes without swing on Music in Eight Octaves 

(Immediata IMMO 11 anthonypateras.com), by two Australians 

performing as the duo 176. Chris Abrahams is a member of The 

Necks trio, and Anthony Pateras is involved with electroacoustic and 

multi-disciplinary projects. If the preceding disc could be compared 

to a volume of tasteful poetry, then this one is a novel, with colourful 

melodrama on every page. One super-fast and aggressive 50-minute 

track, Music in Eight Octaves is the result of the two recording four 

takes in each octave of the piano, which Pateras then multi-tracked and superimposed over 

each other. Overwrought and almost opaque textures call to mind Conlon Nancarrow player 

piano studies and George Antheil’s original Ballet Mécanique for synchronized player pianos. 

Besides the sinewy speed of this performance, which rattles through pan-tonality and double 


Tribute to Rick Wilkins 

Ensemble Vivant with Guido Basso; Brian 

Barlow; Mike Murley 

Opening Day (ensemblevivant.com) 

!! 

Ensemble Vivant 

is just the chamber 

group you would 

want when you 

need music to 

sound symphonic. 

And when you add 

the husky seduction 

of Guido Basso’s 

horn, the cool eloquence of Mike Murley’s 

tenor saxophone, the rumbling majesty of Jim 

Vivian’s bass and the percussion colouring of 

Brian Barlow, what you get is absolute magic. 

This is exactly the case with Ensemble 

Vivant’s live Tribute to Rick Wilkins, a 

fitting homage to the prodigious composer, 

arranger, conductor and tenor saxophonist. 

He was a pillar of such legendary bands as 

the Canadian Brass and the orchestra of the 

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (among 

many others), and onetime music director 

of CBS, Los Angeles – credentials surely 

deserving of the rhapsodic homage accorded 

the 81-year-old by the Ensemble here. 

This is chaste and faultless Wilkins-arranged 

repertoire ranging from Kern and Gershwin 

to J.S. Bach and Ernesto Lecouna, presented 

on DVD (directed by Darryl Lahteenmaa) and 

on CD (captured with muted serenity by Chad 

Irschick). Led by pianist and artistic director 

Catherine Wilson and comprising violinist 

Corey Gemmell, violist Norman Hathaway 

and cellist Sybil Shanahan, the music 

(recorded at Grace Church on-the-Hill in 

Toronto) sheds fresh light on Wilkins’ work. 

An obsessive perfectionist, he polished these 

works into gleaming gems. As a composer 

who also played piano, he seems to have 

written for the instrument idiomatically and 

this is heard in everything, most especially on 

Ragtime from “Divertissement”. 

Ensemble Vivant parleys with the familiarity 

of old friends, yet their playing always 

retains a sense of gracious etiquette associated 

with the noble chamber ballroom for which 

this music was intended. Nothing is forced, 

exaggerated or overly mannered; tempos, 

ensemble and balance all seem effortlessly 

right. The string sound is lucid, while the 

trumpet, flugelhorn and saxophone add great 

warmth and swing. These are, in sum, sincere 

and poised accounts, a fitting tribute to the 

musical character of Rick Wilkins. 

Raul da Gama 

counterpoint, higher pitches suggest marimba timbres. Transitions in 

the piece are only obvious when both pianists cease playing in either 

the higher- or lower-pitched keys, leaving some breathing room, 

which quickly upsurges again to almost unyielding friction. 

Consistently pulse-quickening, the effects mash together Cecil Taylorlike 

kinetics and Oscar Peterson-like comprehension so that the 

combination of tempo changes and thickened discord becomes 

exhausting as well as exhilarating. Following its own logic, the session 

never climaxes; it just stops. 

The next two CDs were recorded in concert: 

To Pianos (Clean Feed CF 448 CD cleanfeedrecords.com) 

with Paris-based Eve 

Risser and her Slovenian associate Kaja 

Draksler; and Octopus (Pyroclastic Records 

PR 03 krisdavis.net), featuring Canadian 

Kris Davis and American Craig Taborn. 

