Concerts

The New Orford String Quartet

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 22:40:47 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Haydn Op. 20 No. 4 in D
Bartok, Quartet No. 3 (1927)
Brahms Op. 51 No.1 in c

$35 (sr $30; st $25)

In February, 2012, the New Orford Quartet made an amazing debut with us in a pair of concerts that won’t be forgotten soon by any who attended. Featuring the concertmasters of Canada’s two finest orchestras, plus the Associate Principal violist of the TSO and the Principal Cellist of the MSO, their virtuosity is already legendary in the brief period since they began as a quartet (summer 2009) We are thrilled to be presenting them again - this time with no extra soloists, so we can experience their artistry in pure quartet literature, among which their selections are all at the “all-star” level!

Mark Valenti, piano

Sun, 9 Sep 2012 18:29:50 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Bach: Italian Concerto
Mendelssohn: Variations Serieuses
Samuel Barber: Sonata
Debussy: Images, Book I

$25 (sr $20; st $15)

KWCMS presents many fine pianists in its busy season, and most of them are familiar figures, returning to us on a fairly regular basis. But we like also to bring to our local audiences new voices not likely to have been heard before. Mark Valenti is the first of these for the 2012-13 season. Like every fine artists, he has his own “take” on his music. We’re sure you’ll find him worth the trip!
Mark Valenti received his Master of Music from Northwestern University, Bachelor of Music from the Philadelphia Musical Academy and has studied with such notable teachers as Benjamin Whitten, Zoltan Kocsis and Mary Sauer. In addition to giving solo recitals in cities throughout the U.S., Mr. Valenti has performed in France, Belgium, Hungary and Luxembourg as well as for former First Lady Barbara Bush in Washington, D.C.
Mark Valenti has performed recitals live on WFMT classical radio. He has also done extensive work in the Jazz field including performances with Gregory Hines, Frank Foster and Al Grey and has appeared on television with Joe Sudler's Swing Machine and singer/actor Christopher Durham.
Formerly Professor of Music at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Xavier University in Chicago and the Loire Valley Music Institute in France, Mr. Valenti currently teaches at his studio in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.
Mark’s concert activities take him around the United States (and now, Canada!) Among his notable concert appearances, he has several times been the performer of the Dame Myra Hess concert sponsored by the prestigious classical radio station WFMT in Chicago.

Roberto Prosseda, piano

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:30:01 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Chopin: The complete Nocturnes (19)

$35 (sr $30; st $25)

Since discovering this wonderful pianist back in 2007, we have missed no opportunity to present him. This summer, we are fortunate to be able to fly him over from Italy to perform some of the most beautiful music for the piano. The Chopin Nocturnes as a body practically define the category of “night music”. Inward, dreamy, intense, dramatic - they’re a psychic exercise! And they’re all so beautiful! Now we don’t have to choose - here they all are!

See his fine website for more. Besides being the world’s leading exponent of the piano works of Mendelssohn, he is also thoroughly at home with the other romantics (and moderns ...)

This is the pianistic event of the summer!

[Note: Roberto also performs this program at the Leith Festival, the preceding day.]

Canadian Guitar Quartet

Sat, 4 Aug 2012 17:05:15 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]
The Date has been changed from Aug 5th to accommodate player schedules. Please note.

Program, tba

$35 (sr $30; st $25)

Julien Bisaillon - Philip Candelaria - Bruno Roussel– Louis Trépanier - are the newest complement of this famed quartet.

"…fantastic, spirited playing and sheer inventiveness…” wrote Julia Crowe in her Letter from New York column for Classical Guitar magazine, England (2008).

“… fabulous… highly energetic, precise and musically convincing… a brilliant close to the week.” Mark Switzer, review of the Guitar Foundation of America 2004 closing concert for Soundboard magazine, USA (2005).

Since their debut in 1999, the Canadian Guitar Quartet has toured extensively in North and South America, from one standing ovation to the next, establishing a reputation as one of the finest guitar ensembles in the world.

"Portrait I”, the CGQ's debut CD, is "…quite impressive. Their tight ensemble and group virtuosity make them competitive with the best quartets" (American Record Guide). "One cannot imagine better ensemble playing", wrote Robert McColley of Fanfare magazine. "Real musical depth", said Richard Todd of the Ottawa Citizen.

On March 24, 2005, their second CD, "Les Scènes de Quartiers", was awarded "Le Prix Trille Or” for instrumental album of the year by the "Association des Professionnels de la Chanson et de la Musique”. "This is really exciting, exhilarating chamber-music-playing … If guitars or tangos appeal, then buy this CD and be delighted", wrote Paul Ingram in Fanfare magazine.

Ton beau Quartet

Wed, 1 Aug 2012 16:48:50 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Dvorak "American"
Beethoven op. 18 (no. tba)
New work by U of T grad Kevin Lau

$25 (sr $20; st $15)

KWCMS patrons may have heard the performance by Alexa and Alex back in the summer of 2010, or the quartet itself in last year’s QuartetFest. Here they are at full complement, on their own. With two years of performance behind them, they are emerging as one of the up-and-coming young ensembles in Canada.

Founded in 2010, the Ton Beau Quartet has presented music throughout the University of Toronto community through performances at the Art Centre, Multi-Faith Centre, and the Faculty of Music’s own New Music Festival. Beyond the university, the Ton Beau Quartet has performed at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, the Merriam School of Music and as part of the Health Arts Society of Ontario’s ArtsWay series. They have worked with members of the Ebène, Miami, Orford, Prazak, St. Lawrence, and Ying String Quartets. During the 2011 summer season, they performed at Wilfrid Laurier University’s QuartetFest, the St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar at Stanford University and the Harbourfront Centre’s Summer Music in the Garden series.

Violinist Linnea Thacker recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a Masters of Music where she studied with Annalee Patipatanakoon. She previously studied with Jeremy Bell and Stephen Sitarski at Wilfrid Laurier University. As an orchestral musician, Linnea performs with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and has toured with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She has performed at the Domaine Forget and Casalmaggiore International Festivals. A native of Thunder Bay, Linnea has demonstrated her versatility as a fiddler performing at the Marathon Music Festival, Trout Forest Music Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival and touring Cape Breton Island.

Alexa Wilks, originally from Almonte, Ontario, is an active violinist in the Toronto freelance community, performing with Mayumi Seiler’s Via Salzburg ensemble and the Esprit Orchestra. Regularly collaborating with Canadian composers, Alexa premiered Kevin Lau’s Violin Concerto with the Sneak Peak Orchestra and has worked with Arsenio Giron and Steven Chatman. Alexa’s performances in the University of Toronto’s Penderecki Festival have been heard on CBC’s “The Signal” with host Laurie Brown. Under the mentorship of Annalee Patipatanakoon, Alexa is studying to attain her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto. Alexa performs on a 1760 Louis Guersan violin.

Alex McLeod, viola, has performed in Austria, Finland, and Germany as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician. An active teacher, Alex maintains studios in Mississauga and Toronto. Having studied extensively in Germany, Alex earned an Artist’s Diploma and a Masters of Music from Hochschule fuer Musik in Karlsruhe. Previously, he graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto. His past teachers include Johannes Luethy, Teng Li and Katharine Rapoport. Alex is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto, studying with Steve Dann.

