Concerts

Fellner Gala Beethoven Finale

Thu, 7 Oct 2010 13:11:43 -0400

Program: Last Three Sonatas of Beethoven (Op. 109, 110, 111) - same as preceding night -

Price $120 per person. [This includes an amount that will be designated a charitable contribution, for which you will get a tax receipt. See below for details]

This special fund-raising concert is made possible by Till Fellner’s generosity in offering to perform the concert twice for us. We are very grateful to him for this remarkable opportunity.

[Note, seven days after we posted this page: already 30% of the places have been taken! You shouldn’t wait too long, it seems...]

The Gala special includes:

** Dinner at 5:30 or so (recommended starting time): meet for dinner at CharBrie’s Restaurant, 15 King St. N., Waterloo (about 8 min. walk from the Music Room, or a short drive.)
[Oops! NOTE: we were taken by surprise when this well-known restaurant suddenly closed its doors. We are working on choosing the best venue, which will be in the near area. All purchasers will be notified, and of course if the new venue really won’t do, we will refund those individuals. We doubt, however, there there will be any such, for downtown Waterloo is now blessed with fine restaurants.]

The ticket includes three courses, each with three options. Details available later; you of course will have your choice on all options. [cash bar: dinner wines, etc., are extra] The restaurant will be reserved for KWCMS that evening.]

** Designated Seats: The concert seating will be limited to the capacity of the restaurant - 50 people. All chairs will be comfortable - no folding chairs, benches, etc. You will be able to select your individual seat. The procedure is: see the Seating Chart [below.....] find your desired seat. Seats assigned in order of payment. The sooner you get your cheque to us, the better your choice! (All the seats are good, of course!)

** Reception, at No. 47 Young St. W. (30 seconds walk), hosted by Betsy Abbott and David Coates. (wines/cheese/etc. definitely included!)

-> Meet the Artist: Till will be glad to autograph a copy of the poster, or your program, as desired. You will be able to chat with him at the reception. (He is, as many of you may know, a most approachable, intelligent, outgoing, and interesting young man.)

** Tax Receipt: you’ll get a charitable donation receipt for $50. (If you want to increase the donation, of course, that would be lovely! Receipts increased accordingly.)

To send your order: click
.

Taken So Far: Seats nos. 3-4-5-18-19-20-28-29-33-34-35-41-43-44-49-50 (as of July 23)

Till Fellner’s Beethoven Cycle Completed

Wed, 6 Oct 2010 12:58:01 -0400

Beethoven Sonatas on this program: The Last Three!
No. 30 op 109
No. 31 op. 110
No. 32, op. 111

$35 (sr $30; st $25)

[Note: This program is repeated tomorrow (Oct. 7) as a Gala, with dinner and reception. Just click

We haven’t bothered to print Till Fellner’s official biography before - the fact that he won the Clara Haskil competition in 1993, for instance; though we have mentioned that he was the foremost pupil of the great Alfred Brendel. Etc.! (see his fine website (click)

But we’ll quote a bit here:

Pianist Till Fellner plays with scrupulous musicianship, purity of style, and sparkling keyboard command – qualities that have earned him plaudits throughout Europe, and in the United States and Japan. His readings of the works of Bach and Beethoven in particular have already placed him among the elect in this repertoire, and the inspired ingenuity of his performances of such 20th century masters as György Kurtág and Elliott Carter have earned him many accolades.

Mr. Fellner is currently performing all of the Beethoven piano sonatas in a cycle spanning seven concerts over several seasons; the cycle is being presented in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; in Washington, DC as a co-presentation with the National Gallery, the Embassy Series and the Austrian Cultural Forum; as well at the Konzerthaus in Vienna; Wigmore Hall in London; the Salle Gaveau in Paris; and Toppan Hall in Tokyo. Mr. Fellner has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, and in major halls throughout the world.

[They don’t mention the Music Room, but we have been privileged to be included in this great series!]

Mainly his concerts have spoken for themselves!

You may reserve immediately, but we will insist on prior payment for this consummatory concert, capping off one of our great series ever. We don’t do credit cards, but a cheque at any of our concerts or in our mailbox would be fine...

Or pay by direct wire transfer. E-mail us to do this: kwcms@yahoo.ca

Hausmann Quartet

Fri, 1 Oct 2010 12:52:18 -0400

Haydn op. 50, no. 5 in F
Zemlinsky no. 3, op. 19
Beethoven op. 59 no. 2 in e

$25 (sr $20; st $15)

This very exciting young quartet has made great impressions all over since its formation in 2004. They’re on their way to the Banff Competition this year too (end of August-early Sept) - so there’ll be an update about that.

Since the Hausmann Quartet's formation in the summer of 2004 at LyricaFest in New Jersey, they have been acquiring a reputation as one of the great young quartets performing today. Praised for their charismatic playing and "marvelously rich tone", the quartet made their debut on the Lyrica Boston Chamber Music series and was soon named Lyrica Boston's Young Artists in Residence.

The Hausmann Quartet quickly garnered additional accolades. In 2006, they were named Norfolk Festival's Quartet Fellows in Residence. Highlights of 2007 included a tenure as quartet in residence at the Blossom Music Festival, as well as being selected to showcase at the Chamber Music America Conference in New York. In 2008, the Hausmann Quartet made its debut at both the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and Music@Menlo. More recently, the quartet was invited to return as Shouse Artists to the 2009 Great Lakes Festival, and was awarded a fellowship for Aspen Music Festival's Center for Advanced Quartet Studies. In addition to festivals, the quartet has taken part in the Emerson Quartet's acclaimed international workshop at Stony Brook, as well as the Juilliard Quartet Seminar at Lincoln Center. The Hausmann Quartet has been a featured ensemble on Performance Today, Aspen Public Radio, WRCJ Detroit, and KZSU Stanford.

In addition to the standard quartet literature, the Hausmann Quartet also champions lesser known gems from composers of past and present eras. In 2008, they were awarded the John Ireland prize at the Rutenburg International Chamber Music competition. As advocates for the advancement of new music, the Hausmann Quartet worked closely with student composers in the Longy Preparatory School. The quartet has also collaborated with composer John Howell Morrison in preparation for the East-coast premiere of his work Hard Weather Makes Good Wood for string quartet and tape. Upcoming collaborations include work with renowned composer Gabriela Lena Frank and rising star, Liam Wade. For projects beyond string quartets, they have collaborated with chamber musicians such as James Tocco, Ani Kavafian, Toby Appel, Jeremy Denk, Laura Bossert, Terry King, Kim Kashkashian, Paul Katz, Joseph Silverstein, Charles Castleman, Steven Ansell, and Victor Rosenbaum.

With a deep belief in community engagement, the Hausmann Quartet established a residency at the Wilson School in Mountain Lakes, NJ, bringing creative musical programs to grade school children. The quartet has also worked with the International Music Foundation in presenting a children's concert series in the Chicago area. During the 2008-2009 season, the Hausmann Quartet created a monthly series of community outreach concerts at the Kent Free Library. The quartet has also served as teaching artists for educational programs sponsored by the Tuesday Musical Association.

The Hausmann Quartet recently completed a graduate quartet residency at Kent State University as teaching assistants to the Miami String Quartet. Additionally, they have been mentored by members of the Juilliard, Guarneri, Emerson, Tokyo, Cleveland, Vermeer, American, Orion, Takacs, Keller, St. Lawrence, and Borromeo quartets. Currently, the Hausmann Quartet holds the Morrison Fellowship Award in residency with the Alexander String Quartet at the International Center for the Arts, San Francisco State University.

Flatiron Trio

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:28:41 -0400

Mozart: Trio in Bb, K. 502
Prokofiev: Violin Sonata no. 1
Zemlinsky: Three Pieces for cello and piano
Brahms: Trio no. 3 in c, op. 101

$30 (sr $25; st $20)

This outstanding trio performed for us in 2007, to great enthusiasm. Cellist Jeremy Findlay has also performed for us as on many occasions, such as in his memorable account of all the Beethoven cello sonatas in a single evening, with his outstanding pianist partner Elena, who is also pianist of the trio. Welcome back to one of the world’s really fine trios!

In 2005, the FLATIRON TRIO formed and named themselves after the architectural landmark of their neighborhood in New York City, the city's first skyscraper, a symbol of the alliance of modernity and grace. Last season, they performed at Carnegie Hall and were featured live on radio and TV broadcasts from the Chicago Cultural Center. They have also performed in Canada, Slovenia and in festivals in Italy and Croatia. Their first recording will feature a monumental work - one they themselves had premiered - by the Spanish composer Octavio Vasquez.

The FLATIRON TRIO is made up of the Israeli-American violinist Nurit Pacht, the Canadian cellist Jeremy Findlay and the Russian pianist Elena Braslavsky. The members were performing together in chamber music festivals throughout Europe when they first met in Cracow, Poland in 1995, ten years prior to their official formation. Individually, the performers have played as soloists and as chamber musicians in most of the worlds great concert halls to great critical acclaim. They have each commissioned and performed new works by some of the leading composers of our time.

The FLATIRON TRIO is also dedicated to children and to education. The members have taught at the Juilliard School of Music, Mannes College in New York, the Special Music School in New York, Encore School for Strings and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. The FLATIRON TRIO has also given master classes and seminars at the Lucy Moses School at the Kaufman Center in New York.

Nurit Pacht, violinist

See this distinguished violinist’s fuller bio: click

Violinist Nurit Pacht was selected as one of the "Stars of the Year 2000" by Le Monde de la Musique and since then her career has blossomed with appearances in London's Wigmore Hall, Vienna's Musikverein, Moscow's Great Hall, Washington's Kennedy Center, Carnegie's Weill Hall, The People's Hall of China in Beijing and at Ravinia's Rising Stars Series. .... Nurit performed in duo recitals with Philip Glass playing the composer's works for violin and piano. She commissioned and premiered works from other leading composers including, Michael Hersch, Noam Sheriff, Annie Gosfield and Octavio Vazquez. ... has toured as soloist with the Israeli Chamber Orchestra. She also performed the world premiere of Noam Sheriff's Violin Concerto Dibrot , a work dedicated to her, with the Israeli Contemporary Players in a radio broadcast from Jerusalem and in the Contemporary Music Festival in Tel-Aviv. ... soloist on a tour of China with the Young Israel Philharmonic ... soloist with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Alliance Players, American Youth Symphony and Santa Rosa Symphony. ... concertized (1996) in six of the worst war-devastated cities of Bosnia to enthusiastic audiences of the three ethnic minorities

In 1990, at age seventeen, she made her U.S. solo debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and has since won top prizes in international competitions in Europe and the United States, including the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Switzerland. She plays on a violin made by P. Guarneri in 1750.

