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Cast of Koerner Hall's Into the Woods. Photo: RCM/Lisa Sakulensky

Review | Stellar cast enlivens flawed Into the Woods at Koerner Hall

By Gianmarco Segato on 31 December 2024 City, Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Opera, Popular Music, Toronto, Vocal

The nearly 40-year-old musical Into the Woods, with music and lyrics by the legendary Stephen Sondheim and book by American playwright James Lapine, has become a staple on North American stages. Its appeal is clearly linked to an ingenious amalgamation of familiar characters from classic fairy tales like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. Their stories are utilised to deliver a universal message that boils down to “be careful what you wish for”. Koerner Hall has assembled a cast which includes the crème de la crème of Canadian musical theatre in a smartly-staged production by Richard…

Holly Chaplin in the title role of Toronto Operetta Theatre's Countess Maritza. Photo: Gary Beechey

Review | Toronto Operetta Theatre’s Marvellous Countess Maritza

By Gianmarco Segato on 30 December 2024 City, La Scena Online, Opera, Toronto, Vocal

As is their tradition, Toronto Operetta Theatre livens up the in-between-Christmas-to-New Year lull with an annual production of a classic, golden age operetta. This year, it’s Hungarian composer Imre Kálmán’s Countess Maritza with its non-stop succession of great tunes and authentic czardas-infused rhythms. TOT can always be relied on to present some of the best young Canadian talent and this was certainly no exception at Dec. 29th’s opening performance. A Maritza that moves TOT’s General Director, Guillermo Silva-Marin is also the show’s stage director and he does a lot with comparatively modest means. Maritza’s country mansion is appropriately decorated with…

Job Posting – TSO Resident Conductor / TSYO Conductor

By Newswire on 21 December 2024 Arts Industry, Employment, Newswire, Orchestral, Toronto

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) announces the opening of two staff conductor positions—(1) TSO Resident Conductor, and (2) Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO) Conductor—to begin during the 2025-26 concert season. Qualified candidates may submit an application for a full-time contract for both positions or a part-time contract for one of the positions. TSO Resident Conductor The TSO Resident Conductor will work closely with Music Director Gustavo Gimeno, TSO administrative staff, and the musicians of the TSO. This two-season position (2025-26 and 2026-27) includes significant repertoire building through a combination of covering assigned TSO concerts and rehearsals and conducting select concerts.…

Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason in Koerner Hall, May 2022. Photo: Lisa Sakulensky Photography

Air Canada denies Sheku Kanneh-Mason & cello boarding forcing new RCM date

By Newswire on 12 December 2024 Classical Music, Newswire, Piano, Strings, Toronto

In an unfortunate incident on December 11, celebrated British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was denied boarding on an Air Canada flight with his cello. This resulted in him and his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, missing a sold-out concert at The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall, which was to take place that evening. The Kanneh-Masons issued the following statement on December 11: Dear everyone, We are deeply sad to not be able to perform for you this evening. We had severe misfortune with the flights today, including a cancelled flight and denial of boarding with cello on another. We really value all of your…

Jan Mráček (soloist) with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Photo: Petra Hajská

Review | Czech Philharmonic: A Rare Treat of Czech Music in Canada

By Denise Lai on 10 December 2024 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

2024 is the Year of Czech Music. Inaugurated in 1924 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana, this tradition occurs every decade in the year ending in 4, which also marks other important milestones in Czech music history: Smetana’s death in 1884, Leoš Janáček’s birth in 1854, and Antonin Dvořák’s death in 1904. How fortunate for us in Toronto that the 129-year-old Czech Philharmonic concluded the 100th anniversary of this celebration with two concerts in our city, as part of its North American tour in which the orchestra also played at Carnegie Hall. It was even more…

Czech Philharmonic conducted by Semyon Bychkov at Koerner Hall. Photo: Petra Hajská

Review | Czech Philharmonic Triumphs with Celebratory Program at Toronto’s Koerner Hall