A native of Strathmore, Alberta, cellist Sarah Steeves currently resides in Toronto performing with Sinfonia Toronto while completing her doctoral studies at the University of Toronto with Shauna Rolston. Sarah has performed in Brazil, China, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom with ensembles such as Sinfonia Toronto, the World Orchestra, and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. Her principal teachers have been Brian Manker (McGill University), Tom Mirhady (Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra), and Tanya Prochazka (University of Alberta). She teaches privately and at the Classical Music Conservatory. For more information, please visit www.sarahjsteeves.com.

The quartet's name is derived from Douglas Hofstadter's book Le Ton beau de Marot (1997) which focuses on the concept of translation, which has many parallels within the act of musical interpretation. The title is a pun on Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin.

Tselyakov and All-Star Friends

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:45:34 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]
Alexander Tselyakov, piano
Daniel Tselyakov, piano [in 4-hands work]
Max Christie, clarinet
Marie Berard, violin
Rachel Mercer, cello

Ravel- Ma mere L’Oye (the “Mother Goose”) for piano
4 hands (with Alexander's son Daniel)
Debussy- Trio for violin, cello, piano in G major
Milhaud - Suite for violin, clarinet, piano. Op. 157
Brahms-Trio op. 114 for clarinet, cello and piano

$35 (sr $30; st $25)
Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

Alexander Tselyakov first performed for us in 1995 shortly after coming to Canada. He has been a regular guest artist ever since, both as soloist and in chamber music combinations such as this one. After winning various competitions in his native then-Soviet Union, he moved first to Israel and then to Canada, where has been one of the recognized great pianists ever since. He is Professor of Piano at Brandon University in Manitoba.

Marie Berard is the concertmaster of the Canadian Opera Company’s fine orchestra. She also plays in the Arkel Trio (which has performed twice for us), and many other prominent chamber ensembles. She is one of the most sought-after violinists in Canada.

Rachel Mercer has performed so often for us that we regard her as our “house cellist”! That includes a complete run of the Bach Suites for Solo Cello; the nine concerts in our fabulous Haydn Trios series; many concerts with the Aviv Quartet, which she left in 2010; many more with the Made in Canada Piano Quartet (now, Ensemble); and still more! And she held the Canada Council’s “Bonjour” Stradivarius for the past three years - this will be one of her last concerts with it before having to pass it on to the next winner of that competition. Rachel also belongs to various other ensembles. With her beautiful golden sound and utter precision, she is one of Canada’s supreme cello maestros.

Max Christie is the principal clarinet of the National Ballet Orchestra and the Esprit Orchestra in Toronto, where he is also a member of the new music collective Continuum; he also performs frequently with New Music Concerts both as soloist and as an ensemble member. He is often heard on CBC Radio’s Two New Hours, and has recorded the music of Michael Torke, Rudolph Komorous, Melissa Hui, Harry Somers, R. Murray Schafer, and MC Maguire. Mr. Christie has performed across North America and Europe, and has appeared as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony, the Kitchener Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic and the Esprit Orchestra. He instructs privately The Glenn Gould School and at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.

Daniel Tselyakov is a student of the E-G Conservatory of Music in Brandon and began Master Classes with Mary Jo Carrabre in 2003. Recent scholarships and awards of note include the second prize of the Canadian Music Competition in 2007 and winner of the Peggy Sharpe Memorial Scholarship that same year and the Jean MacKinnon Scholarship in 2006. Daniel has so far performed at the International New Music Festival, Winnipeg, Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival, Lorne Watson Recital Hall, Eva Clare Hall, University of Manitoba, Laudamus Auditorium, Canadian Mennonite University, Convocation Hall, Edmonton, University of Alberta and Bandeen Hall, Sherbrooke, Bishop's University.

Arsis Handbell Ensemble with Remi Boucher, guitar

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:33:02 -0400

The concert is at 7:00 in the evening, at Knox Presbyterian Church, Waterloo (corner of Caroline and Erb)
program: tba
(It will include solo guitar works, and at least one in which the handbell ensemble combines with M. Boucher. - that should be amazing!)

$25 (sr $20; st $15)
[The new Knox Church holds over 300, and is acoustically one of the best sites in town.]

From Talinn, Estonia, the Arsis Handbell Ensemble, which developed from the chamber choir Arsis in 1993, today consists of eight professional players and one of the most perfect sets in the world, which includes 7+4 octave sets of handbells and 7 octave set of handchimes. The ensemble has toured nearly all over the world — in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, South-Africa, USA, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Canada, Belgium. Five CDs have been released.

Note: If you would like to accommodate one of the musicians, we would be glad to hear from you. Just e-mail us: kwcms@yahoo.ca

The Mercer-Oh Trio

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 18:15:37 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Akemi Mercer, violin
Rachel Mercer, cello
Gregory Oh, piano

Program: Dvorak’s Piano Trios, First of Two Concerts

Violin + Piano pieces
Opus 21 in Bb
Opus 65 in f

$30 (sr $25; st $20)
Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

[Program II [being scheduled - tentatively early January] will consist of:]
Cello + Piano pieces (Silent Woods Rondo, Polonaise)
Opus 26 in g
Opus 90 in e (“Dumky”)

Our Music Room was the scene of a remarkable series of trios - all of Haydn’s, numbering over forty! - performed by this great threesome.

No one who heard of any of those nine events will have any doubts about the artistic capabilities of this team! Akemi plays in the Frankfort Radio Orchestra in Germany - hence the difficult of getting them together!; Rachel lives in Toronto but is one of Canada’s very busiest chamber musicians; Gregory teaches at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, which is pretty much a 24/7 job! Still, we are lucky enough to have them reconvene for two concerts of another great composer of Trios, Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

K-W Community Orchestra Ensembles

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 23:32:07 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Program, players, tba.
$15; sr $10; st $8
[all proceeds go to support the orchestra]

The K-W Community Orchestra was formed in our area under the impetus of their first conductor, Erna van Daele, in 1979. Since the late 80’s, the orchestra has presented a chamber concert by various ensembles from within its ranks.

Jonathan Crow, violin; Angela Park, piano

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:25:20 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Program:
Mozart: Sonata in Bb, K. 454
Richard Strauss: Sonata for violin and piano
Schubert: Rondo Brilliant in b minor
Serge Arcuri: Les Torrents des Etoiles

$30 (sr $25; st $20)
Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

This concert brings together two of Canada’s finest musicians. Jonathan Crow has performed for us several times, most recently as a member of the New Orford String Quartet. Angela has played for us very often, as a member of the Made in Canada Ensemble, and with various other musicians, most recently Rachel Mercer.

Jonathan Crow
Born in Prince George in 1977, Jonathan Crow began the Suzuki violin method at age six and continued studies at the Prince George Music School. When he was fifteen, Jonathan studied at the Victoria Conservatory of Music with Sydney Humphreys and attended the Banff Centre Master Class Program. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Honours Performance from McGill University, studying with Yehonatan Berick.

