“The Afiara String Quartet is celebrated for its performances of the Beethoven quartets, and so it is no surprise that on this occasion the players turned in a nuanced and beautifully realized interpretation.”
“…Léonardelli’s performance of both works was outstanding; she has made a fine recording of El Dorado in the chamber version and certainly makes a strong case for its merits.”
Timothy Kantor, Eric Wong, Caroline Léonardelli, Valerie Li, Adrian Fung
If you were in the audience for their participation in the Music in the Afternoon opening concert of the 118th season, you may have noticed a few missing page turns. If you were sitting close enough, you may have noticed the iPads on their music stands and the click pedals at their feet, as they read their parts from pdfs rather than paper for some of the pieces they performed – a première of a different sort for the WMCT.
The conveniences of this system for the touring musician are clear – your whole repertoire on one device whose battery you have remembered to charge, with copies in the hands of your fellow performers, and as many backups on thumbdrives as necessary for your peace of mind. So expect to see more e-ensembles in future.
In the recent Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Borromeo Quartet, a pioneer in this approach, performed their signature concert, the complete Bartok Quartet cycle in one evening, from electronically scanned full scores, with Apple computers on purpose-built stands! The Afiara, according to violist Eric Wong, are still flexible, using e-scores to advantage in rehearsal or performance, but relying on paper on occasion.
For harpists however, this future may be a long time coming. As explained by Erica Goodman, our Tuning Your Mind speaker, and in John Mayo’s notes, changing accidentals on their instrument requires constant footwork on seven pedals, each with three positions, leaving no toe free to tap the automatic page turner. So while the Afiara gazed at screens, Caroline Léonardelli played Grandjany’sRhapsodie from the original 1922 French publication, a fragile, yellowing print.
Pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin who won first prize in the WMCT’s Career Development Award competition last April has advanced to the third round in the 17th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. Seventy eight pianists began the competition which were reduced to 43 in the second round and now 20 have advanced to the third. One other Canadian, Yike (Tony) Yang will also compete.
Afiara String Quartet cellist, Adrian Fung has just been named Vice-President of Innovation with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a new role in the TSO’s management team. Mr. Fung is a founding member of the Afiara String Quartet. The group, and CarolineLéonardelli will open Music in the Afternoon’s 118th season this Thursday, October 15.
*From Kitchen to Carnegie Hall: Ethel Stark and the Montreal Women’s Symphony Orchestra,
This new book by Faculty of Music, University of Toronto Ph.D candidate, Maria Noriega Rachwall, documents the fascinating and groundbreaking story
of the first all-women’s symphony orchestra in Canada, formed in 1940, and
directed by the first Canadian female conductor, Ethel Stark. Amazingly,
after just seven years, the orchestra took to the stage at Carnegie Hall –
the first Canadian orchestra to play in that most prestigious of venues!
The Montreal Women’s Symphony Orchestra, along with many other women’s
musical clubs and organisations – including the WMCT – played a pivotal
role in promoting women in the context of performing and presenting
classical music.
(Some of you may remember Maria wrote an article on this topic in the
WMCT’s February 2013 *News & Notes*)
~ Annette Sanger, President
The book is available at Amazon.ca and SecondStoryPress.ca
World acclaimed solo harpist Erica Goodman is the Tuning Your Mind speaker at the first concert of the 118th season. Her talk will precede the Oct. 15 Music in the Afternoon concert with harpist Caroline Léonardelli and the Afiara String Quartet.
A native of Toronto, Erica Goodman received her training at the Royal Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philidelphia. She played under the baton of Igor Stravinsky when he recorded in Toronto.
The Tuning Your Mind lecture series precedes WMCT concerts in Walter Hall and begins at 12:15 pm.
John Mayo, left, with son Christopher at Music in the Afternoon première.
Composer Christopher Mayo, whose WMCT commission Twentieth Century Ikon premièred at Music in theAfternoon last May, has made the leap from Hip Hop to Classical. His classical arrangement of Hip Hop superstar Drake’s Know Yourself was performed by members of the TSO at the 2015 Polaris Music Awards Gala in Toronto September 21.
Christopher Mayo’s WMCT commission was premièred by Ensemble Made in Canada, on May 7, 2015. His father John Mayo has for many years written the notes for Music in the Afternoon programs.
Longtime WMCT member and fixture in the Canadian classical music community George Brough died in Toronto, September 15. He was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, February 25, 1918, and became pianist, organist, harpsichordist, and opera coach. Music was the heart of his life and he and his friend and companion of 43 years, Simone Desilets have been part of the WMCT community for many years.
Canadian composer Zosha Di Castri was pretty busy with commissions – including one for the WMCT – when she was called by the National Arts Centre and offered another.
“But the fact that the result would be Dear Life, the most ambitious commissioned work undertaken by the National Arts Centre Orchestra, was too good to pass up.Di Castri’s 25-minute-long score will have pride of place in the first concert led by AlexanderShelley as NACO’s seventh music director. The piece is based on a short story by Alice Munro.“
The world première of Ms Di Castri’s WMCT commission will be performed at Music in theAfternoon by Dannthology, Steven Dann, viola, and friends and family on April 7, 2016.
