Volume 21 Issue 8 - May 2016

LISTINGS | FEATURES | RECORD REVIEWS 

PRICELESS! 

Vol 21 No 8 

MAY 1 – JUNE 7, 2016 

SING! at 5 

WATTS on second 

KRONOS launches 21C 

MACKAY’S coffee houses 

INSIDE: 14TH ANNUAL 

CHORAL CANARY PAGES 

Kronos Quartet

SEASON FINALE! 

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Alison Mackay | Programme Creator 

Marshall Pynkoski | Stage Direction 

Glenn Davidson | Production Designer 

Raha Javanfar | Projections Designer 

Maryem Tollar | Narrator & Vocalist 

Alon Nashman | Narrator 

It’s 1740, and coffee houses are the places to listen to music and share 

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Brian Current Nicole Lizée James Ehnes & 

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NOW 

THE 21C MUSIC FESTIVAL IS MADE POSSIBLE 

THROUGH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF 

MICHAEL AND SONJA KOERNER

an Ontario government agency 

un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario 

2016 Collaborative Artistic Partners:

Volume 21 No 8 | May 2016 

FEATURES 

6. OPENER | What Would You Say The Odds Are? | DAVID PERLMAN 

8. Kronos’ Creative Currency | WENDALYN BARTLEY 

11. SING! At Five ; Nylons’ Final Run | ORI DAGAN 

13. Watts, Goode And The Evolution Of Jazz Style | STEVE WALLACE 

15. Hot Docs 2016 | High Notes | PAUL ENNIS 

16. Alison Mackay’s Coffee House Creation | DAVID PERLMAN 

61. WE ARE ALL MUSIC’S CHILDREN | Douglas McNabney | MJ BUELL 

61. Tom Allen at JMO/ NYOC Benefit | VANESSA WELLS 

78. CBC RADIO TWO: Coming of Age in the 1990s - Part 2 | DAVID JAEGER 

BEAT BY BEAT 

20. Classical & Beyond | PAUL ENNIS 

22. On Opera | CHRISTOPHER HOILE 

24. Early Music | DAVID PODGORSKI 

26 World View | ANDREW TIMAR 

28. In with the New | WENDALYN BARTLEY 

30. Bandstand | JACK MacQUARRIE 

32. Art of Song | HANS DE GROOT 

33. Choral Scene | BRIAN CHANG 

54. Mainly Clubs, Mostly Jazz! | BOB BEN 

SPECIAL FEATURE 

C1 - C16. 14TH ANNUAL CANARY PAGES 

CHORAL DIRECTORY 

LISTINGS 

35. A | Concerts in the GTA 

51. B | Concerts Beyond the GTA 

53. C | Music Theatre 

54. D | In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz) 

57. E | The ETCeteras 

This is the sixth release 

in ATMA’s project to 

record the sacred 

cantatas of J.S. Bach 

in conjunction with 

the Montréal Baroque 

Festival. 

Available from 

May 13, 2016 

DISCOVERIES: RECORDINGS REVIEWED 

62. Editor’s Corner | DAVID OLDS 

63. Strings Attached | TERRY ROBBINS 

65. Keyed In | ALEX BARAN 

67. Vocal 

69. Classical & Beyond 

70. Modern & Contemporary 

72 Jazz & Improvised 

75. Pot Pourri 

75. Something in the Air | KEN WAXMAN 

76. Old Wine, New Bottles | BRUCE SURTEES 

Eric Milnes 

and Mélisande Corriveau 

2016 JUNO Award winners 

for their album 

Las Ciudades de Oro 

MORE 

6. Contact Information & Deadlines 

7. Index of Advertisers 

58. Classified Ads 

Cover Photograph Jay Blakesberg 

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

FOR OPENERS | DAVID PERLMAN 

What Would You 

Say The Odds Are? 

What are the odds of two concerts both involving recreations 

of Zimmermann’s Coffee House in Leipzig (circa 

1725), both happening on Saturday May 21, 2016, 

one in Toronto and one in Bethlehem, and that I will get to 

go to both of them? Pretty good actually because they’re 

both happening on other nights as well, and it’s only a shorthaul 

hop, skip and bus ride from Toronto’s Island Airport to 

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. But it’s a pretty neat coincidence, as 

Alison Mackay agrees. (All is revealed in my conversation with 

Alison Mackay, starting on page 16.) That story, by the way, is 

excerpted from a much longer conversation taped in what we 

refer to, rather grandly, as “our studio” in The WholeNote offices. 

The entire conversation is one of two (the other is with choral 

conductor Lydia Adams) recently made available as a podcast on 

our website at thewholenote.com. 

Still on the topic of May 21, what are the odds that the other 

concert this month I really don’t want to miss (Ernie Watts, Brad 

Goode, Adrean Farrugia et al.) also takes place that very same 

night, at the George Weston Recital Hall in North York. Steve 

Wallace explains why it’s a concert not to miss (the story starts 

on page 13). 

Still on the subject of odds, it was a pretty safe bet that 

Toronto would be one of the venues as 37-year-old iconic a 

cappella group the Nylons kick off a yearlong farewell tour. 

Ori Dagan talks with sole remaining founding member Claude 

Morrison in a great little meander through the evolution of our a 

cappella scene from those beginnings to today (page 11). 

Simple coincidence throws up all kinds of interesting patterns 

and synchronicities when one views things, that maybe 

just happened to have taken place at the same time, from a 

particular point of view. Face to face with the momentous, we 

can look back on some small moment as the one that started 

it all. Listening to Tanya Tagaq with the Kronos Quartet on the 

opening night of the upcoming 21C Music Festival (see Wendalyn 

Bartley’s cover story) for example, it will be hard for me not to 

wonder what would have happened had David Harrington not 

listened all the way through to track 18 of that particular CD on 

that particular plane on that particular night 13 years ago. 

Odds are, I suppose, that if one compiles enough stories and 

facts about all the interesting musical stuff going on around us 

all the time, the resulting document will always contain enough 

different threads for the individual reader, depending on your 

likes, to weave into pleasurable patterns of interesting connectedness. 

Maybe for you, somewhere down the line, you will 

look back on something you found in this issue of the magazine 

as having changed things for you in some interesting way 

– a piece of music that fell fresh on your ears, a new ensemble 

or performer or recording. Or, for that matter, a band or choir 

to join, so that making music became (again) an integral part of 

your life. 

The WholeNote 

VOLUME 21 NO 8| MAY 1 -JUNE 7, 2016 

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Features 

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Layout & Design 

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Friday June 3 (Print) 

Volume 21 No 9 covers 

June 1 - September 7, 2016 

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thewholenote.com 

6 | May 1, 2016 - June 7, 2016 thewholenote.com

Odds of the latter happening this month are somewhat 

higher than usual, because this is the month we publish our 

Canary Pages choral directory (you’ll find it following page 

34, just ahead of the daily concert listings). This is our 14th 

annual Canary Pages, and if perusing it leaves you a step closer 

to thinking that maybe finding a choir that would suit you is a 

distinct possibility, it will have served its task. 

Longtime readers will have to forgive me for telling those of 

you who haven’t heard this story how in the first heady year of 

compiling this directory, we called it our Choral Yellow Pages. 

That was before we received friendly legal advice to cease doing 

so before we were ordered to cease and desist. Canary seemed a 

clever alternative but drew an almost immediate reproach from 

a reader who pointed out that canaries were solitary songsters, 

charged with the grim responsibility of singing in cages in mines 

so as to warn miners, by falling deathly silent, of the impending 

threat of lethal gas in the mines. “So, not a very cheerful name,” 

our reader opined. 

I see it a bit differently, still. Choirs have long been the 

bedrock of our thriving music scene and, especially while music 

sits sidelined in our school system, perhaps our greatest hope. 

As art, yes, but also as a social, communal force. Count the 

canaries! Take heart from the fact that they haven’t fallen silent! 

Better still, join the singing! Odds are good that where there’s 

this much musical life, there’s hope. 

publisher@thewholenote.com 

Readers and presenters take note: Next issue 

is our combined June/July/August summer 

issue containing our Green Pages Guide to 

Summer Music. 

Ask LUDWIG! 

LUDWIG enables you, the reader, to better search our 

live concert listings. On our website you can search for 

specific text (like a performer’s or composer’s name). 

You can also refine your search to geographic zones or 

genres or date range. 

LUDWIG online! is brand new and still in what we call a 

"Beta" trial. This means there may be some bugs or 

errors that we are not yet aware of. We thank you for 

helping us "kick the tires" on this new service and 

apologize in advance for any problems you may 

encounter. 

Find what you like online at 

TheWholeNote.com/Ask-Ludwig 

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 

3-in-the-Six 48 

5 at the First Chamber Players 52 

Adam Sherkin 36 

Amadeus Choir 50, 58 

Analekta 65 

Annex Singers 38 

ArtsMediaProjects 59 

Associates of the TSO 21, 43 

ATMA 5 

Bach Children’s Chorus 41 

Berkovsky and Chow 44 

Bravo Niagara 53 

Canadian Children’s Opera Company 39 

Canadian Opera Company 58 

Canadian Orpheus Male Choir 34 

Cantemus Singers 25 

Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra 46 

Christ Church Deer Park Jazz Vespers 56 

Claude Watson Secondary Arts Programme 36, 60 

Columbus Centre 31, 50 

Continuum Contemporary Music 29 

Counterpoint Community Orchestra 49 

Elmer Iseler Singers 38 

Estonian National Opera Boys’ Choir 19 

Exultate Chamber Singers 45 

Eybler Quartet 40 

Festival of the Sound 23 

Flute Street 50 

Gallery 345 38 

Harmony Singers 45 

Horizon Tax / Norm Pulker 59 

Jubilate Singers 49 

Lawrence Park Community Church 37 

Li Delun Music Foundation 38 

Lulaworld 11 

Master Performing 59 

Mississauga Symphony 46 

Music and Beyond 24 

Music at Metropolitan / Noon at Met 36 

Music Gallery 27 

Music Mondays, Church of the Holy Trinity 36 

Music Toronto 9 

Nagata Shachu 49 

National Youth Orchestra of Canada 79 

Naxos 63, 65 

New Horizons Band 59 

Open Ears Festival 26, 52 

ORIANA Women’s Choir 49 

Orpheus Choir 58 

Pasquale Bros. Downtown 57 

Peterborough Singers 51 

Ravi Naimpally 65 

Rhodes Piano 59 

Rosewood Consort 52 

Roy Thomson Hall 19 

Royal Conservatory 3, 45, 46 

Scarborough Philharmonic 46 

SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival 19, 39, 40, 41, 42 

St Michael’s Choir School 40 

St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Newmarket 47 

St. Philip’s Jazz Vespers 56 

Steinway Piano Gallery 22 

Stephen Satory 49 

Tafelmusik 2, 36, 43, 44 

Tallis Choir 25 

Tapestry Opera 17 

TD Toronto Jazz Festival 13, 15, 55 

That Choir 42 

That Choir / Northern Kentucky U. Chamber Choir 39 

Toronto Bach Festival / Four Centuries of Bach 45 

Toronto Chamber Choir 47 

Toronto Children’s Chorus 37 

Toronto Choral Society 43 

Toronto City Opera 58 

Toronto Classical Singers 42 

Toronto Consort 4, 37 

Toronto Masque Theatre 46, 47, 48 

Toronto Summer Music Academy & Festival 4 

Toronto Symphony Orchestra 40, 44, 80 

TorQ Percussion Quartet 29, 44 

Trio Arkel 45 

Universal Music Canada 63, 65 

Victoria Scholars 47 

Viva! Youth Singers of Toronto 33 

Westben Arts Festival Theatre 23 

Windermere String Quartet 42 

Women’s Musical Club of Toronto 37 

Wychwood Clarinet Choir 43 

Young Voices Toronto 50 

thewholenote.com May 1, 2016 - June 7, 2016 | 7

Kronos’ Creative Currency 

The Royal Conservatory’s 21C Music Festival 

WENDALYN BARTLEY 

The 21C Music Festival, now in the third edition of its guaranteed 

five-year run, was originally conceived as an opportunity to 

celebrate creativity, collaboration and commissioning, all critical 

elements in the coinage of new music in the 21st century. This 

year’s edition of the festival will do just that. Over five days and seven 

concerts featuring 28+ premieres, its audiences’ ears will be abuzz with 

sounds that capture fresh creative ideas and directions. Among the seven, 

three projects stood out in particular for me, all of them offering world 

premieres and, viewed together, revealing the overall scope and intent of 

the festival – almost as though they were a single 3-part invention titled 

Throat Singing – Darkness – Koto & Sho. 

Tanya Tagaq and the Kronos Quartet performing 

Nunavut, their first collaboration, 

The Kronos Quartet: (left to right) David Harrington, violin, 

John Sherba, violin, Sunny Yang, viola, Hank Dutt, cello 

THROAT SINGING: Imagine having the capacity to sound like a 

string quartet, all through using your throat and voice. That’s exactly 

how David Harrington, Kronos Quartet’s first violinist, described the 

exhilarating and ferocious throat singing of Tanya Tagaq. Although 

Tagaq was raised on the lands of the Inuit people in the Arctic village 

of Cambridge Bay in Nunavut, the traditional sounds of throat singing 

were unknown to her while growing up. In fact the first time she 

heard it was while studying at the Nova Scotia College of Art and 

Design, on tapes sent to her by her mother. Fascinated by the sound, 

she taught herself the technique by singing in the shower. 

It was another recording (a January/February 2003 fRoots Magazine 

compilation CD) that led to a meeting between Tagaq and the 

legendary Kronos Quartet. While travelling home on a plane some 13 

years ago, Harrington was listening to that CD. Track 1 was Youssou 

N’Dour. Track 18 of 18 was something called “Ilgok” by Tanya Tagaq. 

Harrington was transfixed. “It was an incredible vocal performance,” 

he told me in a recent interview. “Although I had known about Inuit 

throat singing for 30 years, I had not heard anything like it. It sounded 

as if it were two to three people singing at the same time. After 

listening to it about 30 times in a row, I knew I had to be in touch with 

her and figure out a way to do music together.” They eventually met in 

Spain when Tagaq, who was living there at the time, came to a Kronos 

soundcheck and performed for them. “Knocked out” by what they 

heard, the quartet resolved to make music with Tagaq. 

It was up to Harrington to figure out how this was going to happen. 

The night before their first rehearsal together in Whitehorse, Yukon, 

he still didn’t know how it was going to work, but finally at 5am he 

had an idea. Using his granddaughter’s crayons he made five coloured 

squares – one for each performer – with the idea that each player 

would musically interpret their own colour. Later they added more 

coloured squares and found a way to connect the sounds that each 

person came up with. This first collaboration, Nunavut, will be one of 

a full program of works performed by Kronos in the opening concert 

of the 21C festival on May 25. 

Kronos is renowned for charting a wildly different musical path 

for the string quartet as a chamber ensemble, and for their work 

in mentoring emerging artists. This vision continues at the heart of 

Fifty for the Future, their latest project, designed to create a repertoire 

of training works for young string quartets to introduce them to 

contemporary music. Starting in this current concert season, Kronos 

will be commissioning 50 new works by 25 women and 25 men over 

five years. Four of the works from Year One will be performed on the 

May 25th concert, including the world premiere of a new commission 

from Tagaq. 

Reflecting on the Nunavut project, along with other pieces Kronos 

and Tagaq have created together, Harrington says: “Tanya is an 

amazing composer, even though she doesn’t necessarily think of 

herself as a composer, she just does music.” Harrington so values his 

experience of having worked with Tagaq that he invited her to be one 

of the first ten composers to participate in the Fifty for the Future 

project, because their collaboration over the years has been one aspect 

of his own musical life and that of Kronos that he wants to be sure 

other musicians, especially young musicians, are able to experience. 

Why a vocal performer as a model for string quartet players, I 

asked? “Because it sounds to me like she has a string quartet in her 

throat,” Harrington replied. “And because Tanya is very connected to 

nature and the way she thinks of music is a natural part of her life, it’s 

effortless, even though she works very hard.” 

For anyone who has had the experience of hearing Tanya Tagaq 

perform, this statement will ring true. Something exudes off the stage 

that seems rare yet also distantly familiar, like a calling back to our 

primal roots. I asked her about the nature of this place it seems she 

goes to when performing. “It’s not so much a place I go to as a place I 

come to,” she responded. “It’s a freedom, a lack of control, an exploration, 

and I’m reacting to whatever happens upon the path.” She spoke 

about the limits we put upon ourselves as humans, and exclaimed 

“Things need to happen to raise us to live in the moment!” This place 

she comes to “requires being in the present, for when you are in the 


present, it doesn’t matter what else is happening, what’s going to 

happen or what has happened. That’s what I like about improvisation 

– it’s all new and it’s all happening.” 

She also loves collaborating, describing the process as like adding 

different rooms to a store. In her collaboration with regular band 

members, percussionist Jean Martin and violinist Jesse Zubot, she said 

it’s like “going to see really good friends to have a conversation. We 

have our own language that we speak, and when there’s a gap in time 

of not being together, I can feel this anticipation and urge to speak 

again.” She described singing with the improvisational Element Choir 

directed by Christine Duncan, who are increasingly accompanying 

her on stage and will be included on her next recording due for 

release later this year, as “like having a wind from behind, or someone 

pushing really really hard in a super positive way.” 

Tagaq’s Fifty for the Future collaboration with Kronos is titled Snow 

Angel-Sivunittinni (meaning “the future children”). Tagaq met with 

the quartet in a recording studio in San Francisco where she recorded 

two improvisations –a single track first, then a second improvisation 

laid down on top of that one. Longtime Kronos collaborator, trombonist/composer 

Jacob Garchik then transcribed Tagaq’s studio vocal 

tracks for the quartet, spreading the two layers out amongst the four 

players, after which Harrington then had a further idea – wouldn’t it 

be wonderful if she came up with four vocalized introductions to the 

piece, each about one minute long and each interpreting a different 

member of Kronos. One of these four “Snow Angels,” as the introductions 

are called, is spontaneously selected each night the work is 

performed. (Harrington is hoping that his will be the one chosen for 

the Toronto premiere.) Final element of the work: Tagaq will add an 

additional live improvised layer to the piece during the performance! 

Garchik has collaborated on more than two dozen Kronos projects 

to date; his work will also be in evidence in two other pieces that 

Kronos will perform on the May 25 program – by composers Geeshie 

Wiley and Laurie Anderson. And speaking of the May 25 program, 

Harrington was, as he described it, “smiling from ear to ear. There are 

works by seven female composers and each one of them is so different 

from the other, it will be like this incredible meeting of unforgettable 

people.” The program includes three other commissions from 

Year One of the Fifty for the Future project, as well as two earlier 

works by composers who are scheduled to be part of Year Two of the 

project: Canadian Nicole Lizée’s piece from 2012, The Golden Age of 

the Radiophonic Workshop, which pays homage to the pioneers of 

electronic music in Britain, and the aforementioned piece by Laurie 

Anderson, Flow, arranged in 2010 from a track on her Homeland 

album. 

The key feature of the Fifty for the Future project will be the easy 

availability of all the commissioned works. Scores, parts and recordings 

by Kronos of each of the pieces will be accessible for download 

from the Kronos website, with the first five pieces being available 

now. Tagaq’s piece will be ready in about six months and will include 

an interview, a video and the original studio recordings as auxiliary 

material. After the entire project is completed, it will be an incredible 

mosaic of music by composers from around the world destined 

to introduce future string quartets to the diversity of contemporary 

musical ideas. 

DARKNESS: Imagine yourself entering a completely dark concert 

hall in a line, conga style, with your hands on the shoulders of 

the person in front of you, like a small train of people, ushered by 

someone using an overhead highway system complete with roads and 

intersections. Following “driving directions” received from the head 

usher who is outside the hall with a map, your usher is feeling their 

way along this overhead tracking system to deliver you to your specific 

seat. And it’s complete darkness, with absolutely no light being 

emitted from exit signs, computers, soundboards or windows. 

This is how “Blackout”, a late-night 21C concert, May 27, created 

by Toronto-based composer and saxophonist John Oswald, will 

begin. Once the audience is seated, what will unfold will be a onehour 

concert of music by Oswald, including a 21C new commission, 

intermingled with quotes and perhaps intact works from Oswald’s 

previous repertoire. The late-night concert will be more like a variety 

show, he told me in our recent phone conversation. Not surprisingly, 

great 

chamber music 

downtown 

great chamber music downtown 

www.music toronto.com 

416-366-7723 1-800-708-6754 

order online at www.stlc.com 

 

Canadian 

Heritage 

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canadien 


the 10:30pm concert sold 

out as of mid-April, so an 

additional concert is being 

planned starting at 8pm. 

Performers will be 

spatially distributed 

throughout the room, intermingled 

with the audience. 

The piece is scored for up 

to 50 musicians, including 

members of Radiant Brass, 

the Element Choir, a 

percussion quartet, piano, 

electroacousmatic elements 

and three secret singers, all 

interwoven over the hour. 

The identities of the singers 

will be secret in order to 

create the surprise element 

of “what is that that I am 

(above) John Oswald 

hearing? Since there will be a 

(right) Ryan Scott 

celebrity element, people will 

be surprised at WHO they are hearing,” Oswald 

said. 

Creating a work where all the performers will be 

in the dark requires different compositional strategies, 

as there will be no scores. Oswald selected 

musicians who are used to improvisation “as they 

know how to navigate through unknown musical 

territory by listening rather than staring at a score. 

Simple procedures will be used, so that once you 

know the seed idea, you just need to listen your 

way through it.” Even the Element Choir, who are 

used to performing with visual cues coming from conductor Christine 

Duncan, will have to rely exclusively on listening. Duncan already 

uses some sonic cues in the choir’s regular performances, such as 

singing specific musical gestures or notes to different sections of the 

choir and her voice is often part of the overall choral soundscape. 

These features will be the starting place for their role in “Blackout.” 

Creating pieces to be heard in a completely dark environment is 

not new to Oswald. Back in 1976, he spent a summer working with 

R. Murray Schafer and the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser 

University in BC. Out of that context he began thinking about the 

best way to listen to something, and how a concert could be set up 

so that the attention is focused on sound. His first darkness concert 

was performed at the Western Front that summer in collaboration 

with Marvin Green, and from there, the two created other events 

in Toronto at the Music Gallery, the Mirvish Gallery and at Comox 

Theatre. Oswald adds: “Marvin and I called that field of inquiry and 

those concerts PITCH, a reference to pitch, but also to the idea of 

pitch black.” 

Oswald admits that a concert in the dark may not be for everyone, 

but it will be made clear beforehand what to expect. His goal though 

is for it to be a wonderful and joyful listening experience. Towards 

the end of our conversation I asked him whether he thought we listen 

differently when we are not visually stimulated. To answer, he relayed 

the experience in one of his earlier darkness concerts when photographer 

Vid Ingelevics came in with an infrared camera to take photos. 

What the pictures revealed was that many people had their eyes open 

and were staring off in all directions, especially looking upwards. 

People were cuddled together and the various poses were unlike any 

audience Oswald has seen. I guess the best answer is to come and 

experience for yourself. 

KOTO & SHO: Imagine a sound palette with no boundaries between 

Eastern and Western instruments, where the traditional Japanese 

koto (a zither-like instrument) and the sho (a mouth organ) blend 

seamlessly with an oboe, viola and clarinet. Welcome to the world 

of the UK-based Okeanos ensemble. Known for their fascinating 

mix of Japanese and Western instruments, they are actively 

engaged in commissioning and interacting with the Japanese 

contemporary music world. Two members of Okeanos will 

join Continuum Contemporary Music for a May 26 21C concert 

titled “Japan: NEXT.” 

The idea for the concert began when Continuum artistic 

director Ryan Scott travelled to Japan in 2014. There he was 

introduced to the music of the younger generation of Japanese 

composers, and was inspired to put together a program of 

their music. One of the younger composers Scott researched 

was Dai Fujikura, currently living in the UK. It was through 

Fujikura’s five-piece Okeanos Cycle, written between 2001 

and 2010 that Scott discovered Okeanos; three of the five 

pieces will be heard at 21C. Interestingly, even though Fujikura 

lived in Japan for the first 15 years of his life, he had never 

heard nor been in contact with traditional Japanese instruments 

(a curious parallel 

with Tagaq never having 

heard throat singing 

until she moved to Nova 

Scotia). When Okeanos 

approached Fujikura 

to write music for their 

ensemble, he had to 

learn about the instruments 

from the British 

players. However, 

wanting to avoid exoticism, 

Fujikura brought 

his own energetic and 

distinctly European 

style to this hybrid of 

sound worlds. 

Another composer Scott came into contact with while in Japan was 

Misato Mochizuki, whose piece, Silent Circle, written for a 21-string 

koto will be performed at the festival, but not without a few snags 

along the way. Because the koto player from Okeanos had to cancel 

her appearance, Scott reached out to Mitsuki Dazai, the leading koto 

player in North America, to perform the piece. But Dazai travels with 

a 13-string koto, a problem for the proper performance of Silent 

Circle. The solution? Dazai has developed a way of getting the 21 

different pitches on the 13-string koto by splitting the strings on the 

harmonic points. (Apparently this has caused quite a stir in the koto 

community.) 

The program will also include two world premieres by Canadian 

composers Hiroki Tsurumoto and Michael Oesterle. Oesterle’s work is 

a new arrangement of a piece he originally wrote in 2010 for marimba 

and the virtuoso koto player Kazue Sawai, and for which Oesterle has 

subsequently made other arrangements for Continuum’s instrumentation. 

However, for this event, he has pulled out all the stops: another 

arrangement which takes advantage of all the available instruments. 

Look on Glass, scored for two shos, koto, harp, guitar and marimba as 

well as Continuum’s regular sextet, gives Oesterle the opportunity to 

combine western and eastern instruments in his own unique way. 

This portrait of three 21C concerts is just the tip of the iceberg, 

with so much more to explore. The festival continues to be a unique 

opportunity to take in the diversity and genre-bending trends of how 

music is currently being created and conceived. Similar to the mosaic 

of music that will eventually end up in Kronos’ Fifty for the Future 

project, the 21C festival series, spread out over its five years, will be 

creating its own unique tapestry of collaborations, creative exchanges, 

and experimentations. It’s too early at this stage to see what its longterm 

effects will be, but hopefully the festival will stand as a significant 

venture in creating the attention that contemporary music 

deserves. 

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

sound artist. sounddreaming@gmail.com. 


SING! At Five; Nylons’ Final Run 

The fact that festivals are becoming as ubiquitous in 

Toronto as ways of collecting, and spending, frequent 

flyer miles, shouldn’t deter one from paying attention 

when really good ones come along. Over the past 

few years, SING! – the Toronto Vocal Arts Festival – has 

stuck to the task of shining the spotlight on the diverse 

world of a cappella music – including great visitors and 

top talents who grace the scene year-round. This year the 

fest will illuminate some of the best, including an appearance 

by veterans of the scene, the Nylons, as part of their 

Farewell Tour. 

Founded in 1978 by Paul Cooper, Mark Connors, Denis 

Simpson and Claude Morrison, the Nylons became one 

of the most prolific collectives in the a cappella world. 

After 37 years, the only surviving original Nylon is 

Morrison, now 63 and ready to embark on semi-retirement, 

but not before an extended farewell tour that 

includes a SING! concert May 14 at the Jane Mallett theatre. 

“When we began I was the youngest, now I’m the oldest 

– the mileage is beginning to catch up with my body. I find 

that the less I do, the more I enjoy it, and sometimes the 

less I do, the better I do it. That said, it won’t be over until 

about a year from now. We are taking the show across Canada and 

into the United States, so it’s a bit of an extended farewell, kinda like 

“I can’t miss you if you don’t leave!” (chuckles) It’s been a good long 

run. I can’t even think of many groups who have been around for this 

long. It’s been a great life – more than a living, more than a lifestyle, 

it’s been a life.” 

It has been said that a cappella found the Nylons and not the other 

way around; but Morrison, who was working as a professional dancer 

at the time, recalls it thus: 

“I remember Mark [Connors] saying to me, we’re going to form 

this a cappella group, we want you to be in it, and we’re going to go 

all over the world and be really famous. So Mark seemed to have an 

idea that this was going to take off, and we just kind of stumbled head 

over heels into this and never looked back. For some reason, at the 

time four guys singing a cappella was considered to be outrageous. We 

played fashion shows, parties, benefits, and word of mouth took off 

very quickly. We became media darlings here in Toronto. Fast forward 

to a couple of years later, we self-financed our first album which was 

self-titled. That went Gold in about a month and Platinum in about 

two months, so there was a market out there.” 

Is there a particular recording you’re proud of? 

“Our version of This Boy by the Beatles has got this breathtaking 

key change, and I remember the night we recorded it, thinking, I’m 

going to remember this night forever because I was dealing with an 

ORI DAGAN 

The Nylons: (left to right) Gavin Hope, Tyrone Gabriel, Claude Morrison, Garth Mosburgh 

unrequited love, and all my pain went into that key change. Of course, 

The Lion Sleeps Tonight has been really good to us. One arrangement 

I’m personally proud of is O Canada which they still play in the 

schools! I remember we did a show on Canada Day on Parliament Hill, 

and at the end of it everybody joins hands and sings O Canada and it 

was like Kumbaya. I remember thinking, where is the energy here? 

Who died? So I thought, let’s do a version where there’s a beat to it. 

People seemed to love it. We did it at Game 6 of the Blue Jays World 

Series in 92, down in Atlanta, which was very exciting. We did a show 

recently where someone yelled out, ‘Do O Canada!’ and I said, ‘Well 

that’s a cheap way of getting a standing ovation!’” 

Your reaction to the thriving a cappella scene? 

“I’d like to think that we contributed to it somehow. So many people 

from that world come up to us and say, we owe this to you, because 

we probably wouldn’t have done it unless we had seen that you were 

able to do it, and it gave us the boldness to go for it. So that’s really 

gratifying to know that you’ve made a difference in people’s lives, that 

you inspired them.” 

FreePlay: One such talent is Dylan Bell, who went on to produce 

and arrange for The Nylons. As Claude Morrison puts it, this man is 

“a bundle of talent, wonderful to work with and all over the place! 

Performing with four or five different groups, he’s like a moving target 

that’s hard to hit.” 

Bell first heard the Nylons at age ten, then went on to become a 

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Bobby McFerrin devotee and didn’t stop there: 

“I still remember the moment I got my copy of 

Take 6’s debut record. I ran into our music room 

and said to my friend Kevin Fox: ‘Stop everything, 

and listen to this.’” Shortly after that, Suba 

Sankaran and I met at York University, where we 

were both members – and later directors – of the 

student-run a cappella group Wibijazz’n’. That was 

in 1993, and we’ve been singing together ever since. 

Kevin now sings with the Swingles, and Suba and I 

have since made a cappella singing the cornerstone 

of our musical careers.” 

Partners in crime, Bell and Sankaran perform 

together as the FreePlay Duo, and I’m willing to bet 

that even the most ardent a cappella fan would be 

wowed by this act. Freeplay’s voices are as impressive 

as their arrangements, where Bach, bebop, 

solkattu and hip-hop harmoniously transcend 

cliché. Very much a modern group, they even add 

a loopstation to the mix in order to create a multilayered 

sound in live performance. With the help of 

various granting organizations, Bell and Sankaran 

have taken their act on the road, with stops in North 

America, Europe, East Asia, India and Africa. 

One memorable highlight: “In 2013, we embarked on our first 

trip to Africa, specifically Nairobi. Mary Tangelder, Suba’s former 

jazz choir member and voice student, wanted to create a program 

to explore using music as a tool for cross-cultural communication 

and healing. Living in a multicultural environment such as 

Canada, we take cross-cultural enrichment for granted: in Africa, 

exchanges between members of different tribes or linguistic groups 

can be tense or even dangerous. As part of our workshop, we taught 

a simple vocal counting exercise, and as part of the cross-cultural 

component, we had workshop participants teach each other the exercise 

across languages. What seemed a simple exercise for us was novel 

for them: the idea of teaching your language to another tribe was 

almost unheard of, and was an eye-opening experience for all of us. 

One workshop participant, hearing about our workshops, came in 

from eight hours away, near the border with Somalia. Being from a 

strict Muslim sect, he had never made music before in his life, and the 

experience for him, he told us, was life-changing.” 

Hampton Avenue: Just how did Debbie Fleming go from versatile 

vocalist to sought-after arranger and founder of a cappella group 

Hampton Avenue? 

“Well, to start, I had my Grade 8 piano in high school and took 

Grade 2 theory just so that I could have an extra subject in Grade 13. 

When I married my ex-husband (Gordon Fleming), he was one of 

Toronto’s major B3 R&B players, but couldn’t read a note. I became his 

copyist – so I became pretty adept at hand-writing music. Then Atari 

Notator came along, and I was so scared to get into computerized stuff, 

but damn it, it was so exciting! And suddenly, I thought, you know 

what? This would make the music far easier for singers to read. So 

because I had the computer, and I had the ideas in my head, I started 

to think about arranging more seriously. 

“Actually I was motivated to put together another vocal group 

thanks to David Blamires. He had come home from a tour with Pat 

Metheny – he was touring with him at the time as a singer – and when 

they were in Holland of all places, he heard this fantastic vocal group, 

Take 6, and you couldn’t buy them here. He brought a tape back for 

me and I freaked when I heard them, I thought, that is the kind of 

harmony I want! And one of the first things I did was, I sat down and I 

tried to lift the six parts that they did of Quiet Place. I thought, maybe 

I could do this. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in 

my life. Hearing the outside parts was easy, but hearing all their little 

crunchy things in the middle – it was a trial but it was a joy, because it 

kind of honed my ear. 

“So I put together a bunch of singers who did studio work and could 

read really well, and one of them was Emilie-Claire Barlow, Judy Tate’s 

daughter. I remember Judy said, ‘Why don’t you bring Emilie in?’ and 

I said, are you kidding? And she said ‘Oh no she really reads well!’ and 

Hampton Avenue, circa 1999: (left to right) Dylan Bell, Tom Lillington, Judy Tate, Stephanie 

Taylor, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Larry Folk, Debbie Fleming, Tim Olfert, Suba Sankaran 

I thought, well okay, let’s try her. So she worked out like a dream, and 

we would sit around my dining room table, all these people, Elaine 

Overholt, Laurie Bower, and we would just love to do this. 

“I discovered Suba Sankaran and Dylan Bell through Phil Dwyer. 

I said to Phil, ‘You’re teaching up at York University and I’m always 

wanting to find people who can read and who like jazz harmony.’ He 

took me to see Suba and Dylan, they were only 19 years old, and they 

knew Tom Lillington because they were part of Wibijazz’n’ – they 

started that group. So they joined us. 

“We had regular rehearsals, and our first concert was at the Music 

Gallery, before we had recorded, which was in 1996. It was kind of 

hard to get people out, as it is now. I had to do a lot of promotion and 

publicity. In 1997 we did our Christmas CD. 

“By the time we were first written up in The WholeNote – 1999 

I think it was – we had two concerts a year. It was happening, but 

it wasn’t something that hit the major population – jazz a cappella 

wasn’t really a huge thing. But for those who dug it, we were it. We did 

the crunchy harmonies – we’d hold a chord and it would be so great 

with sharp elevens and the whole damn thing and then there would 

be dead silence and you could hear everyone go ‘Ahhhh.’” (laughs) 

The distilled version of the group, The Hampton Avenue Four, will 

be performing at the SING! fest. Also this month, Fleming is thrilled to 

be releasing a new recording, Back to Bacharach, featuring an all-star 

band led by all-star pianist Mark Kieswetter. But why Bacharach? 

“I was at one of Laura Marks’ jams out on the east end. I got up and 

sang one of my all-time favourites, A House Is Not a Home, which 

I have been singing for years. It’s not jazz but it’s one of those songs 

that gets me right in my heart. Well, Maureen Kennedy was there, and 

she came up to me and said, ‘You know, that was really nice. I could 

never really sing Bacharach, because it’s really hard to do it well.’ So 

I thought, BINGO! I wanted to do another album, and I was looking 

for something that would set me apart from all the other great singers 

in town. There are so many who sing the American songbook like the 

phone book for God’s sake. But I have never fit into a slot. I’ve done 

everything from classical to rock ’n’ roll to country to R&B which is 

my heart and soul, and jazz. And this was like water off a duck’s back 

– yes, rangy, yes, melodic, but I could perform Bacharach with no 

problem. Since Dionne Warwick started off as my favourite singer, and 

later on Aretha Franklin, and both of them did covers of Bacharach, I 

thought Back to Bacharach. We recorded it at Studio Number 9 and 

the release is Thursday May 26 at Jazz Bistro. 

For all the SING! listings visit singtoronto.com. May this festival, 

along with the Canary Pages, inspire YOU to sing, Toronto! 

Ori Dagan is a Toronto-based jazz musician, writer and educator 

who can be reached at oridagan.com. 


Watts, Goode 

And The Evolution 

Of Jazz Style 

STEVE WALLACE 

The development of jazz has largely been fuelled by innovators who 

blazed new musical trails – Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Bix 

Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, 

Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, 

John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Ornette Coleman – to name but an obvious few. 

These men were so compellingly original that they changed not only how 

their respective instruments were played, but also how jazz itself would 

be played or thought of; they altered its overall aesthetic landscape. 

Although jazz has undergone many changes since the 1970s, these 

have not largely been effected by one or two game-changers such 

as those mentioned above; it’s been more of a collaborative, evolutionary 

process rather than one involving radical change. This has 

not stopped the jazz media from a desperate and misguided search in 

recent years for the next “new, big thing” – several figures or bands 

have had this hallowed status conferred upon them, both prematurely 

and inaccurately. 

It’s entirely possible there won’t be a next “new, big thing” in jazz 

ever again, and it’s just as possible the music doesn’t need one, for 

several reasons. First, when a field grows stronger and wider from 

its relatively narrow origins, it becomes harder for any particular 

individual to dominate it, and this is true with jazz today. Second, 

jazz now has a sufficient back history and wealth of stylistic influences, 

morphing and cross-pollinating with increasing speed and 

frequency, that coming up with anything new in any major sense may 

no longer be possible, or even necessary. In terms of impact, jazz may 

never again see the likes of recordings like West End Blues, Ko-Ko or 

Lonely Woman, each of which set the course for an entire generation 

or more. But the music will continue to change and grow by mixing 

various elements of its past with more contemporary influences 

and with borrowings from other musical styles and cultures, which 

continue to spin off in new directions. We might call this mixing and 

matching of the old and new “hybridism.” 

This musical cross-breeding can be a mixed blessing. It can yield 

music that’s confusing and of no particular character, but also music 

that’s exciting and refreshingly beyond the pigeonholing of genre classification. 

The difference seems to lie with the quality of the musicians 

who are playing and whether or not they achieve an integral 

cohesiveness – some chemistry – while assimilating various musical 

influences. It’s now possible to go to a live performance by a band and 

over the course of the evening hear music that blends elements of 

bebop, free improvisation, the blues, New Orleans trad, R&B, hip-hop, 

modal and folkloric elements with Latin American, European or other 

world music influences. The improvisational element and rhythmic 

vibrancy may mark it as jazz, though you may not know what to call 

it. And you might not care, because you could well walk away feeling 

energized and inspired, more open-minded and less concerned with 

musical labels. 

Watts/Goode: Such genre-busting diversity should be expected from 

the Ernie Watts Quintet featuring Brad Goode and Adrean Farrugia, 

appearing in the May 21 JPEC (Jazz Performance and Education 

Centre) concert at the George Weston Recital Hall, as each of the principals 

has a very eclectic and wide-ranging musical reach. 

Ernie Watts is a two-time Grammy Award winner who plays 

soprano, alto and tenor saxophone and flute, but most often tenor. 

He’s such a versatile musician that he’s been described as an R&B 

player as often as a jazz one, not entirely without accuracy. He was 

born on October 23, 1945 in Norfolk, Virginia, and attended the 

Berklee College of Music on a DownBeat scholarship. He toured for 

two years with the Buddy Rich band in the mid-1960s and visited 


Africa on a State Department tour 

Ernie Watts 

with Oliver Nelson’s band. He 

settled in Los Angeles during the 

1970s, playing tenor for 20 years 

in The Tonight Show Band, while 

doing a lot of film and TV work and 

recording with such as Steely Dan, 

Frank Zappa, Carole King and many 

Motown artists, including Marvin 

Gaye. He joined the Rolling Stones 

on a 1981 tour, also appearing in 

their 1982 film Let’s Spend the 

Night Together. 

In the mid-80s, Watts decided 

to redirect his attention to jazz, his 

original musical interest since he 

was 14 and heard John Coltrane 

on Kind of Blue, an experience 

he describes as, “It was as though 

someone put my hand into a light socket.” This was greatly 

aided when bassist Charlie Haden invited Watts to join 

his Quartet West band in 1986, along with pianist Alan 

Broadbent and drummer Billy Higgins (later replaced by 

Larence Marable.) Watts recorded eight celebrated albums 

with the group between 1986 and 1999 and it is this association 

that he’s best known for, locally and internationally. 

This year his own Flying Dolphin Records label will release 

Wheel of Time, dedicated to the recently departed and 

greatly missed bassist. 

Watts has a big, soulful sound and a powerhouse attack 

– though he can also be remarkably lyrical – and his virtuosity 

never seems to get in the way of his emotional directness. 

This is because he’s a very committed, very sincere 

player who means every note he plays regardless of what 

genre or setting he finds himself in. This sincerity is what 

makes his versatility successful and is to be expected from a longtime 

colleague of a musician such as Charle Haden. Perhaps Watts 

himself sums up his feelings about music best: he believes that it has 

the power to connect all people, saying that “Music is God singing 

through us.” 

Trumpeter Brad Goode hails from Chicago and is a generation 

younger than Watts, but shares the saxophonist’s diverse approach to 

the jazz tradition. He began playing trumpet when he was ten, eventually 

studying with the great Ellington lead-player, Cat Anderson, and 

falling under the influence of Dizzy Gillespie and other bebop greats. 

A neighbour who knew Gillespie took Goode to meet his hero who 

took one look at Goode’s diminutive stature and red hair and immediately 

dubbed him “Little Red Rodney.” 

Rodney in fact became one of Goode’s musical mentors in Chicago, 

along with such Windy City stalwarts as Jodie Christian, Eddie Harris, 

Von Freeman, Ira Sullivan, Eddie DeHaas and others. Goode had the 

opportunity to play in Chicago house bands, thrown into the front 

line alongside headliners such as Lee Konitz, Pepper Adams, Jimmy 

Heath, Joe Henderson and many more. Goode suffered a serious lip 

injury in 2001 and as part of the arduous process of overcoming this 

he decided to develop his lead trumpet skills as well as delving into 

both free and traditional jazz; he now divides his work between lead 

trumpet and jazz playing. He’s also a fine educator, with professorships 

at the University of Cincinnati 1997 to 2003 and at the University 

of Colorado in Boulder, from 2004 to the present. 

Goode’s playing is marked by a lot of range and technique, a big, 

lively sound, a wealth of ideas and stylistic openness. Essentially, 

he’s a modern bebop player who sometimes finds that his musical 

train of thought doesn’t always fit that style, so he steps outside of it – 

I’ve heard solos by Goode that remind me of Lee Morgan and Kenny 

Wheeler all at once. He’s been leading his own quartet since 2010 and 

in his own words, he’s “attempting to combine my diverse influences 

and experiences into a style that embraces them all.” 

The connecting link between the American front line and the local 

rhythm team of Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke will be Torontobased 

pianist Adrean Farrugia, the only one in the quintet who 

has played with all its members. His association with Goode dates 

back to 2003, when the trumpeter was in Toronto to see a prominent 

doctor about his lip injury and dropped around to sit in at a 

Rex jam. They had an immediate connection, both musically and 

personally, and resolved to stay in touch. Despite the geographical 

distance, they’ve managed to do several dates a year together 

in various places – Chicago, Toronto, Colorado, and they’ve played 

together in vocalist Matt Dusk’s band since 2012. Farrugia’s connection 

to Watts is more recent but no less deep – thanks to Goode, 

they met and played a concert at the 67th Conference on World 

Affairs held in Boulder during 

April of 2015. In Farrugia’s 

words, “My connection with 

Ernie almost immediately felt 

like Yoda/Luke Skywalker. He’s 

a brilliant, wise and deeply 

spiritual man.” 

It’s fitting that Farrugia should 

be the linchpin here, because not 

only is he a scintillating pianist, 

but also a very empathetic one; 

his ears and mind are always 

open. I discovered this the first 

time I played with him many 

years ago, on a Saturday afternoon 

gig at The Pilot Tavern with 

a quartet led by saxophonist 

Bob Brough. For some reason 

the drummer didn’t show up 

Brad Goode 

and there wasn’t time to call a 

replacement, so we decided to 

go ahead and just play as a trio. 

Even on an electric keyboard, 

Adrean’s playing was so rhythmically engaged and propulsive that 

within a few bars of the first song I completely forgot we had no 

drummer; the music felt very complete and easy. 

Harry “Sweets” Edison once told me, “If I don’t have a good rhythm 

section I don’t have nothin’ – I’m dead in the water.” Truer words 

were seldom spoken. Earlier I wrote about the need for cohesion and 

chemistry and, brilliant as the three principals here may be, they 

won’t go very far without a good rhythm section. Fortunately, with 

Neil Swainson playing bass and Terry Clarke on drums, this is not a 

worry – together they’ve formed a powerful and flexible rhythmic 

team many times. Neil has been my good friend and colleague since 

moving to Toronto almost 40 years ago and as far as I’m concerned, 

you could hardly do better than having him on bass, regardless of 

the jazz context. The same goes for Clarke, who’s the best overall jazz 

drummer Canada has produced and remains a dynamo of energy and 

taste at 71. Enough said. 

Rich Brown: In a nice programming touch, Rich Brown and The 

Abeng will be opening the concert. Brown is one of the most musically 

authoritative and interesting electric bassists working in jazz 

today, combining a fat, warm sound, a lyrical and inquisitive approach 

to soloing and rhythmic mastery. The band takes its name from the 

African instrument made from a hollowed-out cow horn and plays 

an exciting brand of groove-oriented jazz, blending African, Latin- 

Caribbean and contemporary influences. The band consists of the brilliant 

Kevin Turcotte on trumpet, Luis Deniz on alto saxophone, Stan 

Fomin on piano and keyboards, Mark Kelso on drums and the leader 

on electric bass. 

This concert promises something of a musical feast which I certainly 

plan to partake of and I urge others to do so as well. For more information, 

visit jazz centre.ca 

Steve Wallace is a veteran Toronto jazz bassist and writer. He writes 

about jazz and other subjects on his blog “Steve Wallace: jazz, 

baseball, life, and other ephemera” at wallacebass.com 


Hot Docs 2016 

High Notes 

PAUL ENNIS 

Hot Docs, North America’s pre-eminent festival of Canadian and 

international documentary films, makes its annual return at 

various venues in Toronto for its 23rd edition, April 28 through 

May 8. Below are thumbnail sketches of a random selection of 

ten films whose subject is music, and one more, De Palma, which sheds 

light on the role of the composer in the world of cinema. All films but 

one screen three times. For details go to hotdocs.ca. 

Aim for the Roses is filmmaker John Bolton’s fascinating chronicle 

of Vancouver bassist/composer Mark Haney’s obsession with daredevil 

car jumper Ken Carter’s attempt to jump the St. Lawrence River 

from Morrisburg to Ogden Island, USA, in his modified Lincoln rocket 

car. Haney spent two and a half years making Aim for the Roses, 

a concept album devoted to the event. Bolton interweaves vintage 

footage of Carter with singers performing Haney’s song cycle on the 

banks of the St. Lawrence, alongside Haney’s own explanation of how 

he created the piece. (He overlaid 30 tracks of solo double bass playing 

to produce a super-rich emotionally resonant sound.) Adrian Mack of 

the Georgia Straight (who’s addicted to the album) calls it “highbrow 

art and complete trash.” 

Speaking from a grand piano, Jocelyn Morlock, composer-in-residence 

of the Vancouver Symphony, adds a charming layer to the 

proceedings, characterizing Haney as “real weird, a real composer, a 

real renaissance man, quite obsessive and hard working, who wears 

interesting suits and writes very interesting and distinctive music.” 

She analyzes Aim for the Roses: “It’s not diatonic but it’s not particularly 

dissonant. It’s very moody. When you get into the more vocal 

parts, it straddles the line between alternative pop music and classical. 

It’s really unclassifiable.” This is a one-of-a-kind documentary. 

I Am the Blues is a musical journey through the swamps of the 

Louisiana Bayou, the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta and the 

moonshine-soaked BBQs in the North Mississippi Hill Country. It 

visits the last original blues devils – many in their 80s – who still live 

in the Deep South and tour the Chitlin’ Circuit. With the legendary (or 

soon-to-be-legendary) Bobby Rush, Barbara Lynn, Henry Gray, Carol 

Fran, Little Freddie King, Lazy Lester, Bilbo Walker, Jimmy “Duck” 

Holmes, RL Boyce, LC Ulmer and Lil’ Buck Sinegal. Director Daniel 

Cross has produced a valuable time capsule. 

When The Revolution Will Not Be Televised premiered at the Berlin 

Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter wrote about political and 

cultural crosscurrents colliding in director Rama Thiaw’s “boisterously 

engaging documentary, [a] rousing, rap-fuelled dispatch from 

the west African state of Senegal.” The film chronicles protests against 

the country’s president through musical resistance led by two charismatic 

rappers. “The revolution they seek may or may not (in Gil 

Scott-Heron’s immortal phrase) be televised but it will most certainly 

be anticipated, described and glorified in their lyrics. Articulate and 

forceful, they ‘rage against injustice and fight with words,’ providing 

the most visible and vocal resistance to the powers that be.” 

Sonita is a certified crowdpleaser, having won the Audience Award 

at the world’s largest documentary film festival in Amsterdam and at 

Sundance (where it was also awarded the Grand Jury Prize). Sonita 

tells the uplifting story of a courageous young Afghan refugee in Iran, 

a rapper dedicated to ending forced marriage. She sees herself as the 

spiritual daughter of Michael Jackson and Rihanna, but her music 

making and social activism make her vulnerable to religious authority. 

When her mother tries to bring Sonita back to Afghanistan for an 

arranged marriage, director Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami (who spent 

three years documenting her subject) intervenes and pays off the 

mother, allowing Sonita’s compelling journey to continue on its path 

to a fairytale ending. 

Contemporary Color: Music maven David Byrne stumbled on the 

colour guard phenomenon and thought people should know about 

this high school hybrid of parade-ground drills and athletic dance. 

Aim for the Roses 

With backing from Luminato and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, 

he commissioned ten composers (including himself) to write original 

material for an extravaganza of the top colourists which took place 

at the Air Canada Centre during Luminato 2015. (The material in the 

film was shot later that year in Brooklyn.) The music is pop-centric, 

ranging from the sweetness of the femme duo Lucius’ What’s the Use 

in Crying to Nelly Furtado’s layered hooks and Devonte Hynes’ dreamlike 

R&B ballad, with St. Vincent’s (Annie Clark) freaky Everyone 

You Know Will Go Away tapping into teen angst. In fact, the high 


school vibe is unmistakable in this one-of-a-kind cultural sideshow 

that marries flag twirling, and the tossing and catching of facsimiles 

of rifles, with music that romanticizes American adolescence. The 

experience creates real bonds among the participants, a crosssection 

of societal groups. The musical highlight was former Philip 

Glass assistant Nico Muhly’s sophisticated, What Are You Thinking?, 

which took its post-rock stance seriously, balancing a grounded 

chamber music centre against a hypnotic percussion groove. A perfect 

component for what is essentially a high concept reality show. 

The Wonderful Kingdom of Papa Alaev: According to Hot Docs 

programmer Myrocia Watamaniuk, Allo “Papa” Alaev, nearly 80, rules 

his celebrated folk music clan with an iron tambourine. Beginning 

with his unilateral decision to emigrate to Israel from Tajikistan, the 

gifted musician micro-manages nearly every aspect of his family’s 

lives, both on stage and off. Every child and grandchild lives in their 

single-family house in Tel Aviv, except his only daughter who chose 

her own way in life, a sin her father will not forgive. Set to a blazing 

tribal soundtrack, drama and drumbeats sing out from every entertaining 

exchange in this grand family affair. 

Hip-Hop Evolution: The Banger Films team behind Metal: A 

Headbanger’s Journey and Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage traces the 

evolution of hip-hop using Canadian rapper/q host Shad as a guide 

and placing the genre’s huge cultural influence in historical context. 

Director Darby Wheeler told The Fader that Hip-Hop Evolution won’t 

be a rehash of the genre’s most well-documented moments. “The 

process [of making the film] revealed some stories that have never 

received major attention, and we’re hoping that even the most knowledgeable 

hip-hop heads will be entertained, informed and surprised 

by what Hip-Hop Evolution has to offer.” 

Gary Numan: Android in La La Land shows the electro pop, 80s 

rocker as family man, dealing with Asperger’s and wondering how 

he will ever make meaningful music again. With the support of his 

wife and three daughters, his painstaking studio work on a new 

album gives him the confidence to go public once again. As Variety 

pointed out, despite the film’s occasional feel as a glorified promo for 

the new recording, Numan himself is “winningly candid and guilelessly 

charming.” 

Raving Iran follows two young Iranian men at the centre of Iran’s 

techno scene as they dodge the authorities and prepare for one 

giant rave in the desert. As an Italian critic wrote: “The beats of electronic 

music become synonymous with freedom and healthy rebellion. 

[Director] Susanne Regina Meures conveys this world suspended 

between illusion and reality through hypnotic images of bodies letting 

themselves go to music completely, like in a liberating exorcism.” 

Spirit Unforgettable: John Mann, frontman for Canadian Celtic rock 

band Spirit of the West, faces the reality of early onset Alzheimer’s at 

52. With the support of his wife, he and his lifelong bandmates give 

their fans one goodbye performance at Massey Hall. 

De Palma, the indispensable documentary about Brian De Palma, 

directed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, is a candid look at 

one of Hollywood’s longest directorial careers from the mouth of 

the man himself. In compulsively watchable detail, De Palma – who 

considers himself “the one practitioner who took up Hitchcock’s 

form” – talks about each of his 29 features, dropping one factual 

nugget after another, from camerawork and direct influences to 

gossip about famous actors not learning lines, while Baumbach and 

Paltrow seamlessly intercut scenes from 45 years of filmmaking. De 

Palma has worked with the cream of film composers, from Bernard 

Herrmann (“who sees the movie and goes off and writes the score”), 

John Williams, Danny Elfman, Mark Isham and Ryuichi Sakamoto to 

Paul Williams (who was able to write parodies of all sorts of pop music 

forms in Phantom of the Paradise) and eight with Pino Donaggio 

(Carrie, Dressed to Kill, etc.) and offers several insights into Ennio 

Morricone’s work on The Untouchables. It all began when De Palma 

saw Vertigo at Radio City Music Hall as a teenager in 1958. 

Paul Ennis is the managing editor of The WholeNote. 

CONVERSATIONS AT THE WHOLENOTE 

Alison Mackay’s 

Coffee House 

Creation 

DAVID PERLMAN 

We are approaching the half-hour point in my taped conversation 

with Alison Mackay, Tafelmusik’s longtime violone/ 

contrabass player and concert curator extraordinaire, 

and are finally getting round to the ostensible reason for 

having this conversation at this time – Tafelmusik’s upcoming presentation 

titled “Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House.” 

As always with Mackay’s projects, it’s an immensely engaging premise 

– taking two cities, thousands of miles and worlds apart – and viewing 

them through the musical lens of the same moment of historical and 

cultural time. 

“Let me tell you a fun thing before we get into it,” I say. “On 

May 21st, which is the middle of your run at Koerner Hall, 

Zimmermann’s Coffee House in Leipzig will be featured on stage in 

your show, and the same evening in the Peter Hall of the Moravian 

College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, “Zimmerman’s Coffee House” 

will be the title of the last evening concert of their 109th festival. 

And if you trace that college back to its schoolhouse origins, it goes 

back to 1745, which is only 20 years after Bach arrived in Leipzig!” 

“Oh that’s wonderful,” she says, delightedly. “We should get in 

touch with them and see what we could do together.” 

It’s a typical response from Mackay, whose relish for the juxtapositions, 

coincidences and synchronicities that offer opportunities to 

see old things anew, has become her curatorial trademark. 

Memory Lane: We have just finished a rambled down memory 

lane, starting with the first of her Tafelmusik projects I can 

remember, “The Four Seasons: Cycle of the Sun,” back in 2004. 

That project took 1725, the year Vivaldi’s Le quattro stagioni was 

published, and made that year the departure point for an investigation 

of other musics being made in the world in the same year – an 

exploration that encompassed Chinese pipa, Indian veena and Inuit 

throat singing. 

One can see the same bird’s eye imagination at work in her 

“Galileo Project.” “It was in 2009, she says, “part of the International 

Year of Astronomy, because 1609 was the year Galileo first turned 

his telescope on the night sky. There were to be international celebrations 

of that event and we were actually approached by the 

Canadian committee that was planning events surrounding the year, 

to curate an event that would link astronomy and art.” 

“Cutting across strata of geography and time is something you are 

good at,” I say. 

“For me the seed of these projects is always in the music,” she 

says. “These events and performances are always concerts and 

there’s always a concert’s worth of music in them. And it’s very 

much about celebrating having a chance to perform the very best 

music in our repertoire. I hate having to include anything that’s only 

there because it matches the subject. I love to include profound, 

wonderful music – the best of our repertoire but giving the chance, 

just once in a while, to see it in a wider historical and cultural 

context. It shines a new light on the music. So it’s not that I think 

that audiences now have shorter attention spans or anything like 

that, or that they need visuals or bells and whistles. I still very much 

believe in purely musical concerts.” 

These amplified concert forms are just as much for the musicians 

benefit as for the audience’s, she points out, using Vivaldi as 

an example. “Something like The Four Seasons is something our 


audience likes to hear pretty regularly. It’s 

a pretty beloved piece. It’s become a little 

bit cliched, because we hear it so much 

in elevators and things like that, but our 

audience loves to hear it, we love to play 

it, it’s a showpiece for our violins…but it’s 

very wonderful to bring some new dimension 

to it, a new kind of excitement for us. 

“To give another example, a lot of the 

repertoire we play contains overtures 

and dance suites from operas, Lully for 

instance. And many opera composers in 

the 17th and 18th centuries were inspired 

by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Brief stories, 

a lot of them with a central moment of 

incredible dramatic power and transformation…when 

you put that same music 

in the context of the story that informs 

each of its movements (Marin Marais’ 

Alcione, for example) it makes it incredibly 

profound for the performers and 

the audience, so not only does it add a 

cultural dimension to the music but it also 

adds a new layer of emotional context.” 

It’s an emotional “informing” of the piece 

that remains for the musicians after that, even when the piece is 

performed without the story added. “Somehow I think the emotion 

of the way we perform with each other, especially when we are 

playing from memory the way we do in these projects, communicates 

a new excitement and emotion to the audience. Of all the 

things that have influenced performing life at Tafelmusik, this – the 

grounding and heightening and enriching of context – has meant so 

much.” 

Perhaps her most ambitious project to date in terms of multidisciplinary 

scope and scale was “House of Dreams.” It was a 

journey to five houses in five European cities, all of them still 

standing, which for one reason or another, at some time in their 

history housed very important private collections of paintings. “In 

London, Venice, Delft, Leipzig and Paris,” she explains. “And in the 

rooms where the paintings were hanging, there were known to be 

performances of music, often by the most important composers in 

those cities.” 

The buildings, in their present incarnations encompass a range 

of uses. “Two are small museums, one is a rather down-at-heel 

palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice, one is a pancake restaurant 

in Delft, on the main square which has changed very little since the 

17th century.” The Delft house, she explains, 

Alison Mackay was owned by a very poor bookbinder, 

married to a young woman who died tragically, 

soon after. When his death followed, a 

few years later, he was found to have had, 

“hanging in his little tiny house, 23 of the 36 

known Vermeers.” 

Today, she informs me, the pancake 

restaurant prides itself more on the fact that 

Bill Clinton ate there, and has a letter from 

him to that effect on the wall. “We had to ask 

to remove it from the wall when we went to 

do our photography session there.” 

The way the project worked was that 

over the course of about a year Tafelmusik 

formed relationships with the present 

owners for the purpose of photographing 

all the walls where the paintings had been. 

They then acquired high resolution images 

of all the paintings and were able to put the 

paintings back on the walls, and then put 

the music, live, back into the rooms with 

the paintings on the walls. “A bit like a guest 

in the house experiencing a Rembrandt on 

the wall and listening to Handel conduct his 

music at the same time.” 

“House of Dreams” was also a memorized project; “Tale of Two 

Cities” will be their fourth. For Mackay, the fact, and feat of incorporating 

memorization into these projects has radically transformed, 

for the better the ensemble’s musicianship. She is aware of 

the toll it takes, but conscious of its immense rewards, for audience 

and performers alike. 

“It’s a huge, huge undertaking for the orchestra and I cannot tell 

you how incredibly grateful I am at the number of hours of unpaid 

work that go into that…It’s been socially transforming…The music 

is so complex. I think that when you memorize something it frees 

you up physically. You present a more complete physicality. And the 

more that you do these projects – I think we have done the “Galileo 

Project” around the world around 75 times and “House of Dreams” 

in nearing 40, so they continue to grow and develop musically. We 

had these very nervous discussions at the start, none of us knew 

how it was going to work. Normally you’d say ‘okay, we are all going 

to start at bar 76.’ That was never an issue; someone would just start 

playing and everyone knew where to come in. You practise in a 

different way. It lifts the technical and it also lifts the ensemble.” 

SIAN RICHARDS PHOTOGRAPHY 

Music Director: Jordan de Souza 

Director: Michael Hidetoshi Mori 

Set Designer: Camellia Koo 

Costume Designer: Ming Wong 

Lighting Designer: Michelle Ramsay 

Starring: 

Carla Huhtanen 

Keith Klassen 

Peter McGillivray 

Asitha Tennekoon 

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Framing image design: Raja Javanfar, using images of the Dresden Damascus 

Room kindly provided by Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden, Staatliche 

Ethnographische Sammlungen Sachsen, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen 

Dresden; painting of Ottoman women drinking coffee, c. 1730 by Jean-Baptiste 

Vanmour, used with permission of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. 

Leipzig-Damascus: So here we are, half an hour in, finally starting 

to talk about the current project, “Tales of Two Cities.” We have 

reached the Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House. 

As always it’s finding the similarities in different places at the 

same moment in time that is her creative spark. 

“It’s very interesting. They were both entrepôt cities, at the crossroads 

of ancient, often Roman, roads - ancient trade or caravan 

routes. Leipzig was a small city but it lay at the crossroads of the 

east-west road that went from Santiagio de Compostela right to Kiev 

and Moscow, and goods and ideas flowed gradually along that route. 

And then there was a north-south route that ran from Venice and 

Rome to the Baltic Sea. Those two roads crossed right in the middle 

of Leipzig and because of that the Holy Roman Emperors declared 

it a trade fair centre with tax incentives and a protected place, so 

it meant for centuries traders from all over Europe and as far away 

as London and Siberia and Constantinople converged in this little 

crossroad town of about 30,000 - the size of Toronto’s Annex. 

“The city of Damascus was a much more ancient city - some 

people think it is the oldest continually inhabited city in the world, 

and it lay at the crossroads of routes from the Mediterranean, from 

Tyre and Sidon through Syria to Baghdad, through Iran to the Silk 

Road and the Far East. And the north-south route that went from 

Yemen up to Mecca and Medina, Damascus, Aleppo, Anatolia and 

finally Istambul.” 

Damascus became the place where travellers on the pilgrims’ 

road to the hajj provisioned for the very dangerous journey. And 

they would come back to Damascus with coffee which was grown 

in Yemen, first known place of cultivation of what we know as the 

arabica coffee bean. 

The parallels go on and on. Both cities at the axis of a trade 

route and a pilgrims’ road; both cities famous centres for scholarship 

and learning; Leipzig hugely important for book publishing 

and dissemination, poetry, literature, plays, philosophy; the same 

true of Damascus, renowned for science, theology, law, poetry and 

travel writers. 

From there the stories start to actually intersect in extraordinary 

and tangible ways – an important family library of secular and 

religious 18th-century works of Damascene scribes being sold to 

the Prussian ambassador and finding its way to the University of 

Leipzig; the Ottoman ambassador to Louis XV bringing 10,000 

pounds of coffee to France. And the emergence in both cities of 

lively coffee house cultures, Zimmermann’s in Leipzig being the one 

most notably associated with Bach and Telemann. 

In the German city of Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach directed 

an ensemble which gave Friday-night concerts between the 

hours of eight and ten at Zimmerman’s Coffee houses on the 

Katharinenstrasse. 

In the coffee houses of Damascus, singers and performers on 

the oud, kanun, ney, and daf played classical Arabic taqsims and 

muwashshahs, and used their instruments to accompany famous 

storytellers reciting from the rich tradition of adventure stories and 

Sufi tales found in Syrian manuscript sources. 

The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House of the show’s title promises 

to be resplendent visually, revolving around a set piece with 

a large imbedded projection screen which will evoke in turn two 

18th-century interiors – a Damascus ajami room and a Saxon woodpanelled 

interior, prepared under the guidance and supervision of 

Dr. Anke Scharrahs, a conservator who specializes in the research 

and restoration of polychrome wooden surfaces and who is one of 

the most highly respected international experts on the conservation 

of Syrian-Ottoman interiors. 

But true to Mackay’s credo, the music will be, as always, at the 

heart of things. Tafelmusik will perform, from memory, music 

plausibly connected with Zimmerman’s; Arabic music, appropriate 

to the Damascene coffee house,will be rendered by Trio Arabica, an 

ensemble consisting of Toronto-based, Egyptian-born, and Syriantrained 

Maryem Tollar (narrator & vocalist), Naghmeh Farahmand 

(percussion) and Demetri Petsalakis (oud), with narration/context 

provided in English and in Arabic by both Tollar and by actor Alon 

Nashman, blending storytelling and documentary roles as required. 

And naturally, at appropriate and carefully chosen moments, the 

work of the two ensembles will combine and intersect because such 

hard-earned coincidences have been in one respect or another the 

lifeblood of the magic she weaves for Tafelmusik. They are, in a way, 

the continuo of her imagination. 

Mackay’s work is not overtly political, but one can detect a quiet 

satisfaction in her at the timing of this particular tale. In a time of 

geopolitical ferment when traffic on the road from Damascus to 

Leipzig appears to be going only in one direction, it does no harm, 

and may even do some good, to reflect on the extent to which, in 

terms of history and culture, this is is very much a two-way street. 

David Perlman is the publisher of The WholeNote. 

Trio Arabica 

This Conversation can be listened to in its entirety alongside this 

story at TheWholeNote.com. 

LIZ FLOYD 


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CHRISTOPHER DAVY 

Beat by Beat | Classical & Beyond 

Mischa Maisky 

Heart And Soul 

PAUL ENNIS 

“Maisky’s supercharged style of playing grabs you by the collar. He can be 

strong, passionate and powerful – but he can also make love to you with a pianissimo…like 

Rostropovich, Maisky’s playing is all about the heart and the soul.” 

– Julian Lloyd Webber, The Guardian, January 2012. 

Facts you may not know about 

Mischa Maisky. Born in Latvia, 

educated in the Soviet Union, he 

now considers himself a citizen of the 

world. (He lives in Belgium, his four 

children were each born in different 

countries; his cello is Italian, its strings 

German, its bow French) He found it 

odd that people once referred to him 

as a “Russian cellist,” since in the 

Soviet Union he wasn’t considered to 

be Russian at all. “I was a Jew, which 

was made clear in my Soviet passport: 

‘Nationality: Jewish.’ Very few people 

in the West realize that this is how Jews 

were treated in the Soviet Union.” 

He is the only cellist to have studied 

with both Gregor Piatigorsky and 

Mstislav Rostropovich. Two months 

before Pablo Casals died, Maisky, 

then 25, played the Bach Suite No.2 

in D Minor for him in August of 1973, 

in an Israeli hotel suite in front of 

Casals, his wife Martita, Isaac Stern, 

Leonard Rose, Eugene Istomin and 

Alexander Schneider. Maisky has 

recorded the Bach solo cello suites 

three times, most recently for Deutsche 

Grammophon in 1999. 

In an International Cello Society interview with Tim Janof in 2007, 

Maisky expanded on that historic meeting with Casals: 

“Perhaps the most frightening thing was to play Bach for him. 

[In addition to the second suite, Maisky played the Sonata No.3 in 

G Minor BWV1029 with his brother on piano.] Frankly, I was a bit 

depressed by his reaction. ‘Young man, I personally don’t think that 

what you do has anything to do with Bach. However, you are so 

convinced by what you do, that it actually sounds very convincing.’ 

Isaac Stern calmed me down afterwards during lunch, saying that he 

thought I had received the highest compliment a young cellist could 

receive from Casals. I now prefer to take what he said as a compliment. 

I certainly didn’t play Bach like him, as if anybody could, and 

I was never one to imitate anybody, so I’m not surprised by his reaction. 

Lately, however, I’ve come to realize just how much I have been 

influenced by his recording of the Bach Suites, which I have listened to 

repeatedly since I was a teenager.” 

Later in the conversation with Janof, Maisky talked about his view 

of Bach as a romantic: 

“Some people think my Bach is too romantic, which I take as a 

compliment. I believe that Bach was one of the greatest romantics 

of all times. One shouldn’t forget that in addition to his wonderful 

music, he had 20 children. Otto Klemperer was once told that it was 

discovered one shouldn’t play Bach with vibrato, to which he replied, 

‘Huh? Twenty children and no vibrato?’ 

“I realize this may seem odd, but I don’t consider Bach’s music to 

be baroque. I believe calling Bach a ‘baroque composer’ is an insult to 

his genius because he was much, much larger than this. People such 

as Bach cannot be categorized so easily and those who try to do so are 

diminishing him and his accomplishments, not to mention that such 

a label doesn’t begin to capture his essence. In addition to being one of 

the great intellects of all time, he was a passionate human being who 

I’m sure loved great food and drink. I agree with Pablo Casals when 

he said that there is no emotion known to human beings that is not in 

Bach’s music. It’s all in there and we just have to dig deep enough to 

find and express it.” 

Maisky falls clearly into the romantic camp as his Horowitz reference 

shows: 

“Vladimir Horowitz once said that ‘all music is romantic,’ and 

I couldn’t agree more. Playing romantically means playing with 

feeling and emotion, and of course people in the 18th century felt 

things just as deeply as we do today. I don’t 

Mischa Maisky 

mean to imply that one should play Bach like 

Shostakovich, I’m just saying that Bach was so 

far ahead of his time that he’s probably spinning 

in his grave as he watches us trying to go 

back 300 years. To regress in our approach is 

to go against his own mentality and his own 

progressiveness. He was such an innovative 

and experimental person by nature that he 

would be appalled if he were to see how we 

argue amongst ourselves about how to play his 

music ‘correctly.’” 

