The Toronto Symphony Orchestra‘s New Creations Festival continues this week with two performances. On Wednesday March 9th 8 p.m. is the North American premiere of Two Memorials: Anton Webern and John Lennon, in which Australian composer James Ledger pays tribute to the two musical greats. Also on the program is Brett Dean’s trumpet concerto Dramatis personae, with soloist Hakan Hardenberger, for whom Dean composed this work. There’s also the world premiere of From the Vortex Perspective, a TSO commission from composer Paul Frehner. Both Ledger and Frehner will be interviewed by Gary Kulesha at intermission. Peter Oundjian conducts. https://www.tso.ca/

Australian composer James Ledger (Photo: www.jamesledger.com)
On Saturday March 12th is the last of three concerts of the TSO New Creations Festival. It features the Canadian premiere of Water, a work by Jonny Greenwood of the English rock group, Radiohead. Australian composer Brett Dean presents Knocking at the Hellgate, a vocal/instrumental suite of excerpts from his 2010 opera, Bliss. The soloist is Canadian baritone Russell Braun. Dean will be conducting his own work, with Peter Oundjian conducting the balance of the program. DJ Skratch Bastid returns to present his remix of the music from the Festival. There’s an interesting pre-concert event at 6:45 p.m., in which soprano Carla Huhtanen and baritone Peter McGillivray showcase selections of works presented by Tapestry Opera, a company specializing in new creations. Included is a sneak preview of the world premiere (scheduled for May) of The Rocking-Horse Winner. https://www.tso.ca/concert/knocking-hellgate
The charismatic Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov makes a welcome return to Toronto, under the auspices of the Montreal Chamber Music Society, in recital at Roy Thomson Hall on Friday March 11th 8 pm. On the program are works by Brahms, Franck, and Paganini. Appearing with him is pianist Patrice Lare. http://www.roythomson.com/eventdetail/MaximVengerov
Soundstreams, the adventurous new music presenter, is putting on a choral evening of the music of Scottish composer James MacMillan on Tuesday, March 8th 8 p.m. at the Trinity St. Paul’s Centre. On the program are works by Knut Nystedt, James Rolfe, R. Murray Schafer, as well as two pieces by MacMillan. Lawrence Cherney interviews MacMillan and James Rolfe in a pre-concert chat at 7 p.m. http://www.soundstreams.ca/performances/main-stage/the-music-of-james-macmillan/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Adwords_Grant&utm_campaign=1516MAC
The University of Toronto Faculty of Music Opera Division is presenting Benjamin Britten’s Paul Bunyan. If memory serves, the opera school staged this piece maybe ten years ago. Okay, I just checked – it was back in 1998! It didn’t seem so long ago. Britten and his partner tenor Peter Pears spent some years living in the U.S., which probably inspired him to compose this piece, quite a distinctive score full of American folk and jazz elements. Four performances, beginning Thursday March 10th 7:30 p.m. at the MacMillan Theatre and continues for three subsequent evenings. This is a good opportunity to hear up and coming voices. Sandra Horst conducts and Michael Patrick Albano directs. https://music.utoronto.ca/concerts-events.php?eid=584