Interestingly enough the eight tracks on 

the first disc and six on the other are split 

between compositions and improvisations, except for a (different) 

Carla Bley tune on each, and Davis and Taborn also assaying Sun Ra’s 

Love in Outer Space. By contrast, the Risser-Draksler duo begins the 

concert in inner space, with ringing bell-like reflections, then diffuses 

the program in double counterpoint with ambulatory or more settled 

creations. Among the improvisations, To Pianists is notable for innerstring 

plucks and e-bow vibrations which play up the instruments’ 

percussiveness; inchoate drones and wood-echoing thumps almost 

turning the piano into 88 tuned drums. Unlike the inconclusive scenesetting 

of that track however, To Women’s key rattling and stopped 

strings, filtered through changing tempos, moves a hushed interaction 

from stiff to swinging. The duo’s playful mash-up of Bley’s Walking 

Woman and Batterie, with swelling variations on the theme(s), adds 

a springy sheen to the proceedings. Detours into funereal pacing and 

key slapping affect some other tunes, but To You, the concert encore, 

finds the two synthesizing their balanced approach. This moderated, 

meditative piece is both expressive and energetic, with sympathy as 

well as strength in evidence. 

Davis and Taborn work through material 

recorded at three concerts, ranging from the 

equivalent of Risser/Draksler’s supportive 

phrase-making to Abrahams/Pateras’ 

keyboard fluctuations, and a mid-course 

involving as many instances of adaptation as 

advances. Prone to Bill Evans-like meditations 

elsewhere, they demonstrate on tracks 

like the Davis-composed Ossining and Chatterbox their capacity for 

popping and plucking sequences where, by the tunes’ completion, 

harder voicing takes its place alongside a connective tonal blanket. 

Especially telling is the latter, with syncopation shifting between the 

two until singular paths evolve into unison tremolo and a final dual 

crescendo. Bley’s Sing Me Softly of the Blues mixed with Taborn’s 

Interruptions Two is supple and effervescent, with the piece becoming 

brighter as it evolves and the countermelody slyly appearing in a 

darker tempo and then transitioning without interruption into a more 

genteel theme before backing into a simple ending as contrasting 

expositions are joined. Played with more sweetness than the original, 

with tolling arpeggios and line extensions, the Ra composition almost 

becomes a lullaby. Once the melody is delineated, however, key clipping 

returns the dynamic upsurge. 

Ra’s cosmic explorations might serve as a 

starting point on Applied Cryptography 

(pfMentum CD 106 pfmentum.com) since 

Tim Perkis’ electronics are the foil to 

the piano of Scott Walton. During the 11 

tracks, ranging in length from 90 seconds 

to almost six minutes, the strategy of the 

California-based players involves the pianist 

pinpointing a formalist theme and Perkis’ 

processed whooshes and burbles advancing it in unexpected directions. 

That’s advancing, not accompanying, though. So while the 

Perkis/Walton concept may appear somewhat celestial compared to the 

other duos’ terrestrial expositions, both players’ creativity is as evenly 

matched as the duo work on the other discs. On a track such as Naked 

Egg, for instance, what begins with Walton’s precise narrative meeting 

unruly buzzes and signal-processed flanges from the electronics soon 

changes to treble frequencies from the piano that elaborate the theme 

in the bass clef, as Perkis’ twangs and chirps expand the sound palette. 

Conversely, Perkis’ elaboration of pressurized sound envelopes on 

Subliminal Channel and other tracks is framed with key rattles and 

modulated glissandi from Walton. With the pianist predisposed to 

concentrate on the instrument’s lyre in order to either pluck harpsichord-like 

tones (as on Possible Objects B) or bellicose scratches and 

stops (as on Normal Form), the subsequent musical drama is evoked as 

much from Walton’s dynamic movements as the blurry textures from 

Perkis’ laptop-directed machine. By the climactic Blind Signature, 

as electronic drones fluctuate, kinetic key flourishes allow Walton to 

interject timbres with the same intensity, adding up to a process where 

it’s impossible to imagine the incisive tune expressed without droning 

oscillations or without the clear linear process from the piano. 

To be memorable, a keyboard duo must blend exploratory concepts 

so that the two instruments are nearly indistinguishable, while maintaining 

individual identification. Each of these duos demonstrates that 

this can be done. 


