Toronto’s Hugh’s Room will present renowned pianist Angela Hewitt in a special chamber recital on March 9. Broadcaster, writer and speaker Eric Friesen plays host, and Hewitt will be joined by the woodwinds of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in a varied program.
The concert will open with Hewitt’s solo performance of Bach’s Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829. She’ll then be joined by the principals of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s woodwind section, including Sarah Jeffrey (oboe), Kelly Zimba (flute), Eric Abramovitz (clarinet), Marlene Ngalissamy (bassoon) and Neil Deland (horn).
Together, they’ll perform Mozart’s Piano and Wind Quintet in E-flat major, K452 followed by Ludwig Thuille’s Sextet for Piano and Winds in B-Flat major, Op 6.
Host Eric Friesen is a Member of the Order of Canada, and has carved out a unique career as a broadcaster, writer, speaker, and consultant. His work revolves around music, culture, broadcasting and religion in North America, and he’s served as a network host and executive for both CBC Radio and Minnesota Public Radio (NPR).
LV caught up with Angela Hewitt to talk about the concert.
Angela Hewitt performs Bach’s French Suite No. 5 at Koerner Hall in February 2012.
Angela Hewitt
Angela Hewitt is a native of Ottawa, where she first studied music from the age of three. She gave her first recital at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music at the age of nine. Angela is a graduate of the University of Ottawa. She’s performed around the globe, both as a solo recitalist and with the world’s major orchestras.
She is perhaps best known worldwide as an interpreter of the works of Bach. The four-time JUNO Award winner is a companion of the Order of Canada. Her impressive recording catalogue includes an award-winning cycle for Hyperion Records of all the major keyboard works of Bach, and a JUNO winning album of Mozart Concertos recorded with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, among many others.
Along with Bach and Mozart, her discography includes French music (Francois Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Olivier Messiaen, Emmanuel Chabrier, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Gabriel Fauré), and German masters Robert Schumann and Ludwig van Beethoven, along with Frédéric Chopin and others.
Angela Hewitt: The Interview
It’s not the first time Hewitt has performed an unexpected chamber concert at Hugh’s Room. Her ties to Toronto are many, and stretch back to her student days.
“I studied in Toronto,” she points out.
The first Hugh’s Room appearance came about as a result of ties with someone on the venue’s Board who had attended the Trasimeno Music Festival in Italy where Hewitt serves as Artistic Director, as she explains.
“I looked at the history of the place, and it seems very interesting,” she says. Hugh’s Room was founded in 2001 by Richard Carson, and named after his late brother. The original location was on Dundas Street West, where it became known largely for presenting folk, jazz, and roots music. It relocated to Broadview Avenue, it’s current address, in 2023.
Hewitt asked her major promoters in Toronto, and they gave the idea thumb’s up.
“And then they asked myself and Eric Friesen,” she continues “the whole idea was to present the artist and have an interview on the stage, and no one’s better than that than Eric,” she says. “They asked Eric and I to put together sort of a classical series.
We had one other concert last year,” she notes. It featured Leeds International Competition winner Jaeden Izik-Dzurko. “Then they asked me to return, and I had the idea — I played with the symphony in Toronto last year, but I actually didn’t have a concert in Toronto in 2025/26.” (That’ll change next season, by the way, with Hewitt recently named as one of the TSO’s Spotlight Artists.)
There was a preconcert event where she mingled and played informally with the group, and she says she enjoyed it immensely. “That’s when I had the idea to have a concert with the wind players of the Toronto Symphony.”
The Concert
The intimate venue is a change from the usual major concert halls that fill her calendar.
“It’s like playing in somebody’s living room.”
That atmosphere has an appeal for both the performer and the audience. The host/interview aspect adds to the ambience. “They also appreciate getting to know the artist through the interview.”
Hewitt had the opportunity to choose repertoire that she loves, beginning with the Bach Partita. “I don’t get a lot of opportunity to do [chamber music],” she adds.
“All though my career, I’ve played in smaller places, and it’s always a great joy.” That includes getting closer to the audience. In many larger venues, it can be difficult to even see the audience from the stage. “In a lot of big halls, it’s the case.” Hewitt says she insists that the lighting be adjusted so she can view audience members better.
One of the pieces on the recital will be a reprisal of sorts from her Roy Thomson Hall concert in 2025. “We actually played Mozart together,” she notes.
She concludes the concert with the lesser known Sextet for Piano and Winds in B-Flat major, Op 6 by Ludwig Thuille. Thuille (1861 – 1907) was a contemporary, and friend, of Richard Strauss.
“I very much wanted to do the piano sextet.” It’s a work she performed some 45 years ago as a student. “It’s a piece I learned as a student. Also, because there’s not many pianists who play it,” she adds
It’s a nice showcase for the wind players. “They all get to show off,” Hewitt says. “It’s a big, big piece. It sounds a bit like Brahms, a bit like Richard Strauss. It’s a big romantic piece,” she adds.
“It’s very tuneful, very appealing to an audience even if they’re hearing it for the first time. Lots of catchy tunes.”
She’s also performing the Thuille sextet at Ottawa’s Chamberfest a few days before her Toronto appearance, and at the Trasimeno Music Festival.
Woodwinds
Piano and woodwinds is not such a common combination in the classical music world, despite its sonic appeal. Angela’s connection with woodwinds also goes back to her student days.
“Because I did a lot of chamber music when I was a student at the University of Ottawa,” she explains. “In fact I was kind of the unofficial accompanist to the clarinet section.” She credits the great teachers in the UofO music program, including clarinetist James “Jay” Morton, founding principal clarinet of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and husband to National Ballet of Canada founder and artistic director Celia Franca.
“I learned a lot as a soloist playing chamber music.” Hewitt also worked closely with a wind ensemble when she first moved to London, UK in 1985. “Wind players, they’re always so happy to find a pianist who wants to play,” she laughs.
The woodwind section of the TSO is another talented group. “They’re terrific players in the Toronto Symphony,” Hewitt says.
Her ties to wind instruments also come from personal experience. “I was also a great recorder player,” she explains. Hewitt studied the recorder at The Royal Conservatory for several years. “I know what it is to play a wind instrument,” she says.
It gives her insight into performing with a wind ensemble, and comes in contrast to the experience of many pianists. “Pianists are the worst, they don’t breathe,” she laughs.
Details
Angela Hewitt will be performing with the woodwinds of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on March 9 in the Green Sanderson Hall at Hugh’s Room in Toronto.
- Find tickets and show details [HERE].
Hewitt will also perform a chamber recital in Ottawa, presented by Chamberfest, on March 6 just before the Toronto event. Info here.
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