Jeremy Findlay's passion for the cello began at an early age. Born into a musical family, he pursued his interest in both solo and chamber music performance. As a recitalist and chamber musician Findlay has appeared in many prestigious venues including the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Rudolfinum Hall in Prague, Warsaw Philharmonic, Izumi Hall in Osaka, Coliseo in Buenos Aires, Municipal Theatre of São Paulo, Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Weill Hall at Carnegie and Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, New York.

Featured as a soloist, Findlay has performed with orchestras including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Prague Philharmonia, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cracow Philharmonic, Wroclaw Philharmonic, Lodz Philharmonic, Poznan Philharmonic, Silesian Chamber Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic, Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, South Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestra of Malta, Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein, Hermitage Chamber Orchestra in Moscow, Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra in China, Orquestra Sinfonica do Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro Brasilia and the Symphonic Orchestra of the Municipal Theatre of São Paulo. In March 2010 Findlay gave the premiere performance of a cello concerto written for him by the Czech composer Jiri Gemrot together with the North Czech Philharmonic conducted by Charles Olivieri-Munroe. Findlay's CD recording of the Saint-Saëns cello concertos nos. 1 & 2 with the Poznan Philharmonic was praised by Sir Roger Norrington: “This is superb playing by a fine young cellist who deserves to be heard worldwide”.

Findlay has been a guest at festivals including the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in France, “Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival” in Cracow, Maribor Festival in Slovenia, the International Musicians Seminar in Cornwall England, Festival of “Music in Old Cracow”, International Chopin Festival in Poland, Villach Festival in Austria, "Pietre che cantano" Festival in Italy, the "Festival Pontino" in Italy and is musical director of the annual "Felix Mendelssohn Music Days in Cracow". He also plays regularly with the Flatiron Trio, Okoun Ensemble and the Ensemble Salzburg. Findlay has made numerous CD recordings of both solo and chamber music repertoire and has also been featured on radio and television networks including the ORF in Austria, Czech National Radio, the Polish Radio, NHK in Japan, the CBC in Canada and the National Public Radio in the USA.

Jeremy Findlay's cello lessons began with his father, William Findlay, as a scholarship student at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He continued his studies with Daniel Domb at the University of Toronto where he graduated in 1992. Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council grants provided the opportunity for further studies with Josef Chuchro at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and later with Christoph Richter in Germany. Findlay also studied chamber music at the European Mozart Academy, under the direction of Sándor Végh, and took part in the masterclasses of Boris Pergamenschikow and Yo-Yo Ma.

Both in concert and in recordings, Findlay frequently includes repertoire by Czech composers. He has recorded works by Dvorak, Janacek, Martinu, Petr Eben and Jiri Gemrot. Many of Gemrot’s cello works are dedicated to Findlay including his Sonata for Cello and Piano, Variations on a theme by Beethoven, Concertino for Cello, Piano and Orchestra and most recently his Concerto for Cello and Chamber Orchestra. Since their meeting in Prague in 1994, Jeremy Findlay has collaborated with pianist Elena Braslavsky. Together they have appeared in Canada, the United States, Mexico, South America, Europe, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.
Jeremy Findlay Cellist

Pianist Elena Braslavsky has distinguished herself as both a soloist and chamber musician. Her appearances include concerts at the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Berlin Philharmonic, Izumi Hall in Osaka, Melba Hall in Melbourne, Rudolfinum Hall in Prague, Tonhalle in Düsseldorf, Bologna festival, and La Fenici in Venice. She has performed with musicians including Nobuko Imai, Steven Isserlis, and also appeared as a soloist in the German première of a composition "Alleluia" by Sofia Gubaidulina conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich.

She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the New Jersey Symphony, the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, the Cracow Philharmonic, the Warsaw Camerata, the North Czech Philharmonic, and the Prague Philharmonia.

Ms. Braslavsky began piano lessons at the age of five in Moscow, USSR. In 1979 she graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Gnesin School of Music. After emigrating with her family to the United States, she continued her studies at the Juilliard School with Leonard Eisner, Nadia Reisenberg, and Oxana Yablonskaya until receiving her Doctoral Degree in 1991. She also studied at the Staatlische Hochschüle for Music in Cologne, Germany, as a Fulbright- DAAD scholar and at the European Mozart Academy in Prague.
In addition to her active concert schedule Braslavsky has served on the faculties of the Juilliad School of Music and Mannes College in New York. She is currently on the faculty of the University Mozarteum in Salzburg.

TorQ - Percussion Quartet

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:01:12 -0400

TorQ - Percussion Quartet
[*note:to see the schedule for the Sunday afternoon series at the Registry Theatre, which our patrons can now attend - it begins this day - scroll down]

Every now and then we run into an unusual performing group that - despite possible problems of staging etc. - we feel simply deserves to be heard! TorQ is one such - four percussionists making music from all sort of odd devices! -- You’ll see!

Sample reactions from some others:

"I was awestruck by a fabulous performance by four gifted musicians...TorQ amazed a full house with an array of technique. Never have I seen such an interesting combination of instruments create such breathtaking sounds."
- Noah Richardson, The Journal Pioneer (Summerside, P.E.I.)

"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine myself writing the following words, but here they are: I just heard an exquisite performance of Sleep as transcribed for marimba quartet. [I saw their video] and was just knocked out, not so much by the novelty of the whole thing (roving, voyeuristic steady-cam shots of a marimba quartet), but by their nuanced music-making; their sense of line and phrase; and their deep, deep understanding of the underlying structure of the piece. Really blew my mind."
- Eric Whitacre, renowned composer and conductor, and composer of Sleep

Awarded a MARTY for "Best Emerging Performing Arts Group - 2009" by the Mississauga (ON) Arts Council, TorQ was formed in 2004 by four young, enthusiastic Toronto-area percussionists looking to add new energy to percussion repertoire and performance. As well as competing as the sole Canadian representative at the Luxembourg International Percussion Quartet Competition, TorQ has performed to much acclaim and standing ovations across Canada, including feature performances at MusicFest Canada Nationals, the Open Ears Contemporary Music Festival, the Four Seasons Centre for the Arts, Stratford Music Festival and with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of David Gillingham’s Concertino for Four Percussion and Orchestra. TorQ’s repertoire ranges from sweetly lyrical mallet quartets to no-holds-barred, high energy percussive show pieces. In addition to performing classic percussion ensemble repertoire, TorQ is committed both to commissioning works from emerging Canadian composers, and to promoting music education in schools, though school concerts and clinics aimed at elementary and high school students.

Members Richard Burrows, Jamie Drake and Daniel Morphy all met while studying music at the University of Toronto with Russell Hartenberger, Beverley Johnston and John Rudolph, while Adam Campbell hails from PEI and studied at Acadia University before completing further studies at UofT. The members of TorQ are each accomplished musicians in their own right; together they form an incredibly dynamic chamber group. Under the initial guidance of Robin Engelman (NEXUS), they have honed their craft to form an ensemble that is as exciting as it is musical.

TorQ solo concerts generally consist of a balance of new and established works for percussion quartet; each performance features at least one recent Canadian work. TorQ has commissioned approximately 40 works from contemporary Canadian composers, as well as from members within the ensemble. In Fall 2008 TorQ served as the in-class ensemble at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto for classes taught by renowned Canadian composer Christos Hatzis, which resulted in many new works, including a new version of "In the Fire of Conflict" by Hatzis. Other upcoming commissions in the works include compositions by Toronto composers Kevin Lau and Alice Ho, and a multi-media theatre collaboration with the Hamilton Children's Choir and award-winning composer Eric Robertson.

Richard Burrows received both a Masters of Arts in Music Education and a Masters of Music in Performance Percussion from the University of Toronto, and an Honours BMus degree in Performance Percussion from Wilfrid Laurier University. As a former principal cast member of ScrapArtsMusic, Richard has performed throughout North America, Europe, Mexico, Asia and Australia. He has also shared the stage with Nebosja Jovan Zivkovic, Evelyn Glennie, Synergy Percussion and Nexus. Closer to home, he plays with the Kitchener/Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London, in the improv ensemble "Digital Prowess", in a duet series through the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and as a member of the Toronto Raptors drumline "TR Beat". An avid educator, Richard gives masterclasses on concert percussion and drumline throughout Ontario and across Canada.

Adam Campbell completed his Masters of Music degree at the University of Toronto, studying with John Rudolph, Beverley Johnston and Russell Hartenberger, and completed his Bachelor of Music degree at Acadia University, studying with renowned percussionist and drummer Ken Shorley. He has been a member of the National Concert Band and a percussionist for the Scotia Festival of Music, and has performed in Haliburton as part of R. Murray Schafer's production Princess of the Stars. He has also performed with Evelyn Glennie, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan. In addition to freelance work around Toronto, Adam currently performs with Ladom chamber ensemble.

Jamie Drake is currently a Doctorate of Musical Arts candidate at the University of Toronto, where he is completing his dissertation on the history and current usage of the cajón. He completed his Masters degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Jack Van Geem, and his Bachelors at U of T with Russell Hartenberger, Beverley Johnston and John Rudolph. Musical highlights include twice winning the U of T Concerto Competition, performing Steve Reich's Drumming with Nexus, performing with Evelyn Glennie and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, serving as percussionist for the Scotia Festival of Music, and performing live on CBC Radio 2. Jamie is in demand as both a percussionist and drummer, and performs professionally with orchestras, world music ensembles, musical theatre productions, big bands, choirs, and the experimental/jazz group Muskox. You can check out his website here.

Daniel Morphy graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Music in Performance and from the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music with an Artist Diploma. He has also been a member of the National Youth Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Ceremonial Guard Band on Parliament Hill. Mostly recently Daniel was a participant in the Aspen Summer Music Festival and School (2008) and Steve Schick's "Roots and Rhizomes" percussion workshop at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Daniel plays frequently as a professional musician around Toronto, including performances in the percussion sections of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Canadian Opera Company Orchestra.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
New to KWCMS Subscribers

Nota Bene Period Orchesta at Work

(non-subscribers not affected):

Use your KWCMS “Superticket” or “Star-Pack” to attend any or all of the
six concerts in this series at Registry Theatre in Kitchener
[Frederick, just north of Weber] at 3:00 p.m. [note the time]
Three are chamber, three are by the Nota Bene Period Orchestra (they alternate)

-> Starts This day! (3:00)

Procedure: just go!

This is for available space - no reservations. (You can always purchase tickets from them at their standard price - which can be done online. ) If they are sold out, we will try to get an e-mail message out to our people. (To get on our e-mail list, just write us: kwcms@yahoo.ca )

About: the Nota Bene Period Instrument Orchestra goes back several years. Their players are experts on baroque instruments, and among aficionados, they rank up with Tafelmusik and their like (many of their players have played with Tafelmusik as well). Five of this year’s programs are strictly baroque, and one (Apr 10) ventures into classical piano trios.

