Directories

Whether covering jazz standards, bringing an intimate tone to 70s rock or giving a funk spin to country classics, Toronto-based jazz vocalist and songwriter Shannon Butcher can be found around town dishing up dynamic interpretations of the music she loves.

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

Right now (Wednesday, May 22) I’m listening to studio takes recorded earlier this month for my new EP.

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

Two things come to mind. One: “Joni: A Portrait in Song – A Birthday Happening” at Massey Hall. I’ve been a fan of her artistry since I first discovered her music. Also, I’m very excited to see Glen Hansard and Chaka Khan interpret her songs. Two: It’s felt like a long winter this year so I’m looking forward to hearing some live music in the great Toronto outdoors. I hope to make it out to several of the free concerts both during the jazz festival and throughout the summer in Nathan Phillips Square.

3. How about as a music maker/player?

I’ll be performing out at the Royal Botanical Gardens for the first time on June 19. What a gorgeous setting for a gig! Also, in August I’ll be returning to National Music Camp as their voice faculty. I'll spend a full week making music with talented and dedicated singers. It’s always an inspiring experience.

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 planning to release some new recordings in the fall, so that means a lot of work in the next couple of months. It’s an exciting time! I’m also spending time learning new songs on the ukulele and guitar so I can bring them in to my live sets in the near future. The great thing about the ukulele’s size is that you can easily bring it along on your Centre Island picnic and practise in the sun!

WEBSITE

www.shannonbutcher.com

Jazz trumpeter, improviser and composer Lina Allemano has an active career recording and touring internationally. Her trumpet playing and artistic vision have gained her international recognition as being “adventurous, expressive, compelling, forward-thinking, inventive and sophisticated.” 

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

Trumpet-wise, I'm currently (Wednesday, May 22) working on honing my circular breathing, which is a technique I've recently learned, and I'm also working on the solo trumpet part from the beginning of Henry Cowell's stunning piece Synchrony, which I've been transcribing just for fun.

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

I'm really looking forward to hearing German trumpeter/improviser Axel Dörner play in various different settings in June – I'm heading to Berlin to study with him, listen to him play and also to play a couple of gigs myself.

3. How about as a music maker/player?

I'm really looking forward to playing with my new band Titanium Riot on July 30 at the Tranzac in Toronto. We'll be doing a live recording that night – we're working on making our first album. "Four long-time musical collaborators join forces to create compelling improvisations on Lina's quirky compositions. The music is eccentric, honest and even a little cheeky." The band is Lina Allemano on trumpet, Ryan Driver on analog synth, Rob Clutton on fender bass and Nick Fraser on drums.

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

This summer I'll be writing new music for my long-time band Lina Allemano Four in preparation for our upcoming tours to the US and Europe. The band has been together for almost eight years now and has been constantly evolving over time…It's always a challenge to write for these guys and see how far I can push myself and the band. It's nice to have the motivation of a couple important tours looming in the not-so-distant future to get the creative juices flowing. (Lina Allemano Four is Lina Allemano on trumpet, Brodie West on alto saxophone, Andrew Downing on double bass and Nick Fraser on drums.)

WEBSITE

linaallemano.com

VIDEO

FACEBOOK

facebook.com/pages/Lina-Allemano-Four/172295656114083?ref=mf

John Abberger, one of North America’s leading performers on historical oboes, is principal oboist with Tafelmusik and the American Bach Soloists. John serves on the faculty at the University of Toronto and has taught at the City College of New York.

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

I am at present in London, England (Friday, May 24), and have just played a short recital at the Handel House Museum this afternoon. Those who have seen Tafelmusik’s “House of Dreams” program will be familiar with the fact that the townhouse where Handel lived in the London neighborhood of Mayfair is now a museum, and the museum regularly presents concerts of chamber music in one of the larger rooms that was used as a rehearsal room by Handel. I was joined by my friend and colleague, the harpsichordist Dongsok Shin from New York, and we played a short program of Hotteterre, Handel, Telemann and C.P.E. Bach. Before arriving in London, my group, Four Centuries of Bach, presented an all-Bach concert at the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg, one of the premier early music festivals in Europe.

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

As an audience member, I am looking forward to hearing the concerts that will be performed by students and faculty as part of the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute. There will be student performances on June 13 and 14and a Grand Finale with students and faculty performing together on June 16.

3. How about as a music maker/player?

As a performer, I am looking forward to quite a few performances that will take place between now and the end of the summer. The final concert of Tafelmusik’s 2012/13 season will be a concert with an expanded orchestra that will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4, conducted by Bruno Weil, together with a performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in a special chamber music version with Janina Fialkowska as soloist. I will also be participating in faculty concerts at the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and performances of Handel’s L’Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato with the Mark Morris Dance Company at the Luminato Festival June 21 to 23. I will be performing at the Music and Beyond Festival in Ottawa in early July and on August 17 and 18, 2013, Tafelmusik will return to Stratford Summer Music to perform two all-Bach programs, which include the “Wedding” and “Peasant” cantatas.

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

After all of the activities listed above I’m looking forward to relaxing a bit, but I will also be thinking ahead about preparations for the upcoming season with Tafelmusik, which will include, in addition to many interesting concerts on the regular subscription series, a tour of Japan in November, a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York in March, a return trip to Versailles with Opera Atelier in May and an exciting trip to perform Bach at the Leipzig Bachfest in June.

Some video footage from The Galileo Project where John is featured right off the top, to the right of violinist Jeanne Lamon:

Canada’s most visible bassoonist, Nadina Mackie Jackson has drawn attention and accolades both for her vivid style and extraordinarily musical performances. A popular teacher, Nadina works with the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory.

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

Well, it is after midnight (Thursday, May 23), yet in my fantasies, I really should be making a new reed or practising one of the concerti that I have to play next season...or the wild, wonderful music for the upcoming Toronto Summer Music Festival!

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

Hearing the hot new band Alabama Shakes live at Echo Beach on June 20! The lead singer Brittany Howard is raw and gorgeous and the band is tight and beautiful...they are electric in live performance. (alabamashakes.com/audio/)

3. How about as a music maker/player?

I have a lot to be excited about...playing a Vivaldi concerto in a California winery in June for the International Double Reed conference and playing chamber music at the TSMF with some of my absolute favourite wind players and André Laplante. Oh, and a cameo appearance with the folk star Valdy on September 7 at the Rose Theatre in Brampton!

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

The summer is the best time to imagine that I have enough time to get ready for everything! I am most excited about having eight concerti to perform next season, including three premieres…a bassoonist’s dream! Other fun projects include reviving my nascent recorder-playing skills in the double concerto (Carnets de Voyages) by Alain Trudel for Guy Few and I that we will play with Orchestra London in the fall. Lots of teaching and touring the Berio Sequenza XII to a number of US and Quebec universities in the fall. Next season will also bring me some inspiring new collaborations, including a series of shows with Valdy (“Folk to Baroque”) and a show for two percussionists and bassoon with Bev Johnston and Mark Duggan. And of course many concerts and tours with my cherished trumpeter and pianist Guy Few...this summer is giving me some valuable preparation time for a lot of traveling and performing next season.