I hope everybody had a wonderful and restful May long weekend. With the start of the 21C Festival, this promises to be a big week for concerts in Toronto. It’s been the talk of the town for a while now, and I hope everyone can get out and see some (or all) of what looks like one of the most important annual festivals in the city. Over five days, there will be 8 concerts and 20 premieres, and it will include some of the biggest names in contemporary music. More details can be found in our exclusive Musical Toronto preview here.
20 Tuesday
- COC noon hour concert series with Soprano Sasha Djihanian, baritone Cameron McPhail, and pianist Michael Shannon at Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. Noon. Free.
The start of summer coming up soon also means the end of another season for the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio; Canada’s premier training program for young opera professionals. This year, three very promising talents will be entering the world and spreading their wings: soprano Sasha Djihanian, baritone Cameron McPhail, and pianist Michael Shannon. They will be performing songs by Dvořák and Debussy, Lee Hoiby, and Poulenc. As always seating fills up fast, so come at least 40 minutes early to nab a seat. Lots of details here.
21 Wednesday
- 21C Festival Day 1: Weiwei Lan to perform with the New Music Concerts ensemble at Mazzoleni Concert Hall in Ihnatowycz Hall. 8 p.m. $21+
To kick-off RCM’s 21C Festival, China and Canada collide in a concert of premieres by Chinese composers. Jia Guoping, Shi Fuhong, and Chen Xiaoyoug. The concert will also include the Toronto premiere of Imaginary Opera by our own Alexina Louie. These new works will be bewitched with talents of pipa virtuoso Wei-wei Lan, who will be performing with the always-inspiring New Music Concerts ensemble. Program details here.
- Alighieri Duo and cellist, Ashton Lim at Heliconian Hall. 7:30. $20
New York City based Alighieri Duo will join us for a one-night only performance with the talented Canadian guest cellist, Ashton Lim. They will present a short but invigorating concert of Franck Violin Sonata, (the most legendary violin sonata in history), and the Mendelssohn Second Piano Trio, a youthful and energetic work of orchestral proportions that is inspired by Bach. With so many nice restaurants in the Yorkville neighbourhood, why not pair it with a dinner before or after? Details here.
22 Thursday
- 21C Festival Day 2: Wallis Giunta, mezzo-soprano, Afiara String Quartet, Nyx Quartet, ARC Ensemble (Artists of The Royal Conservatory), and the 21C Ensemble at Koerner Hall. 8 p.m. $21+
Tonight is all about depth, and it will focus on four works: Quintet for Piano and Strings by R. Murray Schafer, Christos Hatzis’ new string quartet The Questioning, Brian Current’s Faster Still, and the Canadian premiere of Dutch composer Louis Andriessen’s Anaïs Nin, a semi-staged work for chamber ensemble, video, and mezzo-soprano, based on the diary entries of Anaïs Nin. Guest Singing the role of Anaïs Nin is mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta, who many will recognise from her work with the COC, and most recently appearance in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Patrons should note the show will include themes of incest and sexual intimacy, and may not be suitable for everyone. Details here.
NB: There will be an artist/composer chat following the performance.
23 Friday
- 21C Festival Day 3: pianists, Chilly Gonzales, Uri Caine, and Eve Egoyan as well as Afiara String Quartet at Koerner Hall. 8 p.m. $21+
The mid-point of the festival includes works by Canadian, Spanish, and American composers. This evening will show audiences how cool ‘classical’ music can be, with Jazz pianist Uri Caine leading the way with his new work Jagged Edges, for piano quintet with the Afiara String Quartet. Another surprise will be Chilly Gonzales, a frequent collaborator with Daft Punk, Peaches, Feist and Toronto hip-hop mogul Drake, who will be debuting a new work for chamber ensemble and piano. Toronto’s own pianist/composer Eve Egoyan will collaborate with visual artist David Rokeby for the premiere of Surface Tension, a work for disklavier and visual images. Info here.
- 21C Festival Day 3, after hours: Gurpreet Chana (tabla and electronics) with the 21C Festival Ensemble at Conservatory Theatre. 10 p.m. $25+
The night owls come out and experience (the tabla guy) Gurpreet Chana’s TABLIX for tabla and electronics and the World Premiere of Trichy Sankaran’s Hamsa performed by the 21C Festival Ensemble. This will be laid-back cabaret setting, with an open cash bar to wet-your-whistle. Details here.
24 Saturday
- 21C Festival Day 4: Marc-André Hamelin, piano, Pacifica Quartet, and Joshua Hopkins, baritone, at Koerner Hall. 8 p.m. $21+
Night Blooms with one of Canada’s most remarkable pianists, Marc-André Hamelin, , performing works by 20th century greats and a Canadian premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Jennifer Higdon. Hamelin will dazzle with The Perilous Night, a rarely performed work for prepared piano by John Cage. He will also join the Pacifica Quartet for Leo Ornstein’s modern Piano Quintet. Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins will also weigh-in Higdon’s Dooryard Bloom. A very special night indeed. Details here.
- 21C Festival Day 4, after hours: Pacifica Quartet, 21C Ensemble, Shreyas Ambikar, harmonium, flutes, Susan Hoeppner and Leslie Newman, at RCM’s Conservatory Theatre. 10 p.m. $25+
The Pacifica Quartet will be busy, with a second performance for the night. They will perform the Canadian premiere of Shulamit Ran’s GLITTER, DOOM, SHARDS, MEMORY. The piece is inspired by Felix Nussbaum, a Jewish painter who perished in the Holocaust. The concert will also include Andrew Staniland’s Flute vs. Flute and Michael Colgrass’ Mystic with a Credit Card, which will be played by Gordon Wolfe (trombone) and Shreyas Ambikak (harmonium). More info here.
25 Sunday
- 21C Festival Day 5: Pianist Marc-André Hamelin, at Mazzoleni Concert Hall in Ihnatowycz Hall. 3 p.m. $21+
Marc-André Hamelin returns for an unusual performance of Morton Feldman’s 70-minute solo piano work, For Bunita Marcus. For those unfamiliar with this work, it is a truly magical experience.
Feldman explains, “For Bunita Marcus was untypical of my music, but I’ll tell you exactly how I wrote it, formally speaking. Not the notes; the notes didn’t write the piece. I have a talent for notes, the way some people have a talent for catching fish or for making money. I have no problems with notes. I just pull them back out of my ear – no problem at all.”
Details here.
- 21C Festival Day 5: Esprit Orchestra, with Alex Pauk at Koerner Hall. 8 p.m. $30+
To close the festival, the Esprit Orchestra will handle two world premieres by emerging Canadian composers, Zosha Di Castri and Christopher Mayo, and North American premiere of a new work by Dutch master Louis Andriessen. Perhaps the most exciting moment of the finale will be Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Out of Black Dust; a work inspired by the music of classic rock legends Led Zeppelin. Not to be missed. Info here.
Michael Vincent
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[Update, May 20- 11:30 a.m. The 21C Festival has released a number of $21 tickets to select 21C concerts, (see above). These tickets are available at the box office or by phone only. There is also a small program change for the Saturday 24th festival concert: instead of Pan Trio, Michael Colgrass’ piece will be Mystic with a Credit Card ]
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