Old Wine, New Bottles 

Fine Old Recordings Re-Released 

BRUCE SURTEES 

In 2009, to celebrate their 111th year of 

making recordings, DG issued 111 years of 

Deutsche Grammophon in two collector’s 

boxes of 55 and 56 CDs containing landmark 

recordings from the earliest days to the 

(then) present. Issued as limited editions, 

they are still to be had… at a price! Since 

then they have produced more “111” collections: 

sets featuring the violin and the piano, 

as well as 11 Great Videos (a 13DVD set) – all a boon to the enquiring 

minds of countless collectors. The latest, 111 - The Conductors (DG 

4797477, 40 CDs) offers outstanding performances from 40 maestros 

recorded by DG who were part of the classical music scene since the 

1930s. There is absolutely no padding in this collection; each performance 

was critically praised in the initial release, very often becoming 

the recommended performance in its repertoire. Here are some: 

Daphnis and Chloe, etc. (Abbado); Saint-Saëns Third Symphony, 

etc. (Barenboim); Mahler First and Second Symphonies (Bernstein); 

Bruckner Eighth Symphony (Böhm); Stravinsky Symphony of 

Psalms, Schoenberg (Boulez); Mendelssohn Fourth, etc. (Fritz 

Busch, 1950); Prokofiev Third Symphony, etc. (Chailly); Messiaen 

Turangalîla-Symphony (Y. and J. Loriod; Chung); Brahms Fourth 

Symphony, Kodály (de Sabata); music of Revueltas, Ginastera, etc. 

(Gustavo Dudamel); Johann Strauss works (Fricsay); Brahms First, 

Schubert Eighth (Furtwängler,1952); Beethoven Fourth and Sixth 

(Gardiner), Bruckner Ninth (Giulini); Mozart Violin Concertos Three, 

Four and Five (Gidon Kremer, Harnoncourt), Sibelius tone poems 

(Neeme Järvi); Mozart “Jupiter,” Schubert “Unfinished” (Jochum); 

Beethoven Ninth, etc. (Karajan 1962); Beethoven Symphonies Five and 

Seven (Carlos Kleiber); Dvořák Symphonies Eight and Nine (Kubelik). 

Know that this is not a list of the best of the best, selected from the 

40 CDs, but the exact contents of the first 21 discs, conductors A to K! 

These honoured performances with the finest orchestras, Berlin, Vienna, 

Boston, Leningrad, London and others, all in the best sound, are beyond 

any serious criticism. The other 19 include Lehmann, Leitner, Levine, 

Maazel, Markevitch, Mravinsky, Andris Nelsons, Ozawa, Nézet-Séguin, 

Rattle, Steinberg, Previn, Sinopoli, Thielemann, Minkowski, Schuricht 

… and the list goes on. An irresistible collection all around. See the 

complete track listing at deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4797477. 

Deutsche Grammophon also offers special 

editions of selected conductors’ recordings, 

including Karl Böhm’s acclaimed interpretations 

in Karl Böhm: Great Recordings 1953- 

1972 (4797021, 17 CDs). Böhm was of the 

old school of conductors, in the best sense 

of that appellation. He conducted with a 

firm beat and, as far as I’ve seen or heard, 

was not inclined to romanticize. Included 

is a cross section of powerful performances, 

mostly with the Berlin Philharmonic with whom he had a close 

working relationship over the years: Beethoven, Symphonies 3, 5, 

7 and the Missa Solemnis; Brahms Symphonies 1 and 2; Haydn The 

Seasons; lots of Mozart; Mahler Kindertotenlieder and four Rückert 

Lieder (Fischer-Dieskau); and lots of Richard Strauss. Just as one 

would expect. Also of interest is a 40-minute rehearsal followed by the 

complete performance of Schubert’s Ninth Symphony (Berlin, 1963). 

As an aside, consider Böhm’s business-like tempi in Wagner’s Ring 

as heard in the 1966/67 live recordings from Bayreuth issued a few 

years ago, re-mastered on Decca (4782367, 14 CDs). It has been argued 

that Böhm’s faster-than-usual, objective tempi are a downside, but 

listening with a different attitude can lead to a different appreciation. 

