The July 26 program at Ottawa ChamberFest will feature four new commissions written for avant-garde string quartet Brooklyn Rider and soprano Ariadne Greif. Those five musicians will perform those new works by Clarice Assad, Gabriel Kahane, Giovanni Solima, and Tyshawn Sorey, as well as Schoenberg’s Quartet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 10 and Colin Jacobsen’s Suite […]
Ottawa-based synth composer Nick Schofield’s latest release, Ambient Ensemble, was inspired by a series of concerts where special guests were invited to improvise. On Aug. 1, Ottawa ChamberFest will present a concert version of the album. Schofield will be joined by Philippe Charbonneau, Mika Posen (Merganzer), and Yolande Laroche (Orchidae) to explore the blissful interaction between […]
The Danish String Quartet returns to Ottawa ChamberFest Aug. 2 for the fourth and final installment of their innovative Doppelgänger project, in which they pair one of Schubert’s string compositions with a newly commissioned work inspired by its Schubert original. This year’s new work is Thomas Adès’ Wreath for Franz Schubert, while the Schubert offering will be the […]
Premiered in 2020, Echo Chamber Ensemble’s A World Transformed tells the story of Matthew Sheppard, a young gay university student who was beaten, tortured, and left to die in 1998, bringing national attention to hate crime legislation. The piece combines new choreography with pre-existing chamber music by the likes of Britten, Vaughan Williams, and Amy […]
Stratford Summer Music 2024 comes to an exciting conclusion on Aug. 11 when soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee performs Zombie Blizzard. In this new song cycle, poems by Margaret Atwood have been set to music by Aaron Davis. Brueggergosman-Lee will be joined by members of the Hannaford St. Silver Band, who commissioned the work. https://stratfordsummermusic.ca/event/zombie-blizzard/
The Calgary Philharmonic blends a classic and a Canadian icon with Tchaikovsky X Drake on Sept. 7. It’s an innovative fusion of Tchaikovsky’s epic Fifth Symphony and over 20 songs by Canadian superstar rapper Drake. Conducted by Steve Hackman. https://calgaryphil.com/events/tchaikovsky-x-drake-2024-09-07-730-pm/
The Montreal Symphony will open its season Sept. 11-13 in an unusual fashion: Music director Rafael Payare will conduct Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder. Written for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, this musical saga narrates the ill-fated romances of King Waldemar at the Gurre Castle, unfolding against a backdrop of jealousy, demise, and damnation. Featuring soprano Dorothea Röschmann and […]
Sept. 18-19 will see the world premiere of Canadian composer Michael Oesterle’s new Orchestre symphonique de Montréal commission. The program, conducted by Rafael Payare, also features Daniil Trifonov playing Schumann’s A minor Piano Concerto, plus Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. https://www.osm.ca/en/concert/berliozs-symphonie-fantastique
The Saskatoon Symphony opens its classical season Sept. 21 with the debut of Sara Davis Buechner playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Tania Miller conducts this program, which also includes Elgar’s Enigma Variations. https://saskatoonsymphony.org/event/enigma/
In the Toronto Symphony season opener, Gustavo Gimeno conducts the Canadian premiere of Carlos Simon’s Concerto for Orchestra, Wake Up! Then pianist Jan Lisiecki joins concertmaster Jonathan Crow and principal cellist Joseph Johnson for Beethoven’s captivating Triple Concerto. This Sept. 25-28 program concludes with the Gorchakov orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. https://www.tso.ca/concerts-and-events/events/pictures-at-an-exhibition/
The Germany-based Gropius Quartet makes its debut with Friends of Chamber Music (Vancouver) on Oct. 15. They will play Haydn’s Op. 33, No. 2 (the Joke), Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 8, and Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 6. https://friendsofchambermusic.ca/concert/gropius-quartet/
To celebrate Bruckner’s 200 birthday, the Calgary Philharmonic will play his Symphony No. 8 on Oct. 18-19, under the baton of Rune Bergmann. For the first half of the program, violinist solos in Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade. https://calgaryphil.com/events/bernsteins-serenade-with-karen-gomyo-2024-10-18-730-pm/
Quartetto di Cremona will open Music Toronto’s 2024-25 season on Oct. 24 (replacing the previously announced Juilliard Quartet). Cremona’s program includes quartets by Gian Francesco Malipiero, Ravel, and Schumann. https://musictorontoconcerts.com/concerts/juilliard-quartet
Jeremy Dutcher, two-spirit song carrier, composer, activist, and ethnomusicologist from Tobique First Nation, joins Symphony Nova Scotia on Oct. 25-26 with an all-new, boundary-pushing orchestral performance. https://symphonynovascotia.ca/concerts-and-tickets/concerts/rebecca-cohn-auditorium/jeremy-dutcher-2024/
The world premiere of a new work by Stephanie Orlando, commissioned through the Maria Anna Mozart Award, will be presented by Symphony Nova Scotia on Oct. 31. Santiago Cañón Valencia will be on hand to play Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, and the program, conducted by Holly Mathieson, will conclude with Copland’s Appalachian Spring. https://symphonynovascotia.ca/concerts-and-tickets/concerts/rebecca-cohn-auditorium/shostakovich-coplands-appalachian-spring/
The Vancouver Chamber Music Society will host a recital program by violist Hung-Wei Huang and pianist Aslan Aslanov on Nov. 4-6. The duo will play Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70, Alan Shulman’s Theme and Variations, and Brahms’ Viola Sonata No. 2. https://www.vancouverchambermusic.com/hungweihuangaslanalsanov
John Adams’ Frenzy will receive its Canadian premiere by the Toronto Symphony on Nov. 6-9 under the composer’s baton. Two other Adams works are also on the program: his orchestral arrangement of Debussy’s Le Livre de Baudelaire and the aria “This is prophetic!” from Nixon in China, featuring soprano Anna Prohaska. https://www.tso.ca/concerts-and-events/events/john-adams-returns/
The Nov. 6-7 chamber concert by members of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will feature the String Quintet in A minor by composer Johanna Müller-Hermann, paired with Verklärte Nacht by her much better-known contemporary, Arnold Schoenberg. https://www.osm.ca/en/concert/transfigured-romanticism
On Dec. 4-5, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec will perform both Strauss’ Thus Spoke Zarathustra and a work created in answer to it, Katia Makdissi-Warren’s Thus Sang Simorgh, which will feature three Turkish musicians/dancers in the Sufi tradition. In this program conducted by Clemens Schuldt, Vadim Gluzman plays the Tchaikovsky violin Concerto, and the orchestra […]
Steve Reich’s Jacob’s Ladder will receive its Canadian Premiere on Dec. 6 with the Vancouver Symphony, conducted by music director Otto Tausk and featuring Synergy Vocals. The program includes works by two important Reich colleagues: John Adams’ Gnarly Buttons and Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 11. A Canadian composer, Linda Catlin Smith, opens the concert with […]