Later Maisky defends his idea of Bach: 

“His music is full of invention and experimentation. 

Just look at the last cello suite, 

which he wrote for a five-string instrument, 

or look at the variety in the Well-Tempered 

Clavier. I have no doubt that if somebody 

were to give him a modern bow, he would be 

thrilled to explore its possibilities. I strongly 

disagree with those who insist that Bach must 

be played a certain way. There is plenty of room 

for different approaches and it’s the variety 

of ideas about all sorts of things, not just in 

music, that makes life so interesting.” 

Before Maisky performed at Roy Thomson 

Hall with the Moscow Soloists and Yuri 

Bashmet on May 3, 2012, he appeared on 

Classical 96.3 FM, where he likened Bach’s 

Cello Suites to a great diamond which can shine differently depending 

on which way you look at it; he called the study of the suites a neverending 

process. 

Maisky makes no secret of the fact that he listens to other cellists. At 

the time of the Janof interview he had more than 45 recordings of the 

Bach Suites, all of which he listened to, some of them several times. 

Listening to recordings in general is something he likes to do; listening 

to his own recordings gives him a sense of where he’s gone developmentally. 

And he likes to hear live music when he can. “I believe very 

strongly that one can find something valuable in any performance, 

even if I don’t agree with the interpretation or if mistakes are made.” 

After studying with Rostropovich for four years (from 18 to 22), 

Maisky spent 18 months in a labour camp, “shovelling cement, 

building Communism, obviously unsuccessfully,” as he says sarcastically 

in an interview from the Verbier Festival in 2012. Then, to avoid 

military service, he had a friendly Jewish psychiatrist place him in 

a mental hospital for two months, after which he followed his sister 

to Israel and “repatriation.” Maisky attributes the curtailment of his 

concertizing and other musical activities, as well as the trumped-up 

charge that landed him in the labour camp, to his older sister’s move 

to Israel in 1969, a move the Soviet authorities were convinced (rightly 

as it turned out) Maisky would also make. 

When Maisky asked Rostropovich for advice (before he left the 

Soviet Union) as to what future musical path to follow, Rostropovich 

told him that there are two major cello schools, one Russian and 


one French, and since he had 

already tried Russian, he should 

try French. “I prodded him 

for a more specific recommendation 

and he said, ‘This 

is really difficult. Maréchal is 

dead. Fournier doesn’t teach. 

Navarra teaches much too 

much. Tortelier is a genius but a 

bit too crazy for you. Gendron, 

hmmm, it’s not that good 

anymore. You know what? The 

best French I can recommend 

is Piatigorsky.’ This was funny 

because Piatigorsky was a Jew 

from Russia living in California. 

His only French connection was his wife, who was the daughter of 

Baron de Rothschild. ‘Piatigorsky is the only one I could wholeheartedly 

recommend. He’s a great cellist, a great musician, a great personality, 

and so on.’” 

Maisky’s career revived in Israel where he played seven concerts 

with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, Andrew Davis and 

Daniel Barenboim. “Mehta was very friendly with Piatigorsky and he 

recommended that I go to him as well. He said, ‘You have the time and 

he’s not young and he’s not healthy. You never know how long he will 

be around, so go. You will never regret it.’ And so I went to Piatigorsky 

[in 1974, for four months] and I’ve never regretted it, though I must 

confess that my career could have gone in a completely different 

direction had I listened to Isaac Stern’s advice, who told me to go to 

New York instead of Los Angeles. 

“I went to Piatigorsky’s USC masterclass twice a week and I played 

for him at his house almost every day, each time playing a different 

piece. I must have played at least a hundred different works for him in 

four months. After our private lessons we would play chess, since we 

were both passionate about the game. Then we went for long walks 

and talked about all sorts of things, and not just music. It has been 

over 30 years since Piatigorsky died, and I still feel his presence in the 

sense that I am still digesting his ideas and feeding on the positive 

energy he directed my way.” 

Mischa Maisky will perform Bach’s Solo Cello Suites Nos.1, 4 and 

5 at 4pm and Bach’s Solo Cello Suites 2, 3 and 6 at 8pm, May 7 in 

Koerner Hall. 

The TSO: The TSO’s season shows no sign of letting up, even 

as it enters its penultimate month. May 4 and 5 violinist Leila 

Josefowicz continues her championing of contemporary music 

in Scheherazade.2, John Adams’ riff on Rimsky-Korsakov’s 

Scheherazade. Peter Oundjian also leads the orchestra in Brahms’ 

seminal Symphony No.4. May 13 and 15 Julian Rachlin is the soloist 

in Mozart’s irresistible Violin Concerto No.5 K219 “Turkish,” written 

when the composer was 19. But the evening’s major attraction will 

be Shostakovich’s Symphony No.13 “Babi Yar,” the composer’s 

setting of five poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, including the searing 

indictment of anti-Semitism, 

Babi Yar. Conductor Andrey 

Boreyko is joined by bass soloist 

Petr Migunov and the basses of 

the Amadeus Choir and Elmer 

Iseler Singers. TSO Conductor 

Laureate, Andrew Davis, 

returns to the podium May 25 to 

conduct Richard Strauss’ vivid 

musical travelogue, An Alpine 

Symphony. May 26 and 28 the 

program expands to include 

Janácek’s Taras Bulba, Elgar’s 

Sospiri and Ives’ “Decoration 

Concertmaster Jonathan Crow and principal cello James Johnson of the TSO Day,” the first installment 

of the Decades Project 1910- 

1919. June 1 and 2 Basque conductor Juanjo Mena takes up the baton 

as the Decades Project 1910-1919 continues with Granados’ famous 

Intermezzo from Goyescas, Nielsen’s imposing Violin Concerto 

(featuring Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto) and Ravel’s impassioned 

Daphnis et Chloé. 

QUICK PICKS 

May 5: When Honens laureate Pavel Kolesnikov appeared in 

Toronto last year as part of the Piano Extravaganza, he revealed 

that he had Chopin specialist Maria João Pires as a mentor. Now he 

returns to conclude the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto season 

with a pleasingly packed program that includes two sonatas by C.P.E. 

Bach, Beethoven’s Sonata No.30 Op.109 and a Chopin selection of 

Nocturnes, Mazurkas and Scherzo No.4. 

May 6: The always interesting group of 27 downsizes for their final 

concert of 2015/16: Jocelyn Morlock’s duet for violin and viola, Blue 

Sun; Nielsen’s ingratiating Wind Quintet; and Schubert’s String 

Trio D.471. 

May 7: Wunderkind Leonid Nediak (b. 2003) is the soloist in 

Rachmaninov’s romantic masterpiece, his Piano Concerto No.2 Op.18 

with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra, conducted by Kristian Alexander. 

Alexander told me last month that “Leonid is a great communicator, 

able to unlock the emotional content of the piece and unfold 

the storyline of the composition. He also has a reach and versatile 

palette of colours, natural sense of phrasing and flawless energy flow.” 

Interestingly, Nediak’s teacher, Michael Berkovsky, is the collaborative 

pianist May 16, when Music Mondays present the Flautas del Fuego 

flute duo. May 22 Berkovsky then joins violinist Conrad Chow at the 

George Weston in Piazzolla’s intoxicating Four Seasons of Buenos 

Aires. And Music Mondays continues May 23 with Schubert’s marvellous 

“Trout” Piano Quintet in A Major D667. 

May 8: Best title of the month,Sweetwater Music Festival presents 

Few & Fewer, featuring artistic director Mark Fewer on violin and 

Guy Few on trumpet, along with pianist Stephanie Mara in a crowdpleasing 

Mother’s Day program: Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen, Puccini’s 

Morire, Saint-Saëns’ Sonata in D Minor, Op. 75, Three Preludes by 

Gershwin and ’Round Midnight by Thelonius Monk. 

May 12: The Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society presents 

THE ASSOCIATES OF THE 

TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 

Monday, May 16, 2016, 7:30 p.m. 

2, 3 AND 4 

Robert Schumann Fantasiestücke for cello and piano, op. 73 

Ernst von Dohnányi Serenade in C major for string trio, op. 10 

Sergei Prokofiev Sonata for two violins in C major, op. 56 

Robert Schumann Piano quartet in E flat major, op. 47 

Performers: Jonathan Crow, violin • Shane Kim, violin • Theresa 

Rudolph, viola • Joseph Johnson, cello • Angela Park, piano 

Tickets $20, Seniors & Students $17 

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor Street W. 

Box Office 416-282-6636 

www.associates-tso.org 

thewholenote.com May 1, 2016 - June 7, 2016 | 21

Boston-based Irina Muresanu in a solo violin recital, “Four Strings 

Around the World,” featuring music by Prokofiev, Enescu, Paganini, 

Kreisler, O’Connor, Piazzolla and more. May 20, the K-WCMS brings 

the Xia Quartet (Edmonton Symphony Orchestra concertmaster 

Robert Uchida, TSO violinist Shane Kim, TSO assistant principal 

viola, Theresa Rudolph, and TSO principal cello, Joseph Johnson) to 

their music room in program of Schubert, Bartók, Debussy and John 

McPherson. 

May 15: The Windermere Quartet’s latest recital includes Schubert’s 

greatest quartet, Quartet in D Minor D. 810 “Death and the Maiden.” 

May 16: Xia Quartet members cellist Joseph Johnson, violinist 

Shane Kim and violist Theresa Rudolph put on their TSO hats when 

they join concertmaster Jonathan Crow and pianist Angela Park for 

an Associates of the TSO concert that includes music by Dohnányi, 

Schumann and Prokofiev. 

May 18: Toronto Summer Music artistic director Douglas McNabney 

previews TSM’s upcoming “London Calling: Music in Great Britain” 

program with a COC free noontime concert at the Richard Bradshaw 

Ampitheatre. 

May 21 Shannon Mercer, soprano, Andrew Burashko, piano. 

Yehonatan Berick, violin, and Rachel Mercer, cello, perform 

Shostakovich’s Trio No.2 and Seven Romances on Poems by 

Alexander Blok Op.127 in Hamilton’s 5 at the First Chamber Music 

series’ final concert of the season. 

May 26: James Ehnes brings his 40th Birthday Tour to London 

under the auspices of Jeffery Concerts. Four days later, May 30, he and 

his collaborative pianist, Andrew Armstrong, continue the tour for 

Bravo Niagara! 

May 29 and 30: The Canzona Chamber Players present two pillars 

of the chamber music repertoire, Beethoven’s Septet in E-Flat Major 

Op.20 and Schubert’s Octet in F Major D803. 

Paul Ennis is the managing editor of The WholeNote. 

Beat by Beat | On Opera 

Making Things New 

& Making New Things 

CHRISTOPHER HOILE 

Opera this May is about making things new and making new 

things. Not only will Tapestry Opera stage the world premiere 

of a Scottish/Canadian collaboration but two other companies 

will provide new librettos to well-known works. 

First up is Against the Grain Theatre’s production of A Little Too 

Cozy. The production, workshopped at the Banff Centre last year, 

reimagines Mozart’s 1790 opera Così fan tutte as a television game 

show. This will complete AtG’s series of “transladaptations” of the 

three Mozart/Da Ponte operas after Figaro’s Wedding in 2013, with 

the audience conceived of as wedding guests, and #UncleJohn, staged 

in 2014 as the wedding reception for Zerlina and Masetto. Like the 

previous two, AtG artistic director Joel Ivany has provided Mozart’s 

opera with a new English-language libretto. 

Ivany is not the first to write a new libretto for Così fan tutte. 

The work was unpopular when it first premiered and had only ten 

performances in Mozart’s lifetime. In 1791, Friedrich Schröder called 

Da Ponte’s libretto “a miserable thing, that debases all women.” 

In 1875, critic Eduard Hanslick made the famous statement that “the 

boundless triviality of the libretto everywhere deals a death blow to 

Mozart’s lovely music.” Because of this attitude, which many people 

still hold, there were several unsuccessful attempts to rewrite the 

libretto. Only after the Glyndebourne Opera revival in 1934 did the 

work with Da Ponte’s libretto become standard repertoire. 

In Ivany’s adaptation, the audience becomes the studio audience 

for a live taping of the final episode of a reality show called “A Little 

Too Cozy.” The show asks its contestants, “Can you fall in love with 

someone you’ve never met?” The opera will be presented in a real TV 

studio, CBC Toronto’s Studio 42 at 25 John Street. Before the show 

begins, the final four contestants have already found their match, but 

as the final test of the show, the women have to meet an additional 

set of people before they’re finally allowed to be with their fiancés. 

After that, the women must then decide if they still love their fiancés 

– whom they have never met in person – since from the start the men 

and women have been separated by the so-called Wall of Love. As 

Ivany says, “These four contestants go on the show because they’re 

tired of this superficial way that relationships are presented now, and 

they’re looking for something more authentic, more real, more rooted 

in our being. But then over the course of the show, they get messed 

around and played with.” 

The two female contestants are Felicity (i.e. Fiordiligi) sung by 

soprano Shantelle Przybylo and Dora (i.e. Dorabella) sung by mezzosoprano 

Rihab Chaieb. The two male contestants are Fernando (i.e. 

Ferrando) sung by tenor Aaron Sheppard and Elmo (i.e. Guglielmo) 

sung by baritone Clarence Frazer. Baritone Cairan Ryan plays the host 

of the show, Donald L. Fonzo (i.e. Don Alfonso), and soprano Caitlin 

Wood is his lovely assistant Despina. As with AtG’s previous productions 

conductor Topher Mokrzewski has also arranged the music The 

opera runs from May 12 to 21. 

Toronto Masque Theatre: A second opera in May also has a libretto 

that has impeded its regular performance. This is The Fairy Queen 

from 1692 by Henry Purcell. As many people will know from recordings, 

the work contains some of the loveliest theatre music Purcell 

ever wrote. The problem is that this music what was called a “semiopera” 

of the same name, adapted by an anonymous author from 

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Purcell’s music is 

concentrated in five masques, related only thematically to the play, 

each following one of the play’s five acts. The adaptation of the play 

is generally deemed to be dreadful and to perform it with Purcell’s 

music would take up to six hours. 


Ever since the score was rediscovered 

in the early 20th century, the 

question has been how to redeem 

Purcell’s music from its original 

context. Various solutions have been 

adopted: having actors play selected 

scenes from Shakespeare’s original 

comedy before the five masques; or 

having a narrator recount the action 

of the play, rather than subjecting the 

audience to it. 

Toronto Masque Theatre has come 

up with a far more ingenious solution 

– to do away not merely with the play 

but with the spoken word entirely. 

Director/choreographer Marie-Nathalie 

Lacoursière has reconceived the work in such a way that it consists 

solely of Purcell’s music but will still tell a story. Lacoursière’s starting 

point is the first lines of the first air: “Come, come, come, let us leave 

the Town / And in some lonely place, / Where Crowds and Noise were 

never known / Resolve to spend our days.” Rather than an arcadian 

scene, Lacoursière imagines nine singers and two dancers as vaguely 

contemporary people waiting at a train station. The scenario follows 

the individuals as they seek love, happiness and meaning in life. To tell 

the new story Lacoursière has had to reorder the musical numbers. 

In a telephone interview, TMT artistic director, Larry Beckwith, 

was reluctant to reveal too many details about the new story so that 

they will come as a surprise. He did say, though, that the figure of 

the Drunken Poet sung by Alexander Dobson, would feature prominently. 

Besides Dobson, the cast includes sopranos Juliet Beckwith, 

Vania Chan, Charlotte Knight and Janelle Lapalme; alto Simon 

Honeyman; tenors Cory Knight and Jonathan MacArthur; baritone 

Graham Robinson and dancers Stéphanie Brochard and Lacoursière 

herself. Beckwith conducts a seven-member baroque ensemble from 

the violin. Performances take 

place at the Arts and Letters Club 

May 27 to 29. 

Tapestry’s Winner: In addition 

to presenting old operas in new 

ways, May also brings the world 

premiere of an opera co-commissioned 

by Toronto’s Tapestry 

Opera and Scottish Opera. This is 

Rocking Horse Winner by Irish- 

Scottish composer Gareth Williams, 

with a libretto by Canadian Anna 

Chatterton. 

When asked how this collaboration 

came about, Chatterton 

wrote: “Gareth and I met in the 2009 

Tapestry Lib Lab (a ten-day “speed dating” program for composers and 

writers to collaborate together by writing a five-minute opera in 48 

hours). We really enjoyed working together and recognized a similar 

aesthetic and appreciated each other’s artistic style. Gareth also has a 

great sense of dramatic form, which is fantastic for collaborating on 

new ideas. We wanted to write something longer together and Gareth 

suggested adapting D.H. Lawrence’s haunting short story, Rocking 

Horse Winner.” 

Lawrence’s short story was first published in 1926 and was made 

into a classic British film in 1949. The story focuses on a young boy, 

Paul, who lives in a family that feels it is dogged by bad luck. The 

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Juliet Beckwith: 

The Fairy Queen 

family, however, also lives beyond 

its means and Paul’s Uncle Oscar 

and the gardener Bassett seek to 

increase the family income by betting 

on horses. Paul is literally haunted 

by mysterious voices in the house 

that tell him “There must be more 

money.” To solve the problem he 

rides his rocking horse until the 

name of the winning horse magically 

comes to him. 

Chatterton says that she and 

Williams changed certain details of 

the story: “We set the story in the 

present and made the pivotal character 

Paul – originally a young boy 

in Lawrence’s short story – into a 

young man who is on the autistic 

spectrum.” Bassett is changed from a gardener to Paul’s healthcare 

worker. Nevertheless, Lawrence’s original themes are still there 

and still relevant. As Chatterton says, “The story is very much about 

entitlement and greed, and also about a mother who can’t feel love 

for her son and all the complexities that come with that disconnect. 

We feel these themes still speak to today’s society.” 

The cast features soprano Carla Huhtanen as Ava, Paul’s mother; 

tenor Keith Klassen as Paul’s Uncle Oscar; baritone Peter McGillivray 

as Bassett; and in his professional debut with Tapestry Opera, 

tenor Asitha Tennekoon as Paul. Tapestry’s artistic director Michael 

Hidetoshi Mori will direct and Jordan de Souza will conduct. 

Performances take place May 27 to June 4. 

Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-based writer on opera and 

theatre. He can be contacted at opera@thewholenote.com. 

July 

8 and 9 

2016 

Shakespeare and Music 

with Christopher Plummer 

Presented by 

TD Canada Trust 

7:30 p.m. | Dominion-Chalmers United Church 

www.musicandbeyond.ca 

Bach To The 

Future! 

DAVID PODGORSKI 

Funny how new initiatives 

that should be big news have 

a way of sneaking up on you. 

Case in point, apparently there’s 

a Bach festival (three concerts) 

happening in town next month 

and nobody told me! Titled 

“Four Centuries of Bach. First 

Annual Toronto Bach Festival” 

it appears to be the brainchild 

of John Abberger, who besides 

being a principal oboist for 

Tafelmusik and the American 

Bach Soloists, recorded an 

album of Bach organ concertos 

for Analekta in 2006 as well as 

an album of Bach’s Orchestral 

Suites 2 and 4 in 2011. His principal accomplice appears to be Phillip 

Fournier, organist at the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, on King St. W. 

Fournier will doubtless dazzle the audience May 28, in the middle 

concert of the three, performing Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in d BWV 

565 and other works on the Oratory’s historically inspired Gober and 

Kney instrument. 

The other two concerts, 

bookending this one, 

May 27 and May 29 take place at 

St. Barnabas Anglican Church, 

361 Danforth Ave and are, I 

suspect, Abberger’s “babies.” 

The first is a concert that 

includes two of Bach’s Weimar 

cantatas (Weinen, Klagen, 

Sorgen, Zagen and Herz und 

Mund und Tat und Leben), with 

a vocal lineup featuring Ellen 

McAteer, soprano, Daniel Taylor, 

alto, and Lawrence Wiliford! 

Beat by Beat | Early Music 

Phillip Fournier 

John Abberger 

Info for the Sunday closing concert is somewhat vaguer – sonatas and 

trios by J.S. Bach, played by “Musicians of Four Centuries of Bach.” 

But if the calibre of the players in the first two concerts is anything 

to go by, we’re in for a three-part treat! 

Given that the scope of the project is fairly ambitious, the people 

responsible really should devote more time to publicity. To wit, their 

website lists only concert titles, venues and dates, and a chance to 

order tickets. And that’s pretty much it. You may see some concert 

programs if they update the website by the time you read this, but it 

doesn’t look like they will. So being somewhat diligent about these 

things, and wishing always to provide a service to my readership, I did 

a little sleuthing and managed to uncover a few details, with which 

I can make some conclusions about this little-known upstart of a 

music festival. 

Which leads me directly to my second reason for exhorting you 

to catch this Bach festival while you can, which is that the organizers 

seem to be burying their light so deep beneath a bushel - 

lack of publicity, last-minute organization - that “Four Centuries 

of Bach” might end up being how long it takes Abberger et al to get 

through Bach’s catalogue of compositions for at least (wait for it) four 

centuries. 

Grumbles aside, Abberger has enough experience with Bach’s 

cantatas and other works to be able to craft a better-than-average 


performance. And Fournier is a gifted 

musician: I’ve enjoyed listening to 

him play a Bach sonata or two on at 

least one occasion. 

Calling anything a “First Annual” 

festival is equal parts hubris and 

hopefulness. May the latter prevail! 

Toronto Masque Theatre: If you’re 

looking for a good show to see this 

month, you need not make any decisions 

based on trust, either of the 

abilities of the musicians on stage or 

of the conjecture of any music critics, 

look no further than Toronto Masque 

Theatre’s performance of Purcell’s 

The Fairy Queen, which will be given 

at the company’s new digs at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, 

May 27 to 29 at 8pm. TMT was conceived with the idea of doing 

English 17th-entury repertoire, for which Purcell fits the bill perfectly, 

and the work will be staged and danced to by the redoubtable Marie- 

Nathalie Lacoursière, who has chosen to spice things up by setting 

the story contemporaneously. This is the kind of show that TMT was 

created to do, with singers, dancers and musicians who will do it very 

well. If you feel like something operatic, this concert is a sure win. 

Monteverdi: If you’re not in the mood for English opera, consider 

attending a performance of one the masterworks of one of the 

greatest composers of the 17th century, performed by the ensemble 

in the city that’s most qualified to do it. I’m speaking of course about 

Toronto Consort’s final concert of the season, a complete performance 

of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata Vergine, which they’ll 

be doing at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, May 6 to 8. I can’t tell you the 

number of times that other groups’ recordings and performances of 

this particular work have left me disappointed in the past, particularly 

with the oft-repeated decision to perform the Vespers a cappella, 

and I’m happy to say that the Consort will not be duplicating this 

particular faux pas. They’ll be bolstered by a Montreal-based consort 

of sackbuts, La Rose des Vents, and that implies that some continuo 

will also be on hand – entirely necessary for a major work that was 

performed in a positively palatial church in one of the richest cities 

of the Renaissance. English tenor Charles Daniels will also lead the 

group, so you can bet the Consort is going to end this season on a 

high note. 

Tafel’s Two-City Tale: Of course, all these picks lead up to the 

Toronto early music scene’s safest bet this month. Tafelmusik will 

be performing another program designed by Alison Mackay, this 

one based around the coffee-house scene of the early 18th century. 

“Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig- 

Damascus Coffee-House” brings 

Canada’s number-one baroque 

orchestra together with oud player 

Demetri Petsalakis, percussionist 

Naghmeh Farahmand and singer 

Maryem Tollar in a concert of 

Arabic music along with the music 

– if the Leipzig connection is any 

indication – of J.S. Bach. It seems 

like there’s something in this 

concert for everyone. Not interested 

in hearing just another Tafelmusik 

Bach concert? The Arabic angle 

adds an interesting perspective. 

Not particularly keen on world 

music? Tafelmusik does a good enough job of Bach. You can catch this 

cultural cross-pollination at Koerner Hall, May 19 to 22, and George 

Weston Recital Hall, May 24. 

Windermere Fan: And finally, there’s a lesser-known group in town 

that deserves to be gambled on. The Windermere String Quartet is 

a string ensemble that features some interesting repertoire and is 

capable of a very spirited performance indeed. Their next show, on 

Sunday, May 15, will feature a couple of standards of the string quartet 

repertoire, namely a Haydn quartet and Schubert’s Death and the 

Maiden. But the WSQ has also found a hitherto-unknown composer, 

the early 19th-century Spaniard, Juan Chrisóstomo Arriaga, who died 

at the tender age of 20. The WSQ has a following already, puts on a fun 

show, and is willing to explore the entire length and breadth of the 

quartet repertoire. They’re worth a shot. 

The Windermere String Quartet 

David Podgorski is a Toronto-based harpsichordist, music 

teacher and a founding member of Rezonance. He can 

be contacted at earlymusic@thewholenote.com. 

Director Peter Mahon 

‘Our Good Wills’ 

The World of Shakespeare & Byrd 

Two contemporary giants whose masterpieces 

changed the face of English drama and music. 

Anthems from the Chapel Royal 

Consort Songs from Plays by Johnson & Morley 

Saturday, May 14 at 7:30 pm 

St. Patrick’s Church 

141 McCaul St. 

Tickets: $30, Seniors: $25, Students with ID: $10 (only at the door) 

Info: 416 286-9798 Order online: www.tallischoir.com 




Beat by Beat | World View 

Abida Parveen 

Seasonal Affect; 

Musical Uplift 

ANDREW TIMAR 

To quote the chorus of a 1980s song, Up Where We Belong,“Love 

lifts us up where we belong/Where the eagles cry on a mountain 

high.” Substitute the word “Spring” for “Love” and I’m singing 

along at this season with its onset of new green growth, and with its 

promise of renewal. All it takes is the first stretch of warm weather to 

melt even this crusty scribe’s professorial attitude. So seasonally activated, 

my mind wanders easily far beyond my concrete condo to the 

wilds of the mountain high, to the sound of the soaring eagle’s cry – 

the song’s haunting metaphor for human love surmounting obstacles. 

Though those lyrics seem to evoke a geo-spiritual alpine terrain 

far removed from our urban landscape, yet the two-metre wingspans 

and the morning cries of the majestic bald eagle are making a 

regional Ontario comeback. Along the vast stretches of the northern 

shores of the Great Lakes, hundreds of confirmed breeding pairs have 

been reported in the past decade. It’s a heartening sign that efforts to 

rehabilitate our near-urban local environment appear to be bearing 

fruit. Mind you, I don’t feel compelled to personally witness those 

high-flying raptors in action; even the thought of their living presence 

nearby is enough to make this confirmed urban Torontonian’s 

heart soar. 

Abida Parveen, “My audience is my God”: This season is full of 

human music too. May 15 the voice of Abida Parveen, unequivocally 

described by The Guardian as “the greatest female Sufi singer in 

history” – an opinion shared by many others by the way – will echo 

in the cavernous aerie of Roy Thomson Hall, her voice expressing the 

various colours of our species’ yearning for union with the divine. 

The Pakistani singer is an acclaimed Sufiana kalaam (Sufi music) 

exponent. Her primary mode of expression is through two poetic 

song genres, ghazal and kafi (a solo genre accompanied by drums 

and harmonium that uses a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets in Urdu, 

Sindhi, Saraiki, Punjabi and Persian). Taught by her father, Ustad 

Ghulam Haider, and by Ustad Salaamat Ali Khan, she has amassed 

legions of fans in her four-decade international career. The Icelandic 

diva Björk, a shrewd judge of both extreme vocalism and passion, 

counts herself among them. 

Co-presented by the Aga Khan Museum and Roy Thomson Hall, this 

concert is undoubtedly a special one. RTH’s director of programming 

and marketing, Chris Lorway, has dubbed it a “once-in-a-lifetime 

opportunity for Toronto.” In his comments prepared for this column, 

Lorway emphasized its inter-institutional dimensions. “The chance to 

present an international icon like Abida Parveen is a thrill for us, and 

we could not have done it without the partnership with Amir and his 

team at the Aga Khan.” 

Lorway also underscored the importance of reaching out to the 

diverse enthic, national and faith-based communities in the city. “As 

we strive to make our venues more reflective of the city of Toronto, 

these collaborative initiatives are the only way forward. They allow us 

to combine our collective audiences of music lovers and the culturally 

curious in a way that has long-term benefits for both organizations.” 

For his part Amirali Alibhai, head of performing arts at the Aga 

Khan Museum, noted that Abida Parveen “has taken the kafi form of 

musically rendering the poetry of great mystics to new heights, which 

is quite significant for a practice that is traditionally dominated by 

men. Performing in several languages, Parveen’s interpretations cross 

barriers of understanding through her passionate and possessed vocal 

expression.” Making a bold comparative leap across cultural boundaries, 

Alibhai aptly observes that “she is to Sufi music what Aretha 

Franklin is to soul.” 

In addition he makes a well-observed case for the important role 

concert venues can play, “to bring such presentations out of less-thanideal 

stadium and make-do venues into respectful spaces, bespoken 

for art and possessing exceptional acoustics, as is fitting for esteemed 

artists such as Abida Parveen.” 

A respectful space is what Parveen’s spiritually motivated performance 

deserves. “My culture – our culture – is rich in spirituality and 

love,” she told The Guardian reporter Nosheen Iqbal in 2013. “Sufism 

is not a switch, the music isn’t a show – it’s all of life, it is religion. 

If I want to be recognized for anything, if we should be recognized 

for anything, it’s the journey of the voice. And that voice is God’s.” 

Parveen has been known to enter an altered consciousness while 

deep in performance. As The Guardian article observed, “she regularly 

sends her audiences in Pakistan and India into swaying raptures, 

swooning and fainting being quite standard reactions.” 

And her fans admire and adore her as much as they do her fellow 

compatriot singers, the late Mehdi Hassan (1927-2012) and Nusrat 

Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997). She freely returns that love. “Poor people, 

rich people – we are all God’s servants…I’m lucky. My audience 

is my God.” 

May 26-June 4 

Featuring: Vicky Chow (Bang on a Can All Stars), Tristan Perich, 

Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire), Katherine Young, Nick Fraser, 

Kyle Brenders Big Band, Tenderness, Bernice, Pursuit Grooves, 

Bill Coleman & Gordon Monahan, Ame Henderson/Public Recordings, 

Chris Willes & Adam Kinner, Nasar-I Turkwaz, Caroline Eyck and PSQ, 

Gabriel Dharmoo, Leanne Zacharias, Unbuttoned and more! 

YouTube Playlist: bit.ly/oe16play | Info and Tickets: 

openears.ca 

openearsfest 

openearsfest 

@openearsfest 

#OE16 


Lulaworld: From June 1 to 11 is the annual 

Lulaworld festival, presented by and at the 

Lula Music and Arts Centre. Now in its 11th 

year, Lulaworld is a showcase for Toronto’s 

world, jazz, blues and Latin musicians, 

providing them a welcoming stage to present 

their latest work to local audiences, and 

encouraging collaboration, this year with 

more than a dozen celebrated international 

guests. The goal of the festival is to highlight 

“the incredible breadth and calibre of the 

Toronto world and Latin music scenes.” 

In addition, the festival will also include 

a day of free outdoor programming as part 

of Dundas West Fest on June 11, plus family 

workshops and a Brazilian parade that 

anyone can participate in. As in years past 

there’s just too much going on during the 

festival to weigh in on every concert, so I’ll 

just have to be satisfied with providing a little 

colour swatch of the entire 11-day tapestry. 

Kicking things off June 1 is “Lulaworld: 

Opening Night Party,” a night chock-a-block 

with Latin, jazz, pop, blues and world music, 

co-presented with the Toronto Blues Society. 

Added bonus: arrive before 8pm and you’re 

joining the party for free. Headliners include 

Cuban-born, Toronto bassist, Yoser Rodriguez, whose debut album, 

Pollen, employs the talents of some of Toronto’s finest Latin jazz 

players. Rodriguez has been touted as “the next generation of genredefying 

Cuban singer-songwriters.” Taking the stage next is Hamiltonbased 

Laura Cole, her soulful and bluesy voice reflected in her debut 

album, Dirty Cheat. The album was crafted by Grammy-winning 

producers Steve Bigas (Taj Mahal), and longtime multiple top-tier 

album producer Daniel Lanois. 

Rounding out the night is the guitarist, singer-songwriter Cécile 

Doo-Kingué. While her parents were from Cameroon, she was born 

and raised in NYC. Now based in Montreal, she blends blues, soul and 

jazz with her African roots with a sure hand, having shared the stage 

with the Blind Boys of Alabama and opened for Angélique Kidjo and 

Youssou N’Dour. 

June 3 the Gabriel Palatchi Trio and Charangón del Norte take over 

the Lula Music and Arts Centre. Led by Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist 

Wilver Pedrozo, his 13-piece ensemble Charangón del 

Norte fuses Eastern Cuban changüí with other Caribbean musicdance 

genres including merengue, calypso, soca and Latin jazz. The 

group boasts a distinctive triple trombone section reflecting bandleader 

Pedrozo’s upbringing in Southeastern Cuba where influences 

from Colombia, Mexico and Jamaica are part of the region’s everyday 

musical fabric. 

Evergreen: Whenever it comes to writing about concerts by the 

Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, Canada’s pioneer ensemble 

exploring common grounds between world and avant-garde musics, 

I mention, in the interests of full disclosure, my career-long involvement 

with the ensemble. There. Just did it again. 

That being said, May 19 ECCG celebrates its latest CD, Higgs Ocean: 

New Music for Gamelan and String Quartet, in performance at the 

Music Gallery. The concert highlights its artistic director and soloist, 

Blair Mackay, plus its guest the Accordes String Quartet. Ten years in 

the making, ECCG’s CD is surely among the first albums dedicated to 

the striking combination of ECCG’s tuned percussion-rich gamelan 

degung indigenous to West Java Indonesia, and the string quartet 

indigenous to central Europe. The album contains Canadian composer 

Michael Oesterle’s powerful Higgs Ocean (2008) for that instrumentation. 

Innovative works by Mark Duggan, Ana Sokolović, Peter Klanac 

and Linda Catlin Smith round out this all-Canadian album by the 

Toronto ensemble. Audiences will hear samples of that repertoire. 

In addition, the ECCG has commissioned a new work for this 

exciting transcultural sound combination: Canadian composer Linda 

Bouchard’s as yet untitled piece will receive its world premiere at 

the concert. A work for gamelan soloist 

and electronics by another Canadian 

composer Ronald Bruce Smith is also on the 

premiere docket. 

World Fiddle Day: May 21 is the fourth 

Yoser Rodriguez 

annual World Fiddle Day Toronto, the second 

held at Toronto’s Fort York National Historic 

Site, at the Blue Barracks. Last year’s event 

hosted 96 players in the Around-the-World 

Jam – WFD’s signature concert featuring 

music from at least 25 cultures – accompanied 

by a top-level house band led by 

violinist, ethnomusicologist and WFD artistic 

director Anne Lederman. 

Aiming to present a global musical perspective, 

last year’s “Fiddles at the Fort” featured 

both workshops and a concert with South 

Indian violinist Subhadra Vijaykumar and 

The Metis Fiddler Quartet, among others. The 

young violin students of Sistema Parkdale 

and Rosedale Heights School of the Arts 

participated in the workshops. This year’s 

roster includes fiddlers Rosalyn Dennett 

(Appalachia), Dan MacDonald (Cape Breton), 

Mark Marczyk (Ukraine) and Yosvani 

Castañeda (Latin America), each representing 

their own cultural practice as it has evolved 

in Toronto today. Dozens of fiddlers of all stripes have been practising 

tunes from around the world for the Around-the-World Jam, some for 

as long as three months. I expect moments of the jam will take some 

listeners soaring well beyond the confines of Fort York’s Blue Barracks. 

Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer. He 

can be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com. 

BANG ON A CAN ALLSTARS’ 

VICKY CHOW 

plays SURFACE IMAGE 

by TRISTAN PERICH 

+ 

KLONDIKE 

SATURDAY MAY 14 

Doors: 7PM 

THE MUSIC GALLERY 

197 John St. 

DOUG DICKIN 


Beat by Beat | In with the New 

Minimalism 

And Beyond 

WENDALYN BARTLEY 

If you are a fan of minimalist 

music and are craving more 

after the recent performances 

of Steve Reich’s music in 

Toronto, you’ll want to experience 

Surface Image, performed 

by Vancouver-born pianist 

Vicky Chow and composed by 

American Tristan Perich. The 

hour-long piece characterized 

by a constant pulse of repetitive 

rhythmic patterns for piano and 

electronics will be performed 

at the Music Gallery on May 14 

and at the Open Ears Festival 

in Kitchener on May 28. Chow 

commissioned the work in 2013 

and already there is a recording 

on the New Amsterdam label 

along with a growing list of live 

performances. As she said in a 

recent phone interview, “It just 

happens to be a piece people 

are interested in, and I end up 

performing it a lot.” 

The piece begins for solo 

piano, with patterns based 

on one harmony and simple 

Vicky Chow 

rhythms. As the first section 

unfolds, the electronics slowly enter, and before you know it you’re 

immersed in a huge sea of piano and electronics. Throughout the 

piece, the relationship between the live piano part and the electronics 

changes, as human and machine dance with the other. 

Accompanying, supporting, leading, following and departing from 

one another, each of the sections highlights different ways the piano 

and electronic sounds interact with one another. Each section is like 

a different planet with a completely different mood, becoming almost 

like its own island in the larger ocean of sound. 

The electronics component consists of 40 speakers, each individually 

connected to an electronic circuit board. Each of 

these boards has its own program which generates lo-fi 

1-bit electronic sounds through its attached speaker. 

Once the entire system is turned on, it runs on its own. 

Chow likened the process to an electronic greeting card, 

where once you open it, the piece turns on and just 

goes. Unlike Reich’s Music for Eighteen Musicians for 

example, where the number of repetitions of patterns 

can be varied, Surface Image is precisely notated from 

beginning to end. The main variations that occur 

happen due to the type of acoustic space the work 

is performed in and the way the sound is reflected. 

Usually the 40 speakers are set up flanking the piano, 

but if the space is narrow, a different arrangement will 

be needed, with the speakers closer together. Chow told 

me, “Every time I play the piece, I hear different parts 

of the electronics. Depending on the space, the sound 

bounces in different ways and there have been times 

when I’ve wondered if I was in the right place in the 

score, since I hadn’t heard that part before.” 

Chow is the pianist for the well-known Bang on 

a Can All-Stars ensemble based in New York City. She initially met 

Perich through a Bang on a Can summer festival, and was drawn to his 

work because of his ability to combine 1-bit sound technology with 

writing for the acoustic piano. It is this mix of piano and electronics 

that lies at the heart of her musical passions. And although Surface 

Image can be defined as being part of the minimalist aesthetic, she 

doesn’t consider herself a minimalist pianist. She’s more interested in 

finding ways that push at the boundaries of the piano repertoire and 

canon, rather than just a specific genre of music. 

Besides her work performing with the All-Stars 

ensemble, Chow has a flourishing solo career and is 

increasingly finding herself working with Canadian 

composers such as Eliot Britton from Winnipeg and 

Adam Basanta from Montreal. In this context, she is 

able to pursue her interest in piano and electronics. 

For example, in a work by Basanta created for piano 

and hand-held mini transducers, devices that needs a 

resonant body in order to make sound, Chow performs 

the work by manipulating the transducers on different 

areas of the piano strings and frame. Her forthcoming 

album on the New Amsterdam label will feature six 

works for both prepared piano and piano with different 

forms of electronics, including tape, prerecorded piano 

sounds and live processing. One upcoming venture will 

be a collaboration with Montreal-based drummer Ben 

Reimer. Together they have commissioned works from 

Canadians Vincent Ho and electronics wizard Nicole 

Lizée to be premiered at next years PuSh Festival in 

Vancouver. 

Open Ears Festival: From May 26 to June 4 the 

Waterloo region will once again be taken over by 

the sounds of the Open Ears Festival. At the heart 

of this festival is the act of listening to a diverse 

range of musics – including new classical, electroacoustic, 

musique actuelle and sound installations. 

As mentioned, Surface Image will be performed on 

May 28, and the composer and media artist Tristan 

Perlich will be in attendance on May 29. He will be 

presenting an artist talk at 1pm covering the range of his work, 

including his Machine Drawings which will be on display, and his 

explorations into 1-bit music and other sound-based technologies. 

Continuing on with the theme of electronics, the concert June 2 

will focus on works for the theremin, the world’s first motion sensor 

music instrument patented in the United States in 1928 after being 

originally developed by Léon Theremin when he lived in Russia and 

was working on a government research program. The concert at Open 

Ears will begin with author Sean Michaels reading from his historical 

novel, Us Conductors, to set the scene for the theremin’s beginnings. 

Next, an influential work for the theremin and chamber ensemble, 

Carolina Eyck 

playing the 

theremin. 


composed in 1944 by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů will be 

heard, followed by a new work for Karlax – a new-motion sensor 

instrument designed and performed by D. Andrew Stewart. The highlight 

of the evening will be the opportunity to hear Carolina Eyck, the 

world’s foremost theremin virtuoso. She will perform several works, 

including the ones previously listed, as well as a new work by Omar 

Daniel involving Nicola Tesla’s high voltage coil invented in 1891. And 

because Open Ears is all about listening, the appearance of three 

Listening Choir events makes complete sense. From May 27 to 29, the 

Listening Choir project by Christopher Willes and Adam Kinner will 

invite participants on group walks through urban spaces to experience 

collective and individual ways of listening. The walks will also 

include the recording of different places, objects, language and ideas 

within the soundscape using homemade recording devices. Thus the 

act of listening becomes an act of performance. For a complete overview 

of the full range of the festivals program, definitely check out 

their website: openears.ca 

Sounds of Finland, Japan and the Indonesian Gamelan: This 

month offers opportunities to tune into the sounds coming out of 

these three distinctive cultural traditions. First of all, the music of 

Finnish composer Tomi Räisänen will be performed on May 19 at 

a concert presented by the junctQin keyboard collective. Finnish- 

Canadian pianist Heidi Saario will join the junctQin collective in the 

performance of two world premieres by Räisänen: Falls, for piano six 

hands, and Superdodecaphonium for solo piano, as well as others of 

his works. 

On May 24, two days before their Japan: NEXT concert at the 21C 

festival, Continuum Contemporary Music will be presenting another 

event at Gallery 345 to celebrate the Japanese concept of Ma. In music 

this concept translates into the idea that what you don’t play is as 

important as what you do play. It’s the space or tension between 

sounds, and to take it further into the nonmusical domain, the space 

between two people or two objects. Lining the walls of Gallery 345 

will be an exhibition of 30 prints courtesy of the Japan Foundation, 

some of which deal with Ma in graphic design. Beginning with a film 

on how Ma is expressed in woodblock art, the concert will then showcase 

the Okeanos ensemble, a UK-based group of westerners who 

will perform both traditional works for the koto and sho and contemporary 

works, all focused on the communication of Ma. 

Finally on May 19, the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, 

will perform a concert of works from their recent CD, Higgs Ocean. 

Evergreen Club is an ensemble committed to the performance and 

commissioning of contemporary music for the gamelan, an ensemble 

of bronze and wooden instruments from Indonesian culture. In this 

concert they will team up with the Bozzini string quartet to perform 

five works by Canadian composers especially written for this collaboration 

of strings and gamelan sounds. 

Additional New Music Performances 

May 1: Royal Conservatory. Kaija Saariaho: Changing Light for 

soprano and violin. 

May 4 and 5: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. John Adams: 

Scheherazade.2 – Dramatic Symphony for Violin and Orchestra. 

May 4 to 8; 11 to 15: Coleman Lemieux et Compagnie. Against 

Nature/À Rebours. Music by James Rolfe. 

May 5: Royal Conservatory. Glenn Gould School New Music 

Ensemble; works by Boulez, A. Norman and Sokolović. 

May 13: Canadian Music Centre. “Fantastic! Barbara Pritchard 

in Recital”; works by Beckwith, Pentland, McIntyre, Hatch, Pearce 

and Parker. 

May 25 to 29: Royal Conservatory’s 21C Music Festival; seven 

concerts with 28+ premieres. 

May 26: Music Gallery. Emergents IV: Kiri Koto Ensemble and 

Boomwhackers. 

May 26: Canadian Music Centre; premiere of a new work by Chris 

Paul Harman, Julia Den Boer, piano. 

May 28: Array Music Young Composers’ Workshop Concert 2016. 



CONVERSATIONS CONVERSATIONS 




CONVERSATIONS 

CONVERSATIONS 

CONVERSATIONS 

CONVERSATIONS 

TORQ PERCUSSION QUARTET 

presents new music inspired by dialogue 

+ works by Staniland & Engelman 

8PM TUESDAY MAY 24 

918 BATHURST STREET, TORONTO 

$20 / $15 / $10 

TORQPERCUSSION.CA 

Wendalyn Bartley is a Toronto-based composer and electrovocal 

sound artist. sounddreaming@gmail.com. 


Beat by Beat | Bandstand 

Debuts, Anniversaries 

& Messages 

JACK MACQUARRIE 

After a seemingly endless wait, spring has finally arrived, and 

with it a virtual explosion of band activity. Not only are there 

more spring concerts than usual to announce, but there are 

some anniversaries and even one unusual debut. Another most 

welcome sign is the number of messages from readers telling us about 

their bands’ activities. 

Anniversaries: The first of the anniversaries that came to our attention 

was that of the Uxbridge Community Concert Band which is 

celebrating its 25th season. The UCCB is unique in that it is a summertime 

only band. Originally established to provide a band where 

students could remain proficient during the summer vacation period, 

now, 25 years later, band membership encompasses a spectrum from 

high school students to retirees in their 80s. They have two concerts 

scheduled for August. New members are always welcome and are 

urged to contact the band at uccb@powergate.ca or visit their website 

at uccb2016.webs.com. 

At the end of each concert season UCCB band members are asked 

to vote on a selection from that season which they would like to have 

included in the repertoire for the following season. The music to 

Pirates of the Caribbean was the popular choice for this year. With 

that as a starting point, music director Steffan Brunette has come 

up with an imaginative theme for the 2016 season. The band will be 

“Sailing the High C’s.” As of this writing Brunette is still accepting 

suggestions from band members. Suggestions submitted so far include 

selections from the Sea and Sinbad’s Ship from Rimsky-Korsakov’s 

Scheherazade, Handel’s Water Music Suite, Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS 

Pinafore and others. 

Messages: The first of our messages was from Brenda Leuschen 

Farkas. When she lived in Toronto, she played in the New Horizons 

(Intermediate) Band, Toronto, under the direction of Rob Mee. When 

she and her husband moved to their new home on a lake near Port 

Loring, Ontario, the hunt for a place to play was a priority. Soon she 

found the No Strings Attached Community Band in Sudbury. While 

it’s an hour’s drive to get to the rehearsals, she says that it’s worth it. 

Recently, the band was awarded a high silver at the Northern Ontario 

Music Festival and received an invitation to compete at the Nationals 

in Ottawa. Directed by its founder, Sandra McMillan, the band will 

celebrate its 15th anniversary with a concert titled “15 Years of Music.” 

The concert will be held on Sunday, May 29 at 2pm at Cambrian 

College Auditorium, Sudbury. For more information see 

nostringsattachedband.org 

Another welcome letter recently received was from Theresa 

MacDonald, manager of the Weston Silver Band. As a member of 

Weston Silver Band, and frequent assistant with Hannaford Youth, 

she is a fountain of knowledge on the Brass Band movement in North 

America. In her message she pointed out “a bit of an oversight” in last 

month’s column regarding participation in NABBA competitions over 

the years. 

Here is what she had to say: “Canadian bands have not [recently] 

participated in NABBA until we [Weston Silver Band] returned to the 

Championships in 2014 after an 18-year hiatus. We have just returned 

from the North American Brass Band Championships (April 2, 2016) 

with a second place finish in First Section (1.5 points off the winning 

band). We are and remain the only Canadian Brass Band at the 

Championships…We are currently ranked as one of the top ten brass 

bands in North America.” 

New Horizons on Film: A few days ago we had the pleasure of 

attending a “pre-screening” of a new documentary film about the 

Toronto New Horizons Band. Directed by Sarah Keenlyside with executive 

producer Howard Fraiberg of Proximity Films, The Beat Goes 

Weston Silver Band 

On portrays the establishment and development of the Toronto New 

Horizons Band. The premiere on TVO is scheduled for June 8 at 9pm. 

After that date it will be possible to stream it from the TVO website. 

While on the subject of Toronto New Horizons, their end-of-season 

concert is scheduled for May 27 at 7:30. As in past years this will be 

at St. Michael’s College Arts Centre, 1515 Bathurst Street, north of 

St. Clair Ave. It seems like only yesterday when I first heard of the 

prospect for such a group. Now it’s the end of their sixth year. 

Dan Kapp: Last month I mentioned that Dan Kapp had resigned 

from his position in the Long and McQuade band department to 

devote more time to New Horizons activities. They have started to 

increase already. He will be running a beginner adult full-day band 

camp this summer from July 18 to 22, at the Miles Nadal Jewish 

Community Centre as part of their Summer Institute for Creative 

Adults (SICA) program. It will be for adults who want to start playing 

again. In other words, participants will have to have some background 

in reading music. The New Horizons Band of Toronto Summer Band 

(Dan’s regular guys and gals) will be featured guests in an evening 

concert on July 21 at the Al Green Theatre (within the MNjcc) as part 

of the camp. 

If all of that wasn’t enough to keep a retiree busy, Dan was recently 

invited to conduct at a two-day international music festival in Panama 

City. He was selected to conduct a 78-member Honour Band of 

students from grades 7 to 9 as one part of the festival. It’s an annual 

event sponsored by the International School of Panama. There will be 

international schools from five other Central American countries as 

well as schools from Panama represented at the festival. This festival is 

the only time many of the students get to perform in a large ensemble. 

Silverthorn: Back to those messages about upcoming events. Word 

from Heather Engli is that the Silverthorn Symphonic Winds will 

be ending their season with a concert, May 28, appropriately titled 

“Sounds of Spring.” To whet the appetite of potential attendees 

they have scheduled a combination of some outstanding wind band 

repertoire along with some easy listening, fun stuff: Ralph Vaughan 

Williams’ English Folk Song Suite, Percy Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy 

and Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide along with such lighter 

fare as selections from Ain’t Misbehavin’, Big Band Salute and A 

Leroy Anderson Portrait. It is a program with wide appeal. It all takes 

place at the Wilmar Heights Event Centre. 

And a deep debut: June 5, Flute Street will present their spring 

concert featuring the Bach Toccata and Fugue in D and a Sinfonia for 

Nine Piccolos. The highlight for me will be the debut that I alluded to 

earlier. A few months ago we had introduced to a Toronto audience 

for the first time a sub contrabass flute belonging to a guest performer 

from Australia. That instrument so fascinated Flute Street member 

Jeff Densham that he was determined to have one for himself. Yes, he 

purchased such an instrument, and it will have its Canadian debut at 

this concert in a duet for contrabass and sub contrabass flutes. 

More Events by date 

May 7 the York University Community Band Festival returns with 

a variety of attractions for band members. It all starts at 12:45 with 

registration in York U’s Accolade East Building. There is a massed band 

session in the early afternoon followed by workshops on Brazilian 

drumming, brass performance, woodwind tips and a jazz ensemble. 

This is followed by a reception with keynote speaker, Canadian 

composer Donald Coakley. The evening features a massed band 

concert where Coakley will conduct a number of his compositions. 


May 8 at 2pm, the Markham Concert Band will present “Sneak 

Peek: Murder at the Markham Theatre,” a fun-filled afternoon, 

as band member Heather Wardell spins a tale of dastardly 

deeds unfolding before your eyes at the Markham Theatre. Great 

music melds with intrigue in the search for the Markham Theatre 

murderer. Between each piece of music more information will be 

provided about motive and opportunity for the suspects and at the 

end of the show the murderer will be revealed. 

May 15 at 2pm, the Caledon Concert Band will present “Heroes 

from Fantasy and History,” including Guardians of the Galaxy, Star 

Trek Into Darkness and Pirates of the Caribbean. 

May 15 at 3:30pm, the Wychwood Clarinet Choir (led by artistic 

director and clarinet soloist Michele Jacot) offers “Sounds of Spring” 

at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels. This concert will feature 

McIntyre Ranch and other works by composer and conductor laureate 

Howard Cable and Immer Kleiner by Adolf Schreiner. The one work 

that I am looking forward to is Gustav Holst’s First Suite in E Flat as 

arranged by Matt Johnston. In the past I have been amazed at how 

well this group interprets such large works for full concert band with 

only the resources of the family of clarinets. 

Also in the Listings 

May 27: Etobicoke Community Concert Band. “Summer Prelude: 

Memories of the ‘Summer of Love’ at Woodstock,” featuring big band 

and Latin music. Works by Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and others. 

May 28:The North York Concert Band presents “Dancing and 

Romancing,” a composite of swing tunes, Latin music, show tunes 

and other music at the Al Green Theatre. 

May 29: Mississauga Pops Concert Band presents “First in Films” 

with selections from The Lion King, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, 

The Phantom of the Opera and other works; Joseph Resendes, 

conductor. 

May 29: North Toronto Community Band presents “Spring 

Rhythms,” with Keli Schmidt, mallets percussion, Cindy Sloane, 

vocals, Danny Wilks, conductor. 

Sunday June 5 at 3pm, the Newmarket Citizens’ Band will 

present their “Spring Fling Concert” with special guests the Upper 

Canada Chordsmen Chorus, at Trinity United Church, 461 Park Ave, 

Newmarket. 

June 7: Resa’s Pieces Concert Band’s “17th Gala Concert,” will range 

from Gustav Holst’s Jupiter from The Planets to Leonard Bernstein’s 

West Side Story. Local trumpeter and composer Vern Kennedy’s 

Chandler Point Suite will add a local flavour. The band will be joined 

for part of the program by Resa’s Pieces Singers and Resa’s Pieces 

String Ensemble; Resa Kochberg, conductor. 

Howard Cable 

Word is spreading through the music world of the passing of 

Howard Cable. Canadian music has lost a great composer and 

conductor. Much has been written in the media already, and next 

month The WholeNote will include a feature story about him. 

For myself, in addition to playing much of his music over the years, 

more recently, I had begun talking with him about a special project. 

For some time I have wanted to write something about the process 

of music composition by looking into a specific work, following the 

processes and persons involved from the original concept to first 

performance of the piece. A couple of years ago I broached the idea to 

Howard after a concert of the Wychwood Clarinet Choir (with whom 

he had also developed a special relationship in recent years). 

In my mind I envisioned some town band commissioning him to 

compose a concert overture to commemorate an anniversary of the 

band. We would then discuss the many steps involved as the ideas 

went from the composer’s brain to printed page and on to a public 

performance. We had agreed on a tentative format and, always ready 

to look ahead, Howard suggested that we get down to it this spring. 

Alas, it will not happen in quite that way now. 

Jack MacQuarrie plays several brass instruments and 

has performed in many community ensembles. He can 

be contacted at bandstand@thewholenote.com. 


Beat by Beat | Art of Song 

From Monteverdi 

To A Mad King 

HANS DE GROOT 

The Toronto Consort performs Monteverdi’s Vespers: there is a 

strong case to be made that Monteverdi’s Vespers and Bach’s 

B-Minor Mass constitute the finest baroque choral and liturgical 

works. They are, of course, very different, but one thing they have in 

common is that we know next to nothing about 

their early performance history. 

Bach’s work dates from the end of his life 

and it seems unlikely that he himself ever 

heard it in its entirety. Monteverdi’s Vespers 

was published in 1610, at a time when he was 

still employed at the ducal court in Mantua. 

Dismissed two years later, in 1613 he received 

an appointment as conductor at St. Mark’s 

Basilica in Venice, so there have been attempts 

to link the Vespers either with Mantua or with 

Venice. One musicologist has even proposed 

that there was an earlier version of the Vespers, 

written for Mantua and dedicated not to the 

Virgin Mary, but to St. Barbara. This remains 

unproven, as are attempts to link the work 

with St. Mark’s in Venice, although John Eliot 

Gardiner recorded a visually spectacular performance 

there. 

This is not the first time the Toronto Consort has performed the 

work; for these performances, May 6 to 8, the tenor Charles Daniels 

will direct, while there is also a guest performance by another tenor, 

Kevin Skelton. Instrumental accompaniment will be provided by the 

Montreal cornetto and sackbut ensemble, La Rose des Vents. With 

its intricate interweaving of sections for choir and soloists (six, eight 

and ten-voice choir, solo tenor, tenor duet, tenor plus two three-voice 

choirs, etc) it is a work of remarkable interest for lovers of vocal music. 

Louis de Nil and César Aguilar: I first became aware of Louis de Nil 

when he performed the leading male role in The Nutcracker for the 

Pia Bouman Dance Studio. I also heard him play the oboe. After that 

he went to study at McGill and he has just completed an M.A. program 

at the University of Western Ontario. Accomplishments as a dancer 

and an oboist notwithstanding, he is now primarily a tenor. His 

recitals over the last two years include a performance of Schubert’s 

Winterreise, no less, in April 2015. May 1 he will sing in a joint recital 

with the countertenor, César Aguilar, who grew up in Mexico, came 

to Canada in 2006, largely to improve his English, and later became 

a music student at the University of Lethbridge. The program for 

their Gallery 345 recital includes arias from Handel’s Tamerlano, 

Canticle II (Abraham and Isaac) by Britten and songs by Vuillemin, 

Rachmaninoff and Schubert. The pianist is Helen Becqué. 

The Talisker Players present “Cross’d by the Stars,” May 3 and 4, in 

which readings from letters, diaries and memoirs are coupled with 

performances of works by Purcell (When I Am Laid in Earth), Gluck 

(Che farò senz’ Euridice), Mahler (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen), 

Burry (The Highwayman) and Bernstein (West Side Story). The 

singers are Krisztina Szabó, mezzo, and Aaron Durand, baritone. 

Lunchtime recitals at the Four Seasons Centre: There are several 

vocal recitals in the Richard Bradshaw Auditorium this month. On 

May 3, the mezzo, Anita Rachvelishvili, will sing Rachmaninoff, Falla, 

Ravel, Fauré and Taktakishvili. On May 10, Aviva Fortunata will sing 

Strauss’ Four Last Songs and the bass-baritone, Ian MacNeil, will 

perform the Songs of Travel by Vaughan Williams. On May 17, Karine 

Boucher, soprano, sings Shéhérazade by Ravel and Andrew Haji, 

tenor, performs Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. 

Toronto Bach Festival: Oboist John Abberger is the artistic director 

of First Annual Toronto Bach Festival which will present its inaugural 

concert May 27. The focus will be on Bach’s Weimar cantatas and 

the program will include the cantatas Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen 

BWV 12 and Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV 147a. The soloists 

are Ellen McAteer, soprano, Daniel Taylor, alto, and Lawrence 

Wiliford, tenor. 

Toronto Masque Theatre presents Purcell’s Fairy Queen: Henry 

Purcell wrote only one opera, Dido and Aeneas, but several so-called 

semi-operas combining spoken texts with songs. One could indulge 

in regret that none of these became fully operatic works but it seems 

better to accept them as they are. One of them, The Fairy Queen, 

is based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with 

Shakespeare’s text replaced by that of an anonymous versifier. Toronto 

Masque Theatre gives us a new production of 

the work, May 27 to 29, in which the singers 

are Juliet Beckwith, Vania Chan, Charlotte 

Knight and Janelle Lapalme, sopranos, Simon 

Honeyman, alto, Cory Knight and Jonathan 

MacArthur, tenors, and Alexander Dobson and 

Graham Robinson, baritones. 

Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey: 

soprano Kathleen Battle returns to Toronto after 

a long absence for a concert of Negro spirituals 

backed up by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. The 

concert, at Roy Thomson Hall, May 29, will also 

include readings of major Abolitionist writers 

like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. 

Mamele: The Mother’s Eyes: Show One 

presents Tamara Gverdtsiteli, with the soloists 

of the Moscow Male Jewish Cappella and 

symphony orchestra, performing Yiddish, 

Georgian, Russian, French and Italian songs at Roy Thomson 

Hall, June 3. 

Aradia performs Handel and Peter Maxwell Davies: The centre 

of the repertoire of period orchestras tends to be the baroque era 

but ensembles have begun to juxtapose earlier works with contemporary 

material. Such is the case with the Aradia Baroque Ensemble, 

which in its next concert, June 4, will give us arias by Handel but also 

Peter Maxwell Davies’ 1969 monodrama Songs for a Mad King. Stacie 

Dunlop, soprano, and Vincent Ranallo, baritone, will sing. 

QUICK PICKS 

May 7: Charlene Pauls, soprano, Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo, 

Chris Fischer, tenor, and Daniel Hambly, bass will be the soloists in 

Mendelssohn’s Elijah, with the Univox Choir. 

May 10: Jennifer Taverner, soprano, Lyndsay Promane, mezzo, and 

Daevyd Pepper, tenor, are the soloists in a concert of English and 

Italian art songs at Islington United Church. 

May 13: Emma Hannan, soprano, Emily D’Angelo, mezzo, Cian 

Horrobin, tenor, and Nicholas Borg, bass are the soloists in Mozart’s 

Requiem, with the North Toronto Choral Ensemble and the North 

Toronto Symphony Orchestra at North Toronto Collegiate Institute. 

May 13: Hawksley Workman will present songs by Bruce Cockburn, 

with the Art of Time Ensemble. 

May 13 and 15: The Toronto Symphony Orchestra concerts on May 13 

and 15 will include Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 “Babi Yar” with 

the Russian bass Petr Migunov as soloist. 

May 15: A performance of Mozart’s Requiem at the Westben Arts 

Festival will feature soloists Virginia Hatfield, soprano, Kimberly 

Dafoe, mezzo, Tom Sharpe, tenor, and Joel Allison, baritone. 

May 19: Janet Obermeyer, soprano, will perform a free noontime 

concert at Metropolitan United Church. 

May 20: Jenni Cook, soprano, will perform a free noontime recital at 

St. Andrew’s Church. 

And beyond the GTA: The soprano Shannon Mercer will sing Seven 

Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok by Shostakovich at the First 

Unitarian Church of Hamilton, May 21. 

Kathleen Battle 

Hans de Groot is a concertgoer and active listener 

who also sings and plays the recorder. He can be 

contacted at artofsong@thewholenote.com. 


Beat by Beat | Choral Scene 

Auditions – 

Getting Into It All! 

BRIAN CHANG 

I 

sing in the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMC) as a tenor and have 

for the last three seasons. It’s my primary musical outlet. What is 

surprising to some people is that we have to audition every year. 

Every year we have to audition to get back into the choir. When I 

mention this to non-TMC choristers, they shudder. It is uncommon 

and stressful to do this year after year. Most people audition once for 

their choirs. 

The result, though, is a rather rigorous process that allows an 

artistic director of an ensemble to choose and build the sound they are 

looking for. I’m happy to say that I’ve been part of that “sound” for the 

last few years and I hope to for many more. So yes, I am auditioning 

this year yet again, and this time I’ve chosen an Aaron Copland ditty. A 

sweet little folk song, 90 seconds long. Perfect for an audition. 

Auditions can be a scary process unique to the arts. Most other 

professions will interview once for a job and that’s it – they’re set. 

Performing artists must repeatedly subject themselves to scrutiny and 

criticism. Ultimately, I believe this leads us to be stronger artists, but 

auditions can also be demoralizing and disempowering. However, 

none of us choristers feel the pressure of auditions the way a dancer or 

actor does – their very livelihood depends on successful auditions. So 

my once-a-year audition for the Mendelssohn Choir is just fine with 

me. I encourage you all to go out and audition for an ensemble – great 

things could lie ahead for you! 

(There are 116 choirs, some auditioned, some not, for you to choose 

from in this issue’s WholeNote Canary Pages, so no excuses!) 

(May)Days of Performances 

Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival runs from May 7 to 15 with 

events throughout the city. A few to highlight: The Ruach Singers 

present their unique contemporary a cappella take on the traditional 

Shabbat morning service on May 7 at 9:45am, Beth Sholom 

Synagogue, Toronto. Festival headliners, Naturally 7, blend their stunning 

voices into a mind-blowing instrumental collage in their alwaysfun 

take on a cappella music on May 13 at 7:30pm at Jane Mallett 

Theatre, St Lawrence Centre for the Arts. And after 39 years, Torontobased 

group The Nylons are heading towards retirement (although it 

will take them a year to get there!)with a Farewell Toronto Concert 

May 14 at 8pm also at Jane Mallett Theatre. 

Oakville Children’s Choir presents “Raise Your Voice!” featuring 

the mass power of 200 kids from all six program choirs that make 

up the organization. Repertoire includes an arrangement of Phillip 

Phillips’ Home, Indodana a traditional Xhosa arranged by Michael 

Barrett and Ralf Schmitt, and The Little Road by Moira Smiley. The 

OCC Senior Choir will be working with Smiley as guests of the 

Pacific International Choral Festival in Oregon in July. Catch them on 

Saturday, May 7, at 3pm at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. 

Toronto Children’s Chorus presents “Music of the Spheres” 

featuring mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó. Features include Franz 

Schubert’s Ständchen and John Greer’s Beginning of the World. 

Saturday May 7 at 3pm, Toronto Centre for the Arts. 

WomEnchant Chorus and Drummers and guests, the Rainbow 

Chorus, offer a presentation titled “Sing and Drum for Peace, Justice, 

and Our Planet,” featuring works by Jeff Hale, Eric Whitacre, and 

much more. Saturday May 7 at 7pm, Trinity United Church, Grimsby. 

Mississauga Festival Chamber Choir presents “Choralia Canadiana” 

this month. At their Spring Serenade concert last month of Ola 

Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass, artistic director David Ambrose encouraged 

audiences to check out this rambunctious show. Featuring Mary Lou 

Fallis, of Primadonna fame, and piano sidekick Peter Tieffenbach, 

the show will be a hilarious musical history of choral singing from 

cavemen to the modern day. The more ordinary works featured will 

include Canadian Imant Raminsh’s In the Night We Shall Go In, Stan 

Roger’s arrangement of Fogarty’s Cove, and Scott MacMillan’s Celtic 

Mass for the Sea. Saturday May 7, at 8pm, Hammerson Hall, Living 

Arts Centre, Mississauga. 

Tri-City area jewel – the Grand Philharmonic Chamber Choir 

presents “The Spirit Sings,” with excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s 

Vespers, Christos Hatzis’ De Angelis, and John Tavener’s Syvati. 

Saturday May 7, at 7:30pm, St Matthew’s Lutheran Church. 

Elmer Iseler Singers present “Musical Friends,” including Jason 

Jestadt, the winner of the 2015 Ruth Watson Henderson Choral 

Composition Competition. The Bach Chamber Youth Choir will 

join the Singers. Sunday May 8 at 4pm, Eglinton St George’s 

United Church. 

Upper Canada Choristers present “Our Home and Native Lands” 

featuring an interesting mix of diverse music. Highlights include 

Stephen Hatfield’s Cantando flores, Laurie Evan Fraser’s Who 

Can Sail, and songs from Japan, Korea, France, and Ecuador. The 

Choristers will be joined by the Junior Choir of Montrose Public 

School and Cantemos. Friday May 13 at 8pm, Grace Church on-the- 

Hill, Toronto. 

The Music Department of North Toronto Collegiate Institute 

presents Mozart’s Requiem featuring the North Toronto Choral 

Ensemble and the North Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Two performances: 

May 13, 7:30pm and May 14, 6pm at North Toronto C.I. 

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents Shostakovich’s 

Symphony 13 “Babi Yar.” Last month, WholeNote publisher David 

Perlman featured a conversation with York University music professor 

emeritus, Sterling Beckwith, on the work. A monumental piece of 

art that emerged from the Soviet Union, Babi Yar is a political statement 

that responds to the Nazi massacre of over 100,000 people in 

World War II. The Russian text is difficult and hard to sing and the 

task falls to the basses of the Amadeus Choir and Elmer Iseler Singers, 

augmented by many others, recruited by Iseler/Amadeus conductor 


Toronto Children’s 

Chorus 

Lydia Adams. Holding the baton is Andrey Boreyko, a Russian 

conductor trained at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Saint 

Petersburg and formerly music director of the Winnipeg Symphony 

Orchestra for six years. The TSO presents this “Civic Oratorio” on 

May 13 at 7:30pm and May 15 at 3pm. 

Tallis Choir of Toronto: Shakespeare’s myriad works have long 

inspired great music, much of it choral. In “Our Good Wills: The 

World of Shakespeare & Byrd,” the robust and talented Tallis Choir 

of Toronto under Peter Mahon will present several of these inspirations 

from works such as All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, Twelfth 

Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Tempest. Several pieces 

by Shakespeare’s contemporary, William Byrd, will be featured as 

well, including his popular Te Deum. Saturday May 14, at 7:30pm, 

St. Patrick’s Church, Toronto. 

The Yellowknife Youth Choir visits Toronto and joins the Bach 

Children’s Chorus and the Bach Chamber Youth Choir in “Songs 

of the Wanderer: A Spring Celebration.” Both Bach Choirs visited 

Yellowknife and Western Canada in late March 2016, so this is a 

reciprocal visit. They combine again to feature works by Mendelssohn 

and Rodgers & Hammerstein. Saturday May 14, 7:30pm, Toronto 

Centre for the Arts. 

ChoralWorks Chamber Choir presents “A ChoralWorks Tapestry,” 

featuring Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and music from Les Misérables, 

May 14, Trinity United Church, Collingwood. 

City Choir, a super-accessible and welcoming ensemble, performs 

“Freedom is a Voice.” The family-oriented set list features arrangements 

of popular songs such as MLK by U2, Blackbird by Sarah 

McLaughlin and Freedom is a Voice by Bobby McFerrin. Tuesday 

May 31, 7:30pm, St Peter’s Anglican Church. 

And speaking of super-accessible, the VIVA! Youth Singers of 

Toronto have a fun, new, world premiere of The Sword in the 

Schoolyard, a children’s opera by Dean Burry, with music and libretto 

The Canadian 

Orpheus Male Choir 

39 TH ANNUAL CONCERT with special guests: 

internationally renowned operatic tenor 

Richard Margison OC 

and acclaimed soprano Lauren Margison. 

JUNE 11, 7PM 

AT THE DOFASCO CENTRE FOR THE ARTS 

(THEATRE AQUARIUS) 

by Burry, music direction by VIVA! artistic director, Carol Woodward 

Ratzlaff, and direction by David Ambrose; June 3 and 4 at 7pm, June 5 

at 2:30pm, Daniels Spectrum. 

