Stratford Summer Music Artistic Director — and JUNO-nominated artist — Mark Fewer and an all-star cast of musicians will perform at the festival in a program titled The Soul of Strings on July 27. They’ll be performing a program of Beethoven, Osvaldo Golijov, and Tchaikovsky.
Tom Allen plays host, with Festival Artistic Director and violinist Mark Fewer, violinists Keith Hamm, Bénédicte Lauzière and Aysel Taghi-Zada, and cellists Amahl Arulanandam and Leana Rutt.
Personnel
Tom Allen | host
Tom Allen has a unique career as a storyteller and concert host, author, broadcaster, and musician. He’s perhaps best known for his work with CBC Music, where he’s been the host of Music and Company, Shift, Fresh Air (on Radio One), and other shows over a four decade career. A graduate of Boston University and Yale, Tom is also a talented trombonist.
Mark Fewer | violin
The Artistic Director of Stratford Summer Music has a busy career as soloist, conductor, arranger, and chamber musician, and his repertoire extends from Early Music to contemporary and jazz. He’s performed on stages from Carnegie Hall to Wigmore Hall, across Canada, Australia, and in Europe. He is also the founding Artistic Director of the SweetWater Music Festival, and a dedicated teacher.
Keith Hamm | violin
Keith Hamm studied violin at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory, and the Mount Royal Conservatory. While he was still a student, he was named Principal Violist of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, and performed with the COC Orchestra for eight seasons. He now holds the same position with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
Bénédicte Lauzière | violin
A graduate of The Juilliard School, Lauzière is a multiple first prize winner at the Canadian Music Competition, and is a laureate of the Stulberg International String Competition. She has performed as a soloist with the Elora Festival, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, among many others. Bénédicte was the concertmaster and frequent soloist of the former Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. She is a dedicated chamber musician, and has collaborated with the Penderecki String Quartet, Emanuel Ax, and pianist Angela Park, among others.
Aysel Taghi-Zada | violin
Aysel is a graduate of the Artist Diploma Program at the Glenn Gould School, and later studied at McGill University with Jonathan Crow. Her music practice is dedicated to both traditional and contemporary repertoire, and she founded Ensemble Paramirabo while still a student. She is a founding member of the Vaso String Quartet, and has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, Windsor Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Concert Orchestra, among other ensembles.
Amahl Arulanandam | cello
Cellist Amahl Arulanandam is one of Toronto’s most sought after artists, known for performances that range from Baroque to heavy metal. He’s performed in a wide variety of venues as a soloist and chamber musician, and has recorded with Sarah Slean, Laila Biali, Adi Braun, and many others. He’s collaborated with composers such as Ana Sokolovic, Luna Pearl Woolf, and Bekah Simms. He regularly performs as a member of the Venuti String Quartet and VC2 Cello Duo, and often with ensembles such as Soundstreams, New Music Concerts, Tapestry Opera, FAWN Chamber Creative, and Thin Edge New Music Collective.
Leana Rutt | cello
Toronto-based cellist Leana Rutt is the principal cellist of The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and associate principal cellist of the Canadian Opera Company orchestra. She’s a graduate of McGill University and The Juilliard School, and has performed across Canada as well as in Europe. She performs on a Spanish cello attributed to Joannes Guillami of Barcelona, Spain and bearing a label dated ca. 1769, with a ca. 1830 Shaw Adam cello bow on loan from the Musical Instrument Bank.
Stratford Summer Music
The Festival continues until August 10. Upcoming performances include:
- Accordionist Michael Bridge performing along with films for the younger set;
- The Maria Soulis Trio performing her signature blend of global and classical music;
- Pianist John Novacek performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue;
- Pianist, singer and songwriter Michael Kaeshammer;
- The Vocal Academy participants in concert on the MusicBarge and other venues;
- Noted jazz vocalist Diana Panton;
- And much more.
Find details and tickets for the Classical Superstars: The Soul of Strings concert on July 27 [HERE].
Find details and tickets for other Stratford Summer Music events [HERE].
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