Browsing: Canadian Music

Steven Philcox and Lawrence Wiliford, the Co-artistic Directors of CASP, announce a series of grants to support new and emerging composers during this difficult time of COVID-19 isolation. Two grants of $2000 will be awarded in each of the next three years. The successful applicants will be expected to create three Art Songs (free-standing poems set to music), roughly 10 to 12 minutes in total, within 8 months of the agreed start date. As part of the programme the applicant will be paired with a recognized Canadian Art Song composer who will act as Mentor throughout the process. The Mentors will provide…

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Toronto, ON, December 30, 2020 … Governor General Julie Payette announced this morning that Daniel Taylor, countertenor, conductor, recording artist, and Professor of Opera, Early Music and Voice, has been appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada. One of the country’s highest civilian honours, the Order recognizes people “whose service shapes our society; whose innovations ignite our imaginations; and whose compassion unites our communities.”  In recognizing his achievements, the Office of the Governor General of Canada calls Daniel Taylor “one of our country’s most celebrated cultural ambassadors, distinguishing himself with moving performances and known for his warmth and…

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This section is an advertising supplement. To announce here, contact [email protected]. MON AMI, mon amour Cello sonatas by Debussy and Poulenc, with additional works by Fauré, Ravel, Milhaud, and Lili And Nadia Boulanger Matt Haimovitz, cello/violoncelle; Mari Kodama, piano Pentatone The vibrant musical palette of cellist Matt Haimovitz and the graceful insight of pianist Mari Kodama meld in MON AMI, Mon amour. Cello and piano flow together in colorful conversation for rarities by sisters Lili and Nadia Boulanger, in the poignant Kaddish by Ravel and the melancholic Élégie by Milhaud, for sonatas by Poulenc and Debussy, and in gems by Fauré. These French composers overcome…

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The music just comes to me; I just write down what I hear,” says Jaap Nico Hamburger. Only two years after quitting his full-time job as a cardiologist and devoting his life to composing, Hamburger, 62, has released two recordings and can lay claim to an impressive list of commissions and premieres, including an opera at Lincoln Center in New York, originally slated for March 2020, and now rescheduled for a post-COVID season. Music was always in Hamburger’s life. At the age of three, Hamburger took over the 78-RPM record player originally given as a birthday gift to his older…

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by Robin Elliott (Jean A. Chalmers Chair in Canadian Music, University of Toronto) These remarks were given before a concert given at the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hétu’s death. Jacques Hétu enjoyed a prolific career as a composer for 50 years and as a university professor for almost 40 years. Although best known for his well-crafted and beautifully orchestrated works for large performing ensembles, including five symphonies and some 20 concertos, Hétu also wrote many fine works for piano, voice, and chamber ensemble. Hétu’s works are available in beautifully engraved editions from the…

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Keiko Devaux was already a composer at age five. Unsatisfied with the methodical character of her piano lessons, she found freedom by playing the top line of the score as written and inventing the rest. Thirty-three years later, Devaux has been named the inaugural winner of the $50,000 Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music. Her youthful preference for improvising over practicing was prophetic. Moved by a desire to create rather than make perfect, Devaux went on to earn both a Bachelor and Master’s degree in composition at the Université de Montréal. She is now working on a doctorate at the same…

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Chants Libres came into being in 1991, at a time when contemporary opera didn’t have much good press in Quebec. Many singers dreaded damaging their vocal cords with new techniques, while musical theatre was eclipsing lyrical voices. This didn’t prevent soprano Pauline Vaillancourt from founding a company that, 30 years later, has carved out a top place for itself in the world of contemporary music. Let’s look back at three decades of Chants Libres. Catching up after a lagging behind During Nuit blanche on Feb. 29, more than 400 people enjoyed a program presented by Chants Libres and its partners…

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By Hélène Panneton, director of the Association pour la diffusion de la musique d’Auguste Descarries Auguste Descarries (1896-1958) is no longer on the list of “forgotten ones”; he has come back to light. His legacy of more than 60 works – including sacred pieces, chamber music, melodies and a large number of works for the piano – is now available to performers and music lovers everywhere through modern editions and recordings made over the last few years. A major reason for the absence of this Quebec composer from the music scene was that his works existed only in manuscript in…

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The music industry’s big announcement this spring: Johanne Goyette, founding president of ATMA Classique, and Guillaume Lombart, founding president of Ad Litteram, entered into an agreement to tranfer ownership of the ATMA Classique label. The transaction took effect on April 1 and will allow Ad Litteram to acquire Disques ATMA Inc. shares and ATMA Classique, which turns 25 this year. “I want to ensure the longevity of the label.” – Johanne Goyette“After dedicating 25 years to establishing ATMA Classique as a world-renowned company, I wanted to ensure a transfer that would guarantee the label’s continuity while also stimulating new ideas,”…

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You may have noticed the absence of capitals in his name. This orthographic licence was inspired, he says, by his discovery as a young man of the poetry of e. e. cummings, who was known to eschew writing conventions like punctuation and standard syntax. Certain Bauhaus prints also gave him encouragement. Then, a more pragmatic motivation added to these influences: “At a time when everyone wrote on typewriters, I told myself one day that if capital letters were no longer necessary, typewriters would be smaller and lighter, saving much of the metal used in manufacturing.” And, to conclude this mindful…

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