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“A self-defining happiness”

Xin Wang’s TO.U Collective – and its resonances with her personal practice

For soprano Xin Wang, singing contemporary music has always been about personal growth. But for many performers, making a career out of music can mean playing what they are told to play, rather than directing that personal growth themselves. So when Wang decided to start a contemporary music series in Toronto this year, she knew it had to be something different.

TO.U Collective is Wang’s “something different” project – a seven-concert season of solo recitals at St. Andrew’s Church, featuring professionals from the local music community. The focus of TO.U – its name both a Chinese character meaning “through” and a play on “Toronto/You” – is on highlighting contemporary music’s personal relevance, both for audiences and for the artists who perform it.

“I wasn’t actively seeking to create a series,” Wang says. “I’ve been singing at St. Andrew’s for years, and I was looking for a space to hold a local dress rehearsal for a concert I was performing in Montreal. My church naturally came up. So I asked, we did it there, and it was a great turnout – and the church was overjoyed to see people coming in. They said, ‘Hey, it seems like there is an audience for contemporary music, and we would like to expand our musical language to the contemporary, to draw in more people.’ So I said ok – I’ll come back with a proposal.”

The premise is simple: seven professional musicians, each with a personal connection to new music, will perform seven recitals of contemporary repertoire that matters personally to them. The recitalists curate their own concert programs, and are asked to emphasize music that has shaped their own lives and work.

“I want to switch things a bit,” Wang explains. “I don’t want musicians to wait by the phone anymore. I’m so tired of that. I think that the reason why the musicians agreed to this, and why they said yes to a fee that perhaps is humble, is because they seek to evolve themselves, and they don’t have a stage to present and articulate this evolving process. But they should.”

Wang’s attempt to provide the stage for that evolving process is something that resonates with her own practice. “I’m very weary of this idea that my value needs to be decided by the gigs that I’m asked to do. And of course those gigs died away when I had children. But I firmly believe that my value as a musician did not diminish just because I stayed home,” she says. “So for me, it was my own searching: how do I find the peace to stay home, completely surrounded by kids, without feeling that this doom has landed on me and that the world has disconnected? And I think it took panic times, and then finally it set in that self-perpetuated, self-motivated process is what centres art. And if I am centred, I’m then happy and fulfilled – and then as an artist I have something to say.“

Wang opens the TO.U season next Wednesday, October 19, with a free noon-hour recital of works by Schubert, Webern, Berio, Aperghis and Gubaidulina. Before her performance, she intends to speak briefly about how this music has impacted her life, not only as a recitalist but also as an artist and a mother – presenting her work as the evidence of her own, complete personhood. And she hopes that the other recitalists – clarinetist Max Christie, cellist David Hetherington, pianists Stephanie Chua and Stephen Clarke, and guitarists Graham Banfield and Rob Macdonald – will do the same.

“Let’s support a self-defining happiness,” says Wang. “I want to create a space where I can call a person up and say, ‘I know you’ve been working for a long time. Do you have something you want to say? Here’s a fee. Say it.’”

Xin Wang opens her TO.U Collective series with a free noon-hour concert on Wednesday, October 19 at St. Andrew’s Church, followed by a ticketed, full-length evening recital by clarinetist Max Christie on Saturday, October 22 at 8pm. For details on the series and a full lineup, visit www.toucollective.com.

The WholeNote is now on Patreon

“Over the last 21 years, we’ve published over 50,000 free listings. We’ve printed half a million copies of our magazine. In that time, we’ve always said that you don’t have to support us, that you should just support the presenters who make the music – and that they’ll support us. But times have changed...”

Learn how you can help support The WholeNote – publisher David Perlman explains.

READ MORE

Opera, offstage:

Against the Grain’s operatic pub nights

It's already been a big year for Against the Grain Theatre. Now in its seventh season, the indie opera company has announced two big productions this year, plus a residency at the Canadian Opera Company as part of the COC’s pilot company-in-residence program. And tomorrow, they launch Opera Pub – a monthly music night that brings opera into an alternative space.

Starting Thursday, October 13 at the Amsterdam Bicycle Club and continuing the first Thursday of every month, Opera Pub presents live performances of operatic repertoire by established and emerging singers, in an atmosphere less formal and more personal than the concert hall. The concept isn’t new – the series follows in the footsteps of companies like the Bicycle Opera Project, Tafelmusik’s BAROQUE + BEER initiative, and beer specialist Mirella Amato’s “Hopera” series – but it does point to an encouraging trend of embracing the versatility of live classical music, and the value it can have when it’s up-close, scaled-down, and out of the opera house.

