Tag Archives: st.pierre

Upcoming worthy causes

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elizabethkNovember 17th sees the second annual Elizabeth Krehm memorial concert.  It’s at Metropolitan United Church at 8pm and will feature Beethoven’s 9th sympony.  The soloists will be Rachel Krehm, Erin Lawson, Adrian Kramer and Jeremy Bowes with the Canzona Chamber Players and a choir drawn from the Univox Choir and friends of the Krehm family.  Evan Mitchell conducts.  Admission is by tax receiptable donation to St. Michael’s Hospital where Elizabeth spent the last month of her life.

On 28th November, at Runnymede United Church a starry cast are donating their services for a charity performance of Bach’s Weinachtsoratorium.  The beneficiaries will be the Toronto Symphony Volunteer Committee Education Program  and Open Table Community Meal at Runnymede United Church.  Johannes Debus will conduct the Bach Consort with soloists Monica Whicher, Vicki St. Pierre, Lawrence Wiliford, Colin Ainsworth and Russell Braun.  Tickets are $50 in advance or $60 on the door.

It’s the day for announcements apparently

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Also in today’s mailbox, the season announcement from the Talisker Players; a group who specialize in mixing music and the spoken word.

citiesThe 2013/14 season kicks off with City of the Mind, a concert about cities, ancient and modern featuring soprano Erin Bardua, mezzo soprano Vicki St. Pierre and baritone Joel Allison.  The show begins in the 15th century, with Les Cris de Paris, a consort piece based on the cries of street vendors in the French capital. Moving ahead a couple of centuries, Tommasso Giordani’s Addio di Londra, for soprano with violin, viola and continuo, is an ode to a famous but unnamed personage upon his departure from London, entreating him to remember the sights of the city in his travels abroad.  The programme also features a rare North American performance of a selection of Wiener lieder and the Venetian Boat Song,  a 19th century salon piece by Jacques Blumenthal, for mezzo soprano, violin and piano. Very popular in its day, it is a reminder of the era of the “grand tour” of Europe.  Moving into the 20thcentury we start in New York City with excerpts from Leonard Bernstein’s iconic On the Town, arranged by Laura Jones for baritone, soprano and string quartet, and finishing in Toronto with two pieces; Andrew Ager’s Ellis Portal, for baritone, mezzo soprano, clarinet and string quartet, about the city at night; and Erik Ross’s Concrete Toronto for soprano and saxophone.

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On the Wing

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barduaLast night the Talisker Players and guest artists presented a series of readings and vocal pieces on the theme of winged creatures.  It was a very varied programme with the readings, winningly read by actor R.H. Thomson, ranging from Albert Manguel to Peter Matthiessen.  The readings also provided time for the set-up to be changed between numbers with minimum tedium.

The music was also very varied, ranging from Telemann to John Plant’s Sandpiper of 2011 with the rest being drawn from 20th century works from Pärt, Copland, Hoiby, Gideon and Foss.  The ensemble changed constantly with various combinations of strings, woodwind, piano, continuo and percussion.  Continue reading →

Yet more shows

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The Toronto opera/recital calendar just keeps on giving.  Late April and May are always a bit crazy with the usual three operas on at the COC but there’s a stack more stuff going on.  The latest additions to my calendar are a new Queen of Puddings Music Theatre commission La Selva de los relojes (The Forest of Clocks) by Canadian composer Chris Paul Harman.  This vocal chamber work setting texts by Lorca will be performed by Krisztina Szabó and an ensemble of 6 instruments as part of the free lunchtime concert series at the Four Seasons Centre at noon on April 30th.  Sadly this will be the last work from Queen of Puddings who are winding up this summer.  Next is Ruth, a new opera by Jeffrey Ryan, which will be workshopped by Tapestry at the Distillery on May 4th. Finally there is a Talisker Players show called On the Wing featuring Erin Bardua and Vicki St. Pierre in a birdsong themed programme.  It’s playing on May 7th and 8th at the Trinity St. Paul’s Centre.