Orchestras Canada

A certain pattern has emerged in this week’s media releases from Canadian orchestras and ensembles: a remarkable number are announcing family-friendly, multi-media programs. Here’s a west-to-east round-up of what we’ve seen:

November 19 and 20, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (with guest conductor George Daugherty) is presenting 3 performances of Bugs Bunny at the Symphony.

November 13, the Calgary Philharmonic (led by resident conductor Melanie Leonard) teamed up with Storyfair Productions for a performance of Winter Solstice: A Rocky Mountain Fairy Tale – a family program that incorporates storytelling, dramatic visuals and music.

This month and next, the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (led by their music director, Veronique Lacroix) presents eight performances of André Ristic’s Les Aventures de Madame Merveille, a quasi-operatic event that unites live performance of Ristic’s score by the 7-member ensemble and 4 guest soloists with giant projections of original cartoons by noted graphic artists Michael Cho, Pascal Girard, Scott Hepburn and Cameron Stewart. The tour kicks off with performances in a number of different venues in Montreal, and continues with performances in Lennoxville and Sherbrooke.

Last night, tonight and Saturday (May 26-28), the Calgary Philharmonic (in a new collaboration with the Fort Macleod International Festival) presents its third annual celebration of contemporary music, “exploring the best and most imaginative masterpieces of the 20th and 21st centuries.”

All three concerts will be led by CPO resident conductor Melanie Leonard, and they will be hosted on-stage at Calgary’s Grand Theatre by well-known Calgary composer Allan Bell.

What’s on the program? Well, it’s a wide-ranging survey of orchestral and chamber music from the 20th and 21st Century. Canadian works include Jacques Hetu’s Symphony No. 3, a new piano quintet by Anton Kuerti (also featured as soloist), and Spirit Trail by Allan Bell. Early and mid-20th century include offerings by Schreker, Hindemith, Penderecki and Cage. Building on the Fort Macleod International Festival’s international relationships, concerts will include a number of world premieres of new works by international composers, including Benjamin Ellin, Aurél Holló and Stephen Montague. FMIF artistic director Rivka Golani will be featured in new works for viola by the last two composers.

Last week, the Calgary Philharmonic (under the leadership of music director Roberto Minczuk) released details of its 2011-12 season – 85 concerts, 9 series, and special concerts. It’s a dazzler. The orchestra is launching not one but two new festivals this season: the “Virtuosity Festival – A Festival of Extreme Classics” featuring outstanding soloists and well-known classical blockbusters as well as Bach@Knox, a 3-concert event led by Ivars Taurins. As well, there’s a new Rush Hour concert series, three 60-minute concerts at 6:30 p.m., hosted by CBC’s Katherine Duncan, and a special guest performance by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, in honour of that group’s 60th anniversary. For more details, please visit cpo-live.com.

Just in time for an all-Gershwin concert (February 18 and 19), the Calgary Philharmonic is releasing a live CD entitled Rhapsody in Blue: The Best of George Gershwin. The CD features the orchestra, led by by Music Director Roberto Minczuk, and piano soloist Stewart Goodyear. “It’s important to register memorable performances and a CD is way of revisiting these great moments,” says Minczuk. “Gershwin’s music goes beyond boundaries of classical or popular music, jazz or Broadway. It’s universal and appreciated by audiences anywhere in the world. He has achieved that place of true musical genius.” The CD cover features Concert Hall, 1929, a linocut on paper by Canadian artist Sybil Andrews (1898 – 1992). The Glenbow Museum is a major study centre for Andrews’ life and work, with a collection of over 1,500 objects including all of her famous colour linocuts and the original linoleum blocks, paintings in oil and watercolour, drawings, drypoint etchings, sketchbooks, and personal papers. Rhapsody in Blue: The Best of George Gershwin will be available for purchase in the Jack Singer Concert Hall lobby.

www.cpo-live.com

On February 15, the Calgary Philharmonic joins forces with twenty-three dancers from Alberta Ballet to celebrate the music of Tchaikovsky. The concert takes place at the CPO’s home, the EPCOR CENTRE’s Jack Singer Concert Hall, and will be led by Alberta Ballet’s Music Director, Peter Dala.

Chosen repertoire for the evening includes the Serenade for Strings in C Major and selections from The Sleeping Beauty (with dancers) – and the orchestra will also perform the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin and Trepak, Arabian Dance and Mother Ginger from The Nutcracker on its own.

From October 28 to November 13, the Calgary Philharmonic – and, from the looks of things, the entire city of Calgary – will celebrate Mozart, “the quintessential rock star of classical composers!” The CPO’s Mozart Festival encompasses orchestral, choral, operatic and chamber music, features such distinguished performers as Jon Kimura Parker, Brett Polegato, David Shifrin, Karen Gomyo and the Shanghai String Quartet, features a screening of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, and includes pre-concert lectures, and post-concert parties. The festival is under the leadership of CPO Music Director Roberto Minczuk, and the CPO Chorus has been prepared by Chorus Master Timothy Shantz.

And if the twelve “official” events of the festival weren’t enough, the CPO is also partnering with Tourism Calgary to create Classical Calgary, using the festival as a springboard for related programming and menu development at some of Calgary’s best restaurants, galleries and theatres.

For more information on the festival and the partnerships that surround it, please click here.

At its Annual General Meeting earlier this week, the Calgary Philharmonic announced its eighth annual surplus for the 2009-10 season, “marking a period of record ticket sales and increased audience engagement.”

Despite reductions to government funding and “an economy still experiencing recessionary effects”, the CPO reported year-over-year increases in ticket sales (with 22 sold out concerts during the year) and “steadfast donor and community support”. As always, it’s team effort: President and CEO Ann Lewis-Luppino credited Music Director Roberto Minczuk for the excitement he brings to the Calgary stage, the assistance that specific donor funds have provided to bring world-class guest conductors and soloists to Calgary, and the CPO’s renewed focus on customer service and audience engagement. “We are really focused on creating the entire experience,” says Ms. Lewis-Luppino. “We work hard to keep our patrons engaged at every step; from offering dancers or pre-concert chats in the lobby, followed by an exceptional concert and a chance to socialize at an after-party. We offer a complete and personalized experience.”

The Orchestre symphonique de Laval (under the leadership of Music Director Alain Trudel) has just announced its 25th anniversary season, and it’s a rich one!  Highlights include Alain Lefèvre’s performance of André Mathieu’s Piano Concerto No. 4, the world premiere of a new work by Tim Brady and Michel Rivard, and a return appearance in an all-Brahms program by former music director Jean-François Rivest.  The season will also mark the introduction of a new two-concert chamber music series featuring members of the orchestra.  For more information, please visit  here.

Earlier this week, the Calgary Philharmonic launched its Tchaikovsky Festival – an eight-event blend of lectures, films, chamber concerts and Tchaikovsky’s best-loved orchestral music, in venues ranging from the Leacock Theatre at Mount Royal College to the Plaza Theatre to the Jack Singer Concert Hall.   CPO Music Director Roberto Minczuk conducts all of the orchestral concerts, and festival guests include the Calgary Youth Orchestra (joining the CPO for a performance of the Symphony No. 5), dancers from the School of Alberta Ballet, violinist Mayuko Kamio, cellist Yegor Dyachkov, pianist Markus Groh and the Moscow Quartet.

Festival sponsor is the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, which has contributed not only hard currency to the CPO, but also the research and presentation skills of its Dean, Dr. Leonard Waverman, who is offering Festival goers insights into the impact of the Russian economy of the day on Tchaikovsky’s life and work.

The festival runs from February 23 to March 6.  You can learn more, here.