“It is a fact that there is less of a cultural awareness of what opera and classical music in general is,” said AtG music director Christopher Mokrzewski in a conversation with Schmopera last month. “When we ‘take it to the streets,’ as it were, people are able to have a no-bullshit, no-boundaries encounter with the art form in a manner which is straightforward and visceral.”

It’s a format that seems to work, and that is worth exploring. The AtG pub night series will have no cover, $3.50 bottles of beer, and an ‘open house’ policy – allowing opera audiences and walk-ins to treat the performance as a no-strings-attached portion of a Thursday night out.

Tomorrow’s Opera Pub set starts at 9pm, and runs until around 11pm -- for details, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/627490814075092/. For more info on the rest of Against the Grain’s 2016/17 season, head to www.againstthegraintheatre.com.

Just In: Listings

New listings for the rest of October, added online since the publication of the October issue:

Thursday October 13

9:00: Against the Grain Theatre. Opera Pub: October Edition. Solo and small-ensemble opera performances in an informal pub atmosphere. The Amsterdam Bicycle Club, 54 The Esplanade. Free.

Friday October 14

7:00: Feldsperling Duo. Toward the Heart of Sound. Lemay; Scelsi; Yun; Clarke; Mendez. Liesel Deppe, flutes; Nicole Strum, saxophones. Array Space, 155 Walnut Ave. 519-272-9633. $15.

9:00: BAL(folk). BAL(folk)Masqué with La Forcelle. Polish Combatants' Hall, 206 Beverly St. 416-937-6198. $15; 2 for $25. Doors/dance lesson at 8pm.

Saturday October 15

2:30: Beach United Church. Music for the Soul. Lora Bidner, vocalist/songwriter/instrumentalist; The Visit: Heather Sita Black, vocals; Raphael Weinroth-Browne, cello. 140 Wineva Ave. Freewill offering.

7:00: Canadian Bandurist Capella. Bandura in Waterloo! Ukrainian folk and contemporary music. Canadian Bandurist Capella; Dibrova Women's Choir; Levada Women's Choir; and others. Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, 75 University Ave., Waterloo. 416-845-2691. $25(adv)/$30(door).

What We’re Listening To

Hollow Trees

Hutchinson Andrew Trio; Lily String Quartet

“Most compelling of all is the interplay between the trio and the string quartet, a magical encounter that treats the listener to the luminosity, spaciousness and enthusiasm of a striking chamber performance. It’s a lovely release that makes one eager for more.”

-Raul da Gama, The WholeNote

LISTEN

THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING

The next issue of HalfTones will be out on Wednesday, November 16. The next print issue of our 2016/17 season, covering November 1-December 7, will be on the stands at the end of October.

Please contact halftones@thewholenote.com with any HalfTones inquiries.

Sara Constant is a Toronto-based flutist and musicologist, and is digital media editor at The WholeNote. She can be contacted at editorial@thewholenote.com.

“The Density of our time” - Claire Chase’s Density 2036

In 1936, flutist Georges Barrère premiered Density 21.5, a piece composed by Edgard Varèse for the first performance of a new flute made of platinum (a metal with the density of about 21.5 g/cm³). Now, 80 years after that premiere, New York-based flutist Claire Chase is commissioning a new body of flute works—and is coming to Toronto to present a teaser trailer of what solo flute music might sound like in the year 2036.

Started by Chase in 2014, Density 2036 is a 22-year-long project aimed at creating new solo works for flute, culminating in a 24-hour marathon concert in 2036 to commemorate the centennial of Density 21.5. In that sense, Density 2036 is simply a very long concert-in-the-making. However, it’s also more than that. Each year, Chase performs a solo recital of the pieces commissioned that year—amounting to huge contributions to the library of contemporary flute music, with year-to-year documentation of fresh new repertoire. And with works by composers like Dai Fujikura, Pauline Oliveros and Matthias Pintscher on her programs, Chase’s project promises to be of lasting value, for contemporary music audiences and flute players alike.