* Sept 19: Baroque for the Birds
Baroque sonatas, suites and solos by Telemann, Boismortier, Couperin, van Eyck, Balicourt and others, inspired by our feathered friends, for baroque flute, various recorders and harpsichord.
Alison Melville-baroque flute and recorders
Borys Medicky-harpsichord

Oct 17 Nota Bene: Harmony in Chaos [more info later]

Nov. 14: Laura Pudwell and Friends
An intimate afternoon of enchanting baroque song and sonata.
Laura Pudwell, mezzo-soprano
Julie Baumgartel, violin
Margaret Gay, 'cello
Lucas Harris, archlute

March 13 Nota Bene: Bach's Leipzig [more info later]

Apr. 10: Classic Piano Trios
Masterpieces by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven as they were first heard on period instruments.
Boyd MacDonald, fortepiano
Julie Baumgartel, violin
Paul Pulford, cello

May 8 Nota Bene:The Grand Tour [more info later]

Andrew Sords, violin; Cheryl Duvall, piano

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 01:53:55 -0400

Mozart: Sonata in e minor, K. 304
Beethoven: Sonata in a minor, No. 4, Op. 23
Ysaye: Sonata No. 3 for unaccompanied violin, "Ballade"
Franck: Sonata in A major

$25 (sr $20; st $15)

Andrew Sords, violin
Already a veteran of the concert stage, Sords has recently toured with the Brahms, Bruch, Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky violin concerti to critical acclaim. He is the winner of the 2005 National Shirley Valentin Violin Award, the 2004 and 2005 National Federation of Music Clubs Competition, the Fortnightly Music Club of Cleveland and the Festival de la Orquesta Sinfonica de las Americas Competition of the Casals Festival among others. The 2009-2010 season will showcase the concerti of Beethoven, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert and Tchaikovsky.

Born in 1985 in Newark, Delaware, Sords later moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio, and began his violin studies with Liza Grossman, the dynamic founder and Conductor of the Contemporary Youth Orchestra with whom he recorded the Saint-Saens Concerto No. 3 in 2003.

Sords completed his undergraduate education at the Cleveland Institute of Music with violin pedagogues Linda Cerone and David Russell, and performed for the legendary Midori in masterclasses in New York and at the University of Southern California. Most recently, Sords studied under internationally acclaimed violinist Chee-Yun at The Southern Methodist University of Dallas, Texas. Having been exposed to the international stage, Sords has performed in American concert halls and venues in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia.

In 2008, Sords received international exposure as the top Google Classical News story as well as topping the Top-40 Charts in Classical News. Sords has also received national exposure through multiple radio and television interviews and widely distributed print articles.

Highlights for the 2009-2010 season include solo appearances with the Diablo Symphony, Medical Arts Symphony, Clear Lake Symphony, Magic Valley Symphony, Balcones Chamber Orchestra, Tahoe Symphony Orchestra, Stow Symphony Orchestra, Community Chamber Orchestra and the Mesquite Symphony. Sords will also appear as a guest artist on the Defiance Community Cultural Council Series, Boise State University Series, St. Peters Cathedral Series, Baldwin Wallace Recital Series, Ico Art and Music Gallery Series and Chagrin Valley Chamber Series. Sords will make his solo debut with the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, of which he has served as Concertmaster since the 2008-2009 season. In fall 2009, Sords filled in - on 48 hours notice - as Concertmaster of the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra. Recently, Sords has appeared with the Portsmouth Symphony, St. Augustine Orchestra, Balcones Chamber Orchestra, Parma Symphony, Suburban Symphony, and the Minnesota Philharmonic. In 2007-2008, Sords played recitals in Cleveland, Dallas, Nevada, and Korea, and chamber music in the Cayman Islands.
andrew

Notable performances include the Brahms Violin Concerto and the Bowling Green Symphony with David Dettloff; Tchaikovsky Concerto with Maestro Luis Biava conducting at the Plaza de las Americas in San Juan; Chausson's "Poeme" and Tchaikovsky Concerto with Anna Balakerskaia in Holland; Sarasate's "Zigeurerweisen" in the Interlochen Honors Recital Series; and a live broadcast of music innovator George Crumb's "Black Angels" on Cleveland's WCLV 104.9.

Sords commissioned a violin concerto from acclaimed composer Evan Fein, which was completed and recorded with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra in early 2007. The recording of the concerto is already accumulating awards, and will be performed in upcoming seasons on recitals and solo appearances.

In 2007, Sords attended Great Mountains Music Festival in South Korea, studying and performing at Hyo Kang's prestigious festival. He is also acclaimed for his performances with Conductor and Violinist Sidney Harth, Chee-Yun, Neeme Jarvi, David Lockington, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Jon Anderson, Graham Nash, Queensryche, The Supremes, and The Cavani String Quartet with whom he performed in the summer of 2003 at the Allegheny Music Festival. Additionally, in 2006, Sords stepped in on twelve hours notice to perform on the Franciscan University Recital Series with pianist Eric Genuis.

From 2000-2004, Sords and pianist Eriko Izumida performed regularly as recital collaborators. In the spring of 2004 and 2006, Andrew appeared as a guest artist with Ms. Izumida on the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory Recital Series. Since 2006, Sords has worked nearly exclusively with Anita Pontremoli, head of the Collaborative Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The two perform together during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons.

Strongly committed to extending classical music to all, Sords dedicates a portion of his time at almost every engagement to educational outreach, masterclasses and community programming.

Sords is the featured violinist in a documentary on violin technique. He was honored by Pulitzer Prize nominated Composer Kellach Waddle who dedicated his violin sonata to the young violinist. Sords performs on a 1912 Augustine Talisse violin.

Kansas City Star: ...brought in one of the finest young violin soloists I have heard recently. Andrew Sords, a 24-year-old, was an absolute wonder as violin soloist for the Beethoven Concerto in D major for violin and Orchestra...this choice was outstanding. Young Sords was cheered back for encores, which showed his fine talent...

Cheryl Duvall, piano

Cheryl took private lessons in Oshawa, Ontario with Jane Piersma and Anna Laird before beginning studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. She completed a B.Mus. with distinction in both Piano Performance and Music Theory and also has a Chamber Diploma, studying under Anya Alexeyev, Guy Few, Jamie Parker, and the Penderecki Quartet. She was a two-time recipient of the Frederick Schneider Music Scholarship and the Wiebe Music Scholarship for performance and academics during her studies at WLU.

Cheryl maintains a busy performance schedule as accompanist to the Grand Philharmonic Children's Choir and the Addison Women's Choir. She also performs regularly with the Impulse Choir in St. Catherines, and as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist for singers and instrumentalists in Kitchener-Waterloo. In addition to performing, Cheryl enjoys teaching piano and theory students and looking after her dog, Metal. She plans on completing a Masters degree in Piano Pedagogy and Performance in the near future.

Cheryl has performed with distinction in several concerts for the K-W Chamber Music Society. We are happy to welcome her back, teamed up with this noted violinist.

Shoshana Telner, piano

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 14:14:35 -0400

Performer, teacher, competition-winner and new music champion — pianist Shoshana Telner has appeared in recitals throughout North America. In two previous concerts for us, Shoshana Telner has established her prowess in demanding and often out-of-the-way literature.

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

This year, the program is (tentatively):

Alexina Louie Memories in an Ancient Garden
Felix Mendelssohn Lieder ohne Worte Opus 38
Berg Piano Sonata
Hindemith Suite 1922 Opus 26: Ragtime
Liszt Vallée d’Obermann
Charles-Valentin Alkan Esquisses Opus 63 (selections)

Program note: This rangy program includes several pieces by the great and extraordinarily difficult French 19th C. composer Charles Valentin Alkan (1813-1888) - famous as the only pianist who could seriously challenge the great Franz Liszt, and as composer of some of the most demanding piano pieces of them all. Still, he’s not just difficult - he’s also a strong, interesting composer. We’re delighted to be able to present some of his music to our audience.

Canadian pianist Shoshana Telner has performed across Canada and abroad. She made her solo orchestral début with the National Arts Centre Orchestra at the age of 16, and has since performed as soloist with several orchestras including the Québec Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Classical Orchestra, and the National Academy Orchestra. As a chamber musician she has collaborated with artists including violist Steven Dann, cellists Shauna Rolston, Denis Brott, and Andrés Díaz, violinist Menachem Breuer, clarinetist Simon Aldrich, and soprano Ingrid Attrot. Her solo and chamber music performances have been heard often on CBC radio. In 2010, Shoshana became a member of the Philadelphia based Shir Ami Ensemble (which we present on January 29)

Shoshana has participated in numerous festivals including the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the Brott Music Festival, and the Focus! Festival and Piano Century at the Juilliard School. She has been awarded several honors in national and international competitions including the Honens International Piano Competition, the Canadian Concerto Competition, the International Stepping Stone Competition and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Shoshana received a Bachelor’s degree on full scholarship from Boston University, a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York, and a Doctorate in performance from McGill University in Montreal. She has taught piano and coached ensembles at McGill University, the University of Ottawa, and Wilfrid Laurier University. She frequently gives masterclasses, adjudicates competitions, and examines for the Royal Conservatory of Music. In September 2007 she moved to Hamilton, Ontario where she currently teaches in the music faculty of McMaster University.

One of Hamilton’s “most fascinating people and inspired individuals” (Hamilton Magazine), Shoshana has a passion for promoting new music. Her playing is “full of fire and warmth” (The New York Times) and she has been described as an “authentic musician, with a sparkling technique” (Le Droit) and as a “sophisticated and polished musician and pianist” (Julian Martin, the Juilliard School). Shoshana has recorded solo works of Canadian composer Colin Mack on the CanSona label released in 2009.

The Albonata Trio

Wed, 8 Sep 2010 02:22:31 -0400

A Brilliant New Piano Trio

Annette-Barbara Vogel, violin
Simon Fryer, cello
Elizabeth Bergmann, piano

Beethoven, Trio in Bb, Op.11
Hans Gal (1890-1987), Trio in a, Op. 26
Brahms, Trio in A, Op.114

$25 (sr $20; st $15) [5*]

Two of these three works (the Beethoven and Brahms) were originally for clarinet, cello, and piano, in which format we have heard them both at various times. Substituting the violin for the clarinet - a perfectly legitimate practice - changes the sonic package a lot, enabling new insights into these classics.

Hans Gal has not been often played in our concerts, but his music has been very well received when it is performed. This extremely capable trio is bound to make a strong case for this lesser-known composer.

Elizabeth Bergmann, piano:
Born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Elizabeth received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Alberta where she studied with Helmut Brauss and continued her studies with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany, obtaining artist and chamber music diplomas.

She returned to Canada completing a Masters degree with Patricia Parr at the University of Toronto. Together, Elizabeth and Marcel obtained a D.E.S.S. (Diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées) in duo piano at the Université de Montréal with Jean-Eudes Vaillancourt and later completed post-graduate studies in the Solistenklasse in Hannover.

