The story so far: From promising mainstage opera to theatrical minefield: Ian Cusson and Royce Vavrek’s operatic adaptation of Thomas King’s novel Indians on Vacation was caught in the cultural crossfire when King’s assertion of Cherokee lineage was confirmed to…

The 2026 TIFF website is wonderfully navigable and an engaging entertainment all of its own if, instead of browsing a daunting and still growing list of films (385 at last count), you filter your search.

Molly Johnson’s latest record, Talk to Me, was released mid-June at the El Mocambo on Spadina Avenue – a landmark Kensington music venue, if ever there was one. And the 11th annual Kensington Market Jazz Festival – a quintessentially Molly…

The need for connection is constant and ever present in life, and artists are particularly sensitive to that need, which is why I started “When Music Meets Mindfulness” – to have conversations with fellow artists that encourage us to learn…

Over two years ago, I interviewed violinist Lara St. John for the Dec 2023/Jan 2024 issue of The WholeNote. We spoke not only about her upcoming performance at the Royal Conservatory’s 21C festival, but also about her experiences of being…

The Royal Conservatory’s early June unveiling, in Koerner Hall, of its upcoming concert season has become something of an event over the 17 years since Mervon Mehta agreed to take on curatorial responsibility, in 2008, for the RCM’s programming of…

"The basic idea of a nanosonata is a form in which different elements come together as they do in a sonata, but do not develop. Instead of developing, they are left hanging, something like the characters that frequently appear in…

When decorated author Thomas King revealed last November that he, in fact, could not verify his claim to his Cherokee ancestry, the reaction was swift and negative. Notably, scheduled operatic stagings of his novel Indians on Vacation in Edmonton (Edmonton…