Next month on October 4, Chase will come to Toronto to present Density 2036’s 2016 instalment. Part of Soundstreams’ 2016/17 ‘Ear Candy’ series, the show will act as a sort of ‘double-preview’—both for the Soundstreams season opener on October 12, which features Chase alongside four other flutists (Robert Aitken, Leslie Newman, Patrick Gallois and Marina Piccinini) in a program of contemporary flute works, as well as for Chase’s final concert in 2036, and the 20 years’ worth of new music to come between now and then.

Writing about the original 1936 composition that inspired her project, Chase expresses her intent to reflect on how music today might push the boundaries of what listeners in Varèse’s time thought the flute could do. “Varèse unleashed this spirit for the flute, for the one all alone, in these staggering four minutes of music,” she says. “Did he go as far as one could go, metaphorically and otherwise? Of what will the Density of our time be made? Of osmium? Of signal processing? Of wood? Of carbon? Of flesh? Of air?”

Thanks to Chase, we may have the opportunity to find out.

Soundstreams presents Claire Chase, in the 2016 instalment of her Density 2036 project, on October 4 at 8pm, at Buddies in Bad Times Cabaret. For details on the show, visit their website, at https://www.soundstreams.ca/performances/ear-candy/density-2036-claire-chase/.

Win a season’s subscription for 2 to the Talisker Players

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Local Craft: “Hopera”

Mirella Amato knows her beer. A Toronto-based beer specialist, author and educator, Amato is a Certified Cicerone (beer sommelier)—the first woman in Canada to earn the title. She’s the founder of Beerology, a beer education company that provides beer pairings, tastings and workshops across the country. And for the past few years, she’s curated a classical music series.

“Hopera” is Amato’s musical take on the concept of the beer pairing. A former professional opera singer who studied voice performance at McGill, Amato presents performances of arias, duos and trios by local opera singers, pairing each with a sample of a local craft beer. The next Hopera concert, presented as part of Toronto Beer Week, is September 21 and 22 and features singing by Jean-François Daignault (countertenor), Melanie Esseltine (soprano), Lyndsay Promane (mezzo) and Geoffrey Sirett (baritone), alongside beers by Amsterdam Brewery, Black Oak Brewing Co., Great Lakes Brewery, Junction Craft Brewing, Side Launch Brewing Co. and Steam Whistle Brewery.

Amato believes that both beer and opera are commonly misunderstood. “People who still think beer is just an easy-drinking vehicle to loutishness need to expand their horizons—and if anything, opera could stand to be taken down a notch or two,” she says. “Having made a career switch from opera singer to beer educator, it never ceases to amaze me how many parallels can be drawn between these two seemingly incongruous fields. Like beer, opera has developed a reputation that isn’t doing it any favours.”

Amato envisions Hopera as a way of confronting both beer and opera’s bad reputations, by bringing opera into the pub and beers into a framework that highlights their flavours and subtleties. “Insights are given on the music, beer sample and how the pairing was chosen,” she says.”[It] invites a rethinking of both the excerpt and the beverage.”

As someone with plenty of professional experience in both fields, it’s safe to label Amato a resident beer-and-opera-pairing expert—and in that light, safe to say that the rethinking of opera and beer is in very capable hands.

Hopera - Quartus, the next edition of Amato’s series, is September 21 and 22 at the Monarch Tavern. For details on the show or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/hopera-quartus--tickets-26860048127. 

What We’re Listening To

Aldo Clementi: Momento

Quatuor Bozzini

“In Otto frammenti (1978-97), the string quartet members play without vibrato, suggesting the sound of viols. I find the effect mystical”

-Roger Knox, The WholeNote

LISTEN 

Just In: Listings

September concert listings added online since the publication of our September magazine include:

Thursday September 15

8:00. Lula Lounge. Mexican Fiesta. Mexican Independence Day celebration concert. Alex Dempster, vocals; Rosy Cervantes, vocals; México Amigo, Mariachi. Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307. $15. Doors open at 7:00.

Friday September 16

8:00. Clay & Paper Theatre. Eggplant Stew. Fundraising concert for members of Toronto's polyphonic singing community to attend the International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony in Georgia. Performing ensembles include: Doula; Mark and Marichka Marczyk (of Lemon Bucket Orkestra); Zari; Moskitto Bar; Meden Glass. Clay & Paper Theatre (studio), 35 Strachan Ave. 647-836-4852. Suggested donation $20.