Incidentally, Birgit Nilsson fans may know that of all her recordings 

including the Solti, she considered this to be her finest Brunnhilde. 

It is a fact of life that in the performing 

arts, fame can be and often is shortlived 

for instrumentalists, vocalists and 

conductors alike. Appian Recordings has 

gone to a lot of search and research to issue 

a 2CD set of pianist Leff Pouishnoff – The 

Complete 78-rpm and selected Saga LP 

recordings (APR2022 aprrecordings.co.uk). 

I’m sure that some aficionados recognize the 

name but I did not. Leff Pouishnoff (1891- 

1959) was born in Odessa, the birthplace of so many famous names 

in the classical hierarchy. The parents of George Gershwin and Bob 

Dylan also migrated from Odessa. Pouishnoff studied composition at 

the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Rimsky-Korsakov, Liadov and 

Glazunov, graduating in 1910 with a Gold Medal. In 1911 he toured with 

violinist Leopold Auer. The Russian Revolution forced him into exile 

and he went to Persia, where he became the first pianist ever to tour 

that country. He went to Paris but soon moved to London where he did 

rather well, giving five recitals in Wigmore Hall during February and 

March 1921 playing Bach, Rachmaninov and Scriabin to great acclaim. 

From 1921 on, one can almost track the course of his life via his 

recordings. He played at the Proms in 1922 and recorded four sides for 

Columbia that are to be heard on the first disc of this release. Six more 

sides in 1923. He made his North American debut in 1923, then back 

at the 1923 Proms, returning to tour the United States in 1924. It was 

in the 1920s he earned a reputation as a Chopin player and in 1926 

gave a week of Chopin recitals in Wigmore Hall. So successful were 

they that he repeated the series in 1927. 

In May 1926, the dawn of electric recordings, Pouishnoff set down 

the Rosamunde Ballet music of Schubert and Glazunov’s Polka. In 

March 1928 for the Schubert centenary, he recorded the Sonata in G 

Major “Fantasie” op.78 “that displays all of Pouishnoff’s best qualities, 

the luminous tone, elegance and suave control.” Heard here on CD1, 

it does. He made his last recordings for Columbia in February and 

March 1929. During the Second World War he continued playing and 

gave concerts for the troops but in truth, his halcyon days were back 

in the 1920s. 

After the war, it seemed that his repertoire was out of favour, to be 

replaced by such heavies as Artur Schnabel and Wilhelm Backhaus 

playing more substantial works from the Austro-German school. 

He returned to the studio in mid-1948, this time for HMV where he 

recorded five Chopin sides. In 1958 Saga Records brought him back 

for some Chopin and the longer Theme and Variations by Glazunov 

and much more. Leff Pouishnoff died in June 1959, followed less 

than three weeks later by his wife, who chose to die. All his 78s are 

here and some Saga items although there is a mystery, detailed in the 

booklet, concerning the whereabouts of the missing Saga tapes. Along 

with the Schubert Sonata, which runs 31 minutes, and the Glazunov 

Theme and Variations at 18 minutes, there are 33 charming short 

pieces by the masters, masterfully delivered. Very pleasant listening. 

The two-disc set is priced as one. 

Decca and DG are reissuing some 

outstanding analog recordings in new 

remastered editions on Blu-ray audio discs. 

I should say audio disc, singular, as there 

is the complete Karajan Ring Cycle on one 

disc, and a complete Salome with Nilsson 

sounding shockingly real on one disc. Now 

we have the five Beethoven Piano Concertos 

from Vladimir Ashkenazy with Georg Solti 

and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on a single Blu-ray disc packaged 

with three newly remastered regular CDs. These acknowledged 

performances and recordings enjoy a new reality, particularly on the 

+Blu-ray edition (Decca 4832579, 3 CDs & 1 Blu-ray disc). 


KOERNER HALL IS: 

“ A beautiful space for music 

“ 

THE GLOBE AND MAIL 

Rolston String Quartet 

with Robert McDonald 

SUN., APR. 8, 2PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL 

Free tickets can be reserved starting Mon., April. 2. 