As a duo, Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann won first prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Caltanisetta, Italy. In 1993 they became members of the young artists' roster of Yehudi Menuhin-Live Music Now and were prize winners at the 4th Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition.

Their recitals and concerts with orchestra have taken them to many parts of the world, including the USA, Italy, Germany, Holland, Greece and Canada. The duo has appeared at the celebrated Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Banff Arts Festival, the Royal Bank Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition, the International Two Piano Symposium and Schubertiade, Miami, the Tage f¸r neue Musik, Darmstadt, the Braunschweiger Kammermusik Podium and at the EXPO 2000, Hannover.

They have made recordings for the CBC, for several stations of the ARD in Germany and for National Public Radio in the USA. In 1997 they recorded their first CD with 20th century works for two pianos. The duo's most recent recording appears on the Arktos label featuring works by Rachmaninov, Bernstein and Debussy. As founding members of the International Piano Quartet they had the opportunity to record Stravinsky's Les Noces under the direction of Robert Craft at the Abbey Road Studios in London. The CD was released in 2002 on Koch International Classics.

Currently on faculty at The Mount Royal College Conservatory in Calgary, Elizabeth and Marcel have also been involved in various musical activities at The Banff Centre for the Arts in recent years. Their extensive repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary.

Annette Barbara Vogel, violin

Not only possessing “a formidable technique and stunning musicality but also worth mentioning stage presence that transmits to orchestra and audience alike," (Wuppertaler Zeitung) violinist Annette-Barbara Vogel has distinguished herself as one of her generation's most exciting German violinists, acclaimed for her virtuosity, intelligence and passion. Her numerous appearances at music festivals in Aspen (Colorado), Bellingham (Washington), Chautauqua (New York), Kuhmo (Finland), Las Vegas (Nevada), Menuhin (Gstaad/Switzerland), Noord-Holland (Netherlands), Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (Canada), Pan Music (Seoul), Ravinia (Chicago), Sächsisches Mozartfest (Germany), Berliner Festwochen Germany), Frankfurter Musiktage (Germany), Scotia (Halifax), and Schleswig- Holstein (Germany) have been met with particular enthusiasm. She has performed throughout Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, South-America, the US and Asia as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, as well as presenting masterclasses in Albania, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, Germany, Haiti, Lebanon,
Malaysia, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States.

At the age of three, she was taught her first violin lessons by her father, switching to Emilia Mohr- Morikawa later. At age 11, she was admitted to the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen as a "Jungstudentin," one of the youngest students ever to be admitted to that university. At the age of 12 she gave her debut as a soloist in the "Tonhalle" Düsseldorf. She consequently continued her studies with Herman Krebbers, Walter Levin, Henry Meyer, Peter Oundjian, Pieter Daniel, and Dorothy DeLay at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, the Musikhochschule der Stadt Basel (Switzerland), the Sweelinck-Conservatory Amsterdam (Holland) and received an Artist Diploma from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. Additionally, she holds three degrees from the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen in violin and chamber music ("Künstlerische Reifeprüfung" and "Konzertexamen" with highest honors). Grants from foundations in Germany and the US, such as the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), "Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes Bonn", Kulturkreis im BDI, the “Starling Foundation” and the “Ponto-Stiftung” Frankfurt, supported her worldwide studies.

She has worked and performed with highly esteemed musicians such as Pierre Amoyal, Young- Chang Cho, Patrick Demenga, Ralf Gothoni, Bernhard Greenhouse, Arthur Grumiaux, Alexander Hülshoff, Maria Kliegel, Juhani Lagerspetz, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Elsbeth Moser, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Viktor Pikaisen, Sandra Rivers, Dmitri Sitkovetzky, Peter Zazofsky and others as well as
with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony and Cologne Radio, Gürzenich Cologne, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras.

Annette-Barbara Vogel has performed in concerts halls such as the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the big hall of the National Concert House Taipeij, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Alhambra Granada, Louvre Paris, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C. among many others.

The Tokyo String Quartet recommended her for an Artist-in-Residence position with the Monticello-Trio at the University of Virginia/Charlottesville where she taught from 1994 to 1995 before returning to Germany. From 1995 to 1998, she was on the faculty of the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen and held the positions as concertmaster of the “Folkwang-Kammerorchester Essen” and later of the "Niederrheinische Sinfoniker Krefeld" before she accepted her position as Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Annette-Barbara Vogel has won numerous awards in national and international competitions and has also been serving on the jury of the German "Jugend musiziert" competition since 1998.

“The mastership of Annette-barbara Vogel is on such a high level that it actually doesn’t matter what works will be performed. Any performance in her hands turns into a memorable event...” (WAZ). As an avid performer of 20th century music, she is also known for her extraordinarily huge standard repertoire and her unusual projects. She has premiered numerous works written for her with future commissions in the process. In 1999 she toured Romania and Germany playing the Brahms violin concerto in a series of critically acclaimed performances. The “Wuppertaler Zeitung” wrote that “...one experienced Brahms as it rarely happens—as profound, sensitive, romantic.” Recent seasons further highlights included widely praised performances of the complete Beethoven Violin-Piano Sonata Cycle in Germany and the US with long-time duo-partner Ulrich Hofmann as well as concert engagements of the Brahms Double concerto, Bruch violin concerto No. 1 and Beethoven Triple concerto in Europe and the US beside frequent duo- and chamber music recitals and festival appearances.

Annette-Barbara Vogel recorded on the Harmonia Mundi and Cybele labels with works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Yuri Brener, Aram Chatchaturian, Andreas Kunstein, Alfred Schnittke, Bedrich Smetana, Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, Yves Prin. Recent CD releases include a CD with Duo Violin-Cello pieces (works by Fiorillo, Sibelius, Pleyel and Gliere), a Violin-Piano CD with Sonatas by Brahms (f minor op. 120), Enesco (f minor No. 2), Lutoslawski (Partita) and Reger (Romanze e minor) and a portrait CD presenting strings-piano chamber music by composer Hans Gal (Violin Sonata op.17). ). Fono Forum wrote of “Recital” that “Annette-Barbara Vogel shows the whole spectrum of her brilliance ...in regard to her choice of repertoire “ and calls her “a temperamental violinist with
sensually shining and yet so flexible sound.”

Her CD of “French Women Composers of the 19th century” (Violin-Piano Sonatas and Pieces by Louse Farrenc, Pauline Viardot an Lily Boulanger) is due for release in 2008. All currently available recordings are produced on the Cybele Records label (www.cybele.de, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.jpc.de, www.albanyrecords.com). Upcoming recording will include the Violin Concertos and Sonatas by Hans Gal for Avie in the UK.

Annette-Barbara Vogel initiated and created "MAGISTERRA ! International Chamber Music Festival and Academy, Iowa" which was successfully inaugurated in May 2000, offering masterclasses, lectures and chamber music coachings for students, as well as mixed chamber music recitals. She continued to serve as the Artistic Director and a highly successful second season took place in 2001.

Since January 2004, Annette-Barbara Vogel has been teaching at the University of Western Ontario.

Simon Fryer, cello

Simon needs no introduction to any of our active K-W Chamber Music Society patrons. His presence at the cello corner of the Penderecki Quartet over the past six years has made him a familiar and greatly admired figure in Canada’s musical world. He has also performed in a cello/piano duo capacity to splendid effect, first with Lydia Wang, then with Leslie De’Ath. He was a cellist with the Toronto Symphony for many years before moving to the Penderecki Quartet.

Dave Young Trio

Sun, 5 Sep 2010 02:04:04 -0400

The Chamber Music Society doesn’t have a lot of jazz concerts - but when we do, we think we do it right! Our long-standing association with bassist Dave Young leads us to rely on this eminent practitioner of the art of jazz. This time, he teams up with Kevin Turcotte, trumpet, and, Robi Botos pano. Both of them are celebrated jazz performers, and the three together can be expected to do great things!

$25 (sr $20; st $15) [5*]

Kevin Turcotte gained recognition in Canada as a major talent on trumpet, winning the Jazz Report Award for Trumpeter of the Year in both 1993 and 1994. Turcotte is the favorite of many musicians, having recorded some 18 albums and toured and recorded with numerous bands over the past five years. His list of credits includes the elite of Canadian jazz: The Kieran Overs Quintet, The Mike Murley Quartet, The Boss Brass, The Jazz Report All-Stars, The Dave McMurdo Big Band, Time Warp, Hemispheres, The Barry Elmes Quintet, NOJO and Jean Martin. Kevin is also a prominent jazz educator, teaching at the University of Toronto and adjudicating for MusicFest Canada.

Robi Botos
Born into a musical Romani (Gypsy) family in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary,
Robi began his musical career when he was just a child, playing
drums, and percussion with his father and two brothers. It was at age
seven when Robi first took up piano, the instrument with which he is
making his mark.

Botos, who immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1998, has been recognized
worldwide for his piano talent. Given his relative youth, he's still
considered by some standards to be "an emerging talent", but has
already won high ranking prizes in piano competitions in: Paris,
France; Belgium; Long Beach, California; Montreux, Switzerland (which
led to an opening slot for Oscar Peterson the following year); and
this month in Jacksonville, Florida. In Toronto, he's received the
National Jazz Awards Keyboardist of the Year title (2007), the 2007
NOW Award for Best Jazz Artist, and a JUNO nomination for his 2006
record, "One Take".

Robi Botos is a regular member of legendary drummer Archie Alleyne's
bebop outfit Kollage, and has also been featured with Roberta
Gambarini, Joey DeFrancesco, Peter Appleyard, Pat LaBarbera, James
Blood Ulmer, Jackie Richardson, Dave Young, Norman Marshall
Villenueve, Michael Brecker, Toots Thielemans, Guido Basso, and
Avishai Cohen, to name a few. He is also a composer and leader of
his own group, performing frequently with his brother Frank Botos, a
drummer who also calls Toronto home.

Dave Young

Our view is: hey, if you need to read up on Dave Young, you’re probably not going to be looking at this page anyway! Universally acknowledged king of the jazz bass fraternity, Mr. Young’s presence on any jazz ensemble is a guarantee of a great performance!

Heather Taves, piano

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:53:33 -0400

Program: The Chopin Etudes (both sets)

$20 (sr $15; st $10)

Heather Taves
As a concert pianist, Dr. Heather Taves has performed as guest soloist with Canadian symphony orchestras coast to coast. She has performed in recital at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Place des Arts in Montreal, Merkin Hall in New York City, the Prague Spring Festival in the Czech Republic, the Madras Philharmonic Society in India, and Radio Zurich in Switzerland. She has been featured on CBC TV and Radio 2, and has recorded music by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms. Taves is also an active composer, contemporary pianist and improviser. She has worked with such icons of twentieth century avant-garde music as John Cage, George Crumb, and Elliott Carter, and has premiered many works by composers including Glenn Buhr and Peter Hatch. Her recent creative work includes collaborating with Barbara Croall to direct “Spirit of Understanding,” a production which brings together Aboriginal non-Native musicians working in urban music, performance art and video. Taves obtained a Bachelor of Music degree with high distinction in performance from McGill University at age 19, a Master of Music degree from Indiana University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Heather joined the Faculty of Music at WLU about a dozen years ago. She stopped performing as a concert artist a few years back to devote time to her daughter. She is now resuming work on the keyboard, and expressed a major interest in doing the Chopin Etudes. So, here we are!

