June 2006 - The WholeNote

Transcription

Here is an Acrobat PDF Web version of the June 2006 issue of WholeNote Magazine. This Web
version contains the entire main magazine, including all advertisements.
This month’s issue features our Green Pages supplement, WholeNote’s annual Guide to the
Summer Music Festival Scene in Ontario and beyond. In addition to information on 100
Festivals, this section contains Profiles of 18 Music Festivals, “in their own words”, and
provides detailed Festival Listings for June 1-July 7 events. This special 16-page supplement
is contained in its own PDF on our Website. Click here to visit the Green Pages section.
You may view our magazine using the Bookmarks at the left of your screen as a guide. Click
on a Bookmark to go to the desired page. Where you see a “+” sign, click on it and you will
find sub-topics underneath.
To view our advertising, click here for a special Index of Advertisers. Then click on the red page
number(s) next to any advertiser to be directed to their ad in the regular section of the magazine,
To return to this ad index, click the boxed link at the bottom of the page. To view ads in our
Summer Festival Guide, click on the green page numbers. For the magazine’s own Table of
Contents, click here.
WholeNote MarketPlace, our newest advertising feature, showcases providers of education,
recording, health and other professional services.
For another view of the magazine you may click on the Pages tab at the left for a thumbnail
view of each individual page. When you click on the thumbnail that full page will open.
Selected advertisers or features have hot links to a Web site or email address, for faster access to
services or information. Look for a page, article or advertisement with a red border around it, or an
e-mail address with a red underline, and click this hot link.
Readers are reminded that concert venues, dates and times sometimes change from those shown
in our Listings or in advertisements. Please check with the concert presenters for up-to-date
information.
David Perlman, Editor
WHOLENOTE INDEX OF ADVERTISERS JUNE 1 - JULY 7, 2006
Click Red Page Numbers to go to a specific ad by one of our regular-issue advertisers.
Click on the Green Page Numbers to go to our Summer Festival advertisers.
Acrobat 40
Alicier Arts Chamber Music 33
Amadeus Choir 19
Analekta 54
Ars Musica 33
Associates of the TSO 31
ATMA Classique 7 17 21 22
Bay Bloor Radio 56
Brott Music Festival G5
CanClone Services 40
Cara Adams /Justin Welsh 33
CBC Records 47
Christ Church Deer Park Jazz Vespers 23
Collingwood Music festival G3
Cosmo Music 23
Dave Snider Music Centre 23
David Swan 32
Elena Ciorici 40
Eli and Friends / Latin Soulstice 23
Elora Festival G11
Etobicoke Centennial Choir 20
Festival de Lanaudière 3
Festival of the Sound 11
Festival Wind Orchestra 33
George Heinl 13
Grand River Baroque Festival 8
Harbourfront Ctr./Tor. Music Garden 29
Harknett Musical Services 24
Harlequin Singers 20
Healy Willan Singers 20
Heliconian Hall 40
High Park Choirs 19
I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble 31
InnerMusica 31
Janet Catherine Dea 32
Lockridge HiFi 13
Long & McQuade 38
Maestro Enterprises 40
Markham Theatre 5
Mikrokosmos 40
Montreal Baroque 8
Music for Young Children 39
Music in the Orchard, Toronto Culture 30
Music Mondays 28
Music on the Hill 28
Music Plus 13
Music Toronto 9
Musica Franca 49
Naxos 43
New Music Concerts 31
No Strings Theatre Productions 36
North 44º Ensemble 20
Ontario Guild of Handbell Ringers 22
Organ for Sale 41
Orpheus Choir 18
Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra 34
Ottawa Int'l. Chamber Music Festival 4
Pasquale Bros. 40
Peter Mahon 18
Phillip L. Davis, Luthier 17
RCM Community School 37
Remenyi House of Music 26
Robert Lowrey's Piano Experts 55
Sinfonia Toronto 15
Sound Post 17
SoundaXis G7-G10
SRI Canada 6
St. Rose of Lima Church 34
Stratford Summer Music G13
Tafelmusik 52
Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute 29
TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival G3
Toronto Children's Chorus 19
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir 18
Toronto Summer Chamber Music Festival 2
Tor. Summer Music Academy and Festival G6
Toronto Symphony Orchestra 53
True North Brass 30
Victoria Scholars 32
VocalPoint Chamber Choir 27
WholeNote Magazine 50 51
WholeNote MarketPlace 39 41
Women's Musical Club 16
Wychwood Park Productions 45
Vol 11 #9
www.thewholenote.com
free!
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“Music amid the cacophonous
din of a dense urbanity”
soundaXis invades
with music from
MaRS
Doctor Atomic
to assist at opera house launch
Wanderlust?
The Green Pages!
WholeNote’s annual
summer festival guide
Recently in town
Ida Kavafian
Marilyn Gilbert Artists’ Management
Presents The Second Annual
Toronto Summer Chamber Music Festival
July 4-7 2006
The Glenn Gould Studio
250 Front Street West
Toronto
416.205.5555
Tickets are $30 each, a series subscription is $80
For complete information visit www.mgam.com
All concerts begin at 8:00PM
Three Concerts Confirmed
1) July 4 - “Composers in Exile”
a.
b.
c.
d.
Georges Onslow double bass quintette - "The Hunting Accident"
Bela Bartok (clarinet, violin, piano) - "Contrasts"
Lukas Foss - "String Quartet Number 5"
Hans Eisler - "Suite for Violin, Flute, Clarinet, Viola and Cello"
2) July 5 - Recital: Richard Raymond & Michael Guttman
a. Solo piano - Reubke, Wagner and Liszt
b. Liszt Duo for Piano and Cello
c. Chopin Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello
3) July 7 - All Schubert Concert: (Octet, Quintet and Quartet)
w/Special appearance at close of concert by Pork Belly Futures
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Confirmed Artists
Arriaga String Quartet
Michael Guttman
Joel Quarrington
James Campbell
James McKay
Richard Raymond
Susan Hoeppner
Joel Quarrington
Louis-Phillipe Marsolais
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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WholeNote-June-v1
5/15/06
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HCRCD 117
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Volume 11, #9, June 1, 2006 – July 7, 2006
10
10
ATMAclassique
Opener: Art of the Urban Festival (II); June’s cover; Reader Poll
Feature interview: Gerald Finley Robert Tomas
DISCOVERIES (1): features
Editor’s Corner David Olds
12
Recently in Town: Ida Kavafian Pamela Margles
14
The International Label from Canada
BEAT BY BEAT (The Live Music Scene)
16
Quodlibet (the publisher’s podium) Allan Pulker
17
Early Music Frank Nakashima
18
Choral Scene Larry Beckwith
20
World View Karen Ages
21
Some Thing New Jason van Eyk
22
Toronto Hear and Now Keith Denning
22
News from the TMA Brian Blain
23
Jazz Notes Jim Galloway
24
Jazz Live Sophia Perlman
24
Band Stand Merlin Williams
26
On Opera Christopher Hoile
27
Music’s Children mJ Buell
SACD2 2331
CALENDAR (Live Musical Listings)
28
Concerts: Toronto & nearby
35
Concerts: Further afield
36
Opera, Music Theatre and Dance
37
Clubs with Jazz
HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!
...this disc caught me off guard. It's absolutely
marvelous, certainly the best-engineered
recording of the Third Symphony made in a
church, with orchestra and organ in the same
room, playing together in real time.
MUSICAL LIFE
38
Announcements, workshops, etcetera
DISCOVERIES (2): discs reviewed
42
Vocal
43
Classical and Beyond
45
Modern and Contemporary
46
Jazz and Improvised
48
Pot Pourri
51
Old Wine in New Bottles Bruce Surtees
52
Extended Play Richard Haskell
54
Discs of the Month
SACD2 2342
OTHER ELEMENTS
9
Contact Information and deadlines
27
Index of Advertisers
39, 41 WholeNote’s MarketPlace
41
Classified ads
It's great to see Bernard Labadie and his
Les Violons du Roy back with a new recording
of music that they do as well as or better than
anyone... If you love Bach's vocal music,
you must not miss this disc.
IN THIS ISSUE
opera house
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GREAT MUSIC
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AVAILABLE AT 333 YONGE STREET
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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Chris Hoile on the Opera House page 26
May’s child is ... 27
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Enjoy two days of wonderful Baroque
music, just one hour west of Toronto
GRAND RIVER
BAROQUE
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JUNE 16 & 17
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tickets 519-578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977
The Centre in the Square Box Office
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J UNE 1-J ULY 7 2006
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The Toronto Concert-Goer’s Guide
Volume 11 #9, June 1 - July 7, 2006
Copyright © 2006 WholeNote Media, Inc.
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(Jim Galloway, Sophia Perlman); Band (Merlin Williams); Opera (Phil Ehrensaft,
Christopher Hoile); TMA (Brian Blain); Musical Life (mJ Buell); Books (Pamela Margles)
Features (this issue): Pamela Margles, David Perlman, Robert Tomas
CD Reviewers (this issue): Alex Baran, Larry Beckwith, Seth Estrin, Daniel Foley,
Jim Galloway, John S. Gray, Richard Haskell, Tiina Kiik, Pamela Margles, Heidi
McKenzie, Gabrielle McLaughlin, Alison Melville, Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, Ted O’Reilly,
Cathy Riches Tom Sekowski, Bruce Surtees, Andrew Timar, Dianne Wells, Merlin
Williams
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DATES AND DEADLINES
Next issue is Volume 11 #10 covering July 1 - September 7, 2006
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FOR OPENERS ...
‘Doctor Atomic’
Gerald Finley
REFLECTIONS ON THE ART
OF THE URBAN FESTIVAL (PART II)
soundaXis
interviewed by Robert Tomas
It would be remiss to let pass
without comment that soundaXis
It is a rare privilege to witness history in the makis the first time WholeNote has
ing. Witnessing the birth of the nuclear age, would
been associated with an event as
be one example. I’d say that witnessing the birth of
a named “media sponsor”. A bit
Doctor Atomic - John Adams’ operatic masterpiece
of a slippery slope, we’ve always
on that subject - was another.
thought – why for one presenter
Adams is fearless in his musical exploraand not another?
tions: no subject is taboo, no historical moment too
P HOTO: YVONNE BAMBRICK
Well, WholeNote’s connection
fresh in the collective memory to be expressed
Man from MaRS:
with the Toronto Coalition of
through music. Doctor Atomic deals with one such
New Music Presenters goes back Composer, trombonist, Scott Goode in the doorway moment - the first nuclear test in Alamogordo, NM
of the MaRS complex on College just east of
a long way – to the time Jason
July 16, 1945. It changed everything: it created HiUniversity Ave. The complex is soundaXis HQ for
van Eyk talks about (in Some
roshima, Cold War, “Superpowers”, fallout shelThing New on page 21)when the the festival’s eleven days.
ters, Chernobyl, even the official reasons for the
city’s new music presenters were
current war in Iraq.
bracing themselves for the loss, after seven years, of the Massey
In the San Francisco Opera premiere production I saw last fall, Peter
Hall New Music Festival.
Sellars’ brilliantly frantic direction revolves around just one unmoving,
“Just list everything that’s happening anyway during that period and unmovable element: an early atomic bomb, hanging above a child’s cracall it a festival” was the brilliant advice I remember giving at the time, dle, casting a shadow.
and being chided for it by people whose love is the music itself, not the
One of the mysteries surrounding Doctor Atomic’s creation was
packaging of information about it. The chiders were right. Without a
the early departure from the project of Alice Goodman, the brilliant poetcuratorial focus, a particular spark, a festival is an unlit fire. Truth be
librettist who had worked on all John Adams’ operas to date. Sellars
told, that early incarnation of the Coalition would have had a hard time
took over the task, creating the libretto from disparate sources: poems of
coming up with a musical idea to agree on, let alone coming up with a
Baudelaire and John Donne, de-classified government documents, variplan to implement it. The thematic cohesiveness of this inaugural
ous books on the history of the Manhattan Project and even an excerpt
soundaXis shows how far they have come. Worth supporting, we say. from the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu “Song of God”. (I have to say, rich
Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001)
You couldn’t pick a better spark than Iannis Xenakis for soundaXis’
stated goal – exploration of the interaction and shared compositional
structures of music and architecture. Xenakis was equally versed in
both and revelled in their connection. An example: in the 1950s as
architectural assistant to Le Corbusier he designed a pavilion for the
1958 Brussels World Fair to house the première of Edgard Varèse’s
Poème Électronique – a work requiring 400 amplified speakers in a
series of rooms. True to Xenakis’ shuttle-loom, back-and-forth questing creativity, he based the design of the pavilion itself structurally on
one of his own musical masterworks, “Metastaseis”. (And “Metastaseis” itself was posited on laws of physics relating to the kinetic
properties of gases.) Back and forth, back and forth.
Visiting and revisiting
I’ll be doing a fair bit of back-and-forthing myself for the 11 days (and
hope you all will too). I’ll be shuttling back and forth to MaRS, of
course, especially to catch the high school work generated as part of the
educational lead-up to the festival. And the “Fanfare” project (starting
with “Fanfare @ Frum) gives a chance to revisit with Alain Trudel
back in town for the first time since a life-threatening illness earlier in
the year. I’ll also be at the first of Les Amis’ three concerts, July 4.
After all, I borrowed the cover’s “music in the cacophonous din”
phrase from Michael Pepa, artistic
director of Les Amis. And there’s
a composer on the program, Berislav Sipus, I’m very intererested to
meet. Among other things he’s the
artistic director of the Zagreb New
Music Festival, which three
year’s from now will host its
25th biennial festival. I wonder
what he’ll notice most.
David Perlman
PHOTOGRAPH OF GERALD FINLEY AS
DOCTOR ATOMIC:
TERRENCE MCCARTHY
PHOTOGRAPH OF AMPHITHEATRE
WITH MOON RISING:
FESTIVAL DE LANAUDIERE
and textured as this libretto is, it suffers from not having been assembled
by a poet of Ms. Goodman’s talent.)
If the true power of a momentous work of music lies in its ability to offer us catharsis regardless of the libretto, Doctor Atomic is such
a work. With only hints of Adams’ earlier fascination with minimalism,
it is a musical treasure trove of new ideas, putting the idiom on its ear
the way Pelleas et Melissande and The Rite of Spring did. Rite of
Spring’s premiere caused riots. Doctor Atomic’s very well should have!
Canadian-born Gerald Finley, in his SF Opera debut, brought
the house down with his bravura aria setting of John Donne’s Holy
Sonnet XIV. When the words “Batter my heart, three person’d God;
for, you as yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend….” come
out of the mouth of Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist seemingly untroubled by the deadly potential of “his” bomb, you can hear the goosebumps forming on the skin of the audience.
That moment stayed with me right through the winter. Then I
had the pleasure to speak by phone with Gerald Finley from his home in
London, England.
Robert Tomas: From a choir in Ottawa to leading roles on the world
stages: how long did it take to become an “overnight” success?
Gerald Finley: It’s a bizarre thing … because you toil away in obscurity
and suddenly you’re “it”. As you say, I started as a choirboy in Ottawa
and it was my dream to sing in a choir in New York or maybe even
London. So I received a comprehensive training. Learned how to read a
score well, learned music well. Then I got involved in the choral movement and came to England, still thinking of being a chorister, maybe a
choir conductor. In university I sang a new piece of music almost every
day, with short rehearsals and gradually started to do professional training out of the choir setting, and became a solo singer. Through scholarships and competitions, I continued on this path and then started appearing on stage, all the way to Doctor Atomic. To quote George London
(the great Canadian baritone): “Luck is being prepared for opportunity.”
I have had some lucky breaks but I think it is because I tried to be prepared for those opportunities.
RT: Your career path, and repertoire, follow an interesting trajectory though you handle the classics effortlessly (Mozart, Handel, Haydn),
increasingly we hear you in contemporary or indeed modern roles -
WWW.THEWHOLENOTE .COM
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CONTINUES PAGE 25
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
06
july 21 ~ augusπ 13, 2006
James Campbell, Artistic Director
FES∏IVAL
of πhe
SOU±D
This season’s Festival of the Sound is a celebration.We are
celebrating the anniversaries and birthdays of a variety of
composers, collaborations, musicians and even instruments!
Come Celebrate with Us!
Erica Goodman
; Gala Opening Concert featuring Anagnoson and Kinton
celebrating their 30th anniversary
; Strings Attached Harp Festival is a festival within
a festival, three days celebrating harps and the great musicians
who play, tune, move and watch over them with a mother’s love.
Hear the Celtic harp on the Island Queen, the romantic harp
at the Inn at Manitou and six harps on stage together.
James Ehnes
Russell Braun
Mary Lou Fallis
; Mozart Gala featuring James Ehnes playing two violin concertos,
baritone Russell Braun singing Mozart arias and James Campbell
playing the Adagio movement of the Clarinet concerto in A.
; Oh What a Night, a benefit for the Festival’s music in education
program, Music Scores, featuring many Festival favourites including
Mary Lou Fallis, the Festival Winds, Gene DiNovi and Dave Young
; Music From the Inside Out, a series of free workshops
and discussions for listeners eager to grow in their understanding
and appreciation of the music being performed. Hosts include
CBC’s Keith Horner
charles w. sπockey ce≠πre fo® πhe performi≠g arπs
parry sou≠d, o≠πario
Call the Festival of the Sound for∏ickets:
1-866-364-0061
Box 750, Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada p2a 2z1
tel: 705-746-2410 fax: 705-746-5639
e-mail: info@festivalofthesound.ca website: www.festivalofthesound.ca
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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11
EDITOR’S CORNER
EDITOR’S CORNER
Why is that I so often begin with an apology? In last month’s column I bade a warm welcome to our newest reviewer, Richard Haskell, only to find out later that space constraints at
the production level had resulted in our “Extended Play” section being cut. I am pleased to
announce that this has been rectified in the current issue, and in addition to his take on the
Parker clan that was so unceremoniously bumped last month, we also have Haskell’s look at
the latest release in the Hyperion series “The Romantic Piano Concerto” now incredibly up
to its 40th title.
Re-releases play a big part in this issue,
especially in the jazz section. Both Ted
O’Reilly and Jim Galloway focus on iconic
recording engineer Rudy van Gelder whose
work throughout the 50s and 60s had a profound impact on the way jazz was recorded
and whose legacy still affects the way we
listen to jazz. Ted looks at four titles from
Blue Note’s tribute “RVG Edition” line, and
Jim revisits four important van Gelder saxophone recordings that have re-appeared on
the Prestige label. And this month Bruce
Surtees devotes his “Old Wine in New Bottles” section to the latest additions to the
Living Stereo line which continues to make
some of the finest historical material available
in state of the art SACD hybrid technology.
Of course there is a wealth of newly
recorded material covered in these pages as
well, including new choral releases featuring
some of our finest local choirs. The Elmer
Iseler Singers are featured with the Canadian
Brass in “People of Faith” (see Merlin Williams’ review in the vocal section) and the
EIS are joined by the Amadeus Chamber
Singers and the Toronto Children’s Chorus
in a new collection of Harry Freedman’s
choral music “The Tokaido” (see Dianne
Wells’ review in “Discs of the Month”). See
also Alex Baran’s glowing review of “Hear
My Prayer”, the latest Naxos release from
the Choir of St. John’s Elora under Noel
Edison’s direction, with guest soloist Karina
Gauvin. Soprano Gauvin also shines (and
shimmers) in a new Naïve recording of
Vivaldi’s Tito Manlio as you can read in
Pamela Margles’ appreciation.
My own listening this month has
been focused mainly on a set of three CDs
that encompass some of the most important
solo instrumental writing of the 20th century:
Luciano Berio’s set of fourteen “Sequenzas”
(Naxos 8.557661/63). Berio, who died in
2003, began the set in 1958 with a work
written for flutist Severino Gazzelloni and
continued to add to the series up until the
year before his death. The last was a work
for Arditti Quartet cellist Rohan de Saram,
although this recording features another fine
cellist, Darrett Adkins. Incidentally, De Saram, who recently left the Arditti after 25
years, will perform Sequenza XIV next sea-
son for Toronto
audiences under the
auspices of New
Music Concerts.
Berio himself had a
strong connection
with New Music
Concerts as the
featured composer
on the first concert
of its series some 35 years ago. For weeks in
advance of that inaugural concert there were
cryptic newspaper ads that simply stated
“Berio is coming”. On that occasion Eugene
Watts, who has gone on to fame as the trombonist of the Canadian Brass, performed
Sequenza V. If we can be permitted to extend
our vision of Toronto to the GTA, Berio has
now “come” again with this important compact disc release. All of the performances
were recorded in Newmarket at St. John
Chrysostom Church by Bonnie Silver and
Norbert Kraft, and they feature a healthy mix
of local artists and other Canadians among
the international slate of distinguished performers: Nora Shulman (flute, I); Erica
Goodman (harp, II), Alain Trudel (trombone,
V); Steven Dann (viola, VI); Jasper Wood
(violin, VIII); Joaquin Valdepeñas (clarinet,
IXa); Guy Few (trumpet, X); Joseph Petric
(accordion, XIII); and Wallace Halladay
(soprano saxophone, #VIIb and alto saxophone, #IXb). No harm intended to the excellent American soprano Tony Arnold, but I
wish that Naxos had extended the Canadian
talent roster by including Barbara Hannigan
for Sequenza III – it’s a piece she has made
“her own” and this home-grown rising international star really deserves to be featured on
more recordings. [Next month’s issue will
include a review of her participation in the
recording of Louis Andriesen’s opera Writing
to Vermeer.] This Naxos set is an extremely
import addition to the discography. I especially enjoy having the opportunity to compare the
Wallace Halladay’s exceptional performances of the “alternate” saxophone versions of
the clarinet and oboe Sequenzas with the
consummate interpretations of the original
versions by Toronto’s own clarinet icon
Joaquin Valdepeñas and master oboist Matej
Sarc of Ljubljana. In the spirit of “what goes
12
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around comes around” I would mention that
Sarc’s performance was recorded during his
first visit to Toronto, with his woodwind
quintet Slowind, at the invitation of New
Music Concerts. And so the connections
abound.
Another disc of
mostly solo repertoire I have enjoyed
this month is entitled “To Be Sung on
the Water” featuring violinist
Michelle Makarski
(ECM New Series
ECM 1871). It provides an interesting pairing
of some of the less frequently performed
works of Italian baroque composer Giuseppe
Tartini (no “Devil’s Trill” here) and contemplative works written for Makarski by the
contemporary American Donald Crockett.
The title piece is the only one on the disc in
which Makarski’s violin is joined by another
instrument, a viola played by Ronald Copes.
This lyrical, if somewhat mournful, work
seems to grow ingeniously out of Tartini’s A
Major sonata in an inspired act of programming by Makarski. Crockett’s work evokes
the vision of a calm mist-covered lake at
dawn or dusk, and as the memory fades we
are drawn skillfully into the world of Tartini’s D minor sonata. The transition is so
gentle that it is hard to conceive that these
works were created two and a half centuries
apart, such is their timeless beauty. This
impression holds true as the disc progresses
to include Crockett’s somewhat more angular
mickey finn which in turn seamlessly meshes
into Tartini’s B minor sonata. This disc is
moving reminder that in some ways early
music and that of the present day have more
in common with each other than with the
music composed in the two centuries in between.
Thanks to the efforts of local entrepreneur
Drew Gill, founder of the distribution service
Gillmore Music, Canada has access to some
fine European labels including familiar ones
like Meloydia and Supraphon, and the less
well known Berlin Classics, Etcetera, Orfeo
and Avie Records. I have found a number of
interesting titles on this last mentioned label
this month, including violin music of Debussy, Enescu and Ravel performed by
Philippe Graffin (AV2059) and string quartets
by Haydn, Bacewicz and Dvorak with the
Szymanowski Quartet (AV2092), but
the one that really
drew my attention is
a wonderful new
recording of Shostakovich’s Cello Concert No. 2 and
Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto
featuring Lynn Harrell and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under the direction of
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Gerard Schwarz (AV2090). Both works have
been frequently recorded, including definitive
performances by Mstislav Rostropovich, the
dedicatee of the Shostakovich piece and collaborator with Prokofiev on the final version
of the Symphony-Concerto which the composer struggled over for nearly 20 years. So why
do we need yet another recording? Well partly because it is the centenary of Shostakovich’s birth this year (although you might not
have noticed amongst all the Mozart 250
celebrations), and partly because this renowned American cellist has some convincing things to say in his interpretations of these
important contributions to the 20th century
cello literature. Harrell has found a kindred
spirit in American conductor Gerard
Schwarz who has been at the helm of the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic since 2001.
This is a recording I am pleased to add to my
collection.
One final mention: As you will read elsewhere in this magazine, June sees Toronto
host soundaXis: music, architecture and
acoustics, a city-wide celebration involving
virtually all of Toronto’s new music present-
ers and, in all,
several dozen
organizations from
a number of disciplines. The festival
was initially conceived as a tribute
to iconic 20th century composer
Iannis Xenakis
whose interdisciplinary career, interrupted by
his untimely death in 2001, included major
contributions to the fields of mathematics,
architecture and music. Although the festival’s scope has broadened far beyond that
initial inspiration, Xenakis remains the unifying factor, at least in terms of music programming and most of the concerts will involve one or more of his challenging works.
Mode Records of New York has recently
introduced a line of CD and DVD recordings
devoted to Xenakis, and they provide a valuable resource and excellent introduction to the
work of this important musical theorist. I
have been immersing myself in the “Music
for Strings” (mode 152) featuring Ensemble
Resonanz (and members thereof), and the
DVD “Electronic Music I” (mode 148)
which includes the 45 minute tape composition La Légend d’Eer, an extended interview
with Xenakis by British musicologist Harry
Halbreich, and documentation (still photographs and the like) of the original site-specific performance of the Légend at “Diatope”, a unique architectural structure created
outside the Pompidou Centre in Paris in 1978
that has not survived. This invaluable footage
comprises the only existing material related
to one of Xenakis’ major achievements and,
like the Mode series itself, provides a detailed look into his creative genius.
We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. Catalogues, review copies of CDs
and comments should be sent to: The
WholeNote, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto
ON M5S 2R4. We also welcome your input
via our website, www.thewholenote.com.
David Olds
Editor, DISCoveries
discoveries@thewholenote.com
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LP & Used LP (Lots)
Up to 25% Off
All Genres
Some Conditions apply
Select Stereo Components are
On Sale as well.
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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13
recently in town
Ida
KAVAFIAN
She’s a big talent, a wonderful, wonderful
player, so I wanted to do this concert with
her. It’s been great to catch up with her
again.’
Kavafian has been teaching at
Curtis for the past nine years. ‘Curtis is the
most exclusive conservatory in the United
States - possibly in the world. Only Curtis
has merit-based admissions. To get in, the
only consideration is performing ability. No
one pays any tuition. That, of course, attracts the best players. So most of the kids
I teach are incredibly gifted and are going to
make a living in music.’
‘It’s a unique place. Students at
Curtis can write their own tickets, pretty
much. They can study with two private
teachers, and can have as much chamber
music coaching as they want.’ Kavafian
requires all her violin students to play a lot
of chamber music. ‘I also encourage them
to play viola. It gives them a great perspective on music and on their instrument.’
‘There’s a very nurturing feeling,
like a family. There are only 160 students,
with over 80 faculty. That proportion is
amazing. It’s probably harder for kids to
leave Curtis than another music school
where they are not as well taken care of. I
went to Juilliard, so I’m very aware of the
differences between schools like Juilliard
and Curtis.’
PHOTO CHRISTIAN STEINER
interviewed by Pam Margles
Ida Kavafian’s career encompasses a remarkable range of musical activities. Violinist with Tashi, the Beaux Arts Trio, and
Opus One, frequent guest with other ensembles, concerto soloist with major orchestras, a core member of the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center, long-time
artistic director of Music from Angel Fire,
as well as a teacher at the Curtis Institute in
Shumsky would ... only give you
Philadelphia, Kavafian has even toured and
recorded with jazz artists Chick Corea and
fingerings after you’d worked on
Wynton Marsalis. Equally accomplished on
them yourself. [When] I said
violin and viola, she has mastered the com“where
should I get the fingerings
plete repertoire for both instruments, from
and bowings?” he looked at me
baroque to contemporary, including many
works written for her. And to top it off,
like I was from Mars.
she breeds prize-winning champion dogs.
Kavafian has visited Toronto frequently throughout her
career, most recently last month with Amici. I spoke with her in her
‘When I was a student, I was a voracious concert-attender.
hotel room the day before the concert. ‘I’ve been very all-inclusive
by design,’ she said. ‘I really like doing everything. So I’ve tried to I heard some of the greatest musicians, like Richter, Oistrakh,
Horszowski, and Milstein. I worked with Nathan Milstein - it was
have a lot of variety.’
just tremendous. His classes and his concerts were such an inspiraBut chamber music has always been at the heart of her
tion. We would visit him at the Stanhope, across the park, and he
musical life. ‘It’s the most fulfilling part. With chamber music, you
learn from your colleagues, if you do it the right way. But the mon- would take us out for burgers, his favourite dinner.’
‘My main teacher was Oscar Shumsky. He had a strong
ey is not good in chamber music, and it’s very sporadic, so it’s very
Canadian connection – he was a close colleague of Glenn Gould and
difficult to make a living doing chamber music alone.’
he used to perform up here frequently. He was the biggest musical
‘If I hadn’t had my quartet Tashi at the beginning of my
career in the 1970s I might have pursued more solo opportunities. I influence in my life. When he demonstrated in a lesson it was the
best violin playing I’ve ever heard, on the level of Kreisler and
did things in a reverse order from how most people think it goes,
which is to study your solo stuff and then become a chamber musi- Heifetz. His recordings don’t show him in his best light. It was
his students who heard him play at his greatest. If there were more
cian.’
Tashi gained acclaim for its adventurous repertoire and the than even a few people in the room, he would lose a little someextraordinary musicianship of members Kavafian, clarinetist Richard thing. He certainly had many, many fans, people who appreciated
Stoltzman, cellist Fred Sherry and pianist Peter Serkin. ‘Peter has as his incredibly deep music making. But he just stood up there and
played, without the histrionics that go on with some performers.’
great a technique as any of today’s young sensations. But he does
‘With my first teacher at Juilliard, Ivan Galamian, there
not use his technique in the same way. He uses his technique to
had been an emphasis on violin playing. But with Shumsky, first
make music. And that’s always been my desire in my own music
you thought about the music, and then you thought about how the
making.’
violin playing could make that music live and breathe. And then you
Her six years during the 1990’s with pianist Menahem
stopped thinking about playing the violin and just thought about the
Pressler and cellist Peter Wiley in the legendary Beaux Arts Trio
music again. You made choices in bowings, fingerings and interwere ‘a wonderful experience, playing all that repertoire over and
pretation simply for musical reasons. In other words, the violin
over again in such an intense way. I love that repertoire. It’s almost like playing sonatas. You can have a more individual style than served the music. Before that a lot of what I had seen was quite the
other way around, where you use the music to show off your violin
in a string quartet. But it was too much touring.’
playing.’
After they had both left the Beaux Arts, Kavafian and
‘Of course this has influenced the way I teach. In class,
Wiley formed Opus One with Kavafian’s husband, violist Steve
Tenenbom, who also teaches at Curtis, and pianist Anne-Marie Mc- Shumsky would make you think for yourself and make decisions
Dermott. ‘We run Opus One by ourselves as a cooperative, without without being spoon-fed. He would only give you fingerings after
you’d worked on them yourself. At my first lesson with him, he
an agent. I actually do all the bookings.’
For Kavafian’s Toronto concert, Amici pianist Patricia Parr said, “Bring the Rondo Capriccioso next week”.’
‘I said “Great, but where should I get the fingerings and
and cellist David Hetherington were joined by the Toronto Symphobowings?” He looked at me like I was from Mars, and said, “Go
ny’s new principal violist, Teng Li. ‘I taught Teng Li at Curtis.
14
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
home, work on it yourself - and bring it back to me next week”.
When I got home I felt like I’d never played the violin before. With
Galamian, you played the same fingerings and bowings as everybody else. You usually slowed down in the same places and sped up
in the same places. My sister studied with him for seven years and
he was great for her, but I was looking for something else. He
could teach me the bow arm, but I wanted to talk about music.’
Kavafian’s sister, Ani Kavafian, is a violinist with an
equally successful career. They often play together in chamber music. They also give concerts together as a duo. ‘We always have a
good time. We don’t do too much of it – just enough to keep it
really fun.’
‘My parents, who were both musicians, were very smart
to purposely not have us play together when we were little. My
sister was also a very accomplished pianist, so she used to play
piano for me. But we never played violin together until we had both
established our careers. One day, Ani’s husband said, “Let’s celebrate your sisterhood and put on a concert”. So he produced our
first concert together at Carnegie Hall in 1983. Since then we play a
few concerts a year with our long-time pianist, Jonathan Feldman.’
Kavafian also performs frequently with Tenenbom, who is
responsible for the gorgeous bouquet of flowers, topped by two
balloons saying “Happy Anniversary’, which sits on the desk in
Kavafian’s hotel room. ‘We all do a lot of chamber music together,
especially at summer music festivals. We all play at my sister’s series in New Jersey, and we are all members of the Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center.’
‘Steve and I play works for two violas – we have a crazy
piece by George Benjamin called Viola Viola, and Viola Zombie by
Michael Daugherty. He is my composer-in-residence this summer at
Angel Fire. I’ve been playing his violin concerto Fire and Blood
quite a bit. I premiered it with the Detroit Symphony, who commissioned it. Michael based it on Diego Rivera’s murals at the Detroit
Institute of Art. Coincidentally, I grew up in Detroit, and was
always amazed by them.’