The Amadeus Choir performs “Serenade to Music,” featuring Ralph 

Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music, Schubert’s To Music, Britten’s 

Hymn to St Cecilia and more; June 5 at 7pm, Eglinton St Georges 


21C: the Royal Conservatory’s new works festival has a host of 

very interesting pieces to check out. The festival runs from May 25 to 

May 29 with all performances at the RC’s Telus Centre for Performance 

and Learning. A couple of highlights: 

In my columns I frequently mention Tanya Tagaq and her unique, 

powerful interpretation of throat singing. She will be performing with 

one of the most prolific new music ensembles in North America – 

The Kronos Quartet. They open the festival with a host of premieres 

including Sivunittinni (The future children) by Tagaq herself, May 25 

at 8pm, Koerner Hall. 

“21C After Hours: Blackout,” brainchild of composer John Oswald, 

will take place entirely in complete darkness. Presales for it were 

so successful a second performance was added to meet demand. As 

we go to press, there are still tickets available for the 8pm show (the 

10:30pm is officially sold out). There will be four world premieres 

featuring the Element Choir under artistic director Christine 

Duncan. A master of improvisation and a pioneer of choral improvisation, 

Duncan is also known for her frequent and fruitful collaborations 

with fellow 21C performer Tanya Tagaq. The Element Choir 

will be joined by the Radiant Brass Ensemble and we’ve also been 

promised special surprise guests; May 27 at 8pm and 10:30pm, 

Conservatory Theatre. 

Follow Brian on Twitter @bfchang Send info/media/ 

tips to choralscene@thewholenote.com. 

190 KING WILLIAM STREET, HAMILTON 

FOR TICKETS, CALL THE BOX OFFICE: 1-800-465-7529 | FOR DETAILS, EMAIL concerts@comc.ca | www.comc.ca 


14th Annual Directory of Choirs

CANARY PAGES 

This 14th Annual Edition of The 

WholeNote Canary Pages provides 

an opportunity for Southern Ontario 

choirs to tell you in their own words 

such things as who they are, how 

long they’ve been around, where they 

rehearse and perform, what musical 

genres they focus on, and what level 

of skill and commitment they require 

from individuals wishing to join them. 

The 116 choirs here include some 

that have been around for many 

decades, new groups on the scene, 

choruses of hundreds of voices, small 

and intimate chamber ensembles, 

children’s and youth choirs, groups 

of singers with workplace or worship 

or identity as their focus, choirs with 

socializing or community or high-level 

performance as their driving force. 

If you are new to the region, a lapsed 

chorister looking to start singing 

again, on the hunt for new musical 

challenges, or thinking of taking the 

CANADIAN CHILDREN’S OPERA COMPANY 

plunge for the very first time, this is a 

perfect place to start your search. 

Missed the Canary Pages? If a choir 

you thought should be here isn’t, it’s 

not too late! Choirs are added year 

round to our online Canary Pages at 

thewholenote.com/canary, where 

you can browse choirs alphabetically 

like this, or conduct more focused 

searches by genre, geography, 

audition type, gender, age range, skill 

level and more. 

THE 2016 CANARY PAGES TEAM 

PROJECT MANAGER: Karen Ages 

PROJECT EDITOR: Kevin King 

PROOFREADERS: Sara Constant, Vanessa Wells 

DIRECTORY SALES SUPPORT: Adrienne Surtees 

LAYOUT AND DESIGN: Susan Sinclair 

WEBSITE, SURVEYS AND MAPPING: 

Bryson Winchester 

For more information contact 

canary@thewholenote.com or phone 

Karen Ages at 416-323-2232 x26 

●The Achill Choral Society 

The Achill Choral Society began as a community 

choir in 1982, drawing members from an area northwest 

of Toronto. We gather Wednesday evenings to 

rehearse repertoire. Our membership is around 85 and 

we are a mixed, auditioned adult choir. Each Christmas 

and spring, we perform concerts in the churches and 

halls of our communities, including Alliston, Beeton, 

Bolton, Bradford, Caledon, Caledon East, Orangeville, 

Shelburne and Tottenham. We are led by A. 

Dale Wood. His lifelong musical career also includes 

directing the Georgetown Choral Society and Georgetown 

Children’s Chorus, as well as teaching lessons in 

piano, voice, organ and composition. Thanks to the 

commitment and vision of our director, the choir maintains 

an excellent standard of performance, attracting 

guest soloists and accompanists of the highest calibre. 

CATHERINE WILSON 

705-434-2253 

catherine@catherinemachry.com 

www.achill.ca 

● All Saints Kingsway Choir 

All Saints Kingsway Choir provides musical leadership 

at weekly Sunday morning Eucharists, Festival 

Evensongs, community outreach projects and concerts 

year-round. The choir has toured notable UK cathedrals, 

recorded two CDs and performed throughout Toronto. 

Recent performances include Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony 

of Carols; festal celebrations with the drumming 

ensemble Beyond Sound Empijah and the Michael 

Occhipinti Jazz Quartet, and Maurice Duruflé’s 

Requiem with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. Jazz Vespers 

and noon Organ Recitals commence in May 2016. New 

members are always welcome to the Music at All Saints 

Kingsway family. Come and be a part of a fantastic 

choral and instrumental creative community. 

D. BRAINERD BLYDEN-TAYLOR, director of music 

416-233-1125 x5 

music@allsaintskingsway.ca 

www.allsaintskingsway.ca 

● Amadeus Choir 

theWholeNote 2016/17 CANARY PAGES DIRECTORY 

Led by conductor and artistic director Lydia Adams 

since 1985, the award-winning Amadeus Choir 

performs the best of choral music and premieres works 

of Canadian and international composers through a 

self-produced Toronto concert series, guest performances 

and special events. Through tours, recordings 

and radio broadcasts the choir is known well beyond 

Toronto. The Amadeus Choir partners and collaborates 

with many professional performing arts organizations 

in the GTA. The choir also engages in educational and 

community outreach through choral workshops for 

students, music educators, composers and conductors. 

A part of Toronto’s arts community for 42 years, the 

choir includes members from all parts of the GTA. 

Annual auditions are held in May and June. Phone 

or email the choir office for information. 

GENERAL MANAGER 

416-446-0188 

admin@amadeuschoir.com 

www.amadeuschoir.com 

C2

● Annex Singers 

The Annex Singers of Toronto is a vibrant and 

accomplished community choir under the dynamic 

and creative leadership of Artistic Director Maria 

Case. Now in its 37th season, the 60-voice auditioned 

choir performs up to four concerts annually, collaborating 

with professional instrumentalists, vocalists and 

ensembles. Recent performances include Britten’s A 

Ceremony of Carols with harpist Julia Seager-Scott 

and Haydn’s Nelson Mass with the Talisker Players. 

The Annex Chamber Choir, a 24-voice ensemble drawn 

from the larger choir, recently performed with guest 

cellist Mark Chambers. The choir additionally engages 

in community outreach and offers choral workshops. 

Experienced singers wishing to audition should contact 

our membership coordinator through our website, 

www.annexsingers.com. We rehearse Monday evenings 

at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church, 383 Huron St. 

JOANNE EIDINGER 

416-458-4434 

joeidinger@gmail.com 

www.annexsingers.com 

BEL CANTO SINGERS 

● Bach Chamber Youth Choir 

The Bach Chamber Youth Choir, now in its 20th 

season, is an award-winning SATB choir for boys with 

changed or changing voices and girls aged 16 years 

and up. Award-winning conductor Linda Beaupré has 

led BCYC to first place honours at the local, provincial 

and national levels of the Canadian Federation 

of Music Festivals. As the senior level of the Bach 

Children’s Chorus, BCYC performs at two annual 

concerts at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Additional 

performances include a cabaret-style concert 

and a benefit concert. BCYC rehearses Sunday evenings 

on the Danforth, by Chester Station. Auditions 

are held in May and November. Interested youth 

are welcome to observe a Sunday evening rehearsal. 

JANE GREENWOOD 

416-431-0790 

info@bachchildrenschorus.ca 

www.bachchildrenschorus.ca 

● Bach Elgar Choir 

The Bach Elgar Choir is Hamilton’s renowned 

concert choir and a leader in Canadian choral music. 

The ensemble performed its first concert in 1905 and 

has several firsts to its credit, including the North 

American premiere of Verdi’s Requiem. The BEC 

presents magnificent works for choir and orchestra, 

its cherished annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah 

and programs of varied vocal repertoire from opera 

to pops. Featuring the very best Canadian talent in 

its roster of soloists and working together with top 

orchestras, the BEC has a reputation for excellence. 

Interested singers from all sections are invited to join 

us under the leadership of our outstanding conductor 

Alexander Cann. For an audition, please call 905-527- 

5995 or email bachelgar@gmail.com. 

ALEXANDER CANN 

905-527-5995 

bachelgar@gmail.com 

www.bachelgar.com 

● Canadian Children’s Opera Company 

Entering its 49th season, the CCOC consists of 

six choruses for ages 3 to 19 and is the only permanent 

children’s opera company in Canada to regularly 

commission and produce operas for children. Opera 

is simply storytelling with music, and those are two 

things that kids and youth love! A unique experience, 

members receive unparalleled performance opportunities 

and life skills through age-appropriate vocal and 

dramatic training. Members regularly perform with the 

Canadian Opera Company and other major professional 

arts organizations. Rehearsals are weekdays 

after school in the downtown area. Auditions are held 

April to June. A non-auditioned in- and after-school 

workshop program was launched in 2008 as part of 

the OPERAtion KIDS outreach arm of the CCOC. 

KEN HALL 

416-669-5364 

info@canadianchildrensopera.com 

www.canadianchildrensopera.com 

● Bach Children’s Chorus 

● Bel Canto Singers 

● Canadian Men’s Chorus 

Bach Children’s Chorus, entering its 30th season, is 

an award-winning organization of three treble-voice 

choirs and one mixed voice choir (Bach Chamber Youth 

Choir – see separate listing). Led by founder and artistic 

director Linda Beaupré, an award-winning Toronto 

conductor and clinician, these choirs have a membership 

of 180 young people, aged 6 and up. Training is 

offered in vocal technique, sight-singing and theory. 

BCC rehearses weekly in Scarborough, performs as 

a company-in-residence at the Toronto Centre for the 

Arts and appears regularly at Toronto events. Each 

choir participates in weekend festivals, workshops and 

concerts with other youth choirs and world-renowned 

clinicians. BCC has released six solo CDs and has won 

provincial and national choral awards. 

JANE GREENWOOD 

416-431-0790 

info@bachchildrenschorus.ca 

www.bachchildrenschorus.ca 

Bel Canto Singers is an SATB community choir 

with singers of various ages and abilities directed 

by Linda Meyer/Michael Gomiega. Each week we 

meet to sing and laugh and grow. Members share a 

love of choral singing and enjoy the challenges of 

a widely varied repertoire, mixed with friendship 

and fun. Rehearsals are Tuesdays at St. Nicholas 

Anglican Church in Scarborough. We are currently 

looking to strengthen our tenor and bass sections. 

If you have ever wanted to participate in a group 

that values music, fun and fellowship please consider 

joining us. Auditions will take place in the first two 

weeks of September 2016 or January 2017, during 

our regular Tuesday night practice. Website: www. 

belcantosingers.ca. Contact Elaine at 416-699-4585. 

ELAINE 

416-699-4585 

www.belcantosingers.ca 

Completing its sixth season, the Canadian Men’s 

Chorus is a highly accomplished men’s chamber choir, 

performing works from the classical repertoire and other 

genres. The Canadian Men’s Chorus is noted for its 

beautiful sound, exciting and varied performances and 

the ability to take audiences on an emotional journey. 

This auditioned ensemble presents three concerts each 

season. Commissioning new Canadian music is a major 

focus, with over 30 new choral works premiered since 

the CMC was co-founded in 2010 by Greg Rainville 

and Arlene Jillard. Past performances include Stratford 

Summer Music, CentreSpace for the Arts in London, 

Ontario, the Stratford Symphony Orchestra and the 

Muskoka Concert Series. Men over 18 with vocal 

training and choral experience are invited to audition. 

ARLENE JILLARD, executive director 

519-305-1351 

ajillard@canadianmenschorus.ca 

www.canadianmenschorus.ca 


C3

CANARY PAGES 

● Canadian Orpheus Male Choir 

The Canadian Orpheus Male Choir is a TTBB 

choral ensemble of some 30 members known as 

the men who love to sing. Join us! Founded in 1977, 

this Hamilton-based registered charity performs 

to support charitable causes and to entertain. 

Covering pop, traditional and folk songs, spirituals, 

jazz numbers and hits from musicals, we’ve sung 

in Roy Thomson Hall, the Burlington Performing 

Arts Centre and Hamilton Place, among others, 

and helped raise some $800,000 for charities. We’ve 

shared the stage with guest performers like soprano 

Abigail Freeman and violinist Martin Beaver. Book 

the COMC for your special event! ‘Like’ Canadian 

Orpheus Male Choir on Facebook. Subscribe to the 

Canadian Orpheus Male Choir YouTube channel. 

Follow @CanadianOrpheus on Twitter! 

KEITH THOMAS 

905-681-1936 

info@comc.ca 

www.comc.ca 

● Cantemus Singers 

Cantemus Singers, conducted by Michael Erdman, 

perform mainly renaissance and early baroque repertoire. 

Our 14-voice group gives equal time to secular 

and religious compositions of the period in a variety 

of languages, with particular focus on the rich five- to 

eight-part compositions less familiar to Toronto audiences. 

We present three programs a year, in late fall, 

mid-winter and spring. Although we are primarily an 

a cappella ensemble, we occasionally join forces with 

ensembles/players of period instruments. Our choristers 

are a mix of enthusiastic, well-trained amateurs 

and semi-professionals, all sharing a common interest 

in early music. We rehearse Wednesday evenings 

through the season. Membership is by audition. Our 

main performance venue is the historic and acoustically 

lively Church of the Holy Trinity, Eaton Centre. 

MICHAEL ERDMAN, conductor 

416-578-6602 

cantemus.ca@gmail.com 

www.cantemus.ca 

● Cellar Singers 

The Cellar Singers, founded in 1968, is an auditioned, 

adult regional chorus. Under the leadership of 

Mitchell Pady since 2012, it is dedicated to providing 

and promoting artistic excellence through education, 

outreach and the high quality of performance 

of the choral art. The Cellar Singers aim to promote 

the choral art form throughout Simcoe County and 

Muskoka with their performance of standard classical 

repertoire as well as contemporary Canadian 

classical and other contemporary styles of music. 

The Cellar Singers look forward to their 49th season 

starting September 2016, and welcome new singers 

to join the rehearsals as they progress to celebrate 50 

years of simply beautiful singing. 

LAUREN TURGEON 

705-481-1853 

info@thecellarsingers.com 

www.thecellarsingers.com 

● Choralairs Choir 


● Cantabile Chamber Singers 

Cantabile Chamber Singers is an auditioned choir 

of 16 to 20 voices, formed in 2006 by artistic director 

Cheryll J. Chung. We perform eclectic and challenging 

repertoire spanning six centuries. We especially strive 

to bring Canadian music to audiences while attracting 

a new generation to choral music. In addition to our 

concert season we have participated in choral festivals 

and other events, including most recently being featured 

in the Mozart Project of Toronto. Contact us for an audition 

as a singer, as a soloist or to submit a newly written 

choral work. Check out our recordings on YouTube, find 

us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @CantabileTO. 

Auditions are held in June and September. 

CHERYLL CHUNG 

cantabilechambersingers@gmail.com 

www.cantabilechambersingers.com 

● Cantala Women’s Choir 

Founded in 2008, Cantala is an award-winning, 

vibrant choral group in the Toronto choral community. 

Cantala is committed to performing diverse Canadian 

and world choral music at the highest level from the 

baroque, classical and modern eras. The choir is 

made up of singers with various levels of choral and/ 

or singing experience, from all walks of life. With 

training and experience in singing and vocal pedagogy, 

our director, Nancy Singla, brings a unique 

approach and knowledge to choral singing. Cantala 

strives for exceptional music-making, and its singers 

are rewarded with a moving, rich choral experience 

with the support of a like-minded singing community. 

For audition interviews and more information, please 

email nancy.singla@hotmail.com. 

NANCY SINGLA 

416-629-8805 

nancy.singla@hotmail.com 

www.cantalawomenschoir.com 

● Cantores Celestes Women’s Choir 

Cantores Celestes Women’s Choir is an auditioned, 

fun, committed women’s choir conducted by Kelly 

Galbraith, celebrating its 28th season. The singers are 

interesting, talented, funny and passionate about life 

and music. Perform with the best instrumental musicians 

in Toronto! Repertoire includes everything from 

medieval and baroque to classical and modern with 

gospel and Celtic. The choir has released six CDs, has 

performed live on CBC Radio, donated over $45,000 

to charities and was featured in three films, and was 

the featured women’s choir in Schafer’s Luminato 

performance. It has toured the Maritimes, Ontario 

and New York City. Performances: December 3, 2016 

and April 22, 2017 as well as exciting projects and 

tours to be announced. Auditions are held in May, 

June and August. 

KELLY GALBRAITH, director 

416-655-7335 

cantorescelestes@hotmail.com 

www.cantorescelestes.com 

● Celebration Choir 

Are you a senior and looking for a fun, energetic 

and eclectic choir? The Celebration Choir is one you 

should consider! Founded in 2007 within the Toronto 

Singing Studio and directed by Linda Eyman, this 

choir of 60 voices features songs to suit every musical 

taste. Repertoire spans popular to classical to folk 

with appealing musical arrangements. The Celebration 

Choir rehearses from September through May on 

Thursday afternoons, 2pm to 4pm, in the gymnasium 

at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W., Toronto. 

Two formal concerts are presented each season along 

with community outreach concerts when possible. 

Rehearsals are very sociable. No audition necessary. 

A season membership is paid. 

LINDA EYMAN, music director 

416-455-9238 

linda@thetorontosingingstudio.ca 

www.thetorontosingingstudio.ca 

The Choralairs are a nonprofit, 50-member, 4-part 

harmony adult choir who sing a variety of popular 

songs, jazz standards, Broadway show tunes and folk 

songs. Directed by Peter Ness and Gary Heard as our 

piano accompanist, the choir requires no auditions, 

just a love of singing and the ability to carry a tune! 

We rehearse from September to June on Tuesday 

evenings at Earl Bales Community Centre at Bathurst 

and Sheppard. We also perform regularly for seniors 

at residences in the GTA. All are welcome to our free 

annual concert on Sunday June 5, 2016 at 1:30pm at 

Earl Bales CC in the Banquet hall. 

MARTHA: 905-884-8370 

Sally: 416-636-8247 

choralairs@gmail.com 

www.choralairschoir.com 

● Chorus Hamilton 

Chorus Hamilton, formerly the Mohawk College 

Community Choir, is one of Hamilton’s finest choral 

ensembles. It was founded by Patricia Rolston in 

1968 and has grown into a 70-member community 

choral society, with singers from all walks of life 

who have their vocal talent and love for choral music 

in common. With current artistic director David 

Holler, the choir performs a large variety of music 

including chamber music, Broadway and opera selections 

and large-scale works with orchestra. Chorus 

Hamilton has collaborated with the Fanshawe 

Chorus London, the McMaster University Choir, 

the Redeemer University Sinfonia and Symphony on 

the Bay. New members are invited to audition every 

September and January. Please see our website for 

concert listings and more information. 

LOUISE DRIEMAN 

905-526-7938 

l.drieman@cogeco.ca 

www.mohawkcollege.ca/chorus-hamilton 

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● Chorus Niagara 

Worth the drive to Niagara! Chorus Niagara, the 

Power of 100, is a passionate group of singers of 

diverse ages and walks of life. As the Niagara region’s 

premier symphonic chorus, CN performs classic 

choral masterpieces as well as new, modern and 

seldom-heard works, provides a showcase for emerging 

Canadian talent and attracts singers of all ages 

through its Chorus Niagara Children’s Choir (CNCC), 

Side by Side High School Chorale and Robert Cooper 

Choral Scholars program. The spectacular 2016/17 

season features a diverse program including Elijah, 

Messiah, The Phantom of the Opera – a ‘silent’ film 

with live choral soundtrack – and a passionate celebration 

of Canada’s 150th anniversary, all performed 

in the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. 

ROBERT COOPER, artistic director 

DIANA MCADOREY, managing director 

905-934-5575 

cnadmin@becon.org 

www.chorusniagara.ca 

● Chorus York 

Chorus York is an auditioned amateur community 

choir based in Richmond Hill. We perform three to 

four concerts per year and sing a variety of choral 

music from Bach to Broadway. We are diverse in 

terms of age and culture, but we all share a love of 

fine choral music. 

BRUCE MORROW 

905-884-7922 

mlmontgrain@rogers.com 

● Christ Church Deer Park 

Continuing its long tradition of musical excellence, 

Christ Church Deer Park boasts an innovative 

music program. Our choir, consisting of professional 

members and skilled volunteers, performs a 

rich treasury of sacred choral music and hymnody 

at the 10am Sunday liturgy. The choir also performs 

at other special events, feast days, Evensongs and 

concerts throughout the year. Rehearsals take place 

on Thursday evenings from 6:30pm to 8:30pm and 

offer an opportunity to develop musicianship through 

vocal instruction, while being part of an open and 

welcoming community. In addition, we present Jazz 

Vespers, a popular, informal service held bi-monthly 

from September to June and featuring some of the 

city’s finest jazz musicians. For more information 

contact Matthew Otto, choir director and organist. 

MATTHEW OTTO 

416-920-5211 x28 

motto@christchurchdeerpark.org 

www.thereslifehere.org 

● Church of St. Mary Magdalene 

Steeped in musical heritage and assisted by 

a generous acoustic, the Church of St. Mary 

Magdalene offers a music program strongly rooted 

in the musical tradition established by Healey Willan. 

Every Sunday at the 11am Solemn Mass, the Gallery 

Choir sings a mass and motet from the west gallery 

while the Ritual Choir sings the Gregorian propers 

from the east end. Both choirs rehearse on Thursdays. 

At the 9:30am Sung Mass, the SMM Singers sing a 

motet and lead congregational singing. Membership 

is informal: rehearsals are at 9am every Sunday. One 

Sunday per month at 4:30pm the meditative Solemn 

Evensong and Benediction is sung, preceded by an 

organ recital at 4pm. For information, please contact 

Andrew Adair, director of music. 

ANDREW ADAIR 

647-201-3739 

andrew.timothy.adair@gmail.com 

www.stmarymagdalene.ca 

● Columbus Belle Voci 

Columbus Belle Voci is a 35-member SATB choir 

that performs music from all genres – popular, classical, 

Broadway, opera and Italian folk – comprised 

of experienced professional and amateur singers. 

Maestro Paolo Busato, director of Columbus Belle 

Voci, conducted the Paris Children’s Opera Choir 

in France before Presidents Francois Mitterrand 

and Ronald Reagan, and conducted the choir in St. 

Peter’s Basilica in Italy. The Maestro also conducts 

a small exclusive ensemble titled Solisti Belle Voci 

de Columbus, a group of experienced soloists who 

perform solos, duets and small ensemble pieces with 

the Master Choir and their own concerts. Rehearsals 

are Monday evenings at 7:30pm at the Villa Colombo 

Sala Fusco, 40 Playfair Ave., Toronto, ON, and the 

ensemble rehearses some Wednesdays and Saturdays. 

New members are welcome – you must be 

able to read music and submit to a small audition. 

Those wishing to join the ensemble must approach 

the Maestro privately. 

CATRIONA DELANEY 

647-267-9040 

info@columbusperformingartscouncil.com 

www.columbusperformingartscouncil.com 

● County Town Singers 

We are a 65-voice mixed adult community choir 

from Durham Region within the GTA, started in 

1967. Our motto is “We Sing For the Love of it.” We 

present a varied repertoire with many musical styles, 

though little classical. We practise on Wednesday 

evenings from 7:30pm to 10pm from January to 

May and September to December, presenting full 

shows in early May and December. In addition, 

we perform smaller two or three smaller shows 

for community groups and charities.We have travelled 

extensively over our nearly 50 years of existence, 

most recently to the United Nations in NYC. 

Informal, easygoing auditions take place in early 

January and December. Yearly fees are reasonable. 

For additional info please visit our website or call/ 

text John Van Hoof at 647-981-2205. 

JOHN VAN HOOF 

647-981-2205 

javh1947@gmail.com 

www.countytownsingers.com 

● Cummer Avenue United 

Church Chancel Choir 

Cummer Avenue United Church Chancel Choir 

consists of a group of volunteer singers supported 

by a number of professional section leaders. The 

choir sings classical and contemporary repertoire 

and provides strong musical leadership for Sunday 

worship services 12 months of the year. In addition 

to full choir anthems, various ensembles and solos 

are presented by members of the chancel choir. On 

selected Sundays the choir presents extra choral music 

such as traditional carols at Christmas and a cantata 

at Easter. Choral music from all parts of the globe is 

regularly featured in the choir’s offerings. Rehearsals 

are held Thursday evenings from early fall to early 

spring and on Sunday mornings all year. 

TAYLOR SULLIVAN 

416-222-5417 

taylorsullivan@yahoo.com 

www.cummeravenueuc.ca 

CANADIAN MEN’S CHORUS 


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● DaCapo Chamber Choir 

The 24-voice DaCapo Chamber Choir was 

founded in 1998 in Kitchener-Waterloo under 

the direction of Leonard Enns. The mission 

of the choir is to identify, study, rehearse and 

present outstanding choral chamber works 

of the past 100 years and to champion music 

of Canadian and local composers. In 2010, 

DaCapo received Choral Canada’s National 

Choral Recording of the Year award for 

ShadowLand; in 2011 it received first and 

second prizes in the National Competition for 

Canadian Amateur Choirs. DaCapo also annually 

offers NewWorks, a national choral composition 

competition. Our 2016/17 “O, Canada!” 

season will feature guests Lottie Enns Braun 

(organ) and Allen Harrington (saxophone) in 

November and pianist Catherine Robertson 

and violinist TBC in March. Like us on Facebook 

or follow us on Twitter @DaCapoChoir! 

SARA MARTIN, manager 

519-725-7549 

info@dacapochamberchoir.ca 

www.dacapochamberchoir.ca 

● DCAT Chorus 

The DCAT Chorus, under the direction 

of Wyatt Gill, is an amateur vocal ensemble 

of more than 40 men and women singing a 

cappella in six- and eight-part harmony. Our 

repertoire ranges from Broadway to folk, pop 

to traditional, patriotic to devotional. Music is 

performed with showmanship and a passion 

for entertaining. We perform without music 

books, no programmed accompaniments to tie 

us down and no set musical forms. We sometimes 

use live brass, percussion, choreography 

or dance elements. We rehearse Wednesday 

evenings from 7:30pm to 10pm at the Estonian 

House, 958 Broadview Ave. in Toronto. We are 

currently accepting new members and you are 

welcome to join us. 

JOHN FOX, business manager 

905-853-9214 

SANDY HALE, membership director 

416-286-5191 

WYATT GILL 

905-683-2790 

wyattgill@rogers.com 

www.dcatchorus.ca 

● Durham Girls’ Choir 

The Durham Girls’ Choir, based in Courtice, 

Ontario, welcomes girls from all over Durham 

region. Consisting of two choirs, the non-auditioned 

junior choir (ages 7-11) and the auditioned 

senior choir (ages 11-18), this dynamic 

and active touring choir performs several times 

a year, including two in-house concerts. In the 

summer of 2016, the choir is participating in a 

performance tour to Greece and Italy for 12 days. 

Notable recent performances include singing 

with Liona Boyd, The Tenors, Durham Turf 

Dogs and The Oshawa Generals. In addition to 

weekly practices, the choir makes a point of having 

a lot of fun! A fall weekend camp, two fun afternoon 

workshops, plus social events like movie afternoons 

and bowling bring choristers together and are 

always enjoyed by all. We are always looking for new 

members, and we’d love to see you! 

LAURIE STAPLEY 

info@durhamgirlschoir.org 

www.durhamgirlschoir.org 

● East York Barbershoppers 

We are a 40+ man chapter of the Barbershop 

Harmony Society that sings close four-part a cappella 

harmony in the barbershop style. We compete, as a 

chorus and in quartets, in provincial and international 

competitions. But it’s not all about competition. We 

sing to support Harmonize for Speech (visit www. 

harmonize4speech.org) and other charities, shows 

and community events. But, most of all, we sing for 

the fun of it! We’re looking to grow! If you enjoy 

singing, drop by and visit us at any Tuesday night 

rehearsal. You don’t need to know what part you sing, 

how to read music, or have choral experience. Or 

come and see us at one of our shows. They’re listed 

on our “Events” page on our website, at www.eybs.ca 

BARRY TRIPP 

416-410-CHAT (2428) 

info@eybs.ca 

www.eybs.ca 

● Eastminster United Church Choir 

Directed by Hilary Seraph Donaldson and Scott 

Pietrangelo, the choir of Eastminster United Church 

is a 30-voice SATB ensemble with a lively mix of 

amateur singers and professional soloist/section 

leaders. Our main focus is singing during Sunday 

and special services; we also perform at fundraising 

events and theatrical performances such as the Brickworks 

outdoor Christmas plays or at Riverdale Share. 

Our repertoire includes classical, gospel, global music 

and rock/pop. The choir has also presented Canadian 

premieres of new music and original compositions. 

Come sing in an accepting and friendly atmosphere. 

Rehearsals are Thursday evenings 7:30pm to 9:30pm, 

310 Danforth Ave., near Chester subway station. For 

more info, find Eastminster United Church on Facebook 

or check out our YouTube channel. 

HILARY SERAPH DONALDSON 

416-463-2179 

music.eastminster@bellnet.ca 

www.eastminsteruc.org/euc-choirs 

● ECHO Women’s Choir 

Celebrating its 25th year, ECHO is an 80-voice 

community choir open to women from all walks of 

life. ECHO sings each Tuesday night at the Church of 

the Holy Trinity (beside the Eaton Centre), performs 

at city-wide grassroots events and holds December 

and May concerts. ECHO, a non-auditioned choir 

co-led by Becca Whitla and Alan Gasser, aims 

to build a strong, varied and vibrant culture and 

community through song. Repertoire includes music 

from village singing traditions around the world and 

newly-commissioned music. ECHO aims to keep 

membership fees and concert tickets accessible to 

all. While membership is open, there is a six-month 

waiting list. Spring Concert 2016: “Songs of Hope & 

Resistance” May 1, 3pm at Holy Trinity, with special 

guest Ewelina Ferenc. 

ALAN GASSER 

416-779-5554 

info.echo@gmail.com 

www.echowomenschoir.ca 

● Eglinton St. George’s 

United Church Choir 

Our 45-voice choir meets Thursday evenings and 

Sunday mornings for worship, preparing music 

ranging from renaissance to jazz and from chant to 

oratorio. Past performances have featured the brilliant 

Mark Hayes Requiem, Rutter’s Gloria, Whitbourn’s 

Requiem Canticorum, Ruth Watson Henderson’s 

Darkness to Light, Primadonna Choralis, and more. 

Outreach and benefit concerts are regular fare. We 

have worked with artists such as the Trillium Brass, 

Brian Barlow, Mary Lou Fallis, Peter Tiefenbach and 

the Woodstock Fanshawe Singers. We are delighted 

to have eight paid leads. As well, we are excited about 

the start of our new youth choir Vox, a community 

choir lead by Emily Taub, a member of the artistic 

team with the Hamilton Children’s Choir. 

SHAWN GRENKE 

416-481-1141 

shawn@esgunited.org 

www.esgunited.org 

● Elmer Iseler Singers 

Elmer Iseler Singers is a 20-voice professional 

chamber choir based in Toronto and founded in 

1979 by Dr. Elmer Iseler. Directed by the acclaimed 

Lydia Adams, the Singers are known for tonal beauty 

and interpretive range, and valued for their contributions 

to masterclasses and workshops by schools and 

community choirs. The unique “Get Music! Educational 

Outreach Initiative” mentors conductors, music 

educators and students. In salute to the Canadian 

composer, EIS has recorded 12 CDs in ten years with 

Lydia Adams, one of 50 Canadian Music Centre 

ambassadors! Annual auditions are in May/June. 

Weekly rehearsals, a Toronto concert series, touring 

and recording put the Elmer Iseler Singers among 

Canada’s illustrious choral ensembles. 

JESSIE ISELER, general manager 

416-217-0537 

info@elmeriselersingers.com 

www.elmeriselersingers.com 

● Etobicoke Centennial Choir 

The Etobicoke Centennial Choir proudly celebrates 

its 50th anniversary season in 2016/17! Under music 

director Henry Renglich, ECC provides a diverse, 

high-calibre choral music experience for singers 

and audiences. Our season of celebration begins 

December 13 with “Sacred Traditions,” including 

Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols and music of 

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longtime ECC conductor Barry Gosse. On April 1, 

2017, “Requiem” features choral classics, including 

the Mozart Requiem and selections by Brahms, 

Duruflé, Poulenc and Rutter. Finally, an alumni 

concert on June 3 will celebrate “50 Years of Favourites.” 

Former ECC choristers and conductors will join 

the choir in performing great selections of classical, 

contemporary and Canadian choral music. Interested 

singers are invited to attend an open rehearsal 

in early September. 

GREG PIMENTO, choir president 

416-622-6923 

info@etobicokecentennialchoir.ca 

LAUREN MAYER 

416-433-5495 

lauren-mayer@sympatico.ca 

www.etobicokecentennialchoir.ca 

● Exultate Chamber Singers 

Exultate Chamber Singers is an auditioned group 

of 26-30 skilled and passionate singers who enjoy 

performing a variety of chamber choir repertoire, 

both a cappella and accompanied, including much 

Canadian music. Artistic director Hilary Apfelstadt is 

also Professor of Choral Studies at the University of 

Toronto. Celebrating its 35th anniversary last season, 

Exultate continues its tradition of presenting four 

subscription concerts per year and an annual musical 

fundraiser in the spring. In addition, the group sponsors 

a competition for emerging composers, collaborates 

with other choral ensembles in the region, 

supports aspiring young music professionals and 

engages in a number of community outreach initiatives. 

Rehearsals take place on Tuesdays from 

5:45pm to 7:45pm at St. Thomas Anglican Church, 

383 Huron St. For audition information, please see 

our website. 

ELANA HARTE 

416-971-9229 

exultate@exultate.net 

www.exultate.net 

● Fanshawe Chorus London 

Fanshawe Chorus London has built a world-class 

reputation since its inception at Fanshawe College 

in 1969, by performing the finest in classical choral 

orchestral music. As a semi-professional auditioned 

SATB choir, conducted by artistic director David 

Holler, the Chorus provides college-level training for 

adult singers and gives emerging vocal soloists the 

opportunity to perform professionally with orchestra. 

The Chorus has won the prestigious Ontario Lieutenant-Governor’s 

Award twice, and was selected to 

sing at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Canada Day 

celebrations during the 2010 visit of HRM Queen 

Elizabeth II. Winner of London’s Classical Vocal 

Group of the Year in 2013 and 2014, the Chorus 

offers talented adult singers an inclusive welcoming 

community committed to Making Hearts Sing. 

APRIL VOTH 

519-433-9650 

generalmanager@choruslondon.com 

www.fanshawechoruslondon.org 

● Florivox Choir Toronto 

Florivox is an all-women community choir for 

young adults that is part of the larger Univox Choirs 

organization. The organization holds relationship 

building, social responsibility and musical excellence 

as its core principles. Most choristers have previous 

choral experience or some musical proficiency. Our 

season runs September to June and rehearsals take 

place Mondays, 6:45pm to 9pm, at New Horizons/ 

Dovercourt Baptist Church. Regular attendance is 

expected. Selected repertoire spans five centuries, 

including choral classics, contemporary works 

and popular music, ranging from Gabriel Fauré to 

Daft Punk. 

COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR 

communications@univoxchoirs.org 

www.univoxchoir.org 

● Georgetown Bach Chorale 

Since its inception in 2000, the Georgetown Bach 

Chorale has wooed audiences in the Halton Hills area 

with great concerts. The 20-member Chorale revels in 

creating an authentic baroque sound, blended with 

the crafted playing of period instruments by wellknown 

professionals. Conducted from the harpsichord 

by director Ron Greidanus, we are committed 

to musical and stylistic excellence. Most soloists come 

from within the choir’s ranks of talented amateur and 

semi-professional singers. The choir has developed 

a devoted following that is treated to performances 

both in stunning local venues and at intimate house 

concerts. The positive energy that audiences experience 

is supported by a unique bond among the 

members. August auditions are held; contact Ron 

at 905-873-9909. 

RON GREIDANUS 

905-873-9909 

ronaldgreidanus@hotmail.com 

www.georgetownbachchorale.com 

● Georgetown Choral Society 

The Georgetown Choral Society, with some 95 

amateur singers, has been delighting audiences with 

their choral performances since its formation in 1971. 

Our rehearsal and performance home is the Christian 

Reformed Church in Georgetown, Ontario. A. 

Dale Wood has been our artistic director for over 40 

years. The choir performs a variety of musical genres, 

including classical, pop and folk, and from sacred to 

secular, at a level normally associated with professional 

groups. We have performed at Toronto’s Roy Thomson 

Hall, the Ford Centre in North York and the Mississauga 

Living Arts Centre. We have also performed 

internationally in the Netherlands, England, Ireland 

and at New York City’s Lincoln Center. 

LAURENT THIBAULT 

905-877-7795 

lthibault@cogeco.ca 

www.georgetownchoral.ca 

● Georgian Bay Children’s Choir 

The Georgian Bay Children’s Choir, located in 

Owen Sound, welcomes singers ages 5 through 18 

into its choral music education program. Founded in 

1986 by Mrs. Marylou Tremills, the choir continues to 

provide opportunities for its members to experience 

life, beauty and joy through singing. Musical genres 

include sacred, secular, folk and world music, with 

an emphasis on Canadian content. Performances 

include semi-annual concerts, guest appearances, 

community events, senior’s homes, church services, 

festivals and touring. The multi-level program is 

designed to promote excellence in performance and 

music literacy in a relaxed, fun and safe environment. 

Registration sessions are held in June, September and 

January each year. “Voices of Spring” concert: Sat 

May 14, 2016 2:30pm, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian 

Church, Owen Sound. Guest choir: Bayview Public 

School Choir. “The British Are Coming” concert and 

choir exchange: Wed July 27, 2016 7pm, Harmony 

Centre, Owen Sound. Guest choir: South End on 

Sea Boys and Girls Choir. 

EASTMINSTER UNITED CHURCH CHOIR 


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CANARY PAGES 


LINDA HAWKINS, 

artistic director and general manager 

519-371-1237 (home); 519-375-6789 (mobile) 

gbccmanager@gmail.com; 

lindamariehawkins@gmail.com 

www.gbcc.ca 

● Grace Church on-the-Hill 

The Choirs of Grace Church on-the-Hill proudly 

embrace our excellent Anglican choral tradition, 

while looking towards the future for new music and 

proud traditions. Our choirs for both adults and children 

sing weekly from September to June. The Boys 

and Girls Choirs provide the ideal learning environment 

for young musicians, and we have funding available 

to subsidize the cost of music lessons for our 

children! Choristers of all ages develop lifelong friendships, 

self-esteem, and the joy of coming together 

for a shared goal. In the summer of 2016, we will be 

touring to cathedrals in Dublin and Oxford to sing 

daily services of Evensong and Choral Eucharist. We 

welcome new members (especially tenors and children!) 

every September. 

STEPHEN FRKETIC 

416-488-7884 

music@gracechurchonthehill.ca 

www.gracechurchonthehill.ca 

● Grand Philharmonic Choir 

The Grand Philharmonic Choir, based in Kitchener, 

includes four choirs in one organization: an adult 

choir, a chamber adult choir, a youth choir and a children’s 

choir. We perform in large concert halls, at free 

public gatherings and in small, intimate settings. Under 

the direction of Mark Vuorinen, it is our mandate to 

present choral repertoire of the highest standard, to 

share our love of music with the public through varied 

outreach programs and to provide music education 

to our members and enlightenment to our audiences. 

We are one of a few large choirs in Canada, outside 

the major metropolitan areas, with the resources and 

community support to deliver a full choral season with 

professional musicians. 

AMY DALE, administrator 

519-578-6885 

info@grandphilchoir.com 

www.grandphilchoir.com 

● Harbourfront Chorus 

You are invited to join Harbourfront Chorus, a nonauditioned 

choir performing an eclectic repertoire for 

a diverse city. Under the direction of Josh Priess, we 

rehearse Tuesdays from 7:45pm tto 9:15pm in the 

Assembly Room of Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre 

(formerly Harbourfront Community Centre), located 

at the south-east corner of Queens Quay W. and Bathurst 

St. Our season runs September through May. All 

levels of experience are welcome. The 2016/17 season 

begins Tuesday, September 13, 2016. For information, 

please contact Dwight Griffin by phone or email. 

DWIGHT GRIFFIN 

416-977-6448 

dgriffin680@yahoo.ca 

● Harmonia Hungarica 

Our semi-professional women’s chamber choir 

performs a range of repertoire from renaissance to 

contemporary Hungarian, mostly sacred, in Latin 

or Hungarian. Good sight-reading ability is required, 

familiarity with the Hungarian language is an asset. 

Rehearsals are held on Tuesday evenings. Performances: 

Advent concert, Lenten adoration, spring 

concert. We also do Lyric Vigil at a bedside and 

funerals. We would welcome new members. 

ADEODATA CZINK 

416-971-9754 

adeodata@harmoniahungarica.ca 

www.harmoniahungarica.ca 

●The Harmony Singers 

Under conductor Harvey Patterson, this dynamic 

35-voice women’s chorus memorizes, stages and 

performs a sparkling repertoire of pop, show, folk 

and light classical music. Our accompanist is the 

renowned pianist Bruce Harvey. The group proudly 

presents “GOOD TIMES!” on May 27 and 28 at 

Martin Grove United Church, Etobicoke. Special 

Guest is Emma Burke-Kleinman, scholarship winner 

from Etobicoke School of the Arts. The Harmony 

Singers have performed for the charity L’Arche, 

sung the national anthems at a Blue Jays game and 

appeared in a music video with Down With Webster. 

There are a few openings for new members who will 

receive a warm welcome! Rehearsals are Monday 

evenings from September to June at Martin Grove 


HARVEY PATTERSON 

416-239-5821 

theharmonysingers@ca.inter.net 

www.harmonysingers.ca 

● Hart House Chorus 

The Hart House Chorus is a 50-voice choir auditioned 

from musically talented students, faculty and 

alumni of the University of Toronto. Since its inception 

in 1972 as a reincarnation of the long-standing 

men’s Glee Club, the Chorus has maintained a reputation 

for the highest standard of performance locally, 

nationally and abroad. In 1993, the Chorus was a 

finalist in the Large Choir category of the CBC Radio 

Competition for Amateur Choirs and in 2002, it was 

featured in the University of Toronto’s first reading 

of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In addition 

to other engagements, the Chorus performs twice 

annually in the Great Hall at Hart House. 

The Hart House Chorus is active in the international 

choral community, having hosted choirs 

from the United States, Austria and Finland, 

and toured to various countries in Europe. Last 

November, the Hart House Chorus toured to 

Belgium to represent Canada in the 1000 Voices 

for Peace festival, which commemorated 100 years 

since the start of World War I. 

TONNY HUANG 

647-823-1680 

tonnyc.huang@outlook.com 

www.harthouse.ca/chorus 

● Healey Willan Singers 

The Healey Willan Singers will celebrate its tenth 

anniversary season this fall. The choir was originally 

formed as a youth choir to celebrate Dr. Willan’s 

125th anniversary in 2005. Since 2007, the choir has 

reinvented itself into a women’s ensemble and it is 

fast becoming one of the finest women’s ensembles 

in the city. Rehearsals run from September to April, 

with one concert in late November/early December 

and the other one in mid-April. The choir performs 

repertoire from Gregorian chants to contemporary 

works, especially music by women and Canadian 

composers. Auditions are held throughout the year. 

RON CHEUNG 

416-519-0528 

healeywillansingers@yahoo.com 

www.healeywillansingers.com 

● Hillcrest Village Choir 

Since 2003, this SATB non-auditioned teaching 

choir has enabled amateur singers to improve 

their singing technique and performance skills 

in full choir, small-group and solo settings. In an 

open and engaging atmosphere, members enjoy an 

eclectic repertoire that evolves with the interests 

of the membership. The director/conductor, Ben 

D’Cunha, trains members in vocal technique, sightreading, 

theory and improvisation, and writes the 

arrangements for the choir. Choir rehearsals are held 

September to June on Tuesdays, 7pm to 9pm, with 

sectionals on Mondays, 7pm to 9pm. Registration 

for the 2016/17 season starts June 1. Each year the 

HVC does a composer study where members are 

invited to learn solos by a particular composer. In 

the 2016/17 season we will be studying the music 

of Jimmy Van Heusen. 

BEN D’CUNHA 

hillcrestvillagechoir@gmail.com 

● Islington United Church Choirs 

The extensive and active music program at 

Islington, under the direction of Dr. John Derksen 

and assisted by many talented and committed musicians 

including two music associates, includes the 

Junior (grades 1 to 6), Youth (grades 7 to 12), and 

Senior choirs, along with two handbell choirs, chimes, 

string and brass ensembles. Supported by a magnificent 

Schoenstein organ and grand piano, music rings 

through the neo-Gothic sanctuary for two morning 

services each Sunday and numerous special services, 

events and concerts. The accomplished Senior choir, 

with 25 to 30 talented singers enriched by section 

leaders, is attentive to musical detail and expressiveness 

to enhance worship, singing renaissance to 21st 

century, a cappella to orchestral accompaniment, 

spirituals to Bach cantatas. 

JOHN DERKSEN 

416-239-1131 x26 

john@islingtonunited.org 

www.islingtonunited.org 

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●The John Laing Singers 

The JLS is a renowned Hamilton-based chamber 

choir founded in 1982 by John Laing. Over the past 

32 years, the group has performed throughout Canada, 

the USA and Europe. Since 2011, under the artistic 

direction of Dr. Roger Bergs, the JLS has been developing 

a new vision for its subscription series, which 

includes three concerts each year: Pre-Christmas, Mid- 

Winter and Spring. While its current repertoire still 

includes the great chamber choir classics, there is a 

fresh energy to JLS concerts in which performers and 

audience take equal delight in their encounters with 

amazing new and lesser-known pieces. JLS concerts 

feature excellent instrumentalists, outstanding program 

notes and lively conductor’s comments, all of which 

provide a concert experience that is both educational 

and delightful. Experienced singers with good musical 

skills and a sense of adventure are welcome to inquire 

about joining us at any time. 

PUBLICITY DIRECTOR 

905-628-5238 

info@johnlaingsingers.com 

www.johnlaingsingers.com 

● Jubilate Singers 

The Jubilate Singers is an auditioned, mixed choir of 

about 30 singers under the direction of Isabel Bernaus. 

We specialize in eclectic international music reflecting 

the cultural diversity of Toronto. Recent concerts have 

highlighted music from Latin America, Spain and 

Catalonia, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and 

Asia, as well as selections from the Canadian and 

American choral repertoire. Our 2016/17 season will 

include Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols plus seasonal 

music from around the world; a program of African 

and African-inspired music; and an all-Canadian 

program for the sesquicentennial year. We rehearse 

on Tuesday nights near Yonge and Lawrence. Interested 

singers are encouraged to sit in on a rehearsal 

before deciding to join. A welcoming, friendly experience 

for committed singers! 

PAULINE MCKENZIE 

416-223-7690 

paulinemckenzie@rogers.com 

www.jubilatesingers.ca 

● Kingsway Children’s Choir & 

Drum Ensemble / Kingsway 

Chamber Singers 

Venturing outside the bounds of traditional choir 

training, the Kingsway Children’s Choir & Drum 

Ensemble is a unique, liberating choral experience 

for children aged 7 and up. Directed by a professional 

music educator with extensive choral conducting 

experience, the choir explores a vast repertoire spanning 

world music, folk songs and classic choral works. 

Weekly rehearsals at the Kingsway Conservatory of 

Music are an invigorating musical workout encompassing 

voice and body warm-ups, vocal technique, 

singing skills and drum circle (each chorister receives 

an African Djembe drum to keep). For more experienced 

singers, the Kingsway Chamber Singers offers 

an enriched, multi-part, challenging choral experience. 

Throughout a 30-week season, both choirs take their 

music to various stages including festivals, recitals 

and corporate and community events. 

SHARON BURLACOFF 


sharonkcm@bellnet.ca 

www.kingswayconservatory.ca 

● Lawrence Park Community 

Church Choir 

Lawrence Park Community Church Choir sings 

weekly at Sunday worship services from September 

through June, with Thursday evening rehearsals. 

With 25 members, including a professional quartet, 

the choir presents special musical offerings at Christmas 

and during Holy Week, and is featured annually in 

Lawrence Park’s “Fridays @ 8” concert series. On 

May 6 at 8pm the choir will sing in a Hymn Festival 

along with the North York Temple Band in a tribute 

to Welsh tenor Glyn Evans. On November 11 at 8pm 

organist David Briggs will present an organ recital with 

a Remembrance Day theme. The choir has commissioned 

a number of anthems from composers including 

Bob Chilcott, Ruth Watson Henderson and Paul Halley. 

CD recordings include Awake, My Soul, and Sing, 

Peace for a New Millennium, Christmas CD Beauty, 

Peace and Joy and the recently recorded Lawrence Park 

Sings! All are available through the church office. In 

addition there is a youth music program on Sundays 

with Kenny Kirkwood, and the Lawrence Park Handbell 

Ringers who rehearse on Friday mornings. 

MARK TOEWS 

416-489-1551 

mark@lawrenceparkchurch.ca 

www.lawrenceparkchurch.ca 

● Leaside United Church 

Chancel Choir 

Under the direction of Sharon L. Beckstead, the 

Chancel Choir of Leaside United Church presents an 

eclectic mix of music for weekly services of worship 

from September to June. The annual “Lessons and 

Carols” presentation is a highlight for the Leaside 

community. Other special presentations during the year 

may include hymn festivals and/or secular presentations. 

SHARON L. BECKSTEAD 

416-425-1253 

sharon.beckstead@sympatico.ca 

www.leasideunited.org 

● Lyrica Chamber Choir of Barrie 

Founded in 2000 by the late Natalyia Gurin 

and directed since 2005 by Steve Winfield, Lyrica 

Chamber Choir of Barrie strives to present eclectic 

and evocative programs of excellent choral chamber 

music. The 34 singers of Lyrica demonstrate a strong 

desire to present artistically varied choral programs 

with a high degree of musicianship to the community 

of Barrie and surrounding area. Recent highlights 

include performances of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s 

Messe de Minuit de Noel, Benjamin Britten’s 

A Ceremony of Carols and Ola Gjeilo’s Dark Night 

of the Soul. Professional soloists and instrumental 

musicians regularly join Lyrica for performances. Our 

accompanist, Brent Mayhew, enhances the choir’s 

performances with extraordinary skill and sensitivity. 

STEVE WINFIELD 

705-722-0271 

steve.winfield@sympatico.ca 

www.lyricachoir.ca 

● Masterworks of Oakville 

Chorus & Orchestra 

We are a community-based group, dedicated to 

performing the great works of the Western classical 

tradition, particularly sacred works for choir and 

orchestra. We have a strong commitment to artistic 

excellence and are proud to preserve and continue 

a great musical tradition. Masterworks is an extraordinary 

community group, with a chorus of over 

100 voices and a commitment to performing the most 

challenging choral works. Masterworks exists with 

the enthusiasm of its choristers and orchestra players, 

which is the hallmark of its performances. Please join 

GEORGETOWN CHORAL SOCIETY 


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CANARY PAGES 


us for a Masterworks concert! You will enjoy a concert 

experience of the highest quality with compositions 

seldom performed outside major metropolitan centres. 

CHARLES DEMUYNCK 

905-399-9732 

charlesdemuynckvideo@gmail.com 

www.masterworksofoakville.ca 

● Menno Singers 

Founded in 1955, Menno Singers is a 40-voice, 

auditioned community choir based in Kitchener- 

Waterloo. While rooted in the thriving Mennonite 

community of KW, membership is open to all interested 

singers. Four regular concerts are offered each 

season with repertoire ranging from the Renaissance 

through the present day. Menno Singers also sponsors 

Mennonite Mass Choir every two years. Mass choir 

alternates performances of the Messiah at Centre 

in the Square with other monuments of the oratorio 

repertoire. The choir is under the direction of awardwinning 

conductor Dr. Peter Nikiforuk. 

PETER NIKIFORUK 

519-571-8113 

pniki@stpeterskw.ca 

www.mennosingers.com 

● Metropolitan United Church Choir 

The auditioned 35-member Metropolitan United 

Church Choir has eight lead singers, rehearses Thursday 

evenings and sings on Sunday mornings and special 

occasions, September through June. Repertoire is medieval 

through 21st-century. Singers must have sightsinging 

ability. A waiting list exists; contact our director 

in late spring or early fall to join. The Festival Choir adds 

10 to 15 singers to the core choir and rehearses Sunday 

afternoons for six weeks prior to Good Friday. Past 

concerts have featured Bach, Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé, 

Gilles and others. The Metropolitan Sparklers (ages 4 

to 6), Choristers (7 to 11), Great Heart Ensemble (vocal 

and instrumental, ages 12 and up) and Metropolitan 

Handbells are groups open to all. 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT 

416-363-0331 x26 

patriciaw@metunited.org 

www.metunited.org 

● Milton Choristers 

This dynamic, auditioned, four-part community 

choir has entertained audiences in Halton Region and 

beyond for 48 years. The 40 member choir performs 

two concerts annually, often including premier guest 

soloists and musicians. We also enjoy performing at 

numerous local events. Our director, Sheena Nykolaiszyn, 

is expanding our already varied repertoire. 

From classical to contemporary, sacred to secular, we 

do it all. Rehearsals are Tuesdays, 7:30pm to 10pm, 

from September to June. A love of singing, some sight 

reading and a sense of humour are all you need to 

become a Milton Chorister. 

BILL MCLEAN 

905-875-1730 

info@miltonchoristers.com 

www.miltonchoristers.com 

● Mississauga Festival Choir 

Founded in 1984, Mississauga Festival Choir (MFC) 

is a 150-member non-auditioned community choir 

whose mission is to be a “community choir enriching 

lives through music by performance, education and 

outreach” to the people of Mississauga. Led by artistic 

director David Ambrose, MFC hosts three subsidiary 

choirs: Mississauga Festival Chamber Choir, an 

auditioned group launched in 2008, which explores 

intimate and challenging works; Raising Voices: an 

intergenerational choir of music lovers, launched 

in 2015 to provide the therapeutic value of music to 

people with Alzheimers and dementia and their caregivers; 

and Resonance (www.resonance.mfchoir.com), 

a non-auditioned choir launched in January 2016 to 

provide a much-needed choral opportunity for youth 

and young adults in Mississauga ages 15 to 25. 

AGNES CARLONE 

905-403-8415 

acarlone@mississaugafestivalchoir.com 

www.mfchoir.com 

● MNjcc Adult Daytime Choir 

Love to sing? Prefer rehearsing during the day? 

Join the MNjcc’s Adult Daytime Choir. No experience 

or sight reading necessary. Join us, and fill your 

life with the joy of singing in harmony! A fun-filled, 

relaxed environment. Meets Tuesday afternoons, 

1pm to 2:30pm. Includes some performances! Runs 

all year long. Join for the whole year or ‘drop in’ and 

pay as you go. Conductor: Gillian Stecyk. Conveniently 

located near Spadina TTC station. 

HARRIET WICHIN 


music@mnjcc.org 

www.mnjcc.org 

● MNjcc Community Choir 

Tackle world, jazz, classical, Jewish, folk, Canadian, 

gospel and pop music. Our 75-member auditioned 

SATB choir meets Wednesday evenings, September to 

June. Rehearsals are well-structured and singers learn 

skills in different musical genres, expression, blend, 

vocal production and reading. A wonderful community 

of dedicated singers. By audition only. Annual Spring 

Concerts in the Al Green Theatre, with other informal 

performances. Conductor: Harriet Wichin. Conveniently 

located near Spadina TTC station. 




www.mnjcc.org 

● MNjcc Specialty Choirs 

Fall Broadway Choir! Winter Jazz Choir! Spring 

Motown Choir! Eight weeks devoted to each genre. 

Enjoy diverse repertoire and vocal technique, and train 

your ear to harmony. Men and women welcome. No 

experience or audition required. Conductor: Gillian 

Stecyk. Meets Thursday evenings, 7pm to 8:30pm. 

Conveniently located near Spadina TTC station. 




www.mnjcc.org 

● Nathaniel Dett Chorale 

The Nathaniel Dett Chorale is a 21-voice SATB 

professional choir based in Toronto, dedicated 

to performing Afrocentric music of all genres, 

including classical, spiritual, gospel, jazz, folk and 

blues. Founded by artistic director D. Brainerd 

Blyden-Taylor in 1998, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale 

is Canada’s premier performer of Afrocentric 

composers and a touchstone for the education of 

audiences and communities regarding the full spectrum 

of Afrocentric choral music. The mission of the 

chorale is to build bridges of understanding, appreciation 

and acceptance between communities of people 

through the medium of music. The chorale has a 

three-concert subscription series in Toronto, tours 

extensively each season and has released several CDs 

and DVDs. Membership is by audition. 

KAREN SCOVELL, ensemble coordinator 

416-736-2100 x33068 

info@nathanieldettchorale.org 

www.nathanieldettchorale.org 

● Oakham House Choir 

Oakham House Choir of Ryerson University was 

founded in 1986. It is led by music director Matthew 

Jaskiewicz and specializes in large oratorio and 

choral masterworks. Oakham House Choir is one 

of the few Toronto choirs in which amateur singers 

perform with a professional orchestra – the Toronto 

Sinfonietta. The choir has more than 70 members, 

including students, alumni, Ryerson faculty and 

staff and community members. Rehearsals begin 

in early September and take place on Monday evenings 

from 7pm to 9pm at Oakham House, 63 Gould 

St. Concerts are planned for November 2016 and 

April 2017. Please check our website for details on 

past programs. Experienced community choristers 

are invited to contact us (email preferred) for 

more information. 

MATTHEW JASKIEWICZ, music director 

416-763-8746 

choir@ryerson.ca 

www.oakhamchoir.ca 

● Oakville Children’s Choir 

The Oakville Children’s Choir is a welcoming, 

professional and inclusive community that provides 

exceptional music education, leadership development 

and performing opportunities to a diverse group of 

children and youth between the ages of 4 and 25. 

The OCC provides world-class choral, musical and 

performance training to young people in Halton 

through its various choir programs. It is a comprehensive 

music education program where choristers 

develop creativity, self-esteem, self-confidence and 

leadership skills. A love and appreciation of choral 

music is instilled through participation and outreach in 

the community. Developing leaders one voice at a time! 

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KATHERINE HAMILTON 

905-337-7104 

info@oakvillechildrenschoir.org 

www.oakvillechildrenschoir.org 

● Oakville Choral Society 

The Oakville Choral Society has been an integral 

part of the Oakville community since 1960. Directed 

by David Bowser, we are a community-based choir 

of 60 to 80 members who love music, possess a true 

passion for singing and enjoy contributing culturally 

to the community. No auditions are required, 

however, a love of music and a willingness to learn 

are important. We perform a wide repertoire, and are 

often joined by professional soloists and orchestra. 

Rehearsals are Tuesdays from 7:45pm to 10pm at 

St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, 318 Queen Mary Dr., 

Oakville, and registration is held in September and 

January. We hold two performances annually, in late 

April/early May and early December. 

LYNDA STURGEOFF, president 

905-338-3823 

oakvillechoral@gmail.com 

www.oakvillechoral.com 

● Oasis Vocal Jazz 

Oasis Vocal Jazz, Toronto’s longest running close 

harmony ensemble, has been making a unique contribution 

to the city’s artistic life since 1985. Influenced 

by pioneers Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and inspired 

by modern-day masters of the genre such as New 

York Voices, Take 6 and Toronto’s own Cadence, we 

enjoy sharing our love of vocal jazz with a wide range 

of audiences. Whether performing in community or 

corporate events and charitable fundraisers, or putting 

on our own concerts backed by some of the city’s top 

jazz instrumentalists, we have always valued both the 

pursuit of musical excellence and the joy of making 

music with each other. For more information, why 

not become a fan of our Facebook page? 

ALAN GOTLIB 

416-466-7040 

info@oasisvocaljazz.com 

www.oasisvocaljazz.com 

● Ontario Heartland Chorus 

Women’s a cappella chorus – contemporary and 

barbershop styles. We thrive on learning and have a 

lot of fun doing it! We bring in coaches to help us 

gain the wide variety of skills that go into giving a 

truly moving performance that changes audience 

lives for better. New members always welcome. 

Drop us an email before stopping by, just in case 

we’ve got a performance that evening rather than 

being at our usual rehearsal hall. Find us on Facebook 

and Meetup, and look for our Culture Days 

event each September! Proud chapter of Sweet Adelines 

International. 

JENNIFER 

647-269-3174 

ohc@ontarioheartlandchorus.ca 

www.ontarioheartlandchorus.ca 

● Oriana Singers of Northumberland 

The Oriana Singers of Cobourg are the choral jewel 

in the crown in Northumberland County. Based out 

of Cobourg, this 65-voice SATB choir performs varied 

repertoire from Bach to Bacharach. Our concerts 

thrill audiences, and keep the standard of music 

excellence in the county at the highest level. Led by 

artistic director Markus Howard, and accompanied 

by Robert Grandy, the ‘Orianas’ welcome new singers 

who are looking to add some quality art into their 

Monday evenings! 

HEATHER STUBBS 

289-252-0798 

hgstubbs@gmail.com 

www.orianasingers.com 

● ORIANA Women’s Choir 

ORIANA Women’s Choir is an auditioned, 

amateur ensemble of about 36 female singers. Under 

artistic director Mitchell Pady, ORIANA promotes 

choral music in Canada by striving for excellence 

and versatility in performing compositions for 

women’s voices. Since 1972 the choir has expanded 

the repertoire for women’s voices by commissioning 

new works from Canadian composers. The singers 

delight in supporting each other and expressing their 

enjoyment of beautiful music, beautifully performed. 

ORIANA presents three subscription concerts every 

year, usually in November, March and May, at Grace 

Church on-the-Hill. The 2016/17 repertoire includes 

jazz-inspired Christmas music, a major Estonian work 

and several new Canadian commissions. ORIANA 

is currently inviting new singers. Rehearsals are 

on Tuesdays, 7:30pm to 10pm, at North Toronto 

Collegiate Institute. 

JULIA LEE 

416-461-7410 

info@orianachoir.com 

www.orianachoir.com 

● Orpheus Choir of Toronto 

The Orpheus vision is to celebrate the transformational 

power of choral music as an agent of social 

change and a passionate medium of artistic expression. 

The 65-voice choir, under artistic director Robert 

Cooper, champions the new and unusual in choral 

performance, commissioning and introducing new 

works and performing neglected masterpieces. With 

repertoire ranging from classical to jazz, a cappella 

to full orchestra, Orpheus has introduced audiences 

to many fascinating and accessible works from the 

current generation of leading composers. Our 53rd 

season includes five premieres, a TSO collaboration, 

a Christmas spectacular and a performance at 

Koerner Hall. Orpheus supports young emerging 

vocal talent through its highly respected Sidgwick 

Scholars Program. We welcome enthusiastic singers 

for an “expect something different” experience! 

ROBERT COOPER, artistic director; 

LISA GRIFFITHS, managing director 

416-807-6312 

Auditions: info@orpheuschoirtoronto.com 

www.orpheuschoirtoronto.com 

● Pax Christi Chorale 

Entering its 30th season, Pax Christi Chorale is 

a 100-voice oratorio choir attracting singers from 

across the GTA. Artistic director Stephanie Martin 

is known for imaginative programming, delighting 

Toronto audiences with rarely-heard and fresh interpretations 

of choral masterworks. Concerts feature 

outstanding soloists and orchestra. Our 2016/17 

season includes: a reimagining of Mendelssohn’s 

Elijah; Parry’s Ode on the Nativity at Christmas; the 

Children’s Messiah community concert; and Elgar’s 

The Apostles. Paid positions exist for choral scholars. 

JENNIFER COLLINS 

416-786-2509 

gm.paxchristichorale@gmail.com 

Auditions: Daniel Norman, associate conductor 

daniel.norman@paxchristichorale.org 

www.paxchristichorale.org 

OASIS VOCAL JAZZ 


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CANARY PAGES 

● Penthelia Singers 

A vibrant ensemble of women, Penthelia Singers 

is committed to excellence in performing culturally 

diverse and musically sophisticated repertoire spanning 

the renaissance to the 21st century. Now in its 19th 

season, the choir has earned a reputation for presenting 

innovative concerts of four- to eight-part choral repertoire 

in a multitude of languages. The choir aims to 

demonstrate the diversity of choral music and to cross 

ethnic and cultural boundaries by connecting with its 

community through music. The choir works to promote 

contemporary choral music by talented Canadian 

composers. Penthelia Singers is a welcoming group of 

women committed to high standards of music-making, 

diversity, community outreach and enjoyment through 

the learning process. The choir adheres to the City of 

Toronto Declaration of Non-Discrimination. 

ALICE MALACH 

647-248-5079 

pentheliasingers@gmail.com 

www.penthelia.com 

● Peterborough Singers 


stmartin@yorku.ca 

www.scholamagdalena.ca 

● Serenata Choir 

Serenata Choir, directed by conductor Gary Heard 

for 17 years, is pleased to be celebrating its 29th 

concert season this year. Presenting a broad repertoire 

ranging from classical to pop, Serenata’s home 

is in Midland, with membership from a number of 

Georgian Bay communities. Rehearsals are Monday 

evenings at Midland’s Calvary Baptist Church. Auditions 

are not required for membership, and the choir is 

known for its friendly and welcoming nature. Annual 

performances include a Christmas concert, a cabaret 

with silent auction and a spring concert in support 

of the emergency shelter “The Guesthouse.” The 

choir also performs two benefit performances, a full 

concert in October and the Nine Lessons & Carols 

in December. 

SLADJANA GRUNDSTEN 

705-516-6800 

sladjana@bellnet.ca 

www.serenatachoir.ca 

PATRICIA SILVER 

416-694-6900 

patricia_silver@hotmail.com 

www.singtoronto.com 

● Song Spinners Chorus 

Everyone always wants to join the chorus. Our 

choir has been active for over 20 years for older 

adults in the Milton and surrounding communities. 

Our innovative director will lead you through new 

musical experiences, while preparing the group to 

perform at two annual concerts at the Milton Seniors’ 

Activity Centre. Rehearsals are scheduled 9:30am 

to 11:30am on Wednesdays. Come join the fun and 

make memories with us. No auditions. Contact us 

for rehearsal and fee information. 

MILTON SENIORS’ ACTIVITY CENTRE 

905-875-1681 

shannon.soule@milton.ca 

www.milton.ca/en/townhall/ 

miltonseniorsactivitycentre.asp 

● Spiritus Ensemble 


The Peterborough Singers, under the energetic and 

creative leadership of founder and music director Syd 

Birrell, performs a diverse musical repertoire from gospel 

to sacred to pop to oratorio. Classical highlights have 

included the St. Matthew Passion, Elijah, Carmina 

Burana and Bach’s Mass in B Minor. The Peterborough 

Singers regularly feature emerging solo artists alongside 

well-known international artists and have commissioned 

works by Canadian composers Serouj Kradjian, 

Mark Sirett, Stephen Chatman and Len Ballantine. This 

award-winning group has a reputation for surprising, 

delighting and challenging its audiences. Concerts for 

the upcoming season include: the ever-popular Yuletide 

Cheer; Handel’s Messiah; Celebrate! Canadian Women 

in Song; and Mozart Requiem and Arias. Rehearsals 

take place Wednesday evenings in Peterborough. Auditions 

take place throughout the season. 

PEG MCCRACKEN 

705-745-1820 

singers@peterboroughsingers.com 

www.peterboroughsingers.com 

● Schola Magdalena 

Schola Magdalena is a six-voice ensemble singing 

medieval polyphony, chant and new music for 

women’s voices. Ensemble-in-residence at the Church 

of Saint Mary Magdalene, Toronto, we have recorded 

two CDs (available on iTunes) and have toured from 

Stratford to Chicoutimi, from Waterloo to Waupoos. 

Our past season centred around touring, recording 

and holding workshops with amateur singers with 

an interest in learning about Gregorian chant and 

the music of Hildegard von Bingen. In the coming 

year we look forward to a return to Prince Edward 

County, and a program pairing medieval music with 

Messiaen. For all the details of our activities, please 

visit our website or our Facebook page, facebook. 

com/scholamagdalena, or check out our Bravo Video 

on YouTube. 

STEPHANIE MARTIN, artistic director 

● Serenata Singers 

The Serenata Singers are a lively group of seniors, 

about 65 of us, who enjoy singing four-part harmony. 

We’re celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2016, and 

will begin the next 40 years in September with 

Vincent Cheng as the new director. Serenata’s repertoire 

covers a wide range of music including classical, 

show tunes, pop, folk, and Canadiana for 

Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. Rehearsals are 

Wednesday mornings from September to May at 

Wilmar Heights Centre, 963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough. 

Each season crescendos with a pair of concerts 

in May. The choir welcomes new members in every 

vocal range. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/ 

SerenataSingers76. 

LOIS SULLIVAN 

416-223-6885 

mpmcd@mathville.com 

www.serenatasingers.ca 

● SING! Toronto Vocal Arts Festival 

SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival is Canada’s 

premier a cappella festival, celebrating Canadian and 

international vocal artists, joined in collaboration to 

illustrate that the voice knows no limits or constraints 

of genre, language or cultural background. Headliners 

have included recording artists Take 6, The 

Real Group, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Elmer Iseler 

Singers, New York Voices, Rajaton, Nylons, and 

Swingle Singers. A registered charity, SING! inspires 

and educates students, teachers and professional musicians 

through a school workshop day and public 

weekend masterclasses. Performance styles include 

classical, world, pop, jazz, beatbox, barbershop, folk 

and more, featuring professional and community 

groups. Free and ticketed events take place throughout 

downtown Toronto in the Distillery Historic District 

and area theatres annually in late May. 

Spiritus Ensemble is a semi-professional choralinstrumental 

ensemble of 18 voices plus an orchestra 

of varying size that performs mainly the liturgical 

music of J.S. Bach and other music of the German 

Baroque. We perform four or five times a season in 

Kitchener-Waterloo, sometimes in concert and sometimes 

in a Bach Vespers format. Rehearsals take place 

on the two or three Saturday mornings preceding each 

performance. Performances are on Sundays at 4pm. 