Thursday September 29

7:30. The Cadillac Lounge. Kenny Brown’s Las Call. A celebration of the life and career of vocalist/guitarist Kenny Brown as he enters his retirement. Donnie “Mr. Downchild” Walsh; Danny Marks; The Swingin Blackjacks; Kevin McQuade; The Burgess Brothers; and others. Cadillac Lounge, 1296 Queen St. W. 416-536-7717. $20. Proceeds to support Kenny Brown’s retirement fund.

Friday September 30

8:00. Balkanto. Balkan Duende. Balkan and Eastern European music as part of the Toronto Balkan Festival. Anton Apostolov, guitar/vocals; Scott Metcalfe, piano; Jacek Karlowski, guitar; Justin Gray, acoustic and electric bass; Nikola Gaidarov, kaval and wooden flute; and others. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W. 647-740-3358. $35-$45.

Tuesday October 4

8:00. Jazz Bistro. CD Release Concert: Melodies Pure and True. Jim Gelcer, drums/vocals; Reg Schwager, guitar; Brendan Davis, bass; and others. Jazz Bistro, 251 Victoria St. 416-363-5299. $15.

THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING

The next issue of HalfTones will be out on Wednesday, October 12. The next print issue of our 2016/17 season, covering October 1-November 7, will be on the stands at the end of September.

Please contact halftones@thewholenote.com with any HalfTones inquiries.

Sara Constant is social media editor at The WholeNote and studies musicology at the University of Amsterdam. 

Volume 3 Number 10. August 10, 2016

BASSOON OUT LOUD

Launching Monday August 15, Nadina Mackie Jackson’s new concert series puts bassoon in the spotlight

“I believe in creating opportunities for myself and for other people,” says bassoonist Nadina Mackie Jackson, in conversation at The WholeNote office. With a new 12-concert series in Toronto slotted for this season—plus a potential bassoon-themed summer festival in the making—it seems like she’s doing just that.

Bassoon Out Loud is Jackson’s latest project: a season of more-or-less-monthly chamber concerts, all at Yorkville’s Heliconian Hall. Jackson will perform at each concert, sticking to a regimen of at least one bassoon concerto per show. But apart from this, she has dispensed with the typical ‘soloist + accompaniment’ recital formula, instead opting for monthly collaborations with local guest instrumentalists, singers, writers and storytellers, each of whom will also bring their own latest projects—including solo repertoire of their own—to the concert hall.

The launch for the series is this Monday, August 15. Titled “The Company You Keep,” it features Jackson alongside local writer and storyteller Leslie Magowan, who will read excerpts from her book What I Learned in School. Jackson will also be joined onstage by a small ‘string section’—Ema Nikolovska on violin, Rory MacLeod on viola, and Bryan Lu on cello—for the chamber-music portion of the show.

For Jackson, a major motivation for the series is to revitalize the bassoon as an instrument—and build long-lasting musical relationships around the discovery of what the bassoon can do. “People always say that there is nothing for bassoon,” Jackson says. “Not only is there an enormous amount, there is more written every day. But if people don’t hear it, they think there’s nothing—and that’s not true.”

While Jackson herself has a busy performing and teaching schedule, she couldn’t help feeling that the bassoon deserved more time in the limelight. And in an industry where large-scale classical concerts can require years of planning and a lot of red tape, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

“I know so many fascinating people,” says Jackson. “I know so much great music. And I’m tired of waiting.”

Bassoon Out Loud opens on Monday, August 15, 7pm at Heliconian Hall. For details on the show, plus descriptions of other concerts in this series, visit www.nadinamackiejackson.com.

TOP 30, T.O.

Where to find CBC’s Top 30 Under 30 in the city this season

Last week, CBC Music released its 2016 “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30”—the latest edition of its annual shortlist of promising local musicians. As always, the list boasts an impressive range, both in age (from 29-year old working professionals to 10-year-old pianist Janaya Lo) and geographically, with featured performers from across the country. And as one might expect, a number of those performers have upcoming concert dates in Toronto this season—concert dates that, considering the CBC’s reliable track record for predicting up-and-coming Canadian talent, are worth taking note of.

