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Photo: Courtesy of the Royal Conservatory's Koerner Hall

Kronos Quartet: Time and Time Again

By Charles Geyer on 15 November 2021 Chamber Music, Contemporary, Toronto

Can there be anyone even casually aware of contemporary serious music who hasn’t encountered the Kronos Quartet? For 48 years, their sounds have resonated outward, along with the sonority of that mythic-sounding moniker that seems to evoke titanic energies, even the mystery of time itself. And while their music was suspended by COVID-19’s near universal freezing-over of time, a rising thaw now brings Kronos-redivivus – active again, alive as ever. Origins The Kronos origin story dates to 1972, with an adventitious encounter between a young musician named David Harrington and a certain provocative piece of music. “I heard this music…

Photo: Gerard Richardson

Good vibrations at TSO reopening

By Arthur Kaptainis on 11 November 2021 Concert Reviews, Toronto

TORONTO – Standing ovations before and after: The response by a live audience to the reappearance of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra following a long separation was both appropriate and predictable. Happily, the enthusiasm Wednesday night in Roy Thomson Hall was justified by the calibre of the playing. This was a first-class ensemble led by a conductor – Gustavo Gimeno, making his live-public debut as music director – who gave every indication of being equal to his task. The program, amounting to a little more than an hour of music, was not of exceptional interest, which made the success of the concert…

Courtesy of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

CEO Matthew Loden to Depart the TSO

By Newswire on 7 July 2021 Arts Industry, Toronto

Toronto, Ontario—July 7, 2021: Matthew Loden, CEO of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), will be stepping down from his leadership role to return to his hometown of Houston, Texas. He has been appointed Rice University’s Lynette S. Autrey dean at the Shepherd School of Music, which is recognized as one of the most important and prestigious schools of music in North America. Mr. Loden’s leadership since joining the TSO in July 2018 has had a significant stabilizing effect on the organization, including during the past 15 months of the pandemic. He hired its new Music Director, Gustavo Gimeno, oversaw dynamic…

$3.875 million donation will support the TSO’s Education & Community Engagement programs

By Newswire on 23 October 2020 Classical Music, Toronto

Toronto, Ontario—October 23, 2020: Recognizing the urgent need to use music to help positively impact communities, especially during challenging times, Bob and Francine Barrett have donated $3.875 million over five years to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) through the Barrett Family Foundation. The investment will support the TSO’s highly lauded Education & Community Engagement programs, including the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO). They have also invited other TSO supporters to contribute by offering $250,000 every year in matching funds. In recognition of this transformative gift, the TSO’s Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser will now be known as the Barrett Principal Education Conductor &…

TSO Replaces Announced Season with Smaller Events across the Greater Toronto Area

By Newswire on 6 July 2020 Classical Music, Toronto

Toronto, Ontario—July 6, 2020: In light of the uncertainty and continually evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has made the difficult decision to cancel all previously announced concerts in the 2020/21 season. The TSO plans to perform redesigned concerts and programs in communities across the GTA, including at Roy Thomson Hall, for audience and ensemble sizes that align with current health regulations. The TSO’s aspiration is for its musicians to perform and engage with diverse communities, connecting with new and existing patrons through concerts and initiatives scattered throughout the region, with robust online offerings also being planned. More…

Photo : Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Jag Gundu

TSO gets the Strauss part just right

By Arthur Kaptainis on 28 September 2019 Newswire, Toronto

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has no principal guest conductor, but it has some good friends. This weekend the Scotsman Donald Runnicles makes his second visit in less than a year to Roy Thomson Hall and the first of two this season. The opening concert on Friday blossomed after intermission. One might almost characterize the evening as a contrasting pair of concerts despite the common thread of German romanticism. Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 came first and got the once-over-lightly treatment. Runnicles decreed a quick tempo in the first movement. Woodwinds eked out some lyricism in the second theme despite the conductor’s…

The TSO announces $2.3 million surplus

By Newswire on 25 October 2018 Newswire, Toronto

October 18, 2018: The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) held its Annual General Meeting today, announcing that the TSO ended the 2018 fiscal year with a surplus of $2.3 million. Board Chair Catherine Beck and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Loden outlined a series of initiatives over the past year that have focused the institution’s forward momentum, bringing new financial stability and artistic vitality to the TSO. With the recent appointment of Gustavo Gimeno as its new Music Director starting in the 2020/21 season, and with today’s announcement of the revenue surplus, the TSO has strengthened its position and is on track…

An Opera for Our Time: Hadrian Conference Explores Opera’s Place in the 21st Century

By Newswire on 12 September 2018 Newswire, Opera, Toronto

Toronto – Tickets are now available for Hearing Hadrian: An Opera for Our Time, a conference on Sunday, October 14, 2018. Just one day after Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian, with libretto by Daniel MacIvor,receives its world premiere, the Canadian Opera Company will host a day-long series of panels and guest speakers dedicated to exploring the themes found in the opera and its broader operatic context. Hearing Hadrian aims to bring the long-buried relationship between the Roman Emperor Hadrian and his lover, Antinous, to the forefront of public knowledge and discussion; it also examines Hadrian’s place within the larger context of 21st-century…

Emilie LeBel joins the TSO as Affiliate Composer

By Newswire on 9 August 2018 Arts Industry, Newswire, Orchestral, Toronto

August 8, 2018: The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and Interim Artistic Director Sir Andrew Davis proudly announce that Canadian composer Emilie LeBel has been selected as the TSO’s new Affiliate Composer. Described as having a “deft compositional hand, unwilling to hurry ideas,” and a style that is “impressively subtle and sensuous,” Emilie LeBel specializes in concert-music composition focusing on textural landscapes, resonance, and variances in colour. The Affiliate Composer position is the most significant and prestigious opportunity for an emerging composer in Canada, as it provides a chance to compose two works for one of the country’s finest orchestras, allows…

Small World Music Festival: Huge changes for Small World

By Gregory Finney on 8 June 2018 Toronto, World Music

In the mid-to-late-1990s, the music scene in Toronto was growing more aware of what was happening multiculturally. Toronto, known as one of the most diverse cities on the planet, is home to the Small World Music Festival. Alan Davis started Small World to engage more in this trend. “I don’t have any academic training in music,” Davis says. “However, music has always been a constant in my life.” Now in its 17th year, the Small World Music Festival has undergone remarkable growth. Starting “from home,” it has expanded into a 10-day concert series with its own venue as well as…

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