During the 2016/17 season, Spiritus will perform 

Bach’s Mass in B minor, Cantatas 39, 102, and 133, 

as well as music by other composers. 

KENNETH HULL 

519-579-8335 

krhull@uwaterloo.ca 

www.spiritusensemble.com 

● St. James Cathedral Parish Choir 

If you enjoy singing a wide range of motets that 

span five centuries – from the sublime offerings of 

Byrd, Palestrina and Tallis to the composers of today 

via Healey Willan, John Rutter, Saint-Saëns, and 

Charles Gounod – there is no better remedy for your 

craving than the exhilarating membership of a Cathedral 

Choir of like-minded volunteers with an appetite 

for musical challenges and artistic companionship. 

This social group of singers rehearses each Thursday 

from 7pm to 8pm, and comprises sopranos, altos, 

tenors and basses. Their director of music, Robert 

Busiakiewicz, is always willing to welcome enquiries 

from those who might like to join the ranks, or those 

who simply want to give singing a try in a relaxed 

rehearsal setting. The choir sings at the 9am Cathedral 

Eucharist each week. We warmly welcome 

all genders and ages. The choir has four paid leads. 

ROBERT BUSIAKIEWICZ, director of music 

dom@stjamescathedral.on.ca 

www.stjamescathedral.on.ca 

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● St. Jude’s Anglican Church Oakville 

At St. Jude’s Church, two different choirs sing 

for the two Sunday morning services. The ‘9:30 

Choir’ is non-auditioned, sings accessible repertoire 

and is open to people of all ages. Rehearsals 

on Wednesday evenings 7pm to 8pm. The ‘11am 

Choir’ sings Choral Evensong on the third Sunday 

of the month at 4pm in addition to Sunday morning 

services 11am. Rehearsals are Thursday 7:30pm to 

9:30pm and admission is by informal audition. Repertoire 

is drawn from the finest music in the Anglican 

choral tradition, and choral scholarships are available 

for promising young singers. This choir toured 

to England in the summer of 2015. 

SIMON WALKER 

905-844-3972 

choir@stjudeschurch.net 

www.stjudeschurch.net 

● St. Michael’s Choir School 

Founded more than 75 years ago by Monsignor 

John Edward Ronan, St. Michael’s Choir School has 

served the Archdiocese of Toronto by educating and 

training musicians who sing at St. Michael’s Cathedral. 

The school is unique – offering an enriched 

academic program for boys from grades 3 to 12, 

with extended French instruction, as well as a lively 

ministry of sacred music. Choirs from SMCS perform 

annually on tour and at many local concerts and 

events. From September to June, the choirs sing 

weekly Masses at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Auditions 

are held annually between January and March. 

MUSIC OFFICE 

416-397-6367 

musicoffice@smcs.on.ca 

www.smcs.on.ca 

● Summer Singers 

Looking for a summer choir to join? Look no 

further! The Summer Singers is a fun and musicloving 

adult ensemble of over 60 voices which meet 

Wednesday evenings 6:30pm to 8:30pm in June and 

July (eight weeks) at Bloor Street United Church, 300 

Bloor St. W., Toronto. Repertoire is a cool mix of 

folk, pop, standards, classical and more. An informal 

concert is presented on the last evening. No audition. 

A membership fee is charged. 

LINDA EYMAN 

416-455-9238 



●Tafelmusik Chamber Choir 

Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, directed by Ivars 

Taurins, is one of Canada’s leading ensembles specializing 

in historically-informed performances of the 

music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Formed in 1981, 

it has been praised for its clarity, nuance and brilliance. 

The choir joins the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra at 

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, George Weston Recital Hall 

and Koerner Hall, and for its annual performances 

of Handel’s Messiah and Sing-Along Messiah. In the 

2016/17 season, the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir will 

celebrate its 35th anniversary. 

LUISA TRISI 

416-481-1161 

ltrisi@sympatico.ca 

www.tafelmusik.org 

●Tallis Choir 

Tallis Choir, founded in 1977 and directed by Peter 

Mahon, specializes in renaissance choral music but 

performs a wide variety of musical styles. “Our 

Good Wills” May 14 celebrates the world of William 

Shakespeare and William Byrd. The 2016/17 season 

launches with “Music for Bloody Mary” October 15 

with a performance of the glorious polyphony from 

the Tudor Chapel Royal. Talisker Players joins the 

choir December 3 for “Monteverdi: Vespers of 

Christmas Eve.” “Requiem for a Renaissance King” 

March 4 features a rare performance of of Duarte 

Lobo’s Requiem. Period brass and organ join the 

choir May 3 for “Lassus & Luther: A Mighty Fortress” 

to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. 

Concerts are performed at St. Patrick’s Catholic 

Church, 141 McCaul St. 

BEV JAHNKE 

416-467-5961 

bjahnke@sympatico.ca 

www.tallischoir.com 

●Tempus Choral Society 

Tempus Choral Society is a 100-voice SATB 

community choir based in Oakville, led by director 

Brian Turnbull. Its repertoire encompasses contemporary, 

Broadway, Great American Songbook, gospel, 

classical and jazz. In 2015, a Tempus children’s choir 

and a jazz choir were formed as part of a grant from 

the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Tempus has 

performed with the Canadian Male Orpheus Choir, 

the Sankt Annae Youth Choir of Denmark and at 

many festivals. Tempus placed third (jazz category) 

at the 2012 World Choir Games. In December 2014, 

the group sang the Messiah at the Lincoln Center. 

Members performed Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis 

Pacem at Carnegie Hall in April 2015 as part of an 

international choir of auditioned singers. A European 

tour is planned for the summer of 2018. 

BRIAN TURNBULL 

905-466-2168 

pipeorgn@hotmail.com 

www.tempuschoralsociety.com 

●That Choir 

Founded in 2008 by artistic director Craig Pike, 

That Choir is one of Toronto’s most exciting a 

cappella ensembles, combining high-calibre performance 

with storytelling through choral music. The 

ensemble now draws together 30 auditioned singers 

with diverse backgrounds in work and study. Each 

season, That Choir presents a four-concert series of 

contemporary choral works and an exciting cabaret 

series, undertakes a range of professional development 

projects, and appears at many local and provincial 

music festivals and arts events. That Choir’s 

repertoire ranges from Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo, 

Pentatonix and Rajaton, to works by Canadian 

composers Eleanor Daley and Kathleen Allan. Auditions 

are held at the end of May. Visit www.thatchoir. 

com for more details! 

COLIN FROTTEN, general manager 


info@thatchoir.com 

www.thatchoir.com 

●Toronto Beach Chorale 

The Toronto Beach Chorale is an auditioned SATB 

choir of up to 65 voices, under artistic director Mervin 

W. Fick. With a passion for great choral music, the 

TBC invites guest soloists, professional musicians 

and other arts organizations to join in presenting 

repertoire from the renaissance to the 20th century 

in three or four concerts per season. TBC also participates 

in many community and fundraising events. 

TBC offers a Choral Scholars Program to encourage 

THAT CHOIR 


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CANARY PAGES 


singers aged 19 to 24 to become involved in choral 

music. Rehearsals are Wednesdays, 7pm to 9:30pm, 

September to May, at Kingston Road United Church 

(975 Kingston Rd.) with auditions in September and 

January; the ability to read music and previous choral 

experience are definite assets. 

MARITA FRANKEL 

647-348-3535 

marita121@rogers.com 

www.torontobeachchorale.com 

●Toronto Chamber Choir 

Toronto Chamber Choir has held a place of prominence 

in Canada’s early music scene since 1968. 

The TCC specializes in renaissance and baroque 

repertoire, collaborating with Toronto’s rich pool of 

period instrumentalists, and explores other repertoire 

related to its themed programming. The choir offers 

a subscription series of four concerts: two Saturday 

evening performances, and two Sunday afternoon 

“Kaffeemusik” presentations which explore the 

music’s cultural context, often combining music with 

narration and a visual display. In June, the choir holds 

annual auditions for its Toronto Chamber Consort 

section-lead program, whose members provide 

active leadership within the choir. Rehearsals are at 

St. Patrick’s Parish on Wednesday evenings. Auditions 

for volunteer members are held throughout the 

season by arrangement with the director. 

LUCAS HARRIS, artistic director 

416-763-1695 

lucasharris@live.ca 

www.torontochamberchoir.ca 

●Toronto Children’s Chorus 

The award-winning Toronto Children’s Chorus, 

marking its 39th concert season and tenth year under 

artistic director Elise Bradley, comprises a “family” 

of choirs – KinderNotes for children aged 3 to 6, four 

Training Choirs, the Main Choir (Cantare, Chorale, 

Chamber, and Choral Scholar levels) and the Youth 

Choir. All 300+ choristers perform in the TCC’s annual 

concert series and develop skills in vocal technique, 

sight-singing and music theory. Main Choir choristers 

attend masterclasses and receive exceptional performance 

opportunities, including collaborations with the 

Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Soundstreams Canada 

and Opera Atelier. The Chamber Choir also records 

and tours nationally and internationally. Chorus auditions 

are held in May and September; auditions are 

not required for KinderNotes. 

BRADLEY CHRISTENSEN 

416-932-8666 

bradley@torontochildrenschorus.com 

www.torontochildrenschorus.com 

●Toronto Choral Society 

The Toronto Choral Society is Toronto’s oldest 

community choir. It was founded in 1845 to present 

concerts and foster the development of the local 

musical community. Today the 130-voice TCS choir 

continues to present great works of the choral repertoire 

as well as innovative concerts celebrating this 

city’s history and diversity. It produces at least two 

major concerts each season, collaborates in other 

artistic productions and participates in special 

community events. Artistic director Geoffrey 

Butler, accompanist William O’Meara and assistant 

conductor Jenny Crober provide musical leadership. 

ERIN SMITH 

416-410-3509 

www.torontochoralsociety.org 

●Toronto Choral Society 

Children’s Choir 

The Toronto Choral Society Children’s Choir is a 

non-auditioned community choir for children, under 

the artistic direction of Sarah Parker. Launched in 

January 2013, the choir offers a safe, challenging and 

fun environment in which children sing, learn about 

music and contribute to the community. Rehearsing 

Thursday nights from 6:30pm to 8pm in the Carlaw 

and Danforth area, we perform in a minimum of 

three events per season. The TCS Children’s Choir 

provides a supportive environment in which singers 

develop their musical abilities by learning and 

performing choral classics, music from a variety of 

cultures and music that celebrates the heritage of 

the City of Toronto. Follow us on Twitter (@tcs_cc)! 

SARAH PARKER 

416-410-3509 


●Toronto Choristers 

We are a non-auditioned mixed choir of over 100 

voices, mainly retired teachers and others who have 

worked in the field of education. Under the direction 

of Ralph Peters, we sing a wide range of musical 

works: selections from Broadway musicals, religious 

and spiritual anthems, jazz, works by Canadian 

composers and medleys from various musical genres, 

just to name a few. We sing one concert in December 

and two concerts in May each year. Our practices 

occur each Thursday from September to May. New 

members are welcome to join our choir. 

Our annual spring concert at Sir John A. 

MacDonald Collegiate Institute, 2300 Pharmacy 

Ave., between Sheppard and Finch, takes place on 

Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $15 

each, available from choir members or at the door. 

For more information or to order tickets, please call 

John Sinclair at 647-693-4671. We love to sing and to 

share the enjoyment of choral singing. We invite you 

to be a part of the audience at this concert. 

JOHN SINCLAIR 

416-331-8097 

jdbsinclair@gmail.com 

●Toronto Classical Singers 

With its 2016/17 season, Toronto Classical Singers 

celebrates 25 years under the baton of artistic director 

Jurgen Petrenko. Opening with Handel’s Messiah 

on December 4, 2016, and heralding spring with 

Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle on February 19, 

TCS will crown the season on Sunday, April 30 with 

Handel’s Coronation Anthems and other Favourites 

Befitting Royal Occasions. Don’t miss 100 Singers 

perform with the Talisker Players Orchestra and Soloists. 

4pm Sundays, Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 

Yonge St. Season tickets $80 and single tickets $30. 

SHIRLEY PAQUETTE 

416-443-1490; 416-494-2870 

shirleyjpaquette@gmail.com 

www.torontoclassicalsingers.ca 

●Toronto Mendelssohn Choir 

Grand symphonic sound has been the Toronto 

Mendelssohn Choir’s trademark for over 120 years. 

Under artistic director Noel Edison, the TMC offers 

audiences authentic interpretation of some of the 

greatest sacred and secular music ever composed. 

The 130-voice choir includes a professional core, 

auditioned volunteers and apprentices (aged 17 to 

22). The TMC performs over 20 concerts annually, 

including “Festival of Carols” at Yorkminster Park 

Baptist Church, “Sacred Music for a Sacred Space” 

on Good Friday at St. Paul’s Basilica and concerts 

of major choral works with orchestra at Koerner 

Hall, in addition to performances of Messiah and 

other works with the TSO. The Choir also presents 

Singsation Saturdays, popular choral workshops for 

singers of all levels. 

KIMBER JONAH 

416-598-0422 

admin@tmchoir.org 

www.tmchoir.org 

●Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir 

Calling all male singers! Toronto Welsh Male Voice 

Choir (TWMVC) is growing and is seeking more 

members…If you are a male singer (you don’t have 

to be Welsh) who has always wanted to sing in a choir 

or rekindle your singing spirit from the past, drop in 

to one of our Wednesday night rehearsals in May or 

June at Dewi Sant United Church, 33 Melrose Ave., 

Toronto. We are a friendly bunch, open to singers of 

all abilities, performing a wide variety of traditional 

and contemporary music. For more information, 

please go to our website. 

AL SADEGURSKY 

647-389-8084 

alansadegursky@yahoo.ca 

www.welshchoir.ca 

●TSM Community Academy 

Chamber Choir 

Chamber Choir with Matthias Maute, July 31 to 

August 7, 2016: Are you an advanced amateur musician 

looking for an opportunity to connect with other 

musicians who share your passion? Refresh vocal 

skills and study one of the great works of choral literature 

in the intimacy of a chamber vocal ensemble. 

Must be over 18 years of age. Tuition includes a ticket 

to all TSM Festival Concerts July 31 to August 7, daily 

lunch and coffee. Cost: $500 plus HST. 

NATASHA BOOD 

647-430-5699 x114 

info@torontosummermusic.com 

www.torontosummermusic.com 

C14

● Univox Choir Toronto 

Univox is a mixed-voice SATB community choir 

for young adults that is part of the larger Univox 

Choirs organization. The organization holds relationship 

building, social responsibility and musical 

excellence as its core principles. Most choristers 

have previous choral experience or some musical 

proficiency. Our season runs September to June and 

rehearsals take place Tuesdays, 5:45pm to 8pm, at 

New Horizons/Dovercourt Baptist Church. Regular 

attendance is expected. Selected repertoire spans five 

centuries, including choral classics, contemporary 

works and popular music, ranging from Gabriel Fauré 

to Daft Punk. 

UNIVOX COMMUNICATIONS 

COORDINATOR 

communications@univoxchoirs.org 

www.univoxchoir.org 

● Upper Canada Choristers 

The Upper Canada Choristers is a mixed-voice 

community choir with a commitment to musical 

excellence and vibrant community service. The 

program features collaborations with international 

choirs, local children’s choirs, and professional instrumentalists 

and singers. Cantemos is the auditioned a 

cappella Latin ensemble under the umbrella of UCC. 

Under the artistic direction of Laurie Evan Fraser, 

the choirs perform three diverse choral programs 

annually. Weekly rehearsals for the Main Choir are 

Monday evenings from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at Grace 

Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. Cantemos 

rehearses on Tuesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm at 2 

Romar Cres. The choir sings up to 20 concerts annually 

in a variety of community venues. 

LAURIE EVAN FRASER, 

conductor/artistic director 

416-256-0510 

lef@uppercanadachoristers.org 

www.uppercanadachoristers.org 

● Vesnivka Choir 

Vesnivka Choir, established in 1965 by founding 

artistic director Halyna Kvitka Kondracki, is currently 

celebrating its 50th anniversary. This award-winning 

women’s ensemble has delighted audiences around 

the world with its rich repertoire of Ukrainian liturgical, 

classical, contemporary and traditional folk 

music. The choir’s regular concert season comprises 

three major concerts. Vesnivka, together with its 

partner the Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber Choir 

(TUMCC), are often accompanied by professional 

soloists and chamber ensembles of area musicians. 

Vesnivka also sings at Christmas and Easter Liturgies. 

Singers are welcome; rehearsals are held on Tuesdays, 

7:30pm to 9:30pm (4 Bellwoods Ave., Toronto). 

Male singers are welcome to join TUMCC; rehearsals 

held on Mondays, 7:30pm to 9pm (2445 Bloor St. 

W., Toronto). 

LESIA KOMOROWSKY 

416-236-8278 

lkomorowsky@gmail.com 

www.vesnivka.com 

● Victoria College Choir 

The Victoria College Choir has been a fixture 

of the Vic community since the move to Toronto 

from Cobourg in 1892. Though it has seen many 

different forms and incarnations over the past century, 

including the Victoria Glee Club and a Gilbert and 

Sullivan Appreciation Society, the musical presence 

at Vic has been consistently dominated by the 

Chorus. Many important moments in Vic history 

have involved the Chorus, including but not limited 

to the first staging of The Bob comedy review (oldest 

such performance in Canada) and the founding of 

The Strand newspaper. The present Vic Chorus was 

established in 1991 as a non-auditioned, communitywide 

chorus open to students, faculty, alumni and 

staff. Our performances have included the opening 

of the Isabel Bader Theatre and various gala events 

around Toronto, as well as our bi-annual concerts 

and many Christmas events. By participating in 

all of these events, the choir has become an integral 

part of the campus life, continuing its strong 

musical tradition. 

TAYLOR SULLIVAN 

416-585-4541 

t.sullivan.vicchorus@gmail.com 

www.vicchorus.com 

●The Victoria Scholars 

Men’s Choral Ensemble 

A past winner of the Canada Council Healey 

Willan Grand Prize in the CBC Radio National 

Competition for Amateur Choirs and one of 

Canada’s finest male choral ensembles, the Victoria 

Scholars Men’s Choral Ensemble treats audiences to 

a wide range of music, from medieval plainchant and 

works from the baroque, renaissance and romantic 

eras through to contemporary and newly-commissioned 

works from some of Canada’s best-known 

composers. Along with an annual three-concert 

series in Toronto, the ensemble has released five 

widely acclaimed recordings, including Songs of 

Love released in January 2016; toured nationally and 

internationally; and performed with international 

vocal soloists and arts organizations. If you are an 

experienced musician with excellent sight-reading 

abilities and would like to join the Victoria Scholars, 

please contact us today. 

JERZY CICHOCKI, music director 

416-761-7776 

info@victoriascholars.ca 

● Village Voices 

Village Voices, a diverse, mixed-voice community 

choir of about 70 voices based in Markham, will enter 

its 28th season in September. The choir presents two 

major concerts annually and sings at seniors’ residences 

and special community events. Directed by 

Oksana Vignan, the choir performs a wide variety of 

choral repertoire, from the great standard classics to 

contemporary music. Village Voices has collaborated 

and performed with other choirs in Ontario and as 

guest artists of instrumental organizations such as 

the Markham Concert Band and the Kindred Spirits 

Orchestra. The choir’s musical skills are honed regularly 

through special workshops with outstanding 

choral musicians. 

Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings upstairs 

in the Rehearsal Hall at the Cornell Community 

Centre. New members are always welcome. 

ELLEN DOWSWELL 

905-763-4172 

www.villagevoices.ca 

● VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto 

VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto, now in its 16th 

season, is a vibrant, inclusive choral organization 

with excellent musical opportunities for young 

singers. Five choirs for ages 4 through young adults 

include support for differently-abled singers. VIVA!’s 

diverse programming features age-appropriate choral 

training through instruction in vocal technique, 

private vocal instruction and comprehensive theory. 

Monday rehearsals prepare singers for concerts 

where singers share the stage with guest artists 

TORONTO MENDELSSOHN CHOIR 


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CANARY PAGES 


and premiere commissioned works by Canadian 

composers. Singers from the Junior Choir and up 

may choose to perform with VIVA! in the National 

Ballet of Canada’s Nutcracker. VIVA!’s 2016/17 

season will feature the rhythms and music of Spain 

in support of the July 2017 tour to Barcelona. VIVA!’s 

fine musicians and mentors deliver authentic musicmaking 

in a supportive, singer-centred community. 

SUSAN SUCHARD, general manager 

416-788-8482 

susan@vivayouthsingers.com 

www.vivayouthsingers.com 

● Vivace Vox 

Established in September 2007 within The Toronto 

Singing Studio, Vivace Vox is an exciting and energetic 

chamber choir. Led by music director Linda 

Eyman, the group is known for its joy of performance 

and wide audience appeal. Their far-ranging repertoire 

– madrigals, jazz standards, spirituals, world 

and folk music, pop classics, masterworks and music 

theatre – sweeps away all musical boundaries. Vivace 

Vox rehearses Thursday evenings 7pm to 9:30pm 

at Bloor Street United Church, 300 Bloor St. W., 

Toronto. Membership is by audition. A full-season 

membership is paid. 


416-455-9238 



● VOCA Chorus of Toronto 

The VOCA Chorus of Toronto is an auditioned 

ensemble which performs an eclectic mix of repertoire 

(including premieres of arrangements by our 

artistic director), in collaboration with some of 

Canada’s finest artists. Each season consists of two 

concerts, two retreats (one in town with guest clinician; 

one out of town), a cabaret, and performances 

at community events. Rehearsals are held on 

Monday nights at Eastminster United Church, 310 

Danforth Ave., Toronto. On Saturday, May 7, 7:30pm 

at Eastminster, we will present “Vast Eternal Sky,” 

featuring Fauré’s stunning Requiem, along with a 

variety of selections by Lauridsen, Gjeilo, Daley, 

Dawson, Arlen and others. Director: Jenny Crober. 

Accompanist: Elizabeth Acker. Soloists: Elizabeth 

Polese, soprano; Lawrence Shirkie, baritone. Talisker 

Players Orchestra. 

JENNY CROBER 

416-463-8225 

crober.best@gmail.com 

www.vocachorus.ca 

● Vocal Mosaic 

Founded in 2007, this 65-voice non-auditioned 

adult choir is characterized by a vibrant mosaic of 

vocal styles and repertoire. Choristers enjoy singing 

madrigals, spirituals, popular standards, music theatre, 

classical pieces and folk songs. Two formal concerts 

are presented each season along with community 

outreach concerts when possible. Vocal Mosaic is part 

of The Toronto Singing Studio and rehearses Monday 

evenings from 7pm to 9pm from September to May at 

Bloor Street United Church, 300 Bloor St. W., Toronto. 

Rehearsals are lively and sociable (camaraderie and 

laughter create good singing)! Vocal Mosaic is directed 

by Linda Eyman. A season membership is paid. 


416-455-9238 



● Voices Chamber Choir 

Entering into the choir’s 21st season, Voices has 

firmly established itself as one of Toronto’s finest 

chamber choirs, having received awards and recognition 

from across Canada. As part of next season, the 

choir will perform Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit at 

our Christmas concert and Mozart’s Requiem as part 

of our Lenten presentation. The choir will close out 

our next season with an all-unaccompanied program. 

Auditions are available throughout the year. If you 

are interested in joining the choir, please email voiceschamberchoir@yahoo.ca 

or call 416-519-0528 for 

more information. 

RON CHEUNG 

416-519-0528 

rkmcheung@yahoo.ca 

www.voiceschoir.com 

●The Wayne Gilpin Singers 

Beautiful melodies, rocking sax solos, edgy new jazz 

arrangements of Handel’s Messiah – if any of this 

appeals to you, read on. The Waterloo-based Wayne 

Gilpin Singers is an auditioned (a singer-friendly audition, 

we promise!) chamber choir that sings a wide 

variety of music, including contemporary Christian, 

gospel, show tunes, spirituals and more. Resident 

composer/accompanist Andrew Gilpin pens unique 

arrangements for an ever-expanding Jazz Messiah, an 

annual event that twins Handel’s beautiful melodies 

with modern rhythms and musical styles. Also featured 

in concert are talented guest artists on bass, drums and 

saxophone, providing an unforgettable musical experience 

for both audience and choir. 

WAYNE GILPIN 

1-800-867-3281 

wayne@gilpin.ca 

● Windsor Classic Chorale 

The Windsor Classic Chorale, founded in 1977 

by conductor emeritus Richard Householder, is 

the premier auditioned chamber choir in Windsor 

and Essex County. The Chorale performs three selfpresented 

concerts per season. Throughout its history, 

the WCC has enjoyed collaborating with various 

arts organizations and solo artists who have travelled 

from near and far to sing with our organization. 

The Chorale also frequently partners with composers, 

commissioning and performing new works. Each 

year, the Chorale hosts the Windsor Choral Festival 

to provide music education outreach opportunities 

for choral singers, to encourage the performance of 

Canadian choral works and to promote community 

through choral singing. 

DR. BRUCE J.G. KOTOWICH, artistic director 

MONIQUE SIMONE, accompanist 

Dr. Danielle Sirek 

519-984-6510 

dsirek@uwindsor.ca 

www.windsorclassicchorale.org 

●Yorkminstrels Show Choir 

Love musical theatre? No time to commit to a show? 

Join the Yorkminstrels Show Choir. Our Broadwayfocused 

group needs you! We perform off-book with 

costumes and simple choreography, at senior’s residences 

and at private, corporate and community events 

in the GTA. We rehearse on Wednesday nights from 

7:30pm to 10:30pm at Cummer Lodge in North York, 

September through June. We always welcome new 

members – please join us! 

SANDI HORWITZ 

416-229-9313 

horwitz@rogers.com 

www.yorkminstrels.com/show_choir 

●Young Singers 

Experience the magic of music and release your 

child’s musical artistry through choral music! A 

unique musical education is offered to youth in the 

Durham Region in a supportive and challenging 

environment. Four distinct choirs include two nonauditioned 

ensembles for ages 6 to 14, an auditioned 

treble choir for ages 10 to 15, and an auditioned SATB 

choir for ages 14 and older. Repertoire which develops 

musical skills and vocal technique embraces all styles 

and genres and often includes choreography. In addition 

to annual winter and spring concerts and regular 

community appearances, these proud choral ambassadors 

have enjoyed recent tours to Ireland and China, 

with plans to travel in 2017 as they celebrate their 25th 

anniversary season! 

ANNA LYNN MURPHY 


administrator@youngsingers.ca 

www.youngsingers.ca 

●Young Voices Toronto 

Children’s Choir 

For nearly 30 years, Young Voices Toronto (YVT) 

(previously known as High Park Choirs of Toronto) 

has been developing children’s choral and musical 

ability, promoting inclusiveness, fun, teamwork, 

cultural diversity and choral excellence. The result 

is children who have confidence in themselves, in 

each other, and who produce a beautiful and unique 

sound. Our artistic director, Zimfira Poloz, is a worldrenowned 

choral music educator and adjudicator 

specializing in children’s voices. YVT has the distinction 

of being the Children’s Choir-in-Residence at the 

University of Toronto since 2002. 

SHANNON CHARNOCK 

416-762-0657 

manager@youngvoicestoronto.com 

www.youngvoicestoronto.com 

C16

The WholeNote listings are arranged in four sections: 

A. 

GTA (GREATER TORONTO AREA) covers all of Toronto 

plus Halton, Peel, York and Durham regions. 

B. 

BEYOND THE GTA covers many areas of Southern 

Ontario outside Toronto and the GTA. Starts on page 51. 

C. 

MUSIC THEATRE covers a wide range of music types: 

from opera, operetta and musicals, to non-traditional 

performance types where words and music are in some 

fashion equal partners in the drama. Starts on page 53 

D. 

IN THE CLUBS (MOSTLY JAZZ) 

is organized alphabetically by club. 

Starts on page 54. 

E. 

THE ETCETERAS is for galas, fundraisers, competitions, 

screenings, lectures, symposia, masterclasses, workshops, 

singalongs and other music-related events (except 

performances) which may be of interest to our readers. 

Starts on page 57. 

A GENERAL WORD OF CAUTION. A phone number is provided 

with every listing in The WholeNote — in fact, we won’t publish 

a listing without one. Concerts are sometimes cancelled or postponed; 

artists or venues may change after listings are published. 

Please check before you go out to a concert. 

HOW TO LIST. Listings in The WholeNote in the four sections above 

are a free service available, at our discretion, to eligible presenters. 

If you have an event, send us your information no later than the 

8th of the month prior to the issue or issues in which your listing is 

eligible to appear. 

LISTINGS DEADLINE. The next issue covers the period from 

June 1 to September 7, 2015. All listings must be received by 

Midnight Sunday May 8. 

LISTINGS can be sent by e-mail to listings@thewholenote.com or 

by fax to 416-603-4791 or by regular mail to the address on page 6. 

We do not receive listings by phone, but you can call 416-323-2232 

x27 for further information. 

LISTINGS ZONE MAP. Visit our website to see a detailed version 

of this map: thewholenote.com. 

Lake 

Huron 

6 

Georgian 

Bay 

7 

2 1 

5 

Lake Erie 

3 4 

8 

City of Toronto 

LISTINGS 

Lake Ontario 

A. Concerts in the GTA 

IN THIS ISSUE: Aurora, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon East, 

Etobicoke, Georgetown, King City, Leaskdale, Markham, Milton, 

Mississauga, Newmarket, North York, Oakville, Richmond Hill, 

Scarborough, Sharon, Toronto Island, Whitby. 

MUSICAL THEATRE 

The following musicals do not appear 

●●National Ballet of Canada. Le Petit Prince. 

in the concert listings. Details for 

●●Scarborough Music Theatre. Damn 

these performances can be found in 

Yankees. 

C. Musical Theatre on page 53. 

●●Shaw Festival. Alice in Wonderland. 

●●Civic Light Opera Company. You’re a Good ●●Starvox Entertainment. Forever Plaid. 

Man, Charlie Brown. 

●●Stratford Festival. A Chorus Line, A Little 

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Anne of Green 

Night Music. 

Gables. 

●●Toronto Catholic District School Board. 

●●Mirvish Productions. If/Then, Kinky Boots, 

Mary Poppins. 

Riverdance 20 Years. 

●●Young People’s Theatre. The Wizard of Oz. 

Sunday May 1 

●●2:00: Canadian Opera Company. Maometto 

II. Rossini. Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone 

(Maometto); Bruce Sledge, tenor (Governor 

Erisso); Leah Crocetto, soprano (Anna); Elizabeth 

DeShong, mezzo (Calbo); and others; 

David Alden, director; Harry Bicket, conductor. 

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. 

$50–$435. In Italian with English Surtitles. 

Also May 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14. Start times vary. 

●●2:00: Louis De Nil. Art Song Recital. Handel: 

Bajazet’s Arias from Tamerlano; Britten: Canticle 

II (from Abraham and Isaac); Vuillemin: 

Rondels mélancoliques; Rachmaninoff: Op. 29 

(selections); Schubert: Lieder (selections). 

Louis De Nil, tenor; César Aguilar, countertenor; 

Helen Becqué, piano. Gallery 345, 

345 Sorauren Ave. 514-261-4988. PWYC. 

●●2:00: Metropolitan United Church. Second 

Marg and Jim Norquay Celebration Concert. 

Charlotte Burrage, mezzo; Clarence 

Frazer, baritone. Metropolitan United Church 

(Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-363-0331 x26. 

$20; $10(18 and under). 

●●2:00: Royal Conservatory. Academy Chamber 

Orchestra. Works by Bach, Beethoven, 

Britten and Paganini. String students from 

The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy 

for Young Artists. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. Free (ticket 

required). 

●●2:00: Royal Conservatory. The Hungarian- 

Finnish Connection. Saariaho: Changing Light 

for soprano and violin; works by Liszt, Bartók, 

Sibelius, and others. Leslie Ann Bradley, 

soprano; Stephen Hegedus, bass-baritone; 

Rachel Andrist, piano; Robert Kortgaard, 

piano. Guest: Erika Raum, violin. Mazzoleni 

Concert Hall, Royal Conservatory, 273 Bloor 

St. W. 416-408-0208. $25. 

●●2:00: Visual and Performing Arts Newmarket 

(VPAN). Fung-Chiu Piano Duo. 

Newmarket Theatre, 505 Pickering Cres., 

Newmarket. 905-953-5122. $30; $25(sr); 

$10(st). 

●●2:30: Spectrum Music. La Suite du Petit 

Prince. Bilingual storytelling and music with 

projected images. String quartet; jazz quintet. 

Alliance Française de Toronto, 24 Spadina 

Rd. 416-937-6180. $10; free(child). 2:00: Preconcert 

chat. 

●●3:00: Community Baroque Orchestra 

of Toronto. Capriccio Stravagante. Vivaldi: 

Autumn from The Four Seasons; and works 

by Muffat, Buonamente and Farina. Guest: 

Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith, conductor and violin. 

Ballroom, 519 Community Centre, 519 Church 

St. 416-604-3440. Free. 

●●3:00: Durdy Bayramov Art Foundation. 

Day Two: Classical Turkmen Music Days in 

Canada. Works by Nury Halmamedov and 

other Turkmen composers. Mamed Guseynov, 

piano/composer; Daria Rubanova, 

soprano. 2647 Bayview Ave., North York. 647- 

344-6898. $30. Also May 4(Columbus Centre), 

May 7(Ismaili Centre). 

●●3:00: Echo Women’s Choir. Songs of 

Hope and Resistance: Celebrating May Day 

and International Workers’ Day. Jara: Plegaria 

a un Labrador (Worker’s Prayer); Barnwell: 

Would you Harbor Me?; Maruxiña 

(mine workers’ song); Le Temps des cerises; 

Kucho; and other songs. Jennifer Foster, guitar; 

Becca Whitla and Alan Gasser, conductors; 

special guests: Ewlina Ferenc, vocals; 

Yura Rafalui, hammered dulcimer. Church of 

the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Sq. 416-779-5554. 

$20/$15(adv); $10(sr/child/un/under-waged). 

Wheelchair accessible. 

●●3:00: Etobicoke Suzuki Music. Strings: The 

Next Generation. Large ensembles of violin, 

viola and cello performers age 3 to 18. Works 

from Bach to Michael Jackson. Plast Concert 

Hall, 516 The Kingsway, Etobicoke. 416-239- 

4637. Food bank donation. 

●●3:00: Flute Flight. Spring Fling! Works for 

flute ensemble with piano and string quartet. 

Cosmopolitan Hall, Cosmo Music, 10 Via 

Renzo Dr. Richmond Hill. 416-908-9924. $15; 

$10(sr/st); $5(under 12). 

●●3:00: Menno Singers/Pax Christi Chorale 

of Toronto. A Cappella Masterworks. Works 

by Rheinberger, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Willan, 

Schafer and others. Grace Church onthe-Hill, 

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-488-7884. $40; 

$35(sr); $25(st). 

●●3:00: Oakville Chamber Orchestra. Concerto 

Competition Grand Prize Winners. Catherine 

Ma, piano; Michaela Johns, cello. St. 

Simon’s Anglican Church, 1450 Litchfield Rd., 

Oakville. 905-483-6787. $30; $25(sr); $20(st). 

●●3:00: Syrinx. In Concert. Works by 

Brahms and Dvořák; new Canadian work by 

David Myska. String quintets with Scott St. 

John, violin; Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin; Douglas 

McNabney, viola; Sharon Wei, viola; Tom 

Wiebe, cello. Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton 

Ave. 416-654-0877. $25; $20(st). Post-concert 

reception. 

●●3:00: Toronto Operetta Theatre. Los Gavilanes 

(The Sparrow Hawks). By Jacinto 

Guerrero. Miriam Khalil (Adriana); Sarah Forestieri 

(Rosaura); Ernesto Ramirez (Gustavo); 

Guillermo Silva-Marin (Juan); and others; 

Larry Beckwith, conductor; Guillermo Silva- 

Marin, stage director. Jane Mallett Theatre, 

St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. 

E. 416-366-2773. $72-$95. 


ZELENKA 

& BACH 

●●3:30: Tafelmusik. Zelenka and Bach. 

Zelenka: Missa Omnium Sanctorum; Bach: 

Wedding Cantata. Dorothee Mields, soprano; 

Kim Leeds, mezzo; Jacques-Olivier Chartier, 

tenor; Jonathan Woody, bass; Ivars Taurins, 

conductor. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne 

Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-964-6337. 

From $38; from $30(sr); $15–$81(under 36). 

●●4:00: Church of St. Mary Magdalene 

(Toronto). Organ works by Bach and Buxtehude. 

Andrew Adair, organ. 477 Manning Ave. 

416-531-7955. Free. 

●●5:00: Nocturnes in the City. Drew Jurečka 

Jazz Trio. Restaurant Praha, Masaryktown, 

450 Scarborough Golf Club Rd. 416-481-7294. 

$25; $15(st). 

●●11:00: Cecilia String Quartet. Xenia Concert: 

Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms by the 

Numbers. Sony Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 1 Front St. E. 416-738-8488. Free. For 

families affected by autism. 

Monday May 2 

●●12:15: Church of the Holy Trinity. Music 

Mondays: If Music Be the Food of Love. Works 

by Dickau, Palestrina, MacIntyre, Davison, 

Mozart and others. Agincourt Madrigal Singers 

and Chamber Orchestra; James Pinhorn, 


May 1 

416.964.6337 

tafelmusik.org 

conductor; Amanda Tulk O’Reilly, conductor. 

10 Trinity Sq. 416-598-4521. PWYC. 

●●7:30: Elmer Iseler Singers. GET MUSIC! Gala 

Concert. Choral music by Canadian and international 

composers. Secondary school choirs 

with their conductors; Elmer Iseler Singers 

(Lydia Adams, conductor). Metropolitan United 

Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416- 217- 

0537. $25; free(full-season EIS subscribers). 

Tuesday May 3 

●●12:00 noon: Canadian Opera Company. 

Vocal Series: Georgian Romance. Songs by 

Rachmaninoff, Falla, Ravel, Fauré and Taktakishvili. 

Anita Rachvelishvili; mezzo; David 

Aladashvili, piano. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, 


Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. 

Free. Late seating is not available. 

●●12:10: Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation/ 

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. Lunchtime 

Chamber Music. Asher Armstrong, piano. 

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge 

St. 416-241-1298. Free. Donations welcome. 

●●1:00: Cathedral Church of St. James. 

Organ Recitals. Thomas Gonder, organ. 

65 Church St. 416-364-7865. Free. 

Earl Haig / 

Claude Watson 

Music presents 

Symphony ~ 

Band Night 

May 3, 7:30pm • Cringan Hall, 

Earl Haig Secondary School 

claudewatson.ca 

●●7:30: Earl Haig Secondary School / Claude 

Watson Music. Symphony-Band Night. 

A pay-what-you-can 

lunchtime concert series at 

Church of the Holy Trinity 

MAY 2 If Music Be the Food of Love 

MAY 9 Night Music 

MAY 16 The Power of Two: 

Double Concertos for Flutes 

MAY 23 Mary Kenedi and Friends 

MAY 30 Ashes of Soldiers 

All concerts start at 12:15pm 

416.598.4521 ext. 223 

www.musicmondays.ca 

Borodin: Polovtsian Dances; Prokofiev: Classical 

Symphony (Mvts.1 and 2); Mozart: Flute 

Concerto in G (Mvt.1); Elgar: Cello Concerto 

(Mvt.1); Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin 

and Piano (Mvt.1); Weber: Concerto for 

Clarinet (Mvt.1). Earl Haig Symphonic Band, 

John McGregor, director; Earl Haig Chamber 

Strings, Alan Torok, director; Earl Haig Symphony 

Orchestra, Timothy Sullivan, director. 

Earl Haig Secondary School, Cringan Hall, 

100 Princess Ave., North York. 416-395-3210 

x28141. $10; $5(st). 


II. See May 1. Also May 5, 7, 11 and 14. Start 

times vary. 

●●8:00: Association for Music and Innovative 

Arts (AMIA)/Prism Prize. Toronto Plays 

Itself: A Music City Showcase from #The6. 

Maylee Todd, Clairmont The Second, Petra 

Glynt, performers; Absolutely Free, DJ. The 

Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. 416-519-9439. 

$10/$6(adv). 

●●8:00: Talisker Players. Cross’d by the 

Stars. Music and readings from the letters, 

diaries and memoirs of great lovers 

through the ages. Purcell: When I Am Laid in 

Earth (Dido’s Lament) from Dido and Aeneas; 

Gluck: Che faró senza Euridice from Orfeo 

ed Euridice; Burry: The Highwayman; Mahler: 

Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs 

of a Wayfarer); Bernstein: Songs from West 

Side Story. Talisker Players; Krisztina Szabó, 

mezzo; Aaron Durand, baritone; Stewart 

Arnott, actor/reader. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 

427 Bloor St. W. 416-466-1800. $40; $30(sr); 

$10(st). 7:15: Pre-concert chat. Also May 4. 

Wednesday May 4 


Dance Series: Vital Few. 605 Collective; Lisa 

Gelley, artistic co-director; Josh Martin, artistic 

co-director. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, 


Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free. 

Late seating is not available. 

●●12:30: Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. 

Sharon Beckstead, Organ. 1585 Yonge St. 

416-922-1167. Free. 

●●6:30: Durdy Bayramov Art Foundation. 

Day Three: Classical Turkmen Music 

Days in Canada. Works by Nury Halmamedov, 

Bach, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Svridov and 

others. Mamed Guseynov, piano/composer; 

Daria Rubanova, soprano. Columbus Centre, 

901 Lawrence Ave. W. 647-344-6898. $30. 

Also May 1(Durdy Bayramov Art Foundation), 

May 7(Ismaili Centre). 

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Carmen. 

Bizet. Anita Rachvelishvili/Clémentine Margaine, 

mezzos (Carmen); Russell Thomas/ 

David Pomeroy, tenors (Don José); and 

others; Joel Ivany, director; Paolo Carignani, 

conductor. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. 

$50–$435. English Surtitles. Also May 6, 8, 

10, 12, 13 and 15. Start times vary. 

●●8:00: Coleman Lemieux et Compagnie. 

Against Nature/À Rebours. Music by James 

Rolfe. Libretto by Alex Poch-Goldin. Alexander 

Dobson, baritone; Geoffrey Sirett, baritone; 

Laurence Lemieux, dancer; John Hess, piano; 

Parmela Attariwala, violin; Carina Reeves, 

cello; James Kudelka, choreographer. The 

Citadel, 304 Parliament St. 416-364-8011 x1. 

$50. Runs May 4–8, 11–15. 

●●8:00: Talisker Players. Cross’d by the 

Stars. Music and readings from the letters, 

diaries and memoirs of great lovers through 

the ages. Purcell: When I Am Laid in Earth 

(Dido’s Lament) from Dido and Aeneas; 

Gluck: Che faró senza Euridice from Orfeo 

ed Euridice; Burry: The Highwayman; Mahler: 

Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs 

of a Wayfarer); Bernstein: Songs from West 

Side Story. Talisker Players; Krisztina Szabó, 

mezzo; Aaron Durand, baritone; Stewart 

Arnott actor/reader. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 

427 Bloor St. W. 416-466-1800. $40; $30(sr); 

$10(st). 7:15: Pre-concert chat. Also May 3. 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 

Brahms Symphony 4. Beethoven: Egmont 

Overture; John Adams: Scheherazade.2 – 

Dramatic Symphony for Violin and Orchestra 

(Canadian premiere); Brahms: Symphony 

No.4. Leila Josefowicz, violin; Peter Oundjian, 

conductor. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 

416-598-3375. $33.75-$148. Also May 5. 

●●9:00 and 10:15: Mezzetta Restaurant. Wednesday 

Concert Series. Jonno Lightstone, 

clarinet/flute; Brian Katz, guitar/piano. 681 St. 

Clair Ave. W. 416-658-5687. $10 cover. Reservations 

recommended. 

Thursday May 5 

●●12:00 noon: Adam Sherkin/Steinway 

Piano Gallery. Liszt: Wild New Wizardry II. 

Liszt: Transcendental Etudes, No.3 “The Wild 

Hunt” and No.8 “Paysage”; Grand Paganini 

Etudes, No.4 and No.6; Sherkin: First Sonata 

(Cŵn Annwn “The Hounds of Hell,” 2016); Tagish 

Fires (2015). Adam Sherkin, piano. Bluma 

Appel Lobby, St. Lawrence Centre for the 

Arts, 27 Front St. E. 416-366-7723. Free. 


Vocal Series: A Celebration of Canadian Art 

Song. Ross: The Living Spectacle; works by 

Beckwith and Rickard. Ambur Braid, soprano; 

Steven Philcox, piano; Artists from the Faculty 

of Music of the University of Toronto. Richard 

Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre 

for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. 

W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late seating is not 

available. 

●●12:00 noon: Encore Symphonic Concert 

Band. In Concert: Classics and Jazz. John 

Edward Liddle, conductor. Wilmar Heights 

Centre, 963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough. 

416-346-3910. $10. Includes coffee and 

snack. Also June 2. 

●●12:15: Metropolitan United Church. Noon 


at Met. Julia Morson, soprano; Rashaan Allwood, 

piano. Metropolitan United Church 

(Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-363-0331 x26. 

Free. 

●●1:30: Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. 

Music in the Afternoon: Pavel Kolesnikov, 

Piano. C.P.E. Bach: two sonatas; Beethoven: 

Sonata No.30 in E Op.109; Chopin: Selected 

mazurkas and nocturnes; Scherzo No.4 in E 

Op.54. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, 

University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. 416- 

923-7052. $45. 

Women’s Musical Club of Toronto 

Music in the Afternoon 

PAVEL KOLESNIKOV, 

Honens Laureate, 

piano 

Thursday, May 5, 1.30 p.m. 

Tickets $45 

416-923-7052 

www.wmct.on.ca 

●●7:00: North York Central Library. Asian 

Heritage Month: Tablix. Fusion of tabla, technology 

and electronic music. Gurpreet Chana, 

tabla. 5120 Yonge St. 416-395-5639. Free; 

register by phone. 

●●7:30: Art and Action Productions. Thrill 

of Jazz. Jazz version of selections from 

Tchaikovsky: The Seasons; Tribute to Oscar 

Peterson. Fonograf Jazz Quartet. John Bassett 

Theatre, 255 Front St. W. 647-477-8897. 

$55–$115. 

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Maometto II. 

See May 1. Also May 7, 11 and 14. Start times vary. 

●●7:30: Royal Conservatory. Glenn Gould 

School New Music Ensemble. Boulez: Dérive 

2; other works by A. Norman and Sokolović. 

Brian Current, curator. Conservatory Theatre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. Free 

(ticket required). 

●●8:00: Music Gallery/Geordie McDonald. 

Geordie McDonald: The March of the Robots. 

Music Gallery, 197 John St. 416-204-1080. $10; 

$8(members). 


Brahms Symphony 4. Beethoven: Egmont 

Overture; John Adams: Scheherazade.2 – 

Dramatic Symphony for Violin and Orchestra 

(Canadian premiere); Brahms: Symphony 

No.4. Leila Josefowicz, violin; Peter Oundjian, 


416-598-3375. $33.75-$148. Also May 4. 

Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC. 

Concert in chapel; lunch and snack friendly. 

●●6:00: Canadian Music Week. Amanda 

Rheaume. Music from her new album Holding 

Patterns. Amanda Rheaume, singer/songwriter. 

Dakota Tavern, 249 Ossington Ave. 

416-850-4579. $10. 

●●7:00: Brampton Music Theatre. Beauty and 

the Beast Jr. Music by Alan Menken, lyrics 

by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, book by 

Linda Wolverton. Lester B. Pearson Theatre, 

150 Central Park Dr., Brampton. 905-874- 

2800. $15; $13(sr/st). Also May 7. 


See May 4. Also May 8, 10, 12, 13 and 15. Start 

times vary. 

●●7:30: University Settlement Music & Arts 

School. Faculty Favourites. St. George the 

Martyr Church, 197 John St. 416-598-3444 

x243. PWYC; $10 suggested. Fundraising 

concert in support of Music & Arts School 

programming. 

●●8:00: Aurora Cultural Centre. De Temps 

Antan in Concert. 22 Church St., Aurora. 

905-713-1818. $32/$28(adv). 

●●8:00: Centre for Social Innovation. 

Eric Paetkau and Group of 27: Blue Danish 

and Sherbert. Morlock: Blue Sun; Nielsen: 

Wind Quintet; Schubert: String Trio D471. 

720 Bathurst St. 888-316-2416. $15-$20. 

●●8:00: Lawrence Park Community Church. 

Fridays @ 8 Hymn Festival. Celebrating Welsh 

tenor Glyn Evans’ retirement as soloist with 

the Lawrence Park Community Church Choir. 

North York Temple Band; Glenn Barlow, bandmaster; 

choir and soloists of Lawrence Park 

Community Church Choir; Mark Toews, music 

director. 2180 Bayview Ave. 416-489-1551. 

Free; donations welcome. 

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Massey Hall. 

George Thorogood and The Destroyers. 

Guest: JW Jones. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St. 

416-872-4255. $49.50–$99.50. 

●●8:00: Tempus Choral Society. It’s a Grand 

Night for Music. It’s a Grand Night for Singing; 

I Lived; Swingin’ with the Gershwins; Norwegian 

Wood; Love at Home; other works. Tempus 

Choral Society; Tempus Children’s Choir; 

Tempus Jazz Choir. Clearview Christian 

Reformed Church, 2300 Sheridan Garden Dr., 

Oakville. 905-334-9375. $20. 

●●8:00: Toronto Consort. Monteverdi Vespers. 

La Rose des Vents, cornetto and sackbut 

ensemble; Charles Daniels, tenor; Kevin 

Skelton, tenor; David Fallis, conductor. Trinity-St. 

Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall, 

427 Bloor St. W. 416-964-6337. $27-$64; $22- 

$58(sr); $10(st/30 and under). 7:00: pre-concert 

talk. Also May 7, 8(mat). 

●●9:00: Coalition. Red Ride Tour. Indigenous 

music. Kristi Lane Sinclair, Logan Staats, 

Laura Ortman, Rosary Spence, The Johnnys. 

Coalition Club, 282 Augusta Ave. 647-527- 

4211. $10. 

●●10:00: Jojo Worthington. In Concert. 

Experimental folk music, R&B and jazz. 

Jojo Worthington, ukulele/soprano; Markov, 

tenor; Elsa Jayne, soprano. Junction City 

Music Hall, 2907 Dundas St W. 519-722-1200. 

$10/$5(adv). 

Saturday May 7 

●●9:45am: Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival. 

Ruach Singers at Beth Shalom Synagogue. 

Beth Shalom Synagogue, 1445 Eglinton 

Ave. W. 416-694-6900. Free. 

●●12:00 noon: Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts 

Festival. Free Concert. Empire A Cappella; 

O’Pears; Retrocity; and Concrete A Cappella. 

Distillery Historic District, 55 Mill St. 416-694- 

6900. Free. Trinity Square. 

●●3:00: Oakville Children’s Choir. Raise Your 

Voice! All six OCC choirs. Oakville Centre 

for the Performing Arts, 130 Navy St., Oakville. 

905-815-2021 or 1-888-489-7784. $25; 

$20(sr); $15(child). 

●●3:00: Toronto Children’s Chorus. Music of 

the Spheres. Krisztina Szabó, mezzo. Toronto 

Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge St., North 

York. 416-250-3708. $35.50–$45.50. 

●●4:00: Church of the Redeemer. An Afternoon 

of Lieder with Michael Robert-Broder. 

Schumann: Liederkreis Op.39; Schubert: Auf 

dem Strom Op.119; Songs by Copland and Barber. 

Michael Robert-Broder, baritone; Jill Daley, 

piano. 162 Bloor St. W. 647-654-7855. $10. Proceeds 

to benefit Redeemer Drop-In Program. 

●●4:00: Royal Conservatory. Mischa Maisky. 

Bach: Cello Suites Nos.1, 4 and 5. Mischa 

Maisky, cello. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $35–$85. 

Also at 8:00. 

●●4:30: Beach United Church. Jazz and 

Reflection: Southern Charm. Downtown Jazz 

Band. 140 Wineva Ave. 416-691-8082. Freewill 

offering. 

Friday May 6 

●●12:10: Music at St. Andrew’s. Noontime 

Recital. Emily Chiang, piano. St. Andrew’s 

Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593-5600 x231. 

Free. 

●●1:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano Potpourri. 

Classics, opera, operetta, musicals, 

ragtime, pop, international and other genres. 

Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-St. Paul’s 


●●6:00: Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival. 

Duly Noted. Toronto’s all-women’s a 

cappella ensemble sings everything from 

madrigals to Feist. 120 Diner, 120 Church St. 

416-792-7725. PWYC ($10-$20 suggested). 

●●7:00: Brampton Music Theatre. Beauty and 



Linda Wolverton. Lester B. Pearson Theatre, 

150 Central Park Dr., Brampton. 905-874- 

2800. $15; $13(sr/st). Also May 6. 

The 

Annex 

Singers 

Songs & Sonnets 

A Shakespeare Celebration 

 

Saturday, May 7, 7:30 pm 

Grace Church on-the-Hill 

www.annexsingers.com 

●●7:30: Annex Singers. Songs and Sonnets: 

A Shakespeare Celebration. Works by 

Elmer 

Iseler 

ingers 


Tallis, Dowland, Harris and Shearing. Maria 

Case, conductor; guest artist: Cynthia Hiebert, 

harpsichord. Grace Church on-the-Hill, 

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-968-7747. $25; $20(sr); 

$15(under 30); free(12 and under). 

●●7:30: Canadian Men’s Chorus. On Growing 

Up. Emery: O My Love; Macdonald: Blues 

for a Green Boy; Vaughan Williams: The Vagabond; 

Sametz: We Two; Takach: Mad. Guests: 

ASLAN Boys Choir; Thomas Bell, artistic director. 

Music Gallery, 197 John St. 519-305- 

1351. $35/$30(adv); $25(st)/$20(adv). 

●●7:30: Canadian Opera Company. Maometto II. 

See May 1. Also May 11 and 14. Start times vary. 

●●7:30: Durdy Bayramov Art Foundation. Day 

Six: Classical Turkmen Music Days in Canada. 

Works by Nury Halmamedov, Bach, Tchaikovsky, 

Debussy, Sviridov and others. Mamed 

Guseynov, piano/composer; Daria Rubanova, 

soprano. Ismaili Centre, 49 Wynford Drive. 

647-344-6898. $30. Also May 1(Durdy Bayramov 

Art Foundation), May 4(Columbus 

Centre). 

●●7:30: Georgetown Choral Society. Give my 

Regards to Broadway. Songs from a variety 

of well-known musicals. A. Dale Wood, artistic 

director/accompanist. Georgetown Christian 

Reformed Church, 11611 Trafalgar Rd., 

Georgetown. 905-877-7795. $20. A joyful 

evening suitable for children. 

●●7:30: Home Smith Bar at The Old Mill 

Toronto. Monica Chapman Quartet. 21 Old 

Mill Rd. 416-236-2641. No cover. 

●●7:30: Milton Philharmonic Orchestra. A 

Night at the Proms. Milton Centre for the 

Arts, 1010 Main St. E., Milton. 905-878-6000 

or 1-866-257-0004. $25; $20(sr/st/child). 

S Sunday, May 8 at 4:00 pm 

Lydia Adams, Conductor Eglinton St. George’s 

and Artistic Director 

United Church 

35 Lytton Blvd., Toronto 

with the 

Bach Chamber Youth Choir 

Linda Beaupré, Conductor 

Programme will 

include works by 

Imant Raminsh, Peter 

Togni and a world 

premiere by Jason Jestadt, 

winner of the 2015 Ruth Watson 

Henderson Choral Composition 

Competition. 

Tickets 416-217-0537 

www.elmeriselersingers.com 

Musical Friends 

Series Sponsor 

MESSIAEN: VINGT 

REGARDS SUR 

L’ENFANT-JESUS 

SIMON DOCKING 

PIANO 

SAT. MAY 7 

7:30PM 

gallery345.com 

●●7:30: Gallery 345. The Art of the Piano: 

Simon Docking. Messiaen: Vingt regards sur 

l’enfant-Jésus. 345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822- 

9781. $25; $15(st). 

●●7:30: Opera by Request. Catalani’s La 

Wally. In concert with piano accompaniment. 

Sarah Hood (Wally); Paul Williamson 

(Giuseppe Hagenbach); Michael Robert-Broder 

(Vincenzo Gellner); Brigitte Bogar (Walter); 

and others; William Shookhoff, piano and 

music director. College Street United Church, 

452 College St. 416-455-2365. $20. POST- 

PONED TO JUNE 10. 

●●7:30: Village Voices. Faces of Love. Carlyle 

Sharpe: Laudate Nomen; Ola Gjeillo: The 

Ground; medley from West Side Story; and 

other classic and popular music. Village 

Voices Community Choir; Mira Solovianenko 

and Natalya Matyusheva, sopranos; Oleksandra 

Fedyshyn, violin. Markham Missionary 

Church, 5438 Major Mackenzie Dr. E., Markham. 

905-763-4172. $25; $10(st); free(under 

12). 

●●7:30: VOCA Chorus of Toronto. Vast Eternal 

Sky. Fauré: Requiem; works by Lauridsen, 

Gjeilo, Daley, Arlen and others. Elizabeth 

Polese, soprano; Lawrence Shirkie, baritone; 

Talisker Players Orchestra; Jenny Crober, 

conductor; Elizabeth Acker, accompanist. 

Eastminster United Church, 310 Danforth 

Ave. 416-947-8487. $25; $20(sr); $10(st). 

●●8:00: Acoustic Harvest. Shari Ulrich. St. 

Nicholas Anglican Church, 1512 Kingston Rd. 

416-264-2235. $25/$22(adv). Wheelchair 

accessible; free parking. 

●●8:00: Ambiance Singers. In Concert. 

Guest: Alex Pangman, jazz vocals; Danny 

McErlain, conductor. Living Arts Centre, 

4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga. 905- 

306-6000. $35. Proceeds to Cystic Fibrosis 

Canada. 

●●8:00: Kindred Spirits Orchestra. In Concert. 

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.2; Rachmaninoff: 

Piano Concerto No.2; Brahms: 

Academic Festival Overture. Alexa Petrenko, 

host; Kristian Alexander, conductor; Leonid 

Nediak, piano. Flato Markham Theatre, 

171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham. 905-305- 

7469. $15–$35. 

●●8:00: Masterworks of Oakville/Univox 

Choir. Elijah. Mendelssohn. Charlene Pauls, 

soprano; Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo; 

Chris Fischer, tenor; Daniel Hambly, bass. 

St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, 1150 Monks 

Passage, Oakville. 905-399-9732. $30; 

$25(sr); $10(st); free(child). Also May 8(mat; 

Toronto). 

●●8:00: Mississauga Festival Choir. Choralia 

Canadiana. New works by innovative 

Canadian composers. Guests: Mary Lou Fallis, 

soprano; Peter Tiefenbach, piano. Hammerson 

Hall, Living Arts Centre, 4141 Living 

Arts Dr., Mississauga. 905-306-6000. $35; 

$30(sr/st); $15(12 and under). 

●●8:00: Pierre Bensusan. In Concert. Mix 

of folk, jazz, ethnic, blues and Celtic music. 

Pierre Bensusan, guitar. St. Stephen-in-the- 

Fields Anglican Church, 103 Bellevue Ave. 416- 

921-6350. $35. 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Mischa Maisky. 

Bach: Cello Suites Nos.2, 3 and 6. Mischa 

Maisky, cello. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $35–$85. 

Also at 4:00. 






427 Bloor St. W. 416-964-6337. $27-$64; $22- 


talk. Also May 6, 8(mat). 

●●8:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano 

Soirée: Maytime. A tribute to the music of 

Sigmund Romberg, arranged by G. Murray. 

Romberg: Will You Remember? (from Maytime); 

The Desert Song and One Alone (from 

The Desert Song); I Bring A Song Of Love and 

You Will Remember Vienna (from Viennese 

Nights); and other works. Gordon Murray, 

piano. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. 

W. 416-631-4300. PWYC. Concert in chapel. 

Also May 28. 

●●10:00: Globetrotter/Small World Music. 

Adham Shaikh. The Round, 152 Augusta Ave. 

647-205-0559. $15–$20. 



See May 4. Also May 10, 12, 13 and 15. Start 

times vary. 

●●2:00: Celtic Fiddle Orchestra of Southern 

Ontario. In Concert. Queen Elizabeth Park 

Community and Cultural Centre, 2302 Bridge 

Rd., Oakville. 905-815-5979. $2; $5(family); 

free(mothers). 

●●3:00: Li Delun Music Foundation. Haochen 

Zhang Piano Recital. Chopin: Four Mazurkas; 


Schubert: Four Impromptus; Chopin: Piano 

Sonata No.2; Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.7. 

Haochen Zhang, piano. George Weston 

Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 416-490-7962. 

$30-$60. 

●●3:00: Columbus Performing Arts Council. 

Cara Mama. Mama, Danny Boy, Ave 

Maria, The Prayer, Que sera sera. SATB Choir 

with Solisti Belle Voci; Paolo Busato, conductor/accompaniment. 

Columbus Centre, 

901 Lawrence Ave. W. 647-267-9040. PWYC 

(suggested minimum $10). All proceeds to 

Villa Colombo Ladies Auxiliary. 

●●3:00: Masterworks of Oakville/Univox 

Choir. Elijah. Mendelssohn. Charlene Pauls, 

soprano; Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo; Chris 

Fischer, tenor; Daniel Hambly, bass. Metropolitan 

United Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 

905-399-9732. $30; $25(sr); $10(st); free(10 

and under). Also May 7(eve; Oakville). 

●●3:00: SitarFusion. Mother’s Day Spring Celebration 

Concert. Songs based on classical 

Indian melodies. Basant in Teentaal, Jhaptaal 

and Ektaal; and other works. Anwar Khurshid, 

sitar; Ravi Naimpally, tabla; Geneviève Beaulieu, 

dance. Ryan Noel Auditorium, Mississauga 

Central Library, 301 Burnhamthorpe Rd. W., 

Mississauga. 647-529-5270. $20-$35; advance 

purchase only. 






427 Bloor St. W. 416-964-6337. $27-$64; $22- 


talk. Also May 6(eve), 7(eve). 


Organ Recitals. Ian Sadler, organ. 65 Church 

St. 416-364-7865. Free. 

●●4:00: Elmer Iseler Singers. Musical 

Friends. Program will include works by Imant 

Raminsh, Peter Togni and Jason Jestadt 

(world premiere). Lydia Adams, conductor; 

guests: Bach Chamber Youth Choir; Linda 

Beaupré, conductor. Eglinton St. George’s 

United Church, 35 Lytton Blvd. 416-217-0537. 

$40; $35(sr); $15(st). 

●●4:30: Christ Church Deer Park. Jazz Vespers. 

Lenny Solomon, violin; Bernie Senensky, 

piano. 1570 Yonge St. 416-920-5211. Free. 

Donations welcome. 

●●5:00: Canadian Children’s Opera Company. 

Scarecrow and Other Stories. Tate and 

Canadian Children`s 

Opera Company 

and 

Other 

Stories 

First Unitarian Church 

175 St Clair Ave. W 

canadianchildrensopera.com 

Morpurgo: Scarecrow and other works. Junior 

Divisions of the CCOC; Lynn Janes, Adine 

Mintz and Linda Song, conductors; Gergely 

Szokolay and Myna Denov, piano. First Unitarian 

Church, 175 St. Clair Ave. W. 416-366- 

0467. $20; $15(sr/st); $5(child). General 

seating. 

●●5:00: Grace Church on-the-Hill. Choral 

Evensong. Works by Stanford, Smith and Guillaume. 

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-488-7884. Freewill 

offering. 

●●6:00: Raag-Mala Music Society of Toronto. 

Santoor and Vocal Recitals. Ragas for santoor 

and for voice. Shreyas Ambikar, santoor; 

Ravi Naimpally, tabla; Arshad Ali Khan, vocals. 

MacLeod Auditorium, Medical Science Building, 

UofT, 1 King’s College Circle. 416-995- 

3968. $25-$35. 


4SKÖR. Vocal quartet that incorporates 

hints of jazz, Latin, R&B, funk, pop and fusion. 

120 Diner, 120 Church St. 416-792-7725. PWYC 

($10-$20 suggested). 

●●7:00: Jazz Bistro. Fawn Fritzen Celebrates 

Release of Pairings. 251 Victoria St. 416-363- 

5299. $15 cover. 


Beatsync. Nine-piece a cappella ensemble. 

120 Diner, 120 Church St. 416-792-7725. 

PWYC ($10-$20 suggested). 



Mondays: Night Music. Beethoven: Moonlight 

Sonata; works by H. Schmidt, Grieg and Chopin. 

Su Jeon Higuera, piano. 10 Trinity Sq. 416- 

598-4521. PWYC. 



Vocal Series: Les Adieux - Let Beauty Awake. 

Strauss: Four Last Songs (arr. Greer); 

Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel. Aviva Fortunata, 

soprano; Iain MacNeil, bass-baritone. 

Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four 

Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 

145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late 

seating is not available. 



Chamber Music. Suhashini Arulanandam, 

violin. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 

1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. Free. Donations 

welcome. 


Organ Recitals. Brendan Culver, organ. 

65 Church St. 416-364-7865. Free. 

●●1:30: Serenata Singers. 40th Anniversary 

Gala Concert. String quartet; Joshua Tamayo, 

conductor. Guest: Tanya Paradowski. P.C. Ho 

Theatre, Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater 

Toronto, 5183 Sheppard Ave. E., Scarborough. 

416-699-5798. $25/$20(adv). Also 

May 11(eve). 

●●3:00: Music at Islington. A Parlour Potpourri: 

For Mother. English and Italian art 

songs. Works by Quilter, Britten, Rossini and 

Tosti. Jennifer Taverner, soprano; Lyndsay 

Promane, mezzo; Daevyd Pepper, tenor; 

David Potvin, piano. Islington United Church, 

25 Burnhamthorpe Rd. 416-239-1131. PWYC. 

Food bank donation appreciated. 

●●5:00: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Pop-Up 

Concert. Choral works by Byrd, Hawes, Morales, 

Brahms, Stanford and Whitacre. Noel 

Edison, conductor. Ryerson Student Learning 

Centre, 341 Yonge St. 416-598-0422. Free. 

In the Atrium. 


See May 4. Also May 12, 13 and 15. Start 

times vary. 

●●7:30: Jubilee Order of Good Cheer. The 

Toronto Choristers. Choral works from classical, 

folk, sacred, popular and Broadway 

music. Jubilee United Church, 40 Underhill 

Dr. 416-447-6846. $10; free(youth). 

FREEPLAY DUO 


Sing! Swings. The O’Pears; The Watch; 

FreePlay Duo; 4Skör; Retrocity. Jazz Bistro, 

251 Victoria St. 416-363-5299. $25. 

●●8:30: Tafelmusik. Haus Musik: The Classical 

Alternative. DJ BSMNT, modular synth producer; 

and two sets of baroque music by Purcell, 

Marini, Biber, and others. 918 Bathurst 

Centre, 918 Bathurst St. 416-538-0868. $18. 

Cash bar. 



Recital. Georges Aperghis: Seven Recitations; 

works by Philip Leroux, Ana Sokolović, 

David Lang, and Jimmie Le Blanc. Xin Wang, 

soprano; Wallace Halladay, saxophone. St. 

Andrew’s Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593- 

5600 x231. Free. 


Simon Walker, Organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-922- 

1167. Free. 

●●7:00: Earl Haig Secondary School / Claude 

Watson Music. Jazz Night. Earl Haig Secondary 

School, Cringan Hall, 100 Princess Ave., 

North York. 416-395-3210 x20141. $10; $5(st). 


II. See May 1. Also May 14. Start times vary. 

●●7:30: Serenata Singers. 40th Anniversary 

Gala Concert. String quartet; Joshua Tamayo, 

conductor. Guest: Tanya Paradowski. P.C. Ho 

Theatre, Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater 

Toronto, 5183 Sheppard Ave. E., Scarborough. 

416-699-5798. $25/$20(adv). Also 

May 10(mat). 

●●7:30: Village Voices. Expressions of Love. 

Laudate Nomen; Afternoon on a Hill; The 

Ground; For the Beauty of the Earth; West 

Side Story Medley. Village Voices Community 

Choir; Oksana Vignan, conductor; Robert 

Graham, piano. Iona Presbyterian 

Church, 1080 Finch Ave. E. 416-494-2442. $15. 

Refreshments following. 

●●8:00: Northern Kentucky University Chamber 

Choir. NKU Chamber Choir Canadian Tour. 

Dr. Randy Pennington, director. Guests: That 

Choir, Craig Pike, conductor. Metropolitan 

United Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416- 

419-1756. Admission by donation. 

●●8:00: Oratory, Holy Family Church. Oratorium 

Saeculare. Sweelinck: Ich ruf zu dir, 

Herr Jesu Christ; Isaac: Missa La Spagna; 

Sung Compline - Palestrina: Nunc dimittis a 6; 

Victoria: Regina Caeli a 5; Bach: Prelude and 

Fugue in f BWV534. Simon Honeyman and 

Jessica Wright, alto; Charles Davidson, Peter 

Mowat, Paul Ziade and Mark Rainey, tenors; 

Sean Nix and David Roth, bass; Philip Fournier, 

organ/direction. 1372 King St. W. 416-532- 

2879. Free admission. Donations accepted. 

Includes a talk given by one of the Fathers of 

the Oratory. 


Concert Series. Brazilian Jazz. Reg 

Schwager, guitar; Luanda Jones, vocals. 

681 St. Clair Ave. W. 416-658-5687. $10 cover. 

Reservations recommended. 




Chamber Music Series: Sound Revolutions. 

Lau: Eagle’s Ascent; Connesson: 

Techno Parade; Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony 

No.1 (arr. Webern); and other works. 

Members and friends of the COC Orchestra. 

Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four 

Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 

145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free. Late 

seating is not available. 


at Met. Asher Ian Armstrong, piano. Metropolitan 

United Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. 

E. 416-363-0331 x26. Free. 

●●1:30: Miles Nadal JCC. Eretz Zavat Chalav: 

A Yom Ha’atzmaut Concert. Celebration 

of Israel’s 68th birthday. Yitzhak Argaman. 

750 Spadina Ave. 416-924-6211 x0. $5. Treats 

and sing-along. Call to register. 


See May 4. Also May 13 and 15. Start 

times vary. 

●●7:30: Eybler Quartet. It’s Hi-Fi Time! 

Beethoven: String Quartets Op.18 Nos.4-6. 

