The WholeNote

08/26/2024

We celebrate our 30th anniversary season with our September 2024 issue, now online at kiosk.thewholenote.com and downloadable PDF via website! 🎶

In this issue:

A teensy bit of retrospection for openers; revamps their artistic directorship; Elaine Choi () gives her take on choirs as community; says "all aboard!" to artists on its trains again; shares where jazz students get to play for real (hint: ); two contrasting operatic forays, from , and in collaboration with ; a triple take on music theatre at ; our 25th annual 'Early Bird' index for music presenter profiles across the region; and a full slate of record reviews and tracks from 16 new albums in our . All this and more!

As always, thank you to our contributors and readers alike.

Happy reading!
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06/18/2024

“William Christie and Les Arts Florissants,” writes Stephanie Conn, “are synonymous with skillful, sumptuous playing. On July 11, in the opening performance of this year’s Toronto Summer Music Festival, audiences here will have a rare chance to hear them as they present one of Henry Purcell’s delightful semi-operas, The Fairy Queen. It’s part of an international tour that began last summer, and which takes this 17th-century work to a new level.”

Check out Conn’s article on Toronto Summer Music Festival’s presentation of The Fairy Queen in the newest issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online!

Photo by J. Gazeau

06/17/2024

“Every year in Toronto,” writes WholeNote columnist , “summer seems to arrive all at once. Parkas transform into t-shirts; boots to sandals; a pervasive dread that winter shall never end is replaced by a cautious optimism that a few brief moments of respite are at least theoretically possible. The summer has many of the same delights to offer as the regular season for the dedicated music patron, but festival season also offers the appealing prospect of being jolted out of one’s usual routines.”

Check out Story’s round-up of cool summer festival offerings, including , , , and in the June issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online!

First photo: Shuffle Demons, courtesy of Something Else! Festival. Second photo: The Barn at Westben, courtesy Westben.

06/04/2024

Our Summer 2024 issue is online! Thank you to our contributors and readers, as always. 🌞💚

Our cover story features pianist, music director, concert programmer - in conversation about the necessity of failure and curatorial choices that break down barriers, the subject of his upcoming program slated for August 3 (see pg. 18).

Elsewhere! and talk on saving calypso; the 50th anniversary reprise of the Frog Bog Soundwalk (bet no-one's said that before!); fanfares (and farewells) for an uncommon man at the ; a spotlight on the fellows and mentors of ; a trio of music theatre happenings; a plethora of summer festival pickings from , and even more of them in our 20th annual summer ; and of course... an entire season's worth of music in our !

🔗 kiosk.thewholenote.com 🔗

05/08/2024

🎶 Eve Egoyan (.egoyan) performs "Longing and Belonging" on May 9 at George Weston Recital Hall, a new program exploring her Armenian heritage with new compositions.

The program, featuring seven piano works, includes her piece "Viva," blending traditional Armenian folk tunes with innovative piano techniques and a virtual instrument she developed along with collaborator David Rokeby. The program will begin with a short film by Su Rynard to give an introduction to each composer's piece.

Full story in bio! 🔗
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04/24/2024

It’s time” I rumble (fussing with the shirt studs and cufflinks) “once again” (muttering while untwisting the back strap on my white vest) “to carp and whine about this ridiculously outmoded uniform requirement!”
 
Check out WholeNote contributor Max Christie’s thoughtful, excellent piece about orchestral dress codes and the complicated intersection of tradition, gender, and performance in the newest issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online!
 
Photo (of a tail-less Yannick Nézet-Séguin) by Todd Rosenberg.
 

04/01/2024

Our April/May 2024 issue is now online! Thank you to all of our contributors and readers. 💙

kiosk.thewholenote.com

IN THIS ISSUE: "Ditch the tails" - a conversation about outmodded attire; four three-day festivals (count them); Keying up for an inventive spring with Soundstreams and KEYED UP!; Musical Theatre piece “Great Comet” heading for Mirvish; Toronto Bach festival: connecting the dots; Profile of Art of Time Ensemble’s Andrew Burashko and listening with fresh ears; on homes for music; Looking forward to the JUNO’s (after the fact); and the “Canaries” choral profiles are flocking; music listings galore; what we're listening to; and more.

Happy reading!
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02/02/2024

The Canadian Opera Company presents Don Giovanni (Mozart) opening in Toronto on February 2 with additional performances February 7, 9, 15, 17 and 24, in a production by the Danish director Kaspar Holten, conducted by Johannes Debus. The design features Escher-like sets, video projections, all to evoke the dark drama of Don Giovanni: a glamorous seducer who thinks he can get away with murder.
 
