Winds - my/maSCENA

Nadia Labrie: A Passion Dedicated to Music

By Justin Bernard on 5 June 2018 Classical Music, Interviews, Winds

Nadia Labrie has launched her first solo album – a great occasion for a flutist known initially for the duo she created with guitarist Annie Labrie, her twin sister. Duo Similia was a great success, performing 500 concerts in more than 13 countries, recording four albums for the Analekta label, and winning many awards, including a 2004 Félix for best instrumental album. Following many years dedicated to her family and children, Nadia has made a comeback. We met in a café nestled in Montreal’s Villeray neighbourhood. This was an opportunity to learn about her career as a flutist, her professional…

More than $20,000 Awarded to Young Musicians from the Ottawa – Gatineau Region at the 2017 National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition

By Newswire on 15 May 2017 Newswire, Orchestral, Winds

OTTAWA, May 15, 2017 — On May 14, at 2:00 p.m. music students aged 16-24 from the National Capital Region competed for a chance to win prizes worth more than $20,000 in the 37th annual National Arts Centre Orchestra’s 2017 Bursary Competition. This year’s winners are:  2016 NAC Orchestra Bursary ($7,000) –Nicolas Richard, bassoon  Crabtree Foundation Award ($5,000) – Heather Jonasson, flute  Friends of the NAC Orchestra Award ($3,000) – Emilia Segura, clarinet  The NAC Orchestra Vic Pomer Award ($2,000) – Rachel Domingue, oboe  The Sturdevant Orchestral Excerpts Prize ($1,500) – Rachel Domingue, oboe  The…

Daily News Roundup: 8 November 2016

By Nicole Yeba on 8 November 2016 Daily News Roundup, Winds

American Claire Brazeau is the new principal oboe of The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), succeeding her teacher Allan Vogel, who retired after 44 years. Brazeau was the second oboe of the LACO in the last two years. She is also a member of the new music ensemble, Le Train Bleu.

Mika Putterman

Video of the Day – Pastrami, Gag Mustard, and Flute Sonatas (noncerto)

By Weiyu Dang on 29 July 2016 Classical, Video of the day, Winds

Who would have thought that acclaimed flautists are fans of smoked meat just like the rest of us? In today’s Video of the Day, McGill alumni and Montreal resident, Mika Putterman traipses around the Bernard Street Mile End deli, Lester’s Deli, while her rendition of Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Allegro con Brio Sonata plays in the background. Between takes of meat slicers and Putterman playing her wooden flute, the slightly yellowed video filter conveys a deep sense of longing for the comfort of a picturesque day on Bernard Street. Shopkeepers smile. Customers laugh. And sunshine twinkles in the eye. The flute trills and…

Video of the Day – Duet for French Horn and Chair

By Weiyu Dang on 22 July 2016 Video of the day, Winds

Two men make music with a French Horn and a chair, proving that the expensive multi-thousand-dollar piece of bent metal is potentially no more melodious or emotive as the average adjustable chair. In the video, the French horn plays a rich and bombastic bass line while the adjustable chair, aided by the exemplary wrist technique of its player, delights with graceful responses in a higher register. Of course, the tone quality could be improved, yet as it is an amateur recording, this does not seem to be a valid comment. Of the rhythm, the two instrumentalists attempt to adhere to…

Video of the Day – How to Play the Didgeridoo

By Paul E. Robinson on 24 October 2013 Video of the day, Winds

Ever heard of a didgeridoo? It is a traditional instrument of the aboriginal people of northern Australia. It is little known outside Australia and many of those who have seen and heard it are baffled by it. You can’t play conventional “tunes” on it and the sounds coming out of the instrument can be downright ugly to our ears.But the instrument and its players have a lot to tell us about human expression. In this excellent video David Hudson demonstrates how sounds are made on the instrument. And if you think it is easy to make those sounds just try…

From Theory to Practice: A conversation with instrument maker Stephen Fox

By Marc Chénard on 3 April 2012 Education, Interviews, Winds

(This is a continuation of the article in the April 2012 issue of this magazine. Read the article here.) Nora-Louise Müller / Photo: Thomas Berg Based in Toronto, Stephen Fox is a trained clarinettist who decided to go into instrument making over 20 years ago. In a recent e-mail interview, he provided some added background on this on-going vocation of his (he also maintains a career as a performer). In the following exchange, he briefly traces his beginnings as a maker of clarinets in both the traditional tempered system and, more recently, the microtonal one developed by HeinzBohlen and John Robinson Pierce.La Scena Musicale: You started building clarinets in…

Italian Concertos

By La Scena Musicale Team on 15 June 2011 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Winds

Alison Balsom, trompette; Scottish Ensemble EMI 4560942 (61 min 46 s) HHHHII Depuis dix ans, la charmante Alison Balsom a su convaincre le monde de la musique classique que la trompette virtuose, chasse gardée majoritairement masculine depuis toujours, pouvait resplendir de mille feux sous les doigts prestes et alertes d’une jeune femme d’à peine une trentaine d’années. Mme Balsom possède une technique fluide et assurée et elle dispose surtout d’une belle sonorité ample et nette qui ne brille pas exagérément dans l’aigu, ce qui donne à ses interprétations un aspect coussiné, mais sans mièvrerie. Le programme présenté sur ce disque…

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