News

The kids are alright: youth-programmed music at the Southbank Centre

The kids are alright: youth-programmed music at the Southbank Centre

Festival Maker Layla, aged 17, says: "We've tried to incorporate young musicians into the programme: we’ve looked for young people who are already achieving, to make the point that this isn’t about young people tomorrow, it's about them today and what they are already doing."

Jenna Simeonov
Shh! Confidential Opera Project is back!

Shh! Confidential Opera Project is back!

After an incredibly successful first show in June, we are #stokedissimo to bring you another one of the opera world's most beloved works, sung by some of the best up-and-coming talent here in Toronto.

Greg Finney
Just in: the crowdsourced melody is complete

Just in: the crowdsourced melody is complete

Listening to the voted-upon melody is a pretty fascinating exercise for anyone with an interest in music and in people. It sounds like something you've definitely heard before, and the lyrics are just on the tip of your tongue (something likely by Coldplay).

Jenna Simeonov
Mysterious Barricades: Cross-Canada concerts for hope

Mysterious Barricades: Cross-Canada concerts for hope

Led by President and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Turnbull, Mysterious Barricades is named after a favourite piece of music of her late husband, Chris', who sadly took his own life last year. The organization has organized an incredible 18-hour series of concerts happening across Canada, starting at sunrise in St. John's, NL, and ending at sunset in Victoria, BC.

Jenna Simeonov
Singing at #TSO1617: Fleming, Barton, & Giunta

Singing at #TSO1617: Fleming, Barton, & Giunta

For the patient, on June 14 an 15, the TSO welcomes back director Joel Ivany for a semi-staged production of Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins. Sharing the programme with Barber's Adagio for Strings and Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, the cast of singers for Weill's "sung ballet" includes Wallis Giunta, Isaiah Bell, Owen McCausland, Stephen Hegedus, and Geoffrey Sirett, working with dancer/choreographer Jennifer Nichols. It would be a...sin...to miss this one.

Jenna Simeonov
Cool concerts: Esprit Orchestra's 2016/17 season

Cool concerts: Esprit Orchestra's 2016/17 season

On October 23, Power On celebrates Canadian great R. Murray Schafer, featuring three of his works, plus the Canadian premiere of Andrew Norman's Switch, for percussion and orchestra. Under Music Director Alex Pauk, the Esprit Orchestra is joined by mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó, flautist Robert Aitken, and percussionist Ryan Scott.

Jenna Simeonov
Free webinar: Alexander Technique & the voice

Free webinar: Alexander Technique & the voice

This Saturday, September 3 at 1-2:30 PDT, Conklin will give a free webinar about Alexander Technique, and she'll share some of the work she does with performers and athletes. "Vocal, musical and performance skills are synergized in a coordinated, continual flow," she writes. "In short, I will show a simple and potent process that is an invaluable tool for performers."

Jenna Simeonov
Don't miss: Rhiannon Giddens at Merkin Concert Hall

Don't miss: Rhiannon Giddens at Merkin Concert Hall

As the world of opera moves toward chamber-sized orchestras and intimate venues, the world of art song moves in closer. Companies like the Canadian Art Song Project and Against the Grain Theatre have wowed audiences with reimagined art song, and so it's an exciting thing to find a supportive organization like Sparks & Wiry Cries that will foster performances and new works.

Jenna Simeonov
Don't miss: Encounter with Sondra Radvanovsky

Don't miss: Encounter with Sondra Radvanovsky

Singers, sign up now; you don't want to pass on the chance to work with Radvanovsky, whose career speaks for itself. For singer fans, the October 22nd concert is a great chance to hear new voices at exciting stages of their development.

Jenna Simeonov
One Voice Orlando: after Pulse

One Voice Orlando: after Pulse

Hosted by famed baritone Sherrill Milnes, and conducted by David Charles Abell, the concert will donate proceeds to Orlando Health's Level One Trauma Center, the Orlando LGBTQ Community Center, Proyecto Somos Orlando, the Interfaith Council of Central Florida, the Zebra Coalition, and the Holocaust Center's "UpStanders: Stand Up to Bullying Initiative."

Jenna Simeonov

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