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Daily News Roundup: 28 June 2016

By Kiersten van Vliet on 28 June 2016 Contemporary, Daily News Roundup, Mainstream Jazz, Opera, Scena Jazz

+ Alan Fletcher, the CEO of the Aspen music festival in Colorado, asks why great American symphonists are neglected by American orchestras. + From the Archive: Jon Vickers interview from 15 March 1985 in The Guardian. “The foundation on which I stand as an artist is that all art must appeal to the intellect. Then we’re making a contribution to civilisation, to the uplifting of man. But if we chose to indulge ourselves and chase dollars and fame at the expense of artistic integrity, if we smear the line between entertainment and art, we’re in trouble. “And the operatic world…

Juan Diego Flórez Signs to Sony Classical

By Newswire on 20 June 2016 Newswire, Opera

20 June 2016 — Sony Classical is proud to announce a long-term exclusive contract with Juan Diego Flórez, one of today’s most prominent stars of the opera and concert stage. The tenor of choice for the world’s leading theatres in the bel canto repertoire and beyond, Juan Diego Flórez’s fluid, expressive singing and dazzling virtuosity have thrilled audiences and critics alike and earned him global acclaim. The Financial Times recently noted: “For a voice of high class and high Cs by the armful, Flórez is your man.” Born in 1973 into a musical family in Lima, Peru, the young singer…

Daily News Roundup: 18–20 June 2016

By Kiersten van Vliet on 20 June 2016 Classical Music, Daily News Roundup, Mainstream Jazz, Opera, Popular Music, Scena Jazz

Welcome to today’s Daily News Roundup, where we celebrate great musicians from home and abroad. Plus, check out a rather large portrait of Beethoven. + Joshua Errett asks what type of music should make up a jazz festival in “If Sarah McLachlan plays a jazz festival, is it still a jazz festival?” for CBC News. + This portrait of Beethoven takes up a million square feet. + Tenor Juan Diego Flórez signed to Sony Classical in an exclusive recording contract. + Dutch bass and Baroque specialist Peter Kooij has received the Bach medal from the city of Leipzig (French).…

Video of the Day – Jacques Offenbach

By Michele Duguay on 20 June 2016 Opera, Romantic, Video of the day

Born on June 20 1819, German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach is particularly known for his operettas. Orpheus in the Underworld and The Tales of Hoffman are still part of today’s repertoire. During Offenbach’s lifetime, Paris’s Opera-Comique was not interested in staging his works and the composer had to rent his own venue and the Champs-Élysées. Watch an excerpt of La Périchole where the title character sings after a few evening drinks.

Yehudi Menuhin and Stéphane Grappelli

Daily News Roundup: 17 June 2016

By Kiersten van Vliet on 17 June 2016 Classical Music, Daily News Roundup, Mainstream Jazz, Musical Theatre, Scena Jazz, Vocal

+ From The Guardian’s archive: A collaboration between Yehudi Menuhin and Stéphane Grappelli. + The 2018 World Choir Games will be held in Gauteng Province in the Republic of South Africa. + Some of the most important pioneers of electronic music were women, as explained in this preview for London’s Deep Minimalism festival next week. + Learn some of the science behind “the chills” you feel when listening to your favourite works of music. “Robert Zatorre, a neuroscientist at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University, said the results were valuable for those hoping to understand music’s pleasurable effects in…

2018 World Choir Games Announced for South Africa

By Newswire on 17 June 2016 Choral, Newswire

17 June 2016 – Olympic Games of Choral Music take place on the African continent for the first time INTERKULTUR, the leading organizer of international choir competitions and festivals will celebrate its 30th jubilee in 2018 with a spectacular anniversary – the 10th edition of the World Choir Games – and with a premiere: For the first time in its history Africa will be the host of the Olympic Games of Choral Music! Watch the announcement video: INTERKULTUR President Günter Titsch: “Having South Africa as our host makes a long-cherished dream come true – the biggest celebration of choral music will…

Stratford Festival Theatre

Daily News Roundup: 16 June 2016

By Kiersten van Vliet on 16 June 2016 Classical Music, Daily News Roundup, Popular Music, Theatre, Vocal

Hello and welcome to your first Daily News Roundup! This is a daily column where we select the articles and news posts from around the web that have caught our eye. + The Guardian’s Ian Ritchie explains how the climate impacted European artistic output in 1816. + David Lang’s new opera, Anatomy Theater, may be the goriest opera yet. + Here is a comprehensive review of Peter Sellars’ Ojai Festival 2016. + The New York Times’ Wesley Morris takes stock of black popular culture in America. “The black people shaping the culture have grown not just comfortable in their blackness but also defiant in…

This Week in Montreal (June 13 – 19)

By Michele Duguay on 12 June 2016 Chamber Music, Mainstream Jazz, Musical Theatre, Opera, Scena Jazz, Theatre, This Week in Montreal

Montreal Chamber Music Festival, June 3-19 The pre-festival activities of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival began on February 23, but the festival proper will continue until June 19. Tenor Ben Heppner will be narrating Enoch Arden by Richard Strauss with pianist Stéphane Lemelin (June 18). In the days following see the Goldberg Variations with pianist Simone Dinnerstein (June 15) and the rare opportunity to hear Casals’ cello played by Israeli cellist Amit Peled (June 16). Pollack Hall and Bourgie Hall. www.festivalmontreal.org François Bourassa’s Pianorama In the years following his breakthrough as winner of the Montreal Jazz Festival Competition in…

Jean-Philippe Tremblay. Photo Alain Lefort

Orchestre de la Francophonie at 15

By Jeanne Hourez on 1 June 2016 Arts Industry, Choral, Interviews, Orchestral

The Orchestre de la Francophonie will celebrate its 15th anniversary this summer. The program for the evening, which will take place at la Maison symphonique on August 7th, took some careful consideration. In the end, Artistic Director Jean-Philippe Tremblay chose Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.” “We chose this extraordinary work after considering what the musicians have been wanting to do for the last few years, although Mahler’s compositions require a very large number of musicians which is not always easy to find,” states Tremblay. “Moving from shadow into light, being very demanding of the musicians, this symphony is rewarding in its…

Vincent Lauzer, directeur artistique du Festival International Baroque de Lamèque. Photo Emily Ding

Maritime Summer Festival Picks 2016

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 June 2016 Baroque and Early, Classical Music, Opera

Lamèque Baroque Festival Lamèque NB, July 28-30 For its 41st season, Festival Director Vincent Lauzer has organized three remarkable concerts, all to be performed in the breathtaking Sainte-Cécile Church on Petite-Rivière-de-l’Île. On July 28, Lauzer is joined by Alexa Raine-Wright (traverso and recorder), Daniel Lanthier (oboe), François Viault (bassoon), Amanda Keesmaat (cello), and Mélisande McNabney (harpsichord) for an all-winds concert inspired by the winds of the Acadian Peninsula. The second concert celebrates the French music of Leclair, Rameau, and Montéclair and features the winner to the 2015 Mathieu Duguay Early Music Competition, Quebecois soprano Odéi Bilodeau. Bach’s momentous Mass in…

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