Kavafian was born in Istanbul, and moved to United States
when she was three. Both parents were Armenian. ‘I feel very
strongly Armenian. My first language was Armenian. I do like
playing Armenian composers like Komitas. My sister and I have
some arrangements for two violins. There is a certain soul in his
music that I really relate to. Krunk, which means ‘the crane’, is
very emotional for us. It’s about the flight of the Armenians from
their homeland. Every Armenian knows that piece. But I’m not that
fond of the Khachaturian concerto, so I don’t play it much.
Kavafian has had the same violin, made by Guadagnini in
1751, since she was a student. ‘A friend wanted me to go with him
to get his cello adjusted at Wurlitzer. He said, “Why don’t you
pretend you’re looking for an instrument?” So I asked Marianne
Wurlitzer, “Do you have a Stradivarius for sale?” She said, “No,
but we have three Guadagninis.” She put me in a room with the
three instruments. I loved the first one. Then I picked this up,’ she
says, pointing to the gorgeous instrument lying in its case on the
bed. ‘I drew the bow over the a string and couldn’t believe the personality that instrument had. It suited me so well, I just had to have
it. I never even tried the third.’
‘I showed it to Felix Galimir, who taught me chamber
music. Felix was a great musician in every way, with integrity,
fierceness and passion. He said, “This is great - you’ve got to get
it”. I’m very fortunate that I found it as early as I did. At the time
it seemed like an unbelievable amount of money, but buying it now
would be next to impossible.’
I notice the pictures of Stravinsky and the painter Frida
Kahlo, who was Rivera’s wife, inside the lid. ‘I usually have photos of my dogs everywhere in my violin case, but since I got this
new case I haven’t put my dog pictures back in.’
Kavafian, with her husband, has four purebred champion
Hungarian Vizslas which she breeds, trains and shows herself. It
2006-2007 Masterpiece Series featuring Sinfonia
Toronto with international soloists and conductors
Saturdays, 8 pm, Grace Church-on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd
BEETHOVEN’S WORLD Oct 7
Richard Raymond, Pianist
CHAN KA-NIN The Land Beautiful
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 2
SHOSTAKOVICH Quartet No. 1 orchestral version
BEETHOVEN Grosse Fugue
AUTUMN COLOURS Nov 18
Jesus Amigo, Conductor
Angela Park, Pianist, Etsuko Kimura, Violinist
CHAUSSON Concerto for Violin and Piano
HARRY FREEDMAN Fantasy and Allegro
MOZART Quintet K614 orchestral version
CHRISTMAS FANCIES Dec 9
Floortje Gerritsen, Violinist
Ballet Espressivo
CORELLI Christmas Concerto
MOZART Violin Concerto No. 2
ANDRE PREVOST Scherzo
TELEMANN Don Quixote Suite
GADE Children’s Christmas Eve
FEBRUARY HEATWAVE Feb 3
Giancarlo De Lorenzo, Conductor
Antonio di Cristofano, Pianist
HEALEY WILLAN Poem
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2
FUCHS Serenade
WINTER DREAMS March 10
Julian Milkis, Clarinetist
BRAHMS Clarinet Quintet
JEAN COULTHARD A Winter’s Tale
SHOSTAKOVICH Quartet No. 11 orchestral version
SPRING SONGS April 14
Rui Massena, Conductor
Mario Carbotta, Flutist
LISZT Angelus!
MICHAEL CONWAY BAKER Flute Concerto
MERCADANTE Flute Concerto
BEETHOVEN Serenade
SUNSHINE May 5
Aline Kutan, Soprano
BRIAN CHERNEY Illuminations
BRITTEN Les illuminations
DVORAK Sextet, orchestral version
Series: $169 adult, $149 senior, $79 student & 16-29
Buy at www.sinfoniatoronto.com or 416-499-0403
CONTINUES NEXT PAGE
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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15
was in Canada that she first
entered the world of show dogs.
‘I went up to the Scotia Festival
to perform. Chris Wilcox, who
runs the festival, had a Hungarian Vizsla, and I fell in love with
it. I thought that if I could ever
have a dog, as crazy as that
would be, I would want a dog
just like this one. So Chris found
a Vizsla puppy for me.’
‘I really enjoy this
aspect of my life a lot, although
it’s not always easy. You meet
people from all walks of life.
Opus One: (l to r) cellist Peter
Musicians tend to socialize withWiley, pianist Anne-Marie
in their own musical world, so
McDermott, violist Steven
it’s important to have a departure
Tenenbom and Ida Kavafian.
from music. We have accomplished a lot in such a short time – our big winner, Billie Holiday,
was Number One Vizsla in the U.S. in 2003.
‘There are a few weekends a year when there are dog
shows that my manager knows I will not miss. The dogs are family
members. The new puppy has gotten a lot of attention from my
husband, and he’s named her Popcorn. He isn’t as much into the
competitive aspect, so that’s mostly been my project. I’m more outgoing, I have all this energy, and I do have a competitive streak. When
I get in the ring I like to win.’
‘I want to win best of breed at the Westminster Kennel
Club in Madison Square Gardens in New York. This is the only goal
in my life I’ve still not been able to achieve. I’ve come so close so
many times, but never yet won the big prize with my dogs.’
Women’s Musical Club of Toronto
Music in the Afternoon
2006-2007 Season
Subscribe to
Five great concerts for $145
Thursday afternoons at 1.30 p.m.
Pre-concert lecture 12.15 p.m.
I Musici de Montréal, chamber orchestra
October 26, 2006
Susan Yi-Jia Hou, violin, Daniel Spiegal, piano
November 23, 2006
Jane Coop, piano
Shirin Eskandani, mezzo-soprano
February 8, 2007
OCTAGON: Andrew Dawes, violin; Patricia Shih,
violin; Rivka Golani, viola; Carole Sirois, cello;
Joel Quarrington, double bass; James Campbell,
clarinet; Kenneth MacDonald, French horn;
George Zukerman, bassoon
March 15, 2007
Marion Newman, mezzo-soprano
Gregory Oh, piano
April 26, 2007
Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building
For more information or to
subscribe, call 416-923-7052
www.wmct.on.ca wmct@wmct.on.ca
QUODLibet
by Allan Pulker
Good summer on the classical front
I ATTENDED the late April launch of
Professor Ezra Schabas’ new history of the Royal Conservatory of
Music. I found it well researched
but never dry, and reading it has been
a reminder that music has been an
important part of life in Toronto for
a very long time. Even the visionary pioneers of the RCM would be
astonished at today’s profusion of
musical activity, burgeoning not only
in Toronto but also across the province.
Urban
In most respects, it’s a good time
for festivals in Toronto. The diapason’s reverberation has barely faded
at the close of Organix 06, the
SoundaXis Festival of music,
acoustics and architecture rises to fill
all sorts of spaces, both traditional
and non-traditional, in the first half
of June... . I won’t recite a list of
the rest. They’re in our Green Pages a few pages on from here, and
overall reflect the burgeoning diversity I talked about earlier.
In the classical area, though, summer in the city has been very subdued over the past decade. This summer? Signs that the tide may have
turned: not one but two classical
music festivals right in town (and
with very similar names). The second annual Toronto Summer
Chamber Music Festival runs July
4-7 at Glenn Gould Studio; the first
Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival runs July 24 to
August 20 at the MacMillan Theatre. (I will write more about the latter next issue.)
The July 4-7 Toronto Summer
Chamber Music Festival, once again
under the artistic direction of Belgian violinist Michael Guttman,
serves up three refreshingly various
concerts at the Glenn Gould Studio.
The opening concert on July 4th,
“Composers in Exile”, will feature
a variety of ensembles performing
works by Georges Onslow, Béla
Bartók, Lukas Foss and Hans Eisler. July 5th, Montreal pianist, Richard Raymond with “friends”, will
perform works by Reubke, Wagner, Liszt and Chopin. July 7th will
be an “All Schubert Concert” for
octets, quintets and quartets followed
by the roots/blues band “Pork Belly
Futures.” Festival performers will
include The Arriaga String Quartet,
bassist Joel Quarrington, clarinetist
James Campbell, Richard Raymond,
16
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flautist Susan Hoeppner and French
horn player, Louis-Phillipe Marsolais.
Rural
The Grand River Baroque Festival, now under the artistic direction
of Kevin Mallon, takes place in Ayr,
south of Kitchener, on June 16 and
17, a couple of weeks earlier than
the past few years. Mallon’s Aradia
Ensemble will perform the two main
evening concerts of the Festival, the
first featuring the music of Handel,
the second, Mozart. A fascinating
part of the festival will be a picnic/
discussion with musicologist and cultural historian, Dr. Gordon Greene,
mulling questions such as whether
it is possible to hear music as one
would have in the 18th century.
Some Events in June
There’s a high level of music-making still going on at the end of the
season. On June 3 the Perimeter
Institute’s “Superstringquartets Series” presents the Shanghai String
Quartet, doing an interesting program that includes Samuel Barber’s
Quartet, opus 11 and Chinese songs
arranged by quartet member, violinist and composer, Yi-Wen Jiang.
On June 10 Innermusica brings
virtuoso finger-style guitarist, Leo
Kottke to the Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. Kottke’s last solo concert in
Toronto was in 1989 at the Bathurst
Street Theatre, and his last performance in Toronto was in 1993 at Roy
Thomson Hall with Paco Peña, Joe
Pass and Pepe Romero. InnerMusica’s Trevor Moat doesn’t present
concerts often enough; they are invariably memorable (Il Giardino Armonico; Daniel Taylor with James
Bowman;
violinist
Mark
O’Connor).
On June 15 the Tonal Virtuosi
Orchestra, a new, 13-member chamber orchestra directed by composer,
Joseph Lerner, makes its debut at
Glenn Gould Studio with a full program that includes Barber’s Adagio
for Strings from the aforementioned
Opus 11 quartet, as well as works
by local composers, Timothy Minthorn and Joseph Lerner.
On June 16 soprano, Janet Catherine Dea with guests, will give a
recital of music for a summer
evening at the Heliconian Hall, while
on June 17 at Leith Church near
Owen Sound, pianist, Peter Tiefenbach will join soprano, Lindsay Hunt
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
and baritone, Jesse Clark in a program of songs by Noel Coward
and Ivor Novello.
Orchestras with Special Guests
It is definitely the time of year for
the region’s symphony orchestras
to relax and celebrate the season’s
achievements. On June 17, tenor
Michael Burgess, who needs no
introduction, will headline with the
Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by guest conductor,
Rosemary Thomson. And on June
28 hockey and TV personality,
Don Cherry will high stick his way
through the theme of Hockey
Night in Canada as guest conductor with the Oshawa-Durham
Symphony Orchestra at its fundraising gala, “Jazz it Up.” We trust
that Cherry will then be sent off
so that Maestro Marco Parisotto,
the band’s usual leader, can take
over with his usual dash and drive,
in this final concert of the hardy
orchestra’s 49th season!
Honours
I was delighted to learn that Joseph
Petric, whom I interviewed in the
February issue, has been awarded
the 2005 Canadian Music Centre Friends of Canadian Music
Award, in recognition of his extensive commissioning of new
works, including eleven concerti,
and his long history of programming contemporary music. Bravo
Joseph!
Editor’s note: There’s Music in
These Walls: A History of the
Royal Conservatory of Music by
Ezra Shabas wil be reviewed in
WholeNote in July’s Summer
BookShelf
ATMAclassique
MICHEL CORRETTE
EARLY Music
by Frank Nakashima
Free is good ....
WHO WAS THE ONE who said, “The
best things in life are free”? Well, it
looks to me that, if you don’t already believe this statement, there will
soon be good reason to agree with
it.
There’s a first-come, first-served,
no tickets required, free summer
concert series with Tafelmusik,
which takes place as part of the
Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, an intensive 14-day residency
in baroque period performance at the
Faculty of Music, University of
Toronto.
The first event is a concert (June
9) of “Baroque Delights” featuring
Institute faculty members Ann
Monoyios, soprano, and Rufus
Müller, tenor, as well as the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, directed by Jeanne Lamon and Ivars Taurins – a selection
of the baroque “greatest hits” that
made Tafelmusik famous! Free!
Later, the faculty performs a program of baroque chamber music
(June 13), described as a “casual
noon-hour recital.” Well, hey, it’s
free! Then, in yet another (June 17),
the talented Institute participants
(comprised of advanced students,
pre-professional and also professional musicians) – essentially the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute
Orchestra and Choir – have a chance
to strut their stuff in a concert of
baroque orchestral and choral works
under the direction of Jeanne Lamon and Ivars Taurins. Again, free!
The “Grand Finale” (June 20)
combines the musical forces of stu-
dents and staff for an
event not to be missed.
Tickets are required for
this one – they are free,
but limited – and can be
picked up at the Tafelmusik box office. Check
www.tafelmusik.org for
PHOTO: SUSAN VAN GELDER
details.
“Marais 1656~1756 Mozart” is the theme of
this year’s Festival de Musique Montreal
Another free event (okay,
Baroque, June 22-25. The streets of Montreal
okay, it’s really payare old enough to have known both.
what-you-can admission)
is the Toronto Early Music Cen- auction fundraiser as part of the
tre’s monthly “Musically Speaking” evening too. Check out
presentation. This month (June 11), www.ifuriosi.com
it features the Windermere String
Quartet’s whose program will con- Once you’re nicely warmed up, head
sist of Mozart’s Quartet in F, K. on down to the Grand River Ba168, and Beethoven’s “Harp” Quar- roque Festival Friday June 16 for
tet in E-flat, Op. 74. Both compos- more smoke - Kevin Mallon’s Araers were deeply affected by Haydn. dia performing Handel’s Music for
You will hear the influence of Hay- the Royal Fireworks (yes, the Water
dn in the string quartet written by Music is also on the program). Satthe young 17-year-old Mozart as well urday June 17 the Festival is an allas Beethoven who was mourning the day affair:bassoonists Nadina Mackie
death of his friend Haydn. Violin- Jackson and Fraser Jackson, together
ists Rona Goldensher and Genev- with oboists James Mason and Kathy
iève Gilardeau, violist Anthony Ra- Halvorson in a program of wind mupoport, cellist Laura Jones. Visit their sic by Fasch, Boismortier, Corrette
website:
www.windermere. and Zelenka. That evening, a celebration (yet another) of Mozart’s
braveform.com
250th birthday, featuring the Aradia
And now that you know you’re go- Ensemble performing the 40th Syming to be saving pots of money on phony and Divertimento in D mathe free stuff, prepare to dip into your jor, and with soprano Carla Huhpockets to watch the smoke rise tanen singing Mozart opera arias and
when the I Furiosi Baroque En- the famous Exsultate Jubilate.
semble is joined by baritone Sean
Watson in a musical exploration of
Frank T. Nakashima
the darker side of the nobility in the
(franknak@interlog.com) is the
Baroque era and their evil smoking
President of the Toronto Early
habits (June 10). There’s a silent
Music Centre
PHILIP L. DAVIS
Luthier
Formerly with J.J. Schröder: Frankfurt,
West Germany
ACD2 2307
A Fine
Selection of
Small and
Full Sized
Instruments
and Bows
Gamba duo LES VOIX HUMAINES is augmented
with guest artists on baroque bassoon, guitar,
theorbo, harpsichord and double bass
for these sets of sonatas and concertos.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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ON M4J 1R6
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tel 416.971.6990 fax 416.597.9923
17
AUDITIONS!
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
and Artistic Director Noel Edison are looking for
experienced choral singers
Join one of Canada’s greatest choirs as it celebrates its 113th season
with Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Tallis’ Spem in alium
and Mendelssohn‘s Hymn of Praise
For more information, or to schedule an
audition in June, call 416-598-0422 ext 24
The Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir
CHORAL Scene
by Larry Beckwith
I have to admit to feeling a little
melancholy at the fact that
Toronto has no major choral
festivals happening this month,
especially since Lawrence
Cherney (and Nicholas
Goldschmidt before him) have
given us exciting June choral
events in past years. “An annual
June Toronto Choral Festival,
featuring international, national
and local choirs”: a goal to
pursue.
is holding auditions for choristers aged 15-23 years
Under the direction of Conductor Lynn Janes, next season’s
exciting plans include a three-subscription concert series,
a performance with the TMC and out- of-town concerts in
Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa
For more information, or to schedule an
audition in June, call 416-598-0422 ext 27
“TORONTO’S
FLAGSHIP
CHOIR.”
– TORONTO STAR
2006-2007
SEASON
AUDITIONS
Under the dynamic leadership of Artistic Director
Robert Cooper, Orpheus is moving forward!
I'm enjoying the choir enormously, and finding it a learning
experience. I like Bob's demanding, high standards.
Nancy Ackerman, choir member
In the short time since Robert Cooper became its
conductor, the Orpheus Choir of Toronto has reinvented
itself as one of the most innovative programmers of
large-scale choral works in the city .... a choir to take
another look at.
Larry Beckwith, WholeNote Magazine
Expand your repertoire with new music, enjoy familiar
pieces in a fresh light, and be challenged by the
unusual. JOIN THE ORPHEUS CHOIR, a vibrant
organization in its 42nd year, and experience a
rewarding time with a warm and welcoming group of
singers.
NOW AUDITIONING IN ALL VOICE PARTS.
PLEASE CALL 416 530-4428 FOR MORE
INFORMATION OR TO BOOK AN AUDITION
Coro San Marco
Founded in 1995 by artistic director Daniel Colla, the choir’s
50 members share a love for
folk, classical and operatic music, and participate in many concerts and festivals, averaging ten
concerts a year. They have performed at Roy Thomson Hall
and the Museum of Civilization
in Ottawa, founded the annual
multicultural choral festival Singing Together, and have performed with the Nova Amadeus
Orchestra from Rome. With the
Esprit Alliance Orchestra they
premiered Albinoni’s Magnificat
and G. Posocco’s Ave Maria.
Coro San Marco has two recordings: Va’ pensiero / Longing
Spirit, and songs of the Italian
migration: Addio Patria Mia /
Farewell My Homeland.
colladaniel@hotmail.com
www.corosanmarco.com
Renaissance Singers
The Renaissance Singers were
founded by Raymond S. J. Daniels in 1972. The choir’s early
reputation was based on its polished performances of renaissance a cappella literature. Today, the choir sings music from
the masters of all centuries. The
Renaissance Singers have also
commissioned and premiered the
works of leading Canadian composers. The choir has four recordings to its credit, and has
performed on four tours of Eng-
Orpheus Choir of Toronto: Expect something different
18
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I will return next month with an
overview of summer festival
activities across the province and
choral events in town.
canary corrections
“Not a sparrow falls” the Good
Book says but our May “Choral
Canary Pages” let a few slip.
WholeNote regrets the error.
Rehearsals and performances at Christ Church Deer Park
(Young Street north of St. Clair)
There are still many interesting
choir concerts in the city this
month, including more anniversary celebrations. I invite you to
peruse the listings and get out and
support our local warblers!
land. Under the musical direction
of Richard Cunningham, the choir
looks forward to its 33rd season.
kathybob@golden.net
Kathy Lees: 519-725-4397
Toronto Children’s Chorus
Jean Ashworth Bartle, C.M.,
O.Ont., Founder/Music Director
The Toronto Children’s Chorus,
now entering its 28th season, is
widely recognized as one of the
world’s leading children’s choirs,
offering unique musical, educational, and social experiences for
children between the ages of 7
and 15. The choir is comprised
of the Main Chorus and five
Training Choirs, and presents an
annual Subscription Series in
Toronto, in addition to guest
performances and international
tours. It has recorded more than
a dozen compact discs.
A West End Training Choir is
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
PETER MAHON
Sales Representative
416-322-8000
pmahon@trebnet.com
www.petermahon.com
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Toronto Children’s Chorus
High Park Choirs of Toronto
Come join us
Zimfira Poloz, Artistic Director
as we set off on another tour!
European Tour
Send-Off Concert
Tuesday, July 11, 2006, 7:30 p.m.
Toronto Centre for the Arts
5040 Yonge Street
TCC Tour Choir
Jean Ashworth Bartle, C.M., O.Ont
Founder/Music Director
Ruth Watson Henderson and
Christopher Dawes, accompanists,
with orchestra
Voices in Bloom
Our 19th Annual Season Finale Concert
Sunday, June 11th, 2006 3:00 pm
St. Anne's Anglican Church
270 Gladstone Avenue
$27 adult; $19 student/senior
Toronto Centre for the Arts Box Office
Or Ticketmaster: 416-872-1111
www.ticketmaster.ca
Information: 416-932-8666 ext. 231
Call for tickets: (416) 762-0657
$15 Adults, $10 Students/Seniors
SPRING AUDITIONS
(May & June 2006)
Now accepting new members for our
special 20th Anniversary Season:
Lydia Adams,
Conductor and Artistic Director
• Early Bird Choir (ages 5 - 7)
• Training Choir (ages 6 - 11)
• Children’s Choir (ages 9 - 13)
• Senior Choir (ages 12 through Uni)
Auditions 2006-2007
• Chamber Choir (selected from the
Senior Choir)
Experience the sheer joy of singing with one of
Canada's most revered choral conductors as part
of the Amadeus Choir, renowned for it excellence
and sheer beauty of sound
Your “Choir around the Corner”
in Toronto’s West End
Excellent vocal training with
Artistic Director Zimfira Poloz
We are seeking experienced choral singers with
good sight reading skills. Call Joan Andrews at
905-642-8706 to set up your June audition.
Added value with music theory rudiments
Next season, the Amadeus Choir will perform works
by Glick, Robinovitch, Willan, Copland, Durufle and
Vaughan Williams, along with Mozart's exquisite
Vesperae Solennes de Confessore.
Weekly rehearsals in the High Park area
Information: 416-446-0188 or amachoir@idirect.com
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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Warm, encouraging atmosphere
Our choristers love to sing!
Info and Auditions:
(416) 762-0657
info@highparkchoirs.org
www.highparkchoirs.org
19
WORLD View
Healey Willan Singers
will be holding auditions this August
by Karen Ages
Unparalleled performance, development & exposure
opportunity for the accomplished or high potential musicians
Mary Willan Mason, Honourary Patron
Ron Ka Ming Cheung, Artistic Director
Select openings for choristers 18 to 35
For audition appointment, contact Ron Cheung at 416-519-0528 or
email resume to healeywillansingers@yahoo.ca
Auditions
Lend your voice………
North 44° Ensemble is the fundraising body for the
Street Haven Women’s Choir. Members of the Street
Haven Women’s Choir are drawn from women who use
the services of Street Haven at the Crossroads.
North 44° performs at special engagements
throughout the year to raise funds to keep
the women of Street Haven singing.
Director: Geoffrey Butler
Accompanist: Jenny Crober
For an audition, please call 905 764-5140
Etobicoke Centennial Choir
REHEARSAL ACCOMPANIST and
SECTION LEAD REQUIRED
Etobicoke Centennial Choir seeks a Rehearsal Accompanist
and a baritone section lead for the upcoming concert season
commencing in September.
Rehearsals are Tuesday evenings from 7:30 p.m.–10:00 p.m. at
Islington United Church. (TTC access from Islington subway)
For further information or to arrange an audition,
please call Mary Thornton at 416-239-1131, Ext. 49
ETOBICOKE
CENTENNIAL CHOIR
CanAsia to the fore
I begin where I left off last month,
with the seventh annual Muhtadi
International Drumming Festival. The opening concert (and only
ticketed event) takes place June 2
at Harbourfront’s Brigantine
Room, and features drumming
master Amara Kante from the Ivory Coast as well as “Royal Sweet
Fingers” from Trinidad & Tobago. The rest of the festival, held
outdoors at Queen’s Park June 3
and 4, features a wide variety of
drumming ensembles representing
about twenty different cultural traditions, as well as food and crafts.
Visit www.muhtadidrumfest.com.
Sitar player Neeraj Prem, of
Toronto and Hamilton’s Raga
Music School, celebrates the release
of his new CD Colours of Meditation, with a concert June 3 at 297
Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market (see www.ragamusicschool.
com); and for those interested in
exploring the ancient Indian vocal
form known as Dhrupad, the Malhar Group presents Pandit Falguni
Mitra accompanied by Tapash K.
Das on pakhawaj, in a free lecture-demonstration, June 4 at McMaster University.
Also on June 4, the Toronto
Jewish Folk Choir holds its 80th
(!) annual spring concert at the
Leah Posluns Theatre. The oldest
continuing Jewish choral group in
Canada, they’ll be joined by Beyond the Pale klezmer band in the
premiere of In Amerike by Sid
Robinovitch, and four vocal soloists in various other works including a medley featuring highlights
from the choir’s eight decades.
This performance also marks the
30th anniversary of the choir’s pianist Lina Zemelman.
CanAsian Dance presents
Transformations: Expressions of
Gender Roles in Dance, June 8 to
10 at Harbourfront Centre. Curated by award-winning dancer/choreographer Peter Chin, this mixed
program showcases the ancient tradition of cross-gender performance
in Asian culture. Featured perfomers include Didik Nini Thowok
(Indonesia) in Berdandan, which
includes live music by Gamelan
Toronto and vocal soloists; Elly
(Indonesia) in Klana Topeng, a
masked dance in which she portrays a king in love; Master Song
Chang-Rong (China) in The Drag-
Yukio Waguri’s Engagement
on Flirts with the Phoenix, a sampling of Beijing opera; Yukio
Waguri (Japan) in Engagement, a
work in the 20th century art form
Butoh; and Hari Krishnan (Canada) in excerpts from Varnam,
from the tradition of Bharatanatyam
dance. There will also be daytime
public lecture-demonstrations and
workshops June 3,4,10 & 11. Visit
www.canasiandancefestival.com.
DanceWorks presents its final
show of the season, June 15 to
17, also at Harbourfront. Shimmer,
from the aboriginal arts group Red
Sky, is a collaboration between
artists from Canada and Australia,
with an all-male Aboriginal cast of
seven dancers. The original music
by John Gzowski will feature live
drummers, dijeridoo and vocalists.
Sister group to Gamelan Toronto, the community based Gamelan Gong Sabrang celebrates its
fifth season with a free concert
June 22 at the Indonesian consulate, featuring guest dancer Ita Dwi
Lestari. And last but not least,
Juno-nominated tabla player Ravi
Naimpally and his band Tasa have
a busy summer ahead of them. This
South Asian world-fusion ensemble will travel from Victoria to
Halifax and points in between, promoting their new CD Urban Turban, which features the talents of
Naimpally and other band members John Gzowski, Chris
Gartner, Ernie Tollar and Alan
Heatherington, all stellar musicians in their own right. They’ll
be performing at the Toronto Jazz
Festival on June 28, and the Montreal Jazz Festival on the 30th.
An arm’s length body of the City of Toronto
20
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
SOME THING New
by Jason van Eyk
THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL before then. By September 2000, the
new music community had already
begun to meet collectively, in an attempt to tackle the same market conditions that closed down NuMuFest.
By May 2001 the community officially formed the Toronto Coalition
of New Music Presenters. By 2004,
with increased confidence in its abilities, the coalition was beginning to
give voice to a shared desire to create a new music festival with a thematic focus. The idea surfaced early
on to focus on the work of recently
deceased, internationally renowned
composer Iannis Xenakis, whose
work reached across music to archiJ UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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tecture, mathematics and physics. The
idea was widely received as a platform rich with potential, and came
to be more broadly expressed as
“music, architecture and acoustics”,
in an effort to include contributions
from other disciplines. With a planned
launch for June 2006, the festival’s
inspiration was amazingly timely, given the hype surrounding Toronto’s
architectural “Cultural Renaissance”
and the launch of the city’s “TO Live
with Culture” campaign.
IN KEEPING WITH the Coalition’s collective nature, the festival has been
built up on a framework of collaboration. This structure has allowed for
the collection of a huge range of
events, all of which seek to take a
fresh look at the relationship between
sound, music, architecture and the
city.
In practical terms, Torontonians
and international visitors alike should
be prepared to unexpectedly encounter interesting musical events and installations in unpredictable places.
These could include a crescendo of
sound from the Stockholm Chamber Brass in the CBC’s Barbara
Frum Atrium, any number of spontaneous performances in high-traffic
spaces by the irreverent Toca Loca
ensemble, a series of human-triggered
sound installations on Ward’s Island,
or the mobile prelude to Continuum’s Touch Space concert, where
four inventive performers will choose
their individual paths and means of
travel to converge on a final central
performance space.
ONCE THE FESTIVAL’S THEME has
grabbed your interest, you can plan
ahead for a host of other ticketed
concerts. On June 2nd, local experimentalists Arraymusic will take
over Hart House’s Great Hall with
spatially intriguing works incorporating interactive and interdisciplinary
elements. Continuum’s Touch Space
concert on June 8th offers a spatially-conceived event for the University of Toronto’s new Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, featuring works that share a
fascination with space and architectural structure. The following
evening, Earshot! Concerts take
over the Fields Institute with a fully
improvised creation rooted in
Xenakis’ war-inspired writings, illuminating the impact this world
event had on the composer’s work,
Phoebe Tsang, pictured here at the soundaXis MaRS launch,
also performs June 3rd with Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber
Orchestra at Maureen Forrester Recital Hall and June 18th
with Alicier Arts Chamber Music at St. George’s on-the-Hill.
life and soul. On June 10th, CONTACT Contemporary Music teams
up with New Adventures in Sound
Art to bring a mixed acoustic / electronic concert that sonically references
a variety of important architectural
artifacts - from the walls of Jericho
to ancient temple sites of Malta - all
of which will meet within the walls
of the controversial “stilted tissue
box” known as the Ontario College
of Art and Design. For the festival’s closing night, NUMUS brings
together four talented string quartets
at OCAD to execute its Quadraphonics concert, including works for
displaced quartets, Steve Reich’s Triple Quartet, and a new work by Canadian composer Jim Harley.
If you’re planning on attending
more than one event, be sure to pick
up a festival passport, which will
entitle you to $5 off regular ticket
prices.
ON THE OTHER HAND, if you’re feeling a bit intimidated by the theme of
soundaXis, there’s no need to be.
The festival collaborators have also
compiled a series of panel discussions, conferences and exhibitions
that will help open dialogue and understanding. These include an “Exploring New Places for New Music” panel discussion at the ROM
on June 3rd, a Xenakis retrospective lecture on June 10th at the new
MaRS Centre, and a full academic
conference exploring all facets of
music, architecture and acoustics at
Ryerson University’s Department of
Architectural Science. A portion of
the Ryerson conference will include
an intriguing keynote speaker series
featuring top level thinkers in the
field, such as Canadian composer
and acoustic ecologist R. Murray
Schafer, Finnish architect Juhani
Pallaasma, German sound artist Ber-
hard Leitner, and acoustician Robert Essert (who is already known in
Toronto for his work on Roy Thomson Hall and, most recently, the new
Opera House.)
ULTIMATELY, soundaXis is a timely
and historic event for new music in
Toronto. It has evolved into a unique
opportunity to directly connect this
living art form to the built fabric of
the city, to other communities and
disciplines, but also to the lives of
Torontonians in unique and interesting ways. Full festival details are
available
online
at
www.soundaxis.ca, and in a special four page supplement at the centre
of this issue of Wholenote.
So venture out into unexplored spaces, find your place for some thing
new.
(Jason van Eyk can be reached at
416-961-6601 x. 207 or
jvaneyk@musiccentre.ca.)
ATMAclassique
Autour de la Harpe
ACD2 2356
THIS MONTH’S BIG EXCITEMENT is the
inaugural soundaXis festival of architecture, music and acoustics. And
big is indeed the word for it! soundaXis is a tightly packed, ten-day affair which will feature 30 events ranging from concerts to exhibitions,
conferences, screenings, installations
and educational workshops. Altogether, soundaXis proposes to transform Toronto into a playground of
sound and space exploration.
Although this new festival is very
fresh news for most Torontonians,
in many ways it has been long in
the making. For the new music community, soundaXis is a much-anticipated response to the five-year absence of a new music festival in
Toronto.
Back in 1996, the TSO launched
the Made in Canada festival, with
the goal of anchoring this city as a
hub of Canadian contemporary music. By 1998, Made in Canada had
evolved into the Massey Hall New
Music Festival, which not only featured the TSO but several other
prominent Toronto-based new music presenters. By 2001, slickly redubbed NuMuFest, the festival had
grown in size and scope, with many
more participating ensembles and
larger audiences for new music overall.
Over seven years, this festival
evolved into a success story for the
new music community, providing an
much-needed environment for shared
exposure and interaction. But then,
faced with significant other challenges
and difficult “market conditions”, the
TSO had to abandon its flagship role.
On November 24th, 2001, after the
final concert, NuMuFest fell silent.
PHOTO: YVONNE B AMBRICK
soundaXis - a timely coming-of-age
Jennifer Swartz, principal harp of the OSM,
and six of her OSM colleagues perform as
the Montreal Chamber Players in a program
of French chamber works with harp.
21
torontohearandnow roundup
NEWS FROM THE
TORONTO MUSICIANS’ ASSOCIATION
NEWS FROM THE TORONTO COALITION OF NEW MUSIC PRESENTERS
by Keith Denning
Of course, there is one major event in Toronto this month that simply
must be mentioned. This is the soundaXis festival which runs in
many locations across the city from June 1 to 11 and involves almost
every member of the coalition, including Soundstreams Canada, Esprit
Orchestra, Arraymusic, the Music Gallery, Les AMIS, Talisker
Players, Earshot Concerts, New Music Concerts, CONTACT,
Continuum and New Adventures in Sound Art.
SoundaXis is the first major joint project of the Toronto
Coalition of New Music Presenters, and the first community-wide
celebration of the art of new music since 2001’s successful
NuMuFest. SoundaXis has brought together the new music community, several universities, architectural firms and faculties, for a
comprehensive series of concerts, lectures, seminars, and more
inspired by the union of music and architecture in the person of Iannis
Xenakis.