Upon graduation from McGill University, Mr. Crow joined the Montreal Symphony at the age of 19 as Associate Principal Second Violin, and won the Associate Concertmaster chair 5 months later. He was appointed Concertmaster in 2002, a position he held until 2006, becoming the youngest Concertmaster to lead a major North American orchestra. Jonathan is currently Assistant Professor of Violin at McGill University.

In May 1997 Jonathan performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in a special benefit for the Victoria Symphony under the baton of Sir Yehudi Menuhin. Lord Menuhin was so impressed that he invited him to perform again with the Vancouver Symphony in April 1998. Jonathan continues to perform in North America, having been featured as soloist with most major Canadian orchestras including the Montreal, Kingston, London, National Arts Centre, Victoria and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, under the baton of such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Mario Bernardi and João Carlos Martins. He is heard frequently on Chaîne Culturelle of Radio-Canada, CBC Radio Two, and National Public Radio, along with Radio France, Radio Allemand, and the RAI in Europe.

An avid chamber musician, Jonathan has performed at chamber music festivals throughout North America, South America and Europe including the Banff, Ravinia, Orford, Domaine Forget, Seattle, Montreal, Ottawa, Incontri in Terra di Sienna, Alpenglow, Festival Vancouver, Pernambuco (Brazil), and Strings in the Mountains festivals and has also performed in concert with musicians from the Guarneri, Emerson, Vermeer and Tokyo Quartets. Recently, Jonathan became the new violinist of the Canadian string trio Triskelion, joining violist David Harding and cellist Bryan Epperson.

As an advocate of contemporary music he has premiered works by Michael Conway Baker, Eldon Rathburn, Barrie Cabena, Ernest MacMillan and Healey Willan, and includes in his repertoire major concertos by such composers as Ligeti, Schnittke, Brian Cherney and Bernstein. Mr. Crow has recorded for CBC, Oxingale and Atma labels.
British Columbia-born Crow boasts an impressive resumé. He joined the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as a second violinist at age 19. In 2002, he was appointed concertmaster: the youngest person to ever serve in that position in North America.

Crow left the Montreal Symphony in 2006. Since that time, he has focused on a varied and busy career as a chamber musician and teaching at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music.

In response to repeated questions on why it was taking years to fill the concertmaster’s post, Toronto Symphony music director Peter Oundjian insisted that he was in no rush. This was a major legacy project for him, so he wanted to make sure he hired the best talent available: one that would be a good fit with the other orchestra musicians.

Pianist Angela Park has established herself as one of Canada's leading young musicians. Equally accomplished in both solo and chamber music experience, Angela's versatility has led to continued success in performances across Canada, as well as in parts of the United States, Europe, Japan and Mexico.

Born in London, Ontario, Angela began her musical studies at the age of three. With the guidance of James Anagnoson, she went on to become the youngest Gold Medal winner of the Western Ontario Conservatory of Music, as well as consistent recipient of numerous awards and prizes at the Ontario Provincial Festivals, Canadian National Music Festival, and the Canadian Music Competitions.

In recent years, Angela has achieved further success at the international level, winning the grand prize at the 2001 Grace Welsh Prize for Piano in Chicago, and fifth prize at the 2003 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati. In 2006 Angela was the only Canadian representative and semifinalist prizewinner at the prestigious Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, and in 2007 she was a medallist at the Maria Canals International Competition in Barcelona.

Angela has performed as soloist with Orchestra London Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, Canadian Sinfonietta, UWO Symphony Orchestra, University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Northern Lights Festival Orchestra in Mexico, under the direction of conductors such as Raffi Armenian and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Solo and chamber music appearances include performances for the Steinway Society of Chicago, Montreal Pro Musica Series, Winnipeg Virtuosi, Glenn Gould Studio's OnStage and Music Around Us, Rome's Festival of the Nations, Debut Atlantic Tour and numerous others. Her live performances have been recorded and broadcast on CBC National Radio and on National Public Radio in the United States.

Angela has had the privilege of collaborating with internationally distinguished artists, including violist Rivka Golani, violinists Scott St. John and Erika Raum, flautist Susan Hoeppner, and the string members of the Gryphon Trio. She is a founding member of Made In Canada, an award-winning ensemble that received the CBC Galaxie Rising Stars Award in 2006, and was recently included in Chatelaine's 2008 anniversary list of "80 amazing Canadian women to watch".

Angela’s musical and academic education includes violin performance at the national level for ten years and studies in Biology at the University of Western Ontario. After studying with William Aide at the University of Toronto, Angela earned her Master of Music Degree in Performance with highest honours in 2003. In 2004 Angela received an Ontario Arts Council Chalmers Professional Development Grant, allowing for studies in New York with Jacob Lateiner. Angela completed the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Performance at the Université de Montréal, where her studies were directed by Paul Stewart. She is currently Visiting Assistant Professor (Collaborative Piano-Woodwinds) at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.

K-W Chamber Orchestra Ensembles

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:14:02 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

program:
Dvorak, “American” quartet, op. 96 in F
more, tba

$20 (sr $15; st $10) [4*]

Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

The K-W Chamber Orchestra has performed in the area for more than 25 years under the direction of its founder Graham Coles. His concerts have been distinguished by adventurous programming, and his players are increasingly expert. As we have several times before, we bring you chamber music by ensembles from within the orchestra.

Personnel for this concert include:
Wendy Wagler, flute
Brian Seaton, oboe
Carla Perrotta-Pyrgos, clarinet
Kat Mrmak, piano
Andrea Weber-Steckly, violin (concertmaster)
Vicky Dvorak, violin
Hector Vasquez, cello

The Talbot Duo

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:26:28 -0400

The concert is at KWCMS Music Room, 8:00 as usual.

Gaspar Cassado, Suite for Violoncello Solo
Franz Schubert: “Arpeggione” Sonata
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata in C, op;. 119
Jean Francaix: Variations de concert

This concert is FREE to the public.
Donations to the Chamber Music Society are welcomed.
Please let us know if you plan to come:
e-mail kwcms@yahoo.ca

Cameron Crozman, 17, is one of Canada’s up and coming young cellists.
He started studying the cello when he was 7 years old in Calgary, Alberta.
While there he was accepted into the Mount Royal College Conservatory
Academy Program for gifted young artists. Since moving to London,
Ontario in 2006, Cameron has been a part of the London Youth
Symphony, the Bavard String Quartet and the Forest City School for
Talent Education.

Cameron was the 2010 winner of the London Kiwanis Rose Bowl
competition for the top soloist in the music festival, one of the youngest
performers in its 50-year history to receive this distinction. Recently, he
was a prizewinner at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s Standard Life
Competition and this past summer was awarded one of the top prizes at
the Peter the Great Festival in The Netherlands.

In May of 2010, Cameron was invited to tour China as part of the Talbot
Duo, giving concerts in several cities, including a performance in the
prestigious Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre. He has also given solo
performances in The Netherlands and throughout Canada. Cameron has
played concerti with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra
London Canada, the London Community Orchestra, and the London
Youth Symphony.

Cameron has performed in masterclasses with many of the world’s leading
cellists, including Michel Strauss, Janos Starker, Richard Aaron, Colin
Carr, Paul Katz, Antonio Lysy, Laurence Lesser and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.
He currently studies cello with Paul Pulford in Waterloo, Ontario.

