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Review | Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky Masterworks Elevated by Star Power

By Denise Lai on 26 May 2023 Classical Music, Orchestral, Toronto, Violin

How do you top a musical program of a world premiere paired with two classical warhorses? You add a star soloist from violin royalty. This week’s program is true to music director Gustavo Gimeno’s vision for the TSO’s centennial to introduce new commissions along with the familiar. The TSO commission and world premiere entitled “Hwa (Flowering)” is a new work from its own Affiliate Composer, the young Alison Yun-Fei Jiang. Jiang wrote this piece as a tribute to her grandmother and all the women who shaped her life. She describes the piece as a musical painting, an orchestral canvas on…

Jazz Festivals 2023: Behind the Scenes

By Marc Chénard on 26 May 2023 Montreal, Scena Jazz, Toronto

New Man in Charge at Markham In the wake of its 25th edition last summer, the Markham Jazz Festival announced the appointment of Ernesto Cervini as its new artistic director. No stranger to this event for having played there previously as a bandleader and sideman, the native Torontonian is also blessed with good business acumen, managing his artistic career and record label while promoting new releases of Canadian groups via his public relations company Orange Grove Publicity. In a recent talk, Cervini recalled his Markham debut in 2003, fresh out of school and in an upstart band that snatched top…

Summer 2023 Canadian Festival Guide

By La Scena Musicale Team on 26 May 2023 Classical Music, Guides, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver

Newfoundland Camber Arts Woody Point, Corner Brook, May 1 to September 30 www.camberarts.ca Nickel Independent Film Festival St. John’s, June 12 to 18 www.nickelfestival.com Canada’s Big Birthday Bash St. John’s, June 30 to July 1 www.georgestreetlive.ca Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival St. John’s, July 7 to 9 www.nlfolk.com Shakespeare by the Sea Festival St. John’s, July 7 to August 20 www.shakespearebytheseafestival.com Salmon Festival Grand Falls-Windsor, July 13 to 17 www.evsalmonfestival.com Stephenville Theatre Festival Stephenville, July 14 to August 13 www.stephenvilletheatrefestival.com Annual Southern Shore Shamrock Festival Ferryland, July 22 to 23 www.ssfac.com George Street Festival St. John’s, July 27 to August…

Concert Previews

By Eva Stone-Barney on 26 May 2023 Classical Music, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto

Author : (Eva Stone-Barney)

MontrealVoces Boreales This June, Voces Boreales invites listeners into an immersive installation at St. James United Church. Open from noon to 7 p.m., audience members will embark on an ”urban pilgrimage” to the sounds of Joby Talbot’s choral masterwork, Path of Miracles (2005), immersed in a colourful lightshow depiction of the Camino de Compostela. Listeners are invited to reflect on the piece, the context of the pilgrimage, and the beauty of the space, at their convenience during the installation’s opening hours (June 20-24). www.vocesboreales.org OSM The OSM is concluding yet another bombastic season with a performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony.…

Photo: Jerry Toth – Alto Saxophone; Roy Smith – Tenor Saxophone; Eddie Karam – Baritone Saxophone; Murray Lauder – Bass; Phil Nimmons -- Clarinet; Ed Bickert – Guitar; Erich Traugott – Trumpet (information courtesy Mike Cado) Broadcast Date: January 23, 1963 Photography Date: November 14, 1962.

Phil Nimmons – 100 Years in the Making

By Marc Chénard on 26 May 2023 Canadian Music, Mainstream Jazz, Toronto

This page also available in / Cette page également disponible en français The field of jazz has its share of stories about musicians who died young, but there are also those who lead long and productive lives, some fortunate enough to reach a ripe old age and receive due praise for their accomplishments. In this era of smoke-free clubs, more jazz figures than ever are pushing well into their 90s, a handful of them even shattering the centenary mark. In case you wondered, the oldest living jazzman today is Ray Anthony, the last of the swing era big-band leaders, now…