The COC’s other opera in this cycle is The Cunning Little V***n (Janáček) opening on February 3, and continues February 8, 10, 14, 16. In this production by London-based director Jamie Morton the setting isn’t a green woodland, it’s a deforested landscape impacted by logging, and the story resonates strongly with our own urgent climate concerns.
 
Check out MJ Buell’s On Opera column in the brand-new February/March issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online!
 

01/31/2024

Our February/March 2024 combined issue is now online at kiosk.thewholenote.com! 💛

In this issue: ' Leah Roseman, the subject of our cover, pandemic podcaster par excellence; Alison Mackay scrutinizes staircases for ; big choir, small orchestra in Dame Jane Glover's ; Dion(ysus) gets set to rock at ; the Sudbury/Toronto Jazz Trail from an even more northerly point of view; breves are the backstory; and more.

Download or read it online (🔗 in bio), and happy reading! 🎶
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11/28/2023

Our December 2023 / January 2024 combined issue is now online 🎶 ❄️

This cover features Lara St John (), who will be bringing her latest work "she/her/hers" to the .

That, as well as holiday shows (old favourites and new contenders), the Trinity Bach project, connecting the dots across multiple happenings, the commanding power of Handel's , grassroots venues and big hall concert offerings, and much more.

Happy reading!
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10/15/2023

With an upcoming season featuring, among others, Eric Lu (the most recent winner of the Leeds Piano Competition) and the Viano String Quartet (the most recent winner of the Banff String Quartet Competition) The WholeNote had an email conversation with pianist Wonny Song, about his role as ’ Artistic Director.

Read the conversation in our Oct / Nov column by Paul Ennis.
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10/13/2023

“On Sunday, October 15,” writes WholeNote columnist Colin Story, “saxophonist and bandleader takes the stage at , as the venerable venue settles into its new location at 296 Broadview. Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and educated at both Toronto’s Humber College and at Berklee in Boston, Ryan’s music investigates the links between jazz and Afro-Caribbean music. Joining Ryan on this date is another of Canada’s rising star jazz musicians, the vocalist , who brings an incredible sophistication and self-assuredness to her vocal performances, on her own original songs as well as her arrangements of standards.”
 
Check out Story’s Mainly Clubs, Mostly Jazz column in this month’s issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online!
 
Photo by Robin Sassi.
 

10/06/2023

In light of recent news about the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, we share our thoughts:

The reality of the situation has been very difficult to accept. Like many arts organizations, the Symphony was simply unable to cope with unprecedented rising costs and financial instability.

Founded in 1945, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony was established to play alongside the Grand Philharmonic Choir. The deep musical roots that run in our region created the perfect place for Music Director Raffi Armenian to turn the amateur orchestra into a professional organization.

The auditorium at Centre In The Square was built for the Symphony and is still considered one of Canada’s best music halls. We all hope you’ll help keep the flickering light of our musical arts alive.

Whenever and wherever possible, please attend and donate to other local musical talent organizations. With your help, our musicians can continue to nurture and grow their talents here in the Waterloo Region and across the country. Thank you for keeping the music alive in our halls and our hearts. We are immensely grateful.
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10/02/2023

Our Oct / Nov 2023 combined issue, featuring our 24th annual Directory of Music Presenters, is now online! Kiosk.thewholenote.com

With this issue, we start a new rhythm of publication -- bimonthly. October/November is a chock-a-block two months for live music, new recordings, and news (not all of it bad). Inside: Christina Petrowska Quilico, collaborative artist honoured; Kate Hennig as Gypsy Rose Lee; Small World Music Global Toronto 2023 reviewed; Musical weavings from TaPIR to Xenakis at Esprit Orchestra; Fidelio headlines an operatic fall; and an abundance of music reviews to tickle your fancy. This and more.

Happy reading 💙
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Final print issue of Volume 27 (259th, count 'em!). You'll see us in print again mid-September. Inside: A seat at one table at April's

09/30/2023

We take a moment to acknowledge the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ( ), recognizing and honouring Indigenous survivors of Residential Schools, as well to reflect on the legacy of this trauma, and the learning that comes from it, and how it continues to affect Indigenous families today.

