Strings - my/maSCENA

James Ehnes, Photo: Benjamin Ealovega

Interview – James Ehnes @40

By Kiersten van Vliet on 14 September 2016 Chamber Music, Interviews, Violin

As part of his 40th birthday celebrations, Canadian virtuoso violinist James Ehnes is hitting the road. Travelling across Canada with his family and accompanist Andrew Armstrong in tow, Ehnes will cross coast-to-coast-to-coast in Canada, trekking from Vancouver to St. John’s and all the way North to Iqaluit as part of his James Ehnes @40 tour. Next month, Ehnes plays the Dvořák Violin Concerto with the OSM (October 13, 8PM & October 14, 7PM), and a recital of Beethoven, Franck, and Ravel with Armstrong (October 16, 2:30PM). He returns to Montreal this spring in recital at LMMC Concerts, (April 30, 2017, 3:30PM). Below is a…

Borodin Quartet (Ruben Aharonian, Sergey Limovsky, Igor Naidin, and Vladimir Balshin) with Nuné Melik (centre)

Interview – Borodin Quartet at MISQA

By Nuné Melik on 13 September 2016 Chamber Music, Interviews, Strings

To catch all the members of the Borodin Quartet off stage is almost impossible. Formed in 1945, the legendary Russian ensemble, rarely, if ever, gives interviews – especially when they are on tour abroad. I conducted this interview after their spectacular opening Pollack Hall concert on August 14 at the McGill International String Quartet Academy (MISQA), where they gave masterclasses to quartets from all over the world. Speaking in Russian, first violinist Ruben Aharonian, second Sergey Limovsky, violist Igor Naidin, and cellist Vladimir Balshin covered a range of subjects at the four-star Omni Hotel in downtown Montreal. Nuné Melik: The…

Peter Mendell Award 2016 Winner Announcement

By Newswire on 12 September 2016 Classical Music, Newswire, Strings

Montreal, September 11, 2016 – The Jeunesses Musicales Canada Foundation and Peter Mendell are awarding cellist Joshua Morris with a $ 2,500 scholarship. Joshua was selected by the jury as the best candidate among all full-time string students enrolled in a classical music program at one of Québec’s universities or at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec who applied for the scholarship. About Joshua Morris A native of Vermont, Joshua Morris is currently pursuing a Masters in Cello Performance with Brian Manker at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Cello Performance from…

James Ehnes with his accompanist Andrew Armstrong, Photo: Ben Ealovega

James Ehnes @40

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 September 2016 Chamber Music, Interviews, Violin

Age may be but a number, but its influence is broad. For celebrated Canadian violinist James Ehnes, turning 40 earlier this year has led to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour his homeland in a series celebrating family, community, and (of course) great music. Though he is no doubt still fielding quips about being over the hill, Ehnes’s bustling performance schedule certainly erases any doubts about him slowing down any time soon. Ehnes, a Brandon, Manitoba native, began playing the violin at the age of 4 and studied with renowned violinist and pedagogue Francis Chaplin at 9. From 1993 to 1997…

Review – Overtures to Bach: Matt Haimovitz (Pentatone Oxingale)

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 September 2016 Baroque and Early, CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Strings

Recently named Pentatone’s Artist of the Season, Matt Haimovitz has never shied from making waves in performance or recording. The Montreal-based cellist has already proven his Bach chops over and over throughout his career, most recently with the 2015 Pentatone release of the Suites based on a copy by Bach’s second wife Anna Magdalena played on period instruments. This new disc explores six new commissions by Haimovitz, each an Overture to the Prelude from each Suite. The structure of Overture followed by Prelude makes the Bach a comment on the future, a kind of sonic time machine. Opening with Phillip…

Review – Alfred Schnittke: Works for Violin and Piano (Quartz)

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 September 2016 CD and Book Reviews, Chamber Music, Contemporary, Violin

Alfred Schnittke is a name we often shy away from on this side of the Atlantic. His style of unabashed dissonance is not solely reliant on serialism, but rather an understanding of the latent dramatic potential of atonality, an understanding that is made possible by his awareness and appreciation of the music that preceded him. Instead of breaking with the past, Schnittke aimed to show the connections between past and present in his so-called “polystylism”; this is no more evident than in his chamber output for the violin. The two-CD set opens with the late Third Sonata (1994), darkly opulent…

Lara St. John, Photo: Martin Kennedy

La Rentrée Musicale: Orchestral & Solo

By Caroline Rodgers on 1 September 2016 La Scena Spotlight, Orchestral, Piano, Strings, Violin

Lupo plays the LMMC Much loved in Quebec, Italian pianist Bedenetto Lupo will once more grace the Ladies’ Morning Musical Club for its first concert of the season. Upcoming artists include the Pacifica Quartet (October 2), Quatuor Hermès (October 23), cellist Pieter Wispelwey (November 13), and soprano Karina Gauvin (December 4). Lupo will play works by Chopin, Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff. September 11, Pollack Hall 3:30PM. www.lmmc.ca Souvenir de Florence Six MSO musicians – Richard Roberts, Jean-Sébastien Roy, Victor Fournelle-Blain, Sofia Gentile, Gary Russell and Sylvain Murray – will come together for this recital of chamber music devoted to Tchaikovsky. String…

Photo: Andy Bullock

Music and Sports: Finding the Right Balance for a Happy Child

By Jeanne Hourez on 1 September 2016 Education, Interviews, Violin

Anne-Sophie is nine years old. Behind her natural reserve and sometimes dreamy demeanour lies a determined, enthusiastic child eager to learn new things. Her busy days are divided into school work and her two passions, gymnastics and the violin. Since the age of three she has been doing gymnastics at the Gymnix club at Centre Claude-Robillard, and the sport now takes up 18 hours of her week. In September she will begin a sport studies program to specialize in the discipline. Her mother says, “I was surprised and glad that Anne-Sophie made this decision by herself. A few years ago…

The 39th Festival de Lanaudière – Time to Take Stock!

By Newswire on 9 August 2016 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Newswire, Orchestral, Piano, Violin

Joliette, August 8, 2016 – For its 39th season, le Festival de Lanaudière invited music lovers to discover some of the works that its founder, Father Fernand Lindsay, liked to hear and teach. Between July 9 and August 7, 2016, fourteen concerts were presented at the Amphithéâtre Fernand-Lindsay, eight in churches throughout the region, and two at the Musée d’art de Joliette. In addition, there were four cinema evenings and five morning yoga sessions held outdoors. Nearly 53,000 people attended Festival events – a significant increase over the figure for 2015. The piano takes center stage This year, the…

View on the mountains from the Combins terrace, Photo: Nicolas Brodard

Review: The Verbier Festival (July 26–29, 2016)

By Xenia Hanusiak on 8 August 2016 Chamber Music, Classical, Concert Reviews, Piano, Romantic, Violin

Verbier, Switzerland July 22 – August 7, 2016 For 23 years, Artistic Director Martin T:son Engstroem has curated the Verbier Festival with a dedicated commitment to intergenerational music making, encouraging the precocious energy of youth to collaborate alongside the cultivated gravitas of the some of the most respected musicians on the roster today. The famed Academy hosts young musicians and singers from across the globe assembling for orchestral, chamber music, and opera performances with the A-list. In the case of the 2016 edition the long-list red carpet roll out includes conductors Charles Dutoit and Gabor Takács-Nagy, pianist András Schiff, violinist…

Browsing: Strings