Category: Canadian Music

Browsing: Canadian Music

Cellist Matthew Christakos Wins 2019 Michael Measures Prize

By Newswire on 17 July 2019 Canadian Music, Classical

Today, the Canada Council for the Arts announced the winners of the 2019 Michael Measures Prize, which recognizes promising young Canadian classical music performers enrolled in the summer training program of the prestigious NYO Canada (National Youth Orchestra Canada). This year’s Michael Measures first prize of $25,000 goes to cellist Matthew Christakos. Matthew attends the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists of the Royal Conservatory of Music, in Toronto, and will begin a bachelor’s degree in music at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Peter Wiley and Carter Brey in September 2019. The Michael Measures…

Joseph Rouleau Remembered (1929-2019)

By Wah Keung Chan on 13 July 2019 Art Song, Canadian Music, Contemporary, Opera

Update (2019-07-22): here are the details of the funeral: Date: Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 1 PM Place: Saint-Viateur Church, 1175 Avenue Laurier O, Outremont, QC H2V 3R5 (directions) Details (La Presse) Joseph Rouleau was on the Board of Directors of the Orchestre classique de Montréal for close to 10 years and, since September 2018, was President. In my role as Executive Director, I tremendously enjoyed working with him. He was always positive and supportive. Everyone at the OCM is devastated by the passing of this great man who helped the orchestra tremendously. He was the type of man who was able to pick up the…

Photo: Yves Lacombe

François Girard: From Film to Opera

By Justin Bernard on 30 May 2019 Arts Industry, Film, Interviews, Musique de film, Opera, Quebec Music

I’m there to serve an idea, serve the music, not so much to transmit my own views or personal concerns […] You have to ask yourself: What does this story say now, how can I give it a contemporary resonance? That’s the real task of a director, making the music and meaning resonate. The main event of this summer’s ninth edition of the Festival d’opéra de Québec is an eagerly-awaited staging of The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner. Under the musical direction of Jacques Lacombe, a cast led by baritone Gregory Dahl will present the mythical story in a production…

Photo: Nuria Soler-Milla

Thierry Bégin-L: Saved by the Guitar

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 31 March 2019 Canadian Music, Classical Music, Interviews

While a musical calling is often apparent early, the unique sensitivity that marks a great performer often comes later in life, with experience. Even so, some artists seem from an early age to combine technical know-how with a visceral understanding of the artistic intention behind the interpreted work. Judging by the many laudatory reviews and packed concert halls, classical guitarist Thierry Bégin-L seems to be one of those lucky few for whom music just flows. If he is recognized today as one of the most promising talents of his generation, it is because he seems to have developed a nearly…

Book Review: Song of a Nation: The Untold Story of Canada’s National Anthem

By Vasyl Pawlowsky on 22 March 2019 Canadian Music, CD and Book Reviews, La Scena Online

Song of a Nation: The Untold Story of Canada’s National Anthem by Robert Harris, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN: 9780771050923 While growing up in the 1970s I assumed that O Canada was our nation’s official anthem. Many others were similarly mistaken. Song of a Nation: The Untold Story of Canada’s National Anthem, by Robert Harris is a wonderfully written biography, history and tale that will resonate and tug at one’s heartstrings while revealing some gems of Canadian history, which all Canadians and lovers of music will probably appreciate. The biography is of a man who “left home at twelve, worked…

Photo: Sasha Onyshchenko

Marc Djokic – Musician Without Limits

By Justin Bernard on 27 November 2018 Canadian Music, Chamber Music, Contemporary, Violin

Marc Djokic is a violinist on the move. Winner of the 2017-2018 Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer and an Opus award from the Conseil québécois de la musique, he’s had a busy year touring while pursuing new projects. Last summer, Djokic began his first European tour with solo recitals, chamber music concerts and masterclasses in Venice, Geneva and Bern. He was also recently appointed concertmaster of the McGill Chamber Orchestra. His first album, Solo Seven, was released on the ATMA Classique label in the fall. For our interview, Djokic suggested that we meet at the Association Récréative Milton-Parc, in downtown Montreal,…

Tafelmusik Announces New Executive Director Carol Kehoe

By Newswire on 14 November 2018 Arts Industry, Baroque and Early, Canadian Music, Newswire

Toronto, November 13, 2018 … David Kilburn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, is pleased to announce the appointment of Carol Kehoe to the position of Executive Director. Ms. Kehoe is an accomplished leader with more than 25 years of management experience at senior levels, most recently as the Executive Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, where she led the organization through an impressive financial turnaround. Carol came to Tafelmusik in August as Interim Executive Director and will transition to her permanent role immediately. “We are delighted to have Carol join Tafelmusik as…

21C Music Festival 2019: A festival of Newly-minted music by the world’s foremost stars of independant musical thinking and innovation

By Newswire on 13 November 2018 Arts Industry, Canadian Music, Contemporary, Orchestral

21C Music Festival – five days of newly-minted music during which audiences have an opportunity to experience fresh new sounds and ideas from the greatest musical minds of today – moves from May to January with the sixth edition of the festival. From January 16 to 20, this edition will celebrate the American minimalist composer Terry Riley, with his music being performed in three of the concerts, including one that he will headline, titled Terry Riley: Live at 85! Additionally, more than a half of the works presented during the festival will be receiving premieres – 6 world, 1 North American, 10 Canadian, 4 Ontario, and 1 Toronto, by 10 Canadian composers. Other highlights include the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s…

Azrieli Music Prizes Now the Largest Canadian Composition Award

By Newswire on 16 October 2018 Canadian Music, Contemporary

October 16, 2018 – For Immediate Release Last night, at the 2018 Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP) Gala Concert at Maison symphonique in Montreal, Dr. Sharon Azrieli announced an expansion to the prestigious AMP portfolio – Canada’s largest prizes for music composition. On behalf of the Azrieli Foundation, Dr. Azrieli was delighted to unveil the Azrieli Canadian Prize, a new $50,000 cash award to commission concert works celebrating Canadian music. This will be the third prize to be offered biennially through the Azrieli Music Prizes program and will open for submissions in February 2019. The winning composer of the Azrieli Canadian…

Génération 2018 ECM+ : Coming to A Concert Hall Near You

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 4 October 2018 Canadian Music, Classical Music, Contemporary

A leader among the Canadian contemporary music ensembles, ECM+ has acquired over three decades a consistently reaffirmed reputation for the daring of its creations and the calibre of its performers. Since 1987, under the artistic direction of its founding conductor Véronique Lacroix, the ensemble has presented more than 260 premieres and issued 10 recordings that portray a sparkling and constantly evolving musical landscape. If the organization is primarily collective, this search for new worlds of sound cannot succeed without a competition for the next generation of composers. Born of the desire to provide composers with a stimulating creative environment and…