A grade 12 student at École secondaire Gabriel-Dumont, Cameron is also
taking courses at Western University through Western’s Initiative for
Scholarly Excellence (WISE) program. This summer, Cameron will be a
member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and in September he
will be continuing his musical studies at the Paris Conservatoire in France.

Janelle Timmermans, piano, 20, has recently completed the third year of
her Undergraduate Degree in Honours Piano Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she studies with Anya Alexeyev. Janelle’s talents have been frequently acknowledged in her many awards and scholarships. In 2009, Janelle won the prestigious Silver Tray, the highest honour of the St. Thomas Rotary Music
Festival. She was also invited by the London Kiwanis Music Festival to be a featured soloist in the Stars of the Festival concert, and in 2010 was one of four pianists selected to compete in the London Kiwanis Music Festival’s special Piano Competition. At 14 years of age, Janelle was the youngest person ever to be invited
to participate in the Musician’s Mentoring Program at Canada’s National Ballet School for dance accompanists, under the mentoring of Craig Wingrove and Marina Surgan. At the age of 16, Janelle received the high distinction of First Class Honours for her Associate Diploma (ARCT) in piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Her collaborative experience includes vocal and instrumental collaboration, choir accompaniment, dance studio accompaniment, and chamber music. Janelle has recently returned from a national concert tour in China as pianist of the Talbot Duo.

Thin Edge New Music Collective

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:33:18 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Program: 5 New Works by emerging Canadian composers:
Margaret Ashburner, Aura Giles, Tova Kardonne,
August Murphy-King, and Nick Storring

$20 (sr $15; st $10)
Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

CHERYL DUVALL (pianist/co-artistic director)
Cheryl Duvall is a multi-faceted musician and pianist. She is active as a soloist, collaborative pianist, teacher and adjudicator and has toured and performed throughout Canada, Italy, England, Argentina, the Netherlands and the U.S. Ms. Duvall appears regularly as a collaborative pianist in the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society concert series and is the official accompanist for the internationally renowned Oakville Children’s Choir. She is especially passionate about contemporary music, which has led her along with friend and violinist Ilana Waniuk, to co-found The Thin Edge New Music Collective. Cheryl has attended the Casalmaggiore Music Festival in Italy, the Palazzo Ricci masterclass series, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, the World Piano Pedagogy Conference and held an artistic residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts. In 2009, she was awarded a SSHRC grant for her pedagogical research on how to incorporate aspects of the Alexander Technique into lessons with beginner piano students. Ms. Duvall completed an Honours Bachelor of Music, majoring in Piano Performance and Theory and a Diploma of Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University as well as a Master’s of Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Toronto. Her main teachers and influences include Guy Few, Chris Foley, Midori Koga, Carmen Piazzinni, Nina Tichman, Henri-Paul Sicsic, Anya Alexeyev and Jamie Parker as well as the Penderecki String Quartet.

ELIZABETH ECCLESTON (oboe)
From her beginnings in Kamloops, BC, Elizabeth Eccleston is currently completing the final stages of her doctoral studies in music majoring in Oboe at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she also obtained her MMus. Her interest in new music developed during her time at Wilfrid Laurier University, where as an undergraduate studying with James Mason of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, she collaborated with numerous young Canadian composers for the performance of new chamber works on the Student Composers Concert Series. During this time, she was also a member of the WLU Improvisation Concerts Ensemble, under the direction of composer Glenn Buhr. Heavily involved with chamber and orchestral music performances, she has also been featured as concerto soloist with several orchestras, winning concerto competitions in Waterloo and twice in Cincinnati, including a performance of Lutosławski’s Concerto for Oboe and Harp with the Cincinnati Café Momus Ensemble. In addition, she has been able to perform both new and traditional music in chamber and orchestral settings during many years of travel with festival tours through China, Italy, the United States, as well as Canada with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Since winning the audition in October 2011, Elizabeth has taken a new position with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra as Second Oboe/English Horn. In her spare time she enjoys playing disc golf and snowboarding.

OLAF SZESTER (percussion/composition)
Olaf Szester is a percussionist and composer based out of Toronto, Ontario. He has been consistent in pursuing both directions throughout his career. Olaf graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Music from Wilfrid Laurier University where he specialized in Orchestral Performance and Composition. In addition, he had the opportunity to perform across Holland while studying percussion at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag (Koninklijk Conservatorium), which is renowned for its focus on new music. He graduated from Koninklijk Conservatorium with a second Bachelor Degree in Percussion in 2008, where he studied with Luuk Nagtegaal, Hans Zonderop, Fedor Teunisse, Ali N’Diaye Rose, Wim Vos, and Stefan Kruger. He has also had the pleasure of studying with Trichy Sankaran, Dave Campion, Michael Coghlan, Richard Windeyer, Peter Hatch, Glenn Buhr, and Linda Catlin Smith. Currently, Olaf is completing a Masters degree in Composition at York University; he is also focusing his energies on freelancing, teaching and pursuing personal musical projects.

ILANA WANIUK (violinist/co-artistic director)
Ilana Waniuk, is a versatile violinist and contemporary chamber music addict. She has held an artistic residency at the Banff centre for the Arts, and has attended several summer workshops and festivals throughout Canada, the USA, and Italy which have provided her with the opportunity to study with members of the Vermeer, Tokyo, Cavani, and Orford string quartets. In 2002 as a participant in the NUMUS Pan-Am Chamber Competition her chamber ensemble the TEDUWA piano trio was the recipient of the Audience Award sponsored by the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Music Society, and the Canadian Music Center Award for best performance of a Canadian work. She has also performed with the Pendulum Ensemble in Toronto, and Ensemble Dal Niente in Chicago. Ilana received a Performers Certificate from Northern Illinois University where she studied with Blaise Magniere, and Marie Wang of the Avalon String Quartet and was a recipient of the Dutton String Fellowship. She completed her Masters degree in performance at the University of Ottawa studying with David Stewart, and received her undergraduate degree in performance and a diploma in chamber music from Wilfrid Laurier University where she studied with Jeremy Bell and Jerzy Kaplanek of the Penderecki String Quartet.

Aura Giles
Flutist and composer Aura Giles holds a Masters in Flute Performance from the University of Ottawa, having studied with Camille Churchfield and is in the ultimate year of her MA in composition with the renowned Steven Gellman. Aura's music pushes the limits of the flutists' traditional skills by incorporating a strong vocal component in her solo pieces. Dedicated to the performance and promotion of contemporary music, Aura joined the board of the Ottawa New Music Creators in 2010. As well as actively performing in solo, chamber and orchestral settings, Aura also plays piano and sings for pleasure and maintains a full roster of flute students. For more information about events, please visit www.auragiles.com

Thomas Wiebe, cello

Fri, 8 Jun 2012 13:53:20 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]
Benjamin Britten is one of the 20th century’s recognized greats. Among his many involvements is much music for cello. This concert presents all of his music for unaccompanied cello.