The soundaXis festival is, deservedly, getting much coverage
and promotion elsewhere in WholeNote, as well as in other media. Of
course, you should see as much of it as you can! Visit
www.soundaxis.ca for full details of the festival, or read Jason van
Eyk’s “Some Thing New” column in this issue for a fuller discussion
of the festival. SoundaXis is not the only game in town this month,
however.
Here is a short roundup of other events:
On Sunday, June 4, the Penthelia Singers present a matinee concert
called The Four Elements, which features a world premiere by David
Stone and also includes repertoire by R. Murray Schafer. The concert
starts at 2:00 at the Glenn Gould Studio.
On June 20th at 8:00, CONTACT Contemporary Music and
Amnesty International join forces to present Mary, Me. This concert
features music by Amnon Wolman, Michael Gfroerer, Eve Beglarian
and more, and takes place at the Glenn Gould Studio.
On Friday June 23rd at 9:00 and Saturday the 24th at 9:00, a
relatively new group, the Association of Improvising Musicians,
Toronto (AIMToronto) perform two concerts featuring bassist Wilbert
de Joode at the Arraymusic Studio, 60 Atlantic Avenue. The Friday
show features Paul Dutton, Michel Delage, and one of my favourite
experimental guitarists, Michael Keith. The following evening features
Ronda Rindone’s Quorum, Dan Pencer Quartet, Ken Aldcroft, Rod
Campbell, and more, again interacting with de Joode.
And on an entirely personal note: The Ugly Bug Band begins its
matinee residency at the Tranzac Club (292 Brunswick, just south of
Bloor) the last Sunday of May (the 28th) from 4 to 6. We’ll be
playing the last Sunday of every month for the foreseeable future!
Visit www.uglybugband.com for more.
ATMAclassique
Music of the Mountains
THE ONTARIO GUILD OF
ENGLISH HANDBELL
RINGERS
by Brian Blain
Instrument Bank: The TMA Music Education Committee continues to receive instruments for the Instrument bank, for which we
are most grateful. We have three violins, ¼, half size and full size
looking for someone to play them, and two trumpets available.
We have also been offered a limited number of upright pianos and
guitars through our partnership with Second Line Music and our
Music To My Ears project for ‘at risk’ youth. The pianos are available for only the cost of moving at $150 each. There may be funding available for that too. If your school, community centre, or even
music studio could use a piano on loan, please be in touch with
Faiza Kanji at faiza@secondlinemusic. ca. We are most grateful to
Faiza and her committee for this wonderful opportunity.
We have requests for a cello and a clarinet, and drum hardware
for the Mississauga Youth Symphony. If you have or are aware of
instruments which could be used by our program, we accept donations or loans, and will help appraise and refurbish all instruments.
Please contact Corkie Davis for information at
corkie.davis@sympatico.ca.
Music Education: The ‘basics of rhythm’ program, called ‘Rhythmody’ developed by member musician/ educators Jane Fair, Brian
Katz, and Alan Heatherington continues to be offered to schools in
the GTA. This program, aimed at the grade 6 to 8 age group, is a
fun and lively way to gain a better understanding of rhythm. Our
committee found that many students could use more time in this area,
and our program is intended to help the students and teacher find fun
ways to practice rhythm skills as a warm up or focus for a music
session. We will be developing a program addressing ‘vocal basics’
for the same age group shortly, and hope to get that into schools
looking for some fresh ideas and new inspiration in this area. If
your school is interested in the program, or for after school programs, please be in touch with Jane Fair at janefair@sympatico.ca.
We will gladly send out a description of the program and follow up
any inquiry. Second Line Music is again offering funding for these
programs to schools and community centers, so please be in touch to
arrange for a fun way to wrap up the musical school year!
Memorabilia: The Toronto Musicians’ Association has a lot of old
memorabilia and some interested members have been going through
this treasure trove to begin the long process of cataloguing and archiving. If you have any material of interest from the early days of
the Toronto music scene, please contact the office so that we can
begin gathering a list of resources.
ATMAclassique
LE ZODIAQUE
LA NEF takes us on a journey through
Thrace and Epirus via traditional music from
these mountainous regions of Greece.
Please contact:
Rochelle Mulholland,
President
302 Collier St,
Barrie, ON L4M 5L5
tel: 705 721 4632
rochmul@rogers.com
ACD2 2381
ACD2 2390
has sets of handbells
and/or chimes to loan
to groups interested in
forming a handbell choir.
STÉPHANE LEMELIN presents the World
Premier Recording of this impressionistic
work by Georges Migot (1891-1976).
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Ooops: The photo of Don
Thomson that accompanied last
month’s column should have
been credited to Don Vickery.
We apologize for that omission.
22
We’d like to hear from you:
The Toronto Musicians’ Association invites WholeNote readers
to give us your feedback on this
column. If you have any suggestions for news items relating to
members of the Toronto Musicians’ Association, please forward them to Brian@Blain.com.
Please include the word
“Wholenote” in the subject line.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Jazz Notes
service • expertise • commitment
by Jim Galloway
The June Bug
them all - What is the
The festival season gets
definition of a geninto full swing this
tleman? Somebody
month with events
who knows how to
across Canada. It’s an
play the accordion,
opportunity to see some
but doesn’t. What’s
of the biggest names in
the difference bejazz, but it is also a time
tween an accordion
when you can discover
and a trampoline?
some lesser known artYou take your shoes
ists who might not othoff before you jump
erwise be heard.
up and down on a
A case in point with
Richard Galliano
trampoline. And on
the Toronto festival is
the appearance of tenor saxophonist and on they go.
Well, forget all about them when
George Coleman. He is one of the
great tenor players, but largely over- you speak of Galliano. As a child,
looked by the trendsetters and the he began adapting his skills on the
industry at large. That he is a better accordion to jazz, inspired by Miles
player than some who have gone on Davis and the hard bop of Max
to renown is without question. The Roach and Clifford Brown. He has
music has more than its share of worked with Chet Baker, Ron Cartunsung heroes. Not that he is a er, Jan Garbarek, Michel Petrucciani,
stranger here in Toronto. He played Toots Thielemans and Joe Zawinul
Bourbon Street in the early days of to mention a few, and in Toronto he
that Queen Street West club run by will be accompanied by George
Doug Cole for a number of years. Mraz and Al Foster. It will be one
He has also appeared in the festival of the gems of this year’s event.
Other European representation inand has a solid base of devotees in
this city, but real international rec- cludes groups from The Netherlands,
Norway and Sweden and even a
ognition has eluded him.
However, let’s not overlook the group from Moscow featuring Rusfact that he preceded Wayne Shorter sia’s leading jazzer, tenor sax playin the Miles Davis Quintet. It is his er Igor Butman. The music is abreast
tenor you hear on the classic record- of the times, so, for example, don’t
ings of Seven Steps To Heaven and expect any banjos, but the musicians
My Funny Valentine. And on Her- will bring you some of the best conbie Hancock’s quintessential album temporary European jazz.
So, by all means enjoy your faMaiden Voyage who is the wonderful tenor player? George Coleman. vourites, but give some of the names
But fame eluded him. Call it what you are not so familiar with a try.
And no matter what, get out and
you will - the luck of the draw, the
roll of the dice, but George was not hear some live jazz.
smiled on by Lady Luck. He even
considered retiring two or three years
ago. Fortunately he had to rethink
that one and he is still out there and
playing as well as ever. When he
plays he takes no prisoners, but he
does captivate his audiences.
Another interesting aspect of the
festival scene is the Euro-Jazz component. A lot of very creative jazz
comes out of Europe and again, the
festival circuit provides one of the
few opportunities to hear it live. In
Toronto this year one of the highlights will be the appearance of Richard Galliano. He is French, of Italian ancestry and considered by many
to be the world’s greatest exponent
of the accordion. Yes, that’s right,
the accordion! There are probably
as many accordion jokes as there are
about the banjo - in fact they are
almost interchangeable. You’ve heard
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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23
JAZZ LIVE
BAND Stand
by Merlin Williams
by Sophia Perlman
This month, Toronto gears up for one of its biggest jazz events of the
year – the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival, which runs from
June 23-July 2nd. In addition to high profile performers including
McCoy Tyner, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Etta James, and Christian
McBride, a full roster of local and out of town musicians will appear on
more than seven special stages, as well as in numerous clubs across the
city. For more information, visit their website at www.torontojazz.com
To celebrate the festival, The
Rex will be holding a late
night jam series – beginning
at 1 am and continuing till 5
for the duration of the festival.. Also, the Red Guitar
will host a special jazz jam
session on June 30th.
Of course, the great jazz
doesn’t just start with the
festival. Other great events
worth seeing this month
DK Ibomeka
include a CD Release from
jazz vocalist DK Ibomeka (June 14, Hugh’s Room), The Sun Ra
Arkestra (June 8-10, Lula Lounge), Kenny Kirkwood’s month-long
guest curator series at The Red Guitar, and a special performance by
the Peter Appleyard Quintet (Montreal Bistro, June 15-17.) And
check our jazz club listings on pages 37-38 for more great events in
the clubs all month long!
During the year, we at the WholeNote do our best to offer as
comprehensive a listing of jazz clubs as we can. During festival season,
however, other clubs come on
board who are not always
included. Be sure to check out
great live music in some of these
special venues.
ATMAclassique
ACD2 2307
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Silver Dollar Room
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Broken families
Why does it seem there are so many
people who can’t tell an oboe from
a clarinet these days? Or worse,
get the oboe and bassoon mixed
up? It’s hardly surprising then that
very few people know the extended family trees of wind and brass
instruments.
Yes, some families are represented fairly well in the modern band.
(At least at first glance.) The brass
instruments, for example, from
trumpet down to tuba sound sort
of like a unified choir of instruments. Well, yes. But only sort
of. The trumpet has a cylindrical
bore, but the lower valved brass,
like the euphonium and tuba are
conical. The cornet and flugelhorn
are truer relatives to the tuba than
the trumpet is. There are bass trumpets. The trombone has soprano,
alto, bass and contrabass members,
but most of the time we only see
the tenor of the family.
So, while the amalgam of instruments in the modern band functions pretty well, it does miss some
of the subtle colour possibilities
found in older arrangements. Many
older charts call for trumpets, cornets and flugelhorns and not as doubles – they’re played by dedicated
players.
The woodwind section is even
worse off in some ways. Rarely
do we see the English Horn in the
band, and you’ll certainly not see
the oboe d’amore and bass oboe
in a band. A bassoon in a band
these days is a rarity, let alone a
contrabassoon. The flute and piccolo are easy, but what of the alto
flute and bass flute? The saxes of
the modern band are truncated too.
Yes, there’s the alto, tenor and
baritone in the middle of the band,
but where are the soprano and bass
members of the family?
The one section that does get
reasonable representation for many
of its family members is the clarinet section. The Bb soprano clarinet is front and centre, as the perpetual violin section of the band.
You’ll frequently see the bass clarinet as well, and often an Eb, maybe an alto if you’re fortunate. Once
in a while, if a band is particularly
lucky, you’ll also see and hear (and
feel!) the mighty contrabass clarinet. Look for something metallic,
that resembles a do-it-yourself
plumbing experiment gone horribly wrong.
24
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Zoltan Kalman
Why the orchestration lesson?
Well, one of the concerts I’d like
to highlight for you this month is
the Upper Canada Clarinet
Choir at St. Paul’s Anglican
Church in Hamilton on Sunday,
June 4th at 3pm. The concert features guest soloist Zoltan Kalman
in a rare performance of Steve Reich’s “New York Counterpoint”
for clarinet solo and clarinet choir.
The UCCC will also be performing music by Tchaikovsky, Jacob
and Smallman. The blend of a clarinet choir is a gorgeous thing, and
I urge you to take in this concert.
The City of Brampton Concert Band is playing twice in Gage
Park in Brampton this month (the
1st and the 29th) in preparation for
their Italy/Austria trip in July. The
band is sure to be in top form as
they ready their competition program.
Also kicking off their summer
park concert schedule is the Etobicoke Community Concert
Band on June 21st at the Applewood Homestead on the West Mall
in Etobicoke. The series continues on July 5th and 26th. All concerts run from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
under the vital baton of ECCB
Music Director, John Edward Liddle.
Woodwind doubler Merlin Williams
is an Artist/Clinician for Jupiter
Music Canada and Sales Manager for Gary Armstrong Woodwinds. If you would like an upcoming band event to be featured
in the Bandstand column, feel free
to contact Merlin by e-mail,
merlinwilliams@sympatico.ca or
phone 416-803-0275.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Finley to sing at
opera house launch
them - I love the challenge too much. Let
the marketers worry about the way I am
perceived.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
RT: Did you realize before the performance, just by reading the score that the
setting of John Donne’s sonnet is the opera’s transformative moment?
Janacek, Britten, but also Adams
and Turnage - Do you consider
yourself a “singer of modern vocal
music” or a “singer who just happens to record a lot of modern
music lately”?
GF: When I first set my eyes on the piece,
I knew it was an affecting piece, but it
wasn’t until the first piano “run-through”
when I realized just how much so. I sang
it through and suddenly everybody was
very quiet, as if punched in the stomach.
But I try not to think about it too much,
that would put too much pressure on every
performance. I just sing it the best I can
and maybe reflect on it in time.
GF: I guess I am a little bit on a
“new music” quest, but it’s only because I always wanted to take on
PHOTO: TERRENCE M CCARTHY
challenging projects. The creative
One
unmoving,
unmovable
element:
an early atomic
process and the idea of working with
bomb: “I did not have to try to come up with an interpretacreative people are irresistible to me.
tion of Oppenheimer’s feelings – the music did it for me.”
The new works usually generate a lot
RT: Wasn’t it difficult to deal with the
of excitement, a lot of “buzz” and
raw, disparate texts, from Baudelaire to
they have been very good to me, as
Donne to transcripts of letters and scientific papers? The libretto was
most of them ended up as successes. Maybe it’s intuition on my part,
assembled from raw sources, without the benefit of the pen of Alice
when I choose successful projects – but maybe it’s simply my ability to
Goodman.
learn new music swiftly. To create a new role, you need to have the
GF: Yes and no. There was a lot of discussion about the effectiveness
foundation of tonality, the “classic” preparation – I think I have just
enough training to handle that. Still, so far I have stayed away from the of “raw text”, as Peter Sellars (director) assembled the direct sources,
bel canto repertoire, concentrating instead on projects where I can share that this method prevented Adams from writing his best music. I disagree. I think it allowed him to write music with a lot of “air” in it, to
in the music making, as in the new music projects.
permit more space for the denser texts, such as the poetry of Muriel
RT: At times we forget that all music was once “new” music and MoRukeyser. It also allowed him to compose across and against musical
zart himself would work with the singers to develop a role.
genres. The music in Doctor Atomic ranges from the almost technoGF: Exactly, and these days when I sing Don Giovanni, I try to put on rhythms of the first act, through the Debussy-esque quality of the
a Mozart opera as if it were new, to recapture that “opening night ener- Baudelaire parts to the pseudo-baroque in the setting of the Donne songy”. There are a myriad of conductors and coaches who help us discov- net. And that approach served my character very well. I did not have to
try to come up with an interpretation of Oppenheimer’s feelings – the
er the essence of the singing phrase or who help to answer why the
music did it for me.
composer wrote a phrase this way. Working with John Adams was a
very comfortable process. We had many conversations and exchanges of
RT: Are there roles you still covet and would jump at an opportunity to
documents and recorded Doctor Atomic four months before the preperform? Conversely, is there any role that you will never again sing?
miere. Adams came to New York when I was singing Don Giovanni
there, a full six months before San Francisco. He came to a performance GF: I never say no, never say never again, but as my voice evolves,
there will come the time when I will no longer sing certain roles. So,
and said “Oh dear, I think I scored it too high, it’s quite a bit higher
some of the Britten roles, Guglielmo and others may get replaced by
than Don Giovanni.” I just laughed and told him that Don Giovanni
Death in Venice, heavier Strauss - I can’t sing Don Giovanni forever.
was one-third into my range. We had a very good collaboration.
Maybe it’s time for Leporello? I’m in an interesting period in my career
RT: Speaking of Adams and the role of Robert Oppenheimer in Doctor
and keen to explore some new opportunities. So, in the next 3-4 years,
Atomic: for me, just as for most of those who attended - you are OpBilly Budd may materialize, maybe even Wozzeck (but that may be prepenheimer, just as surely as James Maddalena is Richard Nixon (in
mature), Wolfram and other Wagnerian roles…. There is a lot of Handel
Nixon in China). What are the challenges of singing a brand new role,
that I have not done yet. I also hope to sing one day more lyrical, bel
for which there is no reference material?
canto roles – so maybe Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, maybe Herode in
GF: The first performance is a touchstone – there is so much new ener- Massenet’s Herodiade, but then again maybe Sweeney Todd and Sound
gy being released. The revivals become interesting, because that’s where of Music are in the cards for me. I never say never….
the growth of the piece happens. Also, as performers mature, they can
RT: You will be in Toronto in June for the inauguration of the opera
settle into a more dynamic, powerful music-making from the word go.
house. Does it mean we may hope for more Canadian appearances?
It’s like climbing a mountain (and it is a huge mountain); only on the
second and following climbs do you have a chance to check the scenery, GF: It’s a delicate topic. I have been doing this scheduling dance with
the COC since the early 1990s. I have a career and family in the UK, so
take another, new look at the piece.
it is important for me to plan well in advance. The European and AmerRT: Can we hope for a recording of Doctor Atomic soon?
ican opera houses are very good about that. The COC seems to be
GF: John Adams still feels it is a rough diamond, it needs adjustments, slightly behind in their plans, so when they are ready to sign me on, I
already have other commitments. But I do everything in my power to
further polishing and refining – so it may be a while. He wants the
appear in Canada. For the inauguration I am flying from Vienna, where
piece to be more accessible and have more impact at the same time.
I’ll be in rehearsals for Don Giovanni and have to return that very
RT: Is there a real risk of being overly identified with a role?
evening, to make it for the performance! I am appearing in Ottawa in
September ‘06, singing Mozart arias with the wonderful National Arts
GF: I really don’t think so. I mean I hope I will be remembered not
only as Robert Oppenheimer, but also as Harry Heegan at English Na- Centre Orchestra. Happily, soon after I’ll be presenting recitals in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in March ‘07, singing some favourite reptional Opera (in The Silver Tassie by M.A. Turnage), Don Giovanni
ertoire of Schumann and English language song.
and Onegin. I am thrilled and honoured to be the creator of any new
role, just as Benucci was the first Figaro and Guglielmo. That a comRT: We look forward to hearing you on June 14 and wish you all the
poser relinquishes his ideas to the performer is a huge act of generosity;
best in your career. Thank you.
to be the first is a risky, but ultimately rewarding experience. In the end,
GF: A pleasure.
I will not shy away from roles for fear of being overly identified with
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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25
On OPERA
by Christopher Hoile
A house for all seasons
The dream come true
It seems impossible to believe, but
it’s true. On Sunday, June 11,
Toronto’s new opera house will
open. On that day the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing
Arts, the first purpose-built opera
house in Canada will have its official ribbon-cutting. The COC has
arranged a series of open houses
and a host of celebratory events.
The ribbon-cutting will symbolically bring to an end the 30 plus
years the COC has struggled to
have its own opera house.
From its beginnings in 1950 the
Canadian Opera Company performed at the Royal Alexandra
Theatre, despite a pit accommodating at most 30 players. The company remained there until 1961
when it moved to the then new
O’Keefe Centre (now the Hummingbird Centre).
The O’Keefe, of course, was
built as a touring venue not an opera
house. There is no side stage or
back stage for multiple sets to allow works to run smoothly in repertory. The pit holding at most 76
musicians has meant Wagner and
Richard Strauss cannot be performed with full orchestra. The
fan-shaped auditorium with 3,155
seats on two levels was designed
for size not intimacy or acoustics.
The worst artistic minus is that
from 1961 on amplification has had
to be used so singers’ and actors’
voices could fill the hall.
The idea that the COC should
have its own house surfaced in the
1970s. The Odeon Carlton (now
demolished), the Pantages (now the
Canon) and the Elgin (where the
company staged various productions in 1991-94) were all considered but all lacked sufficient backstage space and a large enough pit.
Many will recall the period in the
1980s when the COC held a design competition for a ballet/house
and had land designated for the
building at Bay and Wellesley.
Moshe Safdie won the competition
and unveiled a spectacular model
in 1989 scheduled to open in 1994.
The Liberal government, however, gave priority to building the
SkyDome. In 1990 the newly elected NDP government cancelled the
government’s financial commitment and in 1992 its offer of the
land. (It did not go unnoticed that
the $263 million the Ontario government lost in sale of the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in
1994 could have paid for the opera house.
Such disappointments in the past
make the physical presence of the
building at Queen and University
and its imminent opening seem all
the more unreal. The Four Seasons
Centre will not have the two side
stages and the two back stages of
the Safdie design, but will have one
of each to allow three shows to
run in repertory. Its pit will hold
canary corrections, continued from p.18
concerts a year. Membership
requires an elemental audition,
and an ear for, and a love of
choral music. Repertoire
includes: opera choruses, folk
songs, show tunes, spirituals,
TORONTO WELSH
and traditional Welsh music.
MALE VOICE CHOIR
Practices are held Wednesdays
The choir was founded in 1995
7:30-10pm, September to June
to kindle the tradition of four-part at Dewi Sant Welsh United
Welsh male voice singing. Under Church, at Yonge/Lawrence.
the leadership director David
president@twmvc.com
Low, associate director Lenard
416-410-2254
Whiting, and accompanist
www.twmvc.com
Kathryn Tremills, the choir has
grown to an ensemble of 60 men The Choral Canary Pages is
available year-round at
from many ethnic backgrounds,
performing approximately ten
Phone 416-323-2232
offered for children in Grades 36. For more information, call
416-932-8666, ext. 231.
info@torontochildrenschorus.com
www.torontochildrenschorus.com
26
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
80 musicians in the open but can
expand under the stage to accommodate up to 105. The auditorium will hold only 2000 on five
levels in the time-honoured horseshoe format of the great opera
houses of Europe. Unlike the European houses, however, there will
be no “restricted-view seats” - all
seats are designed to have a clear
view of the stage.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony on
June 11 is an invitation-only event.
On June 14 at 7.30pm comes a
Fundraising Gala Concert featuring the COC Orchestra and Chorus and a spectacular line-up of
Canadian opera stars including Ben
Heppner, Adrianne Pieczonka,
Gerald Finley and Brett Polegato.
A live simulcast of the concert will
be shown on large screens in Nathan Phillips Square. Further celebratory concerts follow on June
16 and 17 with the orchestra, chorus and stars. On June 17 and 18
are the first open houses for COC
subscribers. Next is the schools’
open house on June 23 featuring
the first performance of a complete opera in the new house albe-
it in the main rehearsal hall, not in
the auditorium.
This is Dean Burry’s Isis and the
Seven Scorpions. Burry is already
the composer of The Brothers
Grimm, the most performed Canadian opera ever written, seen as part
of the COC Ensemble school tours
by over 50,000 schoolchildren since
2001. Isis, directed by Graham Cozzubbo and designed by Brent Krysa, concerns a group of university
students who stumble across a lost
temple of Isis and learn how the
goddess travelled guarded by seven
scorpions as she sought to hide her
child Horus from the angry god Seth.
When Isis seeks shelter in a village
a rich woman, frightened by Isis’s
insect entourage, refuses her entry.
A poor woman, however, helps the
goddess who later comes to the
woman’s aid.
On June 24 and 25 are the first
open houses for the general public
during which there will be mini-concerts by the COC Ensemble and further performances of Isis. The Four
Seasons Centre is a dream come true
not just for Toronto but for the nation.
VocalPoint Chamber Choir
Ian Grundy, Musical Director
Stephen Powell, Interim Conductor
Toronto's most dynamic semi-professional Chamber Choir
ANNUAL OPEN AUDITIONS
JUNE 2006
Experienced choral singers are invited to
apply for paid and unpaid positions in the
choir for the 2006/07 Season
Phone (416) 461-8301 for an audition time
WE ARE ALL MUSIC’S CHILDREN
by mJ Buell
May’s Child
was musical theatre’s
Louise Pitre
Louise grew up in
Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario, the middle of three
children. She began piano
at six, and graduated from
University of Western
Ontario with a B.Mus(ed)
en route to a sensible career as a high school music teacher -- except that
performing in a revue
(Flicks) during her final
year at UWO had left her
hooked.
She dug in her already elegant heels in the Toronto theatre scene
- everything from temp-typing and wedding-singing with the same powerhouse energy that would eventually see her play Fantine in Les Miserables (Montreal, Toronto, Paris) , and legendary French singer Edith
Piaf in three different productions of Piaf. As Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia! (Toronto, Chicago, L.A., San Francisco) she made her Tonynominated Broadway debut at New York’s Winter Garden Theatre.
Louise’s achievements include three Dora Mavor Moore awards
(Mamma Mia!, Piaf, and Blood Brothers). She will receive an honourary diploma at the Humber Lakeshore Campus Nov 4th 2006, and an
honourary Doctorate of Music June 12th at UWO.
Louise’s most recent recording is Shattered, which is her 3rd
full-length CD - a “cathartic” journey of musical heartbreak songs.
Currently… ? She is the “Song” half of Song & Dance, the Andrew
Lloyd Webber “concert for the theatre” held over for three weeks at the
newly re-opened Danforth Music Hall. Song & Dance features Pitre,
the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s internationally acclaimed Evelyn Hart and
National Ballet of Canada soloist Piotr Stanczyk and a dynamite 6person dance ensemble. Song and Dance will now run to June 18.
CONGRATULATIONS to our winners!
Tickets! Carrie Loring and a guest will attend a performance of Song
and Dance at the Danforth Music Hall. CDs: Caroline Bonner and
Irmgard Upmanis will each receive a copy of Shattered.
Thank-you to all our readers who guessed.
No June “Child” while we make a list
Music’s Children is busy making a list of mystery children for the
2006-2007 season! The contest series will relaunch in July/August. .
`Know someone whose photograph should appear on this page? Suggestions are most welcome! Contact musicschildren@thewholenote.com
index of advertisers
ACROBAT 40
ALICIER ARTS CHAMBER MUSIC 33
AMADEUS CHOIR 19
ANALEKTA 54
ASSOCIATES OF THE TSO 31
ATMA CLASSIQUE 7, 17, 21, 22
BAY BLOOR RADIO 56
BROTT MUSIC FESTIVAL G5
CANCLONE SERVICES 40
CARA ADAMS / JUSTIN WELSH 33
CBC RECORDS 47
CHRIST CHURCH DEER PARK JAZZ
VESPERS 23
COLLINGWOOD MUSIC FESTIVAL G3
COSMO MUSIC 23
DAVE SNIDER MUSIC CENTRE 23
DAVID SWAN 32
ELENA CIORICI 40
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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ELI AND FRIENDS /LATIN SOULSTICE 23
ELORA FESTIVAL G11
ETOBICOKE CENTENNIAL CHOIR 20
FESTIVAL DE LANAUDIÈRE 3
FESTIVAL OF THE SOUND 11
FESTIVAL WIND ORCHESTRA 33
GEORGE HEINL 13
GRAND RIVER BAROQUE FESTIVAL 8
HARBOURFRONT CENTRE /
TORONTO MUSIC GARDEN 29
HARKNETT MUSICAL SERVICES 24
HARLEQUIN SINGERS 20
HEALEY WILLAN SINGERS 20
HELICONIAN H ALL 40
HIGH PARK CHOIRS 19
I FURIOSI BAROQUE ENSEMBLE 31
INNERMUSICA 31
JANET CATHERINE DEA 32
LOCKRIDGE HIFI 13
LONG & MCQUADE 38
MAESTRO ENTERPRISES 40
MARKHAM THEATRE 5
MIKROKOSMOS 40
MONTREAL BAROQUE 8
MUSIC FOR YOUNG CHILDREN 39
MUSIC IN THE ORCHARD,
TORONTO CULTURE 30
MUSIC MONDAYS 28
MUSIC ON THE HILL 28
MUSIC PLUS 13
MUSIC TORONTO 9
MUSICA FRANCA 49
NAXOS 43
NEW MUSIC CONCERTS 31
NO STRINGS THEATRE PRODUCTIONS 36
NORTH 44º ENSEMBLE 20
ONTARIO GUILD OF HANDBELL RINGERS 22
ORGAN FOR SALE 41
ORPHEUS CHOIR 18
OSHAWA-DURHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 34
OTTAWA INT’L. CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL 4
PASQUALE BROS. 40
PETER MAHON 18
PHILIP L. DAVIS, LUTHIER 17
RCM COMMUNITY SCHOOL 37
REMENYI HOUSE OF MUSIC 26
ROBERT LOWREY’S PIANO EXPERTS 55
SINFONIA TORONTO 15
SOUND POST 17
SOUNDAXIS G7-G10
SRI CANADA 6
ST. ROSE OF LIMA CHURCH 34
STRATFORD SUMMER MUSIC G13
TAFELMUSIK 52
TAFELMUSIK B AROQUE
SUMMER INSTITUTE 29
TD CANADA TRUST
TORONTO JAZZ FESTIVAL G3
TORONTO CHILDREN’S CHORUS 19
TORONTO MENDELSSOHN CHOIR 18
TORONTO SUMMER CHAMBER MUSIC
FESTIVAL 2
TORONTO SUMMER MUSIC ACADEMY
AND FESTIVAL G6
TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 53
TRUE NORTH BRASS 30
VICTORIA SCHOLARS 32
VOCALPOINT 27
WHOLENOTE MAGAZINE 50, 51
WHOLENOTE MARKETPLACE 39, 41
WOMEN’S MUSICAL CLUB 16
WYCHWOOD PARK PRODUCTIONS 45
27
CONCERT LISTINGS
— 8:00: Menaka Thakkar Dance Company.
CHITRA: Warrior Princess. Premiere Dance
Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, 207 Queen’s Quay
W. 416-973-4000. $25-$30. For complete run
see music theatre listings.
— 8:00: soundaXis/Arraymusic. Aerial Vault.
Lanier: newly commissioned work; Settel:
Plans change!
interactive work; Kucharzyk: Room. Jaron Lanier,
Always call ahead to confirm details
multi-instrumentalist; Arraymusic Ensemble.
Friday
June
02
with presenters.
Great Hall, Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle.
416-532-3019. Call for ticket prices.
— 8:30am: Soundstreams Canada. Toronto
Concerts: Further Afield PAGE 35
— 8:00: The Harmony Singers. A Touch of
Fanfare Project: Fanfares for the Common
Latin. Music from south of the border. Guests:
Commuter. The Great Hall, Union Station. 416Music Theatre/Opera PAGE 36
Christie Menzo, vocals; Blake Pouliot, violin;
504-1282. Free.
Harvey Patterson, conductor; Bruce Harvey,
— 12:00: Soundstreams Canada. Toronto
Jazz Clubs PAGE 37
accompanist. Martin Grove United Church,
Fanfare Project: Fanfare Discovery. MaRS
Announcements/Lectures Seminars/Etcetera PAGE 38
Discovery District Atrium, 101 College St. 416- Martin Grove & Mercury. 416-763-0105. $15,
$12, child under 10 free.
504-1282. Free.
— 8:00: Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra.
— 7:00: Muhtadi International Drumming
Fairview Mall Dr. 416-755-1717. $17.50. For
Thursday June 01
Chamber Master Works. Glenn Gould Studio. See
Festival. Festival Launch. Selection of internacomplete run see music theatre listings.
— 12:00: soundaXis/Soundstreams. Toronto
tional guest drummers and drumming groups who June 1.
— 8:00: Encore Entertainment. Ragtime.
Fanfare Project: Fanfares @ Frum. New commis— 8:30: Hugh’s Room. Carlos del Junco, blues
will be performing during the weekend Festival
Music & lyrics by Stephen Flaherty & Lynn
sions by Canadian & European composers.
(see Announcements, EtCetera). Brigantine Room, harmonica. 2261 Dundas St. West. 416-531Ahrens; musical direction by Ellen Kestenberg.
Stockholm Chamber Brass; European soloists;
235 Queen’s Quay West. 416-504-3786. $10. 6604. $20(advance), $22(door).
Studio Theatre, Toronto Centre for the Arts,
Canadian brass players. Barbara Frum Atrium,
— 7:30: Bloordale United Church. A Tapes5040 Yonge St. 416-733-0558. $30. For
Saturday June 03
CBC Broadcast Centre, 250 Front St. West. 416try of Music. Numerous styles of music for
complete run see music theatre listings.
504-1282. Free.
—
10:30am:
Vibe
Dance and Fitness Studio.
combinations
of
voice,
flute
&
piano.
Margaret
— 8:00: Sistering. Funny Girls and Dynamic
— 12:15: St. John’s York Mills Anglican
Dulude, soprano; Liv Schachter, flute. 4258 Bloor Annual Recital. Toronto Centre Main Stage, 5040
Divas. HotHouse Band, Tara Slone, Tabby
Church. Heather Cumine, performer. Hymns,
St. West. 416-621-5475. $12.50. Proceeds to Yonge St. 416-872-1111. $35, $30. For
Johnson, Mdidi Onukwulu, Amanda Martinez,
oratorio & original Christian songs. 19 Don Ridge
support the ministry & outreach of Bloordale
Lori Cullen and other performers. Doors 7pm.
Dr. 416-225-6611. Free.
— 12:00: Royal Conservatory of Music.
United Church.