Bremen String Quartet

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:03:36 -0400

Fritz Kreisler, String Quartet
Giuseppi Verdi, Quartet
Beethoven, Quartet in Eb, op. 74 (“Harp”)

$25 (sr $20; st $15)

The Bremen String Quartet is a newly formed ensemble of dynamic young musicians ready to make an impact showcasing their love for chamber music. Combined, they bring to the table a wide variety of experience and acclaim as performers and teachers throughout Canada and abroad.

The quartet was featured on the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s “Baroque and Beyond” series in April, 2009, and has performed on the popular concert series at First United Church and Church of the Good Shepherd in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. Their official launch concert was in May, 2008 at St. John’s-Kilmarnock School in Breslau, Ontario, and was enthusiastically received and reviewed. The quartet had an exciting concert series in the 2009-2010 season, and was also featured in a Prelude concert for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in February, 2010, and on the Perimeter Institute’s Black Hole Bistro Dinner Concert Series in April, 2010.

Aside from performing, the Bremen String Quartet runs a chamber music programme geared towards young musicians in the Waterloo Region, under the auspices of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, of which they are all members.

Venturesome programming is one of the hallmarks of Bremen Quartet performances. The quartet by Fritz Kreisler is a good case in point. It is rarely played, even though his many short violin pieces are standard fare in violin recitals everywhere. The web has this to say:
“ How many people know that Fritz Kreisler (1875-1963) the famous violinist and composer of works for violin and piano wrote a string quartet--and a very good one too. That it is good is really no surprise, not only because Kreisler was a talented composer, but also because he was a regular string quartet player. Of course, it does not sound anything like his sweet morsels such as Liebesfreud or Schön Rosmarin.

Kreisler's quartet was completed in 1922. In the preceding decade, there had been many new and, some would say, shocking developments in music. Those who, as Kreisler, rejected the atonalism of Schönberg and his Second Vienna School, could no longer write in the idiom of Brahms. New ways had to be found. Composers such as Dohnanyi, Weigl, Weiner, Stravinsky, to name but a few, all struck out in different directions, while retaining some aspects of traditional tonalism.

Many critics have considered Kreisler's quartet to be programmatic and autobiographical as was Smetana's From My Life. Kreisler, however, never openly admitted this although he did tell his biographer, "It is my tribute to Vienna." (his birthplace) The opening movement, Allegro moderato but also titled Fantasia, immediately strikes a note of tragic drama with the opening cello solo. The main part of the movement does not turn out to be tragic but nonetheless has an eerie aura and gives off a haunted sense. The tonality of the following Scherzo, Allegro vivo con spirito, has a waywardness about it as the music dances along, literally bursting with energy. The languid trio section provides a mighty contrast. A slow movement, Andante con moto, also has a title: Introduction & Romance. The music is poignant and portrays an aching or a yearning for something lost. In main theme of the finale, has a rhythmic gaiety to it. It is an updated version of a Viennese dance tune. Slowly the music builds to a huge dramatic climax which is capped by the restatement of the tragic utterance of the opening cello solo. The music ends peacefully on a quiet note. Perhaps eulogizing the gay Vienna of the closing decades of the Habsburg Empire, which was destroyed forever by the First World War.

This quartet is truly a modern masterwork. That it did not achieve the fame it deserved and was not taken seriously can only be due to the fact that its composer was a violin virtuoso known for writing effective encore pieces. It deserves to be heard in concert and will be enjoyed by experienced amateur players as well.

Verdi’s solo quartet was written during a lull. (He was in Naples for a production of his opera Aida, and one of the singers was stricken with a sore throat. As he waited impatiently, he decided it was time at last to write a string quartet! [Verdi said, “"I've written a Quartet in my leisure moments in Naples. I had it performed one evening in my house, without attaching the least importance to it and without inviting anyone in particular. Only the seven or eight persons who usually come to visit me were present. I don't know whether the Quartet is beautiful or ugly, but I do know that it's a Quartet!" The answer, happily, is that his quartet is up in the near-masterpiece category, and has received a good deal more exposure than the Kreisler, though not a huge amount, and for a related reason: one expects Verdi to write operas, dammit! -- just as people expected from Kreisler violin salon encore pieces. They’re similarly wrong, which is not surprising. The composer of Falstaff, for example, is obviously a master at counterpoint - the last movement of the quartet contains a fugue! - and his dramatic genius as evidenced everywhere in his operas comes in handy too. Here’s the All-Music-Guide’s brief note:
“The work comprises four substantial and technically demanding movements, and has been widely admired for the forcefulness of its musical ideas and its structural cohesion. It opens with a powerful Allegro, with an urgently sculpted first group giving way to a somewhat more relaxed second subject. The slow movement, marked Andantino, brings the most vocally expansive and lyrical material, though even here one would hardly credit the work to a master of the opera stage with little prior experience of writing chamber music. Next comes a Prestissimo movement, unsettled and vehement in mood, while the finale contains a massive fugue illustrating Verdi's mastery of contrapuntal techniques. Although infrequently performed, Verdi's sole chamber work occupies a unique position in the history of the quartet genre.”

The Beethoven works presumably needs no promotion to our patrons! (Jan’s complete notes on Beethoven’s quartets are available - just e-mail us: kwcms@yahoo.ca )

Alexander Tselyakov and Friends

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:51:53 -0400

Mr. Tselyakov loves to play chamber music too - as almost all good pianists do! - and on this occasion we’ll have performances of three great duos from the early Romantic era, celebrating the Schumann and Chopin years:

Robert Schumann: Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet and Piano
Schumann: Sonata for violin and piano, op. 105
Schumann: Fantasy Pieces, op. 88, Romanze & Duett,
for piano trio [Daniel Tselyakov, piano]
Chopin: Sonata for Cello and piano

$30 (sr $25; st $20) [6*]
The Musicians:

Alexander Tselyakov, piano
Afendi Yusuf, clarinet
Amanda Goodburn, violin
Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron, cello
Daniel Tselyakov, piano

[for Mr. Tselakov’s biography, go to preceding page (scroll down, click “previous”)]

Afendi Yusuf, clarinet -
is still an undergraduate student in the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty of Music. But he has been playing in important ensembles around Waterloo since well before he finished high school, and is recognized as a prodigious natural talent. His outstanding contributions to 2009’s “WindFest” concerts, for example, were commented on by his colleagues and teachers alike. We had no hesitation in inviting him to perform in this prestigious company.

Since beginning private studies in late 2005, Afendi Yusuf has been involved with numerous ensembles in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region. He is a concerto competition winner of the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra (2006), the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Youth Orchestra (2007-2008), and most recently won the concerto competitions of Wilfrid Laurier University and the Guelph Symphony Orchestra. Afendi is a recipient of several scholarships and awards including the Ross and Doris Dixon Music Scholarship, the Geraldine Kress Schafer Memorial Scholarship for Advanced Studies in Music, and the Garfield Bender Music Award. He was recently invited to participate in the 2010 Young Artists Program of the National Arts Centre’s Summer Music Institute in Ottawa. Afendi just completed his second year of studies at Wilfrid Laurier University with Ross Edwards, pursuing an Honours Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Performance.

Amanda Goodburn - Violin

Amanda Goodburn distinguished herself as a critically acclaimed young violinist in both England and South Africa before immigrating to Canada in 2001. As an undergraduate, Ms Goodburn performed with the major South African orchestras and won two major awards to facilitate overseas study. These successes, in addition to a full scholarship, enabled her to continue her graduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Upon completion of her studies, Ms Goodburn attended summer masterclasses in Banff, and since then has been based in Canada. Having completed an additional graduate degree from the University of Toronto, Ms Goodburn has been featured as a soloist with the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Toronto, and has also performed with Arraymusic and the Mooredale and ARC Ensembles. A founding member of the Tokai Quartet, Ms Goodburn is also currently a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron - Cello

Originally from Montreal, cellist Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron recently moved to Toronto to join the Tokai String Quartet and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Emmanuelle has performed throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe as a solo, orchestral and chamber musician. She is a prizewinner of the Fishoff Chamber Music Competition, Canadian Music Competition, Prix d'Europe competition, and Radio-Canada's Young Artist Competition. Her performances have been broadcasted on American radio stations and on CBC. She has performed at Yellow Barn, Sarasota, Aspen, Music Academy of the West, Tanglewood and Montreal Chamber Music Festivals and also in New York's Alice Tully Hall and Washington's Kennedy Center. She has received two Prizes with Great Distinction from the Montreal Music Conservatory both in Cello and Chamber Music Performance. She pursued her studies at The Juilliard School in New York where she received a Masters degree. As a member of the Kailas String Quartet she spent two years as the Graduate Quartet in Residence at Rice University in Houston working with the Juilliard, Emerson, Takacs, Orion, American, Brentano and Mendelssohn quartets. Her main cello teachers were Denis Brott, Joel Krosnick, Bonnie Hampton and Norman Fischer. As a winner of the Canada Council for the Arts Bank of Instrument Competition, Emmanuelle has been generously loaned the use of the Adam-Shaw bow for a period of three years.

Daniel Tselyakov has won numerous scholarships, trophies and awards, including the Phyllis and Dorothy Hotlby Scholarship, the Provincial Music and Speech Finals for the Most Outstanding Piano Performance of J.S. Bach, the Toronto Summer Music Academy, the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg Scholarship Competition, Provincial Arts Finals (Senior Piano Class), Senior Music Scholarship Series Competition MRMTA, the National Canadian Music Competition, the McLellan Competition and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra Young Player Award. Born into a musical family in 1992, Daniel began his piano studies at the age of five with his parents, father, distinguished pianist Alexander Tselyakov, professor of piano at Brandon University and mother, Alla Turbanova, piano teacher E- G Conservatory. He also participated in master classes with Marc André Hamelin, Michael Kim, Richard Raymond, Kyoko Hashimoto, André Laplante and Jamie Parker. By the age of 14, Daniel had performed Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 as a soloist with the Penderecki String Quartet and a world première performance of Canadian composers Jim Hiscott’s “Amador” and Randolph Peters’s” Intrada". He made a remarkable impression as the youngest musician ever to be invited as guest artist with the prestigious Virtuosi Concert Series, and as soloist with Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra ( Liszt "Piano Concerto No.2") , Canadian Sinfonietta ( Saint-Saëns's "The Carnival of the Animals"), Winnipeg Symphony Chamber Orchestra ( Bach Concerto in A minor, BWV1065 ) and San Luis Potosi Symphony Orchestra ( Mexico) with Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini

Alexander Tselyakov, piano

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:05:00 -0400

Alexander Emigrated to Canada in the mid-nineties and was early discovered by KWCMS. His first concert for us, in 1995, immediately established him as one of the major pianists of our time, and he has performed almost annually ever since. (His move to Brandon University in Manitoba, alas, has cut down on the frequency of these treasured appearances.)

