The Toronto Alternative Chamber Orchestra (TACO) is presenting a concert of classical music with an informal summer spin on July 18. It will be the second concert for the ensemble.
TACO is one of the city’s newer organizations dedicated to Western classical music. Led by Music Director Lauren Yeomans, they aim to take the classical tradition of excellence into the 21st century with a more relaxed vibe, breaking away from the formal concert hall experience. Their first concert was held in March 2024, and was a success.
Music Director Lauren Yeomans
Flutist and conductor Lauren Yeomans is co-founder of Quintagious!, a Toronto based wind quintet, along with the Toronto Alternative Chamber Orchestra, and has guest conducted a number of orchestras and ensembles in the region. She was a Fellow of the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute in 2023, conducting the Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island. She arranges much of the material for Quintagious!, and performs as the Principal Flute of the Etobicoke Phiharmonic.
Lauren studied at the Glenn Gould School under conductor Uri Mayer, earning her Bachelor of Music degree. She went on to earn her Master of Music in Flute Performance from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
The Music
The music in the program spans centuries.
Jessie Montgomery: Strum
2024 GRAMMY-winning composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery originally composed Strum for a quintet of cellos in 2006. It was later revised in 2012 by the Sphinx Organization, with orchestration now available for string quartet or quintet. Strum,, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence, uses American folk melodies and idioms to create a sense of movement.
She describes it in her program notes:
“Within Strum I utilized texture motives, layers of rhythmic or harmonic ostinati that string together to form a bed of sound for melodies to weave in and out. The strumming pizzicato serves as a texture motive and the primary driving rhythmic underpinning of the piece. Drawing on American folk idioms and the spirit of dance, the piece has a kind of narrative that begins with fleeting nostalgia and transforms into ecstatic celebration.”
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
The theme of Americana continues with Copland’s iconic work, composed in 1944 as a ballet for renowned choreographer Martha Graham. The original orchestration called for a 13-piece chamber orchestra, and was eventually arranged by Copland into a series of suites designed for different purposes. Of the original ballet’s eight episodes, five made it to the orchestral suite that is more commonly performed and known today.
During the 1920s and 30s, Copland was particularly concerned with promoting and developing American music, and he draws on several sources of inspiration. Among them is the beloved Shaker song “Simple Gifts”.
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20
Felix Mendelssohn was just 16 years old when he wrote his exuberant Octet. It was the fall of 1825, and with it, the young composer created a new niche in the world of chamber music. It’s not surprisingly upbeat and youthful in its approach, and that’s been the core of its appeal since its debut more than a decade later in January 1836.
The Octet is scored for four violins, two violas, and two cellos. Mendelssohn wrote it for his violin teacher and friend Eduard Rietz, and gave him a signed score as a birthday present. Despite waiting a long time for its public debut, it was one of the first compositions of Mendelssohn’s to garner positive reviews.
- More information about the July 18 concert, which takes place at College Street United Church, and tickets, available [HERE].
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