Aisslinn Nosky and Julia Wedman, violins; 

Patrick Jordan, viola; Margaret Gay, cello. 

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-463- 

2154. $25; $20(sr); $15(st/arts workers/low 

income). 

●●8:00: Against the Grain Theatre. A Little 

Too Cozy. Music by Mozart, libretto by 

Lorenzo da Ponte. Cairan Ryan, baritone; Caitlin 

Wood, soprano; Shantelle Przybylo, soprano; 

Rihab Chaieb, mezzo; Aaron Sheppard, 

tenor; Clarence Frazer, baritone; Joel Ivany, 

stage director; Topher Mokrzewski, music 

director. Studio 42, CBC, 25 John St. 416-522- 

6515. $35-$95. Also May 13, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21 

●●8:00: Corktown Chamber Orchestra. 

Third Time’s a Charm. Brahms: Symphony 

No.3; Mozart: Overture to Don Giovanni. Little 

Trinity Anglican Church, 425 King St. E. 647- 

528-7159. $10; free(child). 

●●8:00: Sony Centre For The Performing 

Arts. The Piano Guys. An original blend of 

classical music and pop. Sony Centre for the 

Performing Arts, 1 Front St. E. 1-855-872- 

7669. $52.89-$102.89. 


Amanda Martinez 

Dave Matheson 

Colin Mochrie 

Deb McGrath 


O Canada: Our Nation’s Greatest Hits. 

Music from Canadian singer-songwriters. 

Opening act: Amanda Martinez. Music by 

Dave Matheson. The Watch; Northern Lights; 

Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath, hosts. Jane 

Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the 

Arts, 27 Front St. E. 1-866-908-9090. $38.50. 



Recital. Jialiang Zhu, piano. St. Andrew’s 

Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593-5600 x231. Free. 




Gordon Murray, piano. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 

427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC. 


●●5:30: Canadian Music Centre. Fantastic! 

Barbara Pritchard in Recital. Works 

by Beckwith, Pentland, McIntyre, Hatch, 

Pearce and Parker. Barbara Pritchard, piano. 

20 St. Joseph St. 416-961-6601 x202. $20; 

$15(members/arts workers). 

●●7:00: Soundstreams Salon 21. The Regent 

Park Songbook. Professional Canadian composers’ 

settings of student-related lyrics. Student 

singers and pianists from the Regent 

Park School of Music. Gardiner Museum, 

111 Queen’s Park. 416-504-1282. Free, 

PWYC(preferential seat selection). 

●●7:00: St. Michael’s Choir School. Love Divine. 

Dr. Jerzy Cichocki, Maria Conkey and Teri 

Dunn, conductors; William O’Meara, accompanist. 

St. Paul’s Basilica, 83 Power St. 416- 

397-6367 x6043. Freewill offering. 


See May 4. Also May 15. Start times vary. 

●●7:30: Leonard Music Services/Shaw Percussion. 

Shortwave Echo. Mix of Jewish folk 

melodies, Arabic and Indian music, modern 

jazz, R&B and dub electronic music. Aaron 

Lightstone, Arabian oud/Turkish saz/guitar; 

Justin Gray, bass veena/loops/effects; Shawn 

Rompre, Abelton live/percussion/sound 

design; Sundar Viswanathan and Rakesh 

Tewari, percussion. Sharon-Hope United 

Church, 18648 Leslie Street, Sharon. 905- 

722-5449. $25/$20(adv). 


Naturally 7. R&B and jazz. Opening act: 

Countermeasure. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. 

Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E. 

1-866-908-9090. $97(VIP); $52. 

●●7:30: North Toronto Collegiate Institute. 

Maytime Melodies. Mozart: Requiem. 

Emily D’Angelo, mezzo; Emma Hannan, soprano; 

Cian Horrobin, tenor; Nicholas Borg, 

bass; North Toronto Choral Ensemble; North 

Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 17 Broadway 

Ave. 416-393-9180 x20100. $10. Also May 14. 

SHOSTAKOVICH 

SYMPHONY 13 

“BABI YAR” 

ANDREY BOREYKO, 

CONDUCTOR 

MAY 13 & 15 | TSO.CA 


Shostakovich Symphony 13. Mozart: Violin 

Concerto No.5 K219 “Turkish”; Shostakovich: 

Symphony No.13 “Babi Yar”. Julian 

Rachlin, violin; Petr Migunov, bass; Basses of 

the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Amadeus 

Choir; Andrey Boreyko, conductor. Roy Thomson 

Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. $33.75- 

$148. 7:15: Pre-concert chat in the lobby. Also 

May 15(3pm). 


Too Cozy. See May 12. Also May 14, 17, 18, 

20, 21. 

●●8:00: Array Music. Array Session #38. 

Mark Gane, electric guitar; Brian Katz, electric 

guitar; Dimitar Penchev, piano; Nate Robertson, 

percussion; Rick Sacks, percussion; 

Martin van de Ven, clarinet/bass clarinet. 

It's Hi-Fi Time!! 

Beethoven op. 18 nos. 4-6 

Thursday 

May 12th 

7:30 p.m. 

Heliconian 

Club of Toronto 

35 Hazelton Ave. 

more info: 

416 463-2154 

EyblerQuartet.com 


Array Space, 155 Walnut Ave. 416-532-3019. 

Free/PWYC. 

●●8:00: Art of Time Ensemble. Hawksley 

Workman: A Postmodern Cabaret. Hawksley 

Workman, vocals; Andrew Burashko, piano; 

Phil Dwyer, saxophone; Amy Laing, cello; Rob 

Piltch, guitar; Erika Raum, violin. Harbourfront 

Centre Theatre, 235 Queens Quay W. 

416-973-4000. $25-$59. Also May 14. 

●●8:00: Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Arabian Tales. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; 

Mozart: Symphony No.34; Weber: 

Concertino for Clarinet. Terry Storr, clarinet. 

Silverthorn Collegiate Institute, 

291 Mill Rd., Etobicoke. 416-239-5665. $30; 

$25(sr)/$22(adv); $15(st). 

●●8:00: Evergreen Contemporary Gamelan. 

Higgs Ocean: New Music for Gamelan. 

Music Gallery, 197 John St. 416-204-1080. 

$20/$17(adv); $15(members). 

●●8:00: Upper Canada Choristers. Our 

Home and Native Lands. Hatfield: Cantando 

flores; Raminsh: In the Night We Shall Go In; 

Scandinavian folk song Who Can Sail (arr. 

Fraser); This is My Song (a setting of Finlandia); 

French renaissance song Quand je 

bois; and others. Laurie Evan Fraser, conductor. 

Guests: Junior Choir of Montrose 

Public School (Susan Wieler, conductor); 

Cantemos Latin Ensemble. Grace Church onthe-Hill, 

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416 256-0510. $25; 

free(child and teens with adult). 


Suba Sankaran 


Global Voices. Little Trinity Anglican 

Church, 425 King St. E. 1-866-908-9090. 

$60(weekend pass); $40(day pass); 

$20(concert/workshop). 

●●2:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Peter 

and the Wolf. Suppé: Overture to Light Cavalry; 

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Op.67. 

Magic Circle Mime Company; Dina Gilbert, 


416-598-3375. $20.50-$32.75. Also at 4:00. 

1:30: Pre-concert performance in the lobby. 

●●2:30: Onstage Productions. Spring Fling 

2. Broadway, jazz and popular music. Solo, 

ensemble, choir and jazz combo works. 

Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Dr. 

647-479-8624. $20. Also at 8:00. 


Peter and the Wolf. Suppé: Overture to Light 

Cavalry; Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Op.67. 

Magic Circle Mime Company; Dina Gilbert, 


416-598-3375. $20.50-$32.75. Also at 2:00. 

3:30: Pre-concert performance in the lobby. 


II. See May 1. Start times vary. 

●●6:00: North Toronto Collegiate Institute. 

Maytime Fundraising Gala. Mozart: Requiem. 

Emily D’Angelo, mezzo; Emma Hannan, soprano; 

Cian Horrobin, tenor; Nicholas Borg, 

bass; North Toronto Choral Ensemble; North 

Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 17 Broadway 

Ave. 416-393-9180 x20100. $25. Includes dessert 

and refreshments. Donations welcomed. 


●●7:00: Toronto Tabla Ensemble. 25 Year 

Anniversary Concert. Ritesh Das, artistic director. 

Guests: Toronto Tabla Youth Ensemble. 

Brigantine Room, Harbourfront Centre, 

235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000 x1. $25. 

Also May 15(mat). 

●●7:30: Bach Children’s Chorus/Bach Chamber 

Youth Choir. Song of the Wanderer: A 

BCC and BCYC Spring Celebration. Works 

by Mendelssohn, Rodgers & Hammerstein; 

other works. Linda Beaupré, artistic director; 

Eleanor Daley, piano; Guest: Yellowknife 

Youth Choir. Toronto Centre for the Arts, 

5040 Yonge St., North York. 416-431-0790. 

$35-$40. 

●●7:30: Brampton Chamber Music Concert 

Series. In Concert. J.S. Bach: complete inventions 

and sinfonias. Penny Johnson, piano. St. 

Paul’s United Church (Brampton), 30 Main St. 

S., Brampton. 905-450-9220. PWYC. 

●●7:30: Living Room Project. House Concert. 

Music for soprano and piano. Schumann: 

Lieder der Mignon and other art songs. Allison 

Angelo, soprano; Markéta Ornova, piano. 

Private home, 630 Budgeon Common, Burlington. 

647-909-5466. $15; $10(st). Reservations 

required. 

●●7:30: Opus 8 A Capella Vocal Ensemble. A 

Light in the Darkness. Works by Gesualdo, 

Palestrina, Vaughan Williams, Britten and 

others. St. James Cathedral, 65 Church St. 

416-821-7286. Free. 

●●7:30: Tallis Choir. Our Good Wills: The 

World of Shakespeare & Byrd. Byrd: Praise 

Our Lord; Te Deum-Great Service; Gaudeamus 

Omnes; Civitas Sancti Tui; Wedded to 

Will Is Witless; selections from plays by Johnson 

& Morley. Christopher Bagan, organ; 

Felix Deak, viola da gamba; Lucas Harris, lute; 

Peter Mahon, conductor. St. Patrick’s Catholic 

Church (Toronto), 131 McCaul St. 416-286- 

9798. $30; $25(sr); $10(st). 

●●7:30: Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir. 

20th Anniversary Gala Concert. Guest: 

Shannon Mercer, soprano. Christ Church 

Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 905-726-3341. 

$30/$25(adv). 

●●7:30: York Chamber Ensemble. Back to 

Bach. Bach: Magnificat; Suite No.3; Ich habe 

genug; Komm, Jesu, komm. Trinity Festival 

Chorus; Tapestry Chamber Choir. Trinity 

Anglican Church (Aurora), 79 Victoria St., 

Aurora. 905-727-6101. $20; $15(sr/st). Also 

May 29(mat; King City). 


Too Cozy. See May 12. Also May 17, 18, 20, 21. 

●●8:00: Art of Time Ensemble. Hawksley 

Workman: A Postmodern Cabaret. Hawksley 

Workman, vocals; Andrew Burashko, 

piano; Phil Dwyer, saxophone; Amy Laing, 

cello; Rob Piltch, guitar; Erika Raum, violin. 

Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 235 Queens 

Quay W. 416-973-4000. $25-$59. Also May 13. 

●●8:00: Canadian Sinfonietta. Moldovian 

Friends. Ciobanu: Moldova; Spatium Sonans 

for solo flute; Pepa: Katajjaq; Badian: Chamber 

Concerto for Horn and Percussion. Erika 

Crino, piano; Tim Francom, percussion; 

Joyce Lai, violin; Andras Weber, cello; Joseph 

Macerollo, accordion; Sinfonietta Winds. 

Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W. 416-357- 

1707. $35; $30(sr); $20(st). 

●●8:00: Georgetown Bach Chorale. Vivaldi’s 

Four Seasons. Vivaldi: Four Seasons; Handel: 

Coronation Anthems; Bach: Cantatas 41 

and 130. Edwin Huizinga, violin. Knox Presbyterian 

Church (Georgetown), 116 Main St. S., 

Georgetown. 905-877-7915. $35; $10(st). 

●●8:00: Greater Toronto Philharmonic 

Orchestra. Jazzy. Bernstein: West Side Story; 

Gershwin: Porgy and Bess; Goodman: Sing 

Sing, medleys for clarinet & orchestra; Copland: 

Hoedown from Rodeo; An Outdoor Overture; 

Maxime Goulet: Fishing Story. Kornel 

Wolak, clarinet; Jean-Michel Malouf, conductor. 

Calvin Presbyterian Church, 26 Delisle 

Ave. 647-238-0015. $25; $20(sr/st). 

●●8:00: Music Gallery. Vicky Chow Plays Surface 

Image by Tristan Perich and Klondike. 

197 John St. 416-204-1080. $25/$20(adv); 

$15(members); $10(st). 

●●8:00: Oakville Symphony Orchestra. Mediterranean 

Cruise: Music of France, Spain and 

Italy. Lalo: Symphonie espagnole; M. Goulet: 

Chocolats symphoniques; Stravinsky: Berceuse; 

Finale (from L’Oiseau de feu); Granados: 

Intermezzo (from Goyescas); Donizetti: 

Norina’s Aria (from Don Pasquale). Guests: 

Irina Muresanu, violin; Clodagh Green, 

soprano. Oakville Centre for the Performing 

Arts, 130 Navy St., Oakville. 905-815-2021 or 

888-489-7784. $54; $49(sr); $26(st/child). 

Also May 15(mat). 

●●8:00: Onstage Productions. Spring Fling 

2. Broadway, jazz and popular music. Solo, 

ensemble, choir and jazz combo works. 

Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Dr. 

647-479-8624. $20. Also at 2:30. 

BACH CHILDREN’S CHORUS 

BACH CHAMBER YOUTH CHOIR 

Linda Beaupré, Conductor 

Eleanor Daley, Pianist 


The Nylons. Farewell Concert. Jane 

Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for 

the Arts, 27 Front St. E. 1-866-908-9090. 

$99(VIP); $58.50. 

SATURDAY MAY 14, 2016 

AT 7:30PM 

$40 and $35 at the Toronto Centre box office 

or TicketMaster at 1-855-985-2787 (ARTS) 

Toronto Centre for the Arts 5040 Yonge Street 

Photo by Flickr user Richard Walker 

Used under Creative Commons licence 

Design by David Kopulos www.davidkopulos.com 

facebook.com/BCCandBCYC bachchildrenschorus.ca 


●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. Katrina Ten 

Years On: Marcus Roberts and The Modern 

Jazz Generation. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $40 and up. 

Also at 4:00. 


Happy Together. Gala Concert. East York 

Barbershoppers. Guest: Main Street Quartet. 

Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 416- 

694-6900. $25. 

●●8:00: St. Jude’s Church. Celebration of the 

Arts: St. Jude’s Choir In Concert. Featuring 

Haydn’s Little Organ Mass and other choral 

works of the great masters. St. Jude’s Senior 

Choir; Simon Walker, director of music. St. 

Jude’s Anglican Church, 160 William St., Oakville. 

905-844-3972. $30. 

●●8:30: Cadillac Lounge. Sarah McCoy’s 

Toronto Debut. 1296 Queen St. W. 416-536- 

7717. $15. 


●●1:00: Haley Marie. An Evening in Paris. 

Debussy: Six Epigraphes sur Bilitis (excerpts); 

Widor: Suite for Flute and Piano Op.34 

(excerpts); Fauré: Fantaisie; Ravel: Vocalise-étude 

en forme de Habanera; Saint- 

Saëns: Romance; Satie: Trois gymnopédies 

(excerpts). Haley Marie, flute. Hart House, 

Debates Room, 7 Hart House Circle. 647-892- 

8251. PWYC. 


Trip the Light Fantastic. A cappella 

and dance. Dancemakers Studio, Distillery 

Historic District, 9 Trinity St. 1-866-908- 

9090. $60(weekend pass); $40(day pass); 

$20(concert/workshop). 


●●2:00: Caledon Concert Band. Heroes from 

Fantasy and History. Guardians of the Galaxy; 

Star Trek Into Darkness; Dr. Who; Olympic 

Fanfare; Pirates of the Caribbean. Caledon 

East Community Complex, 6215 Old Church 

Rd., Caledon East. 416-276-7852. $12; $10(sr/ 

st); free(under13). Fan costume contest; 

refreshments. 


See May 4. 

●●2:00: Oakville Symphony Orchestra. Mediterranean 

Cruise: Music of France, Spain and 

Italy. Lalo: Symphonie espagnole; M. Goulet: 

TORONTO CLASSICAL 

SINGERS 

presents 

Giacomo Puccini 

Soloists: 

Lesley Bouza, soprano 

Danielle MacMillan, mezzo soprano 

Christopher Mayell, tenor 

Michael Nyby, baritone 

Sunday May 15, 2016 at 4 pm 

Christ Church Deer Park 

1570 Yonge Street, at Heath St. W. 

www.torontoclassicalsingers.ca 

The Rainbows 

MESSA DI 

GLORIA, 

AND MUSIC FROM 

THE WORLD 

OF OPERA 

The Talisker Players Orchestra 

Jurgen Petrenko, conductor 

Tickets $30 Adult; 

$25 Senior/Student 

Chocolats symphoniques; Stravinsky: Berceuse; 

Finale (from L’Oiseau de feu); Granados: Intermezzo 

(from Goyescas); Donizetti: Norina’s Aria 

(from Don Pasquale). Guests: Irina Muresanu, 

violin; Clodagh Green, soprano. Oakville Centre 

for the Performing Arts, 130 Navy St., Oakville. 

905-815-2021 or 888-489-7784. $54; $49(sr); 

$26(st/child). Also May 14(eve). 

●●3:00: Maria Dolnycky. Idyllic Spring: A 

Musical Journey to Eastern Europe. Works by 

Lysenko, Petrovics, Bartók, Kolodub, Dvořák 

and others. Izabella Budai, flute; Maria Dolnycky, 

piano. Hart House, East Common 

Room, 7 Hart House Circle. 416-621-9287. $20; 

$10(st/child). 


Shostakovich Symphony 13. Mozart: Violin 

Concerto No.5 K219 “Turkish”; Shostakovich: 

Symphony No.13 “Babi Yar”. Julian Rachlin, 

violin; Petr Migunov, bass; Basses of the 

Elmer Iseler Singers and the Amadeus Choir; 

Andrey Boreyko, conductor. George Weston 

Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 1-855-985-2787. 

$44.25-$100.50. Also May 13(7:30). 

Infinite Variety May 15 

●●3:00: Windermere String Quartet. Infinite 

Variety. Arriaga: Theme and Variations; 

Haydn: Quartet in D Op.20 No.4; Schubert: 

Quartet in d D810 “Death and the Maiden”. St. 

Olave’s Anglican Church, 360 Windermere 

Ave. 416-769-0952. $25, $20(sr); $10(st). On 

period instruments. 

●●3:00: Toronto Tabla Ensemble. 25 Year 

Anniversary Concert. Ritesh Das, artistic director. 

Guests: Toronto Tabla Youth Ensemble. 

Brigantine Room, Harbourfront Centre, 

235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000 x1. $25. 

Also May 14(eve). 

●●3:30: Rex Hotel Jazz and Blues Bar. Beverly 

Taft Quartet. Music by Jobim, Hiltz and Taft, 

Kern, Lyra and others. Beverly Taft, vocals; 

Dave Restivo, piano; Neil Swainson, upright 

bass; Morgan Childs, drums. 194 Queen St. W. 

416-598-2475. PWYC ($10 suggested). 

●●3:30: Wychwood Clarinet Choir. Sounds 

of Spring. Cable: McIntyre Ranch; Schreiner: 

Immer Kleiner; Holst (arr. Matt Johnson): 

First Suite in E-flat: Debussy (arr. Roy 

Greaves): Arabesque. Michele Jacot, solo 

clarinet and director. Church of St. Michael 

and All Angels, 611 St. Clair Ave. W. 647-668- 

8943. $20; $10(sr); $5(st/child). 


Organ Recitals. TBC. 65 Church St. 416-364- 

7865. Free. 

●●4:00: St. Phillip’s Anglican Church. Jazz 

Vespers: Robi Botos, Solo. All Saints Kingsway 

Anglican Church, 2850 Bloor St. W. 416-247- 

5181. Freewill offering. 

●●4:00: Susan Spier/Catherine Maguire. In 

Recital. Works by Schumann, Mendelssohn 

and Brahms. Susan Spier, violin; Catherine 

Maguire, piano. Varley Art Gallery, 216 Main 

St., Unionville. 905-477-7000 (directions 

only). $20 (cash at door). 

●●4:00: Toronto Classical Singers. Puccini’s 

Messa di Gloria. Puccini: Messa di Gloria; 

and other operatic works. Lesley Bouza, soprano; 

Danielle MacMillan, mezzo; Christopher 

Mayell, tenor; Michael Nyby, baritone; Talisker 

Players Orchestra; Jurgen Petrenko, conductor. 

Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge 

St. 416-443-1490. $30; $25(sr/st). 

●●4:00: University Settlement Music & Arts 

School. Chamber Program Student Concert. 

Works by Mendelssohn, Spohr, Ravel 

and others. St. George the Martyr Church, 

197 John St. 416-598-3444 x243/244. PWYC; 

donations welcomed. 

●●7:00: Jazz Bistro. Brenda Lewis Jazz Trio. 


Brenda Lewis, vocals; Margaret Stowe, guitar; 

Rosemary Galloway, bass. 251 Victoria St. 

416-363-5299. $15. 

●●8:00: Roy Thomson Hall/Aga Khan 

Museum. Abida Parveen. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $50-$175. 

●●8:00: That Choir. Horizons. Knauf: Gloria; 

Memley: Ave Maria; Whitacre: Alleluia; Ray: 

Disney Fly Medley; Allan: Dance of the Mayflies. 

Church of the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Sq. 

416-419-1756. $10. 



Mondays: The Power of Two - Double Concertos 

for Flutes. Concertos by Telemann, Doppler 

and Zyman. Flautas del Fuego (Alhelí Pimienta 

and Izabella Budai, flutes); Michael Berkovsky, 

piano. 10 Trinity Sq. 416-598-4521. PWYC. 

2, 3 AND 4 


Robert Schumann 

Ernst von Dohnányi 

Sergei Prokofiev 

www.associates-tso.org 

●●7:30: Associates of the Toronto Symphony 

Orchestra. 2, 3 and 4. Schumann: Fantasiestücke 

for cello and piano Op.73; Dohnányi: 

Serenade in C for string trio Op.10; Prokofiev: 

Sonata for two violins in C Op.56; Schumann: 

Piano Quartet in E-flat Op.47. Jonathan Crow, 

violin; Shane Kim, violin; Theresa Rudolph, 

viola; Joseph Johnson, cello; Angela Park, 


W. 416-282-6636. $20; $17(sr/st). 

Sounds 

Spring 

SUNDAY, MAY 15 | 3:30 P.M. 

Featuring Red Rosey Bush 

and Windsong by WCC’s late 

Composer and Conductor 

Laureate Howard Cable, 

and Immer Kleiner 

by Adolf Schreiner. 

Church of St. Michael and All Angels 

611 St. Clair Ave, W. 

TICKETS $5-$20 at the door 

WYCHWOODCLARINETCHOIR.COM 


●●10:00am: 2016 WeeFestival. Nest. Works 

by Hanne Deneire of Theater de Spiegel 

(Belgium). Inez Carsauw, vocals; Astrid 

Bossuyt, violin. Tarragon Theatre Extra 

Space, 30 Bridgman Ave. 416-537-4191. $10; 

$10(child). For children 6 mths. to 3 yrs. Also 

May 18, 19, 21(am/mat), 22. 


Vocal Series: Les Adieux - Moonlit Night. Britten: 

Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings; 

Ravel: Shéhérazade; and other works. Karine 

Boucher, soprano; Andrew Haji, tenor; artists 

of the COC Ensemble Studio. Richard Bradshaw 

Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for 

the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416- 

363-8231. Free. Late seating is not available. 



Chamber Music. Trio Estonia: Arvo Leibur, 

violin; Aare Tammesalu, cello; Norman 

Reintamm, piano. Yorkminster Park Baptist 

Church, 1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. Free. 

Donations welcome. 


Organ Recitals. Alastair Williams, organ. 

65 Church St. 416-364-7865. Free. 


Too Cozy. See May 12. Also May 18, 20, 21. 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Music 

of John Williams. Music from E.T. the Extra- 

Terrestrial, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Schindler’s 

List, and other films. Steve Reineke, conductor. 

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416- 

598-3375. $33.75-$107. Also May 18(2:00 

and 8:00). 

●●8:30: Hugh’s Room. Tony Furtado. 

2261 Dundas St. W. 416-531-6604. 

$20/$15(adv). 

●●9:00: Burdock. Steve Dawson. Album 

launch: Solid States and Loose Ends. 

1184 Bloor St. W. 416-546-4033. $15/$12(adv). 










Chamber Music Series: 2016 Festival Preview. 

Sneak preview of Toronto Summer 

Music Festival. Schubert: Rosamunde Quartet; 

Webern: Langsamer Satz with Axel 

Strauss and Toronto Summer Music Academy 

alumni Joshua Peters and Marc Labranche. 

Douglas McNabney, conductor. Richard Bradshaw 

Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for 

the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416- 

363-8231. Free. Late seating is not available. 


William Maddox, Organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416- 

922-1167. Free. 




List, and other films. Steve Reineke, 


416-598-3375. $33.75-$107. Also May 17 and 

18(eves). 

●●7:30: Free Times Cafe. 60’s Folk Revival 

- Where have all the folk songs gone. Singalong 

tribute to the songs of the 60’s. If I Had 

A Hammer; Walk Right In; Turn Turn Turn; 

Tom Dooley; Five Hundred Miles; and other 

songs. Sue Peters, vocals and guitar; Dwight 

Peters, vocals, guitars, piano, and accordion; 

Michelle Rumball, vocals; Tony Laviola, bass. 

320 College St. 416-967-1078. $10(cover). Call 

for dinner reservation. 

●●7:30: Toronto Choral Society. In the City: 

A Celebration of Toronto. Brian Finley: In 

the City; Eleanor Daley: In Remembrance; 

Jón Leif: Requiem; and a work by R. Murray 

Schafer. Geoffrey Butler, conductor; William 

O’Meara, accompanist. Eastminster United 

Church, 310 Danforth Ave. 416-463-2179. $21. 


Too Cozy. See May 12. Also May 20, 21. 




List, and other films. Steve Reineke, 


416-598-3375. $33.75-$107. Also May 17 and 

18(2:00). 

●●9:00 and 10:15: Mezzetta Restaurant. 

Wednesday Concert Series. Rebecca Enkin, 

vocals; Mark Kieswetter, piano. 681 St. Clair 

Ave. W. 416-658-5687. $10 cover. Reservations 

recommended. 









●●12:15: Metropolitan United Church. Noon at 

Met. Janet Obermeyer, soprano; Robert Bruce, 

piano. Metropolitan United Church (Toronto), 

56 Queen St. E. 416-363-0331 x26. Free. 

●●2:00: Orchardviewers. In Concert. 

Masterclass Players. Northern District Public 

Library, Room 224, 40 Orchard View Blvd. 

416-393-7610. Free. 

●●7:30: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. What 

Makes It Great?®: Dvořák Symphony 8. Rob 

Kapilow, conductor/host. Roy Thomson Hall, 

60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. $34.75-$83.75. 

●●8:00: junctQín keyboard collective. Tomi 

Räisänen: A Portrait. Räisänen: Falls for 

piano six hands (world premiere); Superdodecaphonium 

for solo piano (world 

THE TORONTO 

CHORAL SOCIETY 

P R E S E N T S 

premiere); Balloon Work for guitar and balloons; 

Forged for solo guitar; Dreamgate for 

two toy pianos and tape. Rob MacDonald, guitar; 

Heidi Saario, Stephanie Chua and Joseph 

Ferretti, pianos; Elaine Lau, piano/toy piano. 

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-532- 

1539. $25/$20(adv); $20(sr/st/arts worker). 

In the City: A Celebration of Toronto 

Eastminster United Church 

310 Danforth Avenue 

(between Broadview and Chester) 

Tickets $21 


TALES OF 

TWO CITIES: 


COFFEE HOUSE 

May 19-22 

Koerner Hall 

416.408.0208 


●●8:00: Tafelmusik. Tales of Two Cities: The 

Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House. Multimedia 

event that explores the cities of Leipzig 

and Damascus through baroque and Arabic 

music. Alon Nashman, narrator; Trio Arabica: 

Maryem Tollar, narrator and vocals; Naghmeh 

Farahmand, percussion; Demetri Petsalakis, 

oud; Jeanne Lamon, conductor. Koerner Hall, 

Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. 

$48-$109; $38-$91(sr); $26-$91(35 & under). 

Also May 20, 21, 22(mat), 24(George Weston). 


●●10:00am: 2016 WeeFestival. Hup. Original 

works created in association with the Royal 

Scottish National Orchestra. Starcatchers 

Quartet. Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen St. W. 

416-537-4191. $10; $10(child). For 0–24 month 

olds and their grown-ups. Stay and play follows. 

Also 2:30; May 21, 22. 

Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 7:30 p.m. 

Conductor: Geoffrey Butler 

Accompanist: William O’Meara 



Recital. Jenni Cook, soprano; Lisa Millar, 

piano. St. Andrew’s Church, 73 Simcoe St. 

416-593-5600 x231. Free. 





427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC. 


●●2:30: 2016 WeeFestival. Hup. Original 






Also 10am; May 21, 22. 


Too Cozy. See May 12. Also May 21. 

●●8:00: Grace Church on-the-Hill. Stereo 

Live @ Grace Church. Schubert: Double Cello 

Quintet. Edwin Huizinga, Marc Destrube, 

Thomas Wiebe, Elinor Frey and Keith Hamm. 

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-488-7884. By donation 

($20 suggested). 

●●8:00: Small World Music Centre. Avataar. 

Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw St. 416-536- 

5439. $20. 


Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House. See May 19. 

Also May 21, 22(mat), 24(George Weston). 

Saturday May 21 







Also 2:30; May 20, 22. 







4:00; May 17, 18, 19, 22. 

●●12:30: World Fiddle Day Toronto. Concert. 

Rosalyn Dennett, Appalachian fiddle; Dan Mac- 

Donald, Cape Breton fiddle; Mark Marczyk, 


Ukrainian fiddle; Yosvani Castañeda, Latin violin. 

Fort York National Historic Site, Blue Barracks, 

250 Fort York Blvd. 647-217-4620. Free. 

Around the World Jam follows at 2:30. 







Also 10am; May 20, 22. 

●●4:00: 2016 WeeFestival. Nest. Works by 

Hanne Deneire of Theater de Spiegel (Belgium). 

Inez Carsauw, vocals; Astrid Bossuyt, 

violin. Tarragon Theatre Extra Space, 

30 Bridgman Ave. 416-537-4191. $10; 


10am; May 17, 18, 19, 22. 

●●7:30: Jazz Performance and Education 

Centre. Ernie Watts Quintet. Opening set: 

Rich Brown and The Abeng (Rich Brown, electric 

bass; Luis Deniz, alto saxophone; Andrew 

McAnsh, trumpet; James Hill, piano; Mark 

Kelso; drums). George Weston Recital Hall, 

5040 Yonge St. 416-733-9388. $48(adv). 


Too Cozy. See May 12. 



Also May 22(mat), 24(George Weston). 








Also 2:30; May 20, 21. 







May 17, 18, 19, 21(am/mat). 







Also 10am; May 20, 21. 

●●2:30: Berkovsky and Chow. Tango and Jazz 

Nuevo. Piazzolla: Four Seasons of Buenos 

Aires; Oblivion; Gardel: Por Una Cabeza; Bolling: 

Suite for Violin; Jazz Piano Trio. Conrad 

Chow, violin; Andrew Ascenzo, cello; Michael 

Berkovsky, piano; Anjelica Scannura, dancer; 

Damian Norman, dancer. George Weston 

Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 1-855-985-2787. 

$65; $42(sr); $31(st). 



Also May 24(George Weston). 


Organ Recitals. David Briggs, organ. 

65 Church St. 416-364-7865. Free. 

●●6:00: 120 Diner. Joel Sheridan: Broadway 

& Beyond. Songs from the Great American 

Songbook. Joel Sheridan, vocals; Richard 

Whiteman, accompanist. 120 Church St. 416- 

792-7725. $10-$20. 



Mondays: Mary Kenedi and Friends. Schubert: 

Piano Quintet in A D667 “Trout”. Mary 

Kenedi, piano; Valerie Sylvester, violin; Sheila 

Smyth, viola; Susan Naccache, cello; Neal 

Evans, double bass. 10 Trinity Sq. 416-598- 

4521. PWYC. 




Chamber Music. Christopher James, 

flute; Aaron James, piano. Yorkminster Park 

Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. 

Free. Donations welcome. 



65 Church St. 416-364-7865. Free. 

●●8:00: Gallery 345/Continuum Contemporary 

Music. Enliven the Ma. Ma - the tension 

between silence and sound. Featuring 

late 20th-century masterworks, traditional 

works and a premiere by Max de Wardener 

plus film installations by artists Rebecca 

Salter and David Anthony Hall. Okeanos. 

Gallery 345, 345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781. 

$25. Includes pre-concert film at 7:30. 


Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House. George 

Weston Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. 1-855- 

985-2787. $37-$79; $32-$71(sr); $15-$70(35 & 

under). See May 19 (Koerner Hall). 

●●8:00: TorQ Percussion Quartet. Conversations: 

New Music for Percussion Inspired by 

Dialogues. Andrew Staniland: Action Strikes; 

Time Travels Light; Robin Engelman: Remembrance; 

Members of TorQ: Conversations 

(world premiere). TorQ Percussion Quartet; 

Guests: Ray Dillard, percussion; Steven 

Butterworth and Larry Shields, trombones; 

Ira Zingraff, trumpet. 918 Bathurst Centre, 

918 Bathurst St. 416-788-8272. $20; $15(sr/ 

arts worker); $10(st). 



Andrew Adair, Organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-922- 

1167. Free. 

TALES OF 

TWO CITIES: 


COFFEE HOUSE 


Toronto Centre for the Arts 

1.855.985.2787 


AN ALPINE 

SYMPHONY 

SIR ANDREW DAVIS, 

CONDUCTOR 

MAY 25, 26 & 28 | TSO.CA 

●●6:30: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An 

Alpine Symphony. R. Strauss: An Alpine Symphony. 

Tom Allen, host; Sir Andrew Davis, 


416-598-3375. $29.50-$83.75. 

●●7:30: Toronto Choristers. Spring Concert. 

Works from various musical genres. 

Sir John A. MacDonald Collegiate Institute, 

2300 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough. 




647-693-4671. $15. 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory. 21C Music Festival: 

Kronos Quartet. Lizée: The Golden Age 

of the Radiophonic Workshop (Fibre-Optic 

Flowers); Applebaum: Darmstadt Kindergarten; 

Ali-Zadeh: Regs (Dance); Tagaq: Snow 

Angel (world premiere); Sivunittinni (The 

future children) (world premiere); Tagaq/ 

Kronos Quartet: Nunavut; and other works. 

Guest: Tanya Tagaq. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $21-$90. 

Post-concert talk. Festival runs May 25-29; 

start times vary. 


Concert Series. Sundar, woodwinds/ 

vocals; Roy Patterson, guitar. 681 St. Clair Ave. 

W. 416-658-5687. $10 cover. Reservations 

recommended. 



at Met. Joey Jang, tenor. Metropolitan United 

Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-363- 

0331 x26. Free. 

●●7:30: Canadian Music Centre. Julia Den 

Boer. Harman: new work (premiere). Julia 

Den Boer, piano. 20 St. Joseph St. 416-961- 

6601 x202. $20; $15(members/arts workers). 

●●8:00: Continuum Contemporary Music. 

21C Music Festival: Japan: NEXT. Oesterle: 

Look on Glass (world premiere); Tsurumoto: 

new work (world premiere); works by 

Fujikura, Kiyama, and Mochizuki. Ryan Scott, 

curator; Brian Current, conductor. Guest: 

Okeanos. Mazzoleni Concert Hall, Royal Conservatory, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. 

$21. 7:15: pre-concert talk. Festival runs 

May 25-29; start times vary. 

●●8:00: Music Gallery. Emergents IV: Kiri 

Koto Ensemble and Boomwhackers. Ben 

Dietschi, curator. 197 John St. 416-204-1080. 

$12; $8(members). 


Brad Mehldau – Solo Piano. Mehldau: 

Three Pieces After Bach; Bach: The Well- 

Tempered Clavier (selections; arr. Mehldau). 

Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor 

St. W. 416-408-0208. $21-$75. Festival runs 



Alpine Symphony. Ives: Decoration Day from 

New England Holidays; Janáček: Taras Bulba; 

Elgar: Sospiri; R. Strauss: An Alpine Symphony. 

Sir Andrew Davis, conductor. Roy 

Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. 

$33.75-$148. 6:45: Pre-concert performance 

by The TSO Chamber Soloists. Also May 28. 



Recital. Lynne Li, piano; Andrew Fu, piano. 

St. Andrew’s Church, 73 Simcoe St. 416-593- 

5600 x231. Free. 





427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC. 


●●7:00: Trio Arkel. Europa! Works by Hummel, 

Kodaly, Cras and Penderecki. Guest: Yao 

Guang Zhai, clarinet. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 

Jeanne Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. W. 416-409- 

6824. $30; $15(st). Cash payment at the door. 

6:45: pre-concert talk. 

●●7:30: Milton Song Spinners Chorus. Generations 

in Harmony. Milton Song Spinners 

Seniors Chorus. Guests: Milton Show Choir 

for Youth. Milton Seniors’ Activity Centre, 

500 Childs Drive, Milton. 905-875-1681. $10. 

●●8:00: Etobicoke Community Concert Band. 

Summer Prelude. Memories of the Summer 

of Love at Woodstock, Big Band and Latin 

music. Works by Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington 

and others. With prize-winning students 

on alto sax and clarinet. Etobicoke Collegiate 

Auditorium, 86 Montgomery Rd., Etobicoke. 

416-410-1570. $15; free(children under 12). 

●●8:00: Exultate Chamber Singers. Stories 

of Peace and Justice. Bach: Dona Nobis 

Pacem; Togni: Ave Verum; Lang: L’Agneau de 

Dieu; Watson Henderson: To Everything There 

Is a Season; Martin: Mass for double choir; 

and other works. Guests: Da Capo Chamber 

Choir (Leonard Enns, conductor). St. Thomas’s 

Anglican Church (Toronto), 383 Huron St. 

416-971-9229. $25; $20(sr); $10(st). 

●●8:00: Four Centuries of Bach. First Annual 

Toronto Bach Festival: Cantata Concert. 

Bach: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen BWV12; 

Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV147a; 

and other works. Ellen McAteer, soprano; 

Daniel Taylor, alto; Lawrence Wiliford, tenor. 

St. Barnabas Anglican Church, 361 Danforth 

Ave. 416-463-1344. $30; $25(sr); $20(st). Festival 

runs May 27-29. 

●●8:00: Greater Toronto Philharmonic 

Orchestra. Latin Night. Ravel: Bolero; Copland: 

An Outdoor Overture; and other works. 

Robert Michaels, guitar/vocals. Mel Lastman 

Square, 5100 Yonge St., North York. 647-238- 

0015. Free. 

The Harmony 

Singers 

Good 

Times! 

May 27 th & 28 th 

8pm 

theharmonysingers@ 

ca.inter.net 


●●8:00: Harmony Singers. Good Times! Hallelujah, 

Circle of Life, Music When Soft Voices 

Die, Someone To Watch Over Me and other 

songs. Harvey Patterson, conductor; Bruce 

Harvey, piano. Guest: Emma Burke-Kleinman. 

Martin Grove United Church, 75 Pergola 

Rd., Etobicoke. 416-239-5821. $20; $15(sr/st); 

free(under 10). Also May 28. Refreshments 

and door prizes. 

●●8:00: Ontario Pops Orchestra. The Proms. 

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture; Finale from Pirates 

of the Caribbean; Verdi: La Donna e 

Mobile; Puccini: O Mio Babbino Caro; Lloyd 

Webber: Concert Celebration. Daevyd Pepper, 

tenor; Jessica Scarlato, soprano; Humber 

Valley United Church Choir; Ontario Pops 

Orchestra. Humber Valley United Church, 

76 Anglesey Blvd., Etobicoke. 416-543-9891. 

$20. 7:00: Silent auction. Formal evening 

attire encouraged. 


21C After Hours - Blackout. Oswald: 

four new works (world premieres). Element 

Choir; Radiant Brass Ensemble; and others. 

Conservatory Theatre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416- 

408-0208. $21. ADDITIONAL CONCERT. Performed 

in the dark. Festival runs May 25-29; 

start times vary. 

●●8:00: Toronto Masque Theatre. The Fairy 

Queen. A contemporary take on Purcell’s 

Stories of 

Peace & Justice 

Friday, May 27th, 2016, 8pm 

Works by Bach, Fauré, 

Gjeilo, Henderson, 

Lang and special guests: 

DaCapo Chamber 

Choir in the Kyrie 

and Gloria from Frank 

Martin’s Mass 

383 Huron Street, Toronto 

416-971-9229 

www.exultate.net 


VISIT US AT SPO.CA 


By Henry Purcell 


●●3:00: Array Music. Array Music Young 

Composers’ Workshop Concert 2016. New 

works for clarinet, violin, piano and percussion. 

Array Space, 155 Walnut Ave. 416-532- 

3019. $10-$15. 

MANY FACES OF 

STRING PLAYING 

MAY 28, 2016, 8 P.M. 

SALVATION ARMY SCARBOROUGH CITADEL 

2021 LAWRENCE AVENUE EAST (AT WARDEN) 

TICKETS: AT THE DOOR OR ONLINE; EMAIL SPO@SPO.CA OR PHONE 416 429-0007 

DENIS MASTROMONACO 

MUSIC DIRECTOR & 

C O N D U C T O R 

MSOMasterwks 

IN COLLABORATION 

WITH 

The Arts & 

Letters Club 

27-29 May 

416.410.4561 

piece. Juliet Beckwith, Vania Chan, Charlotte 

Knight and Janelle Lapalme, sopranos; baroque 

ensemble; Larry Beckwith, violin/artistic 

director; Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, director/choreographer; 

and others. Arts and 

Letters Club, 14 Elm St. 416-410-4561. $50; 

$43(sr); $20(30 and under). Also May 28, 29. 

7:15: Pre-performance chat. 

●●10:30: Royal Conservatory. 21C 

Music Festival: 21C After Hours - Blackout. 

Oswald: four new works (world premieres). 

Element Choir; Radiant Brass 

Ensemble; and others. Conservatory Theatre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. SOLD 

OUT; additional 8pm performance added. 

Performed in the dark. Festival runs 




Toronto Bach Festival: Organ Recital. Bach: 

Toccata and Fugue in d BWV 565 and other 

works. Philip Fournier, organ. Oratory of St. 

Philip Neri, 1372 King St. W. 416-463-1344. 

$30; $25(sr); $20(st). Festival runs May 27-29. 

Cathedral Bluffs 

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 

Norman Reintamm 

Artistic Director/Principal Conductor 


Cinq à Sept. Pidgorna: Drown in the 

Depth (world premiere); Bridal Train; Sharman: 

Notes on “Beautiful” (Toronto premiere); 

new work (Toronto premiere); In Deepening 

Light; and other works. Barry Shiffman, violin; 

Jeanie Chung, piano; and others. Conservatory 

Theatre, 273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $21; 

$10(with purchase of ticket to eve concert). 

Festival runs May 25-29; start times vary. 

●●7:30: Brampton Folk Club. Annual Showcase 

Concert. St. Paul’s United Church 

(Brampton), 30 Main St. S., Brampton. 647- 

233-3655. $15; $12(sr/st). 

●●7:30: St. Paul’s Anglican Church. Contrasts. 

Handel: Sonata in b; Doppler: Fantaisie 

Pastorale Hongroise; Bartók: Suite Paysane 

Hongroise; Bach: Concerto in d; Barber: 

Canzone. Allan Pulker and Khrystyna Skira, 

flute; Pegah Yazdani, piano. 227 Church St., 

Saturday May 28, 2016 8 pm 

GLAZUNOV: Autumn (from The Seasons) 

The energetic final movement of Glazunov’s ballet, The Seasons 

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor 

Reflecting Tchaikovsky’s maturing outlook on life, this symphony starts out with sorrow 

but gradually transforms into a triumphant march 

MOZART: Overture to the Magic Flute 

SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT 5 | TICKETS: REGULAR – $34 adult $29 senior/student 

PREMIUM – $54 adult $44 senior/student (under age 12, free) 

P.C. HoTheatre 5183 Sheppard Ave E (1 block east of Markham Rd), Scarborough 

The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an 

agency of the Government of Ontario 

cathedralbluffs.com | 416.879.5566 


CONTRASTS 

Allan Pulker, 

with 

flute 

Pegah Yazdani, 

piano 

& special guest 

Khrystyna Skira, 

flute 

Sat., May 28 th at 7:30 pm 

227 Church St., Newmarket 

www.stpaulsnewmarket.org 

Newmarket. 905-853-7285. $15. Wine bar. 

●●7:30: North York Concert Band. Dancing 

and Romancing. Swing tunes, Latin music, 

show tunes and other music. Al Green Theatre, 

750 Spadina Ave. 416-802-6819. $15; 

$5(under 12). 

●●7:30: Silverthorn Symphonic Winds. 

Sounds of Spring. Works by Grainger, Bernstein, 

McBeth, Wagner, Vaughan Williams, 

Waller and Anderson. Wilmar Heights Centre, 

963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough. 416-301- 

5187. $20; $15(sr/st). 

●●8:00: Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. 

Subscription Concert #5. Glazunov: 

“Autumn” from the Seasons; Tchaikovsky: 

Symphony No.5 in e; Mozart: Overture to the 

Magic Flute. P.C. Ho Theatre, Chinese Cultural 

Centre of Greater Toronto, 5183 Sheppard 

Ave. E., Scarborough. 416-879-5566. $34; 

$29(sr/st); free(under 12). 7:15: Pre-concert 

talk. 

●●8:00: Harmony Singers. Good Times! Hallelujah, 

Circle of Life, Music When Soft Voices 

Die, Someone To Watch Over Me and other 

songs. Harvey Patterson, conductor; Bruce 

Harvey, piano. Guest: Emma Burke-Kleinman. 

Martin Grove United Church, 75 Pergola 

Rd., Etobicoke. 416-239-5821. $20; $15(sr/st); 

free(under 10). Also May 27. Refreshments 

and door prizes. 

●●8:00: Mississauga Symphony Orchestra. 

Beethoven! Beethoven: Symphony No.9. Soloists; 

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; Denis Mastromonaco, 

conductor. Hammerson Hall, 

Living Arts Centre, 4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga. 

905-306-6000. $20-$65. 

●●8:00: Royal Conservatory/Wavelength. 

21C Music Festival: Jherek Bischoff, Dawn of 

Midi, and The Visit. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 

273 Bloor St. W. 416-408-0208. $21-$50. 

Festival runs May 25-29; start times vary. 

●●8:00: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Many Faces of String Playing. Vaughan 

Williams: Fantasia On a Theme by Thomas Tallis; 

Scherzo, March and Reprise from Concerto 

Grosso; Holst: St. Paul’s Suite; Vivaldi: 

Summer from The Four Seasons; Alex Eddington 

and Ronald Royer: Fantasia on The Banks 

of Newfoundland (premiere); and other 

works. Strings of the Scarborough Philharmonic; 

Emma Meinrenken, violin (Young 

Artist); Dr. Draw, electric violin; Musicians, 

teachers and students of Sistema Toronto; 

Ronald Royer, conductor. Salvation Army 

Scarborough Citadel, 2021 Lawrence Ave. E., 

Scarborough. 416-429-0007. $30; $25(sr); 

$15(st); $10(child). 

●●8:00: Small World Music Centre. Strings 

Across Asia. Amely Zhou, erhu; Wendy Zhou, 

pipa; Mohammad Aman, tar; Ed Hanley, tabla; 

Dylan Bell, keyboard/bass. Artscape Youngplace, 

180 Shaw St. 416-536-5439. $20. 

●●8:00: Toronto Chamber Choir. The Sun Rises 

in the East. Works from Central and Eastern 

Europe by Mielczewski, Dolar, Dyletsky, Martinů, 

Pärt and others. Church of the Redeemer, 

162 Bloor St. W. 416-763-1695. $30; $25(sr); 

$12.50(under 30). 7:15: Opening Notes. 





The Arts & 

Letters Club 


416.410.4561 










Alpine Symphony. Ives: Decoration Day from 

New England Holidays; Janáček: Taras Bulba; 

Elgar: Sospiri; R. Strauss: An Alpine Symphony. 

Sir Andrew Davis, conductor. Roy 

Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-598-3375. 

$33.75-$148. Also May 26. 

●●8:10: Gordon Murray Presents. Piano 

Soirée: Maytime. A tribute to the music of 

Sigmund Romberg, arranged by G. Murray. 

Romberg: Will You Remember? (from Maytime); 

The Desert Song and One Alone (from 

The Desert Song); I Bring A Song Of Love and 

You Will Remember Vienna (from Viennese 

Nights); and other works. Gordon Murray, 


W. 416-631-4300. PWYC. Concert in chapel. 



●●9:30am and 11:15: Islington United Church. 

Cantata No. 172: Erschallet, ihr Lieder. A 

Pentecost cantata by J.S. Bach. Orchestra 

and Choir of Islington United Church. 

25 Burnhamthorpe Rd. 416-239-1131. By 

donation. 

●●2:00: Canzona Chamber Players. Schubert’s 

Answer to Beethoven. Beethoven: Septet 

in E-flat Op.20; Schubert: Octet in F D803. 

Jonathan Krehm, clarinet; Kristin Day, bassoon; 

Roslyn Black, horn; Csaba Koczó, violin; 

Sonia Shklarov, violin; Yosef Tamir, viola; Peter 

Cosbey, cello; Nick Davis, bass. St. Andrew 

by-the-Lake Anglican Church, Cibola Ave., 

Toronto Island. 416-822-0613. $20. 


Toronto Bach Festival: Chamber Music Concert. 

Sonatas and trios by J.S. Bach. Musicians 

of Four Centuries of Bach. St. Barnabas 

Anglican Church, 361 Danforth Ave. 416-463- 

1344. $30; $25(sr); $20(st). Festival runs 

May 27-29. 

●●2:30: Mississauga Pops Concert 

Band. First in Films: Movie Music. Colonel 

Bogey, Young Person’s Guide to John Williams, 

The Lion King, Robin Hood Prince 

of Thieves, Phantom of the Opera. Joseph 

Resendes, conductor. Eden United Church, 

3051 Battleford Rd., Mississauga. 905-824- 

5117. $10; $5(sr/st); free(child). 

●●3:00: Opera by Request. Handel’s Giulio 

Cesare. Norman E. Brown, baritone 

(Cesare); Hayley Swanton, soprano (Cleopatra); 

Heidi Jost, mezzo (Sesto); Jean-E Hudson, 

mezzo (Cornelia); Carole Portelance, 

mezzo (Tolomeo); and others; William Shookhoff, 

piano. College Street United Church, 

452 College St. 416-455-2365. $20. 

●●3:00: Roy Thomson Hall. Kathleen Battle 

- Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey. 

Kathleen Battle, soprano; mass choir. 

60 Simcoe St. 416-872-4255. $39.50-$129.50. 

●●3:00: Royal Conservatory/Wavelength. 

21C Music Festival: James Ehnes and Andrew 

Armstrong. Kernis: Two Movements (with 

Bells) (Canadian premiere); Braden: Magnetic 

North (Ontario premiere); Tovey: Stream of 

Limelight (Toronto premiere); Howard: 133 … 

At Least; Händel: Violin Sonata in D Op.1 No.13 

HWV371; Beethoven: “Spring” Sonata. James 

Ehnes, violin; Andrew Armstrong, piano. 

Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. 

416-408-0208. $21-$90. 2:15: pre-concert 

talk. Festival runs May 25-29; start times vary. 

Opera choruses by Beethoven, Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, and 

gems by Brahms, Buxtehude, Elgar, Fauré, Gounod, and Grieg. 


●●3:00: York Chamber Ensemble. Back to 

Bach. Bach: Magnificat; Suite No.3; Ich habe 

genug; Komm, Jesu, komm. Trinity Festival 

Chorus; Tapestry Chamber Choir. All Saints’ 

Anglican Church (King City), 12935 Keele St., 

King City. 905-833-5432. $20; $15(sr/st). 

Also May 14(eve; Aurora). 

●●3:30: Junction Trio. Pots ‘n’ Pans Season 

Finale! Guest: Lucas Tensen, cello; other 

guests; Junction Trio (Jamie Thompson, 

flute; Ivana Popovic, violin; Raphael Weinroth- 

Browne, cello). St. Anne’s Anglican Church, 

270 Gladstone Ave. 416-536-3160. PWYC. 

Refreshments. 

●●4:00: Canadian Croatian Choral Society. 

Preko Polja i Planina / From Fields and 

Highlands. Sacred, folk and contemporary 

repertoire in English, French, Croatian, 

Italian, German and Japanese. Edward J. 

Mavrinac, artistic director. Humber Valley 

United Church, 76 Anglesey Blvd., Etobicoke. 

416-234-9994. $25; $15(under 14). Also 

Jun 5(Oakville). 



65 Church St. 416-364-7865. Free. 

●●4:00: St. Phillip’s Anglican Church. Jazz 

Vespers: Eliana Cuevas Quartet. Eliana Cuevas, 

vocals; Jeremy Ledbetter, piano; George 

Koller, bass; Mark Kelso, drums. All Saints 

Kingsway Anglican Church, 2850 Bloor St. W. 

416-247-5181. Freewill offering. 

●●4:00: Toronto Singing Studio. Made in Canada, 

eh? Popular and folk songs by Canadian 

songwriters. Vivace Vox; Celebration Choir; 

Vocal Mosaic; Linda Eyman, conductor. Trinity-St. 


427 Bloor St. W. 416-455-9238. $15; $10(sr/ 

st). 

●●4:30: Christ Church Deer Park. Jazz Vespers. 

Rob Piltch, violin; Neil Swainson, piano; 

Brian Barlow, drums. 1570 Yonge St. 416-920- 

5211. Free. Donations welcome. 

●●5:00: Nocturnes in the City. Karolina 

Kubálek, piano. Works by Rachmaninoff, 

Mozart and Chopin. St. Wenceslaus 

Church, 496 Gladstone Ave. 416-481-7294. 

$25; $15(st). 

●●7:00: North Toronto Community Band. 

Spring Rhythms. Keli Schmidt, mallets percussion; 

Cindy Sloane, vocals; Danny Wilks, 

conductor. Crescent School, 2365 Bayview 

Ave. 416-481-1978. $20; free(10 and under). 

Silent auction, complimentary hors d’oeuvres, 

tea/coffee and dessert. 

●●7:30: Victoria Scholars. Those Great Composers. 

Works for men’s voices by Beethoven, 

Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Grieg, and others. 

Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 3055 Bloor St. 

W., Etobicoke. 416-761-7776. $30/$25(adv); 

$25(sr/st)/$20(sr/st - adv). 

●●8:00: Lula Lounge/Small World Music 

Centre. Mekaal Hassan and Haniya Aslam. 

Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588- 

0307. $30/$20(adv). 














The Arts & 

Letters Club 


416.410.4561 



Mondays: Ashes of Soldiers. Eatock: Ashes 

of Soldiers; works by Mahler and Vaughan 

Williams. Michael Westwood, clarinet; Kripa 

Nageshwar, soprano; Chad Heltzel, piano. 

10 Trinity Sq. 416-598-4521. PWYC. 

●●7:00: Toronto Chamber Players. Pirate 

Ship Series: Concert 1. Schubert: Cello Quintet; 

Arensky: Cello Quartet; selection of cello 

duos. VC2 (Amahl Arulanandam and Bryan 

Holt, cellos); Marcus Scholtes and Sharon 

Lee, violins. Pirate Life, Avenue of the Island, 

Centre Island. 416-828-5647. PWYC. Outdoor 

venue, weather permitting. 

●●7:30: Canzona Chamber Players. Schubert’s 

Answer to Beethoven. Beethoven: Septet 

in E-flat Op.20; Schubert: Octet in F D803. 

Jonathan Krehm, clarinet; Kristin Day, bassoon; 

Roslyn Black, horn; Csaba Koczó, violin; 

Sonia Shklarov, violin; Yosef Tamir, viola; 

Peter Cosbey, cello; Nick Davis, bass. St. 

George the Martyr Church, 197 John St. 416- 

822-0613. $20. 


●●12:00 noon: Members of the Arts and Science 

Community and Guests. Performing 

Arts for Haiti. Including works by Mozart 

and Vaughan Williams; also jazz, dance and 

drama. Sam Broverman, vocalist; David Roth, 

baritone; Catherine Sulem, violin; Donald 

Boere, oboe; Jannie Chien, voice/guitar. Hart 

House, Music Room, 7 Hart House Circle. 416- 

977-3637. PWYC. Proceeds will go to Doctors 

without Borders. Tax receipts available for 

donations of $10 or more. 



Chamber Music. Sophia Anna Szokolay, 

violin; Gergely Szokolay, piano. Yorkminster 

Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge St. 416-241- 

1298. Free. Donations welcome. 



65 Church St. 416-364-7865. Free. 

●●7:30: City Choir. Freedom Is a Voice. 

Arrangements of popular songs. Bobby 

McFerrin: Freedom Is a Voice; and other 

works. St. Peter’s Anglican Church (Toronto), 

188 Carlton St. 416-267-2741. PWYC. 

●●7:30: Westwood Concerts. Ashes of Soldiers. 

Music by Vaughan Williams, Mahler, 

Eatock and others. Kripa Nageshwar, soprano; 

Michael Westwood, clarinet; Chad Heltzel, 

piano. Gallery 345, 345 Sorauren Ave. 

888-316-2416. $30/$20(adv). 

●●8:00: Resa’s Pieces Singers. Third Gala 

Concert. The Four Seasons: choral highlights 

from Jersey Boys (arr. Mark Brymer); 

Simon: Bridge Over Troubled Water; Lennon 

and McCartney: Hello Goodbye; and others. 

Robert Graham, conductor. Crescent School, 

2365 Bayview Ave. 416-765-1818. $20. 

Wednesday June 1 


John Palmer, Organ. 1585 Yonge St. 416-922- 

1167. Free. 

●●7:30: Lula Music and Arts Centre/Toronto 

Blues Society. Lulaworld Opening Night 

Party: Yoser Rodriguez, bass. CD launch. Lula 

Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307. 

Free(before 8pm); $20/$15(adv)(after 8pm). 

Lulaworld Festival runs June 1 to 11. 

●●8:00: Mezzetta Restaurant. Wednesday 

Concert Series. Flamenco Show. Dino Toledo, 

guitar; Makeda Benitez, flamenco dancer. 

681 St. Clair Ave. W. 416-658-5687. No cover. 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Ravel: 

Daphnis et Chloé. Granados: Intermezzo 

(from Goyescas); Nielsen: Violin Concerto; 

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé. Pekka Kuusisto, violin; 

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; Juanjo Mena, 


416-598-3375. $33.75-$148. Also June 2. 

●●9:00: Lula Music and Arts Centre/Toronto 

Blues Society. Lulaworld Opening Night Party: 

Laura Cole, vocals. Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas 

St. W. 416-588-0307. $20/$15(adv). Lulaworld 

Festival runs June 1 to 11. 

●●10:30: Lula Music and Arts Centre/ 

Toronto Blues Society. Lulaworld Opening 

Night Party: Cécile Doo-Kingué, guitar/vocals. 


0307. $20/$15(adv). Lulaworld Festival runs 

June 1 to 11. 

Thursday June 2 

●●June 02 12:00 noon: Encore Symphonic 

Concert Band. In Concert: Classics and 

Jazz. John Edward Liddle, conductor. Wilmar 

Heights Centre, 963 Pharmacy Ave., Scarborough. 

416-346-3910. $10. Includes coffee 

and snack. Also May 5. 


at Met. Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo; 

Andrew Ager, piano. Metropolitan United 

Church (Toronto), 56 Queen St. E. 416-363- 

0331 x26. Free. 

●●8:00: Array Music. Array Session #39. An 

evening of improvisation by some of Toronto’s 

finest musicians along with their friends 

and guests. Array Space, 155 Walnut Ave. 416- 

532-3019. Free/PWYC. 

●●8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Ravel: 

Daphnis et Chloé. Granados: Intermezzo 

(from Goyescas); Nielsen: Violin Concerto; 

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé. Pekka Kuusisto, violin; 

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; Juanjo Mena, 


416-598-3375. $33.75-$148. Also June 1. 

●●10:00: Lula Music and Arts Centre/Baila 

Boogaloo. Lulaworld: Los Poetas and Fito 

Blanko. Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W. 416- 

588-0307. $15. Lulaworld Festival runs June 

1 to 11. 

Friday June 3 





427 Bloor St. W. 416-631-4300. PWYC. 


●●1:30: VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto. The 

Sword in the Schoolyard. Burry (world premiere). 

Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St. E. 

416-238-2453. $20; $15(sr/st). School group 

matinee. Public performances: 7:00; Jun 4, 

5(mat). 

●●3:00: St. Paul’s Bloor Street. Organ Recital. 

Sarah Svendson, organ. 227 Bloor St. E. 416- 

961-8116. Free, retiring collection. 

3in the 

6ix 

chamber music concerts 

5TET 

shostakovich 

schumann 

piano quintets 

June 3 

www.3inthe6ix.com 

●●7:00: 3-in-the-6ix. 5tet. Shostakovich: 

Piano Quintet Op.57; Schumann: Piano Quintet 

Op.44. Rebecca MacLeod, violin; Tanya 

Charles, violin; Ivan Ivanovich, viola; Sarah 

Steeves, cello; Talisa Blackman, piano. Runnymede 

United Church, 432 Runnymede Rd. 

416-578-6993. $25/$20(adv); $15(st/arts 

workers); $5(under 18). 




416-238-2453. $20; $15(sr/st). 1:30: School 

group matinee. Public performances also 

Jun 4, 5(mat). 

●●7:30: Lula Music and Arts Centre. 

Lulaworld: Gabriel Palatchi Trio. Lula 

Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588- 

0307. Free(before 8pm); $15(after 8pm); 

Free(ladies before 10pm). Includes admission 

to 10:30 set. Lulaworld Festival runs 

June 1 to 11. 

●●10:30: Lula Music and Arts Centre/Havana 

Club. Lulaworld: Charangón Del Norte. Lula 


$15/$10(adv); Free(ladies before 10pm). Lulaworld 

Festival runs June 1 to 11. 

Saturday June 4 

●●2:30: Bel Canto Singers. A 90th Birthday 

Celebration. Music in honour of our Queen’s 

birthday. Linda Meyer, conductor; Jacqueline 

Mokrzewski, piano. St. Mark’s United Church, 

201 Centre St. S., Whitby. 416-286-8260. $20. 

Also 7:30. 

●●6:30: Ermanno Mauro Annual Master 

Class Gala and Concert. Stelle Nascenti. 

Popular operatic arias. Ermanno Mauro, 


tenor; Canadian opera singers mentored 

by Mauro; Nicole Bellamy, piano. Columbus 

Centre, 901 Lawrence Ave. W. 647-267- 

9040. $125. 



Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St. 

E. 416-238-2453. $20; $15(sr/st). Also Jun 3, 

5(mat). 

●●7:30: Aradia Baroque Ensemble. Concert 

for a Mad King. Handel: opera arias; 

Davies: Eight Songs for a Mad King. Stacie 

Dunlop, soprano; Vincent Ranallo, baritone; 

Guest: Ensemble Paramirabo. The Music Gallery, 

197 John St. 647-960-6650. $35; $20(sr/ 

under 30). 

June 4th 7:30pm 

A PROM FOR PRIDE 

www.ccorchestra.org 

●●7:30: Counterpoint Community Orchestra. 

A Prom for Pride: Somewhere Over the 

Rainbow. Brahms: Academic Festival Overture; 

Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance; Love 

Theme from The Godfather; music from 

Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Guest 

conductor: Keith Reid. St. Luke’s United 

Church, 353 Sherbourne St. 647-977-6058. 

$20/$18(adv); $15(st). 

●●7:30: Bel Canto Singers. A 90th Birthday 

Celebration. Music in honour of our Queen’s 

birthday. Linda Meyer, conductor; Jacqueline 

Mokrzewski, piano. St. Mark’s United Church, 

201 Centre St. S., Whitby. 416-286-8260. 

$20. Also 2:30. 

●●7:30: Etobicoke Centennial Choir. Cherished 

Opera: Favourite Arias and Choruses. Verdi: Va 

pensiero from Nabucco; Coro di zingari (Anvil 

chorus) from Il Trovatore; Brindisi Libiamo ne’ 

lieti calici from La Traviata; Offenbach: Belle nuit, 

ô nuit d’amour from Tales of Hoffmann; Mozart: 

Voyagers’ Chorus from Idomeneo. Andrea 

Naccarato, soprano; Erin Ronningen, alto; Lance 

Keizer, tenor; Lawrence Shirkie, baritone. Humber 

Valley United Church, 76 Anglesey Blvd., 

Etobicoke. 416-769-9271. $25. 

●●7:30: Jubilate Singers. Birds. Nina Soyfer: 

Birds and Waterflows (world premiere); and 

works by Mendelssohn, Vaughan Williams, 

Irving Berlin, and Chatman. St. Simon-the- 

Apostle Anglican Church, 525 Bloor St. E. 416- 

223-7690. $25; $20(sr/st); free(under 13). 

●●7:30: Opera by Request/Annex Singers. 

Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Mascagni’s 

Cavalleria Rusticana. Catharin Carew, mezzo 

(Dido); Jami-Lynn Gubbe, soprano (Belinda); 

Austin Larusson, baritone (Aeneas); Jennifer 

Routhier, mezzo (Sorceress); Nicole Hulme, 

soprano and Amanda Ironside, mezzo 

(witches); and others; William Shookhoff, conductor/piano; 

Maria Case, conductor (Annex 

Singers). St. Andrew’s United Church (Bloor 

St.), 117 Bloor St E. 416-455-2365. $20. 

Stephen Satory 

plays Debussy, Chopin 

and Beethoven 

Saturday, June 4 at 8 p.m. 

at Heliconian Hall 

35 Hazelton Avenue 

$25, $15 seniors, students 

●●8:00: Heliconian Hall. Stephen Satory: 

In Recital. Works by Debussy, Chopin and 

Beethoven. 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-922-3618. 

$25; $15(sr/st). 

●●8:00: North York Concert Orchestra. 

Scary Night. Works by Herrmann, Mussorgsky, 

Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Dukas and 

Mozart. Rafael Luz, conductor. Yorkminster 

Citadel, 1 Lord Seaton Rd., North York. 416- 

628-9195. $25; $20(sr) $10(st). 

●●8:00: Oriana Women’s Choir. East Meet 

West. Guests: Autorickshaw. Grace Church 

on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-978-8849. 

$25; $20(sr/under 35); $10(st). 

Jubilate 

singers 

Birds 

World Premiere of 

Birds & 

WATEr FLOWs 

by NiNa SOYFEr 

MENDELSSOHN 

VaugH a N WiLLiaMS 

i r V i N g BEr L i N 

CHaTMa N ... 

Saturday June 4, 7:30 pm 

St. Simon-the-Apostle Church 

jubilatesingers.ca 

●●8:00: Nagata Shachu with Jiro Murayama. 

In Concert. Featuring new works and traditional 

festival pieces. Jiro Murayama, shinobue 

(bamboo flute); Kiyoshi Nagata, music 

director. Brigantine Room, Harbourfront 

Centre, 235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. 

$27-$37; $20(sr/st). 

●●10:30: Lula Music and Arts Centre. Lulaworld: 

José Conda y Ola Fresca. Lula 


$15/$12(adv). Lulaworld Festival runs June 

1 to 11. 

2015 / 2016 

Presents 

Saturday, June 4, 2016 ~ 8:00 p.m. 

Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road, Toronto 

www.orianachoir.com 

Featuring Autorickshaw 

Sunday June 5 

●●2:00: Scarborough Sunday Concert Series. 

Mary Lou Malicdem and the Juan Tomas 

Band. A tribute to light jazz, classic rock and 

solo flamenco guitar. Wave; Oh Lady Be Good; 

Hotel California; Farruca; Cabaret. Marylou 

Malicdem, vocals; Juan Tomas, guitar; 

Abbey Leon Scholzberg, bass; Steve Farrugia, 

drums; Lorne Hendel and Alex Mertens, 

rhythm guitar. Scarborough Civic Centre, 

150 Borough Dr., Scarborough. 416-396-7766 

or 647-609-8291. Free. 




416-238-2453. $20; $15(sr/st). Also Jun 3, 4. 

●●3:00: Penthelia Singers. In the Kitchen. 

Traditional sea shanties, Acadian reels and 

modern Canadian classics. Alice Malach, 

conductor. Rosedale Presbyterian Church, 

129 Mt. Pleasant Rd. 647-248-5079. $20; pay 

your age(12 and under). 

●●3:00: Tudor Consort. Song of Solomon. 

Works by Byrd, Lassus, Guerrero, Ceballos 

and Monteverdi. Tudor Consort and soloists. 

Leaskdale Historic Church, 11850 Regional 

Rd. 1, Leaskdale. 705-357-2459. Admission by 

donation. In support of the Lucy Maud Montgomery 

Society of Ontario. 

●●3:30: Young Voices Toronto. Colour Me 

Spring. ZARI Georgian Folk Ensemble; Andy 

Morris, percussion, Tracy Wong and Brenda 

O’Connor, conductors; Sheldon Rose, accompaniment. 

Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church, 

427 Bloor St. W. 416-762-0657. $25; $15(sr/st). 

●●4:00: Church of St. Mary Magdalene 

(Toronto). Organ Transcriptions. Andrew 

Adair, organ. 477 Manning Ave. 416-531- 

7955. Free. 

Tickets available through our website or 416-978-8849 uofttix.ca 

Adults: $25 Seniors/Under 35: $20 Students: $10 

info@orianachoir.com 


Flute Street 

Toronto’s Professional Flute Choir 


presents 

A FAMILY 

VISIT 

All the members 

of the Modern 

Flute Family 

in Concert! 

Sunday, 

June 5, 4pm 

●●4:00: Flute Street. In Concert. Bach: Toccata 

and Fugue in d; Matthew King: Sinfonia 

for Nine Piccolos; duet for contrabass 

and sub contrabass flutes; and other works. 

Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416- 

462-9498. $30; $25(sr/arts workers); $15(st). 