If you’re looking to hear the CBC’s “30-under-30” musicians, the Canadian Opera Company seems a likely place to start. Four of CBC’s under-30s this year have upcoming appearances at the Four Seasons Centre this season. 23-year-old mezzo-soprano Lauren Eberwein appears with the COC this winter, to sing Wellgunde in its February 2017 production of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, and 21-year-old Toronto native Emily d’Angelo—a recent graduate of U of T’s voice program—will sing the role of Zweite Dame in the COC’s January/February 2017 production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. In addition to her role with the COC, d’Angelo will also sing at Koerner Hall on November 11, in concert with four other young award-winning artists in a Royal Conservatory show titled “Generation Next.” Also performing at the COC this season are 25-year-old soprano Chelsea Rus, who will be featured in a free noontime recital on December 1, and 28-year-old horn player Mikhail Babiak, who can be found throughout the season in the orchestra pit.

In the contemporary music world, CBC-favoured groups to watch include Continuum Contemporary Music (possibly including 26-year-old bassoonist Darren Hicks), as well as Toy Piano Composers and Caution Tape Sound Collective, both of which are home to local composer Bekah Simms. Other dates to mark down are November 13—where pianist Matt Poon will perform a recital at U of T’s Hart House as winner of the 2016 Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition for Canadian contemporary music—and January 31, 2017, where 23-year-old accordionist Michael Bridge will play a program of new works with percussionist Michael Murphy, as part of U of T’s annual new music festival. Under-30s lists aside, local school venues like U of T (as well as York University, the Royal Conservatory, and numerous other institutions throughout southern Ontario) have busy year-round concert schedules, and are surefire places to hear young Canadian talent.

You can find the complete list of the CBC’s “Top 30 under 30,” with bios of all of the featured musicians, here on their website. Kudos to all those featured—and here’s to a promising season ahead!

JUST IN: CORRECTED AND NEW LISTINGS

THE ASHKENAZ FESTIVAL RETURNS TO TORONTO: August 30-September 5

Ashkenaz, the biennial festival of global Jewish culture, returns to Harbourfront this summer on August 5, boasting an impressive musical lineup. Headliners include The Klezmatics and “Jewish-funk supergroup” Abraham Inc., as well as appearances by such Canadian folk music staples as the Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra and Lemon Bucket Orkestra—perfect music for one last end-of-summer party. For details on the festival, visit www.ashkenaz.ca.

Other new/corrected August concert listings added online since our last print issue include:

Thursday August 11

8:30: Hugh's Room. Qristina and Quinn. 2261 Dundas St. W. 416-531-6604. $22.50(adv)/$25(door).

Friday August 12

8:30: Hugh's Room. Alfie Zappacosta. 2261 Dundas St. W. 416-531-6604. $40(adv)/$45(door).

Friday August 12 to Sunday August 14

Batuki Music Society. Habari Africa Festival. Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W. 416-973-4000. Free.

Sunday August 14

12:30: TorontoJazzBuzz.com/Vintage & Swing Concerts. Retro Concert Hall Thrills for Vintage-Wearing Swing Fans. Capital Focus Jazz Band. Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave. 416-923-8137. $20 (cash only at the door). Doors open at noon. Vintage attire not mandatory but welcomed!

Monday August 15

7:00: Nadina Mackie Jackson. Bassoon Out Loud: The Company You Keep. Works by Telemann, Scarlatti, Braun, Lussier and Mignone. Leslie Magowan, writer and storyteller; Nadina Mackie Jackson, solo bassoon; and others. Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 416-453-7607. $30; $20(sr/st).

Saturday August 20

7:30: Choirs Ontario. Ontario Youth Choir: Fresh Voices. Allan Bevan: Full fathom Five; Jeff Enns: Hear My Prayer; Grete Pedersen: Norwegian Wedding March; Claudio Monteverdi: Si, ch'io vorrei morire; Eriks Esenvalds: Stars. Robert Cooper, conductor; Edward Moroney, piano. All Saints' Anglican Church (Peterborough), 235 Rubidge St.,Peterborough. 416-923-1144. $25; $20(sr/st).

Sunday August 21

3:00: Choirs Ontario. Ontario Youth Choir: Fresh Voices. Allan Bevan: Full fathom Five; Jeff Enns: Hear My Prayer; Grete Pedersen: Norwegian Wedding March; Claudio Monteverdi: Si, ch'io vorrei morire; Eriks Esenvalds: Stars. Robert Cooper, conductor; Edward Moroney, piano. Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. 416-923-1144. $25; $20(sr/st).

