Clik here to view.
Tafelmusik and Jakob Lehmann introduce us to Sophie Gail, Louise Farrenc and...
The Tafelmusik concert I heard Friday night at Koerner Hall makes an interesting chaser to the Toronto Symphony Concert I saw Thursday, my previous lengthy rapturous review. Yes there’s a lot going on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yuja Wang plays Prokofiev: a study in contrasts to open the Toronto Symphony...
“Yuja Wang Plays Prokofiev” might be the title of the Toronto Symphony’s opening concert of the 2026-27 season Thursday September 24th, but we heard a great deal more last night. Yuja also played four...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Questions for composer Linda Catlin Smith: an interview
Linda Catlin Smith is a composer I’m pleased to interview, as a couple of her works are about to be premiered, including one by the Toronto Symphony next week. Her music is heard and acclaimed around...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jennifer King’s suffragist pianism comes to Toronto
I think it’s the first time I was at a concert program like this, consisting entirely of classical music composed by women. To begin English composer Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) greeted us from the stage,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Elissa Lee talks about the upcoming BIGLAKE Festival
Founders and Directors Elissa Lee and Johannes Debus present BIGLAKE, an annual festival in Prince Edward County (PEC). Johannes Debus and Elissa Lee Founded in 2018 by classical musicians Elissa Lee...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Two sides of the same fiddler
Toronto Summer Music showed us a magic trick. William Fedkenheuer played classical violin in the first half of the concert. William on violin and Orion Weiss on piano played a movement of Brahms, then...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kleztory at Toronto Summer Music
Kleztory made their third appearance at Toronto Summer Music Festival Monday July 20th at Walter Hall although this was my first chance to hear and see them, as much a visual as aural experience....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Golden Age: Erin Morley and Lawrence Brownlee bring their magic to a live...
Last year soprano Erin Morley and tenor Lawrence Brownlee released an album titled “Golden Age” accompanied by Munich Radio Orchestra conducted by Ivan Repušić featuring opera solos & duets from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mark Tetreault recalls his Toronto Symphony Tuba playing days
Whenever I come into the concert hall for a Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert and see a tuba my heart beats a bit faster: because it means something extraordinary. I just googled the tuba. You won’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Toronto Summer Music opening night celebration with Les Arts Florissants
Driving downtown to the concert Thursday night July 9th in Koerner Hall I drove through downpours, hearing of roads closed by local flooding. By the time I got there the weather had cleared up, an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Of Whales and Willpower Part One: Jamaican Music from Apocryphonia
The title of the concert Friday June 12th at Christ Church Deer Park was “Of Whales and Willpower: The Jamaican Jonah, Part 1”, suggesting that there’s a sequel in the works. This first step was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Digging into cinematic culture with Maria Dueñas, Gustavo Gimeno & the...
In a week when every item in the Toronto Symphony’s concert program has a connection to film, it was amazing to see such a remarkable variety, the many different ways music and movies can be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bringing the first Jamaican oratorio to life in Toronto: an interview with...
As a follower of Apocryphonia, I heard about the concert presenting excerpts from Samuel Felsted’s Jonah, coming this Friday June 12th at 7:30 pm, at Christ Church, Deer Park. The work is significant...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Virtuoso Shunske Sato takes Tafelmusik to the next level with Beethoven &...
Descending the stairs after the final Tafelmusik concert of the season at Koerner Hall, walking slowly behind older audience members, a woman beside me glanced over, eyes glowing, wanting to share her...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mandle Philharmonic plays Mahler 2nd
I have to make comparisons. Even the most sympathetic critic observes and then contextualizes, by framing those observations in comparison to others. On Friday May 22nd Mandle Cheung conducted his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Co-existing worlds of Epic Wagnerian Toronto Symphony
Thursday night the Toronto Symphony showed us they could blend Western & non-Western cultural traditions. When Gustavo Gimeno spoke in his program note of the imminent arrival of thousands from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Best Toronto Symphony concert of the season
So far so good. I knew I was going to like this concert because they were playing pieces I liked. I did not expect this to be the best concert of the season. As we go into the month of May the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tapestry Opera and Toronto Symphony Orchestra Announce Groundbreaking...
Monica Chen (Photo by Alan Cabral / TSO) TORONTO, ON – Continuing their long-standing relationship, Tapestry Opera and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) join forces for a masterclass on Saturday,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
History captured in Toronto Beach Chorale’s Carmina Burana
My daughter and I joined an overflowing crowd eager to hear Toronto Beach Chorale with Mississauga Chamber Singers and their guests in a jam-packed Kingston Road United Church. The short pieces in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
She Holds up the Stars from Red Sky & Toronto Symphony
In a week of adaptations, the trip to Roy Thomson Hall to see & hear the world premiere of She Holds Up the Stars from the Toronto Symphony & Red Sky Performance on Sunday April 19th was a...
View Article
