Beat Columns (Live Music)

Over the years, a tried-and-true pattern has emerged (except in special anniversary years, which this one is not) for the Toronto Bach Festival under the aegis of founding artistic director oboist John Abberger. The festival takes place as close as possible to the last weekend in May without running head-to-head with the Victoria Day long weekend. This year, it runs from May 22 to May 24.

The musical Piaf/Dietrich is about to open in a new production at the Grand Theatre in London (Ontario). It was a hit in Europe in 2013 when it was first produced (performed in German). The original book by Daniel Große Boymann and Thomas Kahry was subsequently adapted in 2018 for Montreal’s Segal Centre by decorated Canadian playwright Erin Shields, whose new play You, Always is currently wowing audiences at Canadian Stage.

The new National Centre for New Musicals (NCNM) at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton is presenting its inaugural Summit this January 25 to 27. The event promises three days filled with showcases of exciting new musicals in development, panel discussions, “provocations with leading voices in the sector,” and opportunities to meet and mingle with creators, directors, music directors, dramaturgs, producers, and fellow lovers of this art form.

As I write this column, we are about to bid farewell to two extraordinary musicals that started their runs in September and were extended until November 2 – the Crow’s Theatre/Musical Stage Company/Soulpepper production of Dave Malloy’s Octet at Crow’s, and Garner Theatre Productions’ Bright Star presented by Mirvish Productions at the CAA Theatre. Wildly different shows, they have one thing in common: they are showcases for some of the top musical theatre talent in the country.

As the concert season shifts toward winter, Toronto’s new music scene is gathering momentum with a rich constellation of performances from four of the city’s core presenters. Among the many offerings, one work stands out for the way it merges spiritual form with ecological urgency: Mass for the Endangered by composer Sarah Kirkland Snider. The piece will be performed on November 22 in a Soundstreams concert that also features works by Andrew Balfour, R. Murray Schafer, Olivier Messiaen, Arvo Pärt, and Chris Hutchings. I recently spoke with Snider by phone about the piece and her current projects.

After the phenomenal success of Dave Malloy’s musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 this summer, Crow’s Theatre is joining forces again with the Musical Stage Company, and this time also with Soulpepper, to produce another Malloy musical: Octet, this September.

Now that the fall season has arrived, it’s a good time to dig into what’s new on the horizon, especially in venues that may be less familiar but offer unique possibilities for creative music-making. One such place in Toronto’s west end is the Annette Studios, which will host The Art of Improv on September 28, a series launched in 2023 by musicians Bill Gilliam and Eugene Martynec.

The time: Jun 1 at 2:30pm: VIVA Singers Toronto. Metamorphosis. Featuring all seven VIVA Singers Toronto choirs, plus a special alumni choir, and guest artists Amiel Ang, percussion, and Tatsuki Shimoda, recorder. 

The place: Trinity St. Paul’s United Church. Jeanne Lamon Hall.

The Aperture Room is the crown jewel of a beautifully preserved building at 340 Yonge St., a couple of blocks north of Yonge and Dundas, designed and built in 1922 for the Thornton-Smith Company – an antique furniture and interior design firm.

Opera-goers heading out of the current COC production of Wozzeck wondering what makes the show’s director/designer William Kentridge tick should make their way to the online Kentridge Studio – a website that is yet another layer to his art. If you do, check out the 1988 essay by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev in the Reading Room titled William Kentridge’s Ubu Projects.