Jim and Owen Adams, an Indigenous father/son duo, keep exploring teachings from the Medicine Wheel in Real People Dancing, soon to be enjoyed again in Toronto's Seaton Village neighbourhood. Picture credit: Porch View Dances

Toronto’s Kaeja d’Dance: real life dances

By Nathalie de Han on 25 May 2023 Arts Industry, Dance, Indigenous, La Scena Online, La Scena Spotlight, Scena Arts, Theatre, Toronto

Toronto’s Kaeja d’Dance returns for its 12th year in Toronto’s historic Seaton Village with the award-winning Porch View Dances: Real People Dancing In Real Spaces. The idea behind the Porch View Dances project is to pair non-professional dancers with professional choreographers. After spending some time rehearsing, the new cast eventually invites neighbors to watch the result, paying what they can. People interested to perform have to answer a short questionnaire about themselves and why they want to be involved but no dance background is required: it’s about creating movement and pleasure. Porch View Dances mingle ordinary lives and artistic expression through dance and…

Photo: Shelagh Howard

Newswire | Glenn Hodgins Appointed Executive Director of Tafelmusik

By Newswire on 10 May 2023 Newswire, Toronto

Toronto, May 9, 2023 … Dr. Christopher Paige, Chair of Tafelmusik’s Board of Directors, is delighted to announce that Glenn Hodgins has been appointed Executive Director. Currently President and CEO of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), Hodgins will join Tafelmusik starting June 21, 2023. He succeeds Daniela Nardi, who has served as Interim Executive Director since July 2022. “I am delighted that Glenn Hodgins will be joining Tafelmusik’s leadership team and would like to extend a warm welcome on behalf of the Board of Directors and search committee,” says Dr. Paige. “Glenn’s experience, wisdom, and passion for Tafelmusik will serve…

Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | COC’s Tosca

By Denise Lai on 8 May 2023 City, Concert Reviews, Toronto, Vocal

Tosca is a riveting drama of love, lust and betrayal. Add in Puccini’s impossibly lush score and a few show-stopper arias, this opera is the whole package. Directed by Paul Curran, this COC revival of the 2017 production features brand new leads in their COC debuts: Irish soprano Sinéad Campbell-Wallace as Tosca and Italian tenor Stefano La Colla as Cavaradossi, and expectations are high. What you missed La Colla is a fine, smitten Cavaradossi. His warm, creamy sound carried the high notes beautifully. Tosca is a temperamental character – loving and charming one moment, jealous and angry the next. Campbell-Wallace,…

Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | Canadian Opera Company’s Macbeth a Hit with some Misses

By Denise Lai on 8 May 2023 City, Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Opera, Toronto, Vocal

Emboldened by witches’ prophesies and with strong encouragement from his wife, Macbeth turns into a power-thirsty man who uses violence to annihilate everything in his way to seize Scotland’s throne. Verdi’s ominous score is enhanced by dramatic stage effects: dark sets punctuated by thunder and lightning; ghostly appearances of witches and three demonic children; bloodied bodies rising from the dead. Although the murders are all swiftly carried out, David McVicar‘s COC/Chicago co-production delivers a longing sense of foreboding and some genuinely frightening moments. What you missed There was all-round good singing from the male leads. American baritone Quinn Kelsey’s debut…

Photos: Allan Cabral

Review | Epic Interpretation of Messiaen’s Turangalila-Symphonie

By Andrea Rush on 5 May 2023 Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Toronto

Since assuming the podium as TSO conductor, Gustavo Gimeno’s leadership of the TSO to its rightful place on the world stage has been self-evident. His commitment to twentieth century music on a grand scale and to showcasing Canadian talent is unquestionable. Thursday night’s concert, the colossal Turangalila-Symphonie (10 movements, 4 themes, no break) was the piece de resistance. The Turangalila is a rare treat to perform and to experience. Flanked by the star soloists, piano virtuoso superpower, Marc-André Hamelin on one side, facing off with ondes Martenot expert Nathalie Forget, Maestro Gimeno explained the Sanskrit title-creation, time and joy which…

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