Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) is delighted to announce that Nova Scotian conductor Henry Kennedy has been selected as its new Resident Conductor.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s (TSO) eclectic June 6 program pulled together a disparate selection of works by Canadian, German, Hungarian and Austrian composers ranging over four centuries. If it was difficult to ascertain a dramaturgical connection between them, individually, they each had something to offer. TSO CAMH Art of Healing To start, TSO CEO Mark Williams took the stage alongside President & CEO of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Sarah Downey to speak about their Art of Healing program, in collaboration with Shkaabe Makwa—the Centre for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Wellness. Art of Healing brings together…
In the summer of 2022 William Christie appeared at Canada’s Festival de Lanaudière with his orchestra, Les Arts Florissants, and proteges of his youth academy, Le Jardin des voix. Bolstered by the success of those performances of Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, he won over audiences at the Quebec festival once again in 2023, with the same composer’s comic opera, Partenope. This summer, Christie is back again, this time with a production of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, with performances at the Toronto Summer Music Festival on July 11 and two days later, back at the Festival de…
In the field of music, brilliance can strike anyone of even the most humble origins. Glass Marcano, a 27-year-old Venezuelan conductor, used to sell fruit.
The Iceland Symphony Orchestra (ISO) announces the appointment of Barbara Hannigan as their Chief Conductor and Artistic Director.
The Festival de Lanaudière is delighted to announce that aerospace engineer Farah Alibay will headline the Festival’s opening concert next July 6.
Sir Andrew Davis, former conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, died of Leukemia on Saturday, at the age of 80. Davis led the TSO for thirteen years, from 1975-1988, making his tenure the third-longest in the orchestra’s history. In 2018, he returned to the orchestra for two years, acting as interim director between Peter Oundjian and Gustavo Gimeno. In 2012, Davis earned a Juno Award for his recording of Massenet’s Thais with the TSO. His final performance with the orchestra was in November of 2023, when he conducted them alongside the Amadeus Choir in a performance of Fauré’s Requiem and…
The Philadelphia Orchestra tours all over the world, but this past Wednesday marked their first performance in Toronto under musical director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
To lovers of new music, Esprit Orchestra needs no introduction. Founded in 1983 by conductor Alex Pauk, the orchestra has been at the forefront of presenting existing contemporary classical music repertoire, as well as the commissioning of new works by Canadian composers, since its inception. Thanks to this 65-member professional orchestra, Toronto music lovers get to discover and experience works rarely presented by other orchestras. Their most recent concert, Violinissimo II, was aptly named as a follow up to the original Violinissimo, a well received, violin-centric evening presented by EO in the fall of 2022. On the program were Max…
Kent Nagano has a soft spot in his heart for the province of Quebec. In conversation with La Scena Musicale, he talks about a place he views as a cultural hot spot.