Saturday August 27

9:30am: Ontario Shape Note Singers. Central Ontario All-Day Sacred Harp Singing. A traditional all-day singing from The Sacred Harp, 1991 edition (the “Denson Book”). Singers and listeners alike are welcome to attend, and can stay for all or any part of the day. Detweiler Meetinghouse, 3445 Roseville Rd., Ayr. 647-838-8764. PWYC.

8:00: Small World Music. Moonlight over the Maghrib. Original compositions and improvisations by Richard Robeson and Shahriyar Jamshidi. Richard Robeson, guitar/ukulele; Shahriyar Jamshidi, kamanche; Sina Khosravi, percussion. Small World Music Centre, Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw St. 416-536-5439. $20; $15(st).

THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING

Volume 22 (!) of The WholeNote kicks off next month, with our September 2016 issue. Pick up a copy on the stands starting September 1!

Please contact halftones@thewholenote.com with any HalfTones inquiries.

Sara Constant is social media editor at The WholeNote and studies musicology at the University of Amsterdam. She can be contacted at editorial@thewholenote.com.

HalfTones
Vol 3 No 11: July 4, 2016

YEAR IN REVIEW: And the award goes to…

At the annual Dora Awards last Monday, music productions both large and small triumphed, with big wins in both indie and grand-scale arenas.

The Doras, named after Canadian theatre visionary Dora Mavor Moore, have been running since 1978, with the aim of recognizing local productions of theatre, music theatre, opera and dance. Like any annual awards ceremony, the Dora awards provide a nice way of looking back at some of the season’s standouts--and with an emphasis on local theatre, giving due credit to some of the key players in the Toronto scene.

The COC was a favourite on Monday, with a staggering eight wins--five of which were for their production of Wagner’s Siegfried last winter. The Siegfried team was awarded Outstanding Production in the opera division, as well as prizes for direction, musical direction, scenic design and lighting design. Baritone Quinn Kelsey (Germont) and soprano Ekaterina Siurina (Violetta) both won Doras for their performances in the COC’s La traviata, which also won for Best Costume Design.

Homegrown operas also took home prizes this year, with Tapestry Opera winning Best New Musical for John Harris and Marjorie Chan’s new work M’dea Undone and Against the Grain winning Outstanding Performance - Ensemble for their “barefoot, costumed, choreographed” version of Handel’s Messiah.

To hear more from Tapestry, you may have to wait until 2016/17--but Against the Grain will be co-producing Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia as part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival on July 22. Details on the show here -- and if you’re looking for a pair of tickets, look no further than our contest in this issue of our newsletter!

In other news, this year’s list of Order of Canada appointments has just been released, with a number of familiar musicians on the roster. 2016 appointments include jazz saxophonist P.J. Perry, pianist and musicologist Elaine Keillor--who is currently on faculty at Carleton University--and soprano Barbara Hannigan, fresh off the heels of a January appearance in Toronto with the TSO.

All in all, a lot of well-deserved attention this past week for Canadian musical talent both local and internationally-based. A huge congrats to all winners, appointments and nominees this year. Onto the next!

TICKET GIVEAWAY: THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA AT TSMF

Win tickets to a one-night-only production of Britten’s opera The Rape of Lucretia at Toronto Summer Music. Click here to enter!

SILK ROAD ONSCREEN

Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble hits the big screen

Last September, Roy Thomson Hall played host to the Silk Road Ensemble--renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s global music project almost 20 years in the making. Their appearance coincided with the world premiere at TIFF of The Music of Strangers, a new documentary about Yo-Yo Ma’s vision behind the group.

Now, the film is back, with screenings at Hot Docs Bloor Cinema July 8 to 14. Directed by Morgan Neville--who was also behind Oscar-winning music documentary 20 Feet from Stardom--The Music of Strangers promises an in-depth look at the Silk Road project, from its inception in 2000 as an attempt to bring together folk musics from across the globe to its prominent status today.

Details on the Hot Docs screenings next week can be found here. Watch the trailer of the movie below:

Incidentally, The WholeNote featured one member of the Silk Road Ensemble--pipa virtuoso Wu Man--on the cover of our September 2015 issue, and another--Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh--in our April issue of HalfTones, when he collaborated with the Toronto Symphony on a recording to welcome recent Syrian refugees to Canada. At that time in April, the latter had a tentative Toronto date in his calendar, for a June solo appearance with the TSO. Turns out that concert was postponed--meaning, hopefully, that he’ll still be back, to follow up his last-minute partnership with the orchestra this April with a full-length concert. We’ll keep you updated as details emerge. In the meantime, here’s the video of Azmeh’s composition November 22nd, which he recorded in Toronto during his April visit.