For the next few days, we will be sharing a link, via linktr.ee/thewholenote and below, to a brief document pointing to some content and educational resources for those seeking to learn more. We encourage you to go beyond these sources and search more for yourself, too. 🧡

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m8z2kHleqviBxjtqJ4853hb24MpU-28VgiC_aUIzy98/mobilebasic

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09/29/2023

“Tafelmusik’s collaboration with Bruno Weil started in the early 1990s with an annual invitation to play at his music festival in Bavaria: Klang und Raum (Sound and Space),” writes Christina Mahler, interviewed by MJ Buell. “As the festival’s orchestra-in-residence for 19 years, we ended our summers in southern Germany with Bruno and his family. This relationship has greatly shaped our orchestra and helped extend our repertoire into the 19th century, because Bruno wanted to explore the classical and Romantic music periods with Tafelmusik on period instruments. Playing Romantic music on period instruments was a fairly new concept at the time, and we were able to learn and explore alongside each other.”
 
Read more about Tafelmusik’s 2023-24 Season Opener with Bruno Weil in the September issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online!
 

09/26/2023

Mahani Teave [Tay-AH-vay] – who makes her Koerner Hall debut at 3pm on October 1 as part of her first North American tour – is the sole professional pianist on one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth, Rapa Nui (Easter Island). There she heads the island’s only music school. Her very first recording - Rapa Nui Odyssey, a recital of Bach, Handel, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, as well as a traditional Rapa Nui song – reached No.1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart, and in 2021 she appeared in an NPR Tiny desk Concert.
 
Read more about Teave in Paul Ennis’ Classical and Beyond column in the September issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online.
 

09/19/2023

In July of this year, something very exciting happened: Hugh's Room Live board of directors confirmed the acquisition of a building they had had an eye on, at 296 Broadview Avenue. Located right between Gerrard St E and Dundas St E, close to Riverdale Park, the building had originally opened in 1894 as the Broadview Avenue Congregational Church.

On Sunday, September 24, the Lina Allemano Four () takes the 296 Broadview stage. Allemano has long been considered one of North America’s most talented and adventurous trumpet players; her long-running quartet’s most recent album, Vegetables, was nominated for a 2022 Juno Award, and the group was included in DownBeat magazine’s annual Critics’ Poll list for Rising Star Jazz Group in the same year.

Read Colin Story’s column about the re-emergence of Hugh’s Room in the September issue of the WholeNote, available now!

Photo of Lina Allemano Four by Claire Harvie.

08/28/2023

Our September issue 🍂🍁 is now online at kiosk.thewholenote.com, featuring the beloved on our cover.

The Rex Hotel Jazz and Blues Bar’s walls are a rich visual treasury - photos and memorabilia reflecting decades of music and community history. The room has this comfortable vibe, as if you’re always surrounded by generations of friends. You can walk in for breakfast, when there’s no music playing and the walls quietly sing anyway.

One day in 2009, artist David Crighton (.artist) walked in with a signed and framed reproduction - his painting of the quirky Queen Street West Toronto building. It was an unexpected gift from a deeply creative guy who just “gets” buildings the way some people just “get” music.

A graduate of OCA in the 70’s, Crighton's fascination with architecture and art led to a lifetime of capturing the diverse architecture of Toronto and Southern Ontario (and some other places too!), in pen-and-ink and bright acrylics. You can enjoy other examples of his work, and see some of your own other favourite places at davidcrighton.ca

Happy reading! (Link in bio 🔗)
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08/28/2023

Our September Issue is now online!🍁🍂 Print and individual online articles to follow.

Visit kiosk.thewholenote.com (or download the PDF version) and check out all of the musical delights that Southern Ontario has to offer this month!

In this issue:

Bridges & intersections: the once and future The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar gracing our cover; philanthropy and music (Azrieli Music Prizes - AMP); music and dance (Toronto Mendelssohn Choir & Citadel + Compagnie); Baroque & Romantic (Tafelmusik's Beethoven). also Hugh's Room crosses the Don; DISCoveries looks at the first of Fall's arrivals; this single-month September issue (Vol. 29, #1) bridges Summer & Fall, and puts us on course for regular bimonthly issues (Oct/Nov; Dec/Jan; Feb/Mar, etc) for the rest of Volume 29. Welcome back!
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A print and online magazine dedicated to classical, new, early and world music, jazz, opera and music

06/27/2023

The Toronto Summer Music Festival (TSM) festival returns from July 6 to 29 with the theme of Metamorphosis.

The metaphor beautifully symbolizes the festival's steady growth. This year, the TSM Academy brings together a staggering 23 Mentors and 28 talented emerging artists, the Fellows.

