Volume 21 Issue 8 - May 2016
INSIDE: The Canaries Are Here! 116 choirs to choose from, so take the plunge! The Nylons hit the road after one last SING! Fling. Jazz writer Steve Wallace wonders "Watts Goode" rather than "what's new?" Paul Ennis has the musical picks of the HotDocs crop. David Jaeger's CBC Radio continues golden for a little while yet. Douglas McNabney is Music's Child. Leipzig meets Damascus in Alison Mackay's fertile imagination. And "C" is for KRONOS in Wende Bartley's koverage of the third annual 21C Festival. All this and as usual much much more. Enjoy.
INSIDE: The Canaries Are Here! 116 choirs to choose from, so take the plunge! The Nylons hit the road after one last SING! Fling. Jazz writer Steve Wallace wonders "Watts Goode" rather than "what's new?" Paul Ennis has the musical picks of the HotDocs crop. David Jaeger's CBC Radio continues golden for a little while yet. Douglas McNabney is Music's Child. Leipzig meets Damascus in Alison Mackay's fertile imagination. And "C" is for KRONOS in Wende Bartley's koverage of the third annual 21C Festival. All this and as usual much much more. Enjoy.
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Toronto Children’s<br />
Chorus<br />
Lydia Adams. Holding the baton is Andrey Boreyko, a Russian<br />
conductor trained at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Saint<br />
Petersburg and formerly music director of the Winnipeg Symphony<br />
Orchestra for six years. The TSO presents this “Civic Oratorio” on<br />
<strong>May</strong> 13 at 7:30pm and <strong>May</strong> 15 at 3pm.<br />
Tallis Choir of Toronto: Shakespeare’s myriad works have long<br />
inspired great music, much of it choral. In “Our Good Wills: The<br />
World of Shakespeare & Byrd,” the robust and talented Tallis Choir<br />
of Toronto under Peter Mahon will present several of these inspirations<br />
from works such as All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, Twelfth<br />
Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Tempest. Several pieces<br />
by Shakespeare’s contemporary, William Byrd, will be featured as<br />
well, including his popular Te Deum. Saturday <strong>May</strong> 14, at 7:30pm,<br />
St. Patrick’s Church, Toronto.<br />
The Yellowknife Youth Choir visits Toronto and joins the Bach<br />
Children’s Chorus and the Bach Chamber Youth Choir in “Songs<br />
of the Wanderer: A Spring Celebration.” Both Bach Choirs visited<br />
Yellowknife and Western Canada in late March <strong>2016</strong>, so this is a<br />
reciprocal visit. They combine again to feature works by Mendelssohn<br />
and Rodgers & Hammerstein. Saturday <strong>May</strong> 14, 7:30pm, Toronto<br />
Centre for the Arts.<br />
ChoralWorks Chamber Choir presents “A ChoralWorks Tapestry,”<br />
featuring Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and music from Les Misérables,<br />
<strong>May</strong> 14, Trinity United Church, Collingwood.<br />
City Choir, a super-accessible and welcoming ensemble, performs<br />
“Freedom is a Voice.” The family-oriented set list features arrangements<br />
of popular songs such as MLK by U2, Blackbird by Sarah<br />
McLaughlin and Freedom is a Voice by Bobby McFerrin. Tuesday<br />
<strong>May</strong> 31, 7:30pm, St Peter’s Anglican Church.<br />
And speaking of super-accessible, the VIVA! Youth Singers of<br />
Toronto have a fun, new, world premiere of The Sword in the<br />
Schoolyard, a children’s opera by Dean Burry, with music and libretto<br />
The Canadian<br />
Orpheus Male Choir<br />
39 TH ANNUAL CONCERT with special guests:<br />
internationally renowned operatic tenor<br />
Richard Margison OC<br />
and acclaimed soprano Lauren Margison.<br />
JUNE 11, 7PM<br />
AT THE DOFASCO CENTRE FOR THE ARTS<br />
(THEATRE AQUARIUS)<br />
by Burry, music direction by VIVA! artistic director, Carol Woodward<br />
Ratzlaff, and direction by David Ambrose; June 3 and 4 at 7pm, June 5<br />
at 2:30pm, Daniels Spectrum.<br />
The Amadeus Choir performs “Serenade to Music,” featuring Ralph<br />
Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music, Schubert’s To Music, Britten’s<br />
Hymn to St Cecilia and more; June 5 at 7pm, Eglinton St Georges<br />
United Church.<br />
<strong>21</strong>C: the Royal Conservatory’s new works festival has a host of<br />
very interesting pieces to check out. The festival runs from <strong>May</strong> 25 to<br />
<strong>May</strong> 29 with all performances at the RC’s Telus Centre for Performance<br />
and Learning. A couple of highlights:<br />
In my columns I frequently mention Tanya Tagaq and her unique,<br />
powerful interpretation of throat singing. She will be performing with<br />
one of the most prolific new music ensembles in North America –<br />
The Kronos Quartet. They open the festival with a host of premieres<br />
including Sivunittinni (The future children) by Tagaq herself, <strong>May</strong> 25<br />
at 8pm, Koerner Hall.<br />
“<strong>21</strong>C After Hours: Blackout,” brainchild of composer John Oswald,<br />
will take place entirely in complete darkness. Presales for it were<br />
so successful a second performance was added to meet demand. As<br />
we go to press, there are still tickets available for the 8pm show (the<br />
10:30pm is officially sold out). There will be four world premieres<br />
featuring the Element Choir under artistic director Christine<br />
Duncan. A master of improvisation and a pioneer of choral improvisation,<br />
Duncan is also known for her frequent and fruitful collaborations<br />
with fellow <strong>21</strong>C performer Tanya Tagaq. The Element Choir<br />
will be joined by the Radiant Brass Ensemble and we’ve also been<br />
promised special surprise guests; <strong>May</strong> 27 at 8pm and 10:30pm,<br />
Conservatory Theatre.<br />
Follow Brian on Twitter @bfchang Send info/media/<br />
tips to choralscene@thewholenote.com.<br />
190 KING WILLIAM STREET, HAMILTON<br />
FOR TICKETS, CALL THE BOX OFFICE: 1-800-465-7529 | FOR DETAILS, EMAIL concerts@comc.ca | www.comc.ca<br />
34 | <strong>May</strong> 1, <strong>2016</strong> - June 7, <strong>2016</strong> thewholenote.com