1 Cello Suite No 1, Opus 72
2 Cello Suite No 2, Opus 8
3 Cello Suite No 3, Opus 87

$25 (sr $20; st $15) [5*]
Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

The three Cello Suites by Benjamin Britten (opp. 72, 80, and 87) are dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. The suites were the first original solo instrumental music that Britten wrote for and dedicated to Rostropovich, who gave the first performances of each work. They are regarded as major contributions to the small but distinguished literature for unaccompanied cello.

Cellist Thomas Wiebe is well-known to Canadian audiences as a soloist and chamber musician. [He is especially known to KWCMS patrons for his phenomenal concert of all six of the Bach suites in one memorable concert (May 2008)]

He has performed on numerous occasions as a guest artist with Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra London Canada. He has also been heard as soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center in New York, and with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded for CBC and Centrediscs.

Thomas Wiebe is also cellist with the Duke Trio, along with violinist Mark Fewer and pianist Peter Longworth. Besides his performances with the Duke Trio, he plays regularly with some of the world’s leading chamber musicians.

Mr. Wiebe studied cello in his native Winnipeg with the late Julie Banton. He also studied at the Eastman School of Music with Robert Sylvester, and with Aldo Parisot at Yale and Juilliard. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Yale.

Thomas Wiebe is Associate Professor of Violoncello at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. He is also on the faculty of the Domaine Forget Summer Music Academy in Quebec.

Boris Krajny, piano

Wed, 6 Jun 2012 17:57:05 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Haydn - sonata in Eb
Beethoven - sonata in e minor op 90
Chopin - Polonaise, op. 61
Grieg - Seven lyrical pieces
Janacek - On the overgrown path

$25 (sr $20; st $15)
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The Czech pianist and teacher, Boris Krajný, studied at the Academy of Music in Prague with František Maxián and Ivan Moravec, subsequently winning first prize at the Senigallia competition in Italy and an honourable mention at the Queen Elizabeth competition in Brussels (1975).

Boris Krajný has performed in New York (Carnegie Hall), Washington (Kennedy Center), London (Wigmore Hall), Paris (Salle Gaveau), Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Salzburg, Moscow (Tchaikovsky Hall), Buenos Aires (Teatro Colón), Tokyo, Sydney (Opera), Baalbek and other towns and cities on five continents. His extensive repertoire includes music of many different periods, with an emphasis on Czech works. He has frequently performed Dvořák's Piano Concerto (including in South Africa), Ravel’s Concerto in G major, the entire piano works of Janáček (at the Rouen festival), Leonard Bernstein's Age of Anxiety (Prague Spring 1990), Martinů’s 4th Concerto (New York), etc.

Boris Krajný teaches at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Boris Krajný has recorded widely (for Supraphon, Panton, Bonton, CBS, etc.) including Bartók’s and Prokofiev’s concertos (with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra), works by Voříšek (with the Prague Chamber Orchestra), quintets by Dvořák and César Franck, piano works by L.v. Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Schulhoff, Martinů, etc. He has recorded the complete works of Maurice Ravel for Supraphon and received the Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros (Paris 1982) for his recording of French piano concertos (Arthur Honegger, Francis Poulenc, Roussel).

The Karfour Trio

Tue, 5 Jun 2012 13:39:10 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

The Music:
Haydn: Trio in G, HXV:25 (“Gypsy”)
Ernest Bloch: Three Nocturnes
Shostakovich: Trio no. 2 in e

Donation concert
Minimum: $20 (students $10)

It’s a foregone conclusion that the K-W Chamber Music Society will be needing money as the spring goes on. Pierre-André’s last year’s trio put on a fine program and raised a good deal of much-needed money. We hope that this year’s will do the same!

The Musicians:

Pierre-André Pashley, violin - BMus Honours, - is currently in the process of completing a diploma in chamber music performance at Wilfrid Laurier University. Over the past four years he has been both developing a youth soccer and leadership program, and coaching violin and orchestra, for which Pierre-André was included in the 2010 edition of the KW Record’s “Top 40 Under 40”. Pierre-André loves to play chamber music, most often with Karfour Piano Trio.

Hee Yeon Kim, cello - recently performed her graduation recital from the Faculty of Music at WLU. Cellist HeeYeon Kim is currently a student of Paul Pulford at Wilfrid Laurier University. Born in Taegu, South Korea, HeeYeon began cello studies at age 15. She came to Canada in 2005 to study at Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto. HeeYeon has won a few competitions, including Kiwanis and the ALLTV Competition. She is finishing her B,Mus Performance this Summer at Laurier and will continue pursuing a Chamber Diploma there next year.

Janelle Timmermans, 20, piano - has recently completed the third year of
her Undergraduate Degree in Honours Piano Performance at
Wilfrid Laurier University, where she studies with Anya Alexeyev.
Janelle’s talents have been frequently acknowledged in her many
awards and scholarships. In 2009, Janelle won the prestigious
Silver Tray, the highest honour of the St. Thomas Rotary Music
Festival. She was also invited by the London Kiwanis Music
Festival to be a featured soloist in the Stars of the Festival concert,
and in 2010 was one of four pianists selected to compete in the
London Kiwanis Music Festival’s special Piano Competition. At
14 years of age, Janelle was the youngest person ever to be invited
to participate in the Musician’s Mentoring Program at Canada’s
National Ballet School for dance accompanists, under the
mentoring of Craig Wingrove and Marina Surgan. At the age of
16, Janelle received the high distinction of First Class Honours for
her Associate Diploma (ARCT) in piano from the Royal
Conservatory of Music. Her collaborative experience includes
vocal and instrumental collaboration, choir accompaniment, dance
studio accompaniment, and chamber music. Janelle has recently
returned from a national concert tour in China as pianist of the
Talbot Duo. [see the concert at June 12]

QuartetFest Young Artists II

Sun, 3 Jun 2012 14:32:48 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Young Artist Ensembles of QuartetFest - 2nd concert

Beethoven, Quartet ino. 11 in f, op. 95 [Räd Qt.]
Shostakovich, Quartet no. 3 [Räd Qt.]
Bloch, Nocturne [Karfouor Trio]
Haydn, “Gypsy” Trio (one movement) - Karfour Trio]
Dvorak, “American” Quartet (one movement) - Ton beau Quartet

$15 (sr $10; st $8)

Young Artist Ensembles of QuartetFest 2
The first of these is this year’s winner of the important Chamber Music Prize offered by the Penderecki String Quartet. In addition, two of these ensembles will be performing entire concerts for us later. We’re sure you’ll be persuaded to come back to hear them again.

The Räd Quartet
- The Winner, 2012 PSQ Chamber Music Prize
Laila Haight, Rebecca Brunner – violins
Nick Stevens – viola; Lauren Jones - cello
-> Beethoven Op 95, Shostakovich No 3

The Râd Quartet was formed one year ago for the chamber music program at Wilfrid Laurier University, with members Laila Haight, Rebecca Brunner, Lauren Jones and Nick Stevens. Their hard work and dedication to chamber music has won them the Penderecki String Quartet Chamber Music Prize. They have played quartets by Mendelssohn and Brahms and collaborated to perform Dvořàk’s second piano quintet. They continue their work over 2012‘s QuartetFest with Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 3 and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11 “Serioso”, op 95.

The Karfour Trio
Janelle Timmermans, - piano
Pierre-André Pashley - violin
Hee Yeon Kim – cello

The trio will be performing an entire concert on its own in the Music Room on June 5th. Turn to that page for more.