JUST IN: CORRECTED AND NEW LISTINGS

FEATURED LISTING: JULY JAZZ AT HUGH’S ROOM

It may be the end of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, but jazz life in the clubs continues this month, with a host of listings at such local music hotspots as Hugh’s Room on Dundas St. W. In the coming weeks, Hugh’s Room hosts Ten Strings and a Goat Skin (July 7), Fathead (July 23), Kevin Breit & Rebecca Jenkins with the Upper York Mandolin Quartet (July 29), Matt Molloy, John Carty & Arty McGlynn (August 2), and Kiran Ahluwalia (August 6)--plus a weekly jazz night hosted by JAZZ.FM91 every Monday in July. Details at hughsroom.com.

Other new/corrected July concert listings added online since our last print issue are as follows:

Festivals/Series

One quick note on the topic of summer series: our summer festival listings at thewholenote.com are now searchable! Sort through festival offerings according to your interest and availability, to find the concerts you want to see. Try it out here.

Other summer series omitted from our last print issue include:

June 4-September 24, 11:00am-1:30. City of St. Catharines. Music in the Square. Market Square, 91 King St., St. Catharines. Free. Visit www.stcatharines.ca for details.

June 17-September 2, 6:30/8:00. Roy Thomson Hall/Sunfest. Live on the Patio. Days and performers vary. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. 416-593-4822. Free. Food and drinks available. Two sets; doors open at 5pm.

June 28-August 30, 12:00 noon. Play the Parks. Dance Inspiring Fusion of the Americas. Trinity Square Park. Days and performers vary. Free. Visit www.downtownyonge.com/playtheparks/ for details.

June 29-July 20, 6:00. City of St. Catharines. Summer Concert Series. Montebello Park, St. Catharines. Free. Visit stcatharines.ca for details.

July 6-September 7, 12:00 noon. Play the Parks. Shapeshifting Classical. Mackenzie House,  82 Bond St. Days and performers vary. Free. Visit www.downtownyonge.com/playtheparks/ for details.

July 7-July 28, 7:00/9:00. #ClassyAF. La Rev, 2848 Dundas St. W. Days and performers vary. $15-$20. Visit www.classyafshow.com for details.

July 7-September 8, 12:00 noon. Play the Parks. Funky Lunchtime Soul. College Park Courtyard. Days and performers vary. Free. Visit www.downtownyonge.com/playtheparks/ for details.

July 7-September 18. Play the Parks. Festive Summer Streets. McGill Granby Parkette. Days, times and performers vary. Free. Visit www.downtownyonge.com/playtheparks/ for details.

July 8-10. Harbourfront Centre. Future Routes. Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W. Times and performers vary. Free. Visit harbourfrontcentre.com for details.

Individual Listings

Monday July 11

9:00: The Burdock. Isabel (Fryszberg) and The Uncommons w/ Freeman Dre & The Kitchen Party. 1184 Bloor St. W. 416-546-4033. $8(adv); $10(door). Doors open at 8:30pm.

Tuesday July 12

8:00: Gallery 345. Stanislav Pronin, violin and Alex Seredenko, piano. Work by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Piazzolla/Gubaidulina. 345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781. $25; $10(st).

Friday July 15

8:00: Gallery 345. The Art of the Piano: David Virelles. 345 Sorauren Ave. 416-822-9781. $25; $10(st).

Saturday July 23

11:00am: South Coast Jazz. David Sanbiorn with the Galen Weston Band. David Sanborn; Galen Weston Band; David Restivo; June Garber; Juliann Kuchocki; Shuffle Demons. Port Dover and Area Arena, 809 St. George St., Port Dover. 519-774-2787. $20-$70. Details at www.southcoastjazz.com.

Thursday July 28

8:00: Randolph Academy. Footloose. Music by Tom Snow; Lyrics by Dean Pitchford. Stage adaptation by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst St. 1-855-985-2787. $22. Also July 29-30 and August 4-6(8pm), and July 30 and August 6(2pm).

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The current print issue of The WholeNote is a SPECIAL SUMMER ISSUE, covering June 1-September 7-- but HalfTones continues throughout the summer!

Vol 3 No 12: Wednesday, August 10

Please contact halftones@thewholenote.com with any HalfTones inquiries.