Harbourfront Centre Brigantine Room, 235
— 1:00: Soundstreams Canada. Toronto
Centre Stage Concerts. Recital by RCM CommuQueen’s Quay W. 416-973-4000. $30. Proceeds — 7:30: Kids on Broadway. Anne of Green
Fanfare Project: TD Fanfares. TD Centre Summer
nity School students. Concert Hall, 90 Croatia St.
Gables. Adapted by Donald Harron; music by
to community programs.
Concert Stage, King & Wellington Sts. 416-504Norman Campbell; lyrics by Harron & Campbell. 416-408-2824 ext.321. Free.
— 8:00: soundaXis/Esprit Orchestra.
1282. Free.
The Assembly Hall, 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park — 12:00: Soundstreams Canada. Toronto
Xenakis by Esprit. Xenakis: Jonchaies; Rea:
— 7:00: City of Brampton Concert Band.
Fanfare Project: Fanfare Square. Yonge-Dundas
Dr. 416-237-9738. $15. For complete run see
Hommage à Vasarely; Louie: Imaginary Opera.
Summer Concert in the Park. Gage Park, corner
Square, Yonge & Dundas Sts. 416-504-1282.
music theatre listings.
Alex Pauk, conductor. 7:15: Pre-concert “Comof Wellington and Main Sts, Brampton. 905-451— 8:00: Harlequin Singers. Memories. Music Free.
posers in Dialogue”. Jane Mallett Theatre, 27
0174. Free.
of Broadway; selections from film, pop charts & — 2:00 & 7:30: Mississauga Children’s
Front St. E. 416-366-7723. $32, $16(sr),
— 7:30: Mirvish Productions. The Lord of the
Choir. 25th Anniversary Gala Concert. Thomas
folk music. Laura Pin, piano accompanist; Lynne
$10(st).
Rings. Lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew
Bell, music director. Royal Bank Theatre, 4141
Jamieson, percussion; Ryan Scott, flute. Drury
— 8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Warchus; music by A.R. Rahman and Vartinna
Living Arts Drive. 905-306-6000. $16(eve),
Shostakovitch Ten. Shostakovich: Violin Concerto Lane Theatre, 2269 New St., Burlington. 905with Christopher Nightingale. Princess of Wales
$14(mat).
637-3979. $20.
#1; Symphony #10. Maxim Vengerov, violin;
Theatre, 300 King St. W. 416-872-1212. $78Andrey Boreyko, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall,
$125. For complete run see music theatre
60 Simcoe St. 416-593-4828. $38.75-$120.
Concert Listings, Toronto & nearby
listings.
— 8:00: Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra.
continue
on
page
29 following the Summer “GREEN PAGES”
— 8:00: Alli’s Journey. Take My Hand.
Chamber Master Works. Handel: Concerto
Evening of musical celebration & mentorship.
Grosso in g Op. 6; Haydn: Concerto in C; Concerto
Canada Pops Orchestra; Michael Burgess; Jackie
in A; Vivaldi: Concerto for Strings; Bowman:
Richardson; Guido Basso; David Warrack, musical
world première. Mayumi Seiler, violin/ artistic
director. George Weston Recital Hall, 5040
director. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W.
Yonge St. 416-872-1111. $180,$100. To
416-205-5555. $50; $45/$25(sr/st).
All concerts begin at 12:15 p.m. and take
benefit Alli’s Journey.
— 8:08: Series 8:08. Season Finale: Edith &
place at the Church of the Holy Trinity
— 8:00: CanStage. Hair. Book & lyrics by
Eliza; undercurrents; Running South, Facing North.
(19 Trinity Square beside the Eaton Centre)
Gerome Ragni and James Rado; music by Galt
$5 suggested donation
Susan Kendal, Lindsay Zier-Vogel, Meghan
MacDermot. Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front St.
MacNeil & Ilona Dougherty, choreography/dance.
May 29
Mélanie Barney
Organ
E. 416-368-3110. $36-89; $51(sr), $26(under
Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester St.
30). For complete run see music theatre listings.
416-504-6429 ex.40. $18, $14(sr/st/CADA).
— 8:00: Civic Light Opera Company. A
For complete run see music theatre listings.
June 5
Echo Women's Choir
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
— 8:30: Hugh’s Room. John Gorka, singer/
Music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. David
songwriter. 2261 Dundas St. West. 416-531Haines, Joe Cascone, Larry Westlake, Clinton
June 12
Gregory Millar
Piano
6604. $22(advance), $25(door).
Somerton & others. Fairview Library Theatre, 35
Toronto & nearby
— 8:30: Maryem Tollar. Arabic Night at the
Lula Lounge. Traditional Arabic music & uptempo numbers. Maryem Tollar, vocals; Karim
Nagi, percussion; Dr. George Sawa, qanun;
Bassam Bishara, oud; Ernie Tollar, ney flute/
mizmar/sax; Kathleen Kajioka, violin. Lula Lounge,
1585 Dundas St. West. 416-588-0307.
$15,$10.
Music Mondays
June 19
Allison Lynn
William Shookhoff
Soprano
Piano
June 26
Marty Smyth
Daniel Kushner
Eric Morin
Organ
Violin
Drums
July 3
Sang-Joon Park
Baroque flute
Borys Medicky
Harpsichord
For more information contact 589-4521 x222
28
Back to Ad Index
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Concert Listings, Toronto & nearby
continued from page 28 preceding the ”GREEN PAGES”
— 2:00: Toronto All-Star Big Band. Swingin’
Time. Guest: Oliver Jones, jazz piano. Jane
Mallett Theatre, 27 Front St. East. 416-3667723. $32, group rates.
— 5:00: Royal Conservatory of Music.
Honours Piano Students Concert. Recital by RCM
Community School students. Concert Hall, 90
Croatia St. 416-408-2824 ext.321. Free.
— 7:00: Raga Music School/Moments in the
Sun. Album Release of Neeraj Prem. 297
Augusta Ave. 416-483-2999. $20.
— 7:00: Scola Cantorum Choir. A Mozart
Celebration. Soloists, choir, organ; Imre Olah,
conductor. St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church, 432
Sheppard Ave. East. 416-971-9754. $15,$12.
— 7:30: Amadeus Choir. Simple Gifts.
Brahms: Liebeslieder Waltzes; Copland: Simple
Gifts; At the River; Ching-a-Ring Chaw; music by
Calvert, Coulthard, Healey, Holman, Patriquin &
Somers. Ruth Watson Henderson & Peter
MacDonald, piano; Lydia Adams, conductor.
George Weston Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St.
416-872-1111. $40, $35, $30(sr/st).
— 7:30: Ermanno Mauro Opera Masterclass. Opera Classics and Beyond. A night of
operatic and musical theatre excerpts. Thornhill
United Church, 25 Elgin St., Thornhill. 416-8465438. $20,$15.
— 7:30: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
Joyously Ringing. Original handbell compositions
& arrangements of everything from hymns to
show tunes. The 4 handbell choirs of The Bells of
St. Andrew’s; The Chimes of St. Andrew’s; St.
Andrew’s Vocal Choir; Quintessence Handbell
Ensemble; Heather & David Keith, solo/duet
handbell artists. 115 St. Andrews Rd. 416-4384100. $10, $5(sr/st).
— 8:00: Acoustic Harvest Folk Club. Tanglefoot. Birchcliff Bluffs United Church, 33 East Rd.
416-264-2235. $15.
— 8:00: Counterpoint Community Orchestra. Transcontinental. Tchaikovsky: Capriccio
Italien; Debussy: Afternoon of a Faune; RimskiKorsakov: Scheherazade; Berlioz: The Procession
to the Stake from Symphony Fantastique;
Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia; SaintSaens: Piano Concerto #2. Glenda Escalante del
Monte, piano; Terry Kowalczuk, conductor. St.
Luke’s United Church, 353 Sherbourne St. 416925-9872 x2066. $15(advance), $18(door).
— 8:00: Harlequin Singers. Memories. Drury
Lane Theatre, Burlington. See June 2.
— 8:00: Jubilate Singers. Chansons du
Monde. Music by Poulenc, Ravel, Fauré, SaintSaëns & Lauridsen. Stewart Granger, tenor;
Sherry Squires, accompanist; Isabel Bernaus,
director. Eastminster United Church, 310
Danforth Ave. 905-857-2152. $20, $15(sr),
$10(st).
— 8:00: Marion Singers. A Cappella Choral
Concert. Featuring a wide variety of classical &
contemporary works. Tony Browning, director.
Newtonbrook United Church, 53 Cummer Ave.
416-222-5417. $15.
— 8:00: soundaXis/Music Gallery. Sonic
Architecture. Xenakis: Naama and Khoai; Ligeti:
Hungarian Rock; Hallfter: Adieu; Mâche: Phrygian
Tucket. Elisabeth Chojnacka, harpsichord. St.
George the Martyr Church, 197 John St. 416204-1080. $20, $15(sr), $10(st).
Free
Summer
Concerts
with Tafelmusik
4 FREE Community Concerts presented by Tafelmusik in
conjunction with the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute!
Baroque Delights
Friday June 9 at 8:00pm
Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor Street West
Featuring Institute faculty members Ann
Monoyios (soprano) and Rufus Müller
(tenor) as well as the Tafelmusik Baroque
Orchestra and Chamber Choir.
Directed by Jeanne Lamon and Ivars Taurins
A selection of the baroque music that
made Tafelmusik famous! Includes
favourites by Handel, Purcell and Vivaldi.
The TBSI Orchestra and Choir
Saturday June 17 at 1:00pm
Walter Hall, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto
(Edward Johnson Building, 80 Queen’s Park Avenue)
Directed by Jeanne Lamon and Ivars Taurins
The talented Institute participants perform
favourites by Bach, Handel, Purcell,
Telemann and Carissimi.
The Grand Finale
Tuesday June 20 at 7:30pm
Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road
Musical Interlude
Tuesday June 13 at 12:00pm
WINNER
OF TWO
2006
JUNOS!
Walter Hall, Faculty of Music,
University of Toronto (Edward Johnson
Building, 80 Queen’s Park Avenue)
A casual noon-hour recital of baroque
chamber music performed by members
of Tafelmusik.
The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber
Choir and the TBSI Orchestra and Choir combine
forces for our biggest concert of the summer!
Hear Handel’s Concerto grosso in F Major,
Marais’ Suite from Alcione and Charpentier’s
Missa assumpta est Maria.
Supported by:
Baroque Orchestra
and Chamber Choir
Jeanne Lamon, Music Director
Ivars Taurins, Director, Chamber Choir
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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Free and general admission to all concerts: Admission to
Baroque Delights, Musical Interlude, and the TBSI Orchestra
d Choir is first-come, first-served. No ticket required. Doors
and
open 15 minutes before all concerts.
Tickets for The Grand Finale concert must be obtained in
advance and will be available to the public on Monday June 12
starting at 10 am IN PERSON ONLY, at the Tafelmusik Box Office
at 427 Bloor Street West. Maximum 2 tickets per person.
(Note: all tickets were given away by noon last year!)
HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc.
Member CIPF.
Visit www.tafelmusik.org or call
416.964.6337
for more information
29
416-972-6717. $20, $10(sr/st). Proceeds to aid
the Willow Academy.
— 3:00: soundaXis/Soundstreams Canada.
North Festival. Songs by Dean McTaggart, J.K.
MASSbrass. New fanfares by Nordic and
Gulley & others. 2261 Dundas St. West. 416Canadian composers; music by Pärt, Takemitsu,
531-6604. $15(advance), $17(door), $40(festi- Turnage, Hétu & others; Schafer: Isfahan.
val weekend).
Stockholm Chamber Brass; True North Brass;
soloists from Norway, Finland, Denmark, Canada
Sunday June 04
& the Netherlands. St. Anne’s Church, 270
— 1:30: CAMMAC/McMichael Art Gallery. Gladstone Ave. 416-366-7723, 416-504-1282.
Sunday Concert Series. Taffanel Wind Ensemble, $30, $20(sr), $10(st).
classical wind trio in concert. 10365 Islington
— 4:00: St. Olave’s Church. The Queen’s
Ave., Kleinburg. 905-893-1121. Admission with Official 80th Birthday. Royal Festive Evensong
gallery price: $15, $9(sr/st), $25(family).
service with strawberry tea and Words and
— 1:30: Spadina Museum Historic House & Music for Royal Occasions. St. Olave’s Choir;
Gardens. Music in the Orchard Series. Kye
Jenni Hayman, soprano; Tim Showalter, organ;
Marshall, cello; Andy Scott, guitar. 285 Spadina St. Olave’s Arts Guild. 360 Windermere Ave.
Rd. 416-392-6910. Free.
416-769-5686. Offering.
— 2:00: Lora Vocal School. Annual Student
— 6:00: Toronto Children’s Concert Choir.
Concert. Students of the vocal school of Larissa
Stand By Me. George Weston Recital Hall, 5040
Stilmachenko, Lesya Pasko and the piano school Yonge St. 416-872-1111. $15-$28, $15of Oksana Zavgorodna. Morningside-High Park
$20(sr), $15(child 12 & under).
Presbyterian Church, 4 Morningside Ave. 416— 7:00: soundaXis/Les AMIS Concerts/Hart
766-6478. $10 suggested donation.
House. Les Amis de Xenakis. Xenakis: Evryali;
— 2:00: Penthelia Singers. The Four Eleworks by Miljkovic, Popovic, Foley, Patrick and
ments: Songs of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
Pepa. Nada Kolundzija, piano. Great Hall, Hart
Stone: The Discovery (commission, words by
House, 7 Hart House Circle. 416-978-2452.
MacEwen); music by Schafer, Kidd, Telfer,
Free.
Chapuis. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W.
— 7:00: Toronto Jewish Folk Choir. 80th
416-205-5555. $20, $15(sr/st).
Anniversary Concert: Eight Decades of Song.
— 2:00: University Settlement Music and
Robinovitch: première; Veprinsky: première.
Arts School. Chamber Music Program Recital. Beyond the Pale; Lina Zemelman, piano; AlexanChurch of St. George the Martyr, 197 John St.
der Veprinsky, conductor. Leah Posluns Theatre,
416-598-3444 x243/244.
4588 Bathurst St. 416-665-7766. $23, $19(sr/
— 3:00: Bill Douglas and Friends. Music for st), free (under 13).
Willow. Works by Douglas and Lussier. Fraser
— 7:30: Royal Conservatory of Music. RCM
Jackson, Nadina Mackie Jackson, bassoon; Peter Jazz Ensemble. Bruce Redstone, director.
Stoll, clarinet; Molly Johnson, vocals. First
Concert Hall, 90 Croatia St. 416-408-2824
Unitarian Congregation, 175 St. Clair Ave. W.
ext.321. Free.
... CONCERTS: Toronto & nearby
— 8:00: The Harmony Singers. A Touch of
Latin. Martin Grove United Church. See June 2.
— 8:00: Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Association. Tommy Emmanuel. MacMillan Theatre,
80 Queen’s Park. 416-787-6524. $30, $25(advance), $20(members,advance).
Shostakovitch Ten. Shostakovitch: Violin Concerto #2; Symphony #10. Janine Jansen, violin;
Andrey Boreyko, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall,
60 Simcoe St. 416-593-4828. $38.75-$120.
— 8:30: Hugh’s Room. 7th Annual Tin Pan
— 8:00: Arabesque. Layali Arabesque. Arabic
band and bellydancer. Suleiman Warwar, Bassam
Bishara, instrumentalists. Gypsy Co-Op, 815
Queen St. W. 416-920-5593. $10.
— 8:30: Hugh’s Room. Jake Langley, jazz
guitar. 2261 Dundas St. West. 416-531-6604.
$18(advance), $20(door).
Monday June 05
— 12:15: Music Mondays. Echo Women’s
Choir. Songs for a peaceful world. Church of the
Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Square. 416-598-4521
ex3. $5 suggested donation.
— 12:30: soundaXis/Music Gallery. Inner
Cities. Curran: Inner Cities, 1st set. Stephen
Clarke, piano. Lobby, Toronto Dominion Bank
Tower, 55 King St. West. 416-204-1080. Free.
— 7:30: Associates of the TSO. Five Small
Concerts Series: Puccini, Debussy & the Youthful
Brahms. Puccini: I Crisantemi; Debussy: String
Quartet in g; Brahms: Sextet #1 in B flat. TrinitySt. Paul’s United Church, 427 Bloor St. W. 416221-8342. $17, $14(sr/st).
— 7:30: Riverdale Youth Singers. We
Belong: A Mosaic of Ethnic Music. Teodora
Georgieva, artistic director/conductor; Alkiviadis
Leontarakis, conductor. Eastminster United
Church, 310 Danforth Ave. 416-875-1587. Free.
— 9:00: Les AMIS Concerts. Music by
Xenakis. Lynn Kuo, violin; Rachel Mercer, cello.
The Palace, 722 Pape Ave. 416-929-6262. $10.
Tuesday June 06
Cities. Curran: Inner Cities, 2nd set. Stephen
Clarke, piano. Atrium, MaRS Centre, 101 College
St. 416-204-1080. Free.
— 4:00: soundaXis/Talisker Players
Chamber Music. Vox Humana. Richardson:
Agon; Freedman: Toccata for soprano and flute;
Diamond: Vocalises for voice and viola; Vaughan
Williams: Three Vocalises for soprano and
clarinet; Villa-Lobos: Suite for voice and violin.
MaRS Centre, 101 College St. 416-466-1800.
Free.
— 7:00: Opening Day Entertainment Group.
Giles Tomkins Cd Launch. Music by Dedrick,
Mills & others. Giles Tomkins, baritone; string
quartet & piano. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, 106
Trinity St. 416-778-4456. $15.
— 8:00: soundaXis/Les AMIS Concerts/
Music Gallery. Xenakis and his Contemporaries. Xenakis: Hunemiduhey for violin and cello;
Kottos for cello; Evryali for piano; Feldman: Palais
de Mari for piano; Kagel: Klavieretude – An
Tasten for piano; excerpts from an interview with
Xenakis. Nada Kolundija, piano; Lynn Kuo, violin;
Rachel Mercer, cello. St. George the Martyr
Church, 197 John St. 416-204-1080. $20,
$15(sr), $10(st).
— 8:00: Toronto Sharon Women’s Choir.
10th Anniversary Gala Concert. George Weston
Recital Hall. 5040 Yonge St. 416-872-1111.
$40, $25, $15.
Wednesday June 07
30
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— 12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist
Church. Noonday Organ Recital. Janet Peaker,
organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-922-1167. Free.
Cities. Curran: Inner Cities, 3rd set. Stephen
Clarke, piano. Church of the Holy Trinity, 10
Trinity Square. 416-204-1080. Free.
— 8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The
Philosophers. Haydn: Symphony #22 in E flat;
Bernstein: Serenade; R. Strauss: Also sprach
Zarathustra. Robert McDuffie, violin; Peter
Oundjian, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 60
Simcoe St. 416-593-4828. $28.50-$110.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
— 12:15: Music on the Hill Concert Series.
Corda Duo. Coulthard: Thou Hast Stolen my very
Heart; Wingfield: Three Bulgarian Folk Dances;
Copland: Hoe Down. Ralista Tcholakova, violin;
Aaron Brock, guitar. St. John’s York Mills
Anglican Church, 19 Don Ridge Dr. 416-2256611. Free.
— 2:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The
Philosophers. Roy Thomson Hall. See June 7
8:00. Note Matinée: $26.50-$68.50.
— 7:00: Art Gallery of York University.
Experimental Music Series: Myk Freedman, lapsteel,
Eric Chenaux, guitar. Accolade East Bldg, Rm 116,
4700 Keele St. 416-736-5169. Free.
— 7:00: Brampton Parks & Recreation.
Thursday Night Park Concert Series. Weekly
concerts, varying performers. Gage Park, Four
Corners, Brampton. 416-874-2300. Free.
— 8:00: CanAsian Dance. Mystical Transformations: Expressions of Gender Roles in Asian Dance.
Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 235 Queen’s Quay
W. 416-973-4000. $28, $23(sr/st/CADA). For
— 8:30: Hugh’s Room. Pork Belly Futures.
Jazzy blues with Paul Quarrington, Martin
Worthy, Stuart Laughton & Chas Elliott. 2261
Dundas St. W. 416-531-6604. $15(advance),
$17.
New Music Concerts
And soundaXis present
TheMusicofIannisXenakis
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The Associates of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra - 2006 Season
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Monday June 5, 2006 7:30 p.m.
Puccini
I Crisentemi (Intermezzo from
Manon Lescaut)
Debussy
String Quartet in G minor Op. 10
Brahms
Sextet No. 1 in B flat major Op.18
Jin-Shan Dai,
Sidney Chun,
Teng Li,
Daniel Blackman,
Roberta Janzen,
Kirk Worthington,
violin
violin
viola
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cello
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General Admission:
Regular
$17.00
Seniors/Students $14.00
For further information, call (416) 221-8342
— 10:00am, 2:00 & 7:00: Cosmo School of
Music. Annual Student Recitals. Toronto Centre
Studio Theatre, 5040 Yonge St. 416-872-1111.
$15.
— 10:00am: Thornhill Community Band.
Concert. Richmond Hill Village Heritage Day.
Yonge St., N. of Major Mackenzie Drive, Richmond Hill. 416-223-7152. Free.
— 12:00: Gerry MacKay. In Concert. Jazz
guitar. Timothy’s, 321 Lakeshore Rd. E., Oakville.
905-338-6342. Free.
— 3:30 & 8:00: L’ensemble vocal Les Voix
du Coeur. Silence…on chante! Manon Côté,
director. Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC,
750 Spadina Ave. 905-883-7951. $20, $10(ch
under 12).
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featuring members of the
Back to Ad Index
— 7:00: Conservatory of Dance and Music.
Wizard of Oz. George Weston Recital Hall, 5040
Yonge St. 416-872-1111. $23.15, $17.80 (sr/st).
— 8:00 & 10:00: CONTACT contemporary
music/New Adventures in Sound Art. Steel
& Plunder. Works by Xenakis, Truax, Dolden,
Saturday June 10
Five Small Concerts
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
— 8:00: New Music Concerts. Music of Iannis
Xenakis. New Music Concerts Ensemble;
Elisabeth Chojnacka, harpsichord; Lori Freedman,
bass-clarinetist; Robert Aitken, director. 7:15
Intro in the lobby. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front
St. W. 416-205-5555. $25, $15(sr), $5(st).
— 8:00: Tafelmusik. Faculty Concert: Baroque
Delights. Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and
Chamber Choir, Ann Monoyios, soprano; Rufus
Müller, tenor; Jeanne Lamon, Ivars Taurins,
directors. Trinity-St. Paul’s, 427 Bloor St. W.
416-964-9562. Free.
— 8:00: voxworks. Chansons françaises.
Works by Badings, Debussy, Janequin, Milhaud,
Poulenc & Ravel. Judy Maddren, reader; James
Wells, artistic director. St. Wilfrid’s Church,
1315 Kipling Ave. 416-769-0111. $20.
— 8:30: Hugh’s Room. Far-Flung Folk. Uber
Hussy; SunParlour Players, Alex Lukashevsky &
Sandro Perri. 2261 Dundas St. W. 416-5316604. $10(advance), $12.
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Friday June 09
— 5:00: soundaXis/Earshot Concerts.
Reflections on Xenakis. Exploring in words &
music, subjects ranging from Xenakis’s notions of
composition to reflections on his time & life,
while exploring a diversity of sound possibilties.
Fields Institute, 222 College St. 416-655-6556.
Free.
— 7:30: Brampton Theatre School Young
Company. Bye Bye Birdie. Heritage Theatre, 86
Main St. N., Brampton. 905-874-2800. $16,
$12(sr/st). For complete run see music theatre
listings.
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— 8:30: Hugh’s Room. Great Atomic Power.
Songs from the Mills Brothers, The Beach Boys,
Gillian Welch, Tom Waits & others. 2261
Dundas St. West. 416-531-6604. $10(advance),
$12(door).
— 9:00: Les AMIS Concerts. Waltz Marathon.
Concert of waltzes by 20th and 21st century
composers. Nada Kolundzija, piano. Lesendro, 55
Avenue Rd. 416-929-6262. $10.
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31
... CONCERTS: Toronto & nearby
Bartley (world première) & Gordon. Ontario
College of Art and Design, 100 McCaul St. 416902-7010. $15, $10.
— 8:00: Canadian Sinfonietta. 20th Century
Classics. Elgar: Introduction and Allegro; Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1; Copland: Appalachian
Spring. Alexander Tselyakov, piano; Ira Zingraff,
trumpet; Tak-Ng Lai, conductor. Glenn Gould
Studio, 250 Front St. W. 416-205-5555. $30,
$25(sr), $15(st), $10(ch).
— 8:00: Dennis DeYoung. The Music of Styx
with Rock Symphony. Hummingbird Centre, 1
Front St. E. 416-872-2262. $55-$75.
— 8:00: I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble. I
Furiosi Up In Smoke. Guest: Sean Watson,
baritone; Julia Wedman, Aisslinn Nosky, violins;
Gabrielle McLaughlin, soprano; Felix Deak, cello/
viola da gamba. 7pm silent auction. Calvin
Presbyterian Church, 26 Delisle Ave. 416-8922328. $20, $10(st/sr/underemployed).
— 8:00: Innermusica. Leo Kottke, guitar.
Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416872-4255. $35-$42.50.
— 8:00: Massey Hall. Hawksley Workman. 15
Shuter St., 416-872-4255. $29.50-$34.50.
Itzhak Perlman, violin. Beethoven: Symphony #8;
Gabrieli: Sonata pian e forte; Bruch: Violin
Concerto #1. Peter Oundjian, conductor. Roy
Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-593-4828.
$58.50-$138.
— 8:00: Voices. A Choral R.S.V.P. 10th Anniversary Season Finale. Music chosen by audiences and
choristers. John Stephenson, accompanist; Ron Ka
Ming Cheung, conductor. St. Thomas’s Church,
383 Huron St. 416-519-0528. $20, $15(st/sr).
— 8:00: voxworks. Chansons françaises.
Works by Badings, Debussy, Janequin, Milhaud,
Poulenc & Ravel. Teige Reid, reader; James
Wells, artistic director. St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Church, 151 Glenlake Ave. 416-769-0111. $20.
Sunday June 11
— 1:30: Spadina Museum Historic House &
Gardens. Music in the Orchard Series. Taffanel
Wind Trio (oboe, bassoon and flute). 285 Spadina
Rd. 416-392-6910. Free.
— 2:00 & 7:00: All That Dance. Pump it Up!
Annual Recital. George Weston Recital Hall,
5040 Yonge St. 416-872-1111. $25.
— 2:00: Choralairs of North York. 43rd
Closing Concert. Broadway, pop and folk songs.
Earl Bales Park Community Centre Social Hall,
4169 Bathurst St. 416-631-0029. Free.
— 2:00 & 7:00: Freddy’s Dance Academy.
Belly Dance Showcase. Toronto Centre Studio
Theatre, 5040 Yonge St. 416-872-1111. $15.
For complete run see music theatre listings.
— 2:30: Toronto Early Music. Musically
Speaking: Chamber Music from the 18th Century. Works by Albrechtsberger, Vanhal, Haydn &
others. Curtis Scheschuk, Viennese kontrabass;
Mary Katherine Finch, cello; Linda Melsted, violin
& other performers. Church of the Holy Trinity,
10 Trinity Square. 416-966-1409. Admission by
donation.
— 3:00: High Park Choirs of Toronto. Voices
in Bloom. Zimfira Poloz, artistic director. St.
Anne’s Anglican Church, 270 Gladstone Ave.
416-762-0657. $15, $10(sr/st).
— 3:00: Mooredale Youth Orchestra
Concert. Rosedale Heights School, 711 Bloor St.
E. 416-922-3714 ext 103. $15.
— 3:30: Miles Nadal JCC Community
Choir. Annual Spring Concert: MNjcc Women’s
Chorus. Al Green Theatre, 750 Spadina Ave.
416-924-6211. $10, $7(sr/st/ch), $20(fam).
— 4:30: Christ Church Deer Park. Jazz
Vespers. Vern Dorge Trio. 1570 Yonge St. 416920-5211. Free; donations welcome.
— 7:00: Hugh’s Room. Two Just Women and
Just Two Men. Wendell Ferguson, Holmes
Hooke, Eve Goldberg & Nancy White. 2261
$20. Benefit for the Alliance for Equality of Blind
Canadians.
— 7:00: Mississauga Big Band Jazz Ensemble. Summertime Swing. Living Arts Centre,
4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga. 905-3066000. $15.
— 7:30: Victoria Scholars. Let your Voice be
Heard. Works for men’s voices by Cabena, Erb,
Glick, Olsen, Togni & Willan. Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 3055 Bloor St. W. 416-761-7776.
$25, $20.
conductor; Alexa Petrenko, host. Glenn Gould
Studio, 250 Front St. W. 416-205-5555. $25.
Monday June 12
Oundjian & Heppner. Sibelius: Finlandia; Songs;
Wagner: excerpts from Lohengrin and Die
— 12:15: Music Mondays. Gregory Millar,
piano. Mozart: Fantasia in d; Debussy: Preludes & Meistersinger; Beethoven: excerpts from Fidelio.
Ben Heppner, tenor; Peter Oundjian, conductor.
other works. Church of the Holy Trinity, 10
Trinity Square. 416-598-4521 ex3. $5 suggest- Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-5934828. $38.75-$120.
ed donation.
— 7:30: Cantabile Chorale of York Region.
Friday June 16
Strawberries and Song. Lona Richardson, accom— 6:00: Harbourfront Centre World
panist; Robert Richardson, conductor. Thornhill
Routes 2006 Festival. Barbados on the Water.
Presbyterian Church, 271 Centre St., Thornhill.
10th anniversary of Barbadian culture and music.
905-731-8318. $20, $15(sr), $5(ch).
235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. Free.
— 8:00: David Swan. Solo Piano Concert.
— 7:30: Four Seasons Centre for the
Works by Frescobaldi, Handel, Rameau, Chopin,
Liszt & others. Ballroom, Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Performing Arts. Celebratory Concert. COC
orchestra, chorus and guest soloists; Richard
Queen St. W. 416-538-4758. $20.
Bradshaw, director. 145 Queen St. W. 416-363— 8:00: Univox Choir of Toronto. Fa Una
8231. $45, $75.
Canzona: Five Centuries of A Cappella Choral
— 8:00: Brandon Group. Justin Hines &
Music. Dallas Bergen, director. Dovercourt
Friends. Guest duo: Justin Abedin and Nikki
Baptist Church, 1140 Bloor St. W. 416-697Loney; also Sarah McCully. Glenn Gould Studio,
9561. $10.
250 Front St. W. 416-205-5555. $25.
Tuesday June 13
Queen St. W. 416-920-5593. $10.
— 12:00: Tafelmusik. Faculty Chamber
Concert: Chamber Music from the Court of
Dresden. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Bldg., 80
Queen’s Park Ave. 416-964-9562. Free.
— 7:30: Cantabile Chorale of York Region.
Strawberries and Song. Thornhill Presbyterian
Church. See June 12.
Ain’t it a Pretty Night
Janet Catherine Dea
soprano
Wednesday June 14
www.victoriascholars.ca
— 12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist
Church. Noonday Organ Recital. Douglas
Schalin, organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-922-1167.
Free.
Performing Arts. Inaugural Gala Concert.
Opera arias, choruses and orchestral pieces. Ben
Heppner, tenor; Adrianne Pieczonka, soprano;
Gerald Finley, Brett Polegato, baritones; Richard
Bradshaw, director. 145 Queen St. W. 416-3638231. $150, $250. Call for ticket prices for Gala
dinner to follow.
— 8:00: Miles Nadal JCC Community
Choir. Annual Spring Concert: MNjcc Women’s
Chorus. Al Green Theatre, 750 Spadina Ave.
— 8:00: Muzent Productions. Ain’t it a Pretty
416-924-6211. $10, $7(sr/st/ch), $20(fam).
Night: Vocal Music for a Summer Evening.
Thursday June 15
Monday, June 12 at 8 pm
Works by Mozart, Strauss, Schubert, Floyd,
— 12:15: Music on the Hill Concert Series. Gershwin & others. Janet Catherine Dea,
The Ballroom of the
soprano; Brahm Goldhamer, piano; Iris Krismanic,
Gospel Jazz Duo. Munizzi: Say the Name;
Gladstone Hotel
french horn; Kristen Moss Theriault, harp.
McLachlan: Angel; Jones: Humble me Lord.
Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-429Monika Burany, vocalist; Brett Setterington,
1214 Queen St. W.
keyboard. St. John’s York Mills Anglican Church, 4502. $25, $20(sr/st).
(corner of Dufferin)
— 8:00: Zonnebloem Chamber Ensemble.
19 Don Ridge Dr. 416-225-6611. Free.
Tickets $20 / $10
— 2:00: Northern District Library. Triolette. An Evening of Chamber Music. Works by
Music by Frescobaldi, Handel,
Vocal duets. Pat Agnew, soprano; Sheila McCoy, Beethoven, Debussy and O’Connor. Amanda Lee,
Rameau, Chopin, Bartok and Liszt
Heidi Behrenbruch, violin; Pamela Bettger, viola;
mezzo-soprano; Laraine Herzog, piano. 40
Monica Fedrigo, cello; Donna Orchard, soprano &
Orchard View Blvd. 416-393-7610. Free.
other performers. Trinity College Chapel, 6
Hoskin Ave. 416-537-2476. $10.