The opening concert on July 6 at Koerner Hall showcases Illia Ovcharenko - Pianist and Jon Kimura Parker, Concert Pianist in a two-piano extravaganza.

As well, the Academy Fellows will perform in free noon-hour concerts at Heliconian Hall (July 12-14 and July 26-28), as well as the TSM's 5pm Shuffle Hour free concerts (July 11-13 and 18-20), also held at Heliconian Hall.

The festival will conclude with the final mainstage concert, appropriately titled Metamorphosis, on July 28, as well as a Finale Concert on July 29.

Read all about it, as well as other offerings in our latest summer issue!

Toronto Summer Music (TSM) returns July 6 to 29 with Metamorphosis as its motif and, appropriately enough, a butterfly as its graphic signature. noun: metamorphosis;plural noun: metamorphoses1 The

06/23/2023

Hailing from Yellowknife, composer and soundscape artist Carmen Braden is spotlighted in our feature by Wende Bartley, and she's got quite a musical summer ahead of her!

Carmen's passion for soundscape composition and her deep connection to the world of acoustic ecology have shaped her unique musical style. Contributor Bartley reached out to see what she's up to this summer.

Having just finished the Longshadow Music Festival, her next performance will be at Ottawa Chamberfest on July 25. For its second performance, Carmen's new piece, "You Know What's Coming, You Just Don't Know When," is a fusion of nature's rhythmic patterns and the daily rhythms of parenthood. It explores the concept of breaking cycles and shifting dynamics.

And mark your calendars for the premiere of "The Crossover + The Exodus Suite" at the BigLake Arts Festival on August 21. Commissioned by the Ensemble Made in Canada, this collaboration with fiddler and composer Wesley Hardisty promises to be an interesting fusion of classical and fiddle music, arranged by Carmen herself.

As an active member of the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE), she has been a champion for sound activism and community building.

For more new music musings, check out "A Summer Musical Mix" by Bartley online on our website!

https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/beatcolumns-sp-2121861476/newmusic2/32846-a-summer-musical-mix
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06/22/2023

The TD Toronto Jazz Festival starts tomorrow!
 
“As has been the case since 2017,” writes WholeNote columnist Colin Story, “TJF is mainly taking place in and around Yorkville, and most of its shows are available to audience members for free on outdoor stages. Many of Canada’s best and brightest will be performing, including the guitarist , on June 24 at 2:30pm; the jazz/hip-hop band , playing with vocalist Phoenix Pagliacci on June 27th at 8:45pm; and , an interprovincial band helmed by BC bassist Jodi Proznick and Ontario-based pianist Amanda Tosoff, on June 28, at 6:45pm.”
 
Read more about the festival in Story’s column, available now online and in print.
 
Photo by Adam Seward.
 

06/16/2023

We had the honour of featuring the iconic Trichy Sankaran on our November 2022 issue cover in anticipation of the "Trichy Sankaran at 80" concerts at the end of November last year.

Now, Confluence Concerts has released a special four-part commemoration of the concerts, having just premiered on their YouTube channel last night.

Enjoy the concert, interviews with Trichy's students and colleagues, a feature conversation between Confluence Associate Suba Sankaran and her father, Trichy Sankaran and - as an added bonus - Trichy's complete Adi Tala Mrdangam solo from the November 23 concert.

The videos will be available to watch through to the end of June and beyond.

Check out our original feature story by Andrew Timar about Sankaran from our November 2022 issue on our website!

06/14/2023

A unique fusion of music, history, and the spirit of freedom, the long-anticipated Dragon's Tale makes its Toronto debut tomorrow!

Presented by Tapestry Opera, Soundstreams and Luminato Festival, is a mesmerising celebration of the origin of Dragon Boat racing, combining the talents of Mark Brownell (book) and Chan Ka Nin (music), the unique minds behind the award-winning opera .

The captivating rhythm of the Dragon Boat's drum weaves together the stories of exiled poet and politician Qu Yuan in ancient China and Chinese Canadian Xiao Lian in present-day Toronto, as she passionately yearns for liberty and independence.

The talented Alicia Ault, from jazz trio The Ault Sisters, will be taking on the starring role of Xiao Lian!

Dragon's Tale takes center stage at Harbourfront's outdoor Concert Stage from June 15 to 18.