-> movements from: Haydn, Trio No 25 “Gypsy”, Bloch Three Nocturnes

Ton Beau Quartet – visiting quartet
Linnea Thacker, Alexa Wilks – violins
Alex McLeod – viola; Sarah Steeves – cello
-> TBA
This fine young quartet is more seasoned than the others, and will be presenting a complete concert in the Music Room on August 1.

$15 (sr $10; st $8)

Each year QuartetFest brings a number of talented young artists to WLU for an intensive session of training in chamber music.

This is the second program by these artists the following day. It is also the final program in this year’s QuartetFest sessions.

QuartetFest Young Artists I

Sat, 2 Jun 2012 14:28:41 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]
Saturday June 2 8:00 p.m.
Young Artist Ensembles of QuartetFest 1

Mozart Qt in d, K 421 (Quartetto Vivo)
Beethoven, Quartet in Bb, op. 18, no. 6 (Amenda Quartet)
$15 (sr $10; st $8)

The calibre of these hard-working student groups is very high - don’t be misled by our low prices!

Quartetto Vivo
Iain McKay, Eslin McKay - violins
Chris Arnold - viola; Amahl Arulanandam – cello
-> Mozart Qt in d, K 421

Amenda Quartet
Victoria Melik , Reanne Kruisselbrink – violins
Elizabeth Weiner, viola; Alexis Castrogiovanni, cello
-> Beethoven Op. 18, No. 6

Each year QuartetFest brings a number of talented young artists to WLU for an intensive session of training in chamber music. Here’s the expected program and artists for the first of these two. Three string quartets were in the running for this years Chamber Music Prize, and while these two were runner-ups, they definitely gave the winning Räd Quartet a run for their money. Here are two wonderful classical quartets, played by very capable students who give their all.

Penderecki Quartet & Two Distinguished Guests

Thu, 31 May 2012 14:06:47 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, WLU]
(University and Hazel St. Waterloo)

Zoltan Kodaly, Duo, Op. 7 (Beaver and Greensmith)
Reinhold Gliere, Sextet no. 3, op. 11
Johannes Brahms, Sextet no. 2 in G, Op. 36

$30 (sr $25; st $20)

The PSQ is joined by two extremely distinguished guests artists - the first violinist and cellist of the world-famed Tokyo String Quartet

The Penderecki String Quartet

Sun, 27 May 2012 14:17:55 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, WLU]
(University and Hazel St. Waterloo)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Two Great Quartets*
Quartet no. 5 in A, op. 18
Op. 130, the Alternate Finale (1826)
Quartet no. 13 in Bb, Op. 130 (with Op. 133, “Great Fugue”)
program somewhat changed from earlier announcement

$30 (sr $25; st $20)

The Penderecki Quartet continues its traversal of the Beethoven quartets, which they are now committing to CDs.

Their many previous performances of Beethoven quartets establish them as major exponents of these immortal works.

Trio Concertante

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:07:45 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Beethoven: Trio in G, op 1 no 2
Katarina Curcin (b. 1971): Gypsy
Schubert: Trio in B-flat, op. 99 (D898)

$30 (sr $25; st $20)
Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

Fine musicians have a way of getting together! Nancy And Tim are known far and wide as Duo Concertante, Canada’s foremost regularly-performing violin and piano duo. Here they are joined by a figure familiar to all local music buffs - making it a natural to call the three, “Trio Concertante” Simon was the cellist of the Penderecki Quartet for six great years. (He is now the Principal Cellist of the Regina Symphony, while Nancy and Tim teach at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland.)

With such personnel, we are assured of a thrilling concert, with two classics, and one by a fine young composer, born in Serbia but trained at U of T (doctorate on composition).

About Katerina Curcin’s work, “Gypsy”:
(Note by composer. For her biography, scroll down.)
Out of the forty Haydn piano trios, perhaps the most famous is the Trio in G major, called ‘Gypsy’. Due to his position as the court composer to Austrian-Hungarian Prince Esterhazy, Haydn was influenced by many Eastern European folk tunes in the creation of his music. The final movement of his Gypsy Trio recalls the recruiting dances of gypsy bands employed by Austrian officials to compel peasants in the fields to join the army.  
The Gypsies have long been travelers, true rolling stones as their home is always on the road. Roma musicians absorbed music from the new territories, and in turn influenced the locals. Their influence was greatest across the Balkans and Central Europe, where it was often the Romany musicians who earned their living by playing for village weddings, feasts and celebrations of all kinds. They became familiar with the music of different parts of the Balkans where they settled, adding their own flourishes, which in turn became standard fare for local musicians. The Roma would travel throughout the region, playing, taking in sounds and ideas and adding them to their own creations.  
The Gypsies is inspired by traditional Balkan and gypsy music. Besides the melodic lines, which imitate the gypsy mellos of the Balkans, there are also other sounds, such as snap pizzicati, fast glissandi, tapping on the wood of the instrument etc. describing the raw and passionate playing of the gypsy bands.  

Katarina Curcin sang with the Jeunesses Musicales World Youth Choir and World Chamber Choir, and earned a Bachelor of Music in her native Serbia before coming to Canada in 1999. She holds Masters and Doctorate degrees in composition from the University of Toronto. Besides much other music, Katarina’s string quartet Walking Away From… was awarded with the Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music in 2005. The quartet represented Canada at the 2006 International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. The quartet received a number of international broadcasts and it was performed by the Penderecki (Canada and Europe) and Tokai String Quartet (The Debut Atlantic).

Her composition teachers were Dusan Radic, Gary Kulesha, Chan Ka Nin and Christos Hatzis. Her orchestral works include: Above the Clouds (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Olympic commission; also performed by TSO); a Double Concerto for violin and percussion; the children’s ballet suite Princess For a Day and a Cantata in nine movements Stabat Mater. She has also written a chamber opera, Anna Karenina and a song cycle based on Japanese haiku. The composer chamber repertoire also includes three piano trios: Gypsies (CBC/Tuckamore chamber music festival commission), In Between and Unorthodox Obsession (York University Piano Trio commission) as well as a clarinet quartet The New Beginnings (QAT commission). Katarina’s string quartet Walking Away From… was awarded with the Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music in 2005. The quartet represented Canada at the 2006 International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. The quartet received a number of international broadcasts and it was performed by the Penderecki (Canada and Europe) and Tokai String Quartet (The Debut Atlantic).
In 2011 Curcin composed music for Canadian feature film Adriatico my love.
Curcin is a recipient of the 2008 K.M. Hunter Artists Awards for music.

Lucy Zhang and Ben Darwin - violin/piano

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:32:00 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Beethoven, Sonata no. 5 in F, “ Spring”
Debussy, Sonata in g
Brahms, Sonata No. 1 in g

$15 (sr $10; st $8)

[There has been a change of pianist for this event. See Mr. Darwin’s bio below]

[KWCMS welcomes the opportunity to present a member of the Perimeter Institute community in our concerts. It is always fascinating to us to see in action artists who are also scientists of serious attainment! For details, read on!]