Saturday June 17
—
12:00:
Harbourfront
Centre World
— 8:00: DanceWorks. Red Sky Performance:
Shimmer. John Gzowski, composer; Sandra
235 Queens Quay W. See June 16.
Laronde, artistic director. Harbourfront Centre
A programme of original music for men’s voices by
Theatre, 235 Queen’s Quay W. 416-973-4000. — 1:00: Canadian Singers. In Concert.
men’s
Barrie Cabena, James Erb, Srul Irving Glick,
Markham Village Music Festival, Main St.,
$25, $16(sr/st/CADA/WIFT/SCDS). For comOtto Olsen, Peter Togni and Healey Willan
choral
Markham. 905-209-1412 ex.1. Free.
plete run see music theatre listings.
ensemble
Sunday, June 11, 2006 7:30pm
— 1:00: Tafelmusik. Tafelmusik Baroque
— 8:00: Nuno Cristo. Anima Fado. With Tony
Câmara, Tony Gouveia, vocals. Lula Lounge, 1585 Summer Institute Orchestra and Choir. Works by
Our Lady of Sorrows Church
Purcell, Handel, Telemann, Bach, Carissimi and
Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307. $10.
3055 Bloor Street West, Toronto
— 8:00: Tonal Virtuosi Orchestra. Prelude to Blow. Jeanne Lamon, Ivars Taurins, directors.
Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Bldg., 80 Queen’s
Summer. Works by Mozart, Dvorak, Barber,
Adults $25 Seniors/Students $20
Park Ave. 416-964-9562. Free.
Purcell, Minthorn & Lerner. Senya Trubashnik,
Jerzy Cichocki, director 416.761.7776 for tickets and info
oboe; Deirdre Fulton, soprano; Joseph Lerner,
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
32
LetYourVoice
be Heard
victoria
scholars
Back to Ad Index
June 16, 8pm
Heliconian Hall
— 7:00: Silverthorn Silver Band. Glory to
his Name: A Salute to Dad. York Salvation Army
Community Church, 1100 Weston Road. 416623-1804. Freewill offering. Proceeds to the
Salvation Army.
Performing Arts. Celebratory Concert. 145
Queen St. W. See June 16.
Oundjian & Heppner. Roy Thomson Hall. See
June 15. Note this performance: $26.50$68.50.
— 8:00: Against the Grain Concerts. David
Bazan of Pedro the Lion. Music Gallery, St.
George the Martyr Church, 197 John St. 416872-1111. $17.50(advance), $20(door).
— 8:00: Anthony Terpstra’s Starlight
Orchestra. In Concert. Works and arrangements
by Ellington, Nestico, Holman, Mulligan &
Terpstra. St. Martin-in-the-Fields Anglican
Church, 151 Glenlake Ave. 416-767-6005. $20,
$15(sr/st), free(under 15yrs).
— 8:00: Harbourfront Centre Theatre.
Maza Meze in Concert. 235 Queen’s Quay W.
416-973-4000. Call for ticket prices.
— 8:00: Ivory ‘N’ Steel. Sounds of Smooth
Jazz and Steelpans. Afropan, Eddie Bullen,
Anslem Douglas, Liberty Silver & other performers. George Weston Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St.
416-872-1111. $40, $30.
— 8:00: Singing Studio of Deborah Staiman. Feast of Show Tunes. Broadway classics
from the students of the studio. Church of the
Transfiguration, 111 Manor Rd. E. 416-4839532. $15.
— 9:00: Mercer Union. Music in Alternative
Spaces. Tim Hecker and GLN: Maura Doyle and
Tony Romano. 37 Lisgar St. 416-536-1519.
Free.
— 9:30: Swamperella. Cajun Dance. 8:30pm
lesson. Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W.
416-588-9227. $8.
Monday June 19
— 12:15: Music Mondays. Allison Lynn,
soprano, William Shookhoff, piano. Works by
Schubert, Head, O’Driscoll & others. Church of
the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Square. 416-5984521 ex3. $5 suggested donation.
— 8:00: Sharron Matthews. Sharron’s Party.
Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St. W.
416-531-4635. $15.
Chong-Hua Chen, viola; Peter Cosby, cello & other
performers. St. George’s on-the-Hill, 4600
Dundas St. W. 416-731-3599. $15, $10, $8.
— 3:00: Canadian Royal Heritage Trust.
Their Majesties’ Music. Tunes from royal
operettas, musicals and films to celebrate the
Queen’s 80th. The Governor General’s Horse
Guards Regimental Band; Cpt. Frank J. Merlo,
director. Blessed Sacrament Church, 24 Cheritan
Ave. 416-482-4909. $20.
Sunday June 18
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— 12:00: Harbourfront Centre World
235 Queens Quay W. See June 16.
— 1:30: CAMMAC/McMichael Art Gallery.
Sunday Concert Series. Trio Resonance, flute,
viola and harp in concert. 10365 Islington Ave.,
Kleinburg. 905-893-1121. Admission with
gallery price: $15, $9(sr/st), $25(family).
— 1:30: Spadina Museum Historic House &
Gardens. Music in the Orchard Series. VentElation wind octet. Works from the late 18th and
early 19th centuries. 285 Spadina Rd. 416-3926910. Free.
— 3:00: Alicier Arts Chamber Music.
Countdown to Summer. Bach: Brandenburg
— 3:00: Cara Adams. Some of Our Favourite
Concerto #4; also works by Fauré, Schumann,
Handel-Halvorsen, Ewazen, Hindemith & others. Things. Works by Mozart, Bach, Gershwin &
Phoebe Tsang, Liana Berube, Mark Whale, violin; others. Cara Adams, soprano; Justin Welsh,
baritone; David Smith, accompanist. Trinity-St.
Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-466-3892.
$20 at the door.
— 6:00: Toronto Festival of Persian Classical Music. Pezhvak, Mehvarzan, Sama’a &
Mehr Ava. George Weston Recital Hall, 5040
Yonge St. 416-872-1111. $25.
— 7:30: Marjorie Sparks Voice Studio.
Advanced Students Recital. Heliconian Club, 35
Hazelton Ave. 416-282-7460. $10.
Bishara, instrumentalists; Roula Said, dancer/
musician. Gypsy Co-Op, 815 Queen St. W. 416920-5593. $10.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Back to Ad Index
Etobicoke. 416-410-1570. Free.
— 8:00: Canadian International Scientific
Exchange Program. A Gala Concert. Paul
Brodie, sax; Erica Goodman, harp. 7pm patrons’
reception. The Great Hall, Hart House, 7 Hart
House Circle. 416-978-8849. $20, $50(patrons).
Thursday June 22
— 12:15: Music on the Hill Concert Series.
Bach to Broadway. Albinoni: Adagio for strings
Tuesday June 20
and organ; Lloyd-Webber: Medley from Phantom
— 7:30: Tafelmusik. The Grande Finale.
of the Opera; Bach: Toccata Adagio and Fugue in
Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and
C. Joyce Lai, violin; Ian Clarke, violin/viola; Robin
Tafelmusik Orchestras and Choirs. Grace Church Davis, organ. St. John’s York Mills Anglican
on-the-hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-964-9562.
Church, 19 Don Ridge Dr. 416-225-6611. Free.
Free; max 2 tickets per person available as of
June 12 at Tafelmusik box office 427 Bloor St.
W.
— 7:30: Thornhill Community Band. Concert. Corners, Brampton. 416-874-2300. Free.
Mel Lastman Square, 5100 Yonge St. 416-223- — 7:00: Gamelan Gong Sabrang. 5th
7152. Free.
Anniversary Concert. Wiryawan Pajmonojati,
— 8:00: CONTACT/Amnesty International.
director. Indonesian Consulate, 129 Jarvis St.
Mary, Me. Works by Beglarian, Wolman, Cipriani 416-360-4020. Free.
& others. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W.
— 7:00: Harbourfront Centre/City of
416-902-7010. $15, $10(sr/st).
Toronto Parks and Recreation. Summer
— 8:00: Festival Wind Orchestra. SummerMusic in the Garden. Toronto Music Garden, 475
time Pops. Duke Ellington Medley; works by
Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. Free.
Gershwin & others. Gail Klebanoff, guest soloist; — 8:00: Dance Immersion. 2006 Showcase.
Gennady Gefter, conductor. Christ Church Deer
Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 235 Queen’s Quay
Park, 1570 Yonge St. 905-881-4255. $12-$15; W. 416-973-4000. Call for ticket prices. For
$8-$10(st).
— 8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Last — 8:00: Friendly Rich Show. The Lollipop
Night of the Proms. The musical party in the
People. Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W. 416British tradition, with the requisite songs plus
442-2787. $10(advance), $12(door).
others. Gordon Gietz, tenor; The Toronto Men— 8:30: Hugh’s Room. Barra MacNeils. 2261
delssohn Choir, guests; Nicholas McGegan,
conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St.
$30.
416-593-4828. $30-$91.
— 9:00: Association of Improvising Musi— 8:00: Weston Silver Band. Summer
cians Toronto. AIMToronto Interface with
Concert at Little Park. Little Avenue Memorial
Wilbert deJoode. Wilbert de Joode, bass; Jean
Park Bandshell, Weston Rd. 416-249-6553. Free. Martin, drums; Evan Shaw, alto sax; Ryan Driver,
analog synth; Rob Piilonen, flutes; Tim Posgate,
Wednesday June 21
guitar. NOW Lounge, 189 Church St. 416-769— 12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist
2841. PWYC/$15 suggested.
Church. Noonday Organ Recital. Nicholas
Friday June 23
Schmelter, organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-9221167. Free.
— 12:30: St. Andrew’s United Church.
— 2:00 & 8:00: Toronto Symphony Orches- Noonday Organ Recital. William Maddox, organ.
tra. Last Night of the Proms. Roy Thomson Hall. 32 Main St. N., Markham. 905-294-0351. Free.
See June 20. Note Matinée: $25.25-$60.
— 8:00: Beaches Presbyterian Church
— 7:00: Etobicoke Community Concert
Refugee Ministry. The Perilous Chapel. By Lou
Band. Twilight Concert in the Park. John Edward Harrison. Works also by Debussy, Bax and
Liddle, music director. 5pm community picnic.
Piazzolla. Lori Gemmell, harp; Camille Watts,
Applewood Homestead, 450 The West Mall,
flute; Orly Bitov, cello; Erin Donovan, drums;
&
FESTIVAL WIND ORCHESTRA
Gennady Gefter, Conductor
Summertime Pops
Musical selections include:
George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with soloist
Gail Klebanoff, and Duke Ellington Medley.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at 8 p.m.
Christ Church Deer Park
Park, 1570 Yonge Street
X
(at Heath, 2 blocks north of St. Clair,
close to TTC & municipal parking)
Adults $12 in advance, $15 at the door
Students $8 in advance, $10 at the door
To reserve tickets, call 905-881-4255
Fax 416-491-5282
or visit www.festivalwindorchestra.com
33
Angela Rudden, viola; Tom Allen, host. Beaches
Presbyterian Church, 65 Glen Manor Drive. 416699-5871. $25. Proceeds to the church’s
Refugee Fund.
— 9:00: Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto. AIMToronto Interface with
Wilbert deJoode. Wilbert de Joode, bass; Paul
Dutton, vocals; Michel Delage, drums; Michael
Keith & John Wilson, guitar & others. Arraymusic Studio, 60 Atlantic Ave Ste 218. 416-7692841. $15.
Saturday June 24
— 4:00: Pride Toronto. Proud Planet. Canteen
Knockout. Followed by 5:00 Ote a Tane; 5:30
Fubuki Daiko; 7:00 Maza Meze; 8:00 autorickshaw. TD Canada Trust North Stage, Church St.
near Gloucester. 416-927-7433. Free.
— 5:30: Pride Toronto. Dyke Day Afternoon.
Betty; followed by: 6:30 The Cliks; 7:30 Bitch
and the Exciting Conclusion. Labatt’s South Stage,
Church St. north of Carlton. 416-927-7433. Free.
Shakespeare in Love. Music inspired by Shakespeare by Weber, Arne, Mendelssohn, Berlioz,
and Sullivan. Jane Archibald, soprano; Nicholas
McGegan, conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 60
Simcoe St. 416-593-4828. $24.50-$68.
— 8:00: Menaka Thakkar Dance Company.
CHITRA: Warrior Princess. Markham Theatre,
171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham. 905-3057469. $25-$30. For complete run see music
theatre listings.
— 9:00: Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto. AIMToronto Interface with
Wilbert deJoode. With Ronda Rindone’s Quorum,
Dan Pencer Quartet, Ken Aldcroft, Rod Campbell,
Brandon Valdivia & others. Arraymusic Studio,
60 Atlantic Ave Ste 218. 416-769-2841. $15.
— 9:30: Pride Toronto. The Nylons. TD
Canada Trust Stage, Church St. near Gloucester.
416-927-7433. Free.
Sunday June 25
416-927-7433. Free.
— 3:30: Pride Toronto. Our Stories. Tucker
Finn; followed by 4:30 Po’Girl; 5:30 Oh Susanna;
6:30 Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely. TD Canada
Trust North Stage, Church St. near Gloucester.
416-927-7433. Free.
Music in the Garden: From the Fire and the Snow.
Toronto Music Garden, 475 Queens Quay W.
416-973-4000. Free.
— 4:30: Christ Church Deer Park. Jazz
Vespers. Barlow Brass and Drums. 1570 Yonge
St. 416-920-5211. Free; donations welcome.
Queen St. W. 416-920-5593. $10.
Op.5, #4; Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano,
Op. 96; Debussy: Piano Trio in G. Julie Kerekes,
Gretchen Paxson, violin; Tricia Balmer, cello;
Meri Gec, Marcia Beach, piano. 40 Orchard View
Blvd. 416-393-7610. Free.
— 7:00: City of Brampton Concert Band.
Summer Concert in the Park. Gage Park, corner
of Wellington and Main Sts, Brampton. 905-4510174. Free.
Music in the Garden: Brass Tacks I. True North
Brass. Toronto Music Garden, 475 Queens Quay
W. 416-973-4000. Free.
— 7:00: St. Jude’s Celebration of the Arts.
Montreal Guitar Trio. St. Jude’s Anglican Church,
160 William St., Oakville. 905-844-3972. $28.
Monday June 26
Friday June 30
— 8:00: Harbourfront Centre/TD Canada
!$7HOLE.OTE-AY/5PDF0— 12:15: Music
Mondays. Marty Smith,
Trust Downtown Jazz Festival. Seu Jorge.
organ, Daniel Kushner, violin, Eric Morin, drums. Brazilian samba soul guitarist/vocalist. 235
Works by Bach, Evans, Brubeck & others. Church Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. $21.50(adof the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Square. 416-598vance), $25(day of).
4521 ex3. $5 suggested donation.
Saturday July 01
— 3:00: Kristian Alexander. Annual Recital.
By students from the studio of Kristian Alexander. Remenyi House of Music Concert Hall, 210 Routes 2006 Festival. Power of Place.
Bloor St. W. 416-961-3111. Free (space limited). Performers include The Dears, Jason Collett, Les
Batinses, Mother & Ndidi Onukwulu. 235
— 4:00: Thornhill Community Band. Concert. Taste of Asia, Market Village Indoor Stage, Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. Free.
Pacific Mall, 4300 Steeles Ave. E. 416-223Sunday July 02
7152. Free.
— 7:30: Oakville Children’s Choir. Rhapso- — 12:00: Harbourfront Centre World
Routes 2006 Festival. Power of Place.
dy! Bon Voyage Concert. Senior Choir; Glenda
Performers include The Refugee All Stars,
Crawford, conductor. St. Simon’s Anglican
Amadou & Mariam, Ska Cubano & CéU. 235
Church, 1450 Lichfield Rd., Oakville. 905-337Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. Free.
7104. Donation.
— 8:30. Sisters of Sheynville. A Night of
Yiddish Swing, Klezmer and Jazz. Trane Studio,
964 Bathurst St. 416-588-9227. $8.
Music in the Garden: Musica Franca. Chaos and
Eros. Toronto Music Garden, 475 Queens Quay
W. 416-973-4000. Free.
— 7:00: YouthCue. Grand Concert and Live
Recording. 300-voice youth choir and orchestra.
Randolph Edwards, conductor. Hammerson Hall,
Living Arts Centre, 4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga. 905-306-6000. $7.50, $5(grps 10+).
Proceeds benefit The Dam Youth Drop-In Centre
and The Compass.
Monday July 03
Routes 2006 Festival. Power of Place. 235
Queens Quay W. See July 2.
— 12:15: Music Mondays. Sang-Joon Park,
baroque flute; Borys Medicky, harpsichord.
Church of the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Square.
416-598-4521 ex3. $5 suggested donation.
Tuesday July 04
— 8:00: Weston Silver Band. Summer
Concert at Little Park. Little Avenue Memorial
Park Bandshell, Weston Rd. 416-249-6553.
Free.
Wednesday July 05
— 7:00: Etobicoke Community Concert
Band. Twilight Concert in the Park. John Edward
Liddle, music director. Applewood Homestead, 450
The West Mall, Etobicoke. 416-410-1570. Free.
— 8:00: St. Luke’s Anglican Church. South
Wales Choir in Concert. Welsh classics, hymns,
ballads and music theatre pieces. Ysgol Tre-Gib
School Choir from Llandeilo; David Lyn Rees,
piano; William Rees, baritone; Conway Morgan,
music director. 1371 Elgin St., Burlington. 905639-7643. $10.
Tuesday June 27
— 2:00 & 7:00: Burlington Footnotes & Co.
— 1:30: Spadina Museum Historic House & Gotta Sing Gotta Sing. Celebrating Seniors
Gardens. Music in the Orchard Series: Annual
Month. Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts,
Strawberry Festival. Jamie Thompson, flute. 285 130 Navy St., Oakville. 905-815-2021. $17.50,
Spadina Rd. 416-392-6910. $3.
$15(grps 20+).
— 3:00: TSO. Shakespeare in Love. Roy Thomson — 2:30: Alchemy. An Hour of Chamber Music.
Hall. See June 24.
Handel: Sonata in G Op.5, #4; Beethoven: Sonata
— 3:00: Pride Toronto. Alterna-Queer: The
for violin and piano, Op. 96; Debussy: Piano Trio
Pride Alternative. Dance Yourself to Death;
in G. Julie Kerekes, Gretchen Paxson, violin;
followed by 3:30 Galaxy; 4:00 Syntonics; 4:30
Tricia Balmer, cello; Meri Gec, Marcia Beach,
Procon; 5:00 Dandi Wind; 6:00 Kids on TV; 7:00 piano. New Horizons Tower, 1140 Bloor St. W.
Crackpuppy; 8:00 Ginger Coyote; 9:00 Theo and 416-536-6111. Free.
the Skyscrapers; 10:00 Erase Errata. Alexander
Wednesday June 28
Parkette Stage, Yonge St. at Alexander. 416— 2:00: Burlington Footnotes & Co. Gotta
927-7433. Free.
Sing Gotta Sing. See June 27.
— 3:00: Pride Toronto. Freezone. Jenni
Jabour; followed by 4:00 Moses Revolution; 6:00
Thursday June 29
Transcendence Gospel Choir; 7:00 Fubuki Daiko;
8:00 Dieu Donne; 9:00 Deep Dickollective. Paul — 2:00: Northern District Library. Alchemy:
An Hour of Chamber Music. Handel: Sonata in G
Kane Parkette Stage, Wellesley St. at Church.
Grand Night of Music II
A concert in celebration
of the restoration of St. Rose of Lima Church
3216 Lawrence Ave. E., SCARBOROUGH
(1 block east of McCowan Road)
Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 7:30p.m.
Solo, Choral and Orchestral classical repertoire
with selections from Mozart’s Requiem
For tickets please call (416) 438-6729
All proceeds towards the restoration fund.
34
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Thursday July 06
Music in the Garden: An Evening with Aruna
Narayan. Toronto Music Garden, 475 Queens
Quay W. 416-973-4000. Free.
— 8:00: Harbourfront Centre/Music Africa.
Salif Keita. Malian Afro-pop and world fusion
music. 235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000.
$26.75(advance), $30(day of).
— 8:30: tiger princess dance projects/
REAson d’etre productions. Scarlett’s Room.
CONCERT LISTINGS
Further Afield
Plans change!
Always call ahead to confirm details
with presenters.
For concerts Toronto & nearby PLEASE SEE PAGE 28
In this issue: Barrie, Belleville, Brantford, Campbellford, Cobourg, Creemore, Drayton,
Dundas, Fergus, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener, Leith, Lewiston NY, London,
Newmarket, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Orangeville, Oshawa, Penetanguishene, Peterborough, St. Jacobs, Sharon, Stratford, Sudbury, Waterford and Waterloo.
Thursday June 01
— 7:30: Perimeter Institute. Superstringquartets Series: Shanghai String Quartet. Jiang:
Selections from “China Song”; Barber: Quartet,
Op. 11; Ravel: Quartet in F. Mike Lazaridis
Theatre of Ideas, 31 Caroline St. N., Waterloo.
519-883-4480. $36, $20(st).
— 8:00: Kitchener Waterloo Symphony.
Last Night of the Proms. The Centre in the
Square, 101 Queen St. N., Kitchener. See June
2.
— 8:00: Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.
A Personal Collection. Musical surprises & guest
appearances to mark conductor Michael Reason’s
final appearance. Hamilton Place, Summers Lane,
Hamilton. 905-526-7756. $32-$62, $26$57(sr), $10(st 19-29), $5(up to 19).
— 8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber
Orchestra. A Nordic Smorgasbord. Gade: Violin
Concerto in d, Op. 56; Larsson: Lyric Fantasy, Op.
54; Nielsen: Little Suite for Strings, Op. 1;
Friday June 02
Roman: Overture in g; Sibelius: Suite Migonne,
— 2:00: Shaw Festival. High Society. Music & Op. 98A. Phoebe Tsang, violin; Graham Coles,
lyrics by Cole Porter; book by Arthur Kopit.
conductor. Maureen Forrester Recital Hall,
Camilla Scott, Dan R. Chameroy, Patty Jamieson, Wilfrid Laurier University, 85 University Ave. W.,
Jay Turvey, performers; Kelly Robinson, director; Waterloo. 519-744-3828. $19, $14(sr/st),
Paul Sportelli, musical director. Festival Theatre, $5(eyeGO), free(under 10).
10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
— 8:00: Showplace Performance Centre.
$22-$86. 800-511-7429. For complete run see Hot Licks and Lightfoot. Acoustic hot swing and
Gordon Lightfoot tribute. Danny Bronson, Michael
— 8:00: Kitchener Waterloo Symphony.
Graham, Richard Simpkins, Allan Fehrenback,
Last Night of the Proms. Flags and patriotic
performers. Showplace, 290 George St. N.,
clothing encouraged! Brian Jackson, conductor.
Peterborough. 705-742-7089 ex.15. $20.
The Centre in the Square, 101 Queen St. N.,
— 8:00: Tasa. World music. Ravi Naimpally,
Kitchener. 800-265-8977. $15-$50.
tabla & other performers. Mad & Noisy Gallery,
— 8:00: Musica St. James. Silent Movie and
154 Mill St., Creemore. 705-466-5555.
Organ Improvisation. Kirkland Adsett, organ. St.
Sunday June 04
James Anglican Church, 137 Melville St.,
Dundas. 905-627-1424. Admission by dona— 12:30: Kingston Symphony. Meet
tion.
Beethoven. City Park, between Bagot and King
— 8:00: Orangeville Music Theatre. Kiss
Sts, Kingston. 613-546-9729. Free.
Me, Kate. Orangeville Town Hall Opera House,
— 2:00: Guelph Chamber Choir. Songfest
87 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-942-3423.
2006: Pops ‘n’ Roots. Popular music and folk
$24. For complete run see music theatre listings. songs. Kathryn Elton, vocals; Christopher Dawes
& Alison MacNeil, piano; Gerald Neufeld,
Saturday June 03
conductor & other performers. River Run Centre,
— 2:00: Stratford Festival. South Pacific.
35 Woolwich St., Guelph. 519-763-3000. $15,
Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar
$10(st), $5(eyeGO).
Hammerstein II. Avon Theatre, 99 Downie St.,
— 3:00: Upper Canada Clarinet Choir.
Stratford. 800-567-1600. Call for ticket
Summer Music. Reich: New York Counterpoint;
prices. For complete run see music theatre
Tchaikovsky: Finale from the Violin Concerto;
listings.
Jacob: Concertino; Smallman: suite. Zoltan
— 2:00 & 8:00: Drayton Festival Theatre.
Anne of Green Gables. 33 Wellington St. S.,
Drayton. 519-638-5555. $29-$36. For
— 7:30: Oshawa Little Theatre. Anne of
Green Gables, the Musical. By Norman Campbell.
Youth group production. 62 Russett Ave., Oshawa. 905-723-0282. Call for ticket prices. For
Music Society. James Campbell, Clarinet.
KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-1673. $20, $15(sr), $10(st).
— 8:00: Stratford Festival. Oliver! Music &
lyrics by Lionel Bart. Festival Theatre, 55 Queen
St., Stratford. 800-567-1600. $28.75$117.30. For complete run see music theatre
listings.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Back to Ad Index
3 dances: Rouge Stain, Moss and Dusk Grey.
Bobbi Chen, Susanne Chui, Kate Holden & other
performers. Winchester Street Theatre, 80
Winchester St. 416-366-7723. $16(adv),
$20(door), $14(sr/st/CADA). For complete run
Kalman, soloist. St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 1140
King St. W., Hamilton. 905-522-7773. $15,
$10(sr), $8(st).
— 7:00: Gleaners Food Bank. The Cadillac
Showband. 6pm silent auction prior to raise funds
for the food bank. Empire Theatre, 321 Front St.,
Belleville. 613-969-0099. $22.
Music Society. WindFest II. Turner: Horn
Quintet; Mozart: Serenade in Eflat; Damase: 17
Variations for Woodwind Quintet; Beethoven:
Quintet. Olena Klycharova, piano. KWCMS Music
Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-8861673. $15, $10(sr), $8(st).
Tuesday June 06
— 2:00: King’s Wharf Theatre. Nunsense. By
Dan Goggin. 97 Jury Dr., Penetanguishene.
705-549-5555. $29-$36. For complete run see
Friday July 07
Routes 2006 Festival/Now Magazine.
Toronto Electronic Music Festival. Three day
festival includes performances by Konono N°1,
Super Collider, Mark de Clive-Lowe & others.
235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. Free.
— 3:00: Hastings and Prince Edward
Children’s Chorus. 20th Anniversary Concert.
Rudolf Heijdens, conductor. St. Matthews United
Church, 25 Holloway St., Belleville. 613-9621232. $15.
Music Society. Windfest III. Beethoven:
Quintet; Mozart: Serenade in c; Bassoon Quintet;
Poulenc: Trio; Sowash: Audubon for Wind Octet.
Heidi Gallas, piano. KWCMS Music Room, 57
Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-1673. $15,
$10(sr), $8(st).
Monday June 12
Music Society. Music of Rick Sowash. Hristo
Popov, violin; Yoonie Choi, cello; Joseph Rosen,
clarinet; Bella Tsend, piano. KWCMS Music
Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-8861673. $20, $15(sr), $10(st).
Wednesday June 07
Wednesday June 14
— 2:00 Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts. Stardust Follies. Broadway-style songdance and comedy revue with numbers from the
‘20s to the present. John Dimon, director. 88
Dalhousie St, Brantford. 519-758-8090, 800265-0710. $32.50 For complete run see music
theatre listings.
— 7:30: Theatre Cambrian. Oklahoma! By
Rodgers & Hammerstein. Sudbury Theatre
Centre, 170 Shaughnessy St., Sudbury. 705524-7317. $18-$23. For complete run see
Music Society. Chamber Concert. Fauré: Piano
Quartet; Handel: Passacaglia; Shostakovich:
Piano Quintet; Piazzolla: Tango for Cello/Piano.
Alexander Tselyakov, piano; Oleg Pokhanovsky,
violin; Misha Pokhanovsky, viola; Thomas Wiebe,
cello. KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W.,
Waterloo. 519-886-1673. $25, $20(sr),
$15(st).
Friday June 09
— 7:00: Oriana Singers. Annual Fundraiser.
Concert Hall at Victoria Hall, 55 King St. W.,
Cobourg. 905-372-2210. $30.
Saturday June 10
— 7:30: Opera Bel Canto of South Simcoe.
Operatic Gala Showcase. Excerpts from Il
Trovatore, La Traviata, Carmen, The Pearl
Fishers, Nabucco & others. Guests: Lorena
Tosoni, Ani Babayan, Monica Baz, Michael
Nasato & others; opera chorus and orchestra;
Valentin Bogaluhov, piano; David Varjabed, artistic
director. First Christian Reformed Church of Barrie,
33 Shirley Ave., Barrie. 705-435-2493. $30.
— 7:30: Perimeter Institute. Pushing the
Perimeter Series: Quadraphonic: Xenakis Tribute.
Multi- media, multi venue celebration of the
music of Xenakis. Xenakis: Tetras; Harley:
Spatial Work for String Quartets (world
première); Reich: Triple Quartet; Mozart: Adagio
from Dissonance Quartet K. 465 arranged for
displaced quartets. Penderecki String Quartet,
Lafayette String Quartet, Rocca String Quartet.
Also Late Night Program: Atrium. Mike Lazaridis
Theatre of Ideas and Perimeter Institute Atrium,
31 Caroline St. N., Waterloo. 519-883-4480.
$20, $15(st).
Sunday June 11
— 2:00: Sweet Water Country Music
Series. Sweet Water Band & Friends. Victoria
Hall Concert Hall, 55 King St. W., Cobourg.
905-372-2210. $16.05.
Thursday June 15
— 8:00: Danny Michel. CD Release Concert.
Gordon Best Theatre, 216 Hunter St. W.,
Peterborough. 705-742-7469. $12(advance),
$15(door).
— 8:30: Aron Cinema. Josh Finlayson and Andy
Maize. Josh Finlayson, vocals, guitar, piano; Andy
Maize, vocals, trumpet, guitar. 54 Bridge St. E.,
Campbellford. 705-653-5446. $15.
Saturday June 17
— 7:30: Friends of Leith Church. Where are
the Songs We Sung? Songs of Noel Coward and
Ivor Novello. Jesse Clark, baritone; Lindsay Hunt,
soprano; Peter Tiefenbach, piano/narrator. Leith
Church, Leith. 519-371-5316. $ 20.
— 7:30: Waterford Old Town Hall Assoc/
Brantford Symphony Orchestra. Pop Goes
the Music: Rondeau Brass Quintet. Pops and
cabaret music. 76 Main St., Waterford. 519443-6598. $20.
— 8:00: Centenary Concert Series. Musical
Explosion. Highlights from Broadway musicals.
Pippa Lock, soprano; Margaret Bardos, mezzosoprano. Guest instrumentalists. Centenary
United Church, 24 Main St. W., Hamilton. 905526-1147. $20.
— 8:00: Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.
An Evening with Michael Burgess. With the Doug
Riley Trio; Rosemary Thomson, guest conductor.
Hamilton Place, 1 Summers Lane, Hamilton.
905-526-7756. $49-$125. Proceeds to benefit
the orchestra.
Sunday June 18
— 3:00: Tapestry Chamber Choir. European
Tour Preview. Andrew Slonetsky, conductor. St.
35
Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 484 Water St.,
Newmarket. 905-836-8589. $15, $10.
Tuesday June 20
— 2:00: Huron Country Playhouse. Cotton
Patch Gospel: The Greatest Story Ever Retold.
Music, lyrics and score by Harry Chapin. RR#1,
Grand Bend. 519-238-6000. $29-$36. For
Music Society. KW Community Orchestra
Chamber Evening: Mostly Mozart. Mozart: Flute
Quartet; Clarinet Quintet; other works. Virginia
Scarfino, clarinet. KWCMS Music Room, 57
Young St. W., Waterloo. 519-886-1673. $15,
$10(sr), $8(st).
— 8:00: St. Jacobs Country Playhouse.
Cats. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. 40
Benjamin Rd, E., St. Jacobs. 519-747-7788.
$29-$36. For complete run see music theatre.
Mahar Quintet; Don Cherry, guest conductor;
Marco Parisotto, conductor. Oshawa Civic
Auditorium, 99 Thornton Rd. S., Oshawa. 905579-6711. $44.
Friday June 30
— 12:15: Viola Camp Concert. Barnes:
Lamentations of Jeremiah; Ridout: Ballade #1;
Messiaen: Louange à l’Eternite de Jésus; Lutoslawski: Dance Preludes. Douglas Perry, viola;
Sydney Bulman-Fleming, piano. The Chapel, First
United Church, 16 William St. W., Waterloo.
519-743-8946. Freewill donation.
Sunday July 02
— 2:00: Viola Camp Concert. Bruch: Romance; Mozart: Kegelstadt Trio. James Legge,
viola; Sydney Bulman-Fleming, piano; Julia
McFarlande, clarinet. The Chapel, First United
Church, 16 William St. W., Waterloo. 519743-8946. Freewill donation.
Tuesday July 04
Anne of Green Gables. Kids on Broadway.
Adapted by Donald Harron; music by Norman
Campbell; lyrics by Harron & Campbell. June 2,3:
7:30; June 4: 2:00. The Assembly Hall, 1 Colonel
Samuel Smith Park Dr. 416-237-9738. $15.
Annual Recital. Vibe Dance and Fitness
Studio. June 3-4: 10:30am, 2:30, 6:30. Toronto
Wednesday June 21
Centre Main Stage, 5040 Yonge St. 416-872— 2:00 & 8:00: Georgian Theatre Festival.
1111. $35, $30.
A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. Written by Dean
Belly Dance Showcase. Freddy’s Dance
Regan. Meaford Opera House, 12 Nelson St. E.,
Academy. June 11: 2:00 & 7:00. Toronto CenMeaford. 519-538-3569. $25-$29. For
tre Studio Theatre, 5040 Yonge St. 416-872complete run see music theatre listings.
