Browsing: Classical Music

Kateri Tekakwitha has long been part of the school curriculum in Quebec. A 17th-century Mohawk girl who sought baptism in her teens and took a vow of chastity, she became, in 2012, the first North American Indigenous person to be canonized. Now Indigenous artists are paying their own form of homage in Saia’tatokénhti: Honouring Saint Kateri, a 35-minute multimedia presentation with music by Odawa composer Barbara Croall, words by Mohawk writer Darren Bonaparte, and visuals and choreography overseen by the Indigenous Colombian director Alejandro Ronceria. The premiere on Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kahnawake Catholic Church is followed…

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On May 5, various stakeholders in the art of song in Canada – teachers, singers, pianists, presenters, scholars – met in Walter Hall at the University of Toronto to discuss the future of the art form. Co-sponsored by National Association of Teachers of Singing, Voice Studies of U of T’s Faculty of Music, the Art Song Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Art Song Project, this one-day seminar offered presentations and performances, but also gave its audience of about 120 participants the chance to discuss at length the various challenges faced by song recitals and possible creative responses. The day…

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Back in our April issue, Wah Keung Chan and I predicted that John Brancy would be one of the winners of the 2018 CMIM. I met the American baritone with pianist Peter Dugan two days before the Aria division finals. Brancy won First Prize in the Art Song division and the French Mélodie Award. Is vocal technique different for opera and art song? John: Absolutely. When I was singing mélodies at Bourgie Hall, I was able to play with the hall; it had the acoustics that allow the performer do that. I could go ‘off the voice’ and into pure…

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Acclaimed internationally for their brilliant and elegant performances, Trio Fibonacci celebrate their 20th anniversary this fall. This is remarkable longevity for the group comprising Julie-Anne Derome (violin), Gabriel Prynn (cello) and Steven Massicotte (piano). They focussed on the contemporary repertoire early on, but gradually went back to their primary enthusiasms, and today offer thematic programming that combines classical, romantic and contemporary works. Mapping the present to unearth the past Trio Fibonacci was founded in 1998 by Derome, Prynn and André Ristic. “We wanted to create a group mainly associated with romantic repertoire, and since we were all crazy about contemporary…

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Musica Camerata has been passionately and diligently introducing us to less familiar musical works for almost half a century. The eight musicians, hailing mostly from the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM), strengthen their reputation year after year. As the group looks ahead to a new season, here’s an interview with artistic director Luis Grinhauz. Which musical discoveries have stood out for you? Over time, we have discovered new composers; other ensembles have taken our lead and have featured them in their own concerts. Examples include Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, a key musician like Leoš Janáček, and a group of late…

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Canadian Art Song Project Canadian Art Song Project was founded in 2011 by tenor Lawrence Wiliford and pianist Steven Philcox. Its mission is to build on the rich legacy of Canadian song by engaging composers, authors and performers to share and celebrate their experiences through the creation of new music while providing opportunities for Canadian artists to champion the wealth of the existing song literature. In addition to presenting concerts, CASP has commissioned 13 Canadian works for voice and piano, released five commercial CDs and a podcast called Conversations with Canadian Art Song Project. During the 2018-19 season, CASP will celebrate…

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It happens almost everyday. Someone discovers opera for the first time through a live performance, and it becomes life changing. But it’s not everyday that this passion produces insight into the mysterious and iconic life of La Divina Maria Callas. French filmmaker Tom Volf, whose eclectic background included work as a model and photographer, was a medical student in New York in 2013 when he attended by chance a performance of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda at the Metropolitan Opera. “Joyce DiDonato was singing the lead role, and the combination of music, theatrical and cinematic elements was transformative,” he recalls. “I fell…

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The 30th edition of the Carrefour mondial de l’accordéon de Montmagny has been officially inaugurated. The well established event from the Chaudière Appalaches region of northern Quebec presents every year some of the best accordion players from different corners around the world. On opening night, Aug. 31, a full house was treated to a buffet of multi-ethnic sounds. Filippo Gambetta and Andrea Di Giacomo from Italy, Roman Jbanov and Alexei Brioukov from Russia, Emily Stam from Canada, Antonio Rivas, Daniel Ochoa and Jairo Gomez from Colombia, Gary Blair and Robin Hyland from Scotland, and Sylvie Pullès and Maxime Cayron from…

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A bad album by Joyce Didonato is such a rarity that it warrants serious attention. The release at hand is a live recording of a Wigmore Hall recital just before last Christmas – not so much a recital as a tissue of decorations around a half-hour monologue by Joyce’s favourite composer Jake Heggie, ll of them accompanied by string quartet.  The monologue is an evocation of the life of Camille Claudel, model and muse to the sculptor and painter Auguste Rodin. A sculptor herself, Claudel never gets the recognition she possibly deserves and winds up sadly in an asylum. It’s…

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Bach, Schumann, Debussy and Chopin: These are the familiar names on the program Marc-André Hamelin plays on Sept. 30 for the Ladies’ Morning Musical Club. While many associate him with names like Alkan and Sorabji, Hamelin is at ease both in the heart and at the outer limits of the repertoire. “These are all old friends and I am happy to present these works,” Hamelin said in a phone interview hours before he was to fly to the U.K. to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival. Hamelin says Bach is “probably the greatest composer that ever lived, the perfect combination…

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