By Gianmarco Segato on 10 December 2024 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

The Czech Philharmonic’s guest appearance at Toronto’s Koerner Hall on Dec. 7 is part of a year-long series of concerts they are presenting the world-over in honour of the year of Czech music. Years that end in 4 often coincide with the anniversaries of the birth, death, or creation of key works of the most prominent Czech composers. 2024 coincides with anniversaries of several great Czech composers including the 200th of Bedřich Smetana’s birth and the 120th Antonín Dvořák’s death. Both were the focus of Dec. 7’s concert led by the orchestra’s Chief Conductor and Music Director, Semyon Bychkov. The…

Sonoyo Nishikawa Wins the 2024 Siminovitch Prize

By Newswire on 3 December 2024 Newswire, Theatre, Toronto

Toronto, ON (December 2, 2024) — Montreal-based lighting designer Sonoyo Nishikawa, acclaimed for her transformative and evocative lighting designs, is this year’s winner of Canada’s most valuable theatre award. Since 2001, the Siminovitch Prize has celebrated groundbreaking theatre artists whose work has strengthened the Canadian theatre landscape and advanced the art form. With a career spanning continents and collaborations with leading theatre artists, Nishikawa has established herself as a pioneering force in Canadian theatre. Sonoyo Nishikawa, the 2024 Siminovitch Prize Laureate, has selected Mayumi Ide-Bergeron as the Siminovitch Prize Protégé. “Sonoyo Nishikawa’s designs push the boundaries of what we expect lighting…

Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou. Photo: Luciano Romano

Review | Barbara Hannigan Pulls Out All the Stops at Toronto’s Koerner Hall

By Gianmarco Segato on 29 November 2024 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Piano, Toronto, Vocal

Canadian soprano and 20/21st-century specialist extraordinaire, Barbara Hannigan, appeared at Toronto’s Koerner Hall on Nov. 28 with French pianist Bertrand Chamayou in a program they are currently touring across North America. This uncompromising, tightly-constructed 70 minute recital demonstrated why Hannigan is the current queen of ‘non-traditional’ vocal repertoire. The evening opened with French composer Olivier Messiaen’s song cycle, Chants de terre et de ciel (1938). The text is the composer’s own and is his customary mix of fervent Catholicism combined with love for family. The opening song, “Bail avec Mi (pour ma femme),” celebrates the contract between husband and wife.…

Michael Bridge (accordion) with Esprit Orchestra. Photo: Karen Reeves

Review | Accordion Virtuoso Michael Bridge Opens Esprit Orchestra Season

By John Gilks on 29 November 2024 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Toronto

Esprit Orchestra, conducted by Alex Pauk, presented three works at Toronto’s Koerner Hall on Nov. 24th. The first was Gabriella Smith’s f(x)=sin^2x-i/x. This follows the shape of the function dynamically for x=0 to x=2; so there’s a smallish crescendo, a quieter passage and then a big finish. The first part, using extended strings, winds and percussion, sounds rather like a train accelerating (to its doom?). The piece then goes much quieter and more melodic before the final build up with an almost Brahmsian quality in the brass leading to a very loud, cacophonic finish. Then silence! Bent Sørensen’s It is…

The Royal Conservatory of Music Produces Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods

By Newswire on 20 November 2024 Musical Theatre, Newswire, Theatre, Toronto

November 19, 2024 -The Royal Conservatory of Music is thrilled to produce Into the Woods, its third Sondheim musical in concert, after the success of Follies in 2021 and A Little Night Music in 2023. This special 2024 holiday season production, suitable for the whole family, will run on December 28, 29, and 30 at 7pm, and 31 at 3pm. Richard Ouzounian, who has directed both Follies and A Little Night Music at The Royal Conservatory, said: “I am happy to be returning for the third time to Koerner Hall – my favourite venue – with a third work by Stephen Sondheim – my favourite composer. Into the Woods will provide a marvelous way for the whole family to round…

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