●●7:00: Amadeus Choir. Serenade to Music. 

Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music; Schubert: 

To Music; Britten: Hymn to St. Cecilia; 

Howells: Hymn for St. Cecilia; three English 

madrigals (Morley: All ye who music love; 

Gibbons: The Silver Swan; Bennett: All creatures 

now). Lydia Adams, conductor; Shawn 

Grenke, organist. Eglinton St. George’s United 

Church, 35 Lytton Blvd. 416-446-0188. $40; 

$30(sr); $25(under 30); $20(st). 

●●7:00: Canadian Croatian Choral Society. 

Preko Polja i Planina / From Fields and 

Highlands. Sacred, folk and contemporary 

repertoire in English, French, Croatian, Italian, 

German and Japanese. Edward J. Mavrinac, 

artistic director. Holy Trinity Croatian 

Catholic Church, 2110 Trafalgar Rd., Oakville. 

905-337-8646. $25; $15(under 14). Also 

— MUSIC FOR A SUMMER EVENING — 

May 29(Etobicoke). 


Elsten Torres with Amanda Martinez. 



June 1 to 11. 

●●8:00: Resa’s Pieces String Ensemble. Sixth 

Gala Concert. Lennon and McCartney: Eleanor 

Rigby; Kyriakou: Dancing with the Tzars; 

Mozart: Overture to the Magic Flute; and 

other works. Ian Medley, conductor. Guest: 

Resa’s Pieces Symphony Orchestra. Crescent 

School, 2365 Bayview Ave. 416-765-1818. $20. 

Monday June 6 


Mondays: Echoes of Bach. Bach: The Art of 

the Fugue (excerpts); Smallman: Baroquial 

Suite; Hindemith: Ludus Tonalis (excerpts). 

Reverb Brass. 10 Trinity Sq. 416-598-4521. 

PWYC. 

Tuesday June 7 



Chamber Music. Ellen Meyer Duo (piano 

& oboe). Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 

1585 Yonge St. 416-241-1298. Free. Donations 

welcome. 

●●8:00: Columbus Performing Arts Council. 

La Grande Guerra. Michele Mangani: Fruilan 

arrangements (Canadian premiere); Va, Pensiero; 

and other works. Columbus Concert 

Band; Columbus Belle Voci; Livio Leonardelli 

and Paolo Busato, conductors; Annamaria 

Mazzaferro, assistant conductor. Villa 

Colombo, Sala Caboto, 40 Playfair Ave. 647- 

267-9040. $20. 


Kafinal and Elaine Lil’ Bit Shepherd. 



June 1 to 11. 

●●8:00: Resa’s Pieces Concert Band. 17th 

Gala Concert. Holst: Jupiter (from The Planets); 

Higgins: Broadway Spectacular!; Bernstein: 

West Side Story; Kennedy: Chandler 

Point Suite. Resa’s Pieces Singers; Resa’s 

Pieces String Ensemble; Resa Kochberg, 

conductor. George Weston Recital Hall, 

5040 Yonge St. 416-765-1818. $25. Audience 

participation. 

Ask LUDWIG! 

16th century English madrigals, Schubert, Vaughan Williams, 

Howells, Britten, Freedman, and charming English folk song 

arrangements by Willcocks — featuring Shawn Grenke, organist. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 5 TH AT 7:00PM 

EGLINTON ST. GEORGES UNITED CHURCH, 

35 LYTTON BLVD., TORONTO 

TICKETS: $40, 

$30/under 30, $25/sr, $20/st 

416-446-0188 

amadeuschoir.com 

Tired of searching these 

listings pencil in hand? 

Find what you like 

online at 

TheWholeNote.com/ 

Ask-Ludwig 


B. Concerts Beyond the GTA 

IN THIS ISSUE: Barrie, Belleville, Brantford, Brighton, Campbellford, 

Collingwood, Dundas, Grimsby, Guelph, Haliburton, Hamilton, 

Kingston, Kitchener, Leith, London, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Orillia, 

Owen Sound, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stoney Creek, Waterloo. 


●●2:30: Niagara Symphony Orchestra. Pops 

4: ‘S Wonderful, ‘S Marvellous! Gershwin: 

Rhapsody in Blue; An American in Paris; Overture 

to Girl Crazy. Stewart Goodyear, piano 

(Artist-in-Residence); Michael Vanhevel, 

vocals; Bradley Thachuk, conductor. FirstOntario 

Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul 

St., St. Catharines. 905-688-0722 or 1-855- 

515-0722. $64; $59(sr); $32(30 and under); 

$14(st); $12(child); $5(eyeGO). 

●●3:00: Melos Choir and Period 

Instruments/H’art School of Smiles. Music 

with H’art. Pachelbel: Canon; works by Palestrina, 

Praetorius, Josquin, Bach and Telemann. 

St. George’s Cathedral (Kingston), 

270 King St. E., Kingston. 613-767-7245. 

$25/$22(adv); $15(st/sr); $5(child). 


●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber 

Music Society. Till Fellner, Piano. Schumann: 

Papillons Op.2; Fantasie in C Op.17; 

Berio: Cinque Variazioni; Beethoven: Sonata 

No.13 Op.27 No.1 Quasi una fantasia. KWCMS 

Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519- 

886-1673. $40; $25(st). 


●●12:00 noon: Midday Music with Shigeru. 

Stars of the Barrie Music Festival. Hi-Way 

Pentecostal Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 

705-726-1181. $5; free(st). 

●●7:30: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. 

Collectif9. 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 

905-688-0722. $5-$43. 

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Evolution. 

Handel: Sinfonia from Act I of Giulio 

Cesare; Corelli: Concert Grosso, Op.6 No.8 

in g, Christmas Concerto; J.C. Bach: Sinfonia 

Concertante; Haydn: Symphony No.22 

in E-flat “The Philosopher”; Sinfonia Concertante 

in B-flat. Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, 

conductor; Bénédicte Lauzière, violin; John 

Helmers, cello; James Mason, oboe; Ian Hopkin, 

bassoon. First United Church (Waterloo), 

16 William St. W., Waterloo. 519-745-4711. $36. 

Also May 6(Guelph) and May 7(Cambridge). 


●●7:30: A La Mode Vocal Ensemble. All You 

Need is Love. Can’t Sleep Love; Run To You; 

Chandelier; I Open My Mouth (gospel); Stars. 

Emily Taub, conductor. Guests: Oreo. Westdale 

Reformed Church, 201 Paradise Rd. N., 

Hamilton. 289-682-0385. $15; $10(st). 

●●7:30: Centre in the Square. Shen Yun. Chinese 

music and dance. 101 Queen St. N., 

Kitchener. 1-855-416-1800. $58.50-$119.50. 

●●8:00: Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts. 

3rd Annual Spring into Music: 

@Stratus #PianoParty. Selections from 

Tracing Light, House of Many Rooms. 

Peter Bence, piano; Laila Biali Trio. Stratus 

Vineyards, 2059 Niagara Stone Rd., Niagaraon-the-Lake. 

289-868-9177. $59–$79. 

Includes glass of wine. Festival runs May 6 

and 7. 

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. 

Evolution. Harcourt Memorial United Church, 

87 Dean St., Guelph. See May 4(Waterloo). 

Also May 7(Cambridge). 



3rd Annual Spring into Music: @ Stratus 

#PianoParty. Works by Chopin. Tony Yike 

Yang, piano. Stratus Vineyards, 2059 Niagara 

Stone Rd., Niagara-on-the-Lake. 289-868- 

9177. $39–$59. Includes glass of wine. Festival 

runs May 6 and 7. 


3rd Annual Spring into Music: 

@Stratus #PianoParty. Selections from 

album Diversity. Canadian solo debut of 

Quincy Jones’ piano protégée Emily Bear. 

Stratus Vineyards, 2059 Niagara Stone Rd., 

Niagara-on-the-Lake. 289-868-9177. $49– 

$99. Includes glass of wine. Festival runs 

May 6 and 7. 

●●7:00: Womenchant. In Concert. Works by 

Jeff Hale, Eric Whitacre, Pete Seeger. Guests: 

The Rainbow Chorus of Waterloo-Wellington; 

Laura Thomas, choir director. Trinity United 

Church (Grimsby), 100 Main St., Grimbsy. 

905-945-2249. $15, free(under 12). 

●●7:30: Barrie Concerts. Toronto Concert 

Orchestra and Thomas Torok, Piano. Saint- 

Saëns: African Fantasy; Piano Concerto No.3. 

Kerry Stratton, conductor. Hi-Way Pentecostal 

Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 705- 

726-1181. $85; free to new subscribers of 

2016/17 season. 

●●7:30: Chorus Hamilton. Operatic Choruses. 

Works by Purcell, Verdi, Leoncavallo, 

Bizet, Humperdinck, and others. Tora Klassen, 

soprano; Morgan Traynor, mezzo; Jason 

Ragan, tenor; Erika Reiman, piano; David Holler, 

direction. St. Paul’s United Church (Dundas), 

29 Park St. W., Dundas. 905-526-7938. 

$25; $20(sr/st). 

●●7:30: Chorus Niagara. Carmina Burana. 

Orff. Guests: TorQ Percussion Ensemble; 

Karin di Bella and Lynne Honsberger, 

pianos; Choralis Camerata; Chorus Niagara 

Children’s Choir. FirstOntario Performing 

Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 

1-855-515-0722 or 905-688-0722. $40; 

$38(sr); $15(st); $25(under 30), $12(child). 

6:30: Pre-concert chat. 

●●7:30: Grand Philharmonic Chamber 

Choir. The Spirit Sings. Rachmaninoff: Vespers 

(excerpts); Hatzis: De Angelis; Tavener: 

Svyati. Ben Bolt-Martin, cello; Grand Philharmonic 

Choir; Mark Vuorinen, conductor. 

St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 54 Benton 

St., Kitchener. 519-578-1570 or 1-800-265- 

8977. From $25. 

●●7:30: Haliburton Concert Series. Back to 

Back with Richard and Lauren Margison. 

Classical, opera, music theatre, folk, pop and 

jazz music. Richard Margison, tenor; Lauren 

Margison, soprano; Jérémie Pelletier, 

piano. Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion, 

5358 County Rd. 21, Haliburton. 705-457- 

3272. $60(3 concert series). 

●●7:30: Orchestra Kingston. In Concert. Rossini: 

Overture to The Barber of Seville; Burge: 

Concerto for 4 Violins; and other works. 

Guests: Canta Arya. Isabel Bader Centre for 

the Performing Arts, 390 King St. W., Kingston. 

613-634-9312. $30/$25(adv). 


Evolution. Central Presbyterian Church 

(Cambridge), 7 Queens Sq., Cambridge. 519- 

745-4711. $36. See May 4(Waterloo). 


●●2:00: SweetWater Music Festival. Few 

and Fewer: In Concert. Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen; 

Puccini: Morire; Saint-Saëns: Sonata 

in d Op.75; Gershwin: Three Preludes; Monk: 

’Round Midnight. Mark Fewer, violin; Guy 

Few, trumpet; Stephanie Maria, piano. Leith 

Church, 419134 Tom Thomson Ln., Leith. 519- 

371-2833. $30; $20(under 18). 

●●2:30: Quinte Symphony Orchestra. Pictures 

at an Exhibition and More. Poulenc: 

Gloria; Baker: Clarinet Concerto; Mussorgsky: 

Pictures at an Exhibition. Michael Lyons, 

clarinet; Quinte Symphony Orchestra; Bridge 

Street United Church Choir; Northumberland 

Orchestra & Choir. Bridge Street United 

Church, 60 Bridge St. E., Belleville. 416-807- 

3969. $25; $20(sr); $10(st). 

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber 

Music Society. National Trio. Mendelssohn: 

Trio No.1 in d Op.49; Beethoven: Trio in B-flat 

Op.11; Brahms: Trio No.2 in C Op.87. Heidi Wall, 

piano; Corey Gemmel, violin; Wolf Tormann, 

cello. KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., 

Waterloo. 519-886-1673. $30; $20(st). 


●●6:00: Mahtay Café. Fawn Fritzen Celebrates 

Release of Pairings. 241 St. Paul St., St. 

Catharines. 905-685-4040. $15/$10(adv). 


●●2:30: Seniors Serenade. Ben Smith, piano. 

Works by Beethoven and Schubert. Grace 

United Church (Barrie), 350 Grove St. E., Barrie. 

705-726-1181. Free. 3:30: tea and cookies 

$5. 


●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music 

Society. Irina Muresanu, solo violin. Prokofiev: 

Sonata for Solo Violin Op.115 - Moderato 

(1st mvmt); Enescu: Two Airs in Romanian 

Folk Style; Flynn: Tar Eis an Caoineadh; Paganini: 

Caprice No.24; Kreisler: Recitativo and 

Scherzo Op.6; Bach: Ciaccona; and music of 

the Middle East, Far East and the Americas. 

KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 

519-886-1673. $30; $20(st). 



KWS By Request. Music from stage, screen 

and concert hall chosen by audience. Lucas 

Waldin, conductor; Laura Larson, vocalist; 

Guests: Waterloo Regional Police Male 

Chorus; Grand Philharmonic Youth Choir; 

Carousel Dance Company. Centre in the 

Square, 101 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 519- 

745-4711. $19 and up. Complete online survey 

by June 1 for audience choice pieces. Also 

May 14 at 2:30 and 8:00. 


●●2:30: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. KWS 

By Request. See May 13 (8:00). Also 8:00. 

●●7:30: ChoralWorks Chamber Choir. A 

ChoralWorks Tapestry. Fauré: Requiem; medley 

from Les Misérables; and other works. 

ChoralWorks Chamber Choir and Chamber 

Orchestra with organ and piano; Brian Rae, 

conductor. Trinity United Church (Collingwood), 

140 Maple St., Collingwood. 705-888- 

4454. $25; free(under 12). 

●●7:30: Georgian Bay Symphony. Piano and 

Symphony. Sibelius: Finlandia; Grieg: Piano 

Concerto in a; Schumann: Symphony No.4 

in d. Lisa Tahara, piano; François Koh, conductor. 

OSCVI Regional Auditorium, 1550 

8th St. E., Owen Sound. 519-372-0212. $28; 

$26(sr); $5(st); $15(z-seats). 

●●7:30: John Laing Singers. Energy and 

Introspection. Bernstein: Chichester Psalms; 

Dearden: Crux (world premiere); works by 

Fauré, Elgar and others. Kristan Toczko, harp. 

St. Paul’s United Church (Dundas), 29 Park 

St. W., Dundas. 905-628-5238. $25; $20(sr); 

$5(st); free(under 12). 

●●7:30: Peterborough Singers. Bach: St. 

John Passion. Leslie Fagan and Jennifer 

Enns Modolo, sopranos; Adam Bishop, tenor; 

Michael Adair and Matthew Cassils, basses; 

Talisker Players; Ian Sadler, organ; Sydney 

Birrell, conductor. George Street United 

Church, 534 George St. N., Peterborough. 

705-745-1820. $30; $10(st); $20(under 30). 

●●7:30: Pianofest. In Concert. Works by 

Brahms, Moszkowski, Liszt, Vierne, Rachmaninoff. 

Julie Choi, Rudin Lengo, Todd Yaniw and 

Benjamin Smith, piano. Hi-Way Pentecostal 

Church, 50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 705-726-1181. 

$15; $5(st); free(2016/17 subscribers to Barrie 

Concerts or Georgian Music). 


KWS By Request. See May 13 (8:00). 


●●2:30: Guelph Chamber Choir. Songfest 

2016: Cathedral Classics. Vaughan Williams: 

Mass in g; Parry: I was Glad When They 

Said Unto Me; Rutter: For the Beauty of the 

Earth. Chris Dawes, organ; Gerald Neufeld, 

conductor; guest choirs from the community. 

St. George’s Anglican Church (Guelph), 

99 Woolwich St., Guelph. 519-763-3000 

or 1-877-520-2408. $25; $10(st/under 30); 

$5(eyeGO/under 14). 

●●2:30: Niagara Symphony Orchestra. 

Freude - Joy! A Choral Spectacular. Goodyear: 

Newly commissioned work (world 

premiere); Beethoven: Choral Fantasy; Symphony 

No.9 “Choral”. Stewart Goodyear, 

piano; Jennifer Taverner, soprano; Michèle 

Syd Birrell & the 100 Voices of the 

St. John Passion 

Featuring Leslie Fagan, Jennifer Enns 

Modolo, Adam Bishop, Michael Adair, 

Matthew Cassils & the Talisker Players 

Sat., May 14 • 7:30 p.m. 

George Street United Church 

534 George St. N., Peterborough 

peterboroughsingers.com 


Bogdanowicz, mezzo; Ernesto Ramirez, tenor; 

Geoffrey Sirett, baritone. Guest choir: Chorus 

Niagara. FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 

250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 905-688- 

0722 or 1-855-515-0722. $64; $59(sr); $32(30 

and under); $14(st); $12(child); $5(eyeGO). 

●●3:00: Cellar Singers. From Sea to Sea: 

Canadian Folk Songs. Works by Healey, Watson 

Henderson, Halley and Somers. St. Paul’s 

United Church (Orillia), 62 Peter St. N., Orillia. 

705-481-1853. $25; $10(st). 

Ro s e w oo d 

B. Concerts Beyond the GTA 

c o n so r t 

& 

Villanella 

Love’s 

a sweet 

passion 

May 15 & 17 

●●3:00: Rosewood Consort/Villanella. Love’s 

a Sweet Passion. Byrd: Pavane; Mass for 

Three Voices; Bach: Largo e spiccato; Sibelius: 

Finlandia (arr. Potvin); Charpentier: Pour 

un reposoir/Ave verum corpus; and other 

works. Stéphane Potvin, conductor. Grace 

Lutheran Church (Hamilton), 1107 Main St. W., 

Hamilton. 905-522-6541. Donations accepted 

at the door. Also May 17(eve; Stoney Creek). 

●●3:00: Westben Arts Festival Theatre. Mozart 

Requiem. Virginia Hatfield, soprano; Kimberly 

Dafoe, mezzo; Tom Sharpe, tenor; Joel 

Allison, baritone; Westben Festival Chorus; 

Barb Hobart, conductor; Brian Finley, piano/ 

director. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church 

(Campbellford), 17 Ranney St., Campbellford. 

705-653-5508 or 1-877-883-5777. $25; 

$23(sr); $15(st/under 30); $5(youth). 

●●3:30: Huronia Symphony Orchestra. 

Joyous Celebration. Brahms: Symphony 

No.1 Op.68; Somers: Fantasia for Orchestra; 

Conway Baker: Chanson joyeuse; Haydn: 

Trumpet Concerto in E-flat. Jonathan Elliotson, 

trumpet; Oliver Balaburski, conductor. 

Collier Street United Church, 112 Collier St., 

Barrie. 705-721-4752. $25; $10(st); $5(child). 

●●5:00: St. George’s Cathedral (Kingston). 

Children/Teen Choir Concert and 

High Tea. St. George’s Cathedral Children’s 

Choir(Michael Capon, conductor); St. 

George’s Cathedral Teen Choir(Alana Sargeant, 

conductor). 270 King St. E., Kingston. 

613-548-4617. Free; voluntary offering in support 

of choir program. 4:00: high tea. 

●●7:30: Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club. Scallywag. 

“Sea Fever” CD release concert. Chaucer’s 

Pub, 122 Carling St., London. 519-473-2099. 

$18/$15(adv). 


●●7:30: Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing 

Arts. Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus 

Coffee House. Tafelmusik 

Baroque Orchestra; Alison Mackay, program 

creator; Marshall Pynkoski, stage director; 

Jeanne Lamon, music director. 390 King St. 

W., Kingston. 613-533-2424. $36; $31(faculty/ 

staff); $17(st). 

●●7:30: Rosewood Consort/Villanella. Love’s 

a Sweet Passion. Family Church of Heritage 

Green, 360 Isaac Brock Dr., Stoney Creek. 

905-522-6541. Donations accepted at the 

door. See May 15(mat; Hamilton). 


●●12:00 noon: Music at St. Andrews. Angus 

Sinclair, organ. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian 

Church (Barrie), 47 Owen St., Barrie. 705- 

726-1181. $5; free(st). 



Society. Xia Quartet. Schubert: Quartettsatz; 

Bartók: Quartet No.4; McPherson: In 

the Land of Pidge; Debussy: String Quartet. 

Robert Uchida and Shane Kim, violins; Theresa 

Rudolph, viola; Joseph Johnson, cello. 


519-886-1673. $35; $20(st). 

Saturday May 21 

5 at the first 

CHAMBER 

MUSIC SERIES 

— PRESENTS — 

Different Romances 

Burge and Shostakovich 

SAT. MAY 21, 3PM 

Hamilton 

5ATTHEFIRST.COM 

●●3:00: 5 at the First Chamber Music Series. 

Different Romances. Burge: Pas de deux; 

Shostakovich: Piano Trio No.2; Seven Romances 

on Poems by Alexander Blok Op.127. Shannon 

Mercer, soprano; Andrew Burashko, 

piano; Yehonatan Berick, violin; Rachel Mercer, 

cello. First Unitarian Church of Hamilton, 

170 Dundurn St. S., Hamilton. 905-399-5125. 

$5-$20. 



Society. Canadian Works for Horn and Piano. 

Elizabeth Raum: Romance; Pantheon for violin, 

horn and piano; Pilon: Élégie pour cor 

français; James: Pastoralia; Baker: Cantilena; 

Kulesha: Trio for horn, tuba and piano. Ashley 

Cumming, horn; Stephanie Mara, piano; 

Marcus Scholtes, violin; Jane Maness, tuba. 


519-886-1673. $25; $15(st). 


May 26-June 4 

Thereminist Carolina Eyck, 

Tristan Perich, 

Sarah Neufeld + more 

openears.ca | #OE16 

●●7:30: Open Ears Festival/Proper Slang 

Productions and Dance/InterArts Matrix. 

Yellow Wallpaper. Julia Aplin, choreographer/ 

director; Anna Chatterton, writer/actor; John 

Gzowski, sound design/composer; Jim Ruxton, 

media art designer. Registry Theatre, 

122 Frederick St., Kitchener. 519-579-8564. 

$20/PWYC. Festival runs May 26 to June 4. 

●●8:00: Jeffery Concerts. James Ehnes: Fortieth 

Birthday Tour. Works by Bramwell Tovey, 

Handel, Brahms and others. James Ehnes, 

violin; Andrew Armstrong, piano. Wolf Performance 

Hall, 251 Dundas St., London. 519- 

672-8800. $35; $30(sr); $15(st). 



Society. QuartetFest No.1. Nordoff: E.E. Cummings 

Songs; Quintet for Piano and Strings. 

Leslie Fagan, soprano; Laura Pudwell, mezzo; 

Daniel Lichti, baritone; Leslie De’Ath, piano; 

Penderecki String Quartet. Maureen Forrester 

Recital Hall, 75 University Ave., Waterloo. 

519-886-1673. $35; $20(st). QuartetFest runs 

May 27 to June 12. 

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Lehninger 

Conducts Brahms. Jordan Pal: On the 

Double: Concert Overture; Brahms: Schicksalslied 

(Song of Destiny); Symphony No. 1 

in c. Marcelo Lehninger, conductor; Grand 

Philharmonic Choir. Centre in the Square, 

101 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 519-745-4711. $19 

and up. Also May 28. 


●●6:30: Malhar Group. 11th Annual Springfest. 

Indian classical music. Shakir Khan, 

sitar; Kiran Morarji, tabla; Nirmalya Dey, 

dhrupad; Mohan Shyam Sharma, pakhawaj. 

Hamilton Place, Studio Theatre, 10 Macnab St. 

S., Hamilton. 905-627-7496. $20-$30. 

●●7:00: Guelph Youth Singers. Bountiful: 

A 25th Celebration. Featuring a performance 

with GYS alumni. River Run Centre, 

35 Woolwich St., Guelph. 519-763-3000. $25; 

$20(sr/st); $5(eyeGO). 

●●7:30: Lyrica Chamber Choir. Nordic 

Impressions. Grieg: Avi Maris Stella; Gjeilo: 

Luminous Night of the Soul; other works by 

Gjeilo and Esenvalds. Lyrica Chamber Choir; 

Guest: Tost String Quartet. Burton Avenue 

United Church, 37 Burton Ave., Barrie. 705- 

722-0271. $17; $14(sr/st). 

●●8:00: DaCapo Chamber Choir/Exultate 

Chamber Singers. Into the Light. Ligeti: Lux 

Aeterna; F. Martin: Mass. Leonard Enns and 

Hilary Apfelstadt, conductors. St. John’s 

Lutheran (Waterloo), 22 Willow St., Waterloo. 

519-725-7549. $25; $20(sr); $15(st); 

$5(eyeGO/child). 

●●8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Lehninger 

Conducts Brahms. See May 27. 

●●8:30: Open Ears Festival. Surface Image. 

Tristan Perich: Surface Image. Vicky Chow, 

piano. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church 

(Kitchener), 54 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 519- 

579-8564. $25; $15(sr/st); $20(arts workers); 

$5(eyeGO). Festival runs May 26 to June 4. 


●●2:00: Gallery Players of Niagara. 

Beethoven Cycle Continues. Beethoven: Trio 

Op.97 “Archduke”; Mendelssohn: Piano Quartet 

Op.1 No.1. Julie Baumgartel, violin; Patrick 

Jordan, viola; Margaret Gay, cello; David 

Louie, piano. Silver Spire United Church, 

366 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 905-468- 

1525. $5-$34. 

●●3:00: Dundas Valley Orchestra. Spring 

Concert: Folk Inspirations. Sibelius: Finlandia 

Op.26; J. Palmer: Canadian Folk Song 

Suite; Copland: Variations on a Shaker Melody; 

Dvořák: Symphony No.9 in e Op.95 “From 

the New World”; Yuang Chen: Le porcelet 

de valse; Cui: Orientale from The Kaleidoscope 

Op.50. Lindsey Rynders, oboe. St. 

Paul’s United Church (Dundas), 29 Park St. 

W., Dundas. 905-387-4773. Free; donations 

welcomed. Reception follows; wheelchair 

accessible. 

●●3:00: Melissa-Marie Shriner. Love Songs… 

Unplugged. Works by Foster, Morricone and 

others. Melissa-Marie Shriner, vocals; Greg 

Rodman, guitar. Westview Christian Fellowship, 

124 Queenston St., St. Catharines. 905- 

941-6916. $25/$20(adv). 


Society. QuartetFest No.2: Gallery Players. 

Mendelssohn: Piano Quartet No.1 in c; 

Beethoven: Trio in B-flat Op.97 “Archduke”. 

Julie Baumgartel, violin; Patrick Jordan, 

viola; Margaret Gay, cello; David Louie, piano. 


519-886-1673. $35; $20(st). QuartetFest 

runs May 27 to June 12. 



James Ehnes @40: Canada 2016. Handel: 

Sonata in D HWV371; Beethoven: Sonata in F 

Op.24 “Spring”; Tovey: Stream of Limelight; virtuoso 

selections announced from the stage. 

James Ehnes, violin; Andrew Armstrong, 

piano. St. Mark’s Anglican Church (Niagara-onthe-Lake), 

41 Byron St., Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

289-868-9177. $30-$100. VIP tickets include 

post-concert reception with the artists. 


●●8:00: Open Ears Festival. Dollhouse. Bill 

Coleman, dance; Gordon Monahan, sound. 

Registry Theatre, 122 Frederick St., Kitchener. 

519-579-8564. $25; $15(sr/st); $20(arts 

workers); $5(eyeGO). Festival runs May 26 

to June 4. 


Wednesday June 1 

●●12:00 noon: Midday Music with Shigeru. 

Julie Choi, piano. Works by Brahms, Debussy 

and Choi. Hi-Way Pentecostal Church, 

50 Anne St. N., Barrie. 705-726-1181. $5; 

free(st). 

●●8:00: Open Ears Festival. Nazar-I Turkwaz. 

Maryem Tollar, Brenna MacCrimmon, 

Jayne Brown and Sophia Grigoriadis. KWCMS 

Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo. 519- 

886-1673. $30; $20(st). Festival runs May 26 

to June 4. 

Thursday June 2 


Society. QuartetFest No.3: Pushing the Perimeter: 

Omar Daniel: Conducting the Ether. 

Daniel: Quintet for theremin and string quartet; 

Martinu: Fantasia for theremin and string 

quartet. Penderecki Quartet. Perimeter Institute 

for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline St. N., 

Waterloo. 519-883-4480. $35; $20(sr/arts 

workers/PI); $15(st); $5(EyeGO). QuartetFest 


●●10:00: Open Ears Festival. Dodecaphunk: 

Serial works arranged for Funk Band. Kyle 

Brenders Big Band. Jazz Room, Huether 

Hotel, 59 King St N., Waterloo. 519-579-8564. 

$20; $15(sr/st/arts workers); $5(eyeGo). Festival 


Friday June 3 

●●8:00: Open Ears Festival. Mixtape Love: 

Tenderness, Bernice, Katherine Young. Tenderness 

(Chrissy Reichert); Bernice (Robin 

Dann); Katherine Young, bassoon. Registry 

Theatre, 122 Frederick St., Kitchener. 

519-579-8564. $20; $15(sr/st/arts workers); 

$5(eyeGo). Festival runs May 26 to June 4. 

Saturday June 4 

●●2:00: Open Ears Festival. Anthropologies 

Imaginaires. Gabriel Dharmoo, vocals; 

Andrew Reed Miller, double bass and media. 

Registry Theatre, 122 Frederick St., Kitchener. 

519-579-8564. $25; $15(sr/st); $20(arts 

workers); $5(eyeGo). Festival runs May 26 

to June 4. 

●●7:00: Open Ears Festival. Sarah Neufeld 

with Leanne Zacharias. Sarah Neufeld, violin; 

Stefan Schneider, drums; Leanne Zacharias, 

cello. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church 

(Kitchener), 54 Queen St. N., Kitchener. 

May 30, 

7pm 

Niagara-on-the-Lake 

Plus VIP Post-Concert Reception 

bravoniagara.org 

519-579-8564. $25; $15(sr/st); $20(arts 

workers); $5(eyeGo). Festival runs May 26 

to June 4. 

●●7:30: Grand River Chorus. Celebrating 

Tekahionwake: The Genius of E. Pauline Johnson. 

Guests: Aaron Bell, storyteller; White 

Pine Dancers. W. Ross MacDonald School, 

350 Brant Ave., Brantford. 519-841-9708. 

$25; $15(25 and under). 

●●7:30: Oriana Singers of Northumberland. 

From the Roots Up. Arrangements of 

music by Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Pete Seeger 

and others. St. Peter’s Anglican Church 

C. Music Theatre 

MUSIC THEATRE covers a wide range of music types including opera, operetta and 

musicals as well as non-traditional performance genres where words and music are in 

some fashion equal partners in the drama. These listings have been sorted alphabetically 

BY PRESENTER. Some information here is also included in our GTA and Beyond The GTA 

listings sections. Readers whose primary interest is MUSIC THEATRE should start their 

search with this section. 

●●Against the Grain Theatre. A Little Too 

Cozy. Music by Mozart, libretto by Lorenzo da 

Ponte. Studio 42, CBC, 25 John St. 416-522- 

6515. againstthegraintheatre.ticketleap.com/. 

$35-$95. Opens May 12 at 8pm. Runs May 13, 

14, 17, 18, 20, 21. 

●●Brampton Music Theatre, Beauty and 



Linda Woolverton. Lester B. Pearson Theatre, 

150 Central Park Dr, Brampton. 905-874- 

2800. $15; $13(sr/st). Opens May 6, 7:00pm. 


●●Canadian Opera Company. Carmen. Music 

by Georges Bizet, libretto by Henri Meilhac 

and Ludovic Halévy. Anita Rachvelishvili, 

mezzo; Clémentine Margaine, mezzo. Joel 

Ivany, stage director. Paolo Carignani, conductor. 

Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. 

W. 416-363-8231. $50-$435. Runs to May 15. 

Days and times vary. Visit coc.ca for details. 

●●Canadian Opera Company. Maometto II. 

Music by Gioachino Rossini, libretto by Cesare 

della Valle. Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone. David 

Alden, stage director. Harry Bicket, conductor. 

Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W. 416- 

363-8231. $50-$435. Runs to May 14. Days and 

times vary. Visit coc.ca for details. 

●●Chorus Niagara. Carmina Burana. Music 

by Carl Orff. Guests: TorQ Percussion Ensemble; 

Karin di Bella and Lynne Honsberger, 

pianos; Choralis Camerata; Chorus Niagara 

Children’s Choir. FirstOntario Performing 

Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines. 

1 -855-515- 0722. $40; $38(sr); $15(st); 

$25(under 30), $12(child). May 7, 7:30pm. 

●●Civic Light Opera Company. You’re a Good 

Man, Charlie Brown. Music and lyrics by 

Clark Gesner, based on characters created 

by Charles M. Schulz. Joe Cascone, director/ 

designer. Zion Cultural Centre, 1650 Finch 

Ave. E. 416-755-1717. $28. Opens June 1, 

7:00pm. Runs to June 12. Days and times vary. 

Visit civiclightoperacompany.com for details. 

●●Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie. Against 

Nature / À Rebours. Music by James Rolfe, 

libretto by Alex Poch-Goldin. Second in a series 

of music/dance/theatre pieces by James 

Kudelka. The Citadel, 304 Parliament St. 416- 

364-8011x1. $50. Opens May 4, 8:00pm. Runs 

to May 15. 

●●Curtain Call Players. The Best Little Whorehouse 

in Texas. Music and lyrics by Carol Hall, 

book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson. 

(Cobourg), 20 College St., Cobourg. 905-372- 

2210. $25; $22(sr); $10(st). Also on June 5 

(Brighton). 

●●9:30: Open Ears Festival. Mixtape Love: 

Pursuit Grooves and Unbuttoned. Registry 

Theatre, 122 Frederick St., Kitchener. 

519-579-8564. $20; $15(sr/st/arts workers); 

$5(eyeGo). Festival runs May 26 to June 4. 

Sunday June 5 

●●3:00: Oriana Singers of Northumberland. 

From the Roots Up. Arrangements of music 

by Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Pete Seeger and 

Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall 

Dr. 416-703-6181. $28. Runs to May 7. Days 

and times vary. Visit curtaincalltoronto.com 

for details. 

●●Lower Ossington Theatre. Anne of Green 

Gables. Music by Norman Campbell, lyrics by 

Don Harron, Norman Campbell, Elaine Campbell 

and Mavor Moore, book by Don Harron, 

based on novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. 

The Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A Ossington 

Ave. 416-915-6747. $49.99-$59.99. Runs 

to May 8. Days and times vary. Visit lowerossingtontheatre.com 

for details. 

●●Metro Youth Opera. The Rape of Lucretia. 

Music by Benjamin Britten, libretto by Ronald 

Duncan. Aki Studio, Daniels Spectrum, 

585 Dundas St. E. 416-531-1402. $35; $30(sr); 

$20(st). May 1(2:30pm). 

●●Mirvish Productions. If/Then. Music by 

Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey. 

Princess of Wales Theatre, 300 King St. W. 

416-872-1212. $35-$130. Runs to May 8. Tues- 

Sat(8pm), Wed/Sat/Sun(2pm). 

●●Mirvish Productions. Kinky Boots. Music and 

lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, book by Harvey Fierstein. 

Jerry Mitchell, stage director and choreographer. 

Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. 

W. 416-872-1212. $35-$130. Ongoing to May 15. 

Tues-Sat(8pm), Wed/Sat/Sun(2pm). 

●●Mirvish Productions. Riverdance 20 Years. 

Music by Bill Whelan. Ed Mirvish Theatre, 

244 Victoria St. 416-872-1212. $35-$175. 

Opens May 17, 8:00pm. Runs to May 29. Tues- 

Sat(8pm), Wed/Sat/Sun(2pm). 

●●National Ballet of Canada. Le Petit Prince. 

Music by Kevin Lau. Based on the book by 

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Guillaume Côté, 

choreographer. Four Seasons Centre for the 

Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. 416-345- 

9595. $37-$265. Opens June 4, 7:30pm. Runs 

to June 12. Times vary. Visit national.ballet. 

ca for details. 

●●Opera by Request. La Wally. Music by 

Alfredo Catalani, libretto by Luigi Illica. College 

Street United Church, 452 College St. 

416-455-2365. $20. May 7, 7:30pm. 

●●Scarborough Music Theatre. Damn Yankees. 

Music and lyrics by Richard Adler and 

Jerry Ross, book by George Abbott and Douglass 

Wallop. Scarborough Village Theatre, 

3600 Kingston Rd. 416-267-9292. $27. Runs to 

May 14. Days and times vary. Visit 

theatrescarborough.com. 

others. Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church, 

56 Prince Edward St., Brighton. 613-392- 

7423. $25; $22(sr); $10(st). Also on June 4 

(Cobourg). 

Tuesday June 7 


Society. QuartetFest No.4: Jose White Quartet. 

Revueltas: Quartet No.2; Shostakovich: 

Quartet No.7; Mendelssohn: Quartet in E-flat 

Op.12. KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., 

Waterloo. 886-1673. $35; $20(st). Quartet- 

Fest runs May 27 to June 12. 

●●Shaw Festival. Alice in Wonderland. Music 

and lyrics by Allen Cole, book by Peter Hinton, 

based on the book by Lewis Carroll. Festival 

Theatre, 10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-thelake. 

1-800-511-7429. $35 and up. Runs to 

October 16. Days and times vary. Visit shawfest.com 

for details. 

●●Starvox Entertainment. Forever Plaid. 

Book by Stuart Ross, music supervision and 

arrangements by James Raitt, based on 

1950s male pop quartets. Panasonic Theatre, 

651 Yonge St. 1-800-461-3333. $39.95- 

$99.95. Opens May 17, 8:00pm. Runs to June 

12. Tues-Sat(8pm), Wed/Sat/Sun(2pm). 

●●Stratford Festival. A Chorus Line. Music 

by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, 

book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante. 

Conceived and originally directed and choreographed 

by Michael Bennett. Donna Feore, director 

and choreographer. Festival Theatre, 

55 Queen St., Stratford. 1-800-567-1600. $25- 

$175. Runs to October 30. Days and times vary. 

Visit stratfordfestival.ca for details. 

●●Stratford Festival. A Little Night Music. 

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book 

by Hugh Wheeler. Avon Theatre, 99 Downie 

St., Stratford. 1-800-567-1600. $25-$175. Previews 

begin May 21, 2:00pm. Runs to October 

23. Days and times vary. Visit stratfordfestival.ca 

for details. 

●●Tapestry Opera. Rocking Horse Winner. 

Libretto by Anna Chatterton, Music by Gareth 

Williams. Based on the short story by D.H. 

Lawrence. Berkeley Street Theatre (Downstairs). 

$36-$112. Preview $25. 416-368-3110. 

26 Berkeley St. Preview May 27 8:00. Opens 

May 28. Runs to June 4. 

●●TCDSB Staff Arts. Mary Poppins. Music 

and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. 

Sherman, George Stiles & Anthony Drewe; 

book by Julian Fellowes. Cardinal Carter 

Academy for the Arts Theatre, 36 Greenfield 

Ave. 416-222-8282 x2787. $25. Opens June 11, 

7:30pm. Runs to June 18. Days and times vary. 

Visit tcdsb.org/staffarts for details. 

●●Toronto Masque Theatre. The Fairy Queen. 

Music by Henry Purcell. Arts and Letters Club, 

14 Elm St. 416-410-4561. $50; $43(sr); $20(30 

and under). Opens May 27, 8:00pm. Runs to 

May 29. 

●●VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto. The 

Sword in the Schoolyard. Music and libretto 

by Dean Burry, based on legend of King 

Arthur. Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St. 

E. 416-788-8482. $20; $15(sr/st). June 3, 

7:00pm. Also June 4, 7:00pm; June 5, 2:30pm. 

●●Young People’s Theatre. The Wizard of Oz. 

Music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, 

book by L. Frank Baum. Young People’s 

Theatre, 165 Front St.E. 416-862-2222. $10- 

$55. Runs to May 15. Days and times vary. 

Visit youngpeoplestheatre.ca for details. 


MAX TELZEROW 

Beat by Beat | Mainly Clubs, Mostly Jazz! 

Just One 

Of Those Things 

BOB BEN 

It’s just my luck, isn’t it? It’s 

just my luck that two weeks 

after I plug Organic’s weekly 

engagement at Joe Mama’s in The 

WholeNote, that that gig shuts 

down permanently. I don’t know 

yet what will happen on future 

Sundays at Joe Mama’s. But hopefully 

they stick with the theme 

of high-level musicianship and 

unmistakable chemistry. 

The final Organic session on 

April 17 was fuller than I’ve seen 

it in a long time, and I think 

there’s a lot of irony in that. I 

think it very loudly says a lot 

John Alcorn 

about our responsibility as lovers 

of live music. But if it wasn’t loud 

enough, I’ll say it louder: if we, lovers of live music, don’t go out and 

support the bands we claim to love, then who will? Casual listeners 

with fat wallets? Fat chance! Jazz concerts are tragically sparsely 

attended and the only remedy for that is for us to attend. 

And I say “us” very deliberately here; I am not innocent in this. I 

do not attend every show I can, not even all the ones about which 

I loudly rave. And I don’t always have a good excuse. I know all the 

good excuses though. I know that life gets in the way, and sometimes 

it seems like bus fare two ways plus cover charge plus one drink 

is breaking the bank. I get it. I’m not trying to sit on a high horse, 

to lecture you, the reader, or to make it sound like not attending 

concerts is some egregious sin, or to imply that we are personally 

responsible for every gig that stops (no gig lasts forever, obviously). All 

I’m trying to say is that if we want to support live music, we should 

stop taking it for granted and go support live music. We all should. 

120 Diner 

120 Church St. 416-792-7725 

120diner.com (full schedule) 

May 1 6pm Alyson McNamara; 8pm Peter 

Campbell Sings Shirley Horn. May 3 6pm 

Miray; 8pm Lazersuzan; 10pm Weatherstone. 

May 5 6pm Mandy Lagan; 8:30pm Lilly 

Mason; 10:30pm Robert Scott. May 6 6pm 

Faith Amour & Friends. May 7 6pm SING! 

Festival: Duly Noted; 8:30pm SING! Festival: 

Hampton Avenue; 10pm SING! Afterparty. 

May 8 6pm SING! Festival: 4SKÖR; 8pm SING! 

Festival: Beatsync. May 10 8pm Arlene Paculan; 

10pm Cityscape. May 12 6pm The Owls; 

9pm Wonderfest. May 13 6pm Adrean Farrugia. 

May 14 6pm Linda Carone. May 15 6pm 

Chris Hercules; 8pm The Ault Sisters. May 17 

6pm Michelle Lecce; 10pm Carlie Howell and 

the Deharms. May 19 6pm Janet Whiteway. 

May 20 8pm Kevin Quain. May 21 6pm Ben & 

Brynne $15. May 22 6pm Joel Sheridan; 8pm 

Caroline Martin-Rowe. May 24 6pm Christine 

Gaidies; 8pm Emily Rockarts; 10pm The 

Koopa Troop. May 26 6pm Natasha Roldan. 

May 27 6pm Kevin Barrett + One. May 28 

6pm Denise Leslie Sings Ray Charles; 8:30pm 

Emma Cava. May 29 6pm Liane Fainsinger; 

8:30pm Jeni Walls. May 31 6pm Tova Kardonne; 

8pm iSpy; 10pm Aijia Waithe. 

D. In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz) 

Alleycatz 

2409 Yonge St. 416-481-6865 

alleycatz.ca 

All shows: 9pm unless otherwise indicated. 

Call for cover charge info. 

May 5 Von. May 6 Jamesking. 

May 7, 21 Soular. May 12, 26 Solo & Duets 

Concert Series. May 13, 14, 27, 28 Lady 

Kane. May 19 Carlos Morgan & The Flow. 

May 20 Taxi. 

Artword Artbar 

15 Colbourne St., Hamilton. 905-543-8512 

artword.net (full schedule) 

May 11 8pm Kite Trio: Eric Couture (guitar), 

Eric Dew (drums), Paul Van Dyk (bass) $10. 

May 12 8pm Jazz vocal jam with Sue Ramsay 

Trio PWYC ($10 suggested). May 13 8pm 

The Aubrey Wilson (voice) Quartet with Chris 

Bruder (piano), Tom Altobelli (bass), Sean 

Bruce Parker (drums) $10. May 21 8pm Hans 

Luchs Trio. 

Let’s make it a new season’s resolution. 

With that in mind, Justin Bacchus’ weekly engagement is still 

happening at The Rex for the foreseeable future, and for each Saturday 

in May the explosive and virtuosic R&B outfit will be joined by the 

marvellous Stu Harrison. I’ve only heard Stu Harrison three times – 

once when he sat in for one song at a Sophia Perlman gig, and twice 

when he subbed in the house band at Lisa Particelli’s Girls’ Night Out. 

He does not gig or record much, which is baffling to me – though he 

probably is awfully busy with his work for Merriam Music. When I 

heard he’d be at The Rex weekly in May, I made my plans immediately. 

Let’s hope I don’t break them, and 

let’s hope the whole city gets out 

to this gig – or some other gig, 

any gig! – at least once a week 

this month. 

Alex Samaras was introduced 

to me in the summer of 2012 by a 

friend who hails from the States 

and was acquainted with Samaras 

through their mutual association 

with a music camp in upstate 

New York. Samaras, too, was 

previously written about in The 

WholeNote, by Ori Dagan, and by 

myself this past autumn, when 

I plugged his gig with Bobby 

Hsu’s A Sondheim Jazz Project, 

which you can read about in the 

September issue. Samaras has a voice of clarity, precision, finesse, 

power and control. He clearly knows a lot about his instrument. It 

shouldn’t be a surprise, therefore, that he’s also an educator, who 

teaches voice at the University of Toronto. You can sample A Sondheim 

Jazz Project’s album, City of Strangers, on YouTube, and you can buy 

it on iTunes. I have only sampled it (I prefer to buy albums from artists 

in person), but I can already confidently recommend it. 

I was only introduced to John Alcorn’s voice recently: this winter. I 

had asked Mark Eisenman about recordings he had played on aside 

from his coffee-themed albums recorded with Chase Sanborne (which 

are also wonderful), and he told me about Flying Without Wings, 

an album which was reviewed in The WholeNote by Lesley Mitchell- 

Clarke earlier this year – so I won’t go on about it for too long. The 

singer and trumpeter on the album are, respectively, Alcorn and 

Bloom 

2315 Bloor St. W. 416-767-1315 

bloomrestaurant.com 

All shows: 19+. Call for reservations. 

May 8 7pm Amanda Martinez (voice) 

with Kevin Laliberte (guitar) $85 (dinner 

included). May 26 7pm Alana Bridgewater 

Trio $45 (dinner included). 

Blue Goose Tavern, The 

1 Blue Goose St. 416-255-2442 

thebluegoosetavern.com 

Every Sun 4pm Blues At the Goose with 

the Big Groove Rhythm Section and special 

guests. 

Burdock 

1184 Bloor St. W. 416-546-4033 

burdockto.com (full schedule) 

Castro’s Lounge 

2116e Queen St. E. 416-699-8272 

castroslounge.com (full schedule) 

All shows: No cover/PWYC 

C’est What 

67 Front St. E. (416) 867-9499 

cestwhat.com (full schedule) 

May 7, 21 3pm The Hot Five Jazzmakers. 

May 8 The Wintergarden Orchestra. May 14, 

28 3pm The Boxcar Boys. 

De Sotos 

1079 St. Clair Ave. W. 416-651-2109 

desotos.ca (full schedule) 

Every Sun 11am Sunday Live Jazz Brunch 

No cover. 

Emmet Ray, The 

924 College St. 416-792-4497 

theemmetray.com (full schedule) 

All shows: No cover/PWYC 

May 15 6pm Jake Hannon Quartet PWYC. 

Fat City Blues 

890 College St. 647-345-8282 

Every Sun 8:30pm Fraser/Melvin Band. 

Every Thurs 8:30pm The Mercenaries. May 6 

9:30pm Paul Reddick $5. 


Warren Vache. Eisenman had, and I say this affectionately, pestered 

me about these two musicians before. Each time they’ve had gigs 

in Toronto in recent years, Eisenman had told me to go, and I had 

failed to every time. After hearing the album, I will not make that 

mistake again. 

One of my favourite moments on the album comes on the first 

track, Just One of Those Things, on the final chorus, when Vache and 

Eisenman are sort of trading response lines in the cracks between 

Alcorn’s phrases, and Alcorn opens one phrase with a second – 

literally, one second – of what sounds like the beginning of a scat 

solo, before diving back into the words. It sounds so spontaneous and 

unhinged. There is such palpable excitement on the part of all the 

players, particularly the three responsible for the quasi-counterpoint 

of the moment. 

This seems like a small thing, but something else I really respect 

about the album is the fact that songs with verses are done with the 

verse. Songs with beautiful verses which supply the rest of the song 

with extra clarity, or just emphasis – such as Autumn in New York, 

A Sleepin’ Bee, and But Not For Me, the latter of which is on Flying 

Without Wings – are too often performed with the verses omitted. 

Such recordings are valid and often great, of course, but the kind of 

fidelity to the song as it was originally conceived, shown by Alcorn, 

commands a lot of respect, especially when executed, as it is here, 

with such passion and faculty. 

I was thrilled to come across Alcorn and Samaras listed together 

for the evening of May 22 at Jazz Bistro. They will be accompanied 

by Mike Downes on bass and Dave Restivo on the Bistro’s Red Pops 

Steinway piano. This will be the third time the illustrious quartet has 

appeared together in Toronto, but it will be a first for me. It’ll be a 

lot of firsts for me, actually. It’ll be the first time I see this particular 

quartet. It’ll be the first time I see John Alcorn live. If they’re selling 

CDs, it’ll be the first time I buy an album featuring Alex Samaras. 

I’m going to, as I always do when I go to shows at Jazz Bistro, call 

for reservations the day of the concert, and I’m hoping they’ll tell me 

the place is almost full and my choice of seating is limited. Can this 

city collectively make that happen? I’m tired of empty jazz clubs. Let’s 

make ours unbearably crowded. 

Happy spring, Toronto. See you in one club, or another. Or 

both. Or more. 

Bob Ben is The WholeNote’s jazz listings editor. He 

can be reached at jazz@thewholenote.com. 


Gate 403 

403 Roncesvalles Ave. 416-588-2930 

gate403.com 

All shows: PWYC. 

May 1 5pm Grateful Sunday feat. Trevor Cape 

& The Field. May 2 5pm Mike and Jill Daley 

Jazz Duo. May 3 9pm Jazz Forge. May 4 9pm 

Julian Fauth Blues Night. May 5 5pm Bruce 

Chapman Blues Duo with feature guests; 9pm 

Darcy Windover Band. May 7 5pm Bill Heffernan 

and His Friends; 9pm Melissa Boyce 

Jazz & Blues Band. May 8 5pm Hello Darlings. 

May 9 9pm Chris Staig Trio. May 11 

5pm Michelle Rumball with friend; 9pm Julian 

Fauth Blues Night. May 12 9pm Kevin 

Laliberté Jazz & Flamenco Trio. May 14 5pm 

Bill Heffernan and His Friends; 9pm Julian 

Fauth Blues Quartet. May 15 5pm Rob Thaller 

& Joanna Reynolds Jazz Duo. May 17 5pm 

Sarah Kennedy and Matt Pines Jazz Duo. 

May 18 5pm Rick Maltese: Rick’s Three in One; 

9pm Julian Fauth Blues Night. May 19 5pm 

Concord Jazz Quintet. May 20 9pm Tiffany 

Hanus Jazz Band. May 21 5pm Bill Heffernan 

and His Friends; 9pm Sweet Derrick Blues 

Band. May 24 9pm Kalya Ramu Jazz Band. 

May 25 9pm Julian Fauth Blues Night. May 27 

9pm Fraser Melvin Blues Band. May 28 5pm 

Bill Heffernan and His Friends; 9pm Donné 

Roberts Band. May 29 5pm Six Points Jazz 

Orchestra. May 30 5pm Mark Rainey Jazz 

Band. 

Grossman’s Tavern 

379 Spadina Ave. 416-977-7000 

grossmanstavern.com (full schedule) 

All shows: No cover (unless otherwise noted). 

Every Sat The Happy Pals Dixieland jazz jam. 

Every Sun 10pm The National Blues Jam with 

Brian Cober. 

Harlem Restaurant 

67 Richmond St. E. 416-368-1920 

harlemrestaurant.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 7:30-11pm (unless otherwise 

noted). Call for cover charge info. 

May 6 The Sean Stanley Trio & Sokhna-Dior. 

May 7 Gyles. May 13 Simone Morris & Mike 

Freedman Jazz Duo. May 14 Jazzbiscuit. 

May 20 Lisa Michelle. May 21 Madette. 

May 27 Jennie Laws. May 28 Kristen Fung. 


Hirut Cafe and Restaurant 

2050 Danforth Ave. 416-551-7560 

Every Sun 3pm Open Mic with Nicola 

Vaughan: folk/country/jazz/world/r&b PWYC. 

May 3, 17, 31 8pm Finger Style Guitar Association 

PWYC. May 7 8pm Tim Maxwell and 

Friends PWYC. May 13 8pm Don Naduriak 

(piano) Quintet with Bob Rice (trumpet), John 

‘JJ’ Johnson (sax), George Koller (bass), Joaquin 

Hidalgo (drums) PWYC. May 14 8pm 

Eric Walker Band PWYC. May 20 8pm Arlene 

Paculan Music & Poetry $10. May 27 9pm 

Hirut Hoot Cabaret: 4 year anniversary $5. 

May 28 Arlene Paculan ENKU Scholarship 

Fundraiser Launch $10 or PWYC. 

Home Smith Bar – See Old Mill, The 

Hugh’s Room 

2261 Dundas St. W. 416-531-6604 

hughsroom.com 

All shows: 8:30pm (unless otherwise noted). 

May 1 Rock the MonSter – A Benefit for MS 

$25(adv)/$30(door). May 3 10am Toronto 

Ravel $15; 8:30pm Jane Harbury presents 

Discoveries $15(adv)/$17(door). 

May 5 De Temps Antan $20(adv)/$22.50(door). 

May 6 Lynn Miles accompanied by Keith Glass 

$22.50(adv)/$25(door). May 7 David Rotundo 

$25(adv)/$30(door). May 12, 13 Skydiggers 

– CD Release $32(adv)/$35(door). 

May 14 Positively 4th Street – A Tribute 

to Bob Dylan $25(adv)/$27.50(door). 

May 15 John Gorka $22.50(adv)/$25(door). 

May 17 Tony Furtado $18(adv)/$20(door). 

May 19 NEeMA – CD Release 

$22.50(adv)/$25(door). May 20 Crystal 

Shawanda $30(adv)/$35(door). May 26 

7:30pm Regeneration Community Services 

presents Annual Big Band Benefit 

$30(adv)/$35(door). May 27 Mad Dogs and 

Englishmen – The Music of Joe Cocker & Leon 

Russell $40(adv)/$45(door). May 28 7:30pm 

Tin Pan North $20(adv)/$22.50(door). 

May 29 2pm Ella & Louis Remembered 60th 

Verve Anniversary Celebration – Matinee 

$25(adv)/$27.50(door). 

St. Philip’s Anglican Church 

● 


Jazz Bistro, The 

251 Victoria St. 416-363-5299 

jazzbistro.ca 

May 5, 6, 7 9pm Steve Koven (piano) Trio 

with Rob Clutton (bass), Anthony Michelli 

(drums) $15. May 8 12pm Mother’s Day 

Brunch With June Garber and Steven 

Taetz – Songs My Mother Sang to Me $15; 

7pm Fawn Fritzen $15. May 10 8pm SING! 

Swings: A Cappella Jazz with the O’Pears, 

The Watch, Freeplay Duo, 4Skor & Retrocity 

$15. May 12 9pm Mike Murley Trio $15. 

May 13, 14 9:30pm(Fri)/9pm(Sat) Mike Murley 

Septet $15(Fri)/$20(Sat). May 15 7pm 

Brenda Lewis $15. May 17 8pm Ori Dagan: 

A Tribute to Nat King Cole $15. May 18 9pm 

SOA: Chrystelle Maechler (voice), Thompson 

Egbo Egbo (piano), Sarah Thawer (percussion) 

$15. May 19 8:30pm Colin Hunter and 

The Anthony Terpstra Seventet $15. May 20, 

21 9pm Colin Hunter and The Joe Sealy Quartet 

$15. May 22 7pm John Alcorn and Alex 

Samaras $15. May 24 8pm Kathleen Gorman 

(piano) with George Koller (bass), Mark 

Kelso (drums), Colleen Allen (sax), Alexander 

Brown (trumpet) $15. May 27, 28 9pm Ameranouche 

$12(Fri)/$20(Sat). 

Jazz Room, The 

Located in the Huether Hotel, 59 King St. N., 

Waterloo. 226-476-1565 

kwjazzroom.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 8:30pm-11:30pm unless otherwise 

indicated. Attendees must be 19+. 

May 6 Phoenix Jazz Group: Andy Klaehn 

(woodwinds), John Goddard (drums), John 

McLelland (piano), Art Lang (bass), Mary- 

Catherine McNinch-Pazzano (voice) $15. 

May 7 Trevor Giancola $18. May 10 Fawn 

Fritzen $15. May 13 Kevin Breit and Folkalarm 

$20. May 14 Morgan Childs Quartet 

$18. May 19 Brad Goode & Adrean Farrugia 

$20. May 20 Carmine Ioanna Trio $20. 

May 21 Luca Ciarla (violin) Quartet with Carmine 

Ioanna (accordion), Maurizio Perrone 

(bass), Francesco Savoretti (percussion) 

$22. May 27 Big Band Theory presents: Birth 

of Cool Orchestra $20. May 28 6:30pm Patrick 

Duxbury and Jack Pender Free with 

Sunday, May 15, 4:00 PM | Jazz Vespers 

Robi Botos – solo 

Sunday, May 29, 4:00 PM | Jazz Vespers 

St. Philip’s Eliana Cuevas Anglican Quartet with Church Jeremy | Ledbetter Etobicoke 

25 St. (piano), Phillips George Road Koller (near(bass), Royal York and + Dixon) 

416-247-5181 Mark Kelso • (drums) stphilips.net • free will offering 

Please note our short-term change of venue, until 

November 2016 – St Philip’s is renovating for accessibility! 

ST. PHILIP’S JAZZ VESPERS @ 

ALL SAINTS KINGSWAY ANGLICAN CHURCH 

2850 Bloor St. West, at Prince Edward, steps from the 

Royal York subway, with Green P parking across the street. 

FOR ST PHILIPS: 416-247-5181 

FOR ALL SAINTS KINGSWAY: 416-233-1125 

admission to 8:30pm show; 8:30pm Lorne 

Lofsky $18. 

Joe Mama’s 

317 King St. W 416-340-6469 

joemamas.ca 

Every Tue 6pm Jeff Eager. Every Wed 6pm 

Thomas Reynolds. Every Thurs 9pm Blackburn. 

Every Fri 10pm The Grind. Every 

Sat 10pm Shugga. 

KAMA 

214 King St. W. 416-599-5262 

kamaindia.com (full schedule) 

Every Wed 5:30pm Jazz with the Kama 

House Band. 

Local Gest, The 

424 Parliament St. 416-961-9425 

Lula Lounge 

1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307 

lula.ca (full schedule) 

May 4 8pm Will Jarvis y Amigos 

$15(adv)/$20(door). May 6 7:30pm Jay Danley 

Ethiojazz Project $15 after 8pm; 10:30pm 

Yani Borrell $15. May 7 10:30pm Moda Eterna 

$15. May 12 8:30pm Danny Michel: Matadora 

Album Launch $20(adv)/$25(door). 

May 13 7:30pm Brownman Akoustic Trio 

$15 after 8pm; 10:30pm Roberto Linares 

Brown $15. May 14 10:30pm El Quinto $15. 

May 15 7pm For the Redwood benefit concert 

feat. Crooked House Road, New Country 

Rehab, Los Dobros $25 minimum donation. 

May 20 7:30pm Richard Whiteman Trio $15 

after 8pm; 10:30pm Guaracha y Son $15. 

May 26 7pm Euphonia $20; 9:30pm Sonic 

Plate Vol. 1 $10. May 27 7:30pm Alexander 

Brown Trio $15 after 8pm; 10:30pm Café 

Cubano $15. May 28 10:30pm Orquesta Fantasia 

$15. May 29 8pm Mekaal & Haniya 

$20(adv)/$30(door). 

Manhattans Pizza Bistro & Music Club 

951 Gordon St., Guelph 519-767-2440 

manhattans.ca (full schedule) 

All shows: PWYC. 

May 4, 18, 28 Jamie ‘Giggles’ Mitges (28th 

with group). May 6 Brian de Lima Trio. May 8, 

12, 24, 29 John Zadro. May 11, 25 Paul Taylor. 

May 17, 31 Carmen Spada. May 19 Thomas 

Hammerton. 

Mezzetta Restaurant 

681 St. Clair Ave. W 416-658-5687 

mezzettarestaurant.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 9pm, $8 (unless otherwise noted). 

May 4 Jonno Lightstone (clarinet, flute) 

and Brian Katz (guitar, piano). May 11 Reg 

Schwager (guitar) and Luanda Jones (voice). 

May 18 Rebecca Enkin (voice) with Mark 

Kieswetter (piano). May 25 Sundar (woodwinds, 

voice) and Roy Patterson (guitar). 

Monarch Tavern 

12 Clinton St. 416-531-5833 

themonarchtavern.com (full schedule) 

May 9 7:30pm Martin Loomer & His Orange 

Devils Orchestra $10. 

Morgans on the Danforth 

1282 Danforth Ave. 416-461-3020 

morgansonthedanforth.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 2pm-5pm. No cover. 

May 29 Lisa Particelli’s Girls Night Out Jazz 

Jam. 

N’awlins Jazz Bar & Dining 

299 King St. W. 416-595-1958 

nawlins.ca 

All shows: No cover/PWYC. 

Every Tue 6:30pm Stacie McGregor. Every 

Wed 7pm Jim Heineman Trio. Every Thu 8pm 

Nothin’ But the Blues with Joe Bowden 

(drums) and featured vocalists. Every Fri, 

Sat 8:30pm N’awlins All Star Band. Every 

Sun 7pm Brooke Blackburn. 

Nice Bistro, The 

117 Brock St. N., Whitby. 905-668-8839 

nicebistro.com (full schedule) 

May 4 Barry Sears Trio $39.99 (dinner 

included). 

Old Mill, The 

21 Old Mill Rd. 416-236-2641 

oldmilltoronto.com 

The Home Smith Bar: No reservations. No 

cover. $20 food/drink minimum. All shows: 

7:30pm-10:30pm 

May 5 Ryan Oliver (sax) Trio with Bernie 

Senensky (piano), Steve Wallace (bass). 

May 6 Canadian Jazz Quartet & Friends: 

Frank Wright (vibes), Ted Quinlan (guitar), Pat 

Collins (bass), Don Vickery (drums) feat. Bob 

DeAngelis (clarinet, sax). May 7 Monica Chapman 

(voice) Quartet with Nathan Hiltz (guitar), 

Jordan O’Connor (bass), Chris Wallace 

(drums). May 12 Fern Lindzon (piano, voice) 

Trio with Ross MacIntyre (bass), Nick Fraser 

(drums). May 13 Jake Koffman (sax) Trio 

with Bernie Senensky (piano), Pat Collins 

(bass). May 14 Brownman (trumpet) Akoustic 

Trio with Mike Downes (bass), Ernesto Cervini 

(drums). May 19 Amanda Tosoff (piano) 

Trio with Reg Schwager (guitar), Jon Maharaj 

(bass). May 20 Hans Luchs (guitar) Trio 

with Aaron Zachary (bass), Peter Manheim 

(drums). May 21 Eliana Cuevas (voice) Trio 

with Jeremy Ledbetter (piano), Daniel Stone 

(percussion). May 26 Terry Clarke (drums) 

Trio with John Sherwood (piano), Steve Wallace 

(bass). May 27 Cara Matthew (voice) Trio 

Featuring some of Toronto’s best jazz musicians 

with a brief reflection by Jazz Vespers Clergy 

Sunday, May 8 at 4:30 pm 

Lenny Solomon, violin 

Bernie Senensky, piano 

Sunday, May 29 at 4:30 pm 

Rob Piltch, violin; Neil Swainson, piano; Brian Barlow, drums 

Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416-920-5211 

(north of St. Clair at Heath St.) 

www.thereslifehere.org Admission is free; donations are welcome. 


with Jeremy Ledbetter (piano), George Koller 

(bass). May 28 Gord Sheard’s (piano, accordion) 

‘Sinal Aberto’ Quartet with Luanda 

Jones (voice), George Koller (bass), Mark 

Kelso (drums). 

Only Café, The 

972 Danforth Ave. 416-463-7843 

theonlycafe.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 8pm unless otherwise indicated. 

Paintbox Bistro 

555 Dundas St. E. 647-748-0555 

paintboxbistro.ca (full schedule) 

Pilot Tavern, The 

22 Cumberland Ave. 416-923-5716 

thepilot.ca 

All shows: 3:30pm. No cover. 

May 7 Barry Elmes (drums) Quartet with Kelly 

Jefferson (sax), Lorne Lofsky (guitar), Pat 

Collins (bass). May 14 Christopher Butcher 

Quartet. 

Poetry Jazz Café 

224 Augusta Ave. 416-599-5299 

poetryjazzcafe.com (full schedule) 

Reposado Bar & Lounge 

136 Ossington Ave. 416-532-6474 

reposadobar.com (full schedule) 

Every Wed Spy vs. Sly vs. Spy. Every Thurs, 

Fri 10pm Reposadists Quartet: Tim Hamel 

(trumpet), Jon Meyer (bass), Jeff Halischuck 

(drums), Roberto Rosenman (guitar). 

Reservoir Lounge, The 

52 Wellington St. E. 416-955-0887 

reservoirlounge.com (full schedule). 

All shows: 9:45 

Every Tue, Sat Tyler Yarema and his Rhythm. 

Every Wed The Digs. Every Thu Stacey 

Kaniuk. Every Fri Dee Dee and the Dirty 

Martinis. 

Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar, The 

194 Queen St. W. 416-598-2475 

therex.ca (full schedule) 

Call for cover charge info. 

May 1 12pm Humber Community Music; 

4:30pm Dr. Nick & The Rollercoasters; 

7:30pm Klezkonnection; 9:30pm Jacob’s Cattle. 

May 2 6:30pm Gord Mowat’s Skeleton 

Crew; 9:30pm Harley Card Quintet. May 3 

6:30pm Ethan Ardelli Quartet; 9:30pm Classic 

Rex Jazz Jam hosted by Chris Gale. May 4 

6:30pm Trevor Giancola Trio; 9:30pm NYC’s 

Kris Davis & Tony Malaby feat. Nick Fraser. 

May 5 6:30pm Kevin Quain; 9:30pm 

NYC’s Kris Davis & Tony Malaby feat. Nick 

Fraser. May 6 4pm Hogtown Syncopators; 

6:30pm Teri Parker Four; 9:45pm Ross Wooldridge: 

Benny Goodman tribute. May 7 12pm 

The Sinners Choir; 3:30pm E.M.S.: Emergency 

Musical Services big band; 7:30pm 

Justin Bacchus; 9:45pm NYC’s Uri Gurvich. 

May 8 12pm Excelsior Dixieland Jazz Band; 

3:30pm Red Hot Ramble; 7pm Michael Herring 

Quartet; 9:30pm Brian De Lima Trio. 

May 9 6:30pm Gord Mowat’s Skeleton 

Crew; 9:30pm Dave Young Quintet. May 10 


Rex Jazz Jam hosted by Chris Gale. May 11 

6:30pm Trevor Giancola Trio; 9:30pm Nichol 

Robertson Trio. May 12 6:30pm Kevin Quain; 

9:30pm Kieran Overs Quintet. May 13 4pm 

Hogtown Syncopators; 6:30pm Teri Parker 

Duo; 9:45pm Morgan Childs. May 14 12pm The 

Sinners Choir; 3:30pm Josh Grossman’s T.J.O. 

Big Band; 7:30pm Justin Bacchus; 9:45pm Hilario 

Duran. May 15 12pm Excelsior Dixieland 

Jazz Band; 3:30pm Beverly Taft; 7pm Michael 

Herring Quartet; 9:30pm Montreal’s Kite 

Trio. May 16 6:30pm Gord Mowat’s Skeleton 

Crew; 9:30pm Brampton’s Jazz Mechanics 

Big Band. May 17 6:30pm Ethan Ardelli Quartet; 

9:30pm Classic Rex Jazz Jam hosted by 

Chris Gale. May 18 6:30pm Trevor Giancola 

Trio; 9:30pm Kirk MacDonald. May 19 6:30pm 

Kevin Quain; 9:30pm Chicago’s Hans Luchs 

Trio. May 20 4pm Hogtown Syncopators; 

6:30pm Teri Parker Four; 9:45pm Brooklyn’s 

Huntertones. May 21 12pm The Sinners 

Choir; 3:30pm Laura Hubert; 7:30pm Justin 

Bacchus; 9:45pm Brooklyn’s Huntertones. 

May 22 12pm Excelsior Dixieland Jazz Band; 

3:30pm Dr. Nick & The Rollercoasters; 7pm 

Michael Herring Quartet; 9:30pm Colorado’s 

Brad Goode. May 23 6:30pm Gord Mowat’s 

Skeleton Crew; 9:30pm Don Naduriak Quintet. 

May 24 6:30pm Ethan Ardelli Quartet; 

9:30pm Classic Rex Jazz Jam hosted by 

Chris Gale. May 25 6:30pm Trevor Giancola 

Trio; 9:30pm Vancouver’s Tyler Hornby Quartet 

feat. David Braid. May 26 6:30pm Kevin 

Quain; 9:30pm Vancouver’s Tyler Hornby 

Quartet feat. David Braid. May 27 4pm Hogtown 

Syncopators; 6:30pm Teri and The Dan 

Danns; 9:45pm Brian O’Kane Quintet. May 28 

12pm The Sinners Choir; 3:30pm Swing Shift 

Big Band; 7:30pm Justin Bacchus; 9:45pm 

Kevin Breit’s Folk Alarm. May 29 12pm Excelsior 

Dixieland Jazz Band; 3:30pm Freeway 

Dixieland Band; 7pm Michael Herring Quartet; 

9:30pm David Diao Sextet. May 30 6:30pm 

Gord Mowat’s Skeleton Crew; 8:30pm John 

MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Orchestra. May 31 


Rex Jazz Jam hosted by Chris Gale. 