Canada’s Rolston String Quartet, comprised of alumni of The Glenn Gould 

School, captured the musical world’s attention by winning the 2016 Banff 

International String Quartet Competition. They will perform Debussy’s String 

Quartet and will be joined by pianist Robert McDonald for Schumann’s Piano 

Quintet in E flat Major, op. 44. 

Generously supported by Dorothy Cohen Shoichet 

Johannes Debus 

conducts the 

Royal Conservatory 

Orchestra 

FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 8PM / PRELUDE RECITAL 6:45PM 

PRE-CONCERT TALK 7:15PM / KOERNER HALL 

Tickets start at only $25 

Canadian Opera Company Music 

Director, Johannes Debus, will 

conduct the Glenn Gould School’s 

Royal Conservatory Orchestra, in a 

special concert of works by Hector Berlioz, 

Francis Poulenc, and Leonard Bernstein’s 

“Symphonic Dances” from West Side Story. 

Part of the Temerty Orchestral Program 

Taylor Academy 

Orchestra 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 7:30PM 

MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL 

Free tickets can be reserved starting 

Mon., Apr. 4. 

String students from The Phil and 

Eli Taylor Performance Academy 

for Young Artists come together 

as the Academy Chamber Orchestra 

to perform this special concert. 

Beatrice Rana 

SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 3PM / PRE-CONCERT TALK 2PM / KOERNER HALL 


Italian pianist Beatrice Rana won three major awards in 2017: Edison 

Klassiek Award as “Discovery of the Year,” the BBC Music Magazine’s 

“Newcomer of the Year” Award, and the Gramophone “Young Artist of the 

Year” Award. Hear her perform works by Schumann, Ravel, and Stravinsky. 

Presented in association with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura 

Gerald Finley 

with Julius Drake 

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 3PM 

PRE-CONCERT TALK 2PM 

KOERNER HALL 


Having received multiple Gramophone 

Awards together, Canadian baritone 

Gerald Finley and British pianist 

Julius Drake return to Koerner Hall 

to perform works by Schubert, 

Rachmaninov, Beethoven, as well 

as American and English folk songs. 

Generously supported by 

Sue Mortimer 

Dianne Werner 

SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 2018 2PM 

MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL 

Tickets: $25 

Dianne Werner is an exceptional 

soloist, accompanist, and chamber 

musician acclaimed for her lyrical 

and poetic style. One of Canada’s 

pre-eminent cultural ambassadors, 

she will be joined by Andres Diaz 

to perform Rachmaninoff’s 

Corelli Variations and sonata for 

piano and cello. 

TICKETS & SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 WWW.RCMUSIC.COM/PERFORMANCE 

273 BLOOR STREET WEST 

(BLOOR 237 BLOOR ST. & AVENUE STREET RD.) WEST 

TORONTO (BLOOR ST. & AVENUE RD.) TORONTO

RETROSPECTIVE 

NOTES IN THE NIGHT: 

The History of 

Toronto Jazz Clubs 

since 1946 

KEN WAXMAN 

ALL PHOTOS: KEVIN KING 

They were as opulent and upfront as the Imperial 

Room at the Royal York Hotel, which frequently 

hosted internationally famous stars such as Ella 

Fitzgerald; or they were as grotty and out-of-the way as 

the Subway Room of the Spadina Hotel on King Street, 

where CODA magazine’s Bill Smith presented avantgarde 

improvisers in the early 1980s. Some like George’s 

Spaghetti House on Dundas Street E. operated for 38 years 

until 1994; others like Queen Street’s Matt Muldoon’s 

lasted barely a year in 1978, But what these clubs and 

about 75 other music spots did over the years was provide 

a place for Toronto’s jazz musicians to play, where fans 

knew they could go to see their favourite music. 