Program: All Chopin
Nocturne in c#, op. 27, no. 1
Scherzo no. 2 in bb, op. 31
Barcarolle, op. 60
Complete Etudes (both Books)

$30 (sr $25; st $20)

The Mercer-Oh Trio: Haydn V

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:46:06 -0400

Haydn Trios:
a. Early trios (possibly written with harpsichord in mind)
HXV: 1 in C
HXV: 35* in A
HXV: 2 in F
[* don’t be misled by the high number - this is an early work]

b. Late Trios (definitely with piano in mind)
HXV:15 in A
HXV: 23 in d

$25 (sr $20; st $15) [5*]

Getting our splendid trio together is not so easy, but they found us a date in mid summer, so of course we took it!
They bring another five of the 45 delectable trios by Joseph Haydn, in this (so far as we know ) unprecedented in Canada project of performing all of them over a period of - well, we don’t quite know how many! - years.

Judging by their first four efforts, this will surely be another extraordinary evening! The two sisters and their friend get along extremely well, both with each other and with this music.

Akemi Mercer

Canadian violinist Akemi Mercer performed all over the world as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestra player. Prize-winner in the Canadian Music Competition, Akemi has appeared as soloist with the Toronto, Oakville and Etobicoke Orchestras. She has been a member of the award-winning Gemini and Ebony String Quartets, the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra Academy. Since March 2008, Akemi is a permanent member of the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, now Associate Principal Second violin, under Paavo Jarvi. Along with her orchestral playing, Akemi is member of the Alighieri Quartet, the Frankfurt String Sextet and is a leading member of Frankfurt Strings, a string orchestra made from members of the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra. A regular return visitor to Canada Akemi played most recently as guest concertmaster with the National Ballet Orchestra, gave a performance with her sister Rachel Mercer of Brahms' Double Concerto, and a 5th concert of a Haydn trio cycle with the Mercer-Oh Trio for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society.

Rachel Mercer

Grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has performed as a
soloist across Canada, in Europe, the Balkans, the United States, South Africa and Israel. As a member of the award-winning
Aviv String Quartet from 2002-2010, Rachel toured regularly on five continents playing in halls such as the Auditorium du Louvre,
Zurich Tonhalle, Wigmore Hall, Herbst Theater in San Francisco, the Library of Congress in Washington DC, Baxter Hall in Cape
Town, St Lawrence Centre in Toronto, and at festivals such as Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, Lockenhaus, Davos, Colmar, Oslo
and Ottawa. Currently based in Toronto, Rachel is cellist of Ensemble Made In Canada, Via Salzburg, Art of Time Ensemble, the Mercer Trio and Duo. Rachel has released discs on Naxos, Dalia Classics and EnT-T. As winner of the 2009 Musical Instrument Bank Competition, Rachel plays the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius on loan to the Canada Council for the Arts by a generous anonymous donor.

Gregory Oh:

Canadian pianist Gregory Oh holds graduate degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan. Praised for his “crystal clear tone and highly sensitive art of touch” (Graz N-Z), and described as an “exceptional performer…mesmerizing…intelligence and insight…a visceral sense of tempo, excellent voicing, a wonderful pianistic palette, and a warm, honest sound” (National Post), he teaches at the University of Toronto, plays harpsichord in uberband The Lollipop People, directs the new music group Toca Loca and appears with a wide variety of ensembles across Canada.

from his website: “On July 13th, I’m playing with the fabulous Mercer Grrlz. Akemi, Rachel and I will be continuing our Haydn Piano Trio Cycle for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society at the Music Room.”

Alex/a Duo: Violin & Viola

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 18:39:22 -0400

Due to players’ scheduling problems, we will not after all be able to present the young quartet we had advertised. BUT .. we have half a quartet!

Alexa Wilks, violin; Alex McLeod, viola

-- and they will play a most interesting program (here’s the final version, after some sorting-out):

Selections from Bartok’s 44 Duos - paired with
Bach Two-Part Inventions*
Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia
Bach: adagio, from solo violin sonata in g (no. 1)
Stephen Chatman, The Varley Suite (solo violin, mvts. after Bach);
Hindemith: unaccompanied viola sonata
Biber (1644-1704): Passacaglia, from the Mystery Sonatas

*[specifically]:
Bach Bartok
BWV 772  (#1)               Play Song
BWV 784 (#13)              Teasing Song
BWV 781 (#10)              Ruthenian Song
BWV 775 (#4)                Hungarian Song
BWV 779  (#8)               Burlesque

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

Alexa Wilks, violin:

A native of Almonte, Ontario, Ms. Wilks began her violin studies at age three, and made her first public appearance at age five, performing Mozart’s celebrated composition “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. In November 2008, Ms. Wilks performed the world premiere of composer Kevin Lau’s Violin concerto with the SPO orchestra in Toronto. While pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto under the mentorship of Annalee Patipatanakoon, professor and violinist in the Gryphon Trio, she continues to be active in the Toronto freelance scene, where she is a member of Mayumi Seiler’s celebrated chamber ensemble Via Salzburg and the Esprit Orchestra. An emerging talent in contemporary music, Ms. Wilks has collaborated with several Canadian composers, including Arsenio Giron and Steven Chatman. This past January, Ms. Wilks participated in the University of Toronto’s Penderecki Festival, where she performed the composer’s String Trio and Clarinet Quartet with Professor Peter Stoll. Their performance of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Clarinet Quartet recently aired on CBC radio’s “The Signal” with host Laurie Brown. Ms. Wilks enjoys a varied chamber music career, from playing piano trios in Banff, Alberta this past summer, to performing in the Stanford String Quartet seminar this coming June. Ms. Wilks performs on a 1760 Louis Guersan violin.

P.S.
KWCMS aficianodos will want to know that Ms. Wilks (and the whole quartet) come highly recommended by her teacher Annalee Patipatanakoon of the Gryphon Trio. Our view is that if Annalee says that someone is worth watching out for, then that person is worth watching out for! [The Gryphon Trio will play for us on Beethoven’s Birthday - weather gods willing...!]

Alex McLeod
Alexander McLeod is an exciting young violistic talent who has performed as a chamber musician, a soloist and an orchestral musician throughout Canada, America, France, Germany, Italy and Finland. Alex holds a B. Mus. From the University of Toronto and a DKA (Artist's Diploma) and a M. Mus. From the Hochschule fuer Musik Karlsruhe. Alex is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto, studying with Katharine Rapoport and Teng Li.

Some Note on the Music:
Every piano students has grappled with Bach’s Fifteen Two-Part Inventions, superb little essays and exercises whose “exercise” aspect - as with his Well-Tempered Clavier pieces - is very much overshadowed by their aesthetic calibre. And most string students are likely to have played at least a couple of Bartok’s famous 44 Duos for Two Violins (equally often played by violin/viola) - of which exactly the same thing can be said. Pairing them as the Alex/a Duo does is a stroke of genius!

The Handel passacaglia is mostly Mr. Halvorsen’s work, in fact. The tune is from Handel’s 7th Suite for harpsichord (it’s the 6th movement), but setting it for violin and viola, as did this Norwegian teacher and performer (1864-1935), is no simple matter. The result is both beautiful and extremely challenging technically. So successful was this adaptation that it is played everywhere when two serious string players get together. (Cellists steal the viola part regularly - we have a recording of the Mercer sisters doing it, e.g.)

The two solo items are absolute classics. Bach’s sonatas and partitas for unaccompanied violin stand utterly unchallenged at the top of the literature. The first one (in g [minor - we use the convention of designating major keys in caps, minor in lower case], BWV 1001 has a noble opening adagio - suitable, I’ve always thought, for initiating this matchless set of works. Following this, Ms. Wilks plays the Varley suite by Canadian composer Stephen Chatman, with several movements inspired by/derived from Bach. (“"Stephen Chatman writes bright, expressive, eminently accessible fare that's easy on the ear and good for the soul" - says John Terauds, Toronto Star)

Hindemith’s solo viola sonata reflects his long involvement with that instrument, he having been the violist in one of the major string quartets of his day. Getting into Hindemith’s aesthetic is not easy, even though he never abandoned tonality. But it’s rewarding, and the technical challenges of this work are simply formidable. (We had a wonderful account by Alex’s teacher Teng Li last April, that many patrons will remember with pleasure.)

[change:) Alex will follow this up with Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s (1644-1704) Passacaglia, the concluding movement to his famous Fifteen Sonatas on the Rosary (or “Mystery Sonatas”) - top violin-music hit of the 17th century and enormously influential.

2010-2011 chronological list of our concerts

Tue, 1 Jun 2010 15:05:32 -0400

Go to the web page for individual concerts in the next two months or so. This list gives information on dates and performers, usually not programs

Prices of concert is in “stars” (asterisks): each star [*] is $5 for adults; for seniors, subtract $5; for students, subtract $5 more. [See information about “starpack” subscrptions by selecting our “tickets” heading (scroll to top)]
Location: Almost all are at our Music Room, 57 Young St. W., Waterloo [see “venue” heading (scroll to top)] For all concerts elsewhere, the location will be specified on this list.