For more exciting events this summer, check out Jennifer Parr's latest article:

https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/beatcolumns-sp-2121861476/choral-musicaltheatredance2/32844-some-enchanted-summer

📸 Alicia Ault
📸 Chan Ka Nin
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06/09/2023

On June 3, 2023, the clarinetist, composer, bandleader and educator Phil Nimmons celebrated his 100th birthday. Born in 1923 in Kamloops, Nimmons has been a major force on the Canadian jazz scene since the 1950s, when – following his formal music education, at both Juilliard in New York and at Toronto’s own Royal Conservatory of Music – he formed his much-venerated Nimmons ’n’ Nine group, with which he would go on to record nine albums, embark on innumerable tours, and perform regularly on CBC broadcasts.
 
Check out WholeNote columnist Colin Story’s column, which touches on the author’s undergraduate experiences with Nimmons, in the newest issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online
 
Pictured: Phil Nimmons and David Braid at The Music Gallery in 2010.
 

05/31/2023

Our Summer 2023 cover story features of The Walk ... a 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl created by Handspring Puppet Company - the same company that worked on Nick Stafford's adaptation of the critically-acclaimed .

In the words of writer Natalie Fasheh: "Amal” is an Arabic name, translated to English as “hope”. “Walk with Amal”, created by The Walk Productions, has made Little Amal into a symbol for human rights, and specifically refugee rights: since July 2021, Little Amal has walked 9,000 km in 13 countries looking for her mother, following the same tremendously dangerous route that millions of refugees of the global majority take by foot.

Toronto will be running from June 7 - 11 with Luminato Festival !

For the full story by Natalie Fasheh and details on The Walk schedule, check out pg. 10 of our Summer 2023 issue: kiosk.thewholenote.com
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05/30/2023

Our Summer 2023 issue is out, featuring our 19th annual summer music festivals guide! 🌞 🎶

It's a fast start to the summer and it just keeps going.

On our cover, Luminato Festival walks with , the 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year old Syrian refugee girl - a symbol for human rights - created by Handspring Puppet Company for The Walk Productions.

Other highlights: the Historical Organ Society comes to town; composer and soundscape specialist Carmen Braden talks to us about an upcoming summer of various musical works; Phil Nimmons turns 100; Toronto Summer Music (TSM) returns with 'Metamorphosis' as its motif; a world-class Festival of Pipes - dedicated to all things pipe organ; and live links to ads, listings and more...

Read on, online at kiosk.thewholenote.com!

Thank you to our readers and contributors! 💚
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Final print issue of Volume 27 (259th, count 'em!). You'll see us in print again mid-September. Inside: A seat at one table at April's

05/15/2023

Prepare to be mesmerized by an upcoming choral concert presented by Canadian Renaissance Music Summer Schools (CRMSS) in the heart of London.

Mark your calendars for Sunday, May 21 at 4pm as St. Paul's Cathedral hosts "A Double Bill: 150 years of English Polyphony."

Renowned Renaissance composers and will be honoured during this special performance as the timeless melodies of Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean music envelop your senses and transport you to a bygone era! 🎵

The concert will feature exceptionally talented students who have dedicated themselves to the week-long workshop, one of Canada's leading initiatives for the study and performance of Renaissance polyphonic vocal music!

Visit www.crmss.org/tickets, or by calling 226-236-2595. Purchasing a ticket 🎟 not only grants you this unique musical experience, but also supports St. Paul's Cathedral, as 50% of ticket sales will be shared with them.

And scroll right to see two additional performances that you may attend free of charge! More at www.crmss.org
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05/05/2023

One of Canada’s most unique vocal ensembles, musica intima, is a Vancouver-based twelve-singer-strong chamber group of diverse voices whose raison d’être is relationship building through deliberate programming and collaboration with Indigenous art in the spirit of reconciliation.
 
Such was certainly the case this past March at Eglinton-St. George’s United Church in Toronto, with composer Andrew Balfour and musica intima presenting NAGAMO, along with the Toronto Children’s Chorus (under the watchful eye of new artistic director Zimfira Polosz), the Toronto Youth Choir and the Earl Haig Secondary School Senior Choir. St. George’s acoustically resonant chapel space provided the perfect setting for the Toronto debut of a work bravely attempting to reconcile in sound the tradition and clear Christian religiosity of Elizabethan choral music (William Byrd, Henry Purcell, Orlando Gibbons) with Indigeneity.
 
Read Andrew Scott’s piece on NAGAMO in the newest issue of the WholeNote, available now in print and online!
 
Photo 1: music intima, by Wendy D.
Photo 2: Andrew Balfour, by Kristen Sawatzky