Notes in the Night: The History of Toronto Jazz Clubs Since 1946, on 

show at The Market Gallery until June 23, offers an audiovisual history 

of that phenomenon. To present a three-dimensional view of the 

scene, the exhibit includes more than 200 items on its walls, on standalone 

panels and in display cases. Not only are there rare photographs 

of the clubs and performers in their heydays, but also ephemera that 

take in club menus and table cards, match boxes, LP covers, tickets, 

advertisements and wall posters. Highlighting 19 major venues, one 

wall includes a poster of a kilt-wearing saxophonist Jim Galloway 

advertising an upcoming gig with pianist Doug Riley at the Montreal 

Bistro. In one display case is a vintage photo of Moe Koffman playing 

two saxophones at once during a performance at George’s; in another, 

pianist/singer Jay McShann leads Galloway’s Wee Big Band through 

its paces at the Montreal Bistro. A 1982 portrait shows drummer Art 

Blakey in front of Basin Street’s sparkling tinsel backdrop; and a 1960 

photo from the House of Hambourg finds a band of young Toronto 

jazzers trying to impersonate New York junkies in a local version 

of the play The Connection. Another wall displays a 1969 Toronto 

Telegram photo shoot of the mock-picketing of the Savarin Tavern by 

local reed players demanding to be included in The Boss Brass. There’s 

also an evocative late-night photo of the Queen streetcar moving past 

the illuminated Town Tavern sign. 

Besides a continuous slideshow projecting 80 images otherwise 

not seen in the exhibition, are two audiovisual presentations: one 

monitor shows Toronto Jazz, Don Owen’s 1963 film classic, featuring 

performances by guitarist Lenny Breau’s trio and saxophonist Don 

(D.T.) Thompson’s quintet; another monitor captures musicians Don 

Vickery, Molly Johnson and Archie Alleyne discussing aspects of their 

careers on the local jazz scene. 

Toronto’s club explosion happened after 1946 when new Liquor 

Licensing Board of Ontario dining lounge rules allowed live music 

venues to sell liquor, explains Ralph Coram, guest curator for the 

Market Gallery show. “Pent-up demand after wartime austerity and 

later the building of the subway system facilitated the growth of 

burgeoning nightlife districts downtown.” All the clubs were in an 

area bordered by Bathurst and Sherbourne, Dupont to Front, often 

in rundown but historically important buildings. The majority of 

clubs allowed patrons and players of all backgrounds to mingle. So 

for almost every photo of well-dressed patrons drinking at tiny nightclub 

tables with a band in the background, there are shots of intense 

fans raptly gazing at the improvisation of among others, pianists Ray 

Bryant or Lennie Tristano. Most jazz clubs were set up and managed 

by hoteliers or restaurateurs who had an established operation that 

could be granted a liquor licence, notes Coram. “The pure music 

places tended to be the unlicensed after-hours clubs whose patrons 


TS 

Toronto 

Symphony 

Orchestra 

Bernstein’s 

Candide 

Thu, Apr 26 at 8:00pm 

Sat, Apr 28 at 8:00pm 

Bramwell Tovey , conductor 

Tracy Dahl, soprano (Cunegonde) 

Judith Forst, mezzo-soprano (The Old Lady) 

Nicholas Phan, tenor (Candide) 

Richard Suart, baritone (Pangloss & other roles) 

Members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir 

Bramwell Tovey leads a brilliant cast of vocalists, 

members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the 

Orchestra in Bernstein’s enchanting operetta based 

on Voltaire’s satirical story about a guileless young 

man’s education in the ways of the world. 


TICKETS ARE LIMITED—BOOK NOW! 

416.593.1285 TSO.CA

were attuned to jazz and who appreciated a casual or bohemian 

atmosphere, as a reaction against the social and cultural mores of 

Toronto the Good,” he adds. Toronto’s original so-called music room 

was the House of Hambourg which operated from 1948 to 1963 in four 

locations near Bloor and Bay. 

Some clubs specialized in 

Dixieland, others in modern 

jazz. But the ones which lasted 

the longest, such as George’s, 

Bourbon Street/Basin Street, the 

Colonial and the Town Tavern 

offered all sorts of fare. “Many of 

the owners were music fans and 

they became even more so if the 

place made money,” notes Coram. 