Time: All are at 8:00, again unless specifically stated otherwise

June
4 fr QuartetFest I: Roger Chase, viola; Michuko Otaki, piano [5*]
5 sa QuartetFest II: Young Artists I - at Keffer Memorial Chapel This concert is moved to the Music Room [3*]
6 su QuartetFest III: Penderecki Quartet - Keffer Chapel This concert is moved to Maureen Forrester Recital Hall [5*]
7 mo QuartetFest IV: The Schweigen Trio (winners of PSQ Chamber
Music Prize for 09-10). At the Music Room [3*]
8 tu QuartetFest V (finale): Penderecki Quartet with Andrew
Burashko, piano. At Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, WLU
(University Ave. at Hazel At) [5*]
13 su Bergmann Piano Duo [5*]
18 fr orchestra@uwaterloo Chamber Music [3*]
19 sa Victory String Quartet + Jody Davenport, guest artist [5*]
22 tu K-W Community Orchestra Chamber Music [3*]
26 sa K-W Chamber Orchestra Chamber Music evening [4*]
29 tu David McEvoy, piano [3*]

July
7 we The Ton Beau Quartet [4*]
13 tu Mercer-Oh Trio: Haydn Trios V [5*]
18 su Alexander Tselyakov, piano [6*]
21 wed Alexander Tselyakov Chamber Concert, with Afendi Yusuf,
clarinet; Amanda Goodburn, violin; Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron,
cello [6*]
August
26 th Bremen String Quartet [5*]
30 mo Heather Taves, piano [4*]

September
4 sat Dave Young Trio [5*]
8 we Trio Albonata [Annette-Barbara Vogel, violin; Elizabeth Bergmann,
piano; Simon Fryer, cello] (5*]
12 su Soshana Telner, piano [4*]
16 th Andrew Sords, violin; Cheryl Duvall, piano [5*]
*** 19 su at 3:00, Registry Theatre, Kitchener: KWCMS Subscribers can attend
“Baroque for the Birds” with Alison Melville, baroque flutes/ etc, and Boris
Medicky, harpsichord
19 su TorQ - Percussion Quartet [4*]
24 fr Flatiron Trio [6*]

October
1 fr Hausmann Quartet [5*]
6 we Till Fellner, piano [7*]
7 th Till Fellner, piano [special, gala] - WRITE kwcms@yahoo.ca
10 su Mercer-Oh Trio: Haydn Trios VI [5*]
13 we Arina Burceva, classical guitar [5*]
*** 17 su at 3:00, Registry Theatre, Kitchener: Nota Bene Orchestra
18 mo Penderecki String Quartet [6*]
20 we Alessandro Marangoni, piano [5*]
27 we Duo Concertante [violin/piano] [5*]

November
1 mo Beethoven Cello Sonatas I: Wendy Warner, cello; Irena
Nuzova, piano - [5*]
3 we Beethoven Cello Sonatas II (same performers) [5*]
7 su Olena Klyucharova, piano; Andriy Tykhonov, jazz piano [4*]
*** 14 su at 3:00, Registry Theatre, Kitchener: Laura Pudwell, mezzo; and
friends
Nov 16-20: A trilogy by a great Canadian ensemble:
16 tu Made in Canada Piano Quartet, 1st of 3 [6*]
18 th Made in Canada Piano Quartet, 2nd of 3 [6*]
20 sa Made in Canada Piano Quartet, 3rd of 3 [6*]
24 we New Zealand Quartet; James Campbell, clarinet [7*]
27 sa Springdale Ensemble: Wendy Wagler, flute; Hector Vasquez,
cello; Boyd McDonald, piano [4*]

December
6 mo Boris Krajny, piano [5*]
12 su James Mason, oboe; Julie Baumgartel, violin; Beth Ann De
Sousa, piano [5*]
16 th Gryphon Trio - Beethoven’s Birthday [7*]

January 2011
6 th Valtchev-Tchekoratova Duo (violin/piano) [5*]
9 su Rachel Mercer, cello [unaccompanied] [5*]
16 su Alexei Gulenko, piano [4*]
20 fr David Leisner, classical guitar [5*]
26 we San Agustin Duo (Emma Banfield, violin; Diana
Dumlavwalla, piano) [4*]
29 sa Shir Ami Ensemble (NY) [6*]

February
6 th Arkel String Trio [Marie Berard, violin; Teng-Li, viola;
Winona Zelenka, cello] [6*]
9 we Ian Hominick, piano [5*]
12 sa Ensemble Salzburg [6*]
16 we Marina Hoover, cello; Patricia Tao, piano [5*]
23 we Trio Hochelaga [Anne Robert, violin; Paul Marleyn, cello;
Stéphane Lemelin, piano] 6*
27 su Toronto String Sextet [Arkady Yanivker, violin, et al] [6*]

March
7 Aviv Quartet [See 8th; Bartok cycle deferred til 012]
8 tu Aviv Quartet will now play Haydn, Brener, and Schubert [6*]
12 sat Sarah Davis Buechner, piano [5*]
15 tu Janina Fialkowska, piano [7*]
23 we Trio d’Argento, flute/clarinet/piano [5*]
25 fr Penderecki String Quartet [6*]
28 mo Lafayette String Quartet [7*]

April
*6 we Miriam Stewart-Kroeker, cello; Stephanie Mara, piano [3*]
8 fr Michael Lewin, piano [5*]
*** 10 su at 3:00, Registry Theatre, Kitchener: Nota Bene Orchestra - Bach’s
Leipzig
*15 fr Pemi Paull, viola; Katelyn Clark, harpsichord [5*]
*17 su Trio 86 [Krista Martynes, Clarinet; Jennifer Thiessen, Viola; Marc Wieser, Piano]
20 we date tba Arkady Yanevker, violin; tba, piano [5*]
23 sa Chroma Classical Guitar Duo [5*]

May
6 fr Molinari Quartet (of Montreal) [5*] [date tentative]
*** 8 su at 3:00, Registry Theatre, Kitchener: Nota Bene Orchestra

12 th Micheletti Trio [Veronique Mathieu, violin (Qubec); Andre Micheletti, cello (Brazil); Jasmin Arakawa, piano (Japan)] [5*]

* * * * * * * * * * * *
[Here follows a list of the concerts we presented during the past year, June 1, 2009-May 31, 2020:

Below is simply a complete list of our concerts, by artist (not always with programs) For a concert in the next few months, consult the “Concerts” table and click the ones you’re interested in. * At the end of May Quartet Fest begins. There will very likely be at least one more concert in that period.

* dates with an asterisk have been changed to the one indicated at some time in the recent past on this site and flyers

June 2009
2 tue Biava Quartet* Great new quartet from Juilliard play Haydn, Quartet in Eb Op. 33 #2 "Joke"; Ginastera, Quartet #1; Grieg Quartet in g [at MR]
4 thu WindFest Players, with Chi-Ming Shui, piano in Ludwig Thuille, Sextet; Myslivicek: Octet #1; Wendt: Partita in Eb; Ponchielli: Il Convegno arr for Winds and 2 clarinets by C. Weait [B]
5 fri QF 5 Penderecki Quartet; Denis Brott, cello: Schubert Quintet in C Major; Slava Qt (PSQ prize winner] Beethoven op. 95 [3 mvts] [at WLU]
6 satFinal concert: QuartetFest 09 - Astonishing young ensembles: Haydn op 71/2 - Quartetto Celsus; Shostakovich 7th - Quartetto Vicino; Mozart K. 465 in C - Four Voices Qt; Fauré Trio op 120 - Eusebius Piano Trio [app.] [B]
8 mon New African Jazz: Magehsen Naidoo, guitar; Prince Bulo, bass; Thandeka Mabuza, Zulu Jazz Vocals/percussion - from the forefront of South Africa’s jazz circles - new sounds from a very old culture in very modern styles [A]
11 thur Joseph Rosen, clarinet; Hristo Popov, violin; Eriko Izumida, piano Classics for Clarinet, Violin, Piano. Expert musicians in the great repertoire for this combination: Bartok, Contrasts; Milhaud Suite, Brahms, Trio op 40 (arr) [A]
June 13 sat WindFest 09, III: Olena Klyucharova, piano in Mozart’s superlative Quintet in Eb, K. 452; Heidi Wall , piano in Poulenc’s brilliant Sextet; Mozart’s amazing Serenade in c, K. 388 + Pergolesi, trio for 2 oboes & E.H. [A]
16 tues “Big Band” Classics! Beethoven Septet; Schubert Octet Fabulous masterpieces - great musicians! - The Bremen Quartet [Lance Oullette, Anita Walsh, Jody Davenport, Cathy Anderson] & Joseph Rosen, clarinet; Michael Rosenberger, horn; Christian Sharpe, bassoon $25/$20/$15 [A+]
18 th Flanders Recorder Quartet World-famed super-pipers! Music of 4 centuries - 15th-18th! Van Ghizeghem (c.1445-1472); Isaac (c.1450-1517); de Stockem (1445-c.1500) ; Anonymous; Henry VIII (1491-1547); Arbeau (1519-1595); de Cabezon (c.1510-1566); de Araujo (1610?-1684); Byrd, Purcell, Ashton (c. 1485-1558); Preston (died c.1563); Handel; Sweelinck [A+]
23 tues K-W Community Orchestra Amateur players in music by Handel, Haydn, Dvorak, Kodaly, Holst, Clementi, Shostakovich, more... [B]
24 wed Patricia Creighton, flute; Peter Allen, piano Two great Halifax musicians in sonatas by Bach, Poulenc, Reineke, and Michael Conway Baker [A+]
27 sat Chopin: Yuval Fichman piano from this multiple prize-winner, veteran of Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Centre, etc: 9 selected Preludes, 5 Nocturnes, 3 Mazurkas, Etudes, Waltz (#14), “Heroic” Polonaise [A+]

July
3 fri Pocket Opera - 4 players [mostly TSO] 3 singers in the “pocket Madam Butterfly!” with cabaret preview (“I hate opera, but I love Madama Butterly!” [A+]
11 sat Haydn Trios - Third program of this complete cycle by the brilliant Mercer -Oh Trio: Akemi Mercer,violin; Rachel Mercer, cello; Gregory Oh, piano. From Frankfurt Radio Orchestra; Aviv Quartet; U of T Faculty of Music - “wowed” us in their first two. 4-5 more delightful works by this classical master. Here are Trios nos. 10, 14, 20, 24, 34 [A]
23 thurs Orchestra@UW summer chamber music concert - they’re amazing! prog (tent.:) R. Strauss, Duet Concertino, clarinet/bassoon; Tchaikovsky, String Quartet No. 1; Brahms Clarinet trio ; + tba [3*]
27 mon David Sinclair, Flamenco guitar; Fernando Barros Lirola - Flamenco singer - two experts bring us Flamenco from the heart! M. Lirola is renowned in his native Spain. [4*]

August
1 sat Lafayette Quartet The fabulous four from Victoria, B.C. - a favorite over 20 years! - with Haydn (tba); Murray Schafer Qt. #11 -composed for LSQ; Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues; Beethoven Grosse Fuge [6*]

10 thu Jazz with Don Thompson, O.C.* piano & bass, James Brown, jazz guitar; Stephen Zurakowsky, classical guitar. Two distinguished jazzmen join a classical guitarist. Don Thompson is one of the “Grand Old Men of Jazz” in Canada (and now holds the Order of Canada!) James Brown, well-known jazz guitarist; Stephen Zurakowsky, Waterloo, composes, teaches, performs in an appealingstyle. Mostly jazz, some light classics for a nicely varied evening. $20 (sr $15; st $10) [4*]

12 sat Silver Birch Quartet: Haydn I
Christian Robinson & Jeff McCausland, violins; Jane Russell, viola; Alexandra Lee, cello Remarkable quartet from [!] Sudbury, with a special affinity for the works of the great “father of the string quartet” Joseph Haydn. In this first of two, they play four earlier works: Op. 0 in Eb; Op. 1, #6 in C; Op. 17, #6 in in D; Op. 20, #4 in D $25 (sr $20; st $15) [5*]

