On The Road

Freshly relocated to Toronto, Adam has jumped into the scene performing with the Niagara Symphony, Opera in Concert and the Toronto Operetta Theatre. Upcoming debuts for this young tenor include Pedrilloin Opera Atelier's “Abduction from the Seraglio” and Alfredin Edmonton Opera's “Die Fledermaus.”

1. What are we interrupting (i.e. what music-related activity are we taking you away from to write this)?

I'm not really being taken away ’cause it never really stops, there's always music playing in my house! As I write this (Friday, May 24), my computer is playing a mix of new albums from Daft Punk, The National and Tesseract. Plus the classical music I'm working on for the fall!

2. What, if anything, are you most looking forward to as an audience member between now and September 7?

As an audience member I'm really looking forward to some rock concerts and festivals this summer. The Grove Music Fest is bringing dance acts Hot Chip and Girl Talk which will bring myself and many others many dance-happy smiles during the time off from the sublime music of Mozart and Britten.

3. How about as a music maker/player?

I have no booked contracts this summer so I'm learning to play the guitar and hanging on a patio somewhere with friends making music.

4. What are you already preparing for musically beyond the summer? And (how) do your summer plans tie in with these longer term plans?

I'm currently working on Pedrillo for Opera Atelier's Abduction from the Seraglio and Britten's Serenade for Tenor and Horn with Ottawa's Thirteen Strings Ensemble. Part of being an opera singer is that you're always growing and learning as a performer and artist. I'm always working on something, my voice, my body or my brain. It takes complete dedication to do this for a living and I relish every minute of it!

Links:

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Adam singing Rake's progress:

Canadian violinist Jonathan Crow is currently concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Jonathan has performed at chamber music festivals across the globe, and has performed as a soloist with most major Canadian orchestras.

1. What are we interrupting (i.e. what music-related activity are we taking you away from to write this)?

Practising (Friday, May 24) for upcoming TSO concerts (West Side Story with film next week and Scheherezade later in June), as well as scheduling for New Orford String Quartet summer concerts and teaching at the Orford Arts Centre.

2. What, if anything, are you most looking forward to as an audience member between now and September 7?

I'm excited to hear the “Mentors and Fellows” performances at the Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival in August – each student at the program performs in a group with a professional mentor. It's amazing the level that the ensembles can achieve with just a week of intense rehearsal time, and the energy on stage is going to be incredible!

3. How about as a music maker/player?

I can't wait to play the Franck sonata with Ian Brown on July 31at Walter Hall (torontosummermusic.com) – a spectacular piece with an amazing pianist! I'm also looking forward to touring with the New Orford String Quartet across Quebec and Vermont with a special trip to Music Niagara! (neworford.com, facebook.com/neworford)

4. What are you already preparing for musically beyond the summer? And (how) do your summer plans tie in with these longer term plans?

I'll be going on tour with the New Orford String Quartet in October – 16 concerts in 17 days across Western Canada! We'll be previewing some of our tour rep this summer – we'll also be touring repertoire we recorded last fall for CBC. (music.cbc.ca/#/concerts/New-Orford-String-Quartet-Beethoven-2012-10-23)

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David Fallis has been a member of the Toronto Consort since 1979 and its artistic director since 1990. He has led the ensemble in many critically-acclaimed programs, has directed the group in its many recordings and tours and has conceived and scripted many of their most popular programs. Fallis is also one of Canada’s leading interpreters of operatic and choral/orchestral repertoire, especially from the Baroque and Classical periods. He is music director for Opera Atelier, and currently he teaches in the Graduate Department of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto.

1. What are we interrupting (i.e. what music-related activity are we taking you away from to write this)?

As I write this (Friday, May 24),, I am taking a few moments off from getting ready for this weekend's performances by the Toronto Consort of “A Woman's Life,” an exploration of women's music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque with images, music from the Consort, and readings by two wonderful female actors, all designed and scripted by Alison Mackay. It so happens that these will be the last concerts in the sanctuary at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre before the renovations start. We're looking forward to the new look and sound next fall!

2. What, if anything, are you most looking forward to as an audience member between now and September 7?

Terry McKenna, the Consort's lute/guitar player, is on stage in Stratford's Romeo and Juliet this summer, so I'm hoping to catch him in that. And maybe I'll get to combine it with the special concert honouring Murray Schafer's 80th birthday that Stratford Summer Music is planning.

3. How about as a music maker/player?

The regular season is always a bit crazy-busy so I like to take some real downtime in the summer, but the Consort will be performing in Niagara-on-the-Lake: fun to have an excuse to go that direction and play some rollicking Renaissance ballads as part of our “Mariners and Milkmaids” program.

4. What are you already preparing for musically beyond the summer? And (how) do your summer plans tie in with these longer term plans?

I’ll be preparing for our 2013/14 season, which features a great lineup of programs. We start with an exploration of Swedish “folk baroque” in October, followed by some rarely heard Jewish music from Renaissance Italy performed by our special guests Ensemble Lucidarium in November; in December we perform our wonderful Spanish and Latin American Christmas concerts, “Navidad,” which we have also recently recorded. In February we are doing a European Carnival-themed program and we wrap up with Giasone, an opera in concert by Francesco Cavalli in April. And we're hoping to produce the fabulous medieval music theatre piece The Play of Daniel in the fall of 2014, so I'll let the creative juices start flowing on that too.

Matthias Maute is the artistic director of Ensemble Caprice (Montreal), tours as a conductor, recorder and flute player and is in demand as a composer and teacher. He loves playing soccer with his son.

 1. What are we interrupting (i.e. what music-related activity are we taking you away from to write this)?

Right now (Friday, May 24) I’m preparing the final score for the opera Motezuma that Ensemble Caprice is premiering on June 21 in Montreal and that I co-wrote with…Antonio Vivaldi (most of his music for this opera is lost)!

 2. What, if anything, are you most looking forward to as an audience member between now and September 7?

“Baroque Goes Wild,” a multimedia event at the Montreal Baroque Festival on June 22 that will create a meeting place for early music and the digital world!

 3. How about as a music maker/player?

The opera project Motezuma with Ensemble Caprice will be the highlight. It has evolved into a new genre of baroque opera where the recitatives are replaced by a narration that is accompanied by freshly composed contemporary music. Can’t wait!

 4. What are you already preparing for musically beyond the summer? And (how) do your summer plans tie in with these longer term plans?

With Ensemble Caprice we will start the first ever cycle of Beethoven symphonies on period instruments in Montreal this fall. So, I will delve into a well-known world but look at it from a different angle. Since I was young I’ve always wanted to discover what can be found on the hidden side of the moon…