Lucy Liuxuan Zhang, violin - began her violin training at the age of four in Guangzhou, China. She obtained her Grade 9 Certificate in Violin at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in 1998. Upon moving to Canada, Lucy was appointed Concertmaster of the Mississauga Youth Orchestra from 2000 to 2002 under the direction of John Barnum. Under the encouragement of maestro Barnum, Lucy continued her studies with pedagogue Alec Hou in Mississauga, and won the national audition to join the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2001 and was successfully admitted into the Violin Performance program (intending to double major in Music and Physics) at McGill University in 2002. Lucy has received various awards and scholarships from the Peel Music Festival and the Greater Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival for both solo violin and string quartet.

In 2003, however, Lucy moved back to Toronto, where she studied
Mathematics and Physics at the University of Toronto. Resuming her
violin studies in 2009 with Alec Hou, Lucy worked diligently to prepare
herself for the professional music world. She now plays in the
Chinese Artists Society of Toronto Orchestra, and enjoys promoting new
music playing in the Sneak Peak Orchestra with other young
professionals. She has broadened her musical horizon to include other
genres, employed to play the violin in the new musical "A Ladylike
Murder" by young composer Joseph Trefler and working as an
"improvisor" with independent singer songwriter Kaitlyn Rathwell (also
a graduate student at the University of Waterloo). Lucy played in the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2002, and has been a member of the Hart House Orchestra in 2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2006-2007 and 2009-2010.

Lucy now teaches the violin privately both in Toronto and in the
Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Besides being a violinist, she is also a (light) soprano. [note: we have omitted this portion of her bio, for brevity]

Outside of music, Lucy graduated from the Math & Physics specialist
B.Sc. program and completed her M.Sc. degree in physics at the
University of Toronto in 2007. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in
mathematics at Toronto, while working with faculty and postdocs at the
Perimeter Institute on her research on quantum computation.

Ben Darwin holds a Music Performance Diploma from the University of
Western Ontario, where he studied with Ronald Turini. He was a winner
of the UWOSO and Stratford Civic Orchestra concerto competitions.
Currently studying mathematics at the University of Toronto, he
remains an active chamber musician.

Wellington Winds Ensembles

Sat, 12 May 2012 15:06:14 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Our annual visit by the fine musicians from the area’s top wind ensemble. Program so far:

Saxophone Quartet
Carolyn Baer, Danielle Beck, Joshua Crouch, Ginger Pullen
Nuages (Scherzo) by Eugène Bozza
March of the Dwarfs by Edvard Grieg
American Sketches by Aldo Rafael Forte

Purves-Smith/Déry Trio (clarinet/piano/soprano)
Soprano         Caroline Déry
Clarinet          Shannon Purves-Smith
Piano             Michael Purves-Smith

Déjeuner du matin (text by Jazques Prévert)
Three Songs from Contrasts in Love by Michael Purves-Smith
on the poems: “Upon a Black Twist Rounding the Arm of the Countess of Carlisle” by Robert Herrick;
“Oh llama de amor viva” by San Juan de la Cruz
“Jeanne était au pain sec” by Victor Hugo

Slide by Slide Trombone Quartet
Falstaffiade by Jan Koetsier
Stories of "Max and Moritz" by Jan Koetsier
    with narrator Ted Follows

$20 (sr $15; st $10)
Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

Slide by Slide is an exciting new Trombone Quartet in the Golden Triangle region of Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph. Members of the group are John Monkhouse, Dave Davidson, Jim Edwards and Susan Follows.

They formed the group simply for the joy of making music—some people golf, they play quartets - and until recently used the quartet genre as a musical outlet strictly for their own enjoyment. However, in the Spring of 2003 they were asked to perform as part of the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society concert series and chose the name “Slide by Slide” as their ‘stage name’.

As well as their regular engagements they have been featured in concerts with the Kitchener Musical Society Concert Band, as guest performers at the Central Ontario Band Workshop, and with the London (Ontario) based brass group, Brassroots (Bram Gregson, Musical Director) with guest artist Alistair Kay. With the release of their first CD, “Between Friends”, in 2008 Slide by Slide offers everyone the opportunity to hear them any time as they explore an eclectic collection of everything from Baroque to jazz standards with a little Dixieland jazz on the side.

Here’s general info about the Wellington Winds, from their website: Formed in 1981 and based in the Waterloo Region, the Wellington Winds is a concert band of some of Central Ontario's finest musicians. Many are performing professionals or are music educators.

This is the Wellington Winds 31st season of outstanding, entertaining concerts that present varied programs of the best of familiar music and also new music that has appeal to a wide audience. The Winds concerts are known for their informal approach and enjoyable commentary.

The Wellington Winds has released a number of CDs, including a studio-recorded CD of works by local composers An Artist's Neighbourhood. The core activity is their series of four concerts, each performed twice, on Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m.

In addition to their annual series of the best in band music, they have performed with the Grand Philharmonic Choir, at MusicFest Canada in Toronto, at the Guelph Spring Festival, as co-host of the Music Is For Life Symposium, in workshops for students, and for the Canadian Music Educators' Conference.

With the help of grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Waterloo Region Arts Fund, the Winds are creating an online channel that presents many compositions composed or arranged for symphonic wind ensemble by Canadians. It will also include interviews with the conductor, composers and players.

Caroline Déry holds a Music degree in voice from Laval University- Quebec City, and is also a graduate from Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, with diplomas in opera and performance. Caroline has appeared in numerous professional productions including Pergolesi's Stabatt Matter, Mozart's Requiem, Vivaldi's Gloria, Haydn's Creation, Respighi's Lauda per la Nativita del nostro Signore, Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus, Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen and Bach's Cantata Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen. Some of Caroline’s opera solos include Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Ravel’s L’heure Espagnol and Poulenc’s Le Dialogue des Carmelites.

In addition, she recorded a new composition, Dejeuner du Matin, by Canadian composer Michael Purves-Smith with whom she will explore more of his repertoire this coming fall. Caroline wishes to express her gratitude to everyone who contributed to organizing this beautiful soiree!

Made in Canada II

Wed, 9 May 2012 12:05:17 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Dvorak, Piano Quartet no. 1, op. 23 in D Major
Mozart, Piano Quartet no. 2 in Eb, K. 493
Dvorak, “Silent Woods” for Cello & Piano
John Burge, Piano Quartet [composed for the Ensemble]
[sorry for earlier incorrect program]

$30 (sr $25; st $20)

Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

[artist bios continued - for Elissa and Tawnya, see May 7]

Rachel Mercer
Described as a "pure chamber musician" (Globe and Mail) creating "moments of pure magic" (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has demonstrated her love for sharing music through performance since she was three years old. Winner of the 2009 Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank Competition, Rachel was awarded the use of the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius cello, until August 2012. As the grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Rachel made her European debut in the Concertgebouw and has appeared as a soloist across Canada, in Europe, the United States, Balkans and Israel. A member of the award-winning Aviv String Quartet from 2002-2010, Rachel toured regularly on five continents. Currently based in Toronto, Rachel is cellist of Ensemble Made In Canada, Via Salzburg, the Mercer-Park Duo, and is Artistic Director of the "5 at the First" chamber series in Hamilton. Rachel has given masterclasses at schools, conservatories and universities across North America, South Africa and in Israel. Rachel can be heard on the Naxos, Dalia Classics and EnT-T record labels.