“Some even booked hard-core jazz 

bands as a prestige or loss-leader 

venture.” Still, in some cases 

the lowering of the drinking age 

to 18 in 1971 led some to start featuring rock music. One show sidelight 

also traces the activities of several jazz entrepreneurs active at the 

time, such as Dave Caplan. A tailor, not a club owner, during a career 

that lasted from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, he booked jazz at 

locations that included Club Norman, East 85th, St. Regis Hotel and 

Meyer’s Deli. One photo shows a snappily dressed Caplan greeting 

patrons at the St. Regis. 

“The pure music places tended to be … 

a reaction against the social and 

cultural mores of Toronto the Good.” 

— Ralph Coram 

The exhibit was the result of four years of research which involved 

combing though voluminous paper and photographic files in university, 

library, government and private archives. Coram explains that 

“I’m old enough to have been to some of these places like the Colonial, 

and Bourbon Street. The experiences there always stuck with me 

and I wanted to bring them back to public consciousness through 

visual history. 

“While this exhibition shows that jazz heritage is a large part of 

Toronto’s reputation as Music City, the debate in this city around 

the continuing demise of live music venues is something the jazz 

community has been dealing with for decades. There’s never been a 

shortage of local jazz musicians, just a shortage of places for them to 

play. The jazz community was also right at the centre of some of the 

social issues of the day, including the struggle to overcome racism, 

to include Canadian musical content in shows and to participate in 

urban revitalization.” 

Notes in the Night continues until June 23. Located on the second 

floor of the St. Lawrence Market, 95 Front St. E., the gallery is open 

Tuesday to Thursday: 10am to 4pm; Friday: 10am to 6pm; Saturday: 

9am to 4pm. Closed Sundays, Mondays. toronto.ca/marketgallery 

Ken Waxman, a regular contributor to DISCoveries, 

also writes the Something in the Air column. 

This Thirsty Land 

April 29, 2018 3:30pm 

St Anne’s Anglican Church, 270 Gladstone Ave, Toronto 

Water’s life-giving force! 

Celebrate the Toronto premiere of Ontario composer Leonard Enns’ 

This Thirsty Land - a reflective tribute to our intense relationship 

with water and its precious life-giving force with Orpheus and the 

award-winning DaCapo Chamber Choir. 

Robert Cooper, C.M. Artistic Director, Edward Moroney, Accompanist 

Guest Artists 

DaCapo Chamber Choir 

Orpheus Chamber Ensemble 

www.orpheuschoirtoronto.com 

416-530-4428 

The Jackman Foundation 

April 2018 thewholenote.com

May 24 29, 2018 in Toronto 

Estonia’s best musical talent to be showcased along with leading 

Canadian artists, taking place in Toronto’s finest venues. 

featuring: 

AVARUS ENSEMBLE (EST) DIANA (CAN) ERKI PÄRNOJA (EST) 

ESTONIAN VOICES (EST) ELIZABETH SHEPHERD (CAN) 

JUSTIN GRAY & SYNTHESIS (CAN) KAILI KINNON (CAN) 

KADRI VOORAND QUARTET (EST) The leslie spits (CAN) 

KARA-LIS COVERDALE (CAN) KRISTJAN RANDALU TRIO (EST) 

MAARJA NUUT & HH (EST) MARTIN KUUSKMANN (US) PIA FRAUS (EST) 

QUARTETTO GELATO (CAN) ROSIE LINDAU & TIINA KIIK (CAN) 

SANDER MÖLDER (EST) VOX CLAMANTIS (EST) 

Estonian Music Week is part of the official Canadian 

EV100 celebrations of Estonia’s 100th year of independence 

estonianmusicweek.ca

2018/19 Season 

Subscribe to be part 

of our 40 th season! 

Mozart 40 

Vivaldi con amore 

Steffani: Drama & Devotion 

The Harlequin Salon 

The Tempestuous Violin 

Tales of Two Cities 

Bach St Matthew Passion 

The Hunt: Mozart & Haydn 

Bach Magnificat 

Handel Messiah 

Close Encounters series 

The more you see, 

the more you save. 

Discounts for seniors (65+), 

Tafelscene (19 – 35), 

and youth (18 and under). 

We’d love to help you find the best package for your needs. 

(416) 964-6337 tafelmusik.org 

Photo by Sian Richards

Volume 23 Issue 7 - April 2018

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