Salty Dog Bar & Grill, The 

1980 Queen St. E. 416-849-5064 

(full schedule) 

thesaltydog.ca 

Sauce on the Danforth 

1376 Danforth Ave. 647-748-1376 

sauceondanforth.com 

All shows: No cover. 

Every Mon 9pm The Out Of Towners: Dirty 

Organ Jazz. Every Tue 6pm Julian Fauth. 

Seven44 

(Formerly Chick n’ Deli/The People’s Chicken) 

744 Mount Pleasant Rd. 416-489-7931 

seven44.com (full schedule) 

All shows: 7:30pm 

Tranzac 

292 Brunswick Ave. 416-923-8137 

tranzac.org 

3-4 shows daily, various styles. Mostly PWYC. 

Every Mon 10pm Open Mic Mondays. Every 

Thurs 7:30pm Bluegrass Thursdays: Houndstooth. 

Every Fri 5pm The Friends of Hugh Oliver 

(folk). This month’s shows include: May 1, 

15 5pm Monk’s Music. May 3 7:30pm Ali 

Berkok; 10pm Peripheral Vision. May 4 10pm 

Twin Talk with Tania Gill. May 8 10pm The 

Lina Allemano Four. May 10 7:30pm Aurochs; 

10pm Bedroom. May 15 7:30pm Diane Roblin. 

May 17 10pm The Ken McDonald Quartet. 

May 27 10pm The Ryan Driver Sextet. May 31 

10pm Nick Fraser Presents. 

Galas and Fundraisers 

●●May 27 6:30: University Club of Toronto. 

Benefit Concert for Suite Melody Care. With 

founder Leslie Ashworth, Grand Prize Winner 

of the Canadian Music Competition, violin, 

piano, viola. Works by Bach, Mozart, 

Beethoven, Dvořák and L. Ashworth. Guests: 

Eric Nowlin, viola; Barry Shiffman, violin, 

viola; Dianne Werner, piano. University Club 

of Toronto, 380 University Ave. 416-597-1336. 

$125; includes reception, dinner, dinner wines 

and concert. Info at suitemelodycare.com. 

Register at rsvp@universitycluboftoronto.com 

●●June 05 3:00-5:30: Toronto Early Music 

Players Organization. Annual Fundraising 

Tea and Silent Auction. Live music, free 

food and beverages; CDs, books and sheet 

music for sale. Grace Church on-the-Hill, 

300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-927-8699. Admission 

by tax-deductible donation. 

Lectures, Salons, Symposia 

●●May 10 1:30: Oakville Opera Guild. The Perfect 

Opera. Lecture by conductor/musician 

Voltr Ivonoffski. Oakville Public Library Central 

Branch, 120 Navy St. Oakville. 905-827- 

5678; Oakville.Opera.Guild@outlook.com 

$10 (Proceeds towards scholarship fund for 

U of T Faculty of Music student and annual 

donation to COC.) 

●●May 13 7:00: Soundstreams Salon 21. The 

Regent Park Songbook. Professional Canadian 

composers bring student-related 

lyrics to life in a series of pieces performed 

by student singers and pianists from Regent 

Park School of Music. Gardiner Museum, 

111 Queen’s Park. 416-504-1282. Free, PWYC 

preferred seating available. 

●●May 19 7:30: Darchei Noam Synagogue. 

Jews’ Muse: Aaron Copland. A mix of lecture, 

music and discussion with lecturer Rick 

Phillips exploring the music of Copland - the 

influences that shaped his music, the impact 

he left on his times and his lasting legacy. 

864 Sheppard Ave. W. 416-638-4783; darcheinoam.ca/event/JewishComposers 

$20 or 

$45 for all four dates. 

●●May 22 2:00-5:00: Classical Music Club 

Toronto. A look at Richard Strauss’ epic 

orchestral tone poem Alpine Symphony (see 

TSO listings May 25, 26, 28). Presentation of 

excerpts from various recordings and videos 

with informal discussion and refreshments. 

For information and location: 416-597-1924 

or info@classicalmusicclubtoronto.org $25 

(annual membership fee); no charge for firsttime 

visitors. 

●●May 27 8:00: Oakville Opera Guild. O Canada. 

Our annual celebration of Canadian opera 

singers, and introduction of our scholarship 

winner, baritone Max van Wyck. Presenters: 

E. The ETCeteras 

Don Gillies and Jean Stoten. Please call re: 

location. 905-827-5678; Oakville.Opera.Guild@ 

outlook.com $10 (Proceeds towards scholarship 

fund for U of T Faculty of Music student 

and annual donation to COC.) 

Master Classes 

●●May 02 7:00: Canadian Opera Company. 

Opera Insights: Rossini Master Class. Exploration 

of Rossini’s vocal style. Conductor Harry 

Bicket with COC Ensemble Studio members. 

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 

145 Queen St. W. 416-306-8231. Free (advance 

reservation required). 

●●May 07 6:30: Li Delun Music Foundation. 

Haochen Zhang Piano Master Class. 

Robert Lowrey’s Piano Experts, 2nd Floor, 

943 Eglinton Ave. E. 416-423-0434. $15; VIP 

$20. 

Screenings 

●●May 14 7:00: ReelAbilities Film Festival/ 

Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival. Touch of 

the Light. Based on the life story of pianist 

Huang Yu-Siang (as himself) a blind prodigy 

from rural Taiwan and his relationship with 

aspiring dancer Xiao Jie. Al Green Theatre, 

Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Ave. 416-599- 

8433; toronto.reelabilities.org $12; $8 (st/sr, 

people on fixed income). 

Singalongs, Jams 

●●May 28 3:00-6:00: The Music Gallery. 

Drone Therapy. All are welcome to spectate, 

speak, and/or join our drone jam featuring 

Castle If (Oriana Guerrero, Moyo Rainos 

Mutamba, Alison Cameron, Kat Estacio). Part 

of National Drone Day. The Music Gallery 

courtyard, 197 John St. For complete details: 

musicgallery.org/drone-therapy/Free PWYC 

(proceeds to CAMH). 

Tours 

●●May 01 10:30am: Canadian Opera Company. 

Tour of the Four Seasons Centre for the 

Performing Arts. 90-minute tour for the general 

public. Extensive tour includes backstage 

access and is an opportunity to learn more 

about the history, architecture and acoustics 

of Canada’s first purpose-built opera house. 

145 Queen St. W. coc.ca (advance purchase). 

$20 (adults); $15 (sr/st). Also May 8 (sold out), 

May 15, May 29. 



Performing Arts. See May 1 above. (Sold out.) 



Performing Arts. See May 1 above. 



Performing Arts. See May 1 above. 

PASQUALE BROTHERS 

PURVEYORS OF FINE FOOD 

CATERING 

(416) 364-7397 WWW.PASQUALEBROS.COM 


E. The ETCeteras Classified Advertising | classad@thewholenote.com 

Workshops 

●●May 01 1:30-4:00: Toronto Early Music 

Players Organization. Workshop coached 

by Montreal viol player Elin Soderstrom. 

Bring your early instruments and music 

stand. Armour Heights Community Centre, 

2140 Avenue Road. 416-927-8699. $20. 

●●May 05 6:45-8:45: World Fiddle Day 

Toronto. Workshop led by Anne Lederman. 

Join players of bowed string instruments to 

learn traditional world folk repertoire for our 

community World Fiddle Day event at Fort 

York, May 21. For more info and to download 

tunes: worldfiddledaytoronto.ca Long & 

McQuade Clinic Space, 935 Bloor St. W. 647- 

217-4620. Practice sessions by donation. 

●●May 13 7:30: CAMMAC Recorder Players’ 

Society. Amateur recorder players are invited 

to join in the playing of early music. Mount 

Pleasant Road Baptist Church, 527 Mount 

Pleasant Rd. 416-597-0485; cammac.ca $15 

(non-members). Refreshments included. 

●●May 14 10:30am-1:00: Toronto Mendelssohn 

Choir. Singsation Saturday with Bob 

Anderson. Join members of the Toronto Mendelssohn 

Choir and an enthusiastic community 

of singers for an open choral reading 

of short choral works, showcasing a year in 

the life of Cawthra Park Chamber Choir with 

guest conductor Bob Anderson. Sheet music 

provided. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 

1585 Yonge St. tmchoir.org/singsationsaturdays/#MaySingsation 

$10 (includes 

refreshments). 

●●May 15 12:00 noon-3:00: World Fiddle Day 

Toronto. Workshop led by Anne Lederman. 

Join players of bowed string instruments to 

learn traditional world folk repertoire for 

our community World Fiddle Day event at 

Fort York, May 21. For more info and to download 

tunes: worldfiddledaytoronto.ca Long & 

McQuade Clinic Space, 935 Bloor St. W. 647- 

217-4620. Practice sessions by donation. 

●●May 15 2:00-4:30: CAMMAC Toronto Region. 

Reading for singers and instrumentalists of 

Bruckner’s Mass in F Minor. Andrew Chung, 

conductor. Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge 

St. 416-386-0258. $10; $6(members). 

●●May 21 10:00am-5:30: World Fiddle Day 

Toronto. Workshops from 10:00am to 

11:30am with guest artists; free concert 

12:30 to 2:00 (see daily listings); community 

Around-the-World Jam led by Anne Lederman 

and band from 2:30 to 5:30. Fort York 

National Historic Site, 250 Fort York Blvd. 

Details: worldfiddledaytoronto.ca 

●●June 03 7:30: CAMMAC Recorder Players’ 

Society. Amateur recorder players 

are invited to join in the playing of early 

music. Mount Pleasant Road Baptist Church, 

527 Mount Pleasant Rd. 416-597-0485; cammac.ca 

$15 (non-members). Refreshments 

included. AGM held the second half. 

WholeNote CLASSIFIEDS can help you 

recruit new members for your choir or 

band / orchestra or find a new music 

director! Advertise your help wanted 

needs or promote your services starting 

at only $24/issue. Inquire by May 24 for the 

SUMMER (June/July/Auust) issue. classad@ 

thewholenote.com 

AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES 

Available positions with the KINDRED 

SPIRITS ORCHESTRA: 1st Oboe, 2nd 

Oboe, 1st Horn, 2nd Trumpet, 1st (tenor) 

Trombone, 2nd (tenor) Trombone, 3rd 

(bass) Trombone, Principal Pianist, sectional 

Violins, Violas, Cellos and Contrabasses. 

The KSO is an auditioned-based civic 

orchestra in residence at Flato Markham 

Theatre. Weekly rehearsals are held on 

Tuesday evening at the state-of-the-art 

Cornell Recital Hall (HWY 407 ETR and 

9th Ln). For more information visit www. 

KSOchestra.ca or e-mail Jobert Sevilleno 

BAND TEACHER WANTED - New Horizons 

Band of Toronto for our 2016-17 season. 

We offer band classes to adults who wish 

to return to playing in a band, as well as 

classes for absolute beginners. For more 

info see www.NewHorizonsBandToronto. 

ca or call Dan at 647-201-8780. Applications: 

nhbdirector@gmail.com 

CHORUS YORK: We are a new SATB 

community chamber choir based in 

Richmond Hill. We are looking for more 

singers, especially altos & basses, who can 

read music. Rehearsals are held Mondays 

from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at St. Matthew’s United 

Church, 333 Crosby Ave., Richmond Hill. We 

are culturally diverse and sing a variety of 

choral music from Bach to Broadway. 

COUNTERPOINT COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA 

(www.ccorchestra.org) welcomes volunteer 

musicians for Monday evening rehearsals 

at the 519 Church Street Community Centre 

in downtown Toronto. No audition. We’re 

especially looking for harp, trombone and 

strings players. Email info@ccorchestra.org. 

DO YOU LOVE TO SING? Are you looking for 

a choir that performs every type of sacred 

music, from Byrd to Britten, Howells to 

Hogan? The Anglican Church of St. John the 

Baptist seeks all voice types to enhance their 

Mass Choir. Services take place on Sundays 

at 10:30 AM in the Beaches, one of Toronto’s 

most active and artistic neighbourhoods. 

For more information, contact music@ 

stjohnsnorway.com or (647) 302-2074 

THE WYCHWOOD CLARINET CHOIR is 

looking for enthusiastic clarinet players 

to join our group. Contact us through our 

website at www.wychwoodclarinetchoir.ca to 

arrange an audition. All ages welcome. 

INSTRUCTION & COURSES 

DR. STEPHEN SATORY is accepting private 

piano and theory students. Near St. George 

Subway. “A very patient, knowledgeable 

teacher”; “A consummate professional”. 

416-566-4411. szep774@gmail.com. 

SU M MER 

OPE RA 

Grades 1 to 12 July 2016 

Details at coc.ca/Camps 

LYDIA ADAMS 

Conductor & Artistic Director 

AUDITIONS for 

the 2016/17 season 

will be held in May and June 

for experienced singers in all 

voice categories. The choir will 

perform as guests of the Elmer 

Iseler Singers and the Toronto 

Symphony Orchestra in addition 

to our regular 4 concert season. 

FOR DETAILS OR TO SET UP AN 

AUDITION PLEASE CONTACT US 

AT 416-446-0188 

INFO@AMADEUSCHOIR.COM 

C AM PS 

Program Supporter: 

J.P. Bickell Foundation 

Sing With 

Orpheus! Robert 

Seeking a vibrant 

and welcoming choral 

community? 

Want to sing with 

an outstanding choral 

conductor? 

Looking for a choral 

experience with a 

difference? 

Rehearsals: 7 p.m. Tuesdays 

at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church 

1585 Yonge Street 

Interested? To book an audition, 

contact Helen Coxon at 

info@orpheuschoirtoronto.com 

or 416-530-4428 

Cooper, Artistic Director 

2016-2017 

Sing with renowned 

composer Ola Gjeilo 

Appear with the TSO in 

the music of Tim Burton films 

Celebrate Christmas with jazz 

legend Jackie Richardson 

Premiere 

adventurous new works 

Perform a Gala Concert 

at Koerner Hall 

www.orpheuschoirtoronto.com 


Classified Advertising | classad@thewholenote.com 

FLUTE, PIANO, THEORY LESSONS. RCM 

exam preparation. RCM certified advanced 

specialist. Samantha Chang, FTCL, 

FLCM, Royal Academy of Music PGDip, 

LRAM, ARCT. Toronto, Scarborough 416-293- 

1302, samantha.studio@gmail. com 

www.samanthaflute.com. 

LESSONS FOR ALL! Friendly and firm - 

I’m an experienced musician and mom 

teaching piano and singing to children (and 

young at heart) in my Toronto home (East 

Leslieville). To discuss your child’s need for 

music-making please contact kskwhite@ 

gmail.com. 

PIANO LESSONS FOR ADVANCED 

STUDENTS Prepare for RCM exams, 

competitions. Play musically with freedom 

and ease. Professional instruction with Dr. 

Réa Beaumont (DMA, MMus, MusBacEd, 

ArtDipMus, ARCT). Midtown Toronto studio, 

near subway, parking. 

info@reabeaumont.com. 

PIANO LESSONS WITH CONCERT PIANIST 

EVE EGOYAN eveegoyan.com All ages, 

all levels welcome, at Earwitness Studio, 

Artscape Youngplace (downtown Toronto). 

Eve’s own exposure to exceptional teachers 

during her developmental years makes her a 

communicative, intuitive and creative teacher 

with over 25 years teaching experience 

(private lessons, masterclasses, adjudication) 

Each student is an individual. Email Eve to 

set up a free introductory meeting at eve. 

egoyan@bell.net 

PRIVATE VOICE/PIANO/THEORY 

LESSONS: Experienced, BFA Certified 

Teacher located at Christ Church Deer 

Park (Yonge & St. Clair). Prepares you or 

your child for RCM exams, competitions & 

auditions. Contact Jessika: jwithakmusic@ 

gmail.com (647) 214-2827. 

VegasNorth’s 2016 BIG BAND WORKSHOPS 

These big band workshops focus on teaching 

intermediate/advanced musicians how to 

rehearse/perform in a big band ensemble 

while having a ton of fun rehearsing 

great charts. 12 sessions - Noon - 2 PM on 

Sundays from April - June 2016 Location - 

The Rehearsal Factory 330 Geary. Toronto 

Registration is now open. info@vegasnorth. 

ca 

WARMHEARTED PIANO TEACHER with 

sterling credentials, unfailing good humor, 

and buckets of patience. Royal Conservatory 

washouts and nervous learners especially 

welcome. Lovely Cabbagetown studio. “Best 

teacher ever!” - Beaches tween. “Beats 

studying with those Quebec nuns!” - Rosedale 

senior. Peter Kristian Mose, 416.923.3060. 

www.MoseMusicalArts.com. My students 

have never won any prizes, except for love of 

music. (And loyalty.) 

FOR SALE / WANTED 

CLASSICAL RECORD AND CD COLLECTIONS 

WANTED. Minimum 350 units. Call, text or 

e-mail Aaron 416-471-8169 or A@A31.CA. 

SAXOPHONE Bundy Selmer alto student 

model; BASSOON Linton student 

model; EUPHONIUM Besson four valve 

compensating with laquer finish. Phone 

416-964-3642. 

WHAT’S IN YOUR BASEMENT? Is that 

accordion gathering dust? Are your band 

days just a hazy memory? Someone out there 

would love to give your nice old clarinet / 

tuba / drum kit a new life. Advertise your 

unused instruments or find one for sale with 

a WholeNote classified ad! Contact classad@ 

thewholenote.com. 

MUSICIANS AVAILABLE 

SWEETHEART PARTY BAND? Do you provide 

live music for weddings? Maybe also for 

wakes, roasts & retirements, and all kinds of 

occasions? Advertise your ensemble right 

here for as little as $24 plus tax!! Contact 

classad@thewholenote.com by May 24 for 

the Summer (June/July/August) edition! 

SERVICES 

ACCOUNTING AND INCOME TAX SERVICE 

for small business and individuals, to save 

you time and money, customized to meet 

your needs. Norm Pulker, B. Math. CMA. 

905-251-0309 or 905-830-2985 

CD LINER NOTES, PROMO MATERIAL, 

CONCERT PROGRAMS, LIBRETTI, WEB SITE 

CONTENT AND MEMOIRS need proofreading 

and editing for correct spelling and grammar, 

clarity and consistency. Contact Vanessa 

Wells, wellsread@editors.ca, for a copy editor 

with a music background. Quick turnaround 

and reasonable rates! wellsreadediting.ca 

VENUES AVAILABLE / WANTED 

ARE YOU PLANNING A CONCERT OR 

RECITAL? Looking for a venue? Consider 

Bloor Street United Church. Phone: 416-924- 

7439 x22. Email: 

tina@bloorstreetunited.org. 

PERFORMANCE / REHEARSAL / STUDIO / 

OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE: great acoustics, 

reasonable rates, close to Green P Parking, 

cafés & restaurants. Historic church at 

College & Bellevue, near Spadina. Phone 

416-921-6350. E-mail 

ststepheninthefields@gmail.com. 

DO YOU DRIVE? 

Do you love 

The WholeNote? 

Share the love and earn a little 

money! Join The WholeNote’s 

circulation team: 9 times a year, 

GTA and well beyond. Interested? 

Contact: 

circulation@thewholenote.com 

NEED HELP WITH 

YOUR TAXES? 

Specializing in personal 

and business tax returns 

including prior years 

and adjustments 

HORIZON TAX SERVICES INC. 

• free consultation • accurate work 

For CRA stress relief call: 

1-866-268-1319 

hts@horizontax.ca 

www.horizontax.ca 

RESTORE & PRESERVE 

YOUR MEMORIES 

Recital and gig tapes | 78’s 

& LPs | VHS and Hi8 | 35mm 

Slides |News clippings | Photos 

& more, transferred to 

digital files: CD’s, DVD’s, 

or Video slideshow 

ArtsMediaProjects 

416.910.1091 

Rhodes 

Electric Piano 

Repair and Restoration 

victormio@sympatico.ca 

www.victormio.com 

Ace Your Auditions 

Mental Skills for 

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Lisa Chisholm 

www.masterperforming.ca 


Tom Allen At JMO/ NYOC Benefit 

VANESSA WELLS 

Jeunesses Musicales Ontario (JMO) 

and the National Youth Orchestra 

(NYO) Canada have orchestrated 

Raise the Bar, a fundraiser on June 8, as 

part of their continued support of the 

next generation of professional classical 

musicians. Tom Allen will be hosting 

the intimate evening of music, cocktails 

and hors d’œuvres, and he’ll be joined 

by fellow alumni James Ehnes, Russell 

Braun and other award-winners in 

performance in the elegant Great Hall 

of U of T’s Hart House. 

Since 1979, Jeunesses Musicales 

Ontario has provided emerging 

Canadian artists with concert tours as 

well as educational concerts for young 

audiences. Since 1960, NYO Canada has 

held an iconic reputation as Canada’s pre-eminent orchestral and 

chamber music training institute, providing the most comprehensive 

and in-depth training program available to our best young classical 

musicians. 

We asked Tom Allen to comment on the organizations’ shared 

values, both as an observer and as the recipient of many advantages as 

a result of his involvement with them as a youth. 

He noted that “…the work being done by Jeunesses Musicales and 

the NYO Canada doesn’t only nurture musical talent - it nurtures a 

benevolent and caring and enlightened society.” 

His own experiences included the honour of being bass trombonist 

L to R Mary Jay (tpt) Lise Vaugeois (horn) Tom Allen 

(trb), John Jowett (trb) and Anita McAlister (tpt.) 

in the NYO in 1982 and 1985, and part 

of a resident brass quintet in 1984. 

That quintet went on to a professional 

career as the Great Lakes Brass, which 

he toured with from 1984 to 1990. He 

notes that “during those years we were 

helped considerably by JMC, who sent 

us on a couple of tours and helped 

us find rehearsal space in Toronto, as 

well” and that there were other benefits 

to him as a young musician: there 

was generosity in support and career 

guidance, as well as lessons not only 

in artistry and musicianship but also 

the universal and transferable life skills 

needed by emerging professionals. 

He is still grateful for the connections 

and experiences he gleaned. Despite 

a climate of arts-funding restraint, he didn’t miss out on invaluable 

recording and performance opportunities. JMO and NYOC 

still nurture high-level playing and professional development. The 

NYO offers that experience and, likewise, “…because of those same 

economic forces, classical musicians in Canada (and everywhere else) 

must be more adaptable, more flexible, more inventive and quickon-their-feet 

than ever before, and JMC supports and nurtures that 

approach. The two are both sides of a (more and more hard-to-comeby) 

coin.” 

For more information visit raise-the-bar.ticketleap.com/gala 

High School 

Musicality 

CLAUDE WATSON 

SECONDARY ARTS OFFERS 

MUSIC PROGRAMS IN: 

Strings | Woodwinds 

Brass | Percussion | Piano 

Voice |Composition 

ENSEMBLES: 

Orchestra, Symphonic Band 

Chamber Strings, Mixed Chorus 

The Earl Haig Symphony Orchestra, 

MusicFest National finalists 

APPLY TO JOIN US! 

Applications due: November 28, 2016 

Auditions: January, 2017 

Application forms at 

claudewatson.ca 

Claude Watson Secondary Arts Program, Earl Haig Secondary School 

100 Princess Avenue, North York, ON | (416) 395-3210 x20137 

Other Claude Watson Programs: DANCE | VISUAL ARTS | DRAMA | FILM 

View our YouTube channel 

Visit us on Facebook & Twitter 

CLAUDE WATSON MUSIC 


Now in his sixth year as artistic director of 

the Toronto Summer Music Festival and 

Academy, violist Douglas McNabney was 

born and raised in Toronto. He’s a busy chamber 

musician with an international career, also an 

educator – currently professor of Chamber Music 

at the Schulich School of Music of McGill. Prior 

to TSM he was artistic director of the Domaine 

Forget Music Festival and Academy (2001-2005), 

and chair of the Department of Performance 

of McGill University (2004-2008.) In 2009, he 

was responsible for the artistic direction of the 

Haydn 2009 project at the Museum of Fine Arts 

in Montreal where the complete cycle of all 68 

String Quartets was performed in one week. 

McNabney lives in Le Plateau in downtown 

Montreal, with his wife, Isolde Lagacé. Some of 

his other passions include architecture, building 

things, and good food and wine with friends. 

Where did you grow up? Rexdale, playing on 

the banks of the Humber River – when it was 

wild, not a park! 

How did your family earn a living? I come 

from a large family of Irish immigrants. My 

father had 11 siblings who were all modest 

labourers and workers and few of their children 

(my cousins) went to university. 

Except the Eaglesons – 

Alan Eagleson is my cousin. 

An infamous one. 

Your absolute earliest 

memories of music? My 

father listening to marching 

bands and Irish and Scottish 

tenors; the band of the 

Coldstream Guards; and 

John McCormack or Kenneth 

McKellar singing “Oh Danny 

Boy.” I did sing in a church 

choir. My parents would 

drive my sister and me to 

choir practice Thursdays 

and services on Sundays. 

They rarely stayed for the 

service, though. 

Where did you attend high 

WE ARE ALL MUSIC’S CHILDREN 

May’s Child 

Douglas McNabney 

MJ BUELL 

school? Richview Collegiate. I am a musician 

because of a high school music program 

in Toronto – I wouldn’t be a musician otherwise! 

It distresses me to think that the opportunities 

I enjoyed as a young person are no 

longer offered to young people today. I had 

my first violin lesson with my high school 

music teacher, Pat Burroughs, at 16 years old. 

He took our high school chamber orchestra 

to Charlottetown, PEI, the following year to 

Banff, and in my last year to Paris, France 

(hence my lifelong fascination with, and 

appreciation of, French culture). I also played 

in the Etobicoke Youth Orchestra and met 

extraordinary musicians associated with 

the public school system like Barry Goss 

and Mario DeSotto. If it wasn’t for those 

wonderful, dedicated and inspiring teachers, 

I’d probably be a lawyer or an architect. Not 

that there would be anything wrong with 

that! But I’m sure I’m a lot happier as a musician. 

And more fortunate. 

How did you begin playing the viola? I 

always say the viola chose me, not the other 

way around. When I was in university, one 

summer a string quartet needed a violist and I 

volunteered. I immediately 

fell in love with 

the dark, sensual 

sound of the instrument, 

and perhaps 

more importantly, 

with the role it plays in 

a quartet. 

Douglas McNabney with 

grandchildren Clara and Arthur 

NEW CONTEST 

Who is June’s Child? 

circa 1983, at home in Erin Mills – 

Mississauga, Ontario 

• This swingin’ sweetheart 

often leads a gang of alley cats. 

• Recently celebrated at the JUNOs 

she’s breathing life 

into some fine old tunes, 

sounding as good as New! 

Know our Mystery Child’s name? 

WIN PRIZES! 

Send your best guess by midnight 

on May 25. 

musicschildren@thewholenote.com 

Where does music fit into your family life today? Music is everywhere! 

And always will be. My wife runs a magnificent concert 

series in Montréal at the Salle Bourgie of the Musée des beaux arts. 

Both my children are professional musicians - my son, Raphael, 

is the bass player with Les Violons du Roy and my daughter 

Mélisande, a harpsichord and fortepiano player, also plays with Les 

Violons du Roy. Her partner, Isaac Chalk, is principal viola with Les 

Violons. My son’s wife, Leila, a psychiatrist, keeps us all in line and 

ensures that it all functions smoothly. That’s a joke of course, but as 

Danny Kaye once said: ‘it’s a joke, but it’s true!’ 

For a longer version of this interview please visit 

thewholenote.com. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS! 

The Toronto Summer Music 2016 festival “LONDON CALLING” focuses on the music of Great Britain through the 

centuries, including music by British composers and others who have contributed to the musical life of London. The 

festival includes more than 20 concerts between July 14 and August 7. 

At TSM’s gala opening night concert on July 14 at Koerner Hall - English Music for Strings - the TSM Festival Ensemble 

and the Parker String Quartet, with Nicholas Phan, tenor, and Neil Deland, French horn, will perform Bridge’s Suite for 

String Orchestra, Britten’s Serenade, and Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro, conducted by Joseph 

Swensen. Tickets for Claudia Krawchuk! 

On July 21 at Koerner Hall, TSM presents pianist Jeremy Denk – winner of the MacArthur ‘Genius’ fellowship, 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, 

Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year award. Tickets for Stephen Erlichman! 

On July 25 at Koerner Hall, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, with Bradley Moore, piano, will give an art song recital – works by Turina, 

Chausson, Schubert, Dvorak and more. TICKETS for Greer Roberts! 

~ Music’s Children gratefully acknowledges Connie and John, Jim and Greta. ~ 


DISCOVERIES | RECORDINGS REVIEWED 

My first thought when I opened a 

package from Naxos and found 

Shostakovich – The Complete String 

Quartets with Quatuor Danel (Alpha 226) was, 

here’s something for Terry Robbins’ Strings 

Attached column. Although I love them dearly, 

I already have half a dozen sets of the quartets 

and after all, how many is enough? But then 

I made the mistake of opening the (Pandora’s) box. So, sorry Terry! I 

was immediately immersed in the sound world that has captivated me 

time and again, since my first exposure almost 50 years ago with the 

Borodin Quartet’s Melodiya-Seraphim vinyl set of the then complete 

quartets Nos.1 through 13 (now available in a digitally remastered 

four-CD set from Chandos). I also remember being deeply moved by 

the Beethoven Quartet rendition of the 13th in a pairing with the late 

Violin Sonata performed by David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter. 

That one-movement Adagio quartet, written in 1970, seemed at the 

time to be the epitome of darkness and quiet despair. As had been the 

case earlier in the cycle, Shostakovich followed this morose work with 

the almost playful String Quartet No.14 in F-Sharp Major, Op.142 in 

1973. But as we know, especially in his final years, playfulness was at 

a premium and the final work in the mammoth cycle returns to doom 

and gloom, if perhaps with quiet resignation. The String Quartet No.15 

in E-Flat Major, Op.144 (1974) is in six movements – Elegy, Serenade, 

Intermezzo, Nocturne, Funeral March and Epilogue – every one of 

which is adagio in tempo with the single exception of the Funeral 

March marked adagio molto (very slow). As I mentioned, there is 

much gentle resolve in this work with only occasional abrasive interjections 

reminding us that Shostakovich was not entirely willing, in 

the words of Dylan Thomas, to “go gentle into that good night.” 

When I started to write this I did not know what form my words 

would take. Having spent most of the past month revisiting these 

great works I have had various responses to this particular set. I 

initially assumed it was a new recording, but careful examination of 

the booklet – annoyingly printed in white text on a pale green background 

– reveals that it was actually recorded from 2001 to 2005 by 

the Bayerischen Rundfunk, and a search on the internet turned up 

that it was initially released on the Fuga Libera label a decade ago. 

Although there are extensive program notes – thankfully printed in 

legible black text – including an encomium by Frans C. Lemaire and 

a 16-page essay about the quartets themselves by David Fanning, 

nowhere in the 50-page bilingual booklet is there a word about the 

ensemble itself. Fortunately they have a comprehensive and up-todate 

website (quatuordanel.eu) from which I was able to glean that 

one of the two Danel brothers, cellist Guy, and the violist Tony Nys, 

have since left the quartet. The violinists Marc Danel and Gilles Millet 

remain and their commitment to Shostakovich is ongoing with live 

performances of the quartet cycle in Manchester and Lyon in recent 

months. The group was founded in 1991, is based in Belgium and 

has a particular interest in modern and contemporary repertoire – 

Rihm, Lachenmann, Gubaidulina, Dusapin Jörg Widmann and Bruno 

Mantovani – although their upcoming recording projects focus on 

Tchaikovsky, Franck and late Beethoven. 

DAVID OLDS 

different periods. I found this most satisfying on the final disc where 

Quartet No.1 is followed by Quartet No.10 and then the ultimate 

Quartet No.15, effectively giving an overview of the composer’s oeuvre 

in 77 minutes. Less effective was the opening disc on which we find 

Quartets Nos. 2, 7 and 5. Certainly for shorter listening sessions, one 

disc at a time, this is a well-balanced approach. But for binge listening, 

as I am prone to, I prefer to experience them in the order they were 

written. For this sort of total immersion I recommend spending 

just a few dollars more for the Decca reissue of the 1999 Deutsche 

Grammophon recording Shostakovich – The String Quartets by the 

Emerson String Quartet (475 7407). 

The next entry doesn’t go back quite 

as far as my discovery of the string quartets 

of Dmitri Shostakovich, but I have 

known multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter 

Ted Parkinson for about 35 years. He 

is a dear friend, so unlike my usual “professional 

conflict of interest disclaimer,” I must 

say outright that this relationship goes much 

deeper than that. A frequent participant in 

my backyard and house party jams, Ted always has something to add 

to the mix, whether it’s his jazz-inspired hollow-body guitar complements 

to the songs of others or his own quirky compositions which 

run the gamut from basic blues, to pop rock and alternative ballad 

stylings. I have known that Ted has been working on his debut solo CD 

for the past four years and I’ve heard various mixes during that time. 

I am pleased to say, as are Ted and his long-suffering (no, let’s just say 

very patient) wife Joan, that the finished product My Neighbourhood 

(tedparkinson.com) is now available. Like many first releases it is 

a compendium of many decades of creativity and, not surprisingly, 

many stylistic variations. Although Ted is adept at guitar, keyboards, 

reeds and drums, he has enlisted “professional help” for this project. 

His main collaborator is producer/engineer Fred Smith who suggested 

supplementary players to fill out the mix. Smith himself adds a couple 

of instruments dear to my own heart, tenor banjo and mandola. 

Ted, a native of Whitehorse, came to Toronto, and later Hamilton 

and now Kitchener, via Victoria, B.C. The songs reflect various aspects 

of his geographic and emotional development. I can only assume that 

February Spring is a remnant of his days in Victoria. And speaking 

of his time on the West Coast, while doing some spring cleaning a 

couple of days ago I unearthed a relic of Ted’s years at the University 

of Victoria in the form of An exciting, new, four song E.P. by The 

Tumours released in 1980. This punk-edged, new wave band with 

heavy-metal lead guitar featured my old buddy on saxophone and 

backing vocals. After moving to Toronto in the mid-80s Ted was for a 

while a member of the proto-punk band Violence and the Sacred. Not 

much of his “angry young man” roots remain in the songs collected 

on My Neighbourhood, but it was a fun trip down memory lane to 

listen to the long lost tracks which took me back to my own time at 

CKLN-FM in its heyday. Highlights of the new album include the title 

track, My Brother’s a Mormon, Discovery and University Town. You 

can watch a live performance of this last on Ted’s website. 

Regarding the Shostakovich set itself, I 

found the performances nuanced, idiomatic 

and convincing and at about $35 the Alpha 

reissue is excellent value. I have mixed feelings 

about the order in which the quartets are 

presented however. Rather than a chronological 

presentation, each of the five discs 

presents three quartets from more or less 

I mentioned that Ted Parkinson is a frequent 

flyer at my backyard music parties and last 

summer he brought a friend, well a Facebook 

friend anyway. It seems that in the evershrinking 

world of social media Ted came 

across another Whitehorse native, jazz singer 

Fawn Fritzen, and when it turned out that she 

was spending a few months of professional 


development in Toronto, he decided my backyard would be a good 

place to meet in person. So on a couple of occasions last season we 

were graced with her strong, warm voice and our folky ramblings 

expanded to encompass some jazz standards and torch songs. 

I was pleasantly surprised when Fritzen’s CD Pairings (fawnfritzen.com) 

appeared on my desk a couple of weeks ago. Recorded 

in Whitehorse and at Toronto’s Canterbury Sound, the disc was 

produced with her longtime collaborator Daniel Janke. As the title 

suggests, Pairings is primarily made up of duets and features a 

number of iconic figures including George Koller, Reg Schwager, 

David Restivo, Steve Amirault, a trio comprised of Richard Underhill, 

Kelly Jefferson and Shirantha Beddage, and of course, producer 

Janke. Fritzen shows herself adept in languages with lyrics in English, 

German and French and a comfort zone that embraces standards 

(Gershwin, Caesar and Youmans, Berlin and Porter), bluesy originals, 

a swinging arrangement of Burton Cummings’ Straighten Out and a 

growly Please Send Me Someone to Love. This is quite a brave project: 

accompanied in most instances by only one instrument (double bass, 

piano, jazz guitar or percussion), and occasionally in sung duet with 

the accompanists, Fritzen’s voice benefits from this exposure and rises 

to every occasion. 

Concert Note: Fawn Fritzen will launch Pairings with intimate 

performances in Toronto at Jazz Bistro on May 8, St. Catharines at 

the Mahtay Café on May 9, Waterloo at the Jazz Room May 10 (where 

accompanists will include Ted Parkinson) and Ottawa at the Steinway 

Piano Gallery May 11. 

Shameless self-promotion: In one final note I would like to tell you 

about a performance coming up on Wednesday, June 15. I have often 

mentioned my administrative association with New Music Concerts 

and also the music parties in my backyard (and elsewhere). In a 

surprising act of bravado I will be donning my folky duds to host a 

fundraiser on behalf of New Music Concerts at “Coffee House 345” 

(aka Gallery 345 on Sorauren). I will be bringing my eclectic repertoire, 

6- and 12-string guitars and a few musical friends along for 

the ride. Thanks to NMC’s board of directors, there will be complimentary 

snacks and libations. More details will follow in the June 

edition of The WholeNote, but for advance reservations you can call 

416-961-9594. 

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. CDs and 

comments should be sent to: DISCoveries, WholeNote Media Inc., 

The Centre for Social Innovation, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON 

M5S 2R4. We also encourage you to visit our website thewholenote. 

com where you can find added features including direct links to 

performers, composers and record labels, “buy buttons” for on-line 

shopping and additional, expanded and archival reviews. 

David Olds, DISCoveries Editor 

discoveries@thewholenote.com 

TERRY ROBBINS 

There’s another lovely release from Duo 

Concertante, the Newfoundland-based 

husband and wife team of violinist Nancy 

Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves, this time a 

two-CD set of Bach’s Six Sonatas for Violin and 

Keyboard (Marquis MAR 81521). 

In an interview with the duo in the booklet 

notes, Steeves admits to having no reservations 

about playing Bach on the piano, given the instrument’s connection 

with Bach’s music for over 200 years. Dahn also uses a modern instrument, 

but notes that although they knew they were going against a 

trend they found that focussing on the language, harmony and style of 

the sonatas still enabled them to play them in a way that was historically 

informed. 

A German press review during their recent European tour noted 

the beautiful balance in the Bach slow movements – on the one hand 

not too romantic, on the other not too austere – as well as the ease, 

lightness and naturalness in the fast movements; it’s an observation 

more than justified by the performances here. There’s warmth, 

clarity, sensitivity and empathy to spare, with crystal-clear violin 

lines, faultless intonation throughout the most difficult passages and a 

thoughtful and always sensitive piano contribution. 

You tend to run out of superlatives with performances like these, 

and there’s simply not much you can do other than sit back, listen and 

be carried away by the complete artistry. Suffice it to say that this is as 

totally satisfying an account of the sonatas as I have heard. 

Take one of my favourite violinists – Gil 

Shaham; add one of the best accompanying 

orchestras around – the New York ensemble 

The Knights under Eric Jacobsen; throw in one 

of my favourite conductors – Stéphane Denève; 

and have them perform two of my favourite 

20th century concertos – the Prokofiev No.2 

and the Bartók No.2 – and it’s not surprising 

that the new CD 1930s Violin Concertos Vol.2 on Shaham’s own 

Canary Classics label (CC16) was the first one I took out of the box 

when this month’s discs arrived. 

It should also be no surprise that it more than lived up to expectations. 

The 1930s was a simply astonishing decade for new violin 

concertos, with works by Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Berg, Prokofiev, 

Bartók, Szymanowski, Hindemith, Barber, Britten and Walton among 

Hear why the crowd went crazy at 

Yundi’s recent Toronto appearance. 

His virtuosity rivaling that of 

Rachmaninov, the young and 

colourful Scriabin found inspiration 

in his idol, Chopin, while still 

painting his compositions with 

Russian darkness and sensuous 

passion. 

Freire brings a lifetime’s experience 

to his first-ever album devoted to 

the music of JS Bach 

Braunfels was applauded as a 

pioneering representative of New 

Music, and leading conductors such 

as Pfitzner, Schuch, Walter, Nikisch 

and Furtwängler performed his 

orchestral works in major cities. 


others. Shaham started this series with a two-CD set featuring the 

concertos of Barber, Berg, Britten, Hartmann and Stravinsky and is 

clearly intrigued by the extent to which the works reflect the spirit 

of a turbulent era; he has been exploring this repertoire in concert 

performances since the 2008/2009 season. 

The Knights are the support in the Prokofiev, with Denève leading 

the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Bartók. Shaham’s 

trademark mixture of a warm sweet tone, faultless technical assurance 

and impeccable musical intelligence make for immensely satisfying 

interpretations of both works, and he is matched by both orchestras 

and conductors every step of the way. 

No word yet on a Volume 3, but here’s hoping. 

Christian Tetzlaff also has a new concerto 

CD pairing the Dvořák Violin Concerto in A 

Minor Op.53 and the Romance in F Minor 

Op.11 with the Fantasy in G Minor Op.24 of 

Josef Suk on a Super Audio CD (Ondine ODE 

1279-5). John Storgårds conducts the Helsinki 

Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Suk, who was Dvořák’s son-in-law, was 

a topnotch violinist (and grandfather of the 

Czech violinist Josef Suk) who is probably best remembered as a 

composer for his early Serenade for Strings. His music is very much in 

the tradition of Smetana and Dvořák – indeed, despite stylistic differences 

his music often sounds very much like that of his father-in-law. 

The Fantasy is a substantial single-movement work from 1903, and 

while attempts have often been made to view it as being in three-part 

concerto form it is essentially a rhapsodic and passionate work with 

numerous tempo changes, and one which makes great demands of 

the soloist. 

The Dvořák concerto has never quite made itself at home in the top 

echelon of violin concertos, but it’s an absolute charmer from the 

early 1880s – bright, lively, typically Dvořák throughout, and with a 

simply lovely slow movement. The Romance pre-dates it by several 

years and, much like the Beethoven works with the same name, is 

more about linear phrasing and clarity and beauty of tone than pure 

virtuosity. 

Tetzlaff meets all the demands, both technical and emotional, with 

ease and conviction, and with passion and sensitivity, throughout a 

really lovely CD. 

In 1852 the 14-year-old Max Bruch wrote a 

string quartet to apply – successfully – for the 

scholarship of the Mozart-Stiftung (Mozart 

Foundation) in Frankfurt. While musicologists 

researching Bruch’s music knew of its 

existence, the work was always considered 

lost – until January 2013, that is, when Ulrike 

Kienzle, researching a book on the history of 

the Mozart-Stiftung, found the manuscript in a 

box in the foundation’s archives. 

The String Quartet in C Minor, Op. Posth., is an astonishingly selfassured 

and mature work, bursting with energy and full of flowing 

melodies and rich harmonies. It’s the opening work on a simply 

outstanding CD of Max Bruch Complete String Quartets performed 

by the Diogenes Quartett (Brilliant Classics 95051). The String 

Quartets No.1 in C Minor, Op.9 (which, as it turned out, incorporated 

a substantial amount of material from the earlier work) and No.2 in E 

Major Op.10, both also early works from 1859 and 1861 respectively, 

complete the disc. 

Not unexpectedly, the influences of Beethoven, Schubert, 

Mendelssohn and Schumann are plain to hear, but these are far from 

being mere stylistic copies, despite the composer’s youth. They also 

remind us not only of how wonderfully gifted a composer Bruch was, 

but also of how little he strayed from his German Romantic roots 

throughout his long life. 

These are rarely heard but simply beautiful works (there’s that 

word “beautiful” in a Bruch review again) beautifully played and 

beautifully recorded. The Diogenes Quartet is apparently recording the 

complete Schubert string quartets for Brilliant Classics; I, for one, can 

hardly wait. 

In November 1918, shortly after the end of the First World War, 

Arnold Schoenberg founded the Association for Private Musical 

Performances “to provide artists and art lovers with a real and precise 

familiarity with modern music” – in Alban Berg’s words, “from 

Mahler up to now.” Members frequently transcribed large orchestral 

works for chamber ensembles. 

Max Reger, who died in 1916, seemed to be 

especially favoured by the group, although his 

music was generally regarded by the critics as 

being excessively long, overly chromatic, turgid 

and far too complicated. In fact, it’s more a 

case of an overabundance of creative ideas 

making it difficult for the listener to discern 

the overall shape and form in Reger’s music. 

That’s certainly true of his Violin Concerto in A Major, Op.101, 

completed in 1908. It’s a simply huge work (almost one hour) but 

melodic and accessible, and very much in the post-Brahms tradition 

– in fact, Reger mistakenly believed that his concerto would 

soon become as popular as the Brahms. The German Capriccio label 

has been issuing a series of recordings by the Linos Ensemble of 

chamber transcriptions made for the Association for Private Musical 

Performances, and the 1922 arrangement of the Violin Concerto by the 

violinist Rudolf Kolisch for flute, clarinet, horn, piano, harmonium 

and five strings is featured on the latest volume (C5137). Winfried 

Rademacher is the solo violinist. 

The original full orchestral version in a performance by Tanja 

Becker-Bender was reviewed in this column in April 2012, and it’s 

clearly the more satisfying of the two, although the chamber version 

does clarify the texture to some degree as well as rendering the virtuosic 

solo part more playable. There have been various attempts over 

the years to apply cuts to the concerto, but it has retained its original 

length and structure – not to mention difficulty – and as a result has 

remained on the fringe of the repertoire. 

Rademacher does full justice to the solo part, and the Linos 

Ensemble is excellent in this 2010 recording, apparently made for 

German radio. However, while the reduced forces may well help to 

reduce the complexity of the work they also make its more ponderous 

and meandering moments more apparent, and reduce the concerto’s 

overall effect. 

Still, it’s an interesting alternate view of a complicated and challenging 

work. 

Speaking of Tanja Becker-Bender, her 

latest release is a two-CD set of Béla Bartók: 

The Works for Violin and Piano with pianist 

Péter Nagy (SWR 19003 CD). Each performer 

also takes a solo turn in the spotlight, Becker- 

Bender with the Sonata for Solo Violin 

BB124 and Nagy with the Piano Sonata BB88 

from 1926. 

CD1 has the two Rhapsodies for Violin and 

Piano and the two Sonatas for Violin and Piano. CD2, in addition 

to the two solo works, has the early Andante in A Major (a simply 

beautiful piece) and the Sonata in E Minor from 1902 and 1903 

respectively, as well as the Romanian Folkdances in the transcription 

by Zoltán Székely, to whom the Rhapsody No.2 was dedicated. The 

two early works are both late Romantic in style, but everything else 

here clearly reflects the composer’s lifelong fascination with Magyar 

folk music that began in 1905. 

There’s terrific playing from both performers, with Becker-Bender 

mixing toughness with the brilliance where necessary without 

ever compromising the interpretation. The second movement of the 

Rhapsody No.2, in particular, is quite superb. 

There’s another outstanding violin and piano recital disc (Accentus 


Music ACC 303711), this time from violinist 

Judith Ingolfsson and pianist Vladimir Stoupel 

with works by the French composer Albéric 

Magnard and the German Rudi Stephan, both 

of whom were killed in the First World War. 

It’s the first in their three-CD series Concert- 

Centenaire that will also feature works by 

Gabriel Fauré and Louis Vierne. 

Magnard and Stephan were both killed in somewhat bizarre 

circumstances, Magnard in September 1914, when his house was 

burned down by the advancing German army after he had shot and 

fatally wounded two German soldiers – Magnard’s remains were never 

identified – and Stephan in September 1915, when he was shot by a 

Russian sniper two days after his unit had moved into trenches on the 

Eastern Front; he was apparently the first casualty in the 900-strong 

unit and was only 28. 

Stephan was considered to be one of Germany’s leading young 

composers, but it’s difficult to judge from this distance – his works 

were neglected in the 1920s and 1930s, and many of his unpublished 

manuscripts were destroyed in the Allied bombing raids in 1945. He 

is represented here by his Groteske for Violin and Piano from 1911, 

the manuscript for which was only discovered in 1979 in the Bavarian 

State Library; it’s a short but really effective piece that shows the influence 

of pre-war Impressionism. 

Only 49 when he was killed, Magnard was considered one of the 

greatest French composers of his era; his style owed more to Vincent 

d’Indy and César Franck than to Debussy. The major work on the disc 

is his Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major Op.13 from 1901; it really 

is a very impressive piece. 

Ingolfsson’s playing is simply superb throughout a fascinating CD, 

with Stoupel providing terrific support. 

Keyed In 

ALEX BARAN 

Lang Lang’s new release The Chopin 

Album (Sony 8872548960) is a demonstration 

of his belief that Chopin is all 

about emotion. The sheer amount of it that 

he releases from the dense black spots on 

Chopin’s pages is a wonder. 

There is something about the way the 

human brain is wired that allows gifted pianists 

to play the way they do. A single player can sound like two people, 

with hands at every point of the keyboard, drawing melodies out of 

dense swirls of elaborate runs and arpeggios. The scale of this genius 

grows when one considers that composer-pianists first conceived such 

phenomena in their minds then coded them to paper fully expecting 

their conceptions to be interpreted accurately. Pianistic genius is 

something shared inexplicably between creator and performer. 

Obviously Lang Lang is a pianist who really connects this way 

with Chopin. 

Because technique has long since ceased being a barrier, Lang Lang 

concentrates on content. He plays the 12 Etudes Op.25 with complete 

commitment to the power of both force and fragility. It would be difficult 

to find another performance where emotional poles are so distant 

from each other. The Nocturnes in E-Flat Major Op.55 No.2 and F 

Major Op.15 No.1 are amazing examples of this approach. 

Every track is a treasure and the listening experience simply begs to 

be repeated. 

I wrote about Yundi a few months ago 

and now have another Chopin disc by this 

prolific recording artist. to enjoy. A prolific 

recording artist Chopin Ballades, Berceuse, 

Mazurkas (Deutsche Grammophon 4812443) 

is his 19th CD. Yundi is a direct player who 

doesn’t venture far beyond the notes on the 

page unless Chopin suggests the risk promises 

some reward. Yundi seems to calculate 

his artistic risks carefully. In the Four Ballades we have impeccable 

playing through the first three but No.4 in F Minor Op.52 is altogether 

different. Here Yundi moves the expressive boundaries out 

further based on the potential of the emotional content of Chopin’s 

melodic material. It’s a brilliant and successful choice that speaks to 

Yundi’s maturity. 

Similarly, the Four Mazurkas Op.17 give us the familiar rhythmic 

pulse of one of Chopin’s favourite dance forms. But Chopin expresses 

so much more than just dance. No.3 in A-Flat Major begins to open 

the languorous dark side of this music and Yundi exploits this with 

great care. No.4 in A Minor is, however, a powerful exploration of the 

rich melancholy Chopin weaves so skillfully. Yundi glides through this 

making the most of every possible hesitation and lingering idea. It’s a 

magical way to end the program. 

Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov has all the 

fire of his mid-20s age. On Tchaikovsky – 

Piano Concerto No.1, Mariinsky Orchestra; 

Valery Gergiev (Mariinsky MAR 0530) 

Trifonov leaves no doubt that he can conquer 

the most difficult passages Tchaikovsky has 

written into the score. Trifonov and Gergiev 

The first recording of this complete, 

uncut operetta from the pens of 

both Honegger and Ibert! 

One must listen to R. Murray 

Schafer’s epic oratorio Apocalypsis, 

as heard during the 2015 Luminato 

Festival. It is the Everest of 

Schafer’s creative career! 

Ana Sokolovic is one of Canada’s 

leading composers - her works 

both wide-ranging and successful. 

“Folklore Imaginaire” features 

some of her more humorous and 

poetic work. 

So Long Seven is a Toronto based 

world/folk/acoustic band that 

plays original music. Their exciting 

debut CD features tabla, banjo, 

guitar and violin. 


take many of these tutti passages at blazing speeds, making them truly 

exciting. But all this would be nothing if Trifonov couldn’t retreat, as 

he does so effectively, into the concerto’s introspective moments. The 

second movement offers a generous sanctuary for this repose, where 

Trifonov shifts between wistfulness and playfulness. But it’s the two 

outer movements that really underscore the contrasts of Tchaikovsky’s 

large-scale vocabulary. The whole concerto frequently has a balletic 

feel, which is no surprise with Gergiev conducting. 

While the concerto gave us all the muscle of this young pianist, the 

rest of the disc is a moving testament to his gift for tenderness. The 

Chopin Barcarolle, and the Shubert/Liszt Frühlingsglaube are played 

with great vulnerability. Die Forelle, similarly moves with great care, 

but impressive technique, through Liszt’s rapid and skittish portrayals 

of the legendary trout. 

The final track is wisely given to Liebeslied (Widmung) wherein 

Liszt speaks to Schubert’s original idea in broader more embellished 

keyboard style and creates a grand final impact by building the simple 

musical idea into a great edifice. Trifonov really shines in these smaller 

scale works with flawless technique, intelligent and deeply believable 

interpretations. 

Korean-American pianist Soyeon Kate Lee 

has a modest discography but a talent that 

deserves more exposure. Her newest recording 

Scriabin – Piano Music (Naxos 8.573527) is 

a deliberate choice of the composer’s lesser 

known works, and as such, a wonderful find. 

Scriabin’s language for the piano has its wellknown 

Chopinesque accent. Much of it is 

late 19th-century but a few pieces are from 

the early 20th. The Two Pieces, Op.57 (1908) are the most contemporary 

of the set and Lee delights in all the gentle angularities of 

Scriabin’s melodies. She is always completely certain of where the 

most important material lies and highlights it artfully, even if only a 

passing note. Lee is very generous with her rubato, taking all the time 

to exploit hesitant moments for their greatest effect. Her consistently 

fluid technique is a pleasure to experience, especially in the Nocturne 

in D-Flat Major Op.9 No.2, written for the left hand alone. 

While Scriabin made little of the dance nature of his Mazurkas and 

Polonaises, Lee nevertheless chooses to underscore this with a subtle 

pulse on the beat of certain measures as if to remind us of the missing 

choreography. She closes her recording with a remarkable piece 

Scriabin wrote at age 11. This Canon in D Minor already bears the 

distinctive melancholy of its Russian composer. This is a very engaging 

recording for its fine repertoire choice and thoughtful playing. 

Not many pianists can boast of having 

performed all the Beethoven concertos in 

a single season. Paul Lewis can. When one 

considers this, his 15 recordings, and sees his 

discography is mostly Schubert and Beethoven, 

we begin to understand this artist. While such 

specialization early in a career may be unusual, 

one can’t argue with the results. 

Lewis in Schubert – Piano Sonata D.845 (Harmonia Mundi HMC 

902136.37) leaves no doubt that he is a master of Schubert’s musical 

language. His grasp of the large forms like the Wanderer Fantasy in 

C Major Op.15 D760 and the Sonata No.16 in A Minor Op.42 D845 is 

often orchestral in conception. 

The smaller forms like the Four Impromptus Op.Posth.142 D935 are 

wonderfully fresh and credible. The Impromptu No.2 in A-Flat Major 

is moving in its simplicity and fluid middle section. No.4 in F Minor 

is often Listzian in its delivery, suggesting that Schubert was a finer 

pianist than history might have allowed. 

Lewis plays the Six Moments Musicaux Op.94 D780 in a beautifully 

contemplative posture, especially the final Allegretto. It’s a memorable 

performance. 

Italian pianist Luca Buratto is the 2015 

Laureate of the Honens Piano Competition. 

His two-disc set Live at Honens 2015 

(Honens 201601CD) of performances at 

the competition is a reminder of how wellrounded 

the judges expect the winner to 

be. The latest “Complete Pianist” has assembled 

a live performance program of impressive 

variety to demonstrate his abilities as soloist, accompanist and 

ensemble player. 

The standard repertoire items for solo piano reveal Buratto’s 

unerring grasp of the genre. His inspired approach to the final movement 

of Schumann’s Fantasy in C Major Op.17 moves it to a new level 

of dark and rich solemnity. He delivers Debussy’s L’isle joyeuse with a 

rare sparkle and remarkable firepower for the ending. Etudes 15 and 

16 for Piano by György Ligeti are breathtaking in their closing measures, 

restating at maniacal speed, the opening ideas originally heard at 

a meditative pace. This is brilliant interpretation and performance. 

Buratto’s recording includes songs by Viardot and Obradors, sung 

by Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio K498 for 

piano, viola and clarinet and other works variously combining the 

voice with the wind and string instruments. 

The true highlight of the set is, however, the Hindemith Sonata for 

viola and piano in F Major Op.11 No.4. Buratto and violist Hsin-Yun 

Huang understand this music at the deepest level, capturing all the 

melodic beauty in Hindemith’s writing. This is especially effective 

in the second and third movements where the theme and variation 

format offer seemingly endless opportunity for restatement. The 2015 

Honens recording is a must-have. 

Now in his early 70s, Brazilian pianist 

Nelson Freire has recorded most of the classical 

and romantic repertoire. His latest 

recording Bach Piano Works (Decca 478 8449) 

is a reminder of how universal an artist he is. 

While not regarded as a specialist in the historical 

performance practice of baroque keyboard 

repertoire, he is nevertheless highly credible 

because of his interpretive maturity. 

All the Bach on this recording is clean and unpedalled, as it should 

be. The wild sweeps of the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor 

BWV903 are beautifully conceived, using only a minimum of the 

piano’s natural resonance. By contrast, Freire steeps himself in all 

the available tonal richness of the Andante from the Concerto in D 

Minor BWV974. 

The unidentified instrument used in the recording surrenders a 

lovely mellow ring to Freire’s touch. His remarkable technique is at 

once light and fluid. He’s masterful in knowing how to culminate the 

hammer strike through each keystroke to achieve the precise colour 

he wants. The Allemande of the Partita No.4 in D Major BWV828 is an 

arresting example of this keyboard caress. The closing Gigue is a rapid 

cascade of crisp articulated notes impeccably phrased. 

Equally impressive is his shift to the modern transcriptions of Jesu, 

Joy of Man’s Desiring by Myra Hess and two chorales by Ferruccio 

Busoni. The stylistic shift is flawless while preserving the Germanic 

baroque discipline of Bach’s melodies and modulations. This is a 

performance of exceptional beauty. 

All performance art benefits from the 

companionship of passion and intellect. 

When a highly intelligent artist with impressive 

academic credentials undertakes a quest 

to know a composer at the most essential 

level, we have to listen. In her new recording 

Liszt – Sonata in B Minor, Petrarch Sonnets, 

Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Sagen 

(Malachite Cu20301), Maria Razumovskaya 

informs her pianistic virtuosity with a profound understanding of 

Liszt and the nature of his music. 


The Three Petrarch Sonnets are exquisitely cast in a pictorial yet 

spiritual way. Razumovskaya fully grasps the pilgrimage Liszt undertook 

both physically and creatively. The Sonnets have a simple and 

ethereal quality in their performance that is quite remarkable. It’s 

an approach that’s very similar to her treatment of the Variations on 

Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Sagen. So much of this piece is played introspectively. 

It ends with very a moving statement of the Bach chorale. 

The anchor of Razumovskaya’s program is, of course, the B Minor 

Sonata S178. This may possibly be the least tormented and most 

contemplative performance I have heard. There is a confidence of 

statement found throughout even the darkest and most troubled 

passages which seem to point naturally to all the moments of modal 

and emotional resolution. It’s an effective interpretation based on a 

direct inquiry of Liszt’s intention at every moment and constantly 

reconciled with the person Razumovskaya knows him to be. It’s a very 

satisfying approach, the companionship of passion and intellect. 

VOCAL 

Rosanna Scalfi Marcello – Complete Solo 

Cantatas 

Darryl Taylor; Jory Vinikour; Ann Marie 

Morgan; Deborah Fox 

Naxos 9.70246-47 

!! 

Rosanna Scalfi was 

an initially self-taught 

singer with a strong 

voice and an exceptionally 

wide range. 

Her social background 

was quite humble. 

Benedetto Marcello, 

the Venetian nobleman 

and composer, heard her and she became 

first his pupil, then his (secret) wife. These 

cantatas used to be attributed to Benedetto 

Marcello and have only recently been 

assigned to Rosanna Scalfi Marcello. They are 

her only known compositions. 

The cantatas are very much in the style of 

Alessandro Scarlatti and the young George 

Frideric Handel earlier in the 18th century. 

Each cantata has two arias, separated by a 

recitative; in many cases a recitative also 

comes before the first aria. Each aria is structured 

as a da capo: the initial section establishes 

the key of the piece, a middle section 

gives us a contrasting key or keys, while the 

conclusion goes back to the key originally 

established. John Glenn Paton, in an informative 

essay that comes with these discs, points 

out that there is considerable experimentation 

within the conventional framework. 

The second recitative in the cantata Ecco il 

momento, for instance, begins in F-sharp 

minor, then works its way towards the remote 

key of F Minor before moving back to the 

original key. 

It is a pity texts are not available, not even 

on the Internet. There is, however, a recent 

edition of the score by Paton and Deborah 

Hayes, published by ClarNan Editions 

(clarnan.com). 

Hans de Groot 

Luigi and Federico Ricci – Crispino e la 

Comare 

Colaianni; Bonfadelli; Boscolo; Orchestra 

Internazionale d’Italia; Chorus of Teatro 

Petruzzelli; Jader Bignamini 

Dynamic 37675 

!! 

The operas by the brothers Luigi and 

Federico Ricci were 

popular in their day 

which was the middle 

of the 19th century. 

Now they are rarely 

performed, although 

there was a recent 

staging of Federico’s La 

prigione d’Edimburgo 

in Edinburgh, an apt 

choice since that opera 

is based on Sir Walter 

Scott’s The Heart of 

Midlothian. There have been a few modern 

revivals of Crispino e la Comare, beginning 

with that in Wexford in 1974. The production 

on this DVD was filmed at the Valle d’Itria 

Festival in Marina Franca, in Puglia, in 2013. 

Although the librettist is Francesco Maria 

Piave, now largely known for his work with 

Verdi, and although the Riccis called the work 

Melodramma fantastico giocoso, this is really 

old-fashioned opera buffa, with little of the 

seriousness which Goldoni and Galuppi had 

introduced in the late 1740s, let alone the 

way da Ponte and Mozart transformed the 

genre in the 1780s. Conductor and director 

are good at keeping the action moving. Some 

of the acting, however, is diabolical. The 

best performance comes from the baritone 

Domenico Colaianni as the much-put-upon 

cobbler Crispino, while the soprano Stefania 

Bonfadelli as Crispino’s wife Annetta copes 

well with her technically demanding part. 

A cute little dog comes close to stealing the 

show. I suppose that is inevitable once you 

introduce animals! 

Hans de Groot 

Mozart – Don Giovanni 

D’Arcangelo; Pisaroni; Damrau; DiDonato; 

Villazón; Erdmann; Mahler Chamber 

Orchestra; Yannick Nézet-Séguin 

Deutsche Grammophon 477 9878 

!! 

Deutsche 

Grammophon has 

always been at 

the cutting edge 

of recording technology 

and marketing 

strategy. Today, when 

we are inundated with 

DVDs of live performances, 

they decided to go back to basics and 

re-record all seven of Mozart’s greatest operas 

in state-of-the-art digital sound, superb 

acoustics and with the best modern casts 

available. To launch the series at the Baden- 

Baden festival, summer home of the Berlin 

Philharmonic, Don Giovanni was performed 

in concert form with the Mahler Chamber 

Orchestra (Claudio Abbado’s orchestra), taken 

over by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the young 

firebrand Canadian maestro who has risen 

to astronomical heights in recent years. His 

intuition into Mozart is uncanny, tempi on the 

brisk side, and his control, concentration and 

intensity never flag. The demonic drive of the 

first act finale has a Furtwänglerian mastery 

and moves like a steamroller. 

The cast is headed by Ildebrando 

D’Arcangelo, an incarnation of the Don 

Juan legend whose performance I’ve seen, 

admired and reviewed (The WholeNote, 

November 2014), a magnificent presence. (He 

sings the Champagne Aria in 70 seconds!) 

Exciting new basso Luca Pisaroni’s Leporello 

is a fascinating character with Italian charm 

and elegance. The two noble ladies are highly 

accomplished spectacular voices – Diana 

Damrau’s Donna Anna has superb musicianship 

and perfect vocal accuracy, Joyce 

DiDonato as Donna Elvira is an indignant and 

anguished powerhouse – but for me the most 

impressive was Mojca Erdmann’s (Zerlina) 

voice of heavenly beauty, soft and demure, 

with an edge of steel when necessary. Rolando 

Villazón, who rediscovers himself as a Mozart 

tenor, adds a new refreshing dimension, an 

erotic, Latin sentimentality to Don Ottavio. 

Vitalij Kowaljow’s Commendatore’s thunderbolts 

will chill your blood as he drags poor 

Don Juan into the fires of hell. 

Janos Gardonyi 

Concert Note: Luca Pisaroni is featured 

in the title role of the Canadian Opera 

Company’s production of Rossini’s Maometto 

Secondo until May 14. 

Verdi – Giovanna d’Arco 

Jessica Pratt; Jean-François Borras; Julian 

Kim; Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia; 

Riccardo Frizza 

Dynamic 37676 

!! 

Jeanne d’Arc, 

a.k.a. St. Joan, was 

a martyr, sold out 

by her own people 

after saving them 

and France from sure 

defeat by the British 

in 1430, but the young 

Verdi’s richly melodic, 


over-romanticized opera has little to do with 

historical truth. 

At the summer festival of Valle d’Itria, a 

mountainous region of Puglia, southern Italy, 

the opera comes to us live from the open air, 

a rather windy courtyard of the Ducal Palace, 

undoubtedly a thrilling experience for the 

lucky festival crowd. Nevertheless this is a 

low-budget, minimalist production with a 

small chorus, small orchestra, young, talented 

singers and an excellent conductor. While it 

is musically certainly satisfactory, the overall 

grandeur of this opera demands a more 

substantial scale. 

Its main strength is English-born star 

soprano Jessica Pratt in the spectacular title 

role having all the vocal requisites, especially 

in her ringing high registers. She has become 

famous in Rossini repertoire and this is probably 

her first Verdi role, so she is severely 

tested in the physical and emotional intensity 

a Verdi heroine demands. An exciting, radiant 

young tenor, Jean-François Borras is energetic 

and passionate, ideal for Charles VII. The third 

principal, the Korean Julian Kim, tries very 

hard to be a Verdi baritone, a fine voice, but 

unfortunately he is far too young for the role 

of the old father Giacomo, a real challenge for 

even a seasoned mature baritone. The young 

Italian conductor, Riccardo Frizza, has Verdi 

in his veins. 

It must have been difficult to convey the 

event in a video, being in almost total darkness, 

in a video and the sound is less than 

ideal. Still…an interesting new issue, but no 

rival to the 2008 Tutto Verdi set with Svetla 

Vassileva (who simply is Giovanna) plus the 

immortal Renato Bruson as Giacomo, which I 

would consider as a benchmark. 

Janos Gardonyi 

Honegger & Ibert – L’Aiglon 

Gillet; Barrard; Dupuis; Sly; Guilmette; 

Lemiuex; Orchestre Symphonique de 

Montréal; Kent Nagano 

Decca 478 9502 

!! 

Years ago, when 

Toronto’s CJRT-FM 

still broadcast classical 

music, I had the 

distinct pleasure of 

producing a show, 

Opera Obscura, dedicated 

to forgotten or 

neglected parts of the 

repertoire. Even then, L’Aiglon escaped my 

attention. I wish I had known there existed a 

1957, incomplete recording of this opera by 

Arthur Honegger and Jacques Ibert. Worry no 

more, L’Aiglon is back on disc and it is here 

to stay! The oddity of two composers working 

together on one opera is quickly overcome by 

the wonder of Ibert’s waltzes (recalling some 

of the best of Richard Strauss’ scores) and by 

the rhythmicity and uncanny sense of the 

dramatic, Honegger’s own calling card. 

The story of L’Aiglon (The Eaglet), the erstwhile 

Napoleon II, quickly rebranded the 

Duke of Reichstadt and spirited away to 

Vienna after his father’s final defeat, is potent 

opera fodder. When presented in 1936, the 

work was permeated with French patriotism 

and Gallic pride. This was a no-go just four 

years later, under the Vichy regime and the 

Nazi occupation of France. What started as 

wartime suppression has become a sort of 

long exile. The story of a consumptive boy, 

dreaming of restoring his father’s empire and 

then crushed by the gears of the geopolitical 

machine may seem naïve in our cynical times, 

but nevertheless resonates at some level even 

in the hardest of hearts. This is the effect 

of the music, modern yet nostalgic, grandiose 

yet somehow restrained. The exciting 

performances that Kent Nagano gently coaxes 

out of Anne-Catherine Gillet, Marc Barrard, 

Etienne Dupuis and Orchestre Symphonique 

de Montréal make certain that this eagle has 

landed to uniform applause. 

Robert Tomas 

R. Murray Schafer – Loving 

Fallis; Gudgeon; MacPhail; Terrell; 

MacLeod; Savard; New Music Concerts; 

Robert Aitken 

Centrediscs CMCCD 22516 

!! 

R. Murray Schafer’s 

70-minute bilingual 

“synaesthetic” 

chamber work Loving 

(Toi) was written 

between 1963 and 

1965 (the same year 

he wrote the pivotal 

book, The Composer 

in the Classroom) and was first performed on 

the Radio Canada television program L’Heure 

du Concert in 1966. A few months later it 

was rebroadcast on the CBC English network. 

Over 13 years, L’Heure du Concert (produced 

by Pierre Mercure) brought a spectacular 

133 operas and 133 ballets to CBC national 

television audiences. Mercure’s production 

of Loving (Toi) was his last, leaving 

several elements unfinished at the time of 

his sudden death at age 39. Fortunately, the 

Canadian Music Centre’s Centrediscs label 

recently reissued the excellent 1978 New 

Music Concerts recording of the first complete 

production that was originally released on the 

Melbourne Records label. It was conducted 

by Robert Aitken and features strong 

performances by the entire group, including 

singers Mary Lou Fallis, Susan Gudgeon, 

Jean MacPhail, Katherine Terrell and Trulie 

MacLeod, actor Gilles Savard, members 

of the Purcell String Quartet and Nexus, 

among others. 

Loving (Toi) is Schafer’s first work for the 

stage (the 1978 NMC performance which 

toured four cities was semi-staged), predating 

the Patria series, his string quartets, and 

other works he is most known for. Clues 

that point to Schafer’s subsequent eclectic 

blending of multicultural mythological characters 

are abundant here, with Ishtar, the 

Mesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, war 

and sex, cohabiting the work with the Greek 

god of love, Eros, in what Schafer calls a 

“confrontation between the male and female 

psyches.” Interspersed are the qualities and 

attitudes of Modesty, Vanity, The Poet, The 

Man and The Woman, each given supporting 

colouration within the ensemble (Modesty 

as strings plus accordion, Vanity as plucked 

instruments, Ishtar with percussion and Eros 

using bells). 

