Musicians of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal present a Tribute to Ligeti on Nov. 4, celebrating the composer’s 100th birthday. This program includes a variety of chamber works: Ramifications for strings; Kammerkonzert for 14 musicians; the Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano; and Six Bagatelles for wind quintet. https://www.osm.ca/en/concerts/tribute-to-gyorgy-ligeti/
Eun Sun Kim, music director of the San Francisco Opera, makes her debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Feb. 15-17. She will conduct Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition as well as two works featuring pianist Louis Lortie: Mozart’s Rondo, K. 382, and Fauré’s Ballade, Op. 19. https://www.osm.ca/en/concerts/mozart-and-faure-with-louis-lortie-and-eun-sun-kim/
Conductor and soprano Barbara Hannigan will join Orchestre symphonique de Montréal on Feb. 21-22 for the North American premiere of her staged version of Poulenc’s lyric drama La voix humaine, with projections by Clemens Malinowski. The program opens with Hannigan conducting Strauss’ Metamorphosen. https://www.osm.ca/en/concerts/richard-strauss-and-poulenc-with-barbara-hannigan/
In a program called Spanish Reflections, the Toronto Symphony will give two North American premieres on Feb. 28-29. The first is Francisco Coll’s Ciudad sin sueño: Fantasia for Piano and Orchestra, featuring Javier Perianes. The other is Coll’s orchestration of Falla’s piano work Fantasia Baetica. The program concludes with two suites from Falla’s The Three-Cornered […]
In an unusual collaboration of live music and visual art on March 24, musicians of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will premiere a new instrumentation of Holst’s The Planets for organ, brass, and percussion under the baton of Thomas Le Duc-Moreau. Taking inspiration from the music being played, five cartoonists will draw extemporaneously, marking the […]
Trombonist Jörgen van Rijen will play the North American premiere of Samy Moussa’s new concerto, Yericho, with the Toronto Symphony. The April 3-6 program, conducted by Gustavo Gimeno, will also feature cellist Joseph Johnson in Richard Strauss’ tone poem Don Quixote. https://www.tso.ca/concerts-and-events/events/r-strausss-don-quixote/
The year 2024 marks the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s birth. The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will celebrate that landmark with Rafael Payare conducting two Schoenberg works: Verklärte Nacht and the symphonic poem Pelleas und Melisande. The April 24-25 concert also features Maria João Pires as the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. https://www.osm.ca/en/concerts/maria-joao-pires-returns-to-the-osm/
Enargeia is a work for voice and orchestra, a compilation of songs by Hildegard von Bingen, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Missy Mazzoli, and Sarah Kirkland Snider as arranged by Jarkko Riihimäki. The piece will receive its North American premiere by the Toronto Symphony May 1-2, with mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo. Under the baton of Gustavo Gimeno, the program […]
In its 90th season, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal hopes to draw attention to the Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique, the spectacular organ in its home all, the Maison Symphonique de Montréal. Thus, the season finale on May 28-30 features four organists: Shin-Young Lee, Isabelle Demers, Jean-Willy Kunz, and Olivier Latry. With Rafael Payare on the podium, […]
Fast-rising violinist Randall Goosby makes his Toronto Symphony debut playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on June 7-9. The program, conducted by Gustavo Gimeno, starts with the world premiere of Ikiru by Métis composer Ian Cusson, created in partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). After intermission, the orchestra will play Bartók’s Divertimento […]
A new production of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen opens the 2024 Toronto Summer Music on July 11. William Christie and Paul Agnew share the job of music director while Mourad Merzuki choreographs. With the Orchestre des Arts Florissants in the pit, the company features eight Baroque vocal specialists. https://torontosummermusic.com/event/opening-night-the-fairy-queen/
Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and pianist Joseph Middleton will give the Canadian premiere of Night Thoughts by Errolyn Wallen on July 16 at Toronto Summer Music. The recital also includes songs by Barber, Schoenberg, Berg, and Weill. https://torontosummermusic.com/event/connolly-middleton/
Constantinople, an ensemble whose slogan is “Itinerant music, myriad encounters,” will perform on July 22 at Toronto Summer Music. The program is entitled Breathings, and it’s described as a concert that places the breath at the center of the musical act and a celebration of our intimate relationship with nature. Instrumentation includes Mi’kmaq drums, ney […]
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 […]