Pianist Angela Park has established herself as one of Canada's leading young musicians. Equally accomplished in both solo and chamber music experience, Angela's versatility has led to continued success in performances across Canada, as well as in parts of the United States, Europe, Japan and Mexico.

Born in London, Ontario, Angela began her musical studies at the age of three. With the guidance of James Anagnoson, she went on to become the youngest Gold Medal winner of the Western Ontario Conservatory of Music, as well as consistent recipient of numerous awards and prizes at the Ontario Provincial Festivals, Canadian National Music Festival, and the Canadian Music Competitions.

In recent years, Angela has achieved further success at the international level, winning the grand prize at the 2001 Grace Welsh Prize for Piano in Chicago, and fifth prize at the 2003 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati. In 2006 Angela was the only Canadian representative and semifinalist prizewinner at the prestigious Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, and in 2007 she was a medallist at the Maria Canals International Competition in Barcelona.

Angela has performed as soloist with Orchestra London Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, Canadian Sinfonietta, UWO Symphony Orchestra, University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Northern Lights Festival Orchestra in Mexico, under the direction of conductors such as Raffi Armenian and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Solo and chamber music appearances include performances for the Steinway Society of Chicago, Montreal Pro Musica Series, Winnipeg Virtuosi, Glenn Gould Studio's OnStage and Music Around Us, Rome's Festival of the Nations, Debut Atlantic Tour and numerous others. Her live performances have been recorded and broadcast on CBC National Radio and on National Public Radio in the United States.

Angela has had the privilege of collaborating with internationally distinguished artists, including violist Rivka Golani, violinists Scott St. John and Erika Raum, flautist Susan Hoeppner, and the string members of the Gryphon Trio. She is a founding member of Made In Canada, an award-winning ensemble that received the CBC Galaxie Rising Stars Award in 2006, and was recently included in Chatelaine's 2008 anniversary list of "80 amazing Canadian women to watch".

Angela’s musical and academic education includes violin performance at the national level for ten years and studies in Biology at the University of Western Ontario. After studying with William Aide at the University of Toronto, Angela earned her Master of Music Degree in Performance with highest honours in 2003. In 2004 Angela received an Ontario Arts Council Chalmers Professional Development Grant, allowing for studies in New York with Jacob Lateiner. Angela completed the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Performance at the Université de Montréal, where her studies were directed by Paul Stewart. She is currently Visiting Assistant Professor (Collaborative Piano-Woodwinds) at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.

Made in Canada Piano Quartet, (I)

Mon, 7 May 2012 11:15:51 -0400

[The concert is at 8:00 at KWCMS Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo]

Program, Concert I (May 7):

Brahms, Quartet no. 3 in c , op. 60
Dvorak, Piano Quartet no. 2 in Eb, op. 87

Brahms was born on this day in 1833 - happy 179th, Johannes!

$30 (sr $25; st $20)
Buy tickets on-line - it’s easy!

The Made in Canada Ensemble, as they now call themselves, in its few short years, has quickly established itself as Canada’s premiere foursome of the type - each of its players is simply one of the best around, and they get along extremely well together. The ensemble has been friends of ours since their beginning. Last year they performed a three-concert sequence with all the Brahms quartets. In this first of two concerts, we take a celebratory back look at Brahms (it’s his birthday!), and then turn to Dvorak, playing the second and most famed of his two works in the form. (Go to the next concert for Dvorak’s other piano quartet. In summer of 2012 (July 14), btw, the Mercer-Oh Trio will be initiating a complete Dvorak Trios series. We’re making it a great year for Dvorak!)

[Below: artist bios for the violinist and violist; for the other two, go to May 9!]

Elissa Lee, violin
Winner of the 23rd Eckhardt-Gramatté Strings Competition, Elissa Lee has performed in cities throughout Canada and can be heard frequently on CBC Radio. She has appeared as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Boris Brott Festival Orchestra, the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l‘Orchestre de Chambre de Montréal and the Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra. Since moving to Europe, Elissa Lee has played recitals in Berlin, Munich and Freiburg and has collaborated with members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as well as with pianist Pascal Devoyon.

Elissa Lee has had a busy chamber music life as first violinist of the Kamareli Quartet and the Bomari String Quartet. As a chamber musician she has performed with Anton Kuerti, Kevin Fitzgerald, Lawrence Lesser, Shauna Rolston and is a regular participant of Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove, England. With pianist Jeanie Chung she won second prize at the 2001 Caltanisetta International Chamber Music Competition. Elissa Lee is also an experienced orchestral musician and has served as concertmaster for the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, and the Canadian Opera Company.

Elissa Lee was born in Toronto, Canada where she studied with Victor Danchenko at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto and, extensively, with Lorand Fenyves at the University of Toronto where she received a bachelor and masters degree in performance. As an undergraduate she was the recipient of the prestigious Eaton Scholarship.

Elissa Lee then moved to Germany to study privately with Andreas Reiner in Munich and Thomas Brandis at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. There she won second prize in the Gyarfas Competition and her graduation recital was awarded with Excellence. These studies were made possible by two Chalmers Performing Arts Training Grants from the Ontario Arts Council and a Canada Council Grant.

Elissa Lee was second concertmaster of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of André Previn. Elissa Lee is now enjoying a busy freelance career, and performs chamber music concerts and recitals throughout Europe and Canada. Frequently on tour as Concertmaster of the KlangVerwaltung Orchestra in Munich, as Substitute Principal Second Violin of Mahler Chamber Orchestra and as frequent guest of world renowned Chamber of Orchestra of Europe, she has performed in the greatest concert halls and festivals in the world.

Tawnya Popoff, viola [while Sharon Wei is on leave]
This Canadian violist enjoys an exciting and versatile international career. In addition to being principal violist with the Vancouver Opera since 2007, she is continuously sought after for chamber music collaborations. She is a member of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (TX), Monadnock Music (NH), and the Walden School Players (NH) with regular engagements in Europe. Ms. Popoff is a founding member of both Microcosmos {a string quartet} (BC), and the Athabasca String Trio (NY), and has ongoing collaborations with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance in addition to developing events with the trans-media group VisionIntoArt. She has given solo recitals throughout North America and Europe and performs with Caroline Stinson as the viola-cello Driftwood Duo.
Ms. Popoff has recorded for the Koch, Albany, Nonsuch, CRI, SHSK'H (web label), Columbia Composers and other independent labels. She has served on the faculties of the Perlman Music Program, University of Pennsylvania, Syracuse University, SUNY Buffalo, the Bowdoin International Music Festival and Artes no Camiño (Spain), was a prizewinner in the 2000 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, and a recipient of two consecutive Canada Council Individual Grants. Her viola was played by Boris Kroyt of the Budapest Quartet, generously loaned to her courtesy of his grandson.
Tawnya Popoff studied with Gerald Stanick (Fine Arts Quartet) in Vancouver, BC and Martha Katz (Cleveland Quaret) at Rice University and is based both in Vancouver and in New York City. Aside from musical pursuits, Ms. Popoff has a cycling tour company offering guided, private and personalized cycling adventures.