Pocket Concerts: chamber music, up close

Interview

Pocket Concerts is a Toronto-based concert series, which brings chamber music to private homes, offices, and other intimate venues. Their most recent public event was their November 29th Party with Brahms at the Wharf; over post-concert pizza and wine, we spoke with the artists, hosts, and listeners about the very special experience of a Pocket Concert.

Talking with singers: Nicole Cabell

Interview

"There's a part of me, and every singer I know, that wants to settle down and have a normal job and a family, and all that. But then there's this other part, and I think if you don't have this, you're gonna have a hard time. There's this other part where you're really restless if you're not aways going, and having crazy adventures. *Wanderlust*, I guess. I have that in me."

Opera with a message: Operation Superpower

Interview

Operation Superpower was originally created by four Juilliard grads: composer Armand Ranjbaran, pianist Peter Dugan, and baritones John Brancy and and Tobias Greenhalgh. It's an interactive show for 6- to 12-year olds, where young audiences can find their own hidden superpowers; so far, they've performed for ~50,000 superheroes-in-training.

On the road with JMC's Roméo et Juliette

Interview

Jeunesses Musicales du Canada is about getting more people, young people in particular, listening to classical music, and getting emerging artists to present it. Part of JMC's annual calendar of around 1600 concerts and workshops is a touring operatic production, and this year's pick is Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. A cast of six singers and one pianist bring the production, directed by Oriol Thomas, around Québec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

Don't miss: l'homme et le ciel

Interview

Next month, Canadian composer Adam Scime will see the world premiere of his chamber opera, l'homme et le ciel. Amanda Smith, artistic director of FAWN Chamber Creative directs this co-presentation with FAWN and The Music Gallery. Scime's atmospheric story of "inescapable visions" and "sexual impulses" is scored for chamber ensemble, electronics, and three voices; the libretto by Ian Koiter is adapted from The Shepherd of Hermas, a 2nd-century Christian literary work.

To Be Announced III: new music via Toy Piano Composers

Interview

Toy Piano Composers is a Toronto-based collective of composers, currently in their eighth season of concerts presenting their new works. Next Saturday, November 21st, they're holding their next event, To Be Announced III, a showcase of world premieres by five emerging composers, selected from their most recent call for works.

Talking with singers: Jorell Williams

Interview

Jorell Williams is a baritone based in New York City, back home after a busy summer with Santa Fe Opera's Apprentice Program, singing in productions of La fille du régiment, Rigoletto and the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon's Cold Mountain.

Meet the new Atelier lyrique: Myriam Leblanc

Interview

Soprano Myriam Leblanc is from St. Lazare, outside of Montréal, and this is her first season with the Atelier lyrique. She has a background playing the violin, and she has studied choral directing, but her love of singing opera began with a glance at a score of Puccini's La bohème. Videographer Anne Kostalas followed Myriam on a hike at Mont Saint Bruno, where she likes to spend her time when she's not singing.

Meet the new Atelier lyrique: Geoffroy Salvas

Interview

Baritone Geoffroy Salvas joined the Atelier lyrique this season, and he appeared in L'Opéra de Montréal's 2015 production of Kevin Puts' Silent Night. Salvas has sung since he was very young, starting in choirs at school; he studied piano and cello, but singing was always there. A lover of architecture, Salvas took videographer Anne Kostalas to some of his favourite spots in his hometown of Montréal.

Chris Lysack, on singing: "It’s naked."

Interview

Canadian-born tenor Chris Lysack brings a lot to the table when he takes on roles like Florestan (Fidelio), Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and the Prince in Rusalka. He studied voice at the Manhattan School of Music, after he earned a Doctor of Music as a pianist, and a PhD in French literature, both from Indiana University.