2006 Showcase. Dance Immersion. June
— 2:00: Fergus Theatre Festival. I Do! I Do! 22-24: 8:00; June 24: 3:00. Harbourfront Centre 1111. $15.
Fergus Grand Theatre, 244 St. Andrew St. W.,
Theatre, 235 Queen’s Quay W. 416-973-4000. Bye Bye Birdie. Brampton Theatre School
Young Company. June 9-10: 7:30; June 10Fergus. 519-843-3414. $20. For complete run Call for ticket prices.
11: 2:00. Heritage Theatre, 86 Main St. N.,
A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. Georgian Brampton. 905-874-2800. $16, $12(sr/st).
Friday June 23
Theatre Festival. Written by Dean Regan.
Cats. St. Jacobs Country Playhouse. Music
June 21-July 1, various times. Meaford Opera
— 7:30: Sharon Temple. Peace Lights the
by Andrew Lloyd Webber. June 20-July 7, variHouse,
12
Nelson
St.
E.,
Meaford.
519-538Way. Sharlene Wallace, harp. Cocktail reception
ous times. 40 Benjamin Rd, E., St. Jacobs. 5193569.
$25-$29.
and lighting displays. 18974 Leslie St., Sharon.
747-7788. $29-$36.
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To
905-478-2389. $50.
The Forum. Civic Light Opera Co. Music & CHITRA: Warrior Princess. Menaka
Monday June 26
lyrics by Sondheim. David Haines, Joe Cascone, Thakkar Dance Company. June 2-3: 8:00
— 2:00 & 8:00: Toronto All-Star Big Band. Larry Westlake, Clinton Somerton & others. June Premiere Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre,
207 Queen’s Quay W. 416-973-4000. $25-$30.
1-3, 8-10: 8:00; June 7: 7:00; June 4,10,11:
Artpark Concert. Artpark Amphitheatre, 450
2:00. Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall June 24: 8:00 Markham Theatre, 171 Town
South 4th St., Lewiston, NY. 416-755-4375.
Centre Blvd., Markham. 905-305-7469. $25Dr. 416-755-1717. $20; $17.50 (May 25, 31,
$15-$27.50.
$30.
June 1, 7, 8).
Tuesday June 27
Cotton Patch Gospel: The Greatest Story
Anne of Green Gables, the Musical. OsEver Retold. Huron Country Playhouse.
— 7:30: Amabile Choirs. Dreams Come True. hawa Little Theatre. By Norman Campbell.
Music, lyrics and score by Harry Chapin. June 20Junior Amabile Singers. New St. James Presby- Youth group production. June 1-4; 8-10: 7:30;
July 1, various times. RR#1, Grand Bend. 519terian Church, 280 Oxford St. E., London. 419- June 4: 2:00. 62 Russett Ave., Oshawa. 905238-6000. $29-$36.
641-6795. $15, $12(sr), $10(st).
723-0282. $10.
Hair. CanStage. Book & lyrics by Gerome
Wednesday June 28
Anne of Green Gables. Drayton Festival
Ragni and James Rado; music by Galt MacDerTheatre.
June
1-10,
various
times.
33
Welling— 7:30: Oshawa-Durham Symphony
mot. To June 17, various times & dates. Bluma
ton St. S., Drayton. 519-638-5555. $29-$36.
Orchestra. Jazz it Up. Bernstein, Gershwin,
Appel Theatre, 27 Front St. E. 416-368-3110.
Duke Ellington, and other music. Guests: Bill
$36-$89, $51(sr), $26(under 30).
High Society. Shaw Festival. Music & lyrics
by Cole Porter; book by Arthur Kopit. Camilla
Scott, Dan R. Chameroy, Patty Jamieson, Jay
Turvey, performers; Kelly Robinson, director; Paul
Sportelli, musical director. Various times and
dates. 800-511-7429. Call for ticket prices.
I Do! I Do! Fergus Theatre Festival. June
21-24, various times. Fergus Grand Theatre, 244
for teens (13-19) July 4 to 28
St. Andrew St. W., Fergus. 519-843-3414. $20.
FEATURING
group/individual vocal instruction
Kiss Me, Kate. Orangeville Music Theadramatic coaching scene study
tre. June 2-10, various times. Orangeville Town
dance instruction
Hall Opera House, 87 Broadway, Orangeville.
fully-staged public performance
519-942-3423. $24.
Mystical Transformations: Expressions of
Gender Roles in Asian Dance. CanAsian
Dance. June 8-10: 8:00; June 11: 3:00. Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 235 Queen’s Quay W.
416-973-4000. $28, $23(sr/st/CADA).
Nunsense. King’s Wharf Theatre. By Dan
To register or book an audition
Goggin. June 6-June 24, various times. 97 Jury
call (416) 588-5845
Dr., Penetanguishene. 705-549-5555. $29-$36.
LISTINGS
Opera
Music Theatre
Dance
l
36
Back to Ad Index
— 12:15: Viola Camp Concert. KitchenerWaterloo Symphony Viola Section. The Chapel,
First United Church, 16 William St. W., Waterloo. 519-743-8946. Freewill donation.
Friday July 07
— 12:15: Viola Camp Concert. Viola Campers
Performance. The Chapel, First United Church, 16
William St.W., Waterloo. 519-743-8946.
Freewill donation.
Oklahoma! Theatre Cambrian. By Rodgers
& Hammerstein. June 7-24, various times. Sudbury Theatre Centre, 170 Shaughnessy St., Sudbury. 705-524-7317. $18-$23.
Oliver! Stratford Festival. Music & lyrics by
Lionel Bart. To Oct. 29, various dates and times.
Festival Theatre, 55 Queen St., Stratford. 800567-1600. Call for ticket prices.
Pump it Up! All That Dance. Annual Recital.
June 11: 2:00 & 7:00. George Weston Recital
Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 416-872-1111. $25.
Ragtime. Encore Entertainment. Music &
lyrics by Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens; musical direction by Ellen Kestenberg. June 1-3: 8:00;
June 4: 2:00. Studio Theatre, Toronto Centre for
the Arts, 5040 Yonge St. 416-733-0558.
$30(eve), $28 (mat).
Red Sky Performance: Shimmer. DanceWorks. John Gzowski, composer; Sandra
Laronde, artistic director. June 15-17: 8:00.
Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 235 Queen’s
Quay W. 416-973-4000. $25, $16(sr/st/
CADA/WIFT/SCDS).
Scarlett’s Room. tiger princess dance
projects/REAson d’etre productions. 3
dances: Rouge Stain, Moss and Dusk Grey.
Bobbi Chen, Susanne Chui, Kate Holden & other performers. July 6-8: 8:30. Winchester
Street Theatre, 80 Winchester St. 416-3667723. $16(adv), $20(door), $14(sr/st/CADA).
Season Finale: Edith & Eliza; undercurrents; Running South, Facing North. Series 8:08. Susan Kendal, Lindsay Zier-Vogel,
Meghan MacNeil & Ilona Dougherty, choreography/dance. June 1-3: 8:08. Winchester Street
Theatre, 80 Winchester St. 416-504-6429
ex.40. $18, $14(sr/st/CADA).
Song & Dance. Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Don
Black. Louise Pitre, Rex Harrington, Evelyn Hart,
performers; Wayne Sleep, choreography; Trudy
Moffatt, director/producer. Extended to June 18.
Danforth Music Hall, 147 Danforth Ave. 416870-8000. $49.75-$89.75, $25(limited st/rush/
handicapped + escorts).
South Pacific. Stratford Festival. Music by
Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
June 3-Oct. 28, various dates and times. Avon
Theatre, 99 Downie St., Stratford. 800-5671600. Call for ticket prices.
Stardust Follies. Sanderson Centre. Broadway-style song-dance and comedy revue with
numbers from the ‘20s to the present. John Dimon, director. June 7, 21, 28: 2:00. 88 Dalhousie St, Brantford. 519-758-8090. $32.50.
The Lord of the Rings. Mirvish Productions. Lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew
Warchus; music by A.R. Rahman and Värttinä
with Christopher Nightingale. To Sep 24. Princess of Wales Theatre, 300 King St. W. 416872-1212. $78-$125.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
LISTINGS: Jazz Clubs
1055 Restaurant and Bar
1055 Yonge St. 416-482-8485
Alleycatz
2409 Yonge St. 416-481-6865
Every Mon Salsa Night. Every Tue Chris
Plock. Every Wed Jasmin Bailey and Co. Every Thu Peppa Seed. Every Sun Comedy Dinner
Show with “Archie” McFarlane of Jazz Fm.
Jun 2 Groove Matrix. Jun 3 Soular. Jun 9 Lady
Kane. Jun 10 Soular. Jun 16 Groove Matrix.
Jun 23Groove Matrix. Jun 24 Groove Matrix.
Jun 30 Lady Kane.
Arbor Room
Hart House @ the University of Toronto, 7 Hart
House Circle. 416-978-2452
Ben Wicks
424 Parliament 416-961-9425
www.benwickspub.com
Black Swan
154 Danforth Avenue 416-469-0537
Boiler House
55 Mill St. 416-203-2121
Every Fri Kevin Clark with Elizabeth Shepherd.
Cameron House
408 Queen St. West. 416-703-0811
C’est What
67 Front St. E
Every Wed Hot Fo’ Ghandi
Every Sat (matinee) The Hot Five Jazzmakers
Cervejaria Downtown
842 College St.
Every Wed The Jay Danley Quintet.
Chick N’Deli
744 Mount Pleasant Rd. 416-489-3363
www.chickndeli.com
Every Tue Jam Night. Jun 1, 2, 3 Decadance. Jun
5 Advocats Big Band. Jun 8,9,10 Table 69. Jun 15
Groove Matrix. Jun 16-17 Grafitti Park. Jun 19
George Lake Big Band. Jun 22-24 Nightfly.
Le Commensal
655 Bay St.. 416-596-9364
Music Fridays & Saturdays 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
No Cover Charge. Jun 2 Conrad Gayle. Jun 3 Leon
Kingstone. Jun 9 Coleman Tinsley. Jun 10 Beverly
Taft. Jun 16 Dan Farrell. Jun 17 Chris McKhool.
Jun 23 Double A Jazz Trio. Jun 24 Warren Greig.
Gate 403
403 Roncesvalles 416-588-2930
www.gate403.com
Jun 1 The Peddlers. Jun 2 Choir Girlz Quintet Root
Music. Jun 3 Bill Heffeman and His Friends, Cindy
Ashton Jazz Band. Jun 5 Scott Kemp Jazz Quartet.
Jun 6 James Thomson and Julian Fauth Blues Duo.
Jun 7 Michael Boguski Piano Solo. Jun 8 Roberto
Rosenman Gypsy Jazz. Jun 9 David Rotundo and
Jimmy Helverson Blues Duo. Jun 10 Bill Heffeman
and his Friends. Jun 11 Darryl Orr Jazz Band. Jun
13 James Thomson and Julian Fauth Blues Duo. Jun
14 Michael Boguski Piano Solo. Jun 15 Mr. Robert
Hodgson art Opening Night, Kevin Laliberte Flamenco
Guitar Solo. Jun 16 Sweet Derrick Blues Band. Jun
17 Bill Heffeman and his Friends, Sum of 5ive. Jun
18 Peter Hill Jazz Duo. Jun 19 Steve Bijakowski
Jazz Band. Jun 20 James Thomson and Julian
Fauth Blues Duo. 21 Michael Boguski Piano Solo. Jun
22 Marieve Herington Jazz Combo. Jun 23 Amanda
Martinez Latin Jazz Duo. Jun 24 Bill Heffeman and
his Friends, Jen Sagar Trio. Jun 25 Elizabeth Shephard Jazz Duo. Jun 26 John Russon Jazz Band.
Jun 27 James Thomson and Julian Fauth Blues Duo.
Jun 28 Michael Boguski Solo Piano Solo, Ola Turkiewicz Jazz Band. Jun 29 Patrice Barbarchon Jazz
Quintet. Jun 30 Laura Hubert Jazz Trio.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Back to Ad Index
Graffitti’s Bar and Grill
170 Baldwin St. 416-506-6699
Every Wed. 6-8 James and Jay.
Grasshopper Jazz and Blues Bar
460 Parliament St. 416-323-1210
Grossman’s Tavern
379 Spadina Ave. 416-977-7000
www.grossmanstavern.com
Every Mon Laura Hubert Band. Every Wed Mike
MacDonald Open Stage Jam. Every Sat The Happy Pals. Every Sun Nicola Vaughan Acoustic Jam,
The Nationals with Brian Cober.
Jun 1 The Gladstones. Jun 2 Sandi Marie and Company, Son Roberts. Jun 3 Loose Wires. Jun 10 The
Tone Dogs. Jun 15 Dick Ellis Revival. Jun 16 Sandi
Marie and Under the Bus. Jun 17 Cindy Booth Blues
Band. Jun 23 Julian Fauth. Jun 24 Silverleafs Jazz
Band. Jun 27 Little Blue Devils – New Orleans Jazz.
Jun 28 Mack And Hunt. Jun 29 Bertie and the
Gents. Jun 30 Mike McKenna Blues Band.
Home Smith Bar
The Old Mill, 21 Old Mill Road,
416-236-2641
www.oldmilltoronto.com
Jun 2 Kevin Turcotte Trio. Jun 9 Mark Ucci
Trio. Jun 16 Rob Campbell Duo. Jun 23 Nick
Brownman Ali Trio. Jun 30 Jake Langley Trio.
Hot House Café
Market Square, 416-366-7800
Jazz brunch
Every Sunday, with the Ken Churchill Quartet.
Hugh’s Room
2261 Dundas W., 416-531-6604
www.hughsroom.com
Jun 1 John Gorka. Jun 2 Carlos Del Junco. Jun 3
7th Annual Tin Pan North Songwriters Festival. Jun
4 Kids Just Wanna Rock. Jun 4 Jake Langley. June
6 A 4-Letter Word that Starts with F. Jun 7 Great
Atomic Power. Jun 8 Pork Belly Futures. Jun 9 Far
Flung Folk. Jun 10 Fig For a Kiss. Jun 11 2 Just
Women and 2 Just Men. Jun 13 Nancy Johnson CD
Release. Jun 14 Dk Ibomeka. Jun 15 Sean Bray.
Jun 16 Girls Do Boys. Jun 20 Dave Gunning. Jun
21 Shelly Berger. Jun 22 Barra MacNeils. Jun 23
Elliott Brood. Jun 24 Al St. Louis. Jun 25 Mr. Lahey
and Randy. Jun 27 David Bradstreet. Jun 29 Roots
in the 80’s.
Le Saint Tropez
315 King St. W. 416-591-3600
Live music 7 days a week.
Lula Lounge
1585 Dundas W. 416-588-0307
www.lula.ca
Jun 1 Maryem Tollar. Jun 2 Flamenco Caravan,
Café Cubano. Jun 3 Mapale. Jun 4 Singing
Songs For Righting Wrongs. Jun 6 Nicolas Hernandez. Jun 8-10 Sun Ra Arkestra. Jun 12 City
Idol. Jun 14 Red: A Night Of Live Performance.
Jun 15 Nuno Cristo Presents: Anima Fado and
Voices of Fado. Jun 16 Reza with John Densmore. Jun 17 Rojitas. Jun 18 Rumba Afro cubana! With Hilario Duran and Rojitas. Jun 19 Cuban Five Benefit. Jun 21 Sabor Latin Jazz Band.
Jun 22 Dub Poets Collective. Jun 23 Mujer’s
3rd Annual Fundraiser Party. Jun 24 Ricky Franco. Jun 26-27 Lanzate! Arts and Cultural Festival. Jun 29 Grupo Fantasma. Jun 30 Bomba!
Liberty Bistro and Bar
25 Liberty St. @ Atlantic 416-533-8828
Mezzetta
681 St. Clair Ave. W. 416-658-5687
“Wednesday Concerts in a Café” Sets at 9 and
10:15. Reservations recommended for first set.
Jun 24 Rebecca Enkin, Mike Allen.
37
Mezzrows
1546 Queen St. W. 416-658-5687
Parkdale neighborhood pub featuring jazz and
blues on Saturday afternoons, Sunday evenings,
and a live jam every other Wednesday.
Mod Club Theatre
722 College St. www.themodclub.com
Montreal Bistro
65 Sherbourne. 416-363-0179
www.montrealbistro.com
Jun 1-3 Phil Nimmons Quartet. Jun 5 Jim Galloway’s Echoes of Swing Sextet. Jun 6 Jerry
Quintyne Quartet. Jun 7 Debbie Fleming Quintet.
Jun 8 Barb Gordon Quartet. Jun 9, 10 Manuel
Vlaera Trio. Jun 12 Steve Koven Trio. Jun 13
Michael Hynes Trio. Jun 14 Karen Manion Quintet. Jun 15-17 Peter Appleyard Quintet. Jun 23,
24 Ceder Walton Trio. Jun 26-28 Lew Tabackin
Quartet. Jun 29-Jul 1 George Coleman Quartet.
N’Awlins Jazz Bar and Dining
299 King St. W. 416-595-1958
Every Tues Stacie McGregor. Every Wed
Jim Heinenan Trio. Every Thu Blues Night with
Special Guest Vocalists. Every Fri/Sat All Star
Bourbon Street Band. Every Sun Robi Botos.
Odd Socks at Dovercourt House
805 Dovercourt Rd. 416-537-3337
Swing Dances, Lessons and Concerts.
The Old Mill
21 Old Mill Road, 416-236-2641
Jun 1-3, 5-8 Fifth Avenue. Jun 9 Jim Galloway
and his Wee Big Band.
Orbit Room
508A College St. 416-535-0613
Pilot Tavern
22 Cumberland 416-923-5716
www.thepilot.ca
Jazz every Sunday Afternoon – Laila Biali Trio (twice
a month) and others. Jun 3 Kieran Overs Quartet.
Jun 10 Janis Steprans Quartet. Jun 17 Kevin Turcotte Quartet. Jun 24 Kirk Macdonald Quartet.
The Red Guitar
603 Markham St. 416-913-4586
www.theredguitar.com
Guest Curator: Kenny Kirkwood.
Jun 1 Kenny Kirkwood’s Riverdale Trio, Rich
Brown’s rinsethealgorithm. Jun 2 Rich Brown’s
rinsethealgorithm. Jun 3 Bernie Senensky Quartet.
Jun 4 Vocal Jazz and Cabaret Sundays. Jun 6 Anything But Jazz Tuesdays. Jun 7 Ernesto Cervini
Quartet, Joel Haynes Trio. Jun 8 Kenny Kirkwood’s
ZamCab. Jun 8 Mike Murley Trio. Jun 9 Nancy
Walker Trio. Jun 10 Kevin Turcotte Quartet. Jun 11
Vocal Jazz: Jeanette Lambert and Reg Schwager.
Jun 13 Anything But Jazz: Ainsley McNeaney,
Strange Sisters. Jun 14 Eric St. Laurent Trio, Andrew Downing’s 71 ET. Jun 15 Kenny Kirkwood’s
Kite, Dragons 1976. Jun 16 Ken Vandermark’s C in
C. Jun 17 Jutterstrom Four with Andreas Larson.
Jun 18 Vocal Jazz and Cabaret: Jen Sagar. Jun 20
Anything But Jazz: Kelly Perras, John Millard. Jun
21 Jay Burr’s Tuba Trio, Ryan Oliver Trio. Jun 22
Kenijam. Jun 23 Ted Quinlan Trio. Jun 24 Richard
Underhill Quartet. Jun 25 Corry Sobol’s Poetry Explosion!. Jun 27 Anything But Jazz: AIMT/ Improvised
Music, The Reveries. Jun 28 Christine Bougie Quartet, Michael Bates’ Outside Sources. Jun 29 Tim
Posgate’s Reduction Trio, Robi Botos Trio. Jun 30
Robi Botos Trio, Midnight VIP Jazz Jam Session.
The Reservoir Lounge
52 Wellington 416-955-0887
www.reservoirlounge.com
Every Mon Sophia Perlman and the Vipers. Every
Tues Tyler Yarema and his Rhythm. Every Wed
Bradley and the Bouncers. Every Thu Janice Hagen.
Every Fri Chet Valiant Combo. Every Sat Tory
Cassis.
38
Back to Ad Index
The Rex Jazz and Blues Bar
194 Queen St. W. 416-598-2475
www.therex.ca
Jun 1 Kevin Quain, Andrew Downing Quintet.
Jun 2 Sultans of String, Andrew Downing Quintet.
Jun 3 Ed Vokurka Swing Ensemble, Blue Room,
Carissa Neufeld Trio, Victor Bateman. Jun 4 U-Move
Musical Benefit, Swing Rosie, Steve Kendry. Jun 5
Peter Hill Ensembles, Nathan Hiltz Trio. Jun 6 Exitman, Jazz Jam. Jun 7 Richard Whiteman Trio, Lina
Allemano Four. Jun 8 Kevin Quain, Mike Webster
Octet. Jun 9 Sultans of String, Mike Webster Octet.
Jun 10 Ed Vokurka Swing Ensemble, Lester McLean
Trio, Carissa Neufeld Trio, “Harrison on Harrison”.
Jun 11 Humber College Community Music School
Recital, Swing Rosie, Larra Skye Quintet. Jun 12
Peter Hill Ensembles, John Cheesman Jazz Orchestra. Jun 13 Exitman, Classic Rex Jazz Jam. Jun 14
Richard Whiteman Trio, The Liquidaires. Jun 15
Kevin Quain, Jim Hillman’s Merlin Factor. Jun 16
Sultans of String, Jim Hillman’s Merlin Factor. Jun
17 Ed Vokurka Swing Ensemble, Jerome Godboo
Blues, Carissa Neufeld Trio, Alex Pangman and her
Alleycats. Jun 18 Chris Donnely, Club Django, Swing
Rosie, Trevor Falls. Jun 19 Peter Hill Ensembles,
Paul Read Big Band. Jun 20 Exitman, Classic Rex
Jazz Jam. Jun 21 Richard Whiteman Trio, Rex
Annual Player’s Party (private event). Jun 22 Tim
Hamel Quartet, Metalwood. Jun 23 Hogtown Syncopaters, Christine Bougie, Metalwood, Late Night
Jam. Jun 24 Ed Vokurka Swing Ensemble, Laura
Hubert Band, Chris Hunt Tentet +2, Emilie Claire
Barlow, Late Night Jam. Jun 25 Youanoo, Freeway
Dixieland, Swing Rosie, Artie Roth, Late Night Jam.
Jun 26 Peter Hill, John Macleod’s Rex Hotel Orchestra, Late Night Jam. Jun 27 Exitman, Classic Rex
Jazz Jam, Late Night Jam. Jun 28 Richard Whiteman Trio, Rob McConnell Tentet, Late Night Jam.
Jun 29 Michael Bates and “Outside Sources”, Rob
McConnell Tentet, Late Night Jam. Jun 30 Laila Biali
Trio, Shannon Butcher Trio, Kelly Jefferson, Late
Night Jam.
Safari Bar and Grill
1749 Avenue Rd. 416-787-6584
Every Tues Encore Jazz
Sassafraz
100 Cumberland 416-964-2222
Thu-Sun Washington Savage.
Sat, Sun Roy Patterson Trio.
Spezzo Ristorante
140 York Blvd. Richmond Hill,
905-886-9703
Live jazz Every Thursday.
The Trane Club
964 Bathurst St. 416-913-8197
Wolfgang Puck Grand Café
6300 Fallsview Boulevard Niagara Falls
1-905-354-5000
Zazou
315 King St. W. Live jazz
Every Fri and Sat Elizabeth Shepherd/solo
piano night
ANNOUNCEMENTS, LECTURES, ... ETCETERA
ANNOUNCEMENTS
*June 7 7:00: soundaXis/Goethe-Institut
*June 1-11: soundaXis/New Music Arts
Toronto. City Space & Sound. 2 urban films
Projects/Toronto Urban Studies Centre
with live music performance: Bird on a Wire, a 5(TDSB). Building Music. Multimedia creation
city symphony by Ellen Flanders, 2-screen projecprogram engaging students in composition using tion with live piano by jazz pianist Marilyn Lerner.
sounds from the urban environment. StudentBerlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) by Walproduced soundtracks for architectural imagery
ter Ruttman, with live accompaniment by Marilyn
are on display. MaRS Centre, 101 College St.
Lerner, & Lori Freedman, clarinet. Goethe-Institut,
416-925-3457. Free.
163 King St. W. 416-593-5257. $5(18 yrs +).
*June 1 2:00: soundaXis/Canadian Music
*June 8 7:00: soundaXis/Continuum ConCentre. Re:Sounding: Creating a New Space for temporary Music. Four Lines. City-wide sonic
Canadian Music. Reception to launch exhibit
journey through the urban landscape, via ravines, laneshowcasing architectural proposal for a future
ways, streetcars, subways, etc. with composershome for the Canadian Music Centre. Includes
performers Rob Clutton, Nilan Perera, Sarah Peebles
presentations by architects Paul Raff and Colin
& Barnyard Drama. Check www.continuummusic
Ripley, CMC Executive Director Elisabeth Bihl, & .org for starting points. 416-924-4945. Free.
other special guests. Exhibit runs from June 1 – *June 10 11am: soundaXis/Goethe-Institut
11, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. Chalmers House, 20 St.
Toronto. 108 – Walking Through Tokyo. KinowJoseph St. 416-961-6601. Free.
elt Hall, Goethe-Institut. See June 3.
*June 1 4:00: soundaXis/Subtle Technolo- *June 10 1pm-4pm: RCM Community
gies. Domeworks. Opening of exhibition of exper- School. Free Sample Classes. RCM in Mississauga,
imental media work by Diana Slattery for dome- 850 Enola Ave. 905-891-7944. Rsvp by email to
like spaces. MaRS Centre, 101 College St.
communityschool@rcmusic.ca by June 5.
www.soundaxis.ca Free.
*June 10 2:00: soundaXis. Xenakis, Architect
*June 3 11am: soundaXis/Goethe-Institut
of Chaos. Actress, journalist, author, Nouritza
Toronto. 108 – Walking Through Tokyo. JourMatossian presents, with image and music, a
ney through Tokyo: soundscape by composer
retrospective of one of the most fascinating,
Sarah Peebles, images by artist/architect Chris- creative and controversial figures in music today.
tie Pearson. Contextualized by Urban Deconstruc- MaRS Centre Auditorium, 101 College St. 416tions. Kinowelt Hall, Goethe-Institut, 163 King St. 925-3457, www.soundaxis.ca. Free.
West. 416-593-5257. Free.
*June 3 & 4 11am-8pm: Muhtadi International Drumming Festival. Professional &
community-based drummers, local, national & international, representing drumming traditions from
around the world: African, West Indian, Chinese, First
Nation, East Indian & others. Performances, free
workshops, ethnic food, craft vendors. Queen’s Park
North. 416-504-3786. Free.
*June 3 2:30: Long & McQuade/Zildjian
Cymbals. Exclusive Vault Sale: Zildjian specialists on hand with specially selected models from
the Zildjian Vault, & one-of-a-kind Sound Lab prototypes for sale; Meet & Greet autograph session
with drummer Steve Gadd; 6:00: Clinic with
Steve Gadd. Humber College, 3199 Lakeshore
Blvd. West. 416-588-7886. $10.
*June 6 2:30: soundaXis/Faculty of Architecture Landscape and Design, U of T.
Something Rich and Strange. 1991 BBC documentary film on the life and work of Iannis
Xenakis, introduced by Nouritza Matossian. Lecture Hall, Faculty of Architecture Landscape and
Design, 230 College St. 416-925-3457. Free.
*June 11 1pm-4pm: RCM Community
School. Free Sample Classes. 90 Croatia St.
416-408-2825. Rsvp by email to
communityschool@rcmusic.ca by June 5.
*To June 11: soundaXis/Alliance
Française de Toronto. Xenakis: A Portrait in
Images. Exhibit of all aspects of his work, including biographical information, music, architecture,
writings, performances & friends. Mon-Thurs
9:30am-6pm; Fri 9:30am-3:30pm, Sat 12 noon3:30pm. La Galerie, Alliance Française de Toronto, 24 Spadina Rd. 416-922-2014. Free.
* To June 11: soundaXis. X Marks the Spot.
Spontaneous performances in high-traffic public
spaces throughout soundaXis, spotlighting compositions of Xenakis, Andriessen, Reich & Ueno.
Gregory Oh, ensemble director. 416-925-3457,
www.soundaxis.ca Free.
*June 23-July 2: Toronto Downtown Jazz.
Jazz Art – the Originals. Exhibition of original
“face of the festival” artwork by Barbara Klunder,
created under commission from Toronto Downtown Jazz, beginning in 1998. Pages Art Window, Pages, 256 Queen St. W. 416-598-1447.
*June 24 10am-2pm: Ontario Registered
Music Teachers’ Association (ORMTA),
Toronto Branch. Sale of Used Music. Out-ofprint items, old favourites, new music, choral
music, sheet music, collections, texts, books,
musical white elephant items. St. John’s Norway
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Church, 470 Woodbine Ave. 416-694-5969.
Proceeds will support Branch activities such as
student recitals & scholarships.
*June 24 & 25, 10am-5pm: COC. Public Open
House. Scheduled and self-guided tours; artistic
displays and mini-concerts in the City Room’s
Aerial Amphitheatre; 2 daily presentations of the
COC’s newly commissioned School tour production of Dean Burry’s opera Isis and the Seven
Scorpions. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts,145 Queen St. W. 416-363-6671. Free.
*June 26 8:00: Toronto Alliance for the
Performing Arts. Dora Mavor Moore Awards.
Honouring the creators of over 200 opera, dance
& theatre productions and allied members &
businesses. Winter Garden Theatre, 189 Yonge
St. $60(regular ticket): 416-872-5555,
$160(VIP ticket): 416-536-6468 x27.
*To June 30: Long & McQuade. 50th Anniversary Monster Sale. $2,000,000 scratch &
win event; $50,000 online sweepstakes; special
events every Saturday in June; exclusive limited
edition gear; 6 months’ 0% financing on different
brands each week; great deals throughout the
store. 925 Bloor St. West, Toronto and all other
Long & McQuade locations. 416-588-7886.
LECTURES/SYMPOSIA
*June 3 10am: soundaXis/Institute for
Contemporary Culture (ROM). Music of/in
the City. What is New Music and how does it
speak to a postmodern world? Panelists include:
Jonathan Burston, Rodolphe El-Khoury, Peter
Hatch, Ute Lehrer, Diane Lewis & David Lieberman (moderator). Theatre, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park. 416-586-5524. Free.
*June 3 2:00: soundaXis/Canadian League
of Composers. Exploring New Places for New
Music. Issues arising from presenting new music
in unusual venues. Theatre, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park. 416-925-3457. Free.
*June 4 3:00: McMaster University. The
Tradition of Dhrupad Singing. Lecture-demonstration by Pandit Falguni Mitra (Bettiah Gharana),
with Tapash K. Das on Pakhawaj. Kenneth Taylor
Hall, Rm B135, Main Street West, Hamilton.
905-525-9140 x27289. Free.
*June 7-10: soundaXis/Dept of Architectural Science, Ryerson University. Architecture/Music/Acoustics Conference. International 3day conference: strategies and techniques used by
architects in dealing with sound and ideas borrowed from music; encouraging active engagement with sound in architectural design. Keynote
speakers include: R. Murray Schafer (June 7);
Juhani Pallasmaa (June 8); Bob Essert (June 9);
Bernhard Leitner (June 10). Architecture Bldg,
Ryerson University, 325 Church St. To register:
www.ryerson.ca/amaconf
*June 8-10: soundaXis/University of
Guelph College of Arts, School of Fine Art
& Music/Fields Institute for Research in
Mathematical Sciences/Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. The Creative
and Scientific Legacies of Iannis Xenakis. International symposium uniting researchers and artists/
composers whose works form a part of the
Xenakis legacy. June 8: McKinnon 107, University of Guelph; June 9: Fields Institute, 222 College St., Toronto; June 10: Perimeter Institute,
31 Caroline St. North, Waterloo. 519-824-4120
x52989, www.xenakislegacies.ca
*June 10 4:00: CanAsian Dance/Tribal
Crackling Wind. Cross-Gender Traditions East
and West. Lecture/performance of classical operatic works from China and Italy. Discussion &
examination of histories and present day status of
Music for Young Children® (MYC®) classes
motivate and empower parents and children, nurturing
family bonds and delivering valuable and thoroughly
enjoyable co-learning experiences. Since 1980, MYC has
remained one of the world’s leading music-learning
systems—the only child-centered program to integrate
keyboard, creative movement, rhythm, singing, ear
training, sight-reading, music theory and composition.
MYC helps enhance children’s social development and
learning skills, improve memory and expressiveness,
and bolster confidence and self-esteem.
If you’re considering music education for your child, take
a look at MYC — the music-learning system of choice for
more than 24,000 students throughout North America,
Asia and New Zealand.
To learn more, contact your local MYC teacher:
Kimberly Crawford, BA, MBA,
Certified MYC® Coordinator
k.crawford@myc.com Tel/Fax: 905.780.6482
CONTINUES NEXT PAGE
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piano, voice, sight-singing
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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39
ANNOUNCEMENTS,
ETCETERA
their own version of Wagner’s Ring. For children
entering grades 4 to 6. Mon-Fri, 9am-3:30pm.
Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Centre, 227 Front St.
cross-gender theatre in Asia, with provocative
E. 416-306-2377. $100 (some bursaries avail.)
comparisons to traditions in the west. Features:
*July 4 6:30: RCM. Songwriting 101. ExaminThe Lonely Widow by William Lau; Dal Male il
Bene by Rospigliosi/Abbatini. Harbourfront Centre ing the essential elements that go into the creaTheatre, 231 Queen’s Quay West. For more info tion of a song. First part of interactive workshop
series with composer, songwriter, keyboard play& to register: 416-593-8455. $10, $5(with
er and arranger, John Capek. 90 Croatia St. 416ticket to an evening performance).
