Ensemble Classico-Moderne delivered on its promise of combining classic favorites and contemporary music during the first stop on its Toronto-Montréal-Quebec City tour.
This week, Opera America announced discounts at around 80 opera houses across North America, and a new study found a gendered disparity in US opera production roles.
The combination of Rameau, Alkan, and Ravel in Bruce Liu’s WAVES, on paper, looks wildly exciting. In performance, it is less so.
Bourgie Hall will be inaugurating its new concert grand piano—a Steinway Model D from Hamburg—with a series of four concerts at the start of November.
Montreal, October 16, 2023 – From Friday, November 3 to Sunday, November 5, enjoy a unique experience where pianists’ virtuosity reaches new heights with compositions created for this instrument of infinite possibilities! This must-attend event presents 8 recitals featuring the finest pianists in contemporary music, from both here and abroad: Moritz Ernst (Germany), Viktor Lazarov, Philippe Prud’homme, Erik Bertsch (Italy), Pamela Reimer, Daniel Áñez and Brigitte Poulin. At the heart of the programme is Sandeep Bhagwati’s Music of Crossings, a cycle of 36 short pieces presented in three recitals performed by internationally renowned pianist Moritz Ernst. The other 5 recitals…
Toronto, October 15, 2023 – Eric Guo, a fourth year BMus student at The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School (GGS) was announced yesterday as the first prize winner of this competition held every five years in Warsaw by the prestigious Fryderyk Chopin Institute. Mr. Guo who studies with GGS faculty member David Louie and John Perry, performed Chopin’s Concerto in E minor on an 1842 Pleyel in the finals. In addition to his prize earnings, Mr. Guo, also an alumnus of The Royal Conservatory’s Taylor Academy studying with Li Wang and John O’Conor, will embark on a three-month, 10-concert tour…
Montreal, October 6, 2023 – The Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) is delighted to unveil the names of the eight outstanding members who will compose the international jury for Piano 2024, taking place from May 5 to 16, 2024. The First Round and Semifinal will be held at Salle Bourgie, and the Final will take place at the Maison symphonique on May 15 and 16, with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under the direction of Guest Conductor Xian Zhang. The internationally renowned jury members will bring a unique and invaluable expertise to our com-petition, attracting candidates of the highest…
Canadian Scenes: New Works for Oboe & Piano Charles Hamann, oboe; Frédéric Lacroix, piano Leaf Music, June 2023 Five works for oboe and piano were commissioned by oboist Charles Hamann for this album, which depicts various aspects of Canadian identity. In collaboration with pianist Frédéric Lacroix (who also wrote one of the pieces on the album), Hamann sought to capture various aspects of Canada’s landscapes, and asked each composer to write a piece using nature as an inspirational starting point. Over the course of the album’s genesis, changes in climate and environment impacted the way works panned out. In the…
Femmes de légende Élisabeth Pion, piano Atma Classique, May 2023 Quebec pianist Élisabeth Pion’s album opens with limpid, fluid and warm playing. A magnificent symbiosis between the pianist and the skilful writing of French composer Mélanie “Mel” Bonis (1858-1937), Femmes de légende reveals charm, colour and effervescence in both Pion’s playing and the repertoire itself. A pianist whose name has been on the Quebec and international music scene for some years now, Pion asserts her undeniable talent in this album. As its title suggests, Bonis’s work is inspired by literary and mythological heroines, and bears all the hallmarks of French…
Goldberg Variations Víkingur Ólafsson, piano Deutsche Grammophon, October 2023 This Icelandic pianist knows Johann Sebastian Bach like the back of his hand. In his latest album for Deutsche Grammophon, Víkingur Ólafsson tackles a work that is as revered as it is feared by young performers. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about for almost 25 years, which is most of my life,” he confides at the launch. It took him 10 years to tame the Goldberg Variations and finally make this giant of the piano repertoire his own. For a long time, he aimed to find his own voice, his own…
