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CD Review | Chasing Light & Sound: The Tuba Music of Elizabeth Raum (Centrediscs, 2022)

By Zenith Wolfe on 26 July 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Classical Music, Piano, Winds

Chasing Light & Sound: The Tuba Music of Elizabeth Raum Tom McCaslin, tuba; Akiko Tominaga, piano Centrediscs, 2022 Originally commissioned by tuba maestro John Griffiths in the 1990s, the works composed by Elizabeth Raum and featured on the album Chasing Light & Sound have become staples of the solo tuba repertoire. Since Tom McCaslin was a student of John Griffiths, he is aiming quite high by recording this album. When paired with Akiko Tominaga’s strong piano-playing style, McCaslin’s gentle tuba-playing style tends to get overpowered. He opts to give Tominaga room to express herself, so the busy piano melodies make…

Lebrecht’s Album of the Week: Copland, Nielsen, MacMillan – Clarinet concertos (Delphian)

By Norman Lebrecht on 8 January 2021 Classical Music, Winds

The sound I miss most in our orchestral silence is the unexpected wail of a clarinet, in pain or pleasure like a cat in coitus, at the moment a symphony seems to be drifting towards the intermission. No way is the clarinet going to let this music end without a howl. Of all clarinet concertos, and I include Mozart’s, Aaron Copland’s is my favourite by a Siamese smile. Grifted from a dying cadence in Mahler’s ninth symphony, it meanders down the back-lots of Hollywood through some jazz riffs and pony clops to an upbeat, slightly phony all-American fadeout. That’s all,…

Arin Sarkissian and Robert Conquer win First Prizes at the 2020 OSM Competition

By Newswire on 17 December 2020 Music Competition, Winds

Montreal, December 12, 2020 ▪ The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is thrilled to announce the names of the first prize winners of the OSM 2020 Competition: Arin Sarkissian in the WOODWINDScategory and Robert Conquer in the BRASS category. This entirely digital 81st edition of the OSM Competition ran from October 5 to December 12, bringing together Canada’s most talented young musicians and launching the artists of tomorrow. Arin Sarkissian, flute, (Ontario), 21 This Toronto native has performed with a number of youth orchestras in recent years. The winner of several prizes in competitions for young artists, Arin Sarkissian is currently…

Nadia Labrie: New Recording, New Instrument

By Justin Bernard on 4 February 2020 Chamber Music, Winds

Nadia Labrie launches a new installment of her ongoing series of recordings entitled Flute Passion on Feb. 12. As a follow-up to her previous Analekta album devoted to Schubert, Labrie turns her attention to Bach, a composer she first fell in love with during her student days and whose music she wanted to dedicate a recording to someday. “I had been thinking about doing Bach for my series almost as long as I did about Schubert,” Labrie confides. “I first thought of it when I was 20, and it became an idée fixe. In my spare time, I’d go back…

Photo: Brent Calis

Lara Deutsch: Eyes on the Prize

By Arthur Kaptainis on 2 October 2019 Classical Music, Music Competition, Winds

The timing was not perfect. Lara Deutsch had strep throat. But the flutist was instructed in no uncertain terms to appear as requested for a meeting at such-and-such an hour and in such-and-such place in Montreal. “I was told that it couldn’t be at any other time,” Deutsch said from her home in Ottawa. “And I was told that I really had to be there.” The appointment was worth keeping. On her arrival Deutsch learned that she was the 2019–20 winner of the Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer, a prize valued at $125,000 that includes $50,000 in cash, a series of…

Paul Merkelo : The Enlightened Trumpet

By Newswire on 6 September 2019 Winds

Haydn, Telemann, Leopold Mozart & Hummel Concertos OXFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA conducted by MARIOS PAPADOPOULOS NEW RELEASE FROM SONY CLASSICAL – SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 “A spectacular soloist” (Montreal Gazette) … who “knows no limits” (Der Spiegel) For Immediate Release, September 6, 2019 … Recognized among the finest trumpet virtuosos of his generation, Paul Merkelo releases The Enlightened Trumpet, his first recording for Sony Classical. Hailed as “a spectacular soloist … a most impressive master of his instrument” (Montreal Gazette) who “knows no limits” (Der Spiegel) and with “unusual lyrical gifts” (Gramophone), Merkelo has been Principal trumpet with the Orchestre symphonique de…

2018-2019 Carrefour Mondial de l’Accordéon Remembered

By Adrian Rodriguez on 4 September 2018 Folk, Popular Music, Winds

Saturday, September 1 was one of the busiest journeys of the five-day Festival with 6 indoor concerts, a Masterclass with Russian accordionist Roman Jbanov, a Trad Quebecois dance event and free concerts held all over the town in different outdoor stages and restaurants. I also wanted to visit the Accordion Museum at the historical Manoir et four a pain Couillard and the photographic exhibition by Julien Simard which documented 30 years of the festival’s history. My first order of business was to meet with accordion prodigy Andrea Di Giacomo. The 22-year-old left the audience in awe at the Opening night…

Nadia Labrie: A Passion Dedicated to Music

By Justin Bernard on 5 June 2018 Classical Music, Interviews, Winds

Nadia Labrie has launched her first solo album – a great occasion for a flutist known initially for the duo she created with guitarist Annie Labrie, her twin sister. Duo Similia was a great success, performing 500 concerts in more than 13 countries, recording four albums for the Analekta label, and winning many awards, including a 2004 Félix for best instrumental album. Following many years dedicated to her family and children, Nadia has made a comeback. We met in a café nestled in Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood. This was an opportunity to learn about her career as a flutist, her professional…

More than $20,000 Awarded to Young Musicians from the Ottawa – Gatineau Region at the 2017 National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition

By Newswire on 15 May 2017 Newswire, Orchestral, Winds

OTTAWA, May 15, 2017 — On May 14, at 2:00 p.m. music students aged 16-24 from the National Capital Region competed for a chance to win prizes worth more than $20,000 in the 37th annual National Arts Centre Orchestra’s 2017 Bursary Competition. This year’s winners are:  2016 NAC Orchestra Bursary ($7,000) –Nicolas Richard, bassoon  Crabtree Foundation Award ($5,000) – Heather Jonasson, flute  Friends of the NAC Orchestra Award ($3,000) – Emilia Segura, clarinet  The NAC Orchestra Vic Pomer Award ($2,000) – Rachel Domingue, oboe  The Sturdevant Orchestral Excerpts Prize ($1,500) – Rachel Domingue, oboe  The…

Daily News Roundup: 8 November 2016

By Nicole Yeba on 8 November 2016 Daily News Roundup, Winds

American Claire Brazeau is the new principal oboe of The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), succeeding her teacher Allan Vogel, who retired after 44 years. Brazeau was the second oboe of the LACO in the last two years. She is also a member of the new music ensemble, Le Train Bleu.