408-2825. $50 or all three workshops for $135.
*June 28-30: RCM. Art of Teaching 2006. 3*July 5 6:30: RCM. From Chuck Berry to Bob
day conference designed for music educators of
all disciplines. Share ideas & discover new ways Dylan in a Big Yellow Taxi. Students will write a
to meet the challenges unique to music education. personal prose story & then use it as a database
for creation of a song lyric. Second part of interacDetails: www.rcmusic.ca/artofteaching 90
tive workshop series with John Capek. 90
Croatia St. Single day: $160, 3 days: $375.
Croatia St. 416-408-2825. $50 or all three
workshops for $135.
MASTER CLASSES
*July 6 6:30: RCM. When songs threaten a
*June 4 and June 11 2:30-5:30: Singing
Studio of Deborah Staiman. Master Class in regime. Discussion of the emotional power of
Show Tunes Interpretation; Dramatic Workshop songs: What part do lyrics, melodies & harmonies
in Musical Theatre. Yonge/Eglinton area – call for play in contributing to this power? Third part of
location. 416-483-9532, ww.singingstudio.com interactive workshop series with John Capek. 90
Croatia St. 416-408-2825. $50 or all three
workshops for $135.
WORKSHOPS
*All The King’s Voices. Sight Singing Courses.
*June 2 7:30: Recorder Players’ Society.
Providing amateur singers & others who want to
Recorder and other early instrument players get
learn or improve their musical skills with a
together in small, informal groups and play Renaissance & Baroque music. Church of the Trans- grounding in vocal technique & sight reading.
figuration, 111 Manor Rd. East. 416-224-5830. Level Two: June 6-8, 13-15; Level Three: July 46, 11-13; (Level 4 continues in August).David
*June 3 6:00: Long & McQuade/Zildjian
King, leader. 416-225-2255. $95 each level.
Cymbals. Clinic with drummer Steve Gadd.
*Little Chicken Production. One Hot SumHumber College, 3199 Lakeshore Blvd. West.
416-588-7886. $10. (See Announcements June mer Sing. 8-week summer sing of rock, gospel,
jazz, pop, blues, r&b, hip hop. Bring your voices,
3 2:30 above for sale, Meet & Greet.)
your songs, your instruments. Ian Crowley, direc*June 4 1:30-4:00: Toronto Early Music
Performance Organization. Workshop with tor. Tuesday nights, 7:30-9:30, beginning July 4.
Shannon Purvis-Smith, focusing on instrumental Eastminster United Church, 310 Danforth Ave.
ian.crowley@sympatico.ca $80.
music. Lansing United Church, 49 Bogert Ave.
416-778-7777. $20, members free.
*June 4 2:00: CAMMAC. Reading for voices
and instruments of Beethoven’s Mass in C, conducted by Greg Burton. AGM follows. Elliott Hall,
Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416421-0779. $5(non-members).
*June 21 7:30: Toronto Shapenote Singing from Sacred Harp. Beginners welcome. St.
Stephen-in-the-Fields, 103 Bellevue Ave. 416922-7997 or pleasancecrawford@rogers.com
*June 22-26: Worlds of Music. Famoudou
Konate – From Hand to Hand: the Wassa Kunba!
(Great Joy) Drumming Experience. 416-9443589. $110(session), $400(all 4 days).
*June 26 7:30: Toronto Early Music Centre. Vocal Circle. Recreational reading of early
choral music. Ability to read music desirable but
not essential. 12 Millbrook Cres. 416-920-5025.
Members free, $5(non-members).
*June 27 8:00: Toronto Folk Singers’ Club.
Informal group that meets for the purpose of
performance & exchange of songs. Tranzac Club,
292 Brunswick Ave. 416-532-0900.
*July 3-14: COC. Summer Opera Camp 2006:
Create-a-Ring! 2-week program; participants create
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39
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40
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1 800 664-0430
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
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CLASSICAL GUITAR LESSONS RCM
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EVE EGOYAN seeks advanced, committed piano students (emu@interlog.com or
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PIANO, VOICE, VIOLIN & GUITAR
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GRACE CHURCH ON-THE-HILL,
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TENOR, BASS: Paid section leader/
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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41
DISCS REVIEWED
VOCAL
Bach - Cantatas 98;180;56;55
La Petite Bande;
Sigiswald Kuijken
Accent ACC 25301
convey. Edison and the choir capture this innately in their performance, especially in the Daley where
the poignancy of both text and music are profoundly moving.
This collection of standards should
ever been so sublime. Kuijken and please nearly everyone with a fondBach have married, and these discs ness for choral works. Well chosen
repertoire and superb engineering
are their handsome children.
Gabrielle McLaughlin make for outstanding listening.
Alex Baran
Hear My Prayer
Karina Gauvin; Choir of St.
John’s Elora; Noel Edison
This disc is a part of a twenty CD
Naxos 8.557493
project by La Petite Bande and Sigiswald Kuijken to record Bach’s Choral singing in Canada has encantatas for the complete liturgical joyed a sustained and enthusiastic
year. The cantatas are being per- growth for several decades and it’s
formed on the appropriate Sunday, gratifying to see a major label like
and recorded around the same time. NAXOS acknowledge that by proThe project began this year and will moting one of our premier ensembles in a new release.
end in 2011.
The Choir of St. John’s, Elora
Sigiswald Kuijken is the foremost
Dutch gambist and viola da spalla under Noel Edison is trained in the
player. Over the past thirty-five English tradition. This makes their
years he has also made a name for performances of Howells’ Magnifihimself as a prominent and intelli- cat, Stanford’s Justorum animae and
gent director of small orchestras and Finzi’s God is gone up truly classic.
chamber groups. Kuijken is clearly Organist Matthew Larkin clearly
comfortable with the idiom of one- understands the instrument and the
voice-per-part Bach cantatas, and space in which he and the choir are
he uses it to great effect on this re- recording - the balance is perfect.
cording. He discovers new and in- His registrations in the Finzi are
novative ways to keep the music marvelous and capture wonderfully
alive, and the use of the viola da the spirit of the piece.
The choir performs other works
spalla is stunning.
The soloists are well chosen and by Purcell, Franck, Mendelssohn
fit beautifully into the sound of La and Elgar. The Elgar is the familiar
Petite Bande. Soprano Sophie Nimrod variation from his Enigma
Karthäuser has a distinct, focused Variations set to the text Lux aetervoice with plenty of spin. It floats na. The Franck item is Panis angeliperfectly above the rest of the en- cus. Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Rasemble. Tenor Christoph Genz and cine is beautifully done with the
baritone Dominik Wörner have lively, choir’s men delivering some terrific
versatile voices which work skillfully tone colouring.
This recording is very good overwith the movement of the pieces.
Alto Petra Noskaiová is somewhat all. The Mozart Laudate Dominum
less skilled than the other singers, might have benefited from a slightly
but still provides a pleasant sound to less “English” choral approach that
was more complementary to Kariabsorb.
To my surprise and subsequent na Gauvin’s operatic style. There
elation, Kuijken’s jacket notes in- are also some entries by the men
clude a great deal of focus on the that sound a touch flat but nothing
libretto of each piece. A great deal terribly egregious.
Two Canadian works contribute
of study into the metre, meaning and
rhetoric that is passed between the to the disc’s varied program:
singers’ text and the instrumental Stephen Chatman’s Remember and
responses has been done, and it’s Eleanor Daley’s In Remembrance.
about time! This study can be heard Both reflect the feelings of loss and
in the interpretation, and nothing has longing their composers set out to
Heppner - Wagner (Selections
from The Ring of the Nibelung)
Ben Heppner; Staatskapell
Dresden; Peter Schneider
Deutsche Grammophon
4776003
Vivaldi - Tito Manlio
Gauvin, Hallenberg,
Mijanovic, Ulivieri, Senn;
Academia Bizantina;
Ottavio Dantone
Naïve OP30413
Vivaldi’s opera Tito Manlio well deserves the sumptuous treatment it
receives here. If this opera isn’t
quite at the level of his masterpiece
Orlando Furioso, it’s pretty close.
Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin
brings her shimmering sound to the
title role of Tito Manlio with utmost
style. The exquisite duet between
Manlio and Ann Hallenberg’s lustrous Servilia, ‘Non mi vuoi’ offers
a remarkable example of Vivaldi’s
brilliance as an opera composer.
Nicola Ulivieri as Tito, Marijana
Mijanovic as Vitelia and Christian
Senn as Lindo are also delightful,
Barbara di Castri and Mark Milhofer less so.
Ottavio Dantone, conducting his
Accademia Bizantina from the harpsichord, tempers exuberance with
elegance. In contrast to many of
today’s Italian period instrument
groups, his tempos, though lively, are
not wild, and attacks are not aggressively punched out. Slow arias are
given utmost expressiveness. If the
recitatives tend to lack urgency, there
is plenty of excitement in the orchestral playing, with Vivaldi’s score offering frequent opportunities for the
virtuosic orchestra musicians to shine
as soloists.
This production is a standout, even
measured against this outstanding series from Naïve. Now that so many
of Handel’s operas have entered the
repertoire, it’s surely time for at least
the finest of Vivaldi’s many operas,
like Tito Manlio, to follow.
The deluxe booklet includes artist biographies along with the libret-
42
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to, background notes by Frédéric
Delaméa, musical consultant for this
remarkable series, and an interesting interview with Dantone.
Pam Margles
Extracting chunks of Wagner’s Ring
cycle from their contexts is a tricky
business. On this disc, what work
best dramatically are those scenes
that are presented intact.
The scene with Mime from Siegfried is dramatically tense, psychologically nuanced and musically satisfying, with tenor Burkhard Ulrich’s
Mime providing lots of character.
The dying Siegfried’s ‘Brünnhilde,
heilige Braut’, from the final opera
Götterdämmerung, magically disappears into Siegfried’s powerful Funeral Music.
But passages from Siegfried’s
love scene with Sieglinde in Die
Walküre lose their impact because
Sieglinde’s lines have been cut. In
Siegfried’s dialogue with the Woodbird from Siegfried the Woodbird’s
music has not been cut. But the coloratura soprano has been replaced
by two instruments - first a clarinet,
then an oboe. Without Wagner’s
words, the meaning is obscured.
Ultimately this album is more
about Heppner than Wagner. Heppner demonstrates here why he is
the reigning Wagnerian tenor of his
generation. There is much to cherish, especially with Heppner’s intensely lyrical beauty at all dynamic
levels, even at his most heroic. Since
he hasn’t yet sung either Siegmund
or Siegfried on stage, this is as close
as we can get to his Ring until his
much-anticipated debut in Siegfried,
in Aix-en-Provence in 2008.
The orchestra under a charismatic
Peter Schneider is well-served by
the vivid sound quality of this disc.
Unfortunately the booklet notes
don’t discuss anything beyond the
plot – there is nothing about the artists, the music or the recording itself. Terrific photos, though - Heppner looks great.
Pam Margles
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Concert Notes: Ben Heppner sings
in the COC Gala Concert to open
the Four Seasons Centre for the
Performing Arts on June 14. On
June 15 and 17 he sings with the
Toronto Symphony Orchestra at
Roy Thomson Hall. From September 12 to October 1 the Canadian
Opera Company is performing the
complete Ring Cycle with Clifton
Forbis as Siegmund and Christian Perhaps you have been subjected to
Franz as Siegfried at the Four Sea- a heavy diet of Boccherini CD’s at
sons Centre.
one too many intimate social functions, and Stamitz just leaves you
cold. If you are ready to simply
write-off the transitional period that
followed the late baroque take heart,
and listen to this new Samuel Arnold disc from Naxos. Arnold was
London-born, and in some ways
Handel’s successor. He was aware
of developments in Mannheim during the formative years while he was
honing his own craft. Between his
People of Faith
music directorship at the HaymarCanadian Brass with the
ket Little Theatre and being organElmer Iseler Singers
ist to the Chapel Royal, he produced
Open Day Recordings ODR
a huge body of work, all of it in ro9337
coco style, but with a decidedly EngRemember the old CBC program, lish bent.
Naxos presents us the Op. 8 OverHymn Sing? It ran from 1965-95,
and was cancelled in the infamous tures, written for Marylebone Gardens
round of budget cuts that also ripped in 1771, which occupy a good proporFront Page Challenge from the tion of the CD. All of these are in
schedule. I recall watching the show three-movement fast/slow/fast strucas a child; my parents loved it, and ture, and strikingly well-written. Also
it was on just before Disney on Sun- there is incidental music from the 1778
day evenings. I wasn’t crazy about Haymarket production of Macbeth.
it at first, but got to appreciate it af- Arnold got little credit for this in his
ter a while, since I got to hear hymns own lifetime, which is a shame. His
performed with a high level of mu- Macbeth is filled with Scottish tunes,
which bring an eerie familiarity to ears
sicality.
Many of us probably associate weaned on Riverdance and the Rankin
hymns with bland congregational family. The last track given to the Polly
singing. It was always refreshing in Overture, in many ways the sequel to
church to hear the anthems, since The Beggar’s Opera.
Kevin Mallon and the Toronto
you got to hear the choir pull out all
Chamber Orchestra do a first-rate
the stops and really sing well.
Imagine a recording where the job, abetted by the vast acoustic
hymns are clad in all new arrange- space of Grace Church-on-the-Hill.
ments, with impeccable brass and Naxos production values excel, as
organ accompaniment, with a pro- expected. Highly recommended, alfessional choir. “People of Faith” is though you’ll need your reading
glasses to decipher the liner notes.
that recording.
John S. Gray
I realize that hymns are not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you want
to hear how good some of these Bach - The Well-Tempered
classic pieces can sound, or if you’d Clavier
like to hear a few excellent modern Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
Decca 475 6832
hymns, this recording is for you.
Merlin Williams The didactic cornucopia that are the
CLASSICAL AND
BEYOND
Arnold, S. - Overtures, Op.8
Toronto Chamber Orchestra;
Kevin Mallon
Naxos 8/557484
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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s /VERTITLES
s !LLDIGITALRECORDINGS
s .EWRECORDINGSAND
COMPOSITIONSMONTHLY
s #RITICALACCLAIMINALLKEY
CLASSICALPUBLICATIONS
s &EATURINGGREAT#ANADIANARTISTS
!LLTHISATANASTONISHINGLYLOWPRICE
4HEWORLDSLEADING
#LASSICAL -USICLABEL
two volumes of Bach’s Das
wohltemperierte Klavier provide all
things to all people. From grave
fugues to giddy preludes, Bach does
it all. It is the bedrock of modern
pianism and the sine qua non of
counterpoint for composers. The
sparse notation of these two times
48 pieces (preludes and fugues in
43
every major and minor key) leave
much to the imagination and recordings of the work have been issued
on harpsichords, claviers, pianos, accordions and synthesizers.
Ashkenazy has been keeping his
love of Bach to himself for many
decades; his yeoman recording of
the Italian Concerto was released
some 40 years ago. While “WTC”
was certainly a staple of the Russia
of his youth, they were generally
regarded as a private pleasure and
not considered central to the performing repertoire until a sensational Moscow recital by a certain
Glenn Gould caused heads to turn.
Seasoned by long reflection,
Ashkenazy’s recording of the complete work is a grand success, full
of sprightly tempos and demonstrating throughout an unfailing clarity of
texture and profound musicality. It
earns a rightful place among the
most distinguished recordings of this
work. The microphone placement is
unusually intimate, as if peering over
the pianist’s shoulder. Ashkenazy’s
subdued vocal murmuring aside, the
wide dynamic range of his playing
sometimes results in a rather raucous tone from his Steinway piano.
The three discs are attractively
priced and deserve a place in every
home, perchance not too far from
the family Bible.
Daniel Foley
Mozart Pianoforte
Ludwig Sémerjian
ATMA ACD2 2249
Sémerjian and his ATMA producers
have put together a fine collection
of Mozart’s late sonatas using a
rare, original instrument from 1804.
They offer us an intriguing aural
glimpse of how audiences 200 years
ago heard their piano music.
Early pianos are an oddity to the
modern ear. From our perspective
Four towering works make up the
program and the poise and athleticism with which both players attack
each piece is a testament to their
stamina and great technique. The
liner notes tell us that the evening
went on with the Kogans offering
several more encores which were
unable to be included on the CD, due
to the time limitations of the medium.
Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 12, No.1
opens the program, perfectly played,
if a bit stiff and formal. Beethoven’s
playfulness in the wonderfully inventive second movement is approached
in a rather humourless way in this
performance. The Kogans are overwhelmingly intense, full of drama
and great style however in Brahms’
Op. 108 and the ubiquitous Franck
Sonata.
The final piece on the recording
is Ravel’s miraculous Tzigane,
which is played with great authority
and panache. By this point in the
evening, both players must have
been exhausted, but there is no evidence of this in the recorded performance. The Kogans play as one
and bring the house down.
A remarkable achievement to
play through such a program without a note out of place.
We can be thankful that these archival recordings of special historical performances at the Salzburg
Festival are being made more readily available on the Orfeo label and
distributed here by Gillmore Music.
Larry Beckwith
mann works which were recorded
in 2002 (Carnaval) and 2004 in resplendent sound. Vivid and immediate, the 24 bit recording comfortably captures the unique sonorities of
the magnificent Hamburg Steinway,
owned and maintained by technician
Mary Schwendeman in New York,
who is credited in the accompanying booklet.
After the opening “Preambule”
of Carnaval Zayas breaks free from
the usual playing by rote, reminding
us that these 21 short pieces are
portraits of different characters familiar to the composer whose attributes differ from each other.
Heard this way this well known opus
is considerably more interesting especially as Zayas realizes them. This
is an unusual and very persuasive
reading.
The Arabesque, opus 18, has been
a particular favourite for, well, a
very long time and it is the piece I
headed for on this new recording.
As I hear it, the way in which a particular phrase in the final bars is
played either resolves the piece or
closes it with a hint of presentiment.
I prefer the latter but Zayas convincingly resolves this unusual little
masterpiece.
Many famous pianists have recorded Toccata; Simon Barere,
Horowitz, Cziffra and others, but
Zayas has her own insight into this
virtuoso’s outing. To parody an old
cigarette ad: It’s not how fast you
play but how you play it fast.
For whatever reasons, I have always felt that Schumann’s piano
works were better played by women. Fabienne Jacquinot, Clara
Haskil, Martha Argerich, and Maria Joao Pires come to mind. Juana
Zayas, too. Do read about her at
http://www.juanazayas.com.
Bruce Surtees
Beethoven; Brahms; Franck Violin Sonatas; Ravel - Tzigane
Leonid Kogan; Nina Kogan
Schumann - Carnaval;
Orfeo C 657 051 B
Arabesque; Toccata;
Fantasiestücke
Leonid Kogan is one of the forgotJuana Zayas,
ten giants of the 20th century RusHamburg Steinway 001
sian violin school. Primarily a teachMusic and Arts CD 1181
er at the Moscow conservatory
from 1952 until his untimely death What a superlative musician Juana
in 1982, Kogan was a winner of the Zayas is. Not only does she possess
Queen Elisabeth Competition in a technique beyond fault but in those
Brussels in 1951 and toured exten- compositions she has recorded she
sively as a prodigiously talented displays an intuitive understanding of
young fiddler in the 1950s.
and simpatico with the composer’s
This recording is of Kogan’s vio- temperament. This can place her
lin recital with his daughter - pianist interpretations somewhat at variNina Kogan - at the Grosses Fest- ance with the usually accepted readspielhaus in Salzburg in August, ings.
1978.
Such is the case with these Schu-
Johannes Brahms - The Piano
Concertos
Nelson Freire; Gewandhausorchester; Riccardo Chailly
Decca 475 7637
they lack almost everything we have
come to love about the piano, as we
know it today. To composers, performers and audiences of the late
eighteenth century, however, they
were a welcome change from the
dynamically flat plucking of stalwart
harpsichords.
To appreciate early pianos fully
we have to remind ourselves that
their builders created them to meet
the demands of more expressive
music styles and forms. The rapid
evolution from harpsichord to modern piano left the fortepiano with just
a few decades of popular development. In that short time it captured
the imagination of composers and
keyboard players alike, who delighted in the newly found ability to shape
notes, create tonal nuances and express dynamics from piano to forte.
Young Montreal pianist Ludwig
Sémerjian meets the contrapuntal
demands of these sonatas with skill.
While this instrument is incapable of
truly great “forte”, there is much
very delicate playing at remarkable
soft levels that makes the overall
dynamic range of his performances
very satisfying.
Best tracks? Gigue in G major
K.574 and the Sonata in B Flat
K.570.
This disc may have only limited
appeal, but those with the curiosity
to explore its earlier musical sensibility will find it highly rewarding.
Alex Baran
44
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On the cover of this live recording
of the Brahms piano concertos, pianist Nelson Freire and conductor
Ricardo Chailly appear to be deep
in conversation. The same intimate
interaction can clearly be heard between the soloist and the conductor
when the recordings are played.
Freire is a profound and thought-provoking artist, who vividly captures a
wide spectrum of musical colours
and plumbs the depths of these intense works while mastering all the
considerable technical difficulties.
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
Romantic Piano Concertos
Vol. 40
Howard Shelley; Tasmanian
Symphony Orchestra
Hyperion CDA67537
Strauss - Ein Heldenleben;
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Berliner Philharmoniker;
Simon Rattle
EMI Classics 3 39339 2
Impossible! Hyperion can’t be up to
volume 40 in its Romantic Piano
Concerto series already! Surely
there aren’t enough piano concertos to fill 40 discs! But yes indeed, it
has been 15 years now since Hyperion launched this ambitious program,
and the latest in the series proves itself just as worthy as the previous 39.
This time, Howard Shelley and
the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra present the third, fourth, and fifth
Richard Strauss’ spectacular 1898
“tone poem” Ein Heldenleben (A
Heroic Life - the Hero of the title
being none other than the immodest
34-year old composer himself) is an
orchestral showcase so closely identified with the late Berlin Philharmonic magnate Herbert von Karajan that it may seem an odd, perhaps reckless choice for Simon Rattle to assay. The result has proven
well worth the risk however. Assem-
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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DK Ibomeka
Chailly provides superb orchestral
support, pushing and pulling the tempo in exciting directions without being fussy. The Gewandhausorchester is technically superb; among
many orchestral highlights, the crucial cello solo in the second movement of the second concerto for
once has just as much presence and
is just as well-executed as the piano
part.
Overall, the second concerto is
slightly more successful than the
first; the latter has a couple of passages which seem hurried, while the
former is exquisitely built up and
executed, making it not just a great
performance but a truly memorable
one. The benefits of a live performance are palpable from the start; the
excitement and overall cohesiveness
present here are difficult to achieve
in a studio setting. The engineering
gives us an orchestra on equal balance with the soloist and not the
usual dim background accompaniment. Among a crowded field of
contenders, this is a top choice for a
recording of both concertos, especially for one in modern sound.
Seth Estrin
concertos by the 19th century composer Henri Herz, who lived from
1803 to 1888. Although Herz was
born in Vienna, he settled in Paris
early in his career, soon establishing
himself as a fashionable piano virtuoso and composer. The three concertos on this disc were written over
a 50 year period between the 1830s
and 1880s, and perhaps not surprisingly, show influences of music by
Mendelssohn and Schumann – almost but not quite. There is a particular French feel to this music as
well, seen in the elaborate bravura
writing (surely designed to dazzle
Parisian audiences) and in the lightness of orchestration. Also, I can’t
help but feel that the use of cymbals in the finale of concerto #1
would have made the German romantic composers wince – can Offenbach be far behind?!
Shelley and the Tasmanian Orchestra – no strangers to this series
- are a formidable pairing. Shelley’s
solid technique makes ease of the
technical demands, while the more
lyrical passages are treated with
great sensitivity. The clean and spirited performance by the Tasmanians indeed proves that this island has
much more to offer than devils and
spectacular scenery. Great music?
Perhaps not, but nevertheless, this
disc provides a fascinating insight
into a composer who flourished
alongside others whom history ultimately deemed far worthier. Recommended.
Richard Haskell
"That voice of his can kick
you in the chest and still
melt a roomful of hearts at
the same time... All I can
say is make way for DK."
— Haydain Neale, jacksoul
"...he has a fab future
ahead of him"
— Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star
"... a true performer"
— VUE Magazine
Love Stories
AVAILABLE NOW
www.dkibomeka.com
wychwood
park
PRODUCTIONS
45
bled from three live performances
in September 2005, this recording
features the excellent violinist Guy
Braunstein in the solo role of the
composer’s staunch consort Pauline.
As orchestras go, the Berlin is acknowledged as the ultimate luxury
vehicle and they provide a superior
ride indeed for the dashing Sir Simon, who manages to impart a hint
of irony and rare transparency to this
well-worn score. The solo woodwinds in particular are outstanding
in their portrayal of the snarling critics that bedevil our not-so heroic
protagonist and the recorded sound
is generally sumptuous with a wide
dynamic range, though the use of
highly directional microphones to
dodge audience noises takes a bit
of the bloom off the sound of the
string section.
The album also features Strauss
on a smaller scale in the 1917 chamber orchestra Suite of incidental
music for Molière’s play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. It’s a peculiar
mélange of parody and pathos
which, among other elements of
what passes for humour in Germany, appropriates the delicate pastry
that is the music of Lully and ladles
heaping helpings of Bavarian gravy
over it. Strangely compelling nonetheless.
Daniel Foley
ists a sizable body of works for band
that are not.
I’m always delighted to draw attention to new works for band, and
this recording by the New Edmonton Wind Sinfonia merits praise for
including Allan Gilliland’s Dreamscapes. Hopefully I can convince
the bands I play with to add this to
their libraries. Allan was a fellow
student at Humber College in the
early ’80’s, and it’s great to hear
how his gift for composition has developed in the intervening years.
The works on this CD are good
solid, serious works for band – Tunbridge Fair by Walter Piston, Fiesta
by Clifton Williams, and Incantation
and Dance by John Barnes Chance.
Yes, there is a bit of old school folk
influence, but it’s Grainger, and I love
his writing! Pere Lachaise by Martin Ellerby is new to me, but certainly evokes a similar mood to Satie’s Gymnopedies.
This is an excellent new addition
to my library of band recordings,
made even more impressive by the
inclusion of live performance tracks.
Merlin Williams
Among Friends
MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY
New Edmonton Wind Sinfonia;
Raymond Baril
Arktos 200587
The well-known (at least in band circles!) composer Francis McBeth
was once told to write new music
for bands and wind ensembles, because, as the person advising him put
it “bands have been folk-music’d to
death.”
While it’s true that the cornerstones of the band repertoire are derived from folk materials (think of
the Holst and Vaughan-Williams and
nearly all of Grainger’s output),
we’re now fortunate that there ex-
nian (its earmarks - intellectual rigor), while also embracing the more
hedonistic qualities of the undeniable shear sensual pleasure derived
from pleasing sounds.
To Weave (a meditation), track 2
of this CD, by the American composer, pianist and long time Toronto
resident who is professor emeritus
of York University’s Music Department, James Tenney, embodies both
of those attributes admirably. It’s at
once a marvel of contrapuntal and
structural clarity, “…wave upon
wave [of sound] … but precisely
calibrated to peak at the phi-point
of the golden ratio” (from the liner
notes by the composer), as well as
a meditation “…on the wondrous
physicality and inescapable spirituality of all our music making”.
Profound and surprising music is
this, evoking the best of our western musical traditions.
Andrew Timar
Jeu des Portraits: Music of
JAZZ
AND
JAZZ
& IMPROVISED
IMPROVISED
Ana Sokolovic
Ensemble contemporain de
Montréal; Véronique Lacroix
Centrediscs CMCCD 11406
Weave
Eve Egoyan
Earwitness
This CD of four compositions by
four different international composers receiving their first recordings
reminds me that music is about personal taste and even bias, as much
as it is a collection of intentional
sounds, performed in time.
These works were all composed
for and inspired by the brilliant Toronto pianist Eve Egoyan. She has
built her significant career over the
past twelve years primarily on the
difficult foundation of commissioning, performing and recording contemporary music for piano. While
this is admittedly not the most popular of repertoires with the general
audience, yet once again, she convincingly showcases music by cutting-edge contemporary composers
of concert music: Martin Arnold
(Canada), the American, James Tenney, Jo Kondo (Japanese), and Englishman Michael Finnissy.
Returning to personal taste in music, mine leans towards the Apollo-
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Dippin’
Hank Mobley
Blue Note Records
RVG Edition 3 37773 2
A Swingin’ Affair
Dexter Gordon
Blue Note Records
RVG Edition 3 37754 2
Mosaic
Art Blakey and the
Jazz Messengers
My first experience of the music of Blue Note Records
Belgrade-born Ana Sokolovic was RVG Edition 3 37769 2
a violin sonata, a recording of which
was played for me by a friend. I Tom Cat
found it extraordinarily beautiful. Lee Morgan
This CD, co-produced by the Cana- Blue Note Records
dian Music Centre and the CBC/ RVG Edition 3 37764 2
SRC, features four of Sokolovic’s East-coast independent jazz labels
works for instrumental chamber of the ’50s and ’60s used the New
ensemble written over the last dec- Jersey recording engineer Rudy Van
ade. The performers are the Ensem- Gelder to handle their tapings.
ble contemporain de Montreal un- Many listeners talk about the “Van
der the direction of founder Véro- Gelder” sound, but I’ve always
nique Lacroix, with whom the com- thought it was the other way around:
poser has frequently collaborated it was Blue Note producer/founder
since her move to Montréal in 1992 Alfred Lion who taught RVG how
and who commissioned two of the jazz should sound on recordings.
works recorded here.
Whichever it was, Van Gelder’s
The disc is named for the second imprimatur is the one that validates
piece on its program, the ‘Game of a whole “Edition” of Blue Note rePortraits’, written to honour the 30th issues, of which these four recent
anniversary of the Société de Mu- releases entice us to repurchase fasique contemporaine du Québec in miliar music. It’s all been out on CD
1996. Its four elegantly varied and previously, but are here given the
expressive movements pay rich RVG remastering and re-polishing.
homage to four giants of Quebec’s
Dexter Gordon, one of the most
musical history – Mathieu, Papine- influential tenor men in jazz was
au-Couture, Garant and Vivier. Also about to move to Europe in the late
included in the program are a Ciac- summer of 1962 when he went into
46
cona (2002) – my personal favourite, if I had to choose - with its hugely
creative and clever treatment of this
earlier musical form, and the frequently humorous Five Locomotives
and Some Animals. The disc closes
with a concert recording of the
three-movement Sentimental Geometry.
There is something quite extraordinary about Sokolovic’s capacity to
present a vast breadth of musical
expression within subtle but welldelineated boundaries. With such an
infinitely-varied and hugely evocative palette of colours, rhythms, tempos, moods and effects, a lesser
composer might easily lose focus
and therefore their listener; but not
Sokolovic. Her music is remarkable,
connective and immensely creative.
Its performance on this CD, by the
ECM, is fabulous and exemplary in
every way. Thanks to the CMC/
SRC for this outstanding production.
Alison Melville
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
the RVG studio to make what was
to be one of his best-ever albums,
“Go!”, a quartet with Sonny Clark,
Butch Warren and Billy Higgins, virtually a ‘house rhythm section’ for
the label. Whether or not it was
planned (or more likely, Lion recognized the great album he had just
made), a second session was done
two days later. The result was “A
Swingin’ Affair”, and it’s darn near
as wonderful as the original. Gordon originals Soy Califa and McSplivens open and close the album,
with one by solid bassist Warren,
The Backbone. The standards include a magisterial nod to Billie Holiday, Don’t Explain; You Stepped
Out Of A Dream, with the difficult
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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changes handled brightly; and the
relaxed Until The Real Thing
Comes Along.
The distilled sound of pianist Sonny Clark is radiant, and the flexible
and attentive Billy Higgins shines.
Blue Note was a prolific label,
and sessions often outpaced releases, with some things getting bypassed
in favour of the more-recently taped
albums, a fate that befell trumpeter
Lee Morgan’s “Tom Cat”. The
1964 album, and another called
“Search For The New Land”, were
taped after a little item called “The
Sidewinder” but before that to-bemonster-hit came out. When Lion
did a re-think about what should follow up (“The Rumproller”) both
were put on the shelf, “Tom Cat”
not to be released until 1981.
By today’s standards, this is an
all-star session, with Morgan’s erstwhile boss Art Blakey coming aboard
along with BN stalwarts Curtis Fuller on trombone, altoist Jackie
McLean (who died on March 31 this
year), McCoy Tyner at the piano and
bassist Bob Cranshaw. On offer are
four fine differently-flavoured originals by Morgan, and one by Tyner the only ballad, Twilight Mist. The
sinuous title track sneaks around for
nearly ten minutes, as does the latinish Exotique. At this point the 26
year old had it all together: technique,
ideas, and control. And it shows.
Most Blue Notes were by ad hoc
groups, but a mainstay was Art
Blakey-led “The Jazz Messengers”,
especially when Lee Morgan was
music director. By the time “Mosaic” was recorded in 1961 (the cover
of this release erroneously says
1960), another young trumpeter was
featured, Freddie Hubbard, with tenorman Wayne Shorter as music director. Another horn was added,
trombonist Curtis Fuller, and Cedar
Walton with Jymie Merritt made the
rhythm with Blakey. Thunderous
drumming from the leader underscores the all new music from within the band. Walton’s title track is
an expository theme with fine trumpet, while a shuffle feel on Down
Under gives room to Wayne Shorter, who was to become the Messengers’ most interesting composer.