17 thu Paul Galbraith, classical “Brahms” guitar
One of the world’s noted guitarists with his unique instrument that is held like a cello. The big warm sound that results has been celebrated in many countries and captured on several recordings. Haydn: Sonata 36 ; Ponce: Prelude, Variations, & Fugue on 'La Folia de España'; Bach: Solo Cello Suites Nos . 5 & 6.$25 (sr $20; st $15) [5*]
19 sat Danny Holt, piano This personable and talented exponent of new music for piano brings an exhilarating and entertaining program by Graham Fitkin: Fervent (1994); Karen Tanaka, Techno Etudes I, II, III (2000); Christopher O’Riley: Selected Radiohead Transcriptions (2002); Mike Garson: NOW Music Suite (5 pieces [4*]

22 tues Cecilia Quartet One of Canada’s “hottest” young quartets, world prizes, make for a terrific listening experience. Haydn, op. 74, #3 in g, “The Rider”; Liam Wade, #2 “Canadian”; Beethoven, #10 in Eb, op. 74, “Harp” [5*]

26 sat Antero Winds (Colorado, USA) An outstanding young chamber ensemble, with great new and classic repertoire. Ibert, Trois pieces breve; Resanovic - Drones and Nanorhythms; Nielsen, Quintet; Piazzolla - Libertango [5*]

October
1 thu Alturas Duo [Charango/Guitar] This astonishing duo - Canadian guitarist, Chilean virtuoso on folk instruments - are steeped in the music of South America and classics: Telemann, Bach and many Chilean/S.American folk and other works (see our website for full program.) You’ll be impressed! [4*]
4 sun Amity Trio - [vln/cel/pno] from the Simcoe area, an expert ensemble plays an ArtsCan Benefit Concert. Mozart, Bb, K. 254; Mendels-sohn #1 in d; Smetana, in g. [4*] or by Donation
7 wed Moshe Hammer, violin; Robert Kortgaard, piano The “much-loved violinist in Mendelssohn, violin concerto; + Bruch, Kol Nidre; Bloch, Nigun; Wieni-awski, Legende & Scherzo Tarantella; Srul Irving Glick, Suite Hebraique; Alex Mannasen, Canto .[6*]
14 wed Andriy Tykhonov Jazz Quartet Andriy Tykhonov - piano; Robin Habermehl - sax; James Hill - double bass; Sean Habermehl - drums Andriy’s phenomenal grasp of literature, and the talents of three other fine jazz players, make for a great evening! [4*]
17 sat Shoshana Telner, piano Her phenomenal talent was clear from last year’s concert for us, so we asked her back. Now it’s Haydn, sonata #32; Carl Vine, sonata; Chopin, Fantasy is f; Bartok, Rumanian Folk Dances; Moszkowski, Rapsodie Espagnole; Liszt, Venezia e Napoli. [4*]
21 wed Jones/Maruri Duo - cello & guitar. World-renowned by now, they’ve played superbly for us twice. Marcello - Sonata in G; Schubert, “Arpeggione” Sonata; Drew Heminger (b. 1968) - Songs from America; Erik Marchelie (b 1957) Don Quijote y Dulcinea; Manuel de Falla, Suite Popular [6 Popular Spanish Songs] [5*]
26 mon Till Fellner, Beethoven sonatas, Concert # 4 The renowned Austrian continues his Beethoven series around the world - including lucky us! - with Sonatas #4, #15 (“pastorale”) #24, #25, and #27 [6*]
28 wed Jason Carter, harp-guitar He has taken his unusual instrument all over the world! Classical/Spanish Guitar: Isfahan (Trad. Iranian); Rondenas (Trad. Flamenco); Guten Morgen Mein Engel; Kruununvuori; Shamal; Kaamos; Colour of Silence; Soleares; Going Home. Harp Guitar: Utö; Almost Home; Different Worlds; Restless; Jana; Finlandia (Jean Sibelius) [4*]
November
1 sun Jason Cutmore, piano Spanish program: Albeniz, Prelude; Soler, 2 sonatas; de Falla, Homenaje, Andaluza, & 3 dances from 3-cornered Hat; de Severac, 3 pieces from Cerdaña, [4*]
5 thur Zodiac Trio [Kliment Krylovskiy, clarinet;Vanessa Mollard, violin; Riko Higuma, piano ]Multiple prize-winning trio is “one of the leading chamber groups of its generation” -Vanhal, trio; Stravinsky, l’Histoire du Sldat; Bartok, Contrasts; Aratunian, suite; Schichele, Serenade for three Schicheles; Paus, trio. [4*]
8 sun Madawaska Qt + Leslie Kinton, piano play two great Quintets: by Dvorak and Shostakovich [5*]
12 thur G8 Guitar octet: the Canadian & Salzburg Guitar Quartets The fabulous octet in: 17th C. music by Orologio, Grossi, Gabrielli, Vecchi; 20th C by Schneider, Roaring Guitars; Brüderl, Octopus; Roux, Carvnaval, Cmme un Tango, En las calles de Buenos Aires; Trépanier, Cuerda pa’rato; Bellinati, Baião de Gude. [7*]
15 sun Trio Bravo (Toronto - Terry Storr, Clarinet; Baird Knechtel, viola; John Selleck, piano) Trios by Mozart, Gordon Jacob, Fauré, Juon, Lane, Selleck [4*]
18 wed Juana Zayas, piano The fabulous Cuban-born pianist returns with another great program: Bach, Italian Concerto; Scarlatti, 10 sonatas; Chopin, Tarantella, Barcarolle; Lisz, Paganini Etudes #4, 3 (“La Campanella”) [5*]
22 sun Toronto String Sextet Brahms Sextet #1, Gliere Sextet #3 [5*]
*25 wed Württemburg Chamber Orchestra/Gryphon Trio
30 mon Roberto Prosseda, piano Schumann: Waldszenen op. 82; Fantasia in C, op. 17. Mendelssohn: Fantasie op. 15 on an Irish Song; 3 Fantasies ou Caprices op. 16; Fantasie op. 28 [6*]
December
2 wed Michael Williams, Extraordinary pianist/composer from California; see our website - for a special deal, too. [4*]
4 fri Tokai String Quartet Highly acclaimed Toronto quartet in its fourth great concert for us: Haydn tba; Oswaldo Golijov, Tenebrae for String Quartet; Brahms: Qt no. 1 [5*]
6 sun Mercer-Oh Trio Haydn’s Trios, Concert IV Four or five more of these delightful, rarely-heard works, tba. Now Rachel Mercer plays the famous Bonjour Stradivarius cello. [5*]
9 wed Norteño - tango from Ottawa Outstanding exponents of tango literature (esp. Piazzolla), with bandoneon, piano, electric guitar, violin, bass. Prog tba. [5*]
16 wed Beethoven’s Birthday with PSQ Two great late Quarets: #13, p. 130 in Bb (w. 2nd ending); #15, op. 132 in a (with the legendary “Heilige Dankgesäng [6*]

January
6 wed Rachel Mercer, cello; Minsoo Sohn, piano Beethoven: Sonata in D , Op. 102, No. 2; Shostakovich: Cello Sonata; Mark Nerenberg: I Thirst; Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata [5*]
11 mon Jerzy Kaplanek, violin; Stéphan Sylvestre, piano Ravel: Sonata Posthume; Schumann: Sonata in a op 105; Szymanowski: Sonata in d; Chopin: solo piano (tba) [5*]
15 fri Alcan Quartet famed Cdn. Qt; Beethoven 18/4 in c; José Evangelista, Spanish Garland; Alessandro Annunziata, Meltemi; Sir Ernest MacMillan, 2 Sketches on French-Canadian tunes; Mendelssohn, Qt in f op. 80 [5*]
17 sun Anton Kuerti, piano. Mozart, Fantasy K 475; Haydn Son . #62; Beethoven, Diabelli Var. (w. Intro) [7*]($35/30/25) [advance purchase essential]
24 sun Penderecki Quartet Beethoven, op. 18 #5; Shostakovich, no. 13; + tba [6*] ($30/$25/$20)

February
1 mon David Jalbert, piano Shostakovich, Preludes/Fugues nos. 7, 24; Ravel, Valses noble et sentimental; Schumann, Carnaval; Dinuk Wijeratne: Colour Study in Rupak Taal [note change of date from 31st][5*]
6 sat Russian Duo (balalaika/piano) Classics by Dvorak, Mozart, Schubert, Bach,and some folk songs from this team of virtuosos. [4*]
8 mon WLU Student Composers at the Music Room. (We’ll be updating this.)[free]
10 wed Till Fellner, Beethoven sonatas Nos. 12, 13, 14 (“Moonlight”), 22, 21 (“Waldstein”) [7*]($35/30/25) [reservation essential]
12 fri Quasar Saxophone Quartet* Brilliant foursome from Montreal. J-S Bach : Art of Fugue (excerpts); Chick Corea : Children's songs; Will Gregory : Hoe Down; Gilles Tremblay : Levées; Claude Viiver : Pulau Dewata; Iannis Xenakis : XAS; Frank Zappa : Black page, Zoomby Woof [5*]
24 wed Wilma Van Berkel, guitar; Sibylle Marquardt, flute; Sherry Steele, soprano Dominic Argento, Letters from Composers; Dusan Bogdanovic, Songs and Dances from the New World; Villa-Lobos, Bachiana Brasileira; Piazzolla, History of the Tango [4*]

March
1 mon Miró String Quartet Two fabulous monster pieces: Schubert, #15 in G; Beethoven, op. 130/133 (w. Great Fugue) [7*]
3 wed Triple Forte piano trio Beethoven: Op. 70 no. 2 in Eb;
Shostakovich, Trio no. 1, opus 8, in c; Kelly-Marie Murphy: Give me Phoenix Wings to Fly; Ravel, Trio in a [6*]
7 sun Red Chamber [Four ancient Chinese instruments] [5*]
14 sun Enso Quartet [5*]
*15 mon Robert Gruca, guitar [4*] [New Date]
20 sat Robert Silverman, piano [5*]
23 tues Penderecki Quartet [7*]
28 sun Till Fellner Beethoven sonatas VI #s 9, 10, 8, 11, 26 (“Les Adieux”] [7*]

April
3 sat WallaceHalladay/Teng Li, viola/Midori Koga, piano - Hindemith [5*]
5 mon Trio Accord (string trio) [5*]
*11 sun Inbal Segev, cello; Elena Baksht, piano [5*]
*1* thur Made in Canada Piano Quartet [6*]
17 sat Eric Himy, piano [5*]
21 wed Lydia Wang, flute; Peter Vinograde, piano [5*]
27 tues Janina Fialkowska plays Chopin [7*]
29 thur Silver Birch Quartet* (all-Haydn 2) [5*]
*30 fri Wellington Winds Chamber Music [3*]

May
14 fri St. Petersburg Quartet Zurab Nadarejshvili #1; Prokofiev #2; Tchaikovsky #1 [5*]
21 fri Gillham-Landschoot-Iinuma Trio [5*]
26 wed Mauro Bertoli, piano [4*]