Schafer’s writing is broadly expressive, 

a free-flowing synthesis of the avant-garde 

mannerisms of the epoch, warmly recorded 

spoken text, simple yet effective electroacoustic 

episodes, florid harp writing and 

long vocal lines that sometimes foreshadow 

the neo-Romanticism that dominates his later 

work. While Schafer describes Loving (Toi) 

as ambiguous and exploring the depths of 

the unconscious, his consideration of human 

sexuality now seems dated in its binary focus 

on masculine and feminine. Fifty years later, 

however, the piece retains the sense of sonic 

inventiveness and integrated plurality that is 

synonymous with his best work. 

Paul Steenhuisen 

R. Murray Schafer – Apocalypsis 

Various Artists 

Analekta AN 2 8784-5 

Canada’s R. Murray 

Schafer, widely recognized 

for composing 

large-scale music 

theatre works often 

set in unorthodox 

venues, completed his 

oratorio-community 

pageant Apocalypsis 

in 1980. Its elaborate, visually striking full 

score was hand-drawn in ink, a masterpiece 

of the genre. 

Apocalypsis’ premiere at Centennial Hall, 

London, Ontario, was at the time dubbed 

“one of the most spectacular events in the 

history of Canadian music” by Toronto Star 

music critic William Littler. “Sounds about 

right,” commented London Free Press columnist 

and reporter James Reaney who was 

there, in his 2010 London Free Press article. 

Then last June I attended the spectacular 

restaging of Apocalypsis, the centrepiece of 

Toronto’s 2015 Luminato Festival. Reportedly 

costing over a million dollars, the two 

concerts enacted a ritual “theatre as a civic 

action” for nearly 1,000 performers. They 

were crisply captured by CBC audio engineer 

Doug Doctor for radio broadcast and are 

presented on these two Analekta CDs. 

David Fallis, the music director of the 

production, points out in his liner notes that 

apocalypsis is “the Greek word for ‘disclosure.’” 

This deeply mystical work certainly 

reveals a few of the many concerns Schafer 

has nurtured over a long career. His chosen 

texts, drawn from the Old Testament books 

of Isaiah and Joel and the New Testament 


ook of Revelation, serve to anchor the turbulent, 

dramatic narrative of Part One: John’s 

Vision. It echoes with the power of dark 

forces and the cataclysmic end of times, brilliantly 

articulated by the 12 choirs, the real 

heart and musical stars of the performance. 

The large percussion and wind forces 

add needed texture, timbral diversity and 

dramatic emphasis. 

The various actors and singers for the most 

part play supporting roles to the choirs, with 

the shining exception of Tanya Tagaq. Her 

searing vocal-stretching performance as the 

Old Woman serves as a reminder of the 1980 

score specification that “sound (concrete) 

poets rather than actors” be cast in the three 

speaking roles, embedding sound poetry 

deeply in the work. It’s a stipulation elsewhere 

not followed in this production. 

By way of contrast, Part Two: Credo, 

conventionally a statement of religious 

belief, is text-spare, adapted from the writings 

of the cleric, philosopher, mathematician, 

poet and astronomer Giordano Bruno 

(1548-1600). Credo is a kind of glorious exaltation 

of the unity of all creation, each of the 

12 sections beginning with the “Lord God is 

universe” sung by the 12 choirs supported by 

12 string quartets. 

The composer writes in his notes that Credo 

is also his affirmation of the potential transformative 

power of art. It’s an affirmation 

many of us can also believe in. 

Andrew Timar 

John Corigliano – The Ghosts of Versailles 

LA Opera; James Conlon 

Pentatone PTC 5186 538 

!! 

The Ghosts of 

Versailles in retrospect 

makes for an 

impossible opera: a 

play within a play, 

with numerous principals. 

No wonder it 

graces the stage so 

rarely – it’s prohibitively 

expensive to produce, a fate shared 

with another grand opera, Meyerbeer’s 

Les Huguenots. Initially commissioned for 

the Metropolitan Opera’s 100th season, it 

arrived…eight years late. This long gestation 

period is partially explained by its 

ambition: to combine a tribute to Mozart 

and Rossini with the pivotal episode of the 

French Revolution, the so-called Affair of the 

Necklace, which turned the French populace 

against Marie Antoinette. 

The way to do all this is by the means of 

the Culpable Mother, Beaumarchais’ sequel 

to the Barber of Seville and The Marriage 

of Figaro. Corigliano references Mozart and 

Rossini cleverly during the staging of an opera 

for The Ghosts of Versailles, Marie Antoinette, 

her king and court. Though ostensibly an 

opera buffa, the score turns darker in Act 

II, reflecting the horrors of the Revolution. 

It is hard to believe that 25 years since its 

premiere, this is the first full recording of 

the opera. The credit goes to James Conlon, 

the artistic director of the Los Angeles 

Opera, who has also committed to record 

rarely heard operatic pieces by Schreker 

and Zemlinsky. Full marks go to the extensive 

team of this live recording, who manage, 

according to the composer himself, to recapture 

the greatness of the Met premiere. An 

additional bonus is the SACD recording, delivering 

on compatible players, incomparable 

resolution and dynamic range. 

Robert Tomas 

CLASSICAL AND BEYOND 

Bruckner – Symphony No.9 

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Mariss 

Jansons 

RCO 16001 

!! 

On his knees, the 

ailing Anton Bruckner 

beseeched God, “Let 

me be well, I need my 

health to finish the 

Ninth.” The devout 

composer even dedicated 

the symphony 

to “lieben Gott.” 

Apparently, God disdained the dedication: 

Bruckner died before completing the work. 

Although Bruckner scored some of the 

fourth movement and various completions 

have been performed, the Ninth is almost 

always presented, as on this CD, unfinished, 

ending with the sublime Adagio. This movement, 

along with the Adagios of Bruckner’s 

Seventh and Eighth, and those of Beethoven’s 

and Mahler’s Ninths, ranks among the most 

profound and exalted slow movements in 

all music. 

Yet many music-lovers scorn Bruckner for 

his disjointed lumbering, often conducted 

at lugubrious tempi. Devoted Brucknerites 

wallow in this expansive timelessness; this 

CD is not for them. Instead, it makes an ideal, 

painless way to introduce Bruckner-scorners 

to this transcendent music. 

Recordings of the Symphony No.9 often 

last an hour or more; this performance, while 

under 55 minutes, is no superficial runthrough. 

In the opening Misterioso, Jansons 

favours cohesive lyrical flow over mystery and 

granitic grandeur. Nonetheless, the movement 

ends in a sonically stunning climax, 

highlighted by the RCO’s magnificent brass. 

The Scherzo, with its powerfully punctuated, 

rugged main theme, emerges unusually 

cheerful and buoyant, with tightly accented 

rhythms. In the closing Adagio, Jansons and 

his great orchestra produce glorious, heavenstorming, 

organ-like sonorities, bringing 

this Ninth to a memorable conclusion. 

Recommended to all Bruckner scorners. 

Michael Schulman 

Dvořák – Symphonies Nos.7 & 8 

Houston Symphony; Andres Orozco- 

Estrada 

Pentatone PTC 5186 578 

!! 

Every so often a 

disc comes along that 

is truly cross-cultural 

and this is certainly 

one of them. The 

renowned Colombianborn 

conductor 

Andrés Orozco- 

Estrada leading the 

Houston Symphony in Dvořák’s seventh and 

eighth symphonies on the Dutch Pentatone 

label is proof indeed that music in the 21st 

century is truly a global affair. 

Dvořák was at the height of his fame 

early in 1884 when he received a commission 

by London’s Royal Philharmonic 

Society. The resulting Symphony No.7 is a 

dark and dramatic work, heavily influenced 

by the political situation in Bohemia and 

the composer’s ongoing troubles with his 

publisher Simrock. Nevertheless, its premiere 

in April 1885 was a huge success and the work 

has remained a landmark ever since. 

Orozco-Estrada and the Houston 

Symphony masterfully evoke a sense of 

tragedy and tension throughout, creating a 

dark but warmly romantic sound particularly 

in the second movement Poco Adagio. 

The third movement Scherzo is all lightness 

and grace while the grand and triumphant 

fourth receives a fittingly solid and heroic 

performance. 

The much sunnier Symphony No.8 was 

completed in 1889 and received its premiere 

in Prague early the following year. In contrast 

to its predecessor, the music is cheerful and 

optimistic and the precision, expression and 

energy created by the Houston Symphony 

make this an exciting performance. The 

wistful third movement waltz contains just 

the right amount of sentimentality while the 

buoyant finale – introduced by the famous 

trumpet fanfare – is a true tour de force with 

Orozco-Estrada and the orchestra going 

for the gusto all the way to the brilliant 

conclusion. 

This is an exemplary recording, one that 

can rightfully take its place alongside the 

more established performances. Judging 

from this CD, fine music-making does indeed 

transcend international boundaries. Highly 

recommended. 

Richard Haskell 

Stephan Krehl – Clarinet Quintet; String 

Quartet 

Wonkak Kim; Larchmere String Quartet 

Naxos 9.70173 

!! 

Another unfairly 

forgotten composer 

re-emerges thanks 

to an enterprising 

ensemble and record 


company. This is, apparently, Stephan Krehl’s 

debut on CD, as it is for the Larchmere String 

Quartet, based at the University of Evansville 

in Indiana. 

Krehl (1864-1924) was a fixture at the 

Leipzig Conservatory as student, teacher 

and author of books on theory and composition, 

eventually becoming the conservatory’s 

director. Although a contemporary of Mahler 

and Richard Strauss, Krehl was no forwardlooking 

stylistic adventurer, instead drawing 

inspiration from Schumann, Brahms and one 

of his predecessors as Leipzig Conservatory 

director, Mendelssohn. 

Yet for all his looking backward and 

academic credentials, the music on this 

CD never sounds imitative or academic. 

The performances are similarly un-stodgy, 

expressive and vivacious. Krehl’s String 

Quartet Op.17, published in 1899, is filled 

with attractive, yearning melodies and 

unexpected, engaging changes of texture, 

tempo and rhythm. In the Clarinet Quintet 

Op.19, the strings are joined by Wonkak Kim, 

professor at Tennessee Tech and a regular 

Naxos artist. Krehl’s Quintet, published in 

1902, is patterned on that of Brahms, even 

being written for and dedicated to clarinetist 

Richard Mühlfeld, for whom Brahms had 

composed his Quintet. Again, we are treated 

to wistful melodies, imaginative part-writing 

and frequent, effective changes of mood. 

Considering Krehl’s obscurity, I was happily 

surprised by just how good and downright 

enjoyable this music is, with lovely melodies 

and attention-holding narratives. Naxos, more 

Krehl, please. 


Walter Braunfels: Don Juan; Symphonic 

Variations on an Old French Nursery Song 

Altenburg-Gera Philharmonic Orchestra; 

Markus L. Frank 

Capriccio CD C5250 

!! 

Born in Frankfurt 

am Main, Walter 

Braunfels (1882-1954) 

was the best, most 

well-equipped of the 

German composers 

whom the Nazis 

managed to sideline 

completely after their 

ascension to power in 1933. Braunfels seems 

to have been the most surprised at being 

outed as a Jew since he considered himself 

a staunch, practising Roman Catholic. He 

was already in mid-career, having produced 

a string of major compositions. In fact, the 

Cologne Conservatory had been especially 

formed around Braunfels as principal. He 

belongs in the same user-friendly idiom as 

Richard Strauss although he sounds nothing 

like Strauss. He had already written his operatic 

masterpiece, The Birds, an excellent 

recording of which can be found on Decca in 

their Entartete Kunst series. Three of his other 

operas enjoy fine recordings. 

Don Juan was written when the composer 

was at the pinnacle of his career. This is very 

much the Don Giovanni of Mozart, specifically 

the Champagne Aria upon which there 

are seven entertaining variations. It was 

premiered by Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1924. 

The Symphonic Variations on an Old 

French Nursery Song dates from 1909 and 

remained in the repertoire until 1933 when it 

was banned. It is a thoughtful, more serious 

work, beautifully orchestrated. Neither work 

presents any challenges to the musicians or 

the listener. 

In case you’re wondering, in 2001 the 

Provincial Orchestra of Altenburg amalgamated 

with Philharmonic Orchestra of 

Gera, forming an orchestra that honours the 

centuries-old traditions of both cities. 

Bruce Surtees 

Copland – Orchestral Works I: Ballets 

BBC Philharmonic; John Wilson 

Chandos CHSA 5164 

!! 

In 1979, I interviewed 

Aaron Copland 

and asked him 

how he, a boy from 

Brooklyn (like myself), 

developed such a feel 

for Western and rural 

America. “That’s not 

so odd,” he answered. 

“There’s a whole legendary feeling about the 

West. I think any young American, wherever 

he might live, would have some sort of feel 

about the wide open spaces. Beyond that, it’s 

just a feat of the imagination.” 

Copland’s imagined wide-open spaces are 

front-and-centre in this CD’s three ballet 

suites. The cowboy ballets Billy the Kid (Billy 

– another Brooklynite!) and Rodeo receive 

atmospheric, colourful readings with emphasized 

percussion. (The booklet notes identify 

Rodeo choreographer Agnes de Mille 

as Cecil B.’s daughter; she was his niece.) 

In Appalachian Spring, conductor Wilson 

underlines “the spaces between the notes,” 

building a grand climax on the Shaker hymn 

Simple Gifts. 

The CD opens with an unusually slow 

and sombre Fanfare for the Common Man, 

followed by Wilson’s less-than-raucous treatment 

of El Salón México, Copland’s musical 

postcard from a Mexican dancehall. (Though 

not intended for the stage, it has occasionally 

been choreographed.) 

Aided by brilliant recorded sound, Wilson’s 

measured approach adds uncommon depth 

and dignity to these works, often tossed off 

as pops repertoire. The Roman numeral “I” 

on the cover indicates more Copland CDs are 

planned. Here’s hoping the unjustly neglected 

film scores will finally get the comprehensive 

coverage they deserve. In any event, the series 

is off to a promising start. 


MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY 

Intersystems 

Intersystems 

Alga Marghen Number One 

(forcedexposure.com) 

!! 

Intersystems’ 

outer limits musique 

concrète began as the 

soundtrack to the suitably 

named “Mind 

Excursion” event 

at the University of 

Toronto in 1967. This 

immersive environment filled ten rooms with 

sights, sounds and smells for a sensory overloading 

psychedelic experience. 

The team behind this “electrosonic presentation” 

was sculptor Michael Hayden, architect 

Dick Zander, electronic composer John 

Mills-Cockell and poet Blake Parker. Over the 

next two years, Intersystems masterminded a 

series of similarly mind-massaging installations 

along with three albums, now lovingly 

enshrined in this lavish box set from Italy’s 

Alga Marghen. 

The reproduced sleeve of 1967’s 

Intersystems Number One credits Mills- 

Cockell’s “musical visitations” and Parker’s 

“chaste mouthings,” as introduced on the 

immortal Orange Juice & Velvet Underwear. 

Scraping strings and hypnotic drones propel 

Parker’s deadpan conjuring of “gentle 

boys,” “smells of oranges” and “marmalade 

on velvet.” As Nick Storring offers in his 

essay, “it may be the most typically capitalp 

Psychedelic cut of their entire catalog,” but 

simply sets the scene for what’s to come. 

Parker’s blending of the sensual with the 

surreal and the banal never quite becomes 

clear in the shimmering subaquatics of 

Intersystems’ debut. Sonic equivalents of his 

Burroughsian cut-ups are John Cale’s The 

Gift, Throbbing Gristle’s Hamburger Lady or 

the foghorn oration in an ocean of din from 

Bill Exley of the Nihilist Spasm Band (later 

signed to Intersystems’ label Allied Records 

on Hayden’s suggestion.) Parker’s poetry is 

far more kitchen sink, yet its power is felt 

subliminally, changing the temperature in any 

room where it’s played. 

As Mills-Cockell explains in his essay, 

a device called “The Coffin” created the 

ominous acousmatics of Intersystems 

Number One. This satin-lined box was the 

resting place for piano wire, tuning pegs 

and contact mics to switch between ghostly 

samples like a radio station from beyond. 

By 1968’s Peachy, he had become one of 

Canada’s earliest owners of a Moog Mark II 

synthesizer, voyaging even further out. 

Peachy opener Experienced Not Watched 

is comparable to the prog fantasias of Mills- 

Cockell’s later project Syrinx, but proves to be 

another fakeout. Intersystems’ masterpiece 

flows through a jump-cut collage of sputtering 

sound effects, orchestral swells and 


Parker’s disembodied Dalek buzzing. Their 

final album, Free Psychedelic Poster Inside, 

amps up the agitation with lobe-slicing sine 

waves and seasick stereo pans, alongside the 

story of a “plastic” couple on the brink. 

Emerging from this spawning pool, Mills- 

Cockell’s Moog would be employed by the 

likes of Kensington Market, Bruce Cockburn 

and Anne Murray. He would see brighter 

lights, but these avant-garde origins deserve 

a flashback. Nearly 50 years later, the remastered 

LPs are packaged with 132 densely 

packed pages of images and essays, finally 

giving listeners the chance to lucidly experience 

Intersystems’ mind excursions in the 

mind’s eye. 

Jesse Locke 

Ana Sokolović – Folklore Imaginaire 

Ensemble Transmission 

Naxos 8.573304 

!! 

Folklore 

Imaginaire is the 

name of Serbian-born 

Canadian composer 

Ana Sokolović’s 

newest CD. With six 

works performed by 

Montreal’s Ensemble 

Transmission, a 

mixed chamber ensemble for flute, clarinet, 

violin, cello, percussion and piano, the 

recording is a vibrant demonstration of the 

rhythmic vitality and scope of Sokolović’s 

compositional talents. Each piece is scored 

for different combinations of instruments, 

ranging from the haunting and atmospheric 

sounds of bass flute and piano in Un bouquet 

de brume to the effervescent Ciaccona for the 

full ensemble. 

One of the most striking characteristics of 

Sokolović’s music is the influence of her roots 

in Balkan music. Her music never descends 

into pastiche folk music, but rather it’s the 

driving spirit of her heritage that shines 

through in unique ways in dialogue with her 

own creative strategies. Her sense of humour 

is evident particularly in Portrait parle, a trio 

for violin, cello and piano, in which she uses 

a police document from around 1900 that 

gives tips on how to describe the human body 

when filing criminal reports. She uses these 

depictions of the forehead, hair, nose and lips, 

for example, as a basis for her musical transformations. 

In Mesh, she uses the instructions 

for how to use a hair dryer as her inspiration. 

Sokolović’s music appeals to a wide variety 

of listeners. Her ear for unique sonorities 

combined with classically based strategies 

for musical transformation blended with a 

dynamic pulse that runs throughout each 

piece makes this CD a multi-varied and rich 

listening experience. 

Wendalyn Bartley 

Higgs Ocean – Music for Gamelan and 

String Quartet 

Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan; 

Quatuor Bozzini 

Artifact Music ART-042 

(evergreenclubgamelan.ca) 

!! 

Toronto’s Evergreen 

Club Contemporary 

Gamelan has just 

released a superb CD 

entitled Higgs Ocean 

that features five 

works for the ECCG 

performing on their 

unique Indonesianbased 

bronze and wood instruments in 

counterpoint with the sounds of the Quatuor 

Bozzini string quartet – a daring combination 

of soundworlds, cultures, tunings and 

timbres. Since their beginnings in 1983, the 

ECCG have been steadily building a repertoire 

of works through the commissioning of 

Canadian and international composers. This 

CD is no exception with five commissioned 

works composed by Canadians. 

The first, In the High Branches by Linda 

Catlin Smith, tackles head-on the fundamental 

challenge in pairing the two groups of 

instruments. Smith calls it an “oil and water 

situation.” Her solution was to allow both 

ensembles to have their own distinctive space 

to establish their identities. Gradually one 

hears these two worlds merging in such a way 

that they blend seamlessly. 

Smith’s work sets the stage for the 

remaining pieces, each of which handle this 

challenge in different ways whether that 

be through the use of repeating rhythmic 

patterns and melodic motives, such as in 

Michael Oesterle’s Higgs Ocean and Ana 

Sokolović’s In Between or the more starkly 

pointillist style in Spe Salvi by Petar-Kresimir 

Klanac. One distinctive feature in Sokolović’s 

piece is the use of glissandi on the flutelike 

suling that swoop and soar around the 

string and gong-like textures. Overall, the 

CD displays a sense of surety and conviction 

in its exploration and blending of two 

cultural legacies. 

Wendalyn Bartley 

Amorisms – Music of Paul Moravec 

Portara Ensemble; ALIAS Chamber 

Ensemble 

Delos DE 3470 

The word amorism 

is defined as the state 

of someone who is 

preoccupied with love 

and lovemaking or 

with writing about 

love. Certainly the case 

with the Elizabethans; 

Shakespeare was 

surely the most prolific in this regard. 

Composer Paul Moravec joked that “William 

Shakespeare is a sort of silent partner 

who has been very good to me over the 

years.” Two of the three works on this 

recording, Amorisms and Tempest Fantasy, 

are based on the Bard’s works. In writing 

Amorisms, which was jointly commissioned 

by ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, vocal ensemble 

Portara and the Nashville Ballet, Moravec 

speaks of the challenges of writing engaging 

music for both, whilst not detracting from the 

dance performance. The resultant music, with 

recurring, carefully pruned texts, provides a 

gorgeous and evocative palette to enhance the 

stage performance. 

The second work on the album, Tempest 

Fantasy, earned the composer a Pulitzer 

Prize in 2004. Scored for violin, cello, clarinet 

and piano, each of the first three movements 

evokes one of the play’s characters: the 

sprightly Ariel, the mystic Prospero and the 

earthy Caliban. A fourth movement portrays 

the island soundscapes and the finale a challenging 

flight of fancy only for the most adept 

of players; ALIAS certainly rises to the task. 

The outstanding Portara vocal ensemble 

joins the instrumentalists again for the third 

work on the recording, Sacred Love Songs, 

settings of biblical texts as well as the Prayer 

of St. Francis, with an instrumental interlude 

as the penultimate movement. 

Dianne Wells 

Hand Eye 

Eighth Blackbird 

Cedille CDR 90000 162 

!! 

Hot off their fourth 

Grammy Award win 

(2016 Best Small 

Ensemble/Chamber 

Music Performance 

for Filament) Eighth 

Blackbird’s latest 

record Hand Eye 

might be better described as a natural 

phenomenon – an autonomous, multimedia 

collage which seems to have arisen inevitably 

from the storm of information whirling in a 

data-saturated world. 

For this project, Eighth Blackbird, all 

Oberlin alumni, collaborated with the 

composer supergroup Sleeping Giant, all 

Yale alumni. The two groups are made up of 

six members each, a handsome symmetry 

which is artfully exploited here: for each 

piece, one composer paired up with one 

performer to develop a work centering 

around that performer’s particular instrument. 

This is just one of Hand Eye’s organizational 

layers, however. In another, the 

composers take inspiration from works of art 

in the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation 

for Art collection; in yet another the six 

pieces form one continuous narrative with a 

motivic continuity that is perceptible on the 

first listen. 

As such, Hand Eye is meant to be taken in 

all at once – but there are certainly standout 

works. By-By Huey (by Ted Hearne) marshals 

bass clarinet wails, Ligeti-esque muted piano 

ostinati and a solo jazz piano pastiche into 

something not only internally coherent, but 

coherent with the works which surround 


it as well. Checkered Shade (Timo Andres), 

which owes much to David Lang, is inspired 

by a fractal drawing, and feels like the 

musical equivalent of scrolling out on a satellite 

map of earth until only a dot remains. In 

Hand Eye, Eighth Blackbird strides over the 

boundary between inspiration and art. 

JAZZ AND IMPROVISED 

Elliot Wright 

Far & Near 

Brenda Lewis 

Independent BL-00220 (brendalewis.ca) 

!! 

With her second 

jazz-inspired CD 

release (and fifth as 

a leader), rich and 

sonorous vocalist 

Brenda Lewis has 

presented an exceptional 

and intriguing 

recording. Co-produced by Lewis and longtime 

collaborator, guitarist/keyboardist 

Margaret Stowe, she has created a compellingly 

stripped-down performance and 

recording unit, which harkens back not only 

to Neolithic and contemporary jazz, but also 

embraces timeless roots, blues, gospel and 

Afrocentric folk musics. All of the arrangements 

here involve a Spartan but potent 

instrumentation of voice, electric guitar, 

keyboards and the contributions of multiinstrumentalist 

Jeff Bird on harmonica, 

mandolin, bass and percussion. 

Lewis fires her opening salvo with an 

appealing and no-nonsense take on Do You 

Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans 

(featuring Bird on a soulful harmonica solo). 

Her adept jazz sensibility (as well as her variegated 

alto voice) is beautifully displayed on 

the classic jazz standard A Nightingale Sang 

in Berkeley Square. Lewis wisely includes a 

tip of the hat to her folk-ish/Western swing 

roots with the old warhorse, Cow Cow Boogie 

(which also features hearty solos from Bird 

and Stowe). Of special note is the jaunty He 

Surprises Me and the lovely I Wave Bye-Bye, 

in which Lewis evokes an almost Celtic aura 

of heartbreak and longing. 

Very few vocalists would have the courage 

to present themselves in such an exposing, 

bare-bones way, but Lewis is refreshingly 

fearless, committed and transparent in her 

approach and taste; her consummate vocal 

skill shines throughout. 

Lesley Mitchell-Clarke 

Concert Note: Lewis will be launching Far 

& Near at Toronto’s Jazz Bistro on May 15 

accompanied by Margaret Stowe and bassist 

Rosemary Galloway. 

Life Lessons 

Avery Raquel 

Independent (averyraquel.com) 

!! 

Fourteen-year-old 

jazz vocalist Avery 

Raquel is a delightful 

breath of fresh air 

and already an international 

success, 

having appeared 

at key festivals and 

venues. On her debut CD, she serves up a 

tasty collection of jazzified material that 

includes compositions from such diverse 

artists as Harold Arlen, Stevie Wonder, 

Johnny Mercer and Sting. Raquel’s voice is 

a diaphanous thing, ripe with jejune optimism 

as well as an effortless, innate understanding 

of vocal jazz. She is joined here by 

her skilled trio of producer/arranger Rob 

Fekete on piano, Mike Pelletier on bass and 

Joel Haynes on drums. 

Kicking off the disc is a swinging take 

on Arlen and Mercer’s Ac-cent-tchu-ate 

the Positive. Raquel’s jazz chops are clearly 

evident, and her superb trio has an opportunity 

to stretch out in this fine arrangement. 

Also of note is Raquel’s take on the popular 

standard, Que Sera Sera, which was made 

famous by Doris Day in the film The Man 

Who Knew Too Much and is rendered here in 

a bluesy context that seems a very comfortable 

fit for Raquel. 

The funky Wonder hit, Don’t You Worry 

’Bout a Thing is a delight and utilizes Raquel’s 

natural, unpretentious, soulful feel. Other 

highlights include a rhythmic, Latin-infused 

arrangement of Sting’s Fragile, and although 

of tender years, Raquel’s emotional maturity 

and meaningful interpretation of this 

haunting ballad can’t help but resonate with 

the listener. A stunner is Arlen’s anthem of 

hope and longing, Over the Rainbow. A pristine 

a cappella intro is followed by a lyrical 

and uncluttered vocal interpretation that is 

both touching and musically eloquent. 

Lesley Mitchell-Clarke 

Concert Note: Avery Raquel is one of the 

featured artists at Jane Harbury’s Discoveries 

series at Hugh’s Room on May 3 at 8:30. 

Saga Thirteen 

Pram Trio 

Independent (pramtrio.com) 

!! 

Pram Trio’s 

Saga Thirteen offers 

a refreshing and 

contemporary take on 

the time-honoured 

piano trio format. 

The album’s six tunes 

share a penchant for 

rhythmic adventure and a fluid approach to 

the line between composition and improvisation. 

This is unabashedly tonal music that 

isn’t afraid to be tuneful or leave space for 

the listener to enter. The playing and writing 

have a strong conversational element and, 

while the virtuosity of the group’s members is 

evident, the overall impression is of a distinct 

and identifiable group sound. 

Bassist Mark Godfrey’s April opens the 

record with a compelling two-chord vamp 

supporting a deceptively simple melody. 

The trio’s sense of dynamics and interplay 

are clearly the work of three equal voices 

and pianist Jack Bodkin’s solo, displaying 

a remarkable range of materials, emerges 

from the mix in an organic fashion. Bucket 

List, also by Godfrey, begins with a rootsy 

bass intro leading to a folk-like melody that 

proceeds to take some surprising turns. 

Bodkin’s Mrs. Kim Visits the Living Room 

Alone juxtaposes an intriguing piano figure 

over Eric West’s rocking drum groove. 

March rhythms compound time signatures 

and contrasting sections unite to form this 

compact, through-composed piece. Control, 

another Bodkin composition, continues the 

through-composed theme with an exercise 

in space and brevity, aided by West’s open, 

transparent style. Godfrey’s Treptower Park 

returns to more familiar jazz terrain with 

exciting and inventive playing from the whole 

band. Bodkin’s piano solo in particular is a 

marvel of colour and variety. 

Ted Quinlan 

Starer 

Nick Fraser 

Independent (nickfraserthedrummer.com) 

!! 

Nick Fraser is an 

indispensable part 

of the Toronto jazz 

scene, a highly skilled, 

imaginative drummer 

whose broad swath 

distinguishes groups from fusion (Peripheral 

Vision), free jazz (Drumheller) and electroacoustic 

improvisation (Lina Allemano’s Kiss 

the Brain) as well as the jazz mainstream. He’s 

recently emerged as a significant bandleader. 

This is the second CD (also available as an LP) 

by his quartet, and the music is distinguished 

by both its personnel and Fraser’s approach 

to composition, developing a distinct group 

language for the quartet. 

The band combines cellist Andrew 

Downing and bassist Rob Clutton (functioning 

as a string section as well as in more 

traditional roles) with saxophonist Tony 

Malaby, a titan of current free jazz. Fraser’s 

compositions, often titled Sketch with a 

number following, are literally that, brief 

devices or figures to be elaborated in improvisation. 

Their character and usefulness is 

apparent from the opening minimalism/ 

416-538-7149 in which Downing and Clutton 

establish a tense polyrhythmic field to which 

each musician gradually contributes. Sketch 

#29 begins as an elegiac ballad, bowed by 

Downing and Clutton in advance of Malaby’s 

entry; Jupiter (Sketch #15) develops complex, 

abstract, intersecting lines between cello 

and soprano. 


On one occasion Fraser’s sketches come as 

a pair, maximizing contrast in a single piece: 

in its initial segment, Sketch #20/22 includes 

a playful pointillist dialogue between cello 

and drums; the concluding phase presents 

the tenor saxophone as high-speed drill, 

Malaby finding a level of intensity few can 

reach. The concluding Sketch #21 provides 

a tranquil contrast with Malaby on soprano, 

exploring not only its usual piquant flavour 

and subtle multiphonics, but initially pressing 

the instrument towards a flute-like sonority. 

Stuart Broomer 

Concert Note: Nick Fraser is appearing at 

the Rex on May 4 and 5 to launch two CDs by 

two bands: Starer with his quartet, as well as 

Too Many Continents (Clean Feed) with Tony 

Malaby and pianist Kris Davis. 

Gestes 

GGRIL 

Tour de Bras TDB CD 90015 

(tourdebras.com) 

!! 

GGRIL is an 

acronym for the Grand 

Groupe Régional 

d’Improvisation 

Libérée, a 12-member 

ensemble led by 

bassist Eric Normand 

that’s devoted to 

collective improvisation 

and conduction, or conducted improvisation. 

Based in the unlikely hamlet of 

Rimouski, Quebec, the group has nonetheless 

managed to collaborate with international 

soloists and recently completed a European 

tour. Gestes marks their continuing development, 

a program of five improvisations and a 

piece by percussionist Danielle P. Roger. 

Perhaps it’s the relative isolation from 

musicians of similarly radical orientation, 

but GGRIL has developed a very high 

level of sustained interaction, evident here 

in continuously controlled work in which 

both individual and group invention are in 

sharp focus. The group’s odd mix of instruments 

– brass, reeds, accordion and a collection 

of guitars, strings and percussion 

– creates striking contrasts, while the musicians’ 

heterodox backgrounds have them 

drawing simultaneously on elements of classical, 

jazz, folk, and industrial music. Les 

gestes permettent… moves through distinct 

texture and moods, first featuring the warmly 

plaintive trombone of Gabriel Rochette, 

then shifting to a passage of Webern-esque 

spikiness from violinist Raphaël Arsenault 

that’s set against the sustained tones of lowpitched 

reeds. That passing invocation of high 

modernism gives way to random snare rattles 

and feedback guitars. 

Other dimensions of the group’s resources 

are evident in the verbi-vocal explosions 

of De nombreux humain…, the dissonant 

brass blasts of Les signes… and the sustained 

machine rhythms of Mais au delà de 

montrer… as GGRIL continues to find ways to 

challenge themselves and audiences alike to 

take that next step. 


Live at the Tranzac Vol.1 

Ken Aldcroft; William Parker 

Trio Records TRP-D504-023 

kenaldcroft.com/triorecords.asp 

!! 

It is always curious 

to hear about musicians 

moving to Toronto 

where the establishments 

supporting 

creative music are 

few and far between, 

especially if these 

musicians relocate 

from Vancouver or Montreal. But who’s 

complaining? I am at great risk of losing 

an arm and a leg for suggesting better the 

Vancouver-born Ken Aldcroft than a hockey 

player from the U.S. for the Maple Leafs. 

However, when you hear his 2016 recording 

with bassist William Parker it all becomes 

eminently clear. Both men have reputations 

for being key 21st-century innovators. Parker 

and Aldcroft worship at the altar of creativity 

and if you needed more reasons to appreciate 

those facts, they are all on this remarkable 

album, Live at the Tranzac Vol.1. 

There is never a dull moment on this long 

piece, simply entitled Set 1. Ideas abound and 

the music virtually bustles with energetic 

rhythm and vigorous figurations with no hint 

of ever coming to an end. The music weaves 

in and out of melodic phrases and features 

ever arresting improvisation that challenges 

even the instrument’s timbral colour. This is 

a dazzling performance – with Parker also 

featured on the Japanese shakuhachi and 

the West African donso ngoni – and when 

imbued with the intensity and imagination of 

Aldcroft and Parker the music emerges with 

a constant stream of new colours, emotions 

and effects. Moreover, both musicians are 

supreme masters of musical invention, as this 

recording triumphantly demonstrates. 

Raul da Gama 

Utilities 

See Through 5 

All-Set AS001 

Transcombobulation 

Mike Smith; Jonathan Adjemian 

All-Set AS003 

Never Get Lost for Long 

Ali Berkok 

All-Set AS002 (all-set.org) 

!! 

The experimental music scene in Toronto 

is bustling. It had all but been written off with 

the virtual retirement of Bill Smith, who, 

almost single-handedly, brought in musicians 

such as trombonist 

George Lewis, the 

great Anthony 

Braxton, bassist Dave 

Holland and many 

others. Together with 

the late John Norris, 

Smith put a lot of the 

60s avant-garde on the Sackville label. With 

Smith in hermitage and the death of John 

Norris, the centre of this daring music 

seemed to shift to Guelph, Ontario, where the 

annual festival seemed to be the only event 

that showcased the new music. But the 

Greater Toronto Area appears to have awoken 

again and the latest manifestation of this is a 

new imprint called All-Set! (all-set.org). This 

enterprise founded by bassist Mike Smith has 

exploded out of the blocks with three discs 

featuring bold new music where conventional 

instruments have been leavened with 

electronica. 

Some people’s reaction on hearing the 

synths and loops of 

See Through 5 on 

Utilities might be “this 

is not a jazz album.” 

But Mike Smith, 

pianist Tania Gill, 

bassist Pete Johnston, 

reeds and woodwinds 

specialist Karen Ng and percussion colourist 

Jake Oelrichs may confound yet please critics. 

But then the virtuoso musicians seem to have 

cut the improvised to the bone and turned it 

into tracks with tunes or at least music with 

irresistible hooks. To complement the crisp 

clarity of the electronics, See Through 5 have 

sown carefully constructed pieces with 

sections of Ng’s magisterial saxophone and 

clarinet improvisations. As a studio production 

it works beautifully. 

Once you get past the almost unpronounceable 

title 

of this recording, 

Transcombobulation 

by Mike Smith and 

Jonathan Adjemian, 

you truly enjoy its 

exploratory music. 

This is a six-part 

musical adventure that abounds in variety, 

depth and invention. Smith is among the 

foremost of the talented Toronto musicians 

who has developed an individualistic, 

difficult-to-classify personal genre. 

On this riveting disc, Smith and Adjemian 

imaginatively and (by-and-large) subtly mix 

in elements of electronic music, rock and 

contemporary composition with an occasional 

nod to noise music. Although the 

pieces develop from beguiling, elegant 

melodies, what makes them special are 

Smith and Adjemian’s arresting textures 

and colours. 

Ali Berkok’s Never Get Lost For Long is 

one of the most adventurous recordings by 

a Canadian in a considerable length of time. 

Angular, with a proverbial doffing of the 


hat towards minimalism, Berkok’s playing 

is exhilarating, extroverted and virtuosic. 

Simple as it seems it actually presents rather 

formidable technical challenges, all of which 

are surmounted almost with nonchalance. 

Berkok has a particularly rewarding sense 

of rhythm, high-sprung, light and incisive, 

and entirely secure. John Coltrane’s Giant 

Steps is particularly brilliant, also played with 

no-holds-barred intuition. 

Raul da Gama 

Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground 

Noah Preminger 

Independent (noahpreminger.com) 

!! 

Last year New York 

tenor saxophonist 

Noah Preminger 

released Pivot: Live 

at the 55 Bar, leading 

his quartet in two 

half-hour improvisations 

based on themes 

from the 1930s blues 

master Booker “Bukka” White. Now there’s 

a studio follow-up deep in the same vein, 

with concentrated instrumental treatments 

of nine songs by White, Blind Willie Johnson, 

Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson and 

other country blues and gospel singers 

who recorded in the late 20s and early 30s. 

Preminger’s group conception is rooted in 

the early 60s work of Ornette Coleman and 

Sonny Rollins (particularly their bands with 

Don Cherry), employing that highly conversational, 

free jazz style and its raw, vocalic 

emphasis as a conduit to the emotional wellsprings 

of early blues. 

White’s I Am the Heavenly Way has 

the band in celebratory flight, from the 

bouncing theme statement and sprung 

rhythms generated by bassist Kim Cass and 

expatriate Vancouver drummer Ian Froman 

to Preminger’s charging solo and trumpeter 

Jason Palmer’s rapid-fire, splintering lines. 

Jefferson’s Black Snake Moan has elements 

of a New Orleans parade band, while Robert 

Johnson’s mournful Love in Vain is reduced 

to an ever-resolving melodic fragment, at 

once litany and cry. 

It’s music filled with a subtle light as 

Preminger and company seek the emotional 

and spiritual heart of jazz through the grain of 

its primal melodic figures, journeying into the 

past to achieve a rare presence. 


Turning Towards the Light 

Adam Rudolph Go Organic Guitar 

Orchestra 

Cuneiform Records RUNE 406 

(cuneiformrecords.com) 

!! 

New York guitarist Adam Rudolph’s 

conducted Toronto players in a fascinating 

group improvisation earlier this year at the 

Music Gallery. But it was also like reading 

one well-crafted chapter in a serialized novel. 

That’s because the 

peripatetic Rudolph 

has directed similar 

large groups for 

the past few years, 

melding non-western 

rhythms with Euro- 

American instrumental 

techniques. 

Turning Towards the Light is the most recent 

recorded example, but rather than parcelling 

out parts among vocalist and instrumentalists 

as in Toronto, the CD showcases 13 instances 

of intermingling string strategies from six 

electric guitarists, one acoustic guitarist, a 

bass guitarist as well as three pickers who 

individually switch between electric bass and 

lap steel guitar, electric and national steel 

guitars and electric guitar and banjo. 

Rather than resembling a free-for-all at a 

string-players convention, sonic strategies 

unite each performance. Like an architect 

combining many styles to design a distinctive 

building, Rudolph’s musical configurations 

can be jarring as well as soothing. As opposed 

to some builders who attempt to shoehorn 

period details onto a contemporary structure, 

complementary textures are instead sought 

out and used judiciously as microtones 

and for maximum effect. On Lambent for 

instance, the overlapping of thick surf musiclike 

electric bass runs and the tang of steelguitar 

licks creates a feeling of both freedom 

and formalism. Specular finds two guitarists 

hashing out hard blues licks over a rhythmic 

groove. Meanwhile the narrative of the title 

tune buffets ocean-liner-like on waves of so 

many buzzing flanges and doorstopper-like 

resonations that the interaction could reflect 

computer programming. 

However the most indicative track is Flame 

and Moth which, unlike its title, transmogrifies 

caterpillar to butterfly within seven 

minutes. Initially sharply contrasting electric 

bass beats and meandering guitar locks, 

subsequent stacked string lines clang metronome-like 

to reach a crescendo of courtly 

gavotte-like passes, where all the pickers 

participate in sustained textural interchange. 

Without stringing anyone along, Rudolph 

and his 11 associates demonstrate how, in 

the right hands and plectrums, improvising 

guitars can produce a riveting, transformative 

program. 

Ken Waxman 

Derengés/Dawn 

Grenscó Open Collective 

SLAM CD 565/Hunnia Records HR CD 1508 

(slamproductions.net) 

!! 

Arguably Hungary’s 

most unique 

composer of the 

post-war era, pianist 

György Szabados 

(1939-2011) had difficulty 

performing 

his admixture of 

free jazz-new music and folkloric sounds 

in communist times. Even after liberalization, 

during his sole Canadian appearance 

at 2006’s Guelph Jazz Festival, his duo with 

percussionist Vladimir Tarasov was the equivalent 

of reading a Reader’s Digest version of 

a novel – textures were lacking. Budapestbased 

reedist István Grenscó, who was a 

frequent member of the composer’s ensembles 

from 1984 to 2007, rectifies the situation 

with this two-CD set of six Szabados 

compositions. Grenscó, who plays soprano 

and alto saxophones and bass clarinet here, 

creates the equivalent of a Technicolor film 

from the scores by adapting them to the 

varied tones produced by his own band – 

pianist Máté Pozsár, bassist Róbert Benkö 

and percussionist Szilveszter Miklós – plus, 

on three tracks, the viola of Szilárd Mezei, 

who may be Szabados’ heir as a composer; 

trumpeter Ádám Meggtes on two; as well as 

two additional woodwind voices to give a 

breezy vaudeville-like strut to the concluding 

Regölés/Minstrelsky. 

Meggtes’ atonal blasts add the requisite 

free jazz tinctures to Adyton. But otherwise 

that tune, like Azesküvö/The Wedding 

and Fohsáz/Supplication is chiefly animated 

by carefree currents of Roma-like dances 

via Mezei’s fiddle, stacked up against the 

alternately dark ecclesiastical (deepened 

by bell-like resounds from the cymbals) or 

evocatively romantic, melody-making from 

Pozsár. Torquing the pace via nasal soprano 

bites or mocking the profundity of the slower 

faux-rustic tunes with sardonic alto saxophone 

cries, Grenscó still shepherds the 

ensemble back to the head at each composition’s 

completion. Halott-Táncoltatás/Dance 

of Reanimation is the multiphonic masterstroke 

here. The original quartet members 

precisely figure out the exact percentage 

of light and dark tones and fast and slow 

rhythms needed to animate the composition, 

with the skill of medics gauging the proper 

amount of vaccine in a hypodermic needle. 

Pozsár uses pedal pressure to dig notes from 

the instrument’s nether regions in tandem 

with thumping string bass slaps as a way 

to bolster the theme propelled on unruffled 

saxophone cries and then bass clarinet 

reverb. Meanwhile these instances of solo reed 

elation constantly trade places with successive 

theme motifs that encompass rustic 

dance-like cadences and a final military-like 

crescendo. The aura emanating from this CD 

demonstrates both the quality of Szabados’ 

compositions and the pliant talents of his 

devoted interpreters. 

Ken Waxman 


POT POURRI 

So Long Seven 

Neil Hendry; William Lamoureux; Ravi 

Naimpally; Tim Posgate 

Independent SLS001 (solongseven.com) 

!! 

The music scene 

in Toronto is jampacked 

with talented, 

inventive and courageous 

musicians. So 

Long Seven, a multifaceted 

collective 

comprised of 

composer/banjoist Tim Posgate, composer/ 

guitarist/mandolinist Neil Hendry, composer/ 

tabla star Ravi Naimpally and violinist 

William Lamoureux, is one of our city’s 

cream of the musical crop. Their self-titled 

debut CD features eight tracks of joyous, at 

times complex, original tunes with melodious 

world music, blues, jazz, pop, symphonic, 

classical and folk-flavoured nuances. 

Each track is composed yet features lengthy, 

storytelling improvisations. Highlights 

include Hendry’s Torch River Rail Company 

which opens with a tight group melodic 

section punctuated by brief stops followed by 

a touching violin improvisation. Postgate’s 

MSVR (My Swedish Viking Roots) rocks with 

his lyric and groove banjo playing and a big 

band group crescendo ending. Naimpally’s 

Aarti features special guest, South Asian 

singer Samidha Joglekar, soaring to lyrical 

and complex rhythmic heights while the 

ensemble creates both conversational backdrops 

and instrumental interludes. 

There is such a positive glowing musical 

force driving the sound. Each performer is 

a star when soloing and improvising. Great 

production values add a live off-the-floor 

ambiance. Brilliant original songwriting 

creates a unique band sound. Yet the group’s 

real strength lies in each member’s ability 

to share and understand the importance of 

close ensemble listening and the intricacies of 

musical interplay. So Long Seven is a release 

that absolutely every music aficionado needs 

to hear over and over and over again! 

Tiina Kiik 

Tango Fado Project 

Manhattan Camerata 

Sorel Classics SC CD 005 (sorelmusic.org) 

!! 

Created by artistic 

director/composer/ 

pianist Lucia Caruso 

and music director/ 

composer/guitarist 

Pedro H. da Silva, 

Manhattan Camerata 

is a chamber orchestra 

that excels in its ability to combine all styles 

of world and classical music to create their 

self-described Transclassical Music. Here 

along with special guests Daniel Binelli 

(bandoneón), Polly Ferman (tango/classical 

piano) and Nathalie Pires (fado singer), 

Argentinian tango and Portuguese fado styles 

are performed, combined and transformed 

into music that soars in astonishing lyrical 

emotion and rhythmic drive. 

Tango and fado may differ rhythmically yet 

their shared lyrical and melodic styles thrive 

when combined. Binelli has arranged the 

familiar Raul Ferrao Portuguese song April 

in Portugal into Tango “Abril en Portugal.” 

A mournful virtuosic violin opening leads 

into a joyful bandoneón, piano and orchestral 

tango rendition. Other successful reworkings 

include compositions by Astor Piazzolla 

and Carlos Gardel among others. But the original 

compositions are the highlights. Pires 

sings da Silva and Caruso’s Amor é Fogo with 

both understated remorse and a dramatic 

powerhouse ending. Caruso’s Tanguito 

Cordobés takes Bach-like fugal counterpoint 

into tango land with conviction. Da 

Silva’s Non-Absolutist Universal Anthem 

is a blasting mass of Latin rhythms, mindboggling 

instrumental solos and orchestral 

bravado. 

The brilliant virtuosic playing by all the 

performers is inspiring and captured clearly 

in the production. The tango/fado compositions 

and arrangements are surprisingly 

successful and never mannered in their stylistic 

interweaving and reworkings. Tango 

Fado Project is an uplifting unique listening 

experience. 

Tiina Kiik 

Something in the Air 

Matching Electronic 

And Acoustic Improvisation 

KEN WAXMAN 

At least since 1948, when French theorist Pierre Schaeffer coined the term musique concrète 

as serious composers and performers began experimenting with technology to create music, 

the possibilities available from the use of electronics became accepted. Today electronically 

advanced sounds are as common and expected as outlandish tonsorial choices for pop stars. 

Electronic processing has also been adapted to create more variables in improvised music. 

Although some purists renounce non-electronic sources completely, in the main those players 

that create a nourishing musical meal by pairing electronic and acoustic impulses appear to 

end up with the most interesting programs. 

Made to Break for instance is a quartet consisting of Americans Ken 

Vandermark on saxophones and clarinet, and drummer Tim Daisy, 

plus Dutch electric bassist Jasper Stadhouders and Austrian Christof 

Kurzmann playing the lloopp, interactive MaxMSP software for an 

Apple Mac. The key to the three tracks on Before the Code (Trost TR 

141 trost.at) is how well Kurzmann’s apparatus links with the others’ 

free-form improvising. Never suggested is the image of an improvising 

trio playing in one area and a lab-coated sound scientist wriggling 

his machine’s dials in the other. Whether it’s swifter, extended fare like Dial the Number 

or Window Breaking Hammer or the mellow interlude that is Off-Picture No.119, the lloopp’s 

distinctive undertow complements the acoustic playing like fine plating for a meal in a 

gourmet restaurant. The last track is particularly enhanced as accordion-like tremolos from 

Kurzmann help slide Vandermark’s hurtling saxophone honks into a form that’s both chipper 

and clanging. On the faster tracks Stadhouders’ resonating thumb pops and Daisy’s backbeats 

join with lloopp tones to create a continuum. But considering that Kurzmann’s interface can 

at points resemble teletype keys code or an electric kazoo, those effects are unique. Crucially, 

the concluding Window Breaking Hammer defines the latitude available. Following a dispassionate 

hand-drum display and wafting clarinet warbles, near moderato is traded in for 

near-metal with Vandermark’s baritone saxophone blasting away and Daisy beat crunching. 

Coupled with Kurzmann loops, this makes the climax distinctive as well as dramatic. 

In-your-face mockery shares space with musicianship on My 

Horse Doesn’t Give a Shit (Unit Records UTR 4609 unitrecords. 

com) as the German Knu! trio uses Achim Zepezauer’s electronics, 

Florian Walter’s baritone saxophone synthesizer and Simon Camatta’s 

drums to create the improvised music equivalent of punk rock. Over 

the course of 14 tracks, some with semi-scatological titles, rawness 

is the outstanding leitmotif. Walter’s glottal blasts often evolve in 

direct counterpoint to the electronic processing, while shaded drumbeats 

underline that contest. In a way it’s the equivalent of a 1950s film on juvenile gangs, 


with Zepezauer and Walter facing off for a rumble and Camatta’s 

recurrent beats setting up the confrontation. Although Zepezauer’s 

programs can create unattributable textures, he’s more interested 

in chameleon-like reverses. He replicates roller-ring organ tones on 

Mit Dir Am Hafen, spelled by back beat drums and reed tones that 

seem to be filtered through a sieve; matches cymbal scrapes and 

sax tongue stops with signal-processed buzzes on Austritt; plus the 

connected Brotwar Quadrata and Fifty Shades of I Don’t Give a Fuck. 

Lyricon-like whooshing produces a seemingly endless disco-dancelike 

rhythm cannily burlesqued by reed overblowing on some tracks. 

Zepezauer also layers the tracks with programming tropes. Recordings 

of German and English voices are introduced to many tracks, subsequently 

cut off, slowed down or sped up so they resemble cartoon 

chipmunk chatter. Flanged interruptions sound like magnetic tape 

running backwards, which on Den Hooran challenges Camatta’s 

stick whumps and cymbal clanks and Walter’s intermittent processed 

buzzes. The brief Thank You Mom melds pre-recorded marching band 

echoes with live beats pumping from the others. Insisting like a punk 

band that the CD be played loud, there’s enough distance and detail 

expressed here to distinguish Knu! from rock primitives. 

From the opposite side of the equation 

is Scenes From A Trialogue (Amirani 

Records AMRN 045 amiranirecords.com) 

by Granularities consisting of soprano saxophonist 

Gianni Mimmo; valve and alphorn 

player Martin Mayes, both of whom are Italybased, 

and Lawrence Casserley’s signalprocessing 

instrument. One of the first 

students of electronic music at London’s Royal College of Music in the 

1960s, Casserley subsequently taught at RCM while adapting software 

to transform the sound of his collaborators including Evan 

Parker. Although the tracks on Scenes From A Trialogue have subtitles 

like Overture, Entr’actes and Acts/Scenes it’s no academic treatise. 

Instead the CD shows how an undercurrent of warm machinesourced 

oscillations provides an appropriate frame – with auxiliary 

decorations if needed – for a sound canvas illustrated with painterly 

dabs of reed tone bursts and lonesome French horn echoes. 

Since Casserley’s granular synthesis layers timbres at varied speeds, 

volumes and densities, on Open Space for instance he regurgitates 

reed and brass sounds like those played by the horns, as additional 

staccato jabs upset the interface. In the same fashion, wind-like 

textures drone in the background of Entracte 1 as a solo valve horn 

exposition expands with polyphonic glissandi. Opaque drones create 

a sense of stoic inevitability, like ocean tides advancing and retreating, 

on the disc’s penultimate and concluding tracks. Concentrated granulation 

from Casserley’s machine cunningly joins Mayes’ muted slurs 

and Mimmo’s contralto trills, so that the sonic wedges unite with 

the logic of a baroque chamber piece. Earlier the connected Sacred 

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Site – Procession and Sacred Site – Dark Ritual reveal an analogous 

concordance but with sharper edges, like a dagger compared 

to a butter knife. It’s the electronics which splinter the horns’ 

near-impressionistic mellowness with a mallet-like scrape across 

unyielding surfaces and dynamic whooshes. Ultimately Mayes’ 

mahogany-tinged tones and Mimmo’s wheezy reed trills unite with 

Casserley’s burbling densities for a harmonized climax. 

Going mano-a-mano, French clarinetist/ 

saxophonist Jean-Luc Petit and electronics 

manipulator Jean-Marc Foussat create a selfcontained 

sound world on …D’où Vient La 

Lumière! (Fou Records FR-CD 13 fourecords.com). 

Oddly enough the program is 

initially more rustic than urban with buzzing 

bee oscillations and ring-modulator created 

aviary chirps heard on the first track, plus rooster-like crowing and 

cicada-suggesting chirrups which emanate from the electronics on 

the second and title track. At points, Petit fishes out deeply embedded 

notes from within his bass clarinet as if they were tadpoles caught in 

murky algae. A climax is reached on the penultimate Premières curiosités 

as Foussat’s multi-channel wave forms become louder and more 

clamorous until they form an impermeable mass. In response, Petit’s 

quick yelps and circular breathing confirm the acoustic qualities of 

his sopranino saxophone. Although each player’s timbres are initially 

isolated like pinpointed colour on an otherwise all-white painting, the 

textures eventually blend to such an extent that at points it’s impossible 

to distinguish a specific source. Intensifying his attack to atonal 

echoes and kazoo-like squeezes as he shifts to alto saxophone on 

Un animal qui me plaît, Petit presages the perfect finale. With reed 

multiphonics splayed in front of undulating drones, the ending is as 

spiritually appropriate as if reflecting a soloist testifying in front of a 

mass choir. 

Unlike Foussat and Petit, whose approach 

is based on unifying impulses from unique 

instruments, the Uliben Duo’s CD Shared 

Memory (Creative Sources CS 327 CD creativesourcesrec.com) 

more accurately describes the 

performance of French bassist Benoit Cancoin 

facing the live processing of German Ulrich 

Phillipp. In other circumstances Phillipp also 

plays bass, so his electronic impulses are informed by that knowledge. 

Throughout he stretches the processing function so that it not 

only accompanies, but also enhances the double bass’ tonal qualities. 

More than replicating Cancoin’s initial sounds, Phillipp’s often 

tandem, frequently wriggling, textures extend the bull fiddle’s range, 

directing acoustically sourced sounds to unforeseen places. While 

there are instances of skyrocketing sound eruptions and multiplied 

string drones on the tracks surrounding Joint Repository, this over- 

40-minute improv gives the players ample space to define and perfect 

their hook-up. Like stars floating in a night sky that illuminate at 

junctures, different sequences are prominent in stages. Languidly 

expressed, bowed resonations and bottle-top-like pops from the 

higher-pitched strings solidify into an electric shaver-like buzz via 

Phillipp’s electronics, with Cancoin interjecting sporadic mandolinlike 

plucks. By mid-point however, a euphonious bassoon-tempered 

tone predominates, until split into separate streams of sprawling, spiccato 

thrusts from the bass and an assembly line of crackles and drones 

from the electronics. Before individual improvisations dribble away 

into irreconcilable solipsism, the program speeds up to sound like two 

double basses, courtesy of Phillipp’s machine-processed memory. As 

brief interludes where graininess reveals one tone’s electronic origins 

and Cancoin’s acoustic pulls, the “humanness” of the other strands 

finally unite. The finale finds the two fading into a single sonic source 

like the fused profiles at the climaxes of the film Persona. Used judiciously 

with respect from both sides of the acoustic-electric divide, 

processing can create memorable discs of unanticipated sophistication 

like these sets. 


Old Wine, New Bottles | Fine Old Recordings Re-Released 

BRUCE SURTEES 

Surely, with a few exceptions, there 

cannot be unanimity on the very best 

recording of an instrumental score. Some 

listen for wrong notes or slurred passages, 

most for interpretation and some for quality 

of the recorded sound. We may have our 

preferred individual performance or performances 

but there is no finish-line tape to chest. 

However, in Pollini & Abbado, The Complete 

Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon (DG 4821358, 8 CDs) listeners 

should hear no wrong notes nor slurred passages or anything less 

than vibrant recorded sound, regardless of the venue. The first three 

discs of their collaboration contain live performances of the five 

Beethoven piano concertos with the Berlin Philharmonic in the 

Philharmonie in December 1992 and January 1993, together with 

the Choral Fantasy Op.80 for piano, soloists, chorus and orchestra, 

with the Vienna Philharmonic in the Musikverein in 1986. These 

are all exuberant, festive performances that should excite even the 

most blasé listener. The body of sound is astounding. The same qualities 

apply in spades to the two Brahms concertos, live with the BPO 

(Philharmonie, 1997 and 1995) and an added earlier Brahms Second 

with the VPO (Musikverein, 1976). Disc seven contains the Schumann 

Piano Concerto (1989) and the Schoenberg Piano Concerto (1988) 

both in the Philharmonie. The final CD has their brilliantly articulate 

versions of Bartók’s first and second piano concertos with the Chicago 

Symphony in Orchestra Hall in 1977 followed by Luigi Nono’s Como 

una ola de fuerza y luz (like a wave of force and light) for piano and 

orchestra, soprano and magnetic tape. Recorded in the Herkulessaal, 

Munich with the Bavarian Rundfunks Orchestra in October, 1973, this 

work was written for them by Nono, their friend. “In this piece we 

find aspects typical of Nono’s maturity, dense accumulations of sound 

material, explosions and suspended silences, amid violent sounds and 

clear, enchanted lyricism.” Summing up, it’s pretty unlikely that a 

seasoned listener would not be captivated and drawn to listen to every 

note of the above collection. These recordings belong on the shelf 

of everyone who has a CD player – unless you irreversibly hate the 

repertoire. 

Another collection from DG will be of value 

to those who are interested in the artistry of 

noted figures on concert platforms a generation 

or two ago. The Mono Era 1948-1957 

(4795516, 51 CDs) is a well-chosen selection 

that best represents their artists in their established 

repertoire or to which they aspired. 

In 1951, three years after American Columbia 

originated the long-playing discs pressed 

on vinylite (RCA had issued several 33 1/3 recordings by Leopold 

Stokowski in the mid-1930s but they quickly wore out in use) 

Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft produced the first long playing 

discs in Germany and confirmed their reputation for excellence. The 

first few were derived from 78 rpm discs (as were most initial releases 

by all the majors) and then from tape machines, the newest recording 

medium developed in wartime Germany. Looking through the list 

of singers, instrumentalists, ensembles and conductors, I see only 

one named artist who is still with us. The enclosed 140-page booklet 

contains, in addition to complete data of each recording, an interesting 

and informative history of the company’s growth over the years 

and full-page photographs of each artist at the time. 

I assume that I am not alone, when faced with a collection of this 

magnitude and significance, in sampling works or artists of personal 

interest. The first out of the box were the two Wagner discs, one with 

selected scenes from The Ring with Astrid Varnay’s Brunnhilde and 

Wolfgang Windgassen’s Siegfried winding down with the Immolation 

Scene conducted by Hermann Weigert, Varnay’s husband. In the 1950s 

the Swedish-born Varnay was at the very height of her powers and 

was in demand worldwide. As was Windgassen, a leading heldentenor 

of the 1950s and 60s. The other Wagner disc is devoted to 

Windgassen in notable arias from eight operas. Soprano Rita Streich’s 

disc is a treasure, a potpourri of arias from Mozart to Verdi concluding 

with Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock. Paul Hindemith conducts 

the Berlin Philharmonic in the Jesus Christus Kirche in 1955 playing 

Symphony Mathis der Maler, The Four Temperaments and the 

Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Weber. For many, these 

remain preferred versions. The 40-year-old, already world famous 

Ferenc Fricsay conducts the effervescent La Boutique Fantasque and 

Scheherazade with the RIAS Orchestra in 1955, 1956. The unique 

artistry of soprano Tiana Lemnitz (Marshallin), the soprano Elfrida 

Trötschel (Sophie) and mezzo Georgine von Milinkovic (Octavian) are 

heard in scenes from Der Rosenkavalier from Stuttgart conducted 

by Ferdinand Leitner. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was a young 24 in 

September 1949 when he made his debut recording for DGG singing 

Brahms’ Four Serious Songs, then excerpts from Hugo Wolf’s Italian 

Song Book in 1950/51 and Schumann’s Dichterliebe in 1957. 

I spoke today to a friend who regrets not hearing Polish pianist 

Halina Czerny-Stefanska live. She can be heard playing Chopin in 

1956 (CD6). Also Monique Haas plays Ravel’s G Major Concerto, 

Le Tombeau de Couperin and Stravinsky’s Capriccio (CD14). Clara 

Haskil plays two Mozart concertos with Ferenc Fricsay conducting 

(CD16). Elly Ney plays four Beethoven sonatas, Pathétique, Moonlight, 

Appassionata and Op.110 (CD40). Other pianists who have their own 

CD are Stefan Askenase, Shura Cherkassky, Andor Foldes, Conrad 

Hansen, Wilhelm Kempff and Sviatoslav Richter. Other instrumentalists 

include David and Igor Oistrakh, Johanna Martzy, Bronislav 

Gimpel and others. Some mighty conductors recorded for DGG: Eugen 

Jochum, Karel Ančerl, Ferenc Fricsay, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Paul van 

Kempen, Ferdinand Leitner, Lorin Maazel, Igor Markevitch, Hans 

Rosbaud and Kurt Sanderling. Strong quartets include the Amadeus, 

Koeckert and Loewenguth. A few readers may remember the Don 

Cossack Choir, 20 of whose energetic performances ring out on CD7. 

The Mono Era 1948-1957 is collectively an historic document, a 

discerning choice of repertoire and performers recorded during the 

last decade of monaural before the stereo disc. DGGs mono recordings 

are models of clarity and reality. View the complete details of every 

track at arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=2174287. 

The concerts given by George Szell and the 

Cleveland Orchestra were always memorable 

events, thanks to Szell who honed his 

orchestra to near perfection, the equal of the 

greatest conductor/orchestras in the world, 

notably Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic and 

Mravinsky/Leningrad Philharmonic. On many 

weekends in the 1960s we made our regular 

pilgrimage to Cleveland’s Severance Hall. I was 

not there on Wednesday July 13, 1966 to hear Isaac Stern, Leonard 

Rose and Eugene Istomin join the orchestra for the Beethoven Triple 

Concerto and Brahms Double Concerto. Doremi has resurrected a 

copy of the broadcast tapes of that concert and issued the concertos 

on a single CD (DHR8047). To hear these lauded musicians, soloists, 

conductor and orchestra live in these high voltage performances is 

illuminating, preferable in many ways to their recorded performances 

of the same repertoire recorded two years earlier with Ormandy and 

the Philadelphia Orchestra. I trust that there is more to come from 

Cleveland via Doremi. 


CBC Radio Two: The Golden Years 

Coming of Age In 

The 1990s - Part 2 

DAVID JAEGER 

It was 3:40 in the morning. The forest was in absolute stillness, the 

canoe slipping into the water, barely making a sound. It was a cool 

September morning on Wildcat Lake in the Haliburton Forest in 

1997. My cargo – two condenser microphones and a portable digital 

recorder – and I were heading out to a floating platform on the far side 

of the lake, where I would, in the pitch black night, attach the gear to 

a pre-positioned mic stand bolted to the float, start the recorder, head 

to the nearest shore, hide with my canoe behind a boulder and await 

the start of Murray Schafer’s opera, Princess of the Stars. At the same 

time, my two colleagues, recording engineers David (Stretch) Quinney 

and Steve Sweeney paddled to two more locations and engaged two 

more recording positions. We were about a kilometre apart from 

one another, and we would record several performances of Schafer’s 

“environmental opera” over the course of a week, to be mixed and 

assembled for broadcast on our contemporary music show, Two New 

Hours on CBC Radio Two. That broadcast would eventually, in 1999, 

win a medal for excellence in performing arts broadcasting at the 

International Radio Festival of New York. 

1997 had been a remarkable year for the Two New Hours team. 

In June of that year we recorded and broadcast a concert from 

the Barbara Frum Atrium in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, a 

surround-sound event that featured not only the first authentically 

staged performance of Harry Somers’ (1925–1999) spatially animated 

Stereophony, but also the world premiere of Borealis, a work we 

commissioned especially for the occasion by Toronto composer Harry 

Freedman (1922–2005). This event was produced in collaboration with 

Soundstreams’ Northern Encounters Festival, described as, “a circumpolar 

festival of the arts.” Borealis combined the forces of the Toronto 

Symphony Orchestra, the Danish National Radio Choir, the Swedish 

Radio Choir, the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Toronto Childrens’ 

Chorus, all under the direction of conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste. 

These combined forces surrounded the audience from the ground 

floor, up into the various levels of balconies ringing the ten-story 

atrium. The effect of the music was stunning. Harry Freedman himself 

considered it one of his finest achievements in writing for large-scale 

musical forces. 

We subsequently presented Freedman’s Borealis to the International 

Rostrum of Composers (IRC) in Paris in 1998, where it was voted 

fourth overall among the submissions by the delegates from public 

radio services in 30 countries around the world, leading to broadcasts 

in those countries. Harry was very pleased with this accomplishment, 

comparing it to the experience of “being shortlisted for the Booker 

Prize.” Naturally, he was also pleased to receive the royalties from 

those many broadcasts. 

Earlier in 1997, another of our CBC commissions, Wonder, a work 

for soprano, orchestra and electronic sounds by Canadian composer 

Paul Steenhuisen, had even greater success at the IRC. Wonder had 

been commissioned in 1995 for the 

CBC Radio Orchestra in Vancouver. The 

premiere took place in June of 1996 

at the Vancouver International New 

Music Festival, presented by Vancouver 

New Music. We presented our production 

of the work at the IRC in 1997, and 

not only was Steenhuisen’s composition 

voted third overall, and broadcast 

on the participating countries’ public 

radio programs, but the delegate from 

Austrian Radio was so impressed by 

the work that he organized an Austrian 

performance at the Musikprotokoll 

Paul Steenhuisen 

Festival in Graz. But it didn’t stop 

there. Christian Scheib, the same Austrian delegate who had been so 

impressed by Steenhuisen’s Wonder at the IRC, also commissioned a 

new work by him, for the esteemed Viennese ensemble, Klangforum 

Wien. Austrian Radio produced the premiere of the new work, Bread, 

at the Musikprotokoll Festival, conducted an extensive interview with 

Paul Steenhuisen, and broadcast the premiere of Bread, along with 

several more of Steenhuisen’s compositions. Writing to me about our 

original commission of his work, Wonder, Paul said, “Reflecting on it, 

the piece has had a nice life for itself. So many good things came from 

its presence at the IRC, so thanks again for taking it there.” 

A few years before that, our production of Chris Paul Harman’s 

Oboe Concerto, was voted second in the Young Composers category 

of the IRC. This was in 1994, when first place went to the emerging 

English composer, Thomas Adès for his famous composition, 

Living Toys, the work that more or less signalled to the world of 

contemporary music that a new genius had appeared. Harman, in 

his typically humble manner, told me that “in retrospect, Living 

Toys should have been ahead by many, many, many more votes – I 

consider it to be one of Adès’ best works, among a selection of very 

good works.” 

These examples were typical of what we did throughout the 1990s. 

We found ways to work in larger-scale, and we dared to encourage 

Canadian composers to develop and excel, and to feed their creative 

imaginations with the ambition to create works of significance. And 

when we submitted these larger works in international forums, 

such as the IRC or the International Radio Festival of New York, our 

successes were a clear message that our composers, with the help of 

CBC Radio Music, were seen to be advancing the art form. Our work 

developing Canada’s composers was beginning to give them international 

recognition. Interestingly, all of this development came 

during a climate of cuts to the CBC’s budget. Harold Redekopp, who 

was head of CBC Radio Music in the mid 1980s, and then vice-president 

of CBC English Radio from 1992 to 1998, remarked that, for the 

relatively modest budget allocated to Two New Hours, we created an 

enormous amount of good will in the musical community. 

One of our principal methods of increasing the impact of our 

limited budget was through creative partnerships with medium- to 

large-scale organizations. Once our major orchestras began creating 

new music festivals, first in Winnipeg in 1992, but soon after in 

Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Kitchener-Waterloo and Windsor, we 

suddenly had the means to create programming that included many 

more Canadian orchestral and larger-scale compositions. We found 

that offering to commission ambitious new works by Canadian 

composers often provided the key to innovative programming, works 

such as Chan Ka Nin’s Iron Road, Marjan Mozetich’s Affairs of the 

Heart, Ann Southam’s Webster’s Spin and Murray Schafer’s Thunder: 

Perfect Mind, all of which, curiously enough, are now accessible on 

YouTube. Such initiatives often unlocked resources that had been 

previously uncommitted by potential partners. The programs we were 

then able to offer our listeners gave them a ringside seat as the music 

of the future was created. 

David Jaeger is a composer, producer and 

broadcaster based in Toronto. 

The 3-Horned Enemy, from 

the 2007 production of 

R. Murray Schafer’s The 

Princess of the Stars. Design: 

Jerrard and Diana Smith. 

SEAN HAGERMAN 


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Volume 21 Issue 8 - May 2016

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