Hubbard’s Crisis (a theme he was
to record on other occasions) gives
solo room to everyone.
Another ex-Messenger, Hank
Mobley, was a melodically gifted
tenorman who always did well with
an excellent drummer, and has the
under-recognized Billy Higgins on
“Dippin’”, so good results can be
expected. Lee Morgan’s here too,
with bassist Larry Ridley and the
funk-filled Harold Mabern Jr. at the
piano. Mobley’s compositions dominate, but the lovely ballad I See Your
Face Before Me and Recado Bossa
Nova will demand repeated listening.
Ted O’Reilly
The Hawk Relaxes
Coleman Hawkins; Ronnell
Bright; Kenny Burrell; Ron
Carter; Andrew Cyrille
Prestige PRCD-8106-2
Boss Tenor
Gene Ammons; Tommy
Flanagan; Doug Watkins;
Arthur Taylor; Ray Barretto
47
Saxophone Colossus
Sonny Rollins; Tommy Flanagan;
Doug Watkins; Max Roach
Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane
John Coltrane; Kenny Burrell;
Tommy Flanagan; Paul Chambers; Jimmy Cobb
Prestige-PRCD-8107-2
The studio of Rudy Van Gelder in
Hackensack, New Jersey was the
scene of these and many other great
recording sessions. Some of you will
no doubt have at least one of these
albums on LP, but they make welcome re-issues. There are no additional tracks, although it’s hard to
imagine that none exist, so running
time is a bit short compared to most
CDs - but just think in terms of quality, not quantity!
Coleman Hawkins was perhaps
the most influential saxophone player
in jazz. He had a career spanning
four decades and played with such
stylistically different musicians as
Red McKenzie and Thelonious
Monk. This re-issue from late in his
career is a relaxed set of standards
including I’ll Never Be The Same,
When Day Is Done, Under A Blanket Of Blue, More Than You Know,
Moonglow, Just A Gigolo and Speak
Low. Hawkins’ horizontal approach
to improvising seems effortless and
with the help of a truly sympathetic
rhythm section gives this set of superior songs an elegant treatment.
Great late-night listening!
The career of Gene Ammons was
a stormy one and profoundly affected, and often interrupted, by a dependence on drugs, but nothing can
take away from his tremendous talent. On this outing the tempos, except for Confirmation, are an acknowledgement of Parker’s influence - laid-back - and include as
lovely a statement of My Romance
as I have ever heard. Hittin’ The Jug,
Close Your Eyes, Canadian Sunset,
Blue Ammons and Stompin’ At The
Savoy make up the rest of the programme. One caveat - the heavy
reverb intruded on my enjoyment of
the music, but that is perhaps a personal thing, which, of course, makes
it valid!
“Saxophone Colossus” is one of
the great jazz albums of the ’50s and
this re-release will be welcomed by
a host of fans who have worn out
the original vinyl! It contains St.
Thomas, which was to become a
Sonny Rollins trademark number,
You Don’t Know What Love Is,
Moritat, (better known as Mack the
Knife) and two more Rollins originals, Strode Rode and Blue 7. If I
have to choose one track it is probably the last named, which comes
as close to being perfect as one
would want to be.
The John Coltrane session features two standards, I Never Knew
and a beautiful duet interpretation
with Kenny Burrell of Why Was I
Born? Pianist Tommy Flanagan contributes two originals - Freight Trane
and Big Paul - while Burrell, whose
date it was, pitches in with Lyresto.
This is relatively early Coltrane, but
the greatness is already there along
with the promise of what was to
come.
A word about Tommy Flanagan,
who is on three of these four CDs.
He was the consummate pianist
who added immeasurably to any
session he played on.
Jim Galloway
Remnants
Ken Aldcroft; Evan Shaw; Joe
Sorbara
Oval Window Records
OWR002
Angles
Glen Hall; Trio Muo
Tarsier Records ACD-0501
Percussionist Joe Sorbara has been
making waves around Toronto for
the last little while but I’d only
opened up my ears recently. These
two releases help matters out in
helping to discover this emerging
talent.
Along with curating The Leftover Daylight Series with Ken Aldcroft and Nick Fraser, and being
heavily involved in Association of
Improvising Musicians Toronto, Joe
Sorbara is also busy in recording his
musical progress down to tape. His
latest issue “Remnants” features a
trio in which he’s joined by guitarist
Ken Aldcroft and saxophonist Evan
Shaw. Improvisation is obviously at
the heart of this recording. From the
get go, all three musicians attack the
meat on the bone, hungry to chew
large chunks at a time. Shaw has
some of his best moments when he
gets to have face-to-face conversations with Sorbara. His jagged
alto attacks are a perfect fit to Sorbara’s cymbal-heavy shimmers. In
fact, Sorbara explores just about
every facet of his percussion set. All
is done with intricate care and a ton
of forethought. At certain points,
Sorbara’s subtle approach reminds
me of another outstanding Toronto
percussionist [turned laptop artist]
Tomasz Krakowiak. Aldcroft is all
over the map. From the shronkiest
of guitar feasts on Remnants II, to
Bill Frisell-like passages on You
Make Me Feel Queasy and Odd.
This is an album that is ultimately a
welcome sign from local musicians,
one full of jagged energy and improvisational mastery. More of the
same brave sounds would be most
welcome, thank you.
Originating in the Greek word
muo – I cover the eyes and mouth
– Glen Hall’s latest ensemble Trio
Muo is an interesting epiphany of
sorts. If we take muo to mean looking into oneself for musical inspirations, then in this case the trio’s leader has succeeded in pulling off a
major feat. “Angles” is not an easy
album, but who expects this sort of
rampant dialogue to be easy to
swallow. Bassist Michael Morse
along with percussionist Joe Sorbara joins Hall on this sonic excursion. Being at the helm of the ship
48
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gives Hall major responsibilities. He
has to find a way to ground his cohorts. His reed playing is fairly exuberant – whether he utilizes the sax
or the flute [which is only used on
one number]. Colouring the pieces
in every imaginable way – tonal varieties and quick stop-and-go movements – Hall succeeds in offering a
wide variety of playing throughout
the album. With his wide palette of
percussive tools [bells, maracas,
etc.] Sorbara’s unique approach
acts as the bridge between impressively skip-like bass work from
Morse and Hall’s angular blows. A
personal highlight is Big Ears (for
Paul Haines), a subtle, poignant and
underplayed piece dedicated to the
highly underrated Canadian poet.
“Angles” turns out to be an impressive album, full of daring work from
all three musicians.
Tom Sekowski
Futeristische historie
David Kweksilber; Winnyfred
Beldman; Guus Janssen
ToonDist Data 052
(www.subdist.com)
Released on Dick Lucas’ Data
Records, “Futeristische Historie” is
a trio album that will delight as much
as it will puzzle the listener. The
puzzling bit of the CD is its unusual
choice of instrumentation from the
trio that plays here. David Kweksilber plays bass clarinet, Winnyfred
Beldman plays the violoncello, while
Guus Janssen plays a pipe organ. Is
this simply a Dutch chamber trio, you
ask? Far from it. The group sharpens their claws with wit and delicacy as they dig into material that is
as haunting as it is ominous. Though
each piece has a writing credit pointing to particular member of the trio,
the sound and feel of the music is
overflowing with improvisational
values. There is heavy interplay between all members. Rousing solos
seem to pop in and out of the radar.
Most of all, there is this sense of
give-and-take that is pervasive from
beginning to end. Janssen’s heavy
organ vibe makes this feel like something that can almost be referred to
as church improvisations. The sound
is just that dire and overbearing at
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
times. Beldman’s superfluous cello
and Kweksilber’s down-right warm
bass clarinet add nicely balanced
textures to the overall picture. Their
take on Ellington’s Solitude is awkwardly cautious, while on Passage
Janssen’s sustained squealing notes
remind me of Sun Ra’s shining moments on the Moog in “My Brother
The Wind, Vol. 2”. A magnificent
journey into rarely chartered territories, this is music that lingers long
after the music has finished.
Tom Sekowksi
fused version of The Eurythmics’ June 27th. It is sure to be an enter“Sweet Dreams”. Here Montcalm taining show and her hair will no
accomplishes the almost impossible doubt look great too.
Cathy Riches
task of separating the song from the
strong visual images of the produced
“Video”. In that sense, and on the
majority of this intriguing record, she
has done what every musician (jazz
or otherwise) dreams of doing: made
her own distinctive and recognizable musical statement.
Lesley Mitchell-Clarke
POT POURRI
Mango
George Grosman & Swing Noir
Independent (www.cdbaby.com/
cd/grosman2)
Voodoo
Térez Montcalm
Marquis 77471 81345 2 3
Montreal guitarist, composer and
vocalist Teréz Montcalm brings an
eclectic sensibility to her recent
Marquis release, “Voodoo”. Montcalm and Producer/guitarist/composer Michel Cusson serve up a
heady mixture of jazz standards,
original compositions and pop/rock
mega-hits. This well-produced and
well-conceived recording features a
line-up of exceptional musicians including guitarists Louis Cote and
Carl Naud, pianist Stephane Montanaro and the innovative and versatile trumpeter, Aron Doyle.
This recording is not about pretty
vocals. Montcalm’s wide vibrato
oscillates outward in concentric circles, while her earthy interpretations
surround every tune with a warmth
and irony that only comes from life
experience, a broken heart, or both.
Stand-outs include the slow blues,
Be Anything by Irving Gordon, from
Danny Boyle’s indie-cult film, “A
Life Less Ordinary” and the original Parce que y a Toi. Montcalm’s
composition has a fresh, melodic
originality and the most pleasing vocal sound on the CD.
“Voodoo” blurs the lines between
musical genres — and no doubt
there will be jazz purists aplenty who
will be appalled by the “face-lifts”
that have been given to some of the
old warhorses. However, the “reworked” compositions retain their
original impact, and in some cases
bring something new to the table,
such as on the 1950’s pop classic
“L.O.V.E.” and the clever, bop-inJ UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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This is guitarist and singer, George
Grosman’s, fourth CD, and given
how long he has been on the scene,
I have been woefully unaware of his
talents. I suppose some of my ignorance can be explained by the fact
that “the scene” for Grosman involves some gigs in Toronto jazz
All the Way
rooms, but also a healthy dose of
Etta James
touring in the US and Europe (he
RCA Victor 8 2876 76841-2
had a #5 hit in Iceland in 1993!) and
The three-time Grammy winning, performing for his native Czech
R&B belter Etta James, has re- community.
leased her gazillionth CD, All the
Grosman and company (Pete
Way. She says she recorded this CD
to cover off a number of songs she
has loved over the years and “wished
she’d been the one to do first.” So
this recording is a brew of blues,
soul and pop from a few eras, some
of which work well, others, not so
much. James Brown’s It’s a Man’s
Man’s Man’s World, Prince’s Purple Rain and Johnny “Guitar”
Watson’s Strung Out are right up her
alley. John Lennon’s Imagine and
Bernstein/Sondheim’s Somewhere
fall into the “not so much” category
as Ms. James’ heavy-handedness
drags these songs down.
Like a lot of singers as they age,
Ms James’ voice has dropped as it
has matured. So if the last time you
heard her sing was on her massive
hit from the sixties, At Last, you may
be in for a bit of a shock, as her
voice has drifted toward baritone
territory. But the ol’ girl has still got
it, and she makes the most of her
warm, powerful voice.
The liner notes written by Lythofayne Pridgeon are a combination
of baffling and amusing, and the
“Thank You’s” epitomize the commercial American music scene as
Ms. James thanks everyone from
“my heavenly father” to her hairdresser. Go see this veteran performer when she’s here for the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival on
Johnston, bass, Bohdan Turak, percussion, Brandon Walker saxes, and
Ian MacGillvray, trumpet) lean toward a “gypsy jazz” genre but, that
said, there is a real mix of styles on
this disc. He sings ballads, but you
couldn’t call him a crooner, due to
the appealing gruffness of his voice,
especially in the low register. (Dr.
John came to mind on a few of the
tracks.) The voice alternates between the aforementioned Dr. Johnlike sound and a sweet, breathiness
in the upper register, but can also
get a bit wobbly in parts.
Grosman brings inventiveness to
many of the covers and his guitar
playing is solid and subtle but takes
a backseat to the singing on most of
the tunes. Van Morrison’s Moondance gets a slowed-down, moody
treatment, and if having Cole Porter’s Love for Sale being sung by a
man isn’t interesting enough for you,
the band also gives it an Afro-Caribbean treatment. We take a little
venture into voodoo blues territory
with the J.J. Cale tune Sensitive Kind,
and then to Paris with the famous
Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli tune Minor Swing, which stays
true to form. Four catchy originals
round out this mellow disc.
Cathy Riches
49
108 Walking through Tokyo
at the turn of the century
Sarah Peebles
Post-Concrete post-004
(www.post-concrete.com)
Toronto-based composer and soundscape artist Sarah Peebles has had
a long-term involvement with Japanese culture. From December 1999
to January 2000, she traveled around
Tokyo recording sounds heard in
numerous public spaces. On her
journey, we hear Japanese voices,
pop-musical and machine sounds on
the sidewalks, train platforms, video arcades, vending machines, a
temple graveyard, a judo club, and
in those so idiosyncratic of Japanese
institutions, the pachinko parlors.
The 11 tracks on this CD present
a sort of sonic film or video, which
to my ears straddles the documentary goals of a straightforward field
recording and a highly processed
and structured musical artifact such
as what one might find in classical
musique concrète of the school pioneered by Pierre Henry and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Sarah Peebles has chosen this
middle ground by maintaining the timbral and pitch aspects of the street
soundscape of this highly urbanized
Asian city. She does this by compressing (editing) and selectively
superimposing sonic events in an
imaginative and sensitive fashion. I
should mention however, for a brief
section in track 11 Epilogue, Pee-
bles does present sonically-processed train whistles and pachinko
sounds in an effectively otherworldly coda.
As for the sounds themselves,
they range from the aggressive highpitched steel waterfall in Pachinko
(Track 6), to the peaceful tolling of
the New Year’s bell in the temple
graveyard in the following track.
After finishing this CD, it feels like
I’ve just returned from a trip to Tokyo - but without the jetlag.
Andrew Timar
Concert Note: A video version of
Sarah Peebles “Walking through
Tokyo” will be one of the free events
presented during the SoundaXis Festival in the first 11 days of June. The
presentation takes place on Saturday June 10 at 11:00 at the Goethe
Institut.
Amelia, a dance film by
Edouard Lock
La La La Human Steps
OpusArte OA 0945 D
This highly decorated DVD production of La La La Human Steps’
Amelia is a triumphant tribute to the
company’s 25th anniversary. Amelia is directed, choreographed and
edited by the founder/artistic director, Edouard Lock. The ten dancers
of Amelia guide us through a composite tableaux of fourteen states of
being. The stage is a vacuous “round
wooden box” – and the agile camera work allows the viewers to transcend a stationary audience perspective to one that seems intimate,
if not voyeuristic. My emotional response took me cathartically through
agitation, longing, despair, emptiness,
tenderness, and frustration back to
the centre of completeness. Although it is possible to move in and
out of each tableaux through the
magic of digital technology – I found
that option impossible – so compelling is the sustained sense of forward movement of the whole. The
dance is magically superhuman –
even more so given the occasional
digital tampering. This technique
proves to heighten the overall artistic effect, rather than detract.
What is most striking from the
musical perspective is the quality of
the human voice on the soundtrack.
Nadine Medawar manages to produce a sheer, breathy yet wholly
appealing vocal quality. The lyrics
to the songs might otherwise seem
“poppy”, but not here – they fit so
seamlessly with the visual, deftly
accompanied by sparse piano, violin and cello - the effect is utterly
haunting. Kudos to music director
Njo Kong Kie.
Heidi McKenzie
an early age, also pursued an education in Western music in Montreal.
They are founding members of Constantinople, an ensemble based on
Medieval and Renaissance European and Middle Eastern musical traditions. Kiya plays sétar, a longnecked lute on which melodies are
plucked with the nail of the index
finger while the musician creates
resonance on the other strings. Ziya
plays the tombak, a hand drum
carved from wood and covered with
goat or lamb skin. These, particularly the sétar, are instruments meant
for intimate performance, a little different than the frenetic evocations
the title Mania might imply. However, these artists define Mania as
‘the state of ecstasy, of madness,
that an artist needs to get closer to
the ineffable… the invisible Other.
Freedom from what is known ...”
That is what is created in this music, and one reason why the sétar is
described as the preferred instrument of Sufi mystics. The improvisations on different modes and melodic frameworks rely on the musicians’ access to an inner artistry
freely expressed. And the connecMania
tion of these brothers to each other,
Kiya Tabassian, setar; Ziya
to their diverse musical influences
Tabassian,tombak
and interests, and the drawing out
ATMA ACD2 2340
of inner resources and virtuosity
Born in Tehran, Kiya and Ziya Ta- draw the listener in to the magic crebassian’s family emigrated to Que- ated.
Dianne Wells
bec and the brothers, who studied
and practiced Persian music from
50
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES
The latest ten releases of Living Stereo
hybrid SACD discs from RCA include
more Fritz Reiner, Arthur Fiedler, Charles
Munch, and Jascha Heifetz in addition to
Arthur Rubinstein, Virgil Fox, Mario
Lanza, and Morton Gould. Remember,
these mid-price bargains play on a regular
CD player or an SACD machine.
The big surprise is the Rubinstein
Beethoven disc, recorded in 1962 & 1963
(82876-71619). Collectors habitually
complained of Rubinstein’s sonic maltreatment on LP, yet, from these three
track tapes RCA presents the late pianist in
generous, ‘you are there’ ambient sound.
Rubinstein was not regarded as a Beethoven
pianist par excellence but he does make a
convincing argument for the composer.
Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony
have two more discs. “Vienna” includes
favourites by Johann II, Josef, and Richard
Strauss (82876-71614). Reiner conducts
these familiar pieces with authority,
eschewing Viennese sentimentality in
favour of clear articulation and immaculate
playing. Reiner’s second disc in this release
contains Debussy’s La Mer and Respighi’s
Pines and Fountains of Rome (82876-71614)
and, as expected, the performances are
inspired and the sound, always good, is now
a revelation. Attentive listeners will hear
that the acoustics of Chicago’s Orchestra
Hall were (they have since re-modeled) not
the equal of Boston’s Symphony Hall where
their recordings were made and that the
microphone set-ups were different.
Arthur Fiedler’s Boston Pops program,
“Pops Caviar” (82876-71618) brilliantly
documents passionate performances of
colourful Russian favourites. Included are
Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia and
the Overture and Polovtsian Dances from
Prince Igor, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian
Easter Festival Overture and excerpts from
Khachaturian’s Gayne and Masquerade
ballets. Fiedler was an exceptional
musician in addition to a fine conductor. In
1940 he made the first ever recording of the
Pachelbel Canon with his Sinfonietta and he
regularly collaborated with the likes of
violist Paul Hindemith and organist E.
Power Biggs. Victor was so successful with
The Boston Pops recordings worldwide that
they did not record Fiedler outside the Pop’s
repertoire, except for Dvorak’s Ninth
Symphony. In the Polygram years he was
bound to the pop’s repertoire and he asked
me over the many lunches we enjoyed
together (when in Toronto he stayed at the
Park Plaza Hotel, adjacent to our store on
Yorkville) if would I talk to someone at the
label to allow him to record some different
repertoire. I did. They didn’t.
Two more from Boston with Charles
Munch. The Symphonie Fantastique,
recorded in 1954 is a disappointment (8287667899). I’m sure that the orchestra was up to
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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Fine Old Recordings Re-Released
Rome but during November/December
1958 and July 1959 the, by then, excessively
strength but the sound tells a different story.
obese tenor made the above recordings.
This early (1954) stereo recording is poorly
Unfortunately he had lost his incomparable
balanced and bodiless. It’s too bad because
voice and was left with a rough copy of the
this is a snappy performance. Two
original. I confess to being a rabid Lanza
Mendelssohn symphonies tell a different story fan but this disc doesn’t rate. Be assured,
(82876-71616). The Fourth, “Italian” and
RCA has many marvelous CDs in print
Fifth “Reformation” are spectacular
made in his prime. Hopefully MGM will
performances in full-bodied sound. The Fifth soon release DVDs of the many films he
is Mendelssohn at his serious best and Munch made between 1949 and 1958.
realizes this to perfection. Very
In 1958 RCA sat organ superstar, Virgil
recommendable.
Fox at the Aeolian-Skinner organ of
Heifetz plays the Bruch Concerto No.1 and Riverside Church in New York and
the Scottish Fantasy plus Vieuxtemps Fifth
recorded the 13 spectacular tracks reviolin concerto with Sir Malcolm Sargent
issued on “Virgil Fox Encores” (82876conducting (82876-71622). Recorded in
71626). These almighty sounds are manna
London in 1962 and 1961 these are as not one for the fans of the instrument.
wit short of spectacular. If you question
Finally composer/conductor Morton
Heifetz’s legendary stature, hear these
Gould conducts ‘his’ orchestra in excerpts
incomparable performances and doubt no
from two Copland Ballets, Billy the Kid,
longer. Malcolm Sargent was to conducting
and Rodeo, and Ferde Grofe’s Grand
as Gerald Moore was to piano: accompanists Canyon Suite (82876-67904). Recorded in
perfectly in sync with their soloist. In superb NYC’s Manhattan Center, these musicians
sound, this is a must have! Get one for a
would have been hand-picked from the best
friend, too.
in the country and RCA went to enormous
“Mario!” is of course Mario Lanza. A
lengths to create sonic spectaculars. There
dozen popular Italian songs and a dozen
really are no finer performances of this
selections from Rudolf Friml’s The Vagabond repertoire and four decades later the sound
King were the late tenor’s last recordings.
is still spectacular.
Lanza died on October 7, 1959 in a hospital in
Bruce Surtees
by Bruce Surtees
51
EXTENDED PLAY - MOZART AND THE PARKER CLAN
concertos - #21 in C major
K.467, played by Jon Kimura
Parker, the concerto for two
pianos K365, played by Jon
Kimura and his brother Jamie,
and the triple concerto K.242, in
which these two are joined by
cousin Ian.
Concertos for more than one
While Montreal’s Brott family
solo instrument – usually referred
can truly be regarded as one of
to as sinfonias concertante - were
the foremost musical families in
popular in Europe during the
eastern Canada, the Parkers,
1770s and ’80s, and numerous
originally from Vancouver, may all I knew was that Mr. Parker
made me very nervous, particucomposers turned their hand to
be regarded as their western
larly when he felt I had not been
them, including J.C. Bach, Karl
counterpart. It began with the
practicing diligently enough. I
Stamitz, and Josef Haydn. Morenowned piano pedagogue Edalso remember that he would
zart was no stranger to the genre
ward, who in turn taught two
and, not surprisingly, his efforts
nephews, Jon Kimura and James, sometimes eat his supper on the
may be considered among the
in addition to his own son Ian. All piano during my lessons and I
was often uneasy that a morsel of finest of their type.
three pupils went on to study at
food might drop onto the strings
Whatever means the Parkers
the Juilliard School and all have
of the Heintzman grand and ruin took in divvying up the respective
established careers as performmy interpretation of a Chopin
roles, the result is a success.
ers, teachers and recording artwaltz. (It never happened).
Whether performing solo or as a
ists – indeed a fine testament to
Alas, I never did as well as any group, the three artists demonthe early teaching skills bestowed
of the Parker boys. But I bear no strate a thoughtful and intelligent
upon them by their respective
grudge. This new recording with approach throughout. While each
uncle and father.
of them possesses flawless techI was fortunate enough to have the CBC Radio Orchestra and
nique, there is also ample evistudied with Edward myself as a Mario Bernardi is a delight – a
boy when we lived in Vancouver true showcase of their collective dence of a deep-rooted sensitivity
years ago, although at the time I talents. Recorded live at the Chan - no one can accuse them of being
mere technicians! One of the
had no idea how lucky I was. As Centre in January of this past
year, the disc features three
challenges in concertante playing
a shy, bespectacled 11 year old,
Mozart - Concertos for 1, 2
and 3 pianos
Jon Kimura Parker;
James Parker; Ian Parker
CBC Radio Orchestra;
Mario Bernardi
CBC Records SMCD 5240
is to ensure that one part never
overshadows the other(s). This
certainly doesn’t appear to be a
problem for the Parkers who
achieve a fine balance at all
times. Tempos are well-paced,
and I was particularly happy to
hear the finale of the double concerto executed at a civilized allegro rather than the lickety-split
pace that certain piano duos seem
to insist upon. (The team of Argerich and Rabinovitch comes to
mind.) Surely Mozart never
intended this movement as an
exercise in digital gymnastics!
What good is a CD of concertos
without a solid orchestra to accompany the soloists? Under the
baton of Mario Bernardi the CBC
Radio Orchestra creates a lively
and spirited mood, providing a
perfect platform for the Parkers
in all their combinations. Despite
the plethora of Mozart recordings
appearing in this landmark year,
this one is indeed a splendid addition to the catalogue. Great music, elegantly performed. Well
done, gentlemen, let’s continue to
hear more from all of you!
Richard Haskell
celebrate!
.
06 07
SEASON
Music Director Jeanne Lamon’s
25th Anniversary with Tafelmusik
WINNER
OF TWO
2006
JUNOS
25th Anniversary of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
S U B S C R I B E A N D G E T U P TO 3 CO N C E RTS FO R
FREE!
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS:
Bach St. John Passion
Handel Water Music
Purcell The Fairy Queen
Mozart The Magic Flute with Opera Atelier
Handel Solomon
Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir
Jeanne Lamon, Music Director
Ivars Taurins, Director, Chamber Choir
www.tafelmusik.org
Concerts take place at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre | 427 Bloor Street West
Call the Tafelmusik Box Office today at
416.964.6337
52
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2006.2007 Season
Presenting Sponsor
J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
tso
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
VENGEROV
Peter Oundjian | Music Director
SHOSTAKOVICH 10
BEN HEPPNER
May 31 at 8pm
June 1 at 8pm
June 3 at 8pm
June 15 at 8 pm
June 17 at 7:30 pm
The sensational Maxim Vengerov
performs Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto
No. 1 (May 31 & June 1). Janine Jansen
performs Shostakovich's 2nd Violin
concerto (June 3). Andrey Boreyko
conducts Shostokovich's 10th Symphony.
Peter Oundjian joins forces with
Canada’s superstar tenor for this
spectacular concert! Ben Heppner
performs dramatic arias by Beethoven
and Wagner.
June 15 sponsored by
June 17 part of the
Casual Concerts Series
PETER OUNDJIAN
CONDUCTS THE MUSIC
BERNSTEIN, STRAUSS
& HAYDN
OF
MCDUFFIE
June 7 at 8pm
June 8 at 2pm
Peter Oundjian conducts a programme
of philosophy set to music. Violinist
Robert McDuffie performs Bernstein’s
Serenede. Programme includes Also
sprach Zarathustra by R. Strauss and
Haydn's Symphony No. 22 “The
Philosopher”.
OF
June 20 at 8 pm
June 21 at 2pm & 8pm
Nicholas McGegan conducts this
annual raucous musical party in the
British tradition!
June 21 sponsored by
Part of the
Pops Series
SHAKESPEARE
IN
LOVE
June 24 at 7:30pm
June 25 at 3pm
ITZHAK PERLMAN
June 10 at 8 pm
PERLMAN
LAST NIGHT
THE PROMS
Programme includes selections from
Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Weber’s Oberon Overture, and
Berlioz’ Romeo and Juliet.
The world's favourite violinist returns to
the TSO for one night only! Peter Oundjian
conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No.
8 and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
Part of the
ALMOST SOLD OUT - BUY TODAY!
Check out our website for the
Light Classics Series
call 416.593.4828 or visit www.tso.ca
Concerts at Roy Thomson Hall.
HEPPNER
M AY 1 - J UNE 7 2006
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TIPPET-RICHARDSON
CONCERT SEASON
53
DISCS OF THE MONTH
ture the essence of being
Finnish is astounding and
it is ironic to note that he
died a few weeks before
his 35th birthday, a casualty in the Civil War of
Finland in 1918.
The Tokaido –
Choral Music of Harry Freedman
Elmer Iseler Singers;
Amadeus Chamber Singers;
Toronto Children’s Chorus; Lydia Adams
Centrediscs CMCCD 11206
This timely retrospective of Harry Freedman’s choral music was recorded just a few
months before his death last year. With
repertoire covering the years from 19642002, the disc is built around the earliest of
these, a work commissioned for The Festival
Singers. The Tokaido is a strict 12-tone setting of nineteen classical Japanese poems
chosen from a book of woodblock prints
Freedman was given at a time when he was
studying Japanese sumi painting. The interplay between voices and wind ensemble
perfectly mirrors what is described in the
Canadian Encyclopedia of Music as ‘ritualistic Japanese art that aims at a high degree of
expression achieved with a strict economy of
brushwork’.
Some of the works featured on this CD highlight another of the composer’s inclinations,
and that is a fondness for inventing abstract
language for works like Voices and Keewaydin. This creates an emphasis on expressive
sound that allows the music a spacious freedom that speaks to the listener on another
level of understanding beyond explicit meaning.
Contrasting these are pieces written in plain
English that, nonetheless, define Freedman
as, in the words of Lawrence Cherney, ‘the
ultimate sound poet’. 1838 is a short but
rollicking set of songs from Eastern Canada
ending with a Dennis Lee poem on William
Lyon Mackenzie. Many of the Songs from
Shakespeare were written for Stratford Festival productions. The performances on this
disc are exquisitely presented as a fitting
tribute to this brilliant light of Canadian music heritage.
Dianne Wells
Choral music plays an enormous part in the
lives of people residing in northern Europe.
The involvement of the amateur singer in
choirs is a fundamental part of everyday life
in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries,
resulting in a plethora of superb compositions
geared to challenge, move and entertain both
listeners and singers alike. “North” and
“Forgotten Peoples” are important releases
of a cappella choral works from important
composers from these regions.
If you were to own only one recording of
choral music representing Scandinavia,
“North” would be the one I would recommend. It is a comprehensive two CD compilation showcasing a cross section of important works performed with musical integrity
by the Accentus choir under the direction of
Eric Ericson. Here are my favourites.
Though more famous for his orchestral
works such as Finlandia, the choral output of
Jean Sibelius showcases his romantic sensibilities combined with the lyric folk poetry of
the region. Both Sydämeni laulu (Song of My
Heart, set to a poem by Aleksis Kivi) and
Sortunut ääni (The Voice Now Stilled, from
a poem from the Kanteletar, a companion
volume to the Finnish national epic Kalevala)
are part of the standard Finnish repertoire.
They are beautiful works, brief in duration,
and captivating in their harmonic colours.
Toivo Kuula’s Siell’ on kauan jo kukkineet
omenapuut (Yonder the Apple Trees are
Blooming) is the first choral fugue written to
a Finnish text. Like Sibelius, Kuula’s expressive and emotional music is stylistically
Romantic. His compositional ability to cap-
Works from the Estonian
composer Veljo Tormis
comprise “Forgotten
Peoples”, the latest release from Vancouver
based 12 member mixed professional choir
Musica Intima. The choir prides itself on
working without a conductor so that listening
is of essence for each choir member, a technique that lends itself well to Tormis’ music.
Unlike the minimalist nature of fellow Estonian Arvo Pärt, Tormis’ music is more
melodic in nature, and his harmonies and
word painting are unique. This music may
sound simple, but believe me it is not easy to
execute. This is work from my own cultural
background and its originality is refreshing.
He uses “regilaul”, ancient traditional Estonian forms of vocal chanting and singing, in
their entirety as a basis for his compositional
ideas for Jaanilaulud and Vastlalaulud (from
the cycle “Estonian Calendar Songs”). In
Sügismaastikud (Autumn Landscapes), one of
two featured sets of miniatures from Looduspildid (Nature Pictures), Tormis takes the
ecological themed text by poet Viivi Luik and
creates aural magic. In the song Tuul kõnnumaa kohal (Wind Along the Heath), the
swirling velocity of wind is musically depicted with awe-inspiring accuracy within a 1:13
framework.
The musicality and dedication of both Accentus and Musica Intima needs to be heartily
applauded. Neither choir originates from
these regions. The fact that the singers are
able to execute the difficult language pronunciations is enough to make each disc a treasure. Factor in solid intonation, inspired musicality and an inherent love of this music,
and the result is two very moving musical
experiences.
Tiina Kiik
North
Choeur Accentus; Eric Ericson
Naïve 5037
Tormis - Forgotten Peoples
Musica Intima
ATMA ACD2 2354
54
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J UNE 1 - J ULY 7 2006
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the professionals first choice; even Microsoft has adopted Roland’s standard. A
Roland piano doesn’t mind if its hot and humid or cold and dry, and they’re
easy to move around. True Piano tone and touch is just the beginning.
Privacy of Headphones
Compact Size
Never Needs Tuning.
Visit our Rogers Organ showroom
Tour Our Famous Workshops
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943 Eglinton Avenue East (just west of Leslie) Lots of free parking!
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416-423-0434 — pianoexperts.com
rock
YOUR SOUNDDOCK
Bose® SoundDockTM Digital Music System
Bose® quality sound from your iPod®. Simply dock and play to
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39995
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(ipod not included)
BONUS GIFT
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The SoundDock® system Travel Case is
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system to make travel easy.
t h e r e ’ s
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Bay Bloor Radio
MANULIFE CENTRE, BAY STREET SOUTH
www.baybloorradio.com
OF
BLOOR, TORONTO, TEL: 416-967-1122
MON.-THURS. 10-7, FRI. 10-9, SAT. 10-6
Celebrating 60 years at the corner of Bay & Bloor